Samuel Gardiner - Sports Journalism

  UEL 3-0 University of Bath: UEL return to winning ways in style Seven days after a disappointing defeat away to Chichester ensured back-to-back defeats for the team, the University of East London Men’s First Team secured a highly impressive 3-0 win over University of Bath at a damp Parsloes Park on Wednesday. First half goals from Isaac Sijuade and Matas Skarna put UEL in control before Skarna added a third late on to secure the team’s second win – and second clean sheet – of the season.   UEL demonstrated their intent right from the first whistle, playing to the strengths of their potent attackers, and were rewarded with ten minutes on the clock. Misha Djemaili – a well-known name in the local non-league football scene – played a clever cut-back to Sijuade, who finished powerfully at the goalkeeper’s near post to give the hosts a deserved lead. Throughout the match, Bath struggled to find any real rhythm going forward, and in truth the final ball was a let-dow...

Saffron Walden Town weekly roundup: Biblical rain, a massive away win and another Kaleel brace   Toby Salmon made his SWTFC debut against Barking on Saturday What an eventful week to be a Saffron Walden Town fan. A win against second in the league, inflicting their first league defeat of the season in the process, a good point at home to top of the league and learning our FA Vase opponents in the second round proper. When the draw was made on Monday, we learned that we would be welcoming March Town United (which one are they? Town or United??) to Catons Lane on 8 th November. I believe the last time we played them was during our Thurlow Nunn Premier days so should be a good battle as they’ve made a good start to their own Step 5 league. Wednesday saw us take the long midweek trek to the Mile End Stadium to face SOUL Tower Hamlets, in a game which saw Salim Nassor return to the side, and possibly the worst rain I’ve ever experienced at a football match (I wasn’t there for t...

Saffron Walden Town weekly roundup: FA Vase drama, heroics at both ends and looking forward to next week                                                          Penalty shootout heroes Sam Deering and George Coton   Welcome to Part 3 of my weekly informal roundup showcasing the goings-on at Saffron Walden Town Football Club. I’ll be honest I thought I’d forget about this series by now but it seems to be going down well so we’re still going strong! This article will focus on our dramatic FA Vase win on penalties after a 2-2 draw against Brimsdown, who must be absolutely kicking themselves over how they didn’t progress yesterday. In terms of personnel available, we made just one change from our excellent away win against Hackney Wick last week. Jack Clark made his return after picking up an ankle injury in the match against Sporti...

  Saffron Walden Town weekly roundup: Baller league draft and déjà vu against the Wickers   The scoreboard made for good viewing on Saturday. Thanks to Simon Chambers for the photo 3-0 against Hackney Wick. That scoreline sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Four weeks after defeating the Wickers 3-0 at Catons Lane in the FA Vase Qualifying Round, Saffron Walden Town repeated the scoreline away from home against the same opposition to secure a massively impressive Essex Senior League victory. We’ll get onto that in a minute.   The week started with the news that a current Bloods player, Kaleel Green, and a former Blood, Jean-Baptiste Fischer, had been included in the draft pool for Season 2 of the Baller League, spearheaded by YouTube sensation KSI. I don’t claim to be an expert in this field (in fact I have the words ‘Baller League’ muted on X), but it seems a pretty big deal to some online. Part of me was worried that Kaleel would be drafted, given that the games ...

  What if: Sky’s 1992 Premier League proposal never happened? Some of the famous faces at the start of the Premier League era The 1980s was a dark chapter in English football. A nation struggling under the weight of Margaret Thatcher’s controversial policies had seen its national sport become a source of shame. Hooliganism, deaths in stadiums and a lacklustre national team made for a bleak decade. The success of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when seven out of eight consecutive European Cups were won by an English side, seemed a distant memory when a banning order on English clubs from European football was passed in 1985, following the Heysel Stadium disaster. All of a sudden, the dark days had arrived. England’s largest clubs were even threatening to break away from the Football League, driving for greater revenue. But when all hope seemed lost, a saviour emerged. In come Sky Sports with a staggering £300m offer to buy the rights to live football. Fast-forward...

Saffron Walden Town weekly roundup: Valuable points, windswept games and Kaleel doing Kaleel things   5 th October 2025 Let’s see how this goes. The first in a hopefully weekly series of blogs, in the style of an informal, light-hearted newspaper column, in which I talk through the week’s goings-on at Saffron Walden Town FC, replacing the match reports which, to be honest, I keep forgetting to complete. If you’re reading this, please let me know what you think. I’ll try and remain somewhat measured during these reports, being the stadium announcer and media volunteer at the club, but I am also first and foremost a fan, passionate about my local team! Hoping to get these out every Sunday but it may be delayed at times.   The fanbase was on a high from last Saturday’s last-gasp 4-3 win at White Ensign, Jordy Gent rising like a salmon in the 93 rd minute to send the away support into raptures. I don’t think I’d celebrated a Bloods goal that much for a good couple ...

Spirited Saffron Walden display in draw   Fahad Nazor opened the scoring for Saffron Walden on 7 minutes. Saffron Walden Town put in a determined performance on Tuesday evening (30 th September) in a 2-2 draw at home to second-placed Little Oakley. Fahad Nazor swept home in the opening exchanges for his first goal for the club, which was cancelled out late in the first half by Rory Harman. Luke Hipkin then came off the bench to score with virtually his first touch, before Kaleel Green, so often Walden’s saviour, secured a point for The Bloods from the penalty spot in front of a crowd of 149. Three days before, Saffron Walden secured their best result of the season so far with a late 4-3 comeback victory away to White Ensign, with Jordan Gent heading in a dramatic stoppage-time winner, and Walden seemed to carry the momentum from Saturday’s game into the match with The Acorns. With seven minutes on the clock, Sam Deering found a good position on the corner of the visitors’ ...