Saturday, October 17, 1998

Somersett Ambury V&E FC

Somersett Ambury V&E 0 Beaconsfield SYCOB 3 - Spartan South Midlands League, Premier Division


Goffs Oak is a large village in the borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. It is situated between Cuffley and Cheshunt, just north of the M25 motorway in a slightly more rural section of the London commuter belt. The village is named after the Goff family, which owned the area, and symbolised by the original Old Oak, said to be several hundred years old before it fell in the 1950s. Its replacement fell itself in 1987 after severe damage during the hurricane of 1987. The village centre is marked by a War Memorial, which was unveiled on 20 December 1920. It is inscribed with the names of 32 men from the village who were killed in the First World War. A further 3 names were added following the Second World War. The house northeast of the memorial was originally the police station. Next to the police station was a civil defence siren, which was regularly tested through the 1960s, as part of the national defence at the height of the Cold War. The siren could be heard across the whole village area. Immediately adjacent to the police station and War Memorial was a Doctor Who-style police box, which was removed around the time that the police station was converted to residential housing. Goffs Oak has been used as a film location. In the 1970s, Timeslip, a popular children's science fiction series, was filmed at Burnt Farm Army Camp in Silver Street. Gerry Anderson's, The Protectors, filmed in the 1970s and starring Robert Vaughn also used the former army camp as a location. Tottenham Hotspur players used to run up and through as part of their stamina training when their training ground was based in Brookfield Lane, Cheshunt.

Goffs Lane

The Football Club was formed in 1959 as Somersett F.C. by Colin Plowman and Robert Le Moignan who attended Chace Boys School, in Enfield, and played in the Edmonton Youth Saturday League for the first one two season, finishing bottom, failing to win a match. In 1961, the club joined the Enfield Alliance Football League. In 1975, the club accepted an invitation to join the V & E Youth Club Centre at their present site in Goffs Lane, Cheshunt. In 1982, Cheshunt Rangers merged with the club. In 1989, the club joined the McMullens League. In 1991, Ambury, a Premier Division team from the Mercury Waltham Sunday League, merged with Somersett to become Somersett Ambury V & E, then known locally as SAVE F.C. In 1993, the club joined the Herts Senior County League, and, in 1997, the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division.

This Pieman visited Goffs Lane on an Autumn Saturday afternoon. Despite a decent showing, the home side were no match for Beaconsfield SYCOB who ran out 3-0 winners. Significantly, this venue is so close that I was home in time for Sports report on Radio 5!



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Subsequent visit to Goffs Lane

02 May 2016 - FC Broxbourne Borough 1 Colney Heath 2 - Spartan South Midlands league, Premier Division - Attendance: 94



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