Non-League and Academy football writer

Stephen Hosmer is the league secretary of the Middlesex County Football League. The league is one of the finest step 7 leagues around, for its quality, and also for how well former promoted sides have done, since progressing from the league’s Premier Division. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Stephen, someone who has dedicated so much of his time to the league during a long association, and he continues to do so. The following piece includes some of Stephen’s standout memories, so far, of his time involved with the league in different capacities.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football, prior to joining the Middlesex County Football League committee?

Stephen: I’ve got a record in football going back to about 1965, which was when I was playing football for my junior school. I then ended up playing for the Borough (Newham), and then after that I played football at senior school, etc, etc. I also did a West Ham youth programme in 1970, before spending some time with Dagenham, before they became Dagenham & Redbridge. I would later get transferred out to Heathrow airport in 1975, and I was living in Heston, with my wife, Janet. So, getting to Dagenham to play for them became too difficult because of the travel, and so I was later transferred to Hounslow football club, for £50!

After my playing days and knee problems which stopped me from playing football, my son would later join Hounslow as a youth player. And then I was asked to help out at the club, before then being asked to manage my son’s team, which I managed until the players played for the Under 18 side, at the club. Fast forward a little bit, and Hounslow FC had folded, but me and my wife, who were still running the youth teams, would become the secretary and treasure of the club. In fact we still register Hounslow FC to this day, to protect the name of the club. Once the players who I was coaching at the club got to the Under 18s level, they were all looking to play adult football.

One of the players from the youth team, his dad knew the people at Spelthorne Sports FC. So, we moved the team over to Spelthorne, and became their reserve team. I later ended up becoming the club secretary, for my sins, because I had already been the secretary of another club. Then from that, and a bit later on, I attended a Middlesex County League meeting, which back then was held at the London Transport Club, Wembley. I got involved then with the committee, and I became the registrar, and so I used to do the bulletins. So that was my first involvement with the league, as such. I later became the assistant secretary to Eddie Caggio, and after he had left his role with the league, I became league secretary in 1999/2000. We, the Middlesex League, were one of the smallest leagues when I first got involved, but we later merged with a number of other local leagues, such as the London Commercial League.

After the merging of other leagues with the Middlesex League, we then had teams, such as Walthamstow Pennant, who were from east London, and who were now in the league. And so we took clubs from all over London. 

What were some of your earliest impressions of the Middlesex League, after joining the league committee?

Stephen: Because of the fact that I’d already been a secretary before, at non-League clubs, I was pretty used to this kind of work. But, I was dealing with a significant number more people, and clubs. So I knew what clubs were going through, having run clubs myself, in the past, and all of the things that come with that.

What are some of your earliest memories of being involved with the league? And who were some of the standout teams in the league at the time?

Stephen: Back in the day we had teams like Hanworth Villa, FC Deportivo Galicia,  Technicolor CAV, Northfields CAV, and Willesden Constantine. You also had fine teams like Neasden, and Northfield Saints, and Northfield Saints were a classic football team who had won the senior county cup in Middlesex, during the previous two years. And if you won the trophy for a third time in a row, then you could keep it. And so then the county FA changed the rules, so that Northfield Saints could no longer take part in the competition, as they would’ve ended up winning it again. Broadfields United were another good team, who were in our league for years. Neasden 2000 were another phenomenal club with great people, who were involved in some great games in the Middlesex League. 

Another team who used to be in our league, were Western Command. They were a team of firemen, and they worked in the Western Command of London. When Stonewall first applied to join the Middlesex League, some clubs weren’t happy about this. Within the first couple of months of them joining the league, the News Of The World were writing an article about Stonewall being in our league. We also had teams like Enfield FC, and also a very good side called Shamrock. They used to play at the Shamrock Club, in Acton, which served the best pint of Guinness in London! Bethnal Green United (now Soul Tower Hamlets), West Essex, and FC Romania were also good clubs who were in our league at one time.

I remember attending a cup final (The Alec Smith Premier Division Cup final) between FC Romania and Brentham. I can remember seeing the players of FC Romania walking into the ground at Uxbridge, and their goalkeeper was the tallest person that I’ve ever seen in my life. And so when corner-kicks were taken in that game, the goalkeeper would gather the ball without having to really put his arms above his head. However, the goalkeeper was very slow to get down to make saves, which is what eventually won Brentham that final. Also, there are so many clubs who have been promoted out of our premier division over the years.

What are some of your standout overall memories of being associated with the league, so far?

Stephen: I can remember one memory of a team (Greens United), where in one game the goalkeeper had let the ball into the back of the net. He has now got involved in an argument with the two defenders, who were having a go at him because he was unable to make the save. But, the goalkeeper would point out to them that there are ten players in front of him, and the goalkeeper would now hit one of the defenders. Then, the other defender had got involved, and so all three of them were having a fight. The away team were now about to get involved to separate the players who were fighting, but the rest of the home team told them not to worry about it, because the two defenders are brothers, and the goalkeeper is their cousin! However, that team and club were really nice people.

There used to be a Brazilian team in our league called BFSSC. At the time I was getting contact from Brazilian newspapers, who were asking for details of fixtures. Our then registration secretary, Warren McMahon, said to me one day that a player called Ronaldo had signed for this team. I didn’t believe him, but he said that he was being genuine. Then what happened was that our games started to be broadcasted in Brazil, on Eurosport on a Sunday morning. The reason that they were showing this team’s games on television, was because Ronaldo was playing for them! And at the time that club also wanted to showcase Brazilian footballers in English football, and some of those players went on to achieve better things in football. We would later have another Brazilian team in our league, called Fire Christian United, who progressed up to step 6.

FC Romania had a player who used to play for them in the Middlesex League, who had played for Romania at the World Cup. He was an absolutely outstanding defender, who read and played the game like Bobby Moore. He could work out what was going to happen on the pitch four moves in front of everybody else. Another memory that is a real standout for me, is when Stonewall played Wilberforce Wanderers at Wembley, in a league fixture. The FA had phoned me after Stonewall  had come up with this idea, and they were asking me for my permission to play this league fixture at Wembley Stadium. And of course we said yes! I can remember driving to Wembley from my house, and on Capital Radio the game was being mentioned. The Wembley arch had been lit up in the Stonewall colours, and I can remember walking out at Wembley to shake hands with someone, and over the tannoy my name was being mentioned.

That Stonewall game was a brilliant game and occasion. And I can actually remember, sitting in the royal box at Wembley, and the person sitting in front of me was on their phone. And, Eric Najib (Stonewall’s manager) was being interviewed for Sky Sports, but that was just a phenomenal day and memory.

Of the games that you have watched in the Middlesex League over the years, which are the games that standout to you?

Stephen: I remember when Willesden Constantine played Willesden Constantine Reserves in an Open League Cup semi-final game. It can be lively when you’ve got your first team playing your reserve team. This game went to extra time, and after full-time it finished 4-4. The reserves lost 5-4 on penalties, but that was one of the most competitive and end to end games of football, and I really enjoyed watching that game of football. The Stonewall versus Wilberforce Wanderers game, at Wembley, is definitely another standout memory. And there’s been some top games of football in our cup finals, where the underdogs have ended up winning it. 

The game that really sticks in my mind however, is the battle of Brook House, in a cup final between BFSSC, and Samuel Lithgow. Ten minutes into the game, and one of the Samuel Lithgow players has kicked one of the BFSSC players up in the air. The brother of one of the BFSSC players has then whacked the Samuel Lithgow player around the head with a motorbike helmet. The Samuel Lithgow supporters are all on the other side of the ground where the dugouts are, and all of their supporters have now gone over the barrier, to try and confront the brother of this player. We are now about 25 minutes into this game. The next thing that happens is that we’ve now ended up with three transit vans of the old bill. A police dog team have also turned up at the same time, because so many people have phoned up, saying that there’s been a fight at the football ground. These police officers were from Heathrow airport, and they had body armour on and shields, but we did manage to solve that problem.

After all that drama, we were now 45 minutes in, and we still hadn’t finished the first half. One of the players from Samuel Lithgow has now been sent off, and so it’s now 11 versus 10 on the pitch. The next thing that happened in this final, was that two players had leapt up to try and head the ball, and so there was a clash of heads, with the referee now having to stop the game. The referee is now telling the Samuel Lithgow player to leave the field of play, because he had blood running from his head, and he needed to have it sorted out. But, the Samuel Lithgow player thought that he had been sent off, and so he’s now taken a swing at the referee! The referee has now sent him off, with the score still 0-0. The game progresses, and Samuel Lithgow had one player up front, with the rest of their players behind the ball, and they were constantly playing the ball up long to the centre-forward. 

The cup final had started at 7:45 pm, and by 10:30pm we were now just entering extra time. In extra time, and after Samuel Lithgow had played a long ball forward, the ball was then cleared in the opposite direction. As the referee has spun around to go in the opposite direction he has collided with a BFSSC player who is going forward, who hadn’t stopped fast enough. And the referee has effectively punched him as he has spun around, and this player has unfortunately now had an epileptic fit. So now we’ve got a lot of physios on the pitch, to make sure that the player is fine. The next thing that we’ve got is a paramedic on a motorbike, followed by an ambulance. It is now five minutes to 11, and we still haven’t finished the game. It was an unbelievable sequence of events, and the then assistant league secretary to me, who was also involved with Brook House, would say to me that I’ll turn the lights off and we can all go home, which was what we did.

The final would then go to the county FA, and the game was then ordered to be played behind closed doors at Yeading FC, with no supporters allowed to attend. There was more league officers at that replayed cup final than there was anybody else. That was the battle of Brook House, and it was that season’s Alec Smith Premier Division Cup final.

The Middlesex League is undoubtedly one of the very best step 7 leagues around, for its quality. What would you say is the reason for that?

Stephen: We as a league know that clubs want to be in a safe and secure environment. I can remember being the discipline secretary of the league, and I didn’t take any prisoners, because we are here to play football. But, the Middlesex League is a well run league, and for example, if you put out an unregistered player then you are going to have a problem, as that player is uninsured. But, our main advantage is that we have a strong committee, who have been with the league for a number of years. People such as my wife, Janet, Bob Langley, and John Noblemunn. And, so good team work is a major advantage!