Sunday, June 03, 2007

Busy Weekend 2 - Andrew Booth Benefit @ Woodley Sports

I'd heard about this via the Woodley Sports Message Board - Andy Booth, a former Stockport Georgians player, had died suddenly whilst on holiday in Spain - aged 27 years old..... Offerton Green (Andy's Sunday side) were therefore trying to organise "stuff" to help out - they were hoping to set up a trust fund for his young son Jake - and one of the events was a football do at Woodley Sports last Saturday. It's football Smiffy - let's go - and contribute to a good cause as well.

A glorious day - and as I walked through the turnstiles - donating of course - I saw something that you don't often see at Lambeth Grove - namely a crowd ! I'm not being nasty here of course, but if you've been there for Unibond games when the attendance didn't "quite" reach three figures, you'll know what I mean. Huge amounts of traffic meant my trusty 330 bus from Ashton took nearer 40 minutes rather than the advertised 27 - so I turned up later than I'd hoped. I snatched a quick pint (not enough bar staff - not used to it see !) and cames outside in time for the "One Minutes Applause" by all the teams and officials involved.

After that - I just took some pictures - I have no idea which teams were involved - I was unable to keep track of the "Round Robin" results - and I've no idea which team won - especially as the "final" finished 1-1 and there was no extra time or pens (I heard a vicious rumour that the ref said "Give it to the Greens" - QED !!

Here's a couple or more of viciously reduced pictures from the day - the good (i.e. full-size) ones are residing on a CD somewhere between a chap involved with Stockport Georgians (who happens to share the same workplace as me in Cheadle Hulme) and the organisers - if they can make any money out of them - good luck to 'em.





I know what some of you might be thinking - you are WRONG ! This guy for me was one of the "Players of the Day" - great vision, calm under pressure at the back and a sweet left foot - went by the name/moniker of "Asa" - and if that refers to Asa Hartford - they're not far wrong.






See the "rubber crumb" fly up from the 3G "Field Turf" surface...





Part of possibly my best pic of the day (?) - the ball was blurred in the uncropped original mind !!





Picture taken during a "lost ball" moment - "spiritus footballus !!"



Let's hope that lots of cash was raised for Andy's family and dependents - I'm sure everyone who turned up/played/drank beer had a grand afternoon out - I did.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Asa Crow that big fat guy is. (pronounced Ace-er). Luton Town once paid nearly £600,000 for him. Remarkable what can happen in 4 or 5 years to your fitness!

Good to meet you Smiffy, even though we didn't really talk. I was a bit too busy loosing (somehow) against Alex in a pool match.

Good day out that was...

Anonymous said...

your kidding me ?

my guts like that and i cant last 90 mins !


gram77ok

beast1975 said...

we raised over £7000 we also had funeral yesterday which again was overwhelming please could let us know how i could get hold of other photos thanks

beast1975 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mike Smith said...

Beast - I've removed your phone number - but don't worry - I'll be in touch

offertongreenfc said...

I thought you might like the green match report as well at the bootom is a link to more photos not as good as yours
Outlines
On Saturday the 2nd June Offerton Green FC and friends held a memorial tournament at Woodley Sports in honour of Andrew Booth.
It was a great day and a fantastic occasion. The games lasted 20 mins each and it was set in a league format, the top 2 teams in the league would play a final.

The Teams
Boothy A Team
(cpt) Brayo AT Dave Ready Alex Crowe Dean Crowe Wayne Reilley Weirdo Fuck Dust Bombhead Alan Rogers Lee Wheatley Jacko Ste Johnson Puppy Birdy
Boothy B Team
(cpt) Steve Ready Higgi SNR Shez Sausage Franky Pillsy Cleggy Phil B Smailey Craig Turner Nathan Alex Livesy Drew Cain Connors Waggy Garry Thompson Rob Mullens
Boothy C Team
(cpt) Terry Higgy JNR Steve Ready JNR Kinzy Azz Willow Blakey Martin Love Dom GazGaz Stokes Brad Woody SeanBowdie Mongo
Boothy D Team
cpt) AsaGaskell Daz Jamie Arden Spenner Macca Clint Needy Slippy Goughy Plum Jimmy Love Duffy Powelly




Review The tournament was kicked off by Boothy’s son (Jake) and the first game was between Boothy’s A team against The Green Legends. The Game finished 0-0 with Neil Clegg having the majority of the chances for The Legends.
The second game featured Team C vs Team D and Team C seemed dominate play but were rather wasteful in front of goal, Young Higgy and Azz at fault for not putting the ball in the net. Terry made a cameo appearance in this game and he scored the first goal on the tournament with header(Peter Crouch like) about half way through the 20 minute match.Dean Gough comment on the goal " i thought Terry was offside and i am not sure if i see intimidate the liner but other wise it was a good header"
The third match saw Team D stay on the pitch and play against Team A, Team D started the stronger of the teams and were 2 up quite soon. Goughy scored a tight one-on-one and Steve Needham setup Macca for the winner. Team A came back in to the game, showing their obvious quality, but it was too late when Dave Ready thundered a goal back.
Match four 4 featured The Legends against Team C, both sides had rotated the playing staff and the game was played at a high pace. Willow scored the only goal of the game, The Legends (or leg ends )appealed for hand ball when Willow controlled the ball but the ref didn’t give it and he promptly tucked the ball away.
Match Five was The Legends against Team D, a quiet game with the highlight being Dave Ready nutmegging his father, but Steve hit back with a 20 yard chip to equalise.
The final league game was A vs C and Team C took a two goal lead through Azz and Brad, but Team A fired back and some slick passing some them equalise on the stroke of full time.Mongo made a brief appearance slipping on his arse
The final featured C and D.
D took and early lead as C conceded their first goal, Andy Powell scored. Brad Dempsey equalised late on. The game was played at slower pace as the heat took its toll. Spenner Maloney (the suntan kid) hit the bar late in the game but it wasn’t enough and the ref blew up.
Team C took the title with the overall best record.


Highlights

Young Boothy kicking off the Tourney.
Dave Ready megged his dad and put him on his arse.
Spenner hit the Bar with a peach in the final.
Fairsy dropping the ball to Azz.
Higgy senior out muscling AT.


Results

A vs B (0-0)

C vs D (1-0)
Terry
D vs A (2-1)
Goughy, Macca – Dave Ready
B vs C (0-1)
Willow
D vs B (1-1)
Jamie – Steve Ready
C vs A (2-2)
Azz, Brad – Dean Crowe, Alex Crowe


Final
D vs C (1-1) Powelly - Brad

Officials
Roy Bowden Darren Bowden Dave Brown

final league standing
Team PLD WON DREW LOST GS GD PTS
C 4 2 2 0 3 +2 8
D 4 1 2 1 4 0 5
A 3 0 2 1 4 -1 2
B 3 0 2 1 2 -1 2


Finally
On behalf of Offerton Green, Dave Higginbotham would like to thank everyone who attended and took part. Combined with the Gate Receipts and donations the club raised around £7,000 on behalf of Andrew Booth.

Apologies if any of the stats are incorrect or your name is missing from the team sheets please register in the forum and let us know!


Click here for photos >>>>>>>>>>>

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike,

I noticed your blog with regard to Andrew Booth.

I have started to setup an Offerton Green website. Would it be ok if I use your photos on the site? they a re million times better than the ones my gf took.

Also it would be nice if I could use report.

let me know admin@ogfc.co.uk

Thanks in advance.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say we all had a great day in rememberence of my Big brother "Smooth" and any money raised has gone in to a trust fund for his son Jake.

Thanks to everyone's support on the day!!

Claire Booth xx