Next up – Enfield
Saturday, 24th January at Wodson Park, SG12 0UQ.
Pitching in Southern League, Divison One (Central); kick off 3pm.
Admission
Admission (card preferred but cash accepted) – Adults £10, Concessions £5, under 14 free with paying adult otherwise £2.50.
Printed programme on the gate for £2.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://warefc.co.uk/product/ware-v-enfield/
Our opponents
We welcome Enfield to Wodson Park after their short journey from along the valley. A famous amateur and non-league club, they have been without a ground for some considerable time. They ground shared with us at one point but have also had homes at Harlow, Boreham Wood, Brimsdown, Broxbourne Borough and Bishop’s Stortford before settling in at Hertford last season. Before all this upset Enfield were regularly seen in the competition proper of the FA Cup (as far as a fourth round replay in 1980/1 and twice winners of both the FA Trophy and FA Amateur Cup. They returned to Step 4 after winning the Essex Senior League in 2022/3.
Form guide
Enfield have not had a great season though they did knock Ilford out of the FA Cup, something we couldn’t do. Their highest position in the table has been fourteenth at the very beginning of the season but they have since spent a lot of time in the bottom four and are currently twentieth. Their 1-0 home win over Northwood last Saturday eased their position somewhat but a 3-1 home defeat to London Lions on Wednesday negated that.
We come into this game on the back of two home defeats and have to expect some kind of response from the team. Jack Taylor who joined us from Enfield to become an important component of the midfield has recovered from injury and after playing twenty minutes last week may well get a start in this game. With Stevenage’s first choice keeper back from injury might we see Max Woodford returning to the side?
Meanwhile congratulations to Jay Rolfe who will make his fiftieth appearance for the club in his next game.
Previous Meetings
Our first meeting came when Enfield were playing as Enfield Spartans in 1899, a 3-0 victory with two goals from C Wheeler and one from Harry Blakes. We played several more times before the first world war winning twice in the FA Amateur Cup. The second of those victories was in October 1908. It was our last win over Enfield in nearly a hundred years as they rose to prominence in the amateur game. We broke that losing run when Chris Ellerbeck scored the only goal of a Roy Bailey Memorial Trophy semi-final on April 4th 2006. The ten games since then (including two friendlies against the temporarily renamed Enfield 1893) have tended to go our way. The most recent meeting was away in the league and saw us win 4-0 with Reece Beckles-Richards getting a hat trick and Theo Ofori the other from the penalty spot.
The full record of our 29 games against Enfield can be found in the attched file ENFIELDweb
Commentary
Pete and Symon will be at the game if you can’t make it yourself. They’ll be broadcasting commentary from 2.55 at https://90minuteslivefootball.mixlr.com/events/4774763
Match officials
This is the first time any of the officials for this game have been with us this season. We welcome referee Chad Greatorex and his assistants Joanne Horwood and Kovilen Sawmynaden.
