Match Information
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Burnham 0-0 Eastbourne United (Burnham won 5-3 on penalties)
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When: Sunday 20th October 2024
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Kick-off: 2.30pm
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Where: The 1878 Stadium, Wymers Wood Road, Burnham, Slough SL1 8JG
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Competition: The Isuzu FA Vase – First Round Proper
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Attendance: 53
I studied the advance Isuzu FA Vase First Round fixtures in my roaming reporter role for competition sponsors Isuzu.
Enormously wary of forecasted rain, I needed to target a game scheduled for 3G synthetic turf to ensure it would definitely take place. Burnham versus Eastbourne United fitted the bill perfectly.
In hindsight, it was certainly a wise decision because another Vase tie on the same afternoon between Wakefield and North Shields was postponed merely an hour ahead of kick-off due to their grass pitch becoming waterlogged.
Incidentally, my initial visit to Burnham was right back on Saturday 12th February 1983 when they beat Wivenhoe Town 2-1 in the FA Vase Fifth Round (attendance 442) amidst snowy conditions.
Being a fresh faced university student, I went to assorted matches in each round of the Vase that season starting out at Tansley FC of the now defunct Nemean League.
I subsequently wrote about it in my first ever publication – a 36 page self-published booklet called ‘TANSLEY TO WEMBLEY’. Burnham’s ground was quite basic in those days containing just one small stand. Changing rooms and hospitality provision were behind the goal in a cricket pavilion.
Bearing these nostalgic past memories in mind, I set off on this modern day 50 mile trip around the M25 and up the M40. Eventually, country roads took me in to Burnham. It is a large village housing 11,600 residents.
On arrival, I met Isuzu cameraman Robert in the club car park prior to filming our pre-match video introduction.
Ground Description
Burnham’s set-up is totally dissimilar to my 1983 recollections. Apart from the recently installed 3G carpet, an impressive 300-seater main grandstand was built in 2005.
The original stand still survives on the far side as a covered standing area but the aforementioned cricket pavilion is long gone.
Programme Details
A 17 pages online programme was issued incorporating interactive links.
The contents embraced details of club officials, a matchday welcome, league table, fixtures & results, the respective histories of both teams, news of a half-term football camp for local kids and the squad lists.
In addition, an up to date teamsheet was available.
The Match
I firmly believe the most attractive ties in national cup tournaments are where teams representing different leagues are paired.
Burnham sat ninth in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North whilst Eastbourne United were 15th in the Southern Combination League Premier Division.
With the two sides therefore participating at Step 5 of the National League System, anyone relishing good knowledge of football odds in sports betting stakes would’ve predicted the tight game which unfolded.
In fact, it may have reflected unexpectedly quirky signs at either end of the stadium declaring: “HIGH VELOCITY FLYING BALLS - Stand behind the goals at your own risk. Some players really are that bad at shooting…” No comment from me!
Anyway, a scoreless draw was recorded after 90 minutes so matters proceeded straight to penalties.
The opening seven kicks were successfully converted before Eastbourne United’s Baran Kartal scraped the outside of the left hand post for an unfortunate miss.
Accordingly, Jabir Laraba crisply shot home the decider to cement Burnham’s 5-3 shoot-out victory.
The People
Burnham’s media and marketing officer Paul Butler gave an extremely warm welcome and looked after our filming requirements entirely.
Paul told me: “I’m part of the senior management structure here and I’ve been involved since the new pitch was finished in 2021. Mirroring many clubs at this level, we all muck in to keep everything running smoothly by making sure the teams and visitors enjoy our facilities. I find it is a very rewarding environment and genuine lifelong friendships are formed.
“Artificial pitches like ours allow more football to be fulfilled compared with traditional grass surfaces. Consequently nine teams play and train at The 1878 Stadium plus occasional hire. It equates to 400-450 players, kids and seniors using the FIFA Certified 3G every week.
“Regarding the Isuzu FA Vase, Burnham always seem to do well although we’ve never won it. We possess a great squad of players who have the potential and it’d be an amazing achievement to reach the final whether we lifted the trophy or not.
“Appearing at Wembley Stadium is what dreams are made of. And yes any team entering can win the Vase.”
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
