Good afternoon,
I am again helping my poor old husband out by writing some match notes on his behalf. I personally know little about football, except it keeps him away from me most Saturdays, which is sometimes not the worst thing in the world.
Today is a very rare August bank Holiday Monday fixture and we welcome the illustrious Cambridge City to our Riverside Stadium. Known as the Lilywhites, City were formed in 1908, and played as Cambridge Town. They changed their name to Cambridge City in 1951 when Cambridge itself was granted City status, and it would be fair to say that right until the mid sixties, they were the leading club in the City, until of course Cambridge United gained elevation into the football league in 1970. City continued to play at the massive Milton Road ground but over the years it was sold for development, until finally they played their last game there in 2013 against Redditch, the only goal scored by the appropriately named Adrian Cambridge, a chap my husband knew personally, through dog racing as well as football. Since 2013, City have flitted between Histon and St Ives as their home ground, but finally seems that their move into their new purpose built stadium, at Sawston,( where incidentally, my husband worked back in the early 80s for Baldrys Soft Drinks if anybody is interested) some time during the current season. It will be great for the club faithful to have their own ground again, after 11 years basically homeless.
Bill said that this is the first League match between Mildenhall and Cambridge City ever, although I do know that Cambridge City Reserves did play in the Ridgeons Premier League for a while and must have played Mildenhall. Who said I don't know anything about footy? The last competitive fixture between the clubs was a 3-0 win for Mildenhall in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup semi final in 2010. That was probably one that teams best ever performances, and of course Mildenhall went on to win the final after that at the Abbey Stadium. Bill remembers that well.
​Also, today the club will be paying tribute to our stalwart fundraiser maestro, Mr Lol Houghton. We were going to wait till his birthday, but as this is a nice time of year, and Lol has hung up his raffle boots, today is a good time for us to give him the reception he deserves. Bill reckons that Lol has been here at the club since 1970, or thereabouts, and must have raised over £150,000 for the cause. Of course we've spent all that, but it is a magnificent achievement. We hope that his son Ian (Hutch), as well as his other sons Andrew and Neil, all well known to the local football world in general, and the Flynn family in particular join us for this celebration. Volunteers are so important to all clubs, and you'll never ever find a more tenacious one than Lol Houghton.
Well we hope that today's match is as exciting as the opening match here this season, a thrilling 2-2 draw with Grays Athletic, another famous club who have been homeless for a number of years.
i'll be glad when Bill is back as I really don't know anything about this thing called football. I think Bertie knows more than I do!
Charlene Flynn.

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