IS AFC Hammersmith Town The Best Sunday Team in London?
AFC HAMMERSMITH TOWN
Location: Acton, west London
League: Sunday Football League – London
Year Founded: 2011
Home Ground: Shamrock Sports & Social Club, Acton, 307A Horn Lane, London W3 0BP
This Season: second in the Sunday Football League – London (currently unbeaten)
Last season(as Kensington Town):
- Central London Sunday League champions
- Middlesex Sunday Intermediate Cup winners (beat North London Athletic 1-0)
- Surrey Sunday Premier Cup finalists (lost 3-4 on penalties to Carshalton All Stars, score was 0-0 at FT)
- London FA Sunday Junior Cup finalists (lost 6-7 on penalties to Southern Sunday League Division 1 champions Selhurst, score was 0-0 at FT)
For the past 12 years a London team with an honours list longer than an underworld kingpin’s rap sheet, has won over 25 trophies, 10 league championships, reached 11 county cup finals, and last season reached county cup finals in three different counties in the same season (London, Middlesex, and Surrey). The team that achieved all the foregoing is not the reigning simultaneous London and Middlesex champions Highgate Albion, or the prominent self-promoting social media savvy “YouTube teams” such as Baiteze Squad, SE Dons, or Under The Radar.
AFC Hammersmith Town – “Judge Us By Our Actions”
AFC Hammersmith Town has been hiding in plain sight since 2011. It has quietly goes about its business, won football matches, and addictively collected trophies. Yet Hammersmith does not get the credit it deserves because it does not make noise on social media. The other reason is that Hammersmith is nomadic and has played in 8 different leagues in the last 10 years alone. It has never stayed in any league for more than 3 consecutive years.
The team started on an estate in west London 13 years ago and adopted the Latin phrase Spectemur Agendo (“Judge us by our actions”) as its motto. The Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith (where AFC Hammersmith Town is based) has used this phrase as its motto, and kept it even after merging with the London Borough of Fulham in the 1960s.
AFC Hammersmith Town took to club football like ducks to water. In its first season, it won Division 3 of the Middlesex County League (Sundays) after winning every single league game it played that season. Hammersmith’s performance in its inaugural season resulted in it being promoted 2 divisions and “skipping” Division 2. Despite moving up 2 divisions, Hammersmith won division 1 at the first attempt in the 2012-2013 season.
AFC Hammersmith Town – The Nomads (8 Leagues in 10 Years)
Hammersmith then made the first of the league switches which has been its hallmark throughout its existence. It moved to the Chiswick & District Sunday League in the 2013-2014 season, and after winning all of its league games, won the league’s Intermediate Division (second tier) at the first attempt.
Hammersmith played only one season in the Chiswick & District Sunday League before moving to the West End (London) A.F.A League. In its first season (2014-2015) in its new league, Hammersmith won the Premier Division at the first attempt; after yet again winning every single match it played.
Hammersmith played only one season in the West End (London) A.F.A League before moving to the Southern Sunday League. In its first season in its new league (2015-2016), Hammersmith won Division 1 at the first attempt (as usual!) without losing a league match all season. After gaining promotion to the Premier Division, Hammersmith also won the Premier Division championship at the first attempt in 2017 – following yet another “invincible” season during which it did not lose a match all season.
One Defeat in 11 Years
The following season, something very odd happened on May 13, 2018. AFC Hammersmith Town lost a league match (1-2 to Streatham Stanley). This was the first time that Hammersmith had lost a league match in 5 and a half years. Despite losing only 1 league match that season, Hammersmith finished in third place in the Southern Sunday League’s Premier Division (behind Battersea Park Rangers and South West Alumni of Graveney). Incredibly, that is the lowest league position in which Hammersmith has ever finished in during its 13 years of existence. That loss against Streatham Stanley 6 years ago was also the last time that Hammersmith lost a league match. Incredibly, Hammersmith has lost only 1 league match in the last 11 years.
Hammersmith won its second Southern Sunday League Premier Division championship in 2019, before moving to the Harrow Sunday Challenge League after the null and void 2019-2020 Covid disrupted season.
As it usually does when it moves to a new league, Hammersmith won the Harrow Sunday Challenge League’s Premier Division at the first attempt in 2021; after yet again winning every single match it played. However, Hammersmith became victims of their own success. The league’s officials claimed that:
“Premier clubs don’t wish to be in the Premier and no one wants to get promoted because they don’t believe they are strong enough and they think AFC Hammersmith will walk away with the league and its not competitive for them”
Feeling that they were being punished for being successful, Hammersmith acrimoniously walked out of the Harrow Sunday Challenge League in frustration after only one season, and joined the Leatherhead & District Sunday League in the 2021-2022 season. Despite yet again going through the entire season unbeaten, somehow Hammersmith did not win the Premier Division championship and finished in second place behind Banstead Rovers.
The “Kensington Town” Days
Hammersmith returned to normal service in the 2022-2023 season; by changing its name to “Kensington Town”, moving o a new league (the Central London Sunday League), winning the league’s Premier Division at the first attempt, and winning every single one of the 19 league matches it played (with a goal difference of +117). It did not even play all of its scheduled matches for the season, as it had already won the league without completing its fixtures.
Hammersmith are not flat track bullies. Hammersmith has proved that it is one of the best grassroots teams in southern England by transplanting its league success to county cup competitions in three different counties. It has played in 8 different county cup finals in the past 7 years in London, Middlesex, and Surrey, and won 5 of those finals.
Last season, Hammersmith almost achieved an unprecedented county cup treble after reaching three different county cup finals in one season (in the London FA Sunday Junior Trophy, Middlesex FA Sunday Intermediate Cup, and Surrey FA Sunday Premier Cup). It won the Middlesex FA Sunday Intermediate Cup after beating North London Athletic of the Barnet Sunday League 1-0. However, Hammersmith seems to be cursed in penalty shoot-outs. After drawing both the London FA Sunday Junior Trophy and Surrey FA Sunday Premier Cup finals 0-0 after extra-time, it lost both finals on penalties (6-7 on penalties to Southern Sunday League Division 1 champions Selhurst and 3-4 on penalties to Carshalton All Stars of the Leatherhead & District League, respectively). The penalty shoot out loss to Carshalton All Stars was sweet revenge for Carshalton All Stars as Hammersmith had beaten Carshalton All Stars 2-1 in the previous year’s Surrey Sunday Premier Cup final.
A Potential Second Successive County Cup Treble
This season, Hammersmith dropped the “Kensington Town” name, returned to its original AFC Hammersmith Town name, and moved to the Sunday Football League- London (SFL). The SFL deserves its “Super League” nickname as 8 of its 9 teams were champions of their respective leagues before joining the league (which started last season). Despite having only only 9 teams, this season:
-2 SFL teams will play each other in the Middlesex FA Sunday Premier Cup final (AFC Hammersmith Town and Highgate Albion);
-An SFL team reached the London FA Sunday Challenge Cup final (SE Dons), in addition to AFC Hammersmith Town that reached the quarter-finals but was removed from the competition on a technicality without losing a game;
-Another teams has reached the Kent FA Sunday Premier Cup final (Under The Radar)
-An SFL team reached the FA Sunday Cup semi-finals (Highgate Albion)
Despite the SFL probably being the strongest Sunday league in Britain, AFC Hammersmith Town has not lost a single league or cup match since joining the league and is currently in second place (behind Highgate Albion) in the league.
Hammersmith was on course for an unprecedented county cup treble this season after yet again reaching the finals of the Surrey Sunday Premier Cup, Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup, and the quarter-final of the London Sunday Challenge Cup. No team has ever won county cup trophies in London, Middlesex, and Surrey (let alone in the same season). However, Hammersmith fell victim to off-pitch officialdom. The London FA expelled Hammersmith from the London Sunday Challenge Cup after claiming that Hammersmith played an ineligible player in one of its matches in the competition. Hammersmith appealed against the expulsion and bitterly protested that the London FA approved the player’s registration the day before he played. Although the London FA reimbursed Hammersmith’s appeal fee and gave assurances about its future player registration process, it refused to revoke Hammersmith’s expulsion.
Hammersmith has also reached its record equalling third successive Surrey FA Sunday Premier Cup final (equalling the 41 year old record of Morden & District League team Cenward – which reached three successive Surrey FA Sunday Senior Cup finals between 1981 and 1983). Hammersmith will face Wandgas Seniors of the Leatherhead & District Sunday League in this year’s final on Wednesday April 17, 2024 at the Meadowbank Stadium of National League team Dorking Wanderers FC. Hammersmith and Wandgas played each other when Hammersmith was in the Leatherhead & District Sunday League.
AFC Hammersmith Town’s Route to the 2024 Surrey Sunday Premier Cup Final:
| ROUND | OPPONENT | OPPONENT’S LEAGUE | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| 1 | N/A (Bye) | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Quarter-Final | Grand Athletic | Sunday Football League – London | 3-0 | January 21, 2024 | Harris Academy, Merton |
| Semi-Final | Wandgas Rangers | Leatherhead and District Sunday League | 3-2 | March 3, 2024 | Wandgas Sports and Social Club, Worcester Park, Surrey |
Hammersmith will also bid to stop Highgate Albion from winning the Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup for a second successive season.
AFC Hammersmith Town’s Route to the Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup Final (date and time TBD):
| ROUND | OPPONENT | OPPONENT’S LEAGUE | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| 1 | Heavy Hitters | Barnet Sunday League | 3-0 | October 15, 2023 | Unknown |
| 2 | Highgate Albion Reserves | Barnet Sunday League | 1-0 | November 26, 2023 | Unknown |
| Quarter-Final | North London Athletic | Barnet Sunday League (Championship Division) | 4-2 | January 14, 2024 | Shamrock Sports & Social Club |
| Semi-Final | Grenfell Athletic | Middlesex County League (Sundays) | 6-2 | February 25, 2024 | Shamrock Sports & Social Club |
Highgate is the only team that Hammersmith has played more than once but never beaten. This will be the third time that these two teams have met each other in the Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup. Highgate beat Hammersmith 2-0 in the 2020 semi-final and 2-0 again in the 2022 quarter-final. The two teams were in different leagues during those two prior meetings. However, after both teams moved to the Sunday Football League – London this season, the two teams drew 1-1 in a league fixture last month. This final will also be the first time that two teams will play each other on neutral ground.
Prior meetings between Hammersmith Town and Highgate Albion:
| COMPETITION | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup (Semi-Final) | 2-0 to Highgate (Tage Kennedy, Excellence Muhemba) | February 23, 2020 | St Aloysius Playing Fields (Pitch 1) |
| Middlesex Sunday Premier Cup (Quarter-Final) | 2-0 (Ian Maitland, Solomon Ofori) | February 23, 2022 | Shamrock Sports & Social Club |
| Sunday Football League – London (league match) | 1-1 | March 10, 2024 | St Aloysius Playing Fields (Pitch 1) |
How Do They Do It?
The reader may wonder how Hammersmith maintained such a remarkably brilliant level of success for over a decade. There are three reasons for this. Firstly, the club’s success coincided with the closure of strong clubs and Sunday leagues in west London such as the Chiswick & District League, Sportsman’s Senior Sunday League, West Fulham Sunday League, and West Middlesex Sunday League. These league closures meant that there was less competition to recruit the best players that used to play in those leagues. For example, after former Chiswick & District Sunday League and West Middlesex Sunday League champions Barnes Albion disbanded, its experienced player Mark Gallagher joined Hammersmith. Gallagher played for Barnes Albion in the 2013 and 2016 national FA Sunday Cup finals against Oyster Martrys and New Salamis respectively. Similarly, after former 3 time Sportsman’s Senior Sunday League champions Pearscroft United disbanded, one of its players Oliver Skeete (who also played for Pearscroft in the 2011 London Sunday Challenge Cup final) joined Hammersmith. Hammersmith has also fielded other players with a good footballing pedigree. Its former captain and center back Regan Mendes played professionally in Romania for FC Unirea and also for National League South team Welling United (who play at Step 2 of England’s football pyramid). Hammersmith’s former goalkeeper Mohammed Otuoyo (who played for Hammersmith for 4 seasons until 2020) later won the national FA Sunday Cup with Baiteze Squad in 2022. Albie Sheehan-Couzens (who won the 2020 London Sunday challenge Cup with Lambeth All Stars) has also played for Hammersmith.
Secondly, in the “pay to play” world of Sunday football where players are expected to pay weekly subscription fees to cover their clubs’ operating costs (such as registration fees, pitch hire costs, and referees’ payments), Hammersmith does not charge its players any such fees. As well as not charging its players, the team also plays on a quiet private pitch behind the Shamrock Sports & Social Club in west London (thus avoiding the stigma of “park football” attached to Sunday football), does not charge its players for the hire of training facilities, serves free breakfast to its players prior to each match, and provides each player with a free tracksuit and training kit. While these may be seen as routine at higher levels of football, providing cost free football to young grassroots players, allows Hammersmith to recruit young college age players who are yet to start their full-time working careers. This ties into the third factor behind Hammersmith’s success. Not financially burdening young college age players is important as Hammersmith has a partnership with a local college from where it recruits young players and transitions them into adult football.
On the Verge of Several Records
Hammersmith is on the brink of making history. If it wins both the Middlesex and Surrey Sunday Premier Cups this season, it will become only the third London team in the last 30 years to win county cups in two different counties in the same season (along with Ranelagh Sports and Highgate Albion). If Hammersmith wins either final, it will also enter sacred ground by becoming only the fourth London team in history to win 6 or more county cups (joining 279 Sports, Ranelagh Sports, and New Salamis).
Given its prior bad history in penalty shoot-outs, Hammersmith will hope that neither final goes to penalties.
Honours
2012: Middlesex County League (Sundays) Division 3 winners (with a 100% record)
2013: Middlesex County League (Sundays) Division 1 winners
2014: Chiswick & District League Intermediate Division winners
2015: West End (London) A.F.A. Premier Division champions (with a 100% record)
2016: Southern Sunday League Division 1 winners (unbeaten all season)
2017:
- Surrey Sunday Intermediate Cup winners (won 1-0 v Barnes Eagles Seniors of the Chiswick and District Sunday League)
- Southern Sunday League Premier Division champions
2019:
- Southern Sunday League Premier Division champions (unbeaten all season)
- Surrey Sunday Premier Cup winners (won 1-0 v Barnes AFC of the Chiswick & District Sunday League)
2020:
- London FA Sunday Trophy winners (won 1-0 against AC United of the Barnet Sunday League) – at Haringey Borough
- Surrey Sunday Premier Cup finalists (final against Lambeth All Stars not played due to Covid)
2021: Harrow Sunday Challenge League Premier Division champions (with a 100% record)
2022: Surrey Sunday Premier Cup winners (won 2-1 v Carshalton All Stars ) – at Meadowbank Football Ground (Dorking Wanderers FC)
2023:
- Middlesex Sunday Intermediate Cup winners – as AFC Kensington Town (won 1-0 v North London Athletic of the Barnet Sunday League) – at Northwood FC on April 16, 2023)
- Central London Sunday League Premier Division winners (100% record)
Runners Up/Finalists:
- London Sunday Trophy finalists 2019 (lost 2-3 to Groundhoppers of the Metropolitan Sunday) – at Fisher FC’s St Paul’s Ground
- Surrey Sunday Premier Cup finalists (2020 – final v Lambeth All Stars not played due to Covid)
- 2023 Surrey Sunday Premier Cup finalists (lost 3-4 on penalties to Carshalton All Stars, score was 0-0 at FT) – as Kensington Town
- 2023 London FA Sunday Junior Cup finalists (lost 6-7 on penalties to Southern Sunday League Division 1 champions Selhurst, score was 0-0 at FT) – as Kensington Town
- Surrey Sunday Intermediate Cup finalists 2016 (lost 2-4 to Croydon Municipal Sunday League champions Portland)
- 2022 Leatherhead and District Sunday League Premier division – 2nd place
Will Olympia FC Crash the SE Dons/Baiteze Squad Party?
OLYMPIA V SOUTH-EAST DONS
Date and Time: Sunday April 7, 2024, 10am Kick-off
Venue: Whittington Park, Holloway, London, N19 4RS
Competition: London Sunday Challenge Cup Semi-Final
Last week was a sad week for Cypriot football clubs and fans in England. The only two Cypriot teams in the National League System both announced that they would disband. On March 19, New Salamis (a team established by Cypriot immigrants) of the Isthmian League Division 1 North (Step 4) announced that it will disband its adult team at the end of this season. 8 days later St Panteleimon FC (which north London’s Greek-Cypriot Orthodox Christian Community established in 2015) announced that it would immediately disband its team – which was playing in the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League (Step 5).
Those familiar with the London football scene know that New Salamis is a special team. It was widely regarded as London’s best Sunday team in decades before it moved to Saturday football. It had a rapid ascent after winning the 2016 FA Sunday Cup, and reaching the FA Sunday Cup final again in 2017. After this second consecutive FA Sunday Cup final, the club switched to Saturday football, and after three successive promotions from the Hertfordshire Senior County League and Spartan South Midlands League (including two successive championship wins), was promoted to Step 4 of English football’s pyramid in the Isthmian League.
With New Salamis and St Panteleimon gone, the UK Cypriot community’s hopes of footballing success this season lie with Olympia FC from north London. Olympia has already won the Barnet Sunday League’s Premier Division with several games of the season still left to play (it has an unassailable 16 point lead at the top of the table), and is through to the semi-finals of the London Sunday Challenge Cup.
Olympia will face South-East Dons in the semi-final. SE Dons is one of the most popular of the so-called “YouTube teams” who professionally film and upload HD footage of their games to YouTube. SE Dons has more YouTube followers than 70% of Premier League clubs, and combines a Match of the Day style highlights package of their games, with outlandish commentary, behind the scenes fly on the wall footage of what it is like playing for an amateur football club, and the larger than life characters at the club. 2 years ago a crowd of close to 2000 turned up to watch Baiteze Squad and SE Dons play in round 2 of the FA Sunday Cup. Ironically, SE Dons’ biggest rivals Baiteze Squad is in the other semi-final, and if both SE Dons and Baiteze win their respective semi-finals, they will meet each other in a final that might break attendance records in this competition. Olympia stands in the way of that fantasy final.
Since SE Dons is in the business of self promotion and is well-known, I will focus on Olympia – which is very low profile on social media. If Olympia beats SE Dons in the semi-final, it will be Olympia’s 4th appearance in the London Sunday Challenge Cup final in the past 7 years. Yet Olympia had humble beginnings and went trophy-less for most of its existence.
OLYMPIA FC
Year Founded: 1970
League: Barnet Sunday League (Premier Division)
Location: Islington, North London
Home Ground: Whittington Park Football Pitch, Holloway Road, London N19 4RS
Kit Colour: green shirts, green shorts, white socks
Chairman: Charles Gregoriou
Manager: Steve Cinotti
Assistant Manager: Nicky Rifat
Secretary: Demetri Ioannou
Captain: Larry Agyeman
Honours:
- 2024 Barnet Sunday League Premier Division champions
- 2023 Barnet Sunday League Championship Division winners
- 2023 Barnet Sunday League Premier Cup winners (5-4 on penalties v Highgate Albion after a 0-0 draw – at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium – Enfield)
- 2022 KOPA League Division 1 champions
- 2021 KOPA League Challenge Cup winners
- KOPA League Division 2 Cup winners (2017 and 2019)
- KOPA League Division 2 winners (1983 and 1999)
Olympia FC – Club Origins
In 1970 a group of Cypriots who immigrated to London in the 1950s and 1960s from the village of Lympia (a small community of less than 3000 people) in the Nicosia region of Cyprus, formed Olympia FC. It has very similar origins to Nicosia FC; the Liverpool team (also founded by a Cypriot immigrant) where current West Ham United first team coach and former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Kevin Nolan has worked as assistant manager, chairman, and sponsor.
Costas Achillea was Olympia’s founding father and first manager. 5 years after its formation Olympia became founder members of the new KOPA Football League; a Sunday football league formed by members of London’s Cypriot community. Olympia played in the KOPA League for 47 years from the day the league started in 1975 until it closed in 2022. Several of Olympia’s original players are still involved with the club. The club’s sponsors Max and Nicholas Stavrinou are the sons of George Stavrinou; one of Olympia’s founder members and its chairman until his death in 2014. George Stavrinou was the owner of Dover Street Wine Bar in London’s West End; and his regular customers included celebrities such as Piers Morgan and Rod Stewart, and professional footballers such as George Best, Tony Adams, and Ray Parlour. Three other former players (Charles Gregoriou, Lakis Panayi, and Tasos Angeli) from Olympia’s original 1970 squad are still with the club – as officials.
Despite now being a multi-cultural team, Olympia maintains links with its home village in Cyprus and the dove image in its club crest (which represents peace and freedom) also includes an image of the church at the top of a hill in Lympia village.
The Growth of the KOPA League
Cypriot businessmen funded the KOPA League’s clubs; enabling them to attract the best semi-professional Cypriot and non-Cypriot footballers in London to the league. The KOPA League was the strongest Sunday league in London from the late 1990s until 2018. KOPA League teams reached the London Sunday Challenge Cup final in 13 of the 18 seasons between 2000 and 2018 (including New Salamis who won the cup 6 times in only 10 years).
Yet while KOPA League teams such as New Salamis, AEL, Aris, Tripimeni, and Apoel won trophies, Olympia was relegated, rarely won, spent much of its existence in the KOPA League’s bottom division, and even finished in last place in the bottom division. Ironically, Olympia’s first KOPA League championship win came in the KOPA League’s final season (after New Salamis and St Panteleimon had already left the league for Saturday football).
However, the honour of being the KOPA League’s last champions was bittersweet. Losing its best team New Salamis weakened the KOPA League, and the league closed a few months after Olympia’s title win and being reduced to one division and only 8 teams (Apoel, Komi Kebir, Nissi, Omonia, Omonia Youth, Panathinaikos, Olympia, and Pantel). The KOPA League’s demise was the Barnet Sunday League’s gain. All of KOPA’s surviving member clubs (except Pantel) and another former KOPA team called Armenian Youth Association, moved to the Barnet Sunday League. The Barnet Sunday League grew from 3 divisions in 2017 to 8 divisions (and 2 veterans’ divisions) this season as clubs from KOPA, the Turkish Community Football Federation, and other north London leagues which closed (such as the Hendon & District Sunday League, North London Sunday League, and Waltham League) left to join the Barnet Sunday League.
Olympia and the other ex-KOPA teams took to the Barnet Sunday League like ducks to water. It is testament to KOPA’s strength that ex-KOPA teams currently lead 4 of the Barnet Sunday League’s 8 divisions. KOPA League rules required teams to have at least 8 players of Cypriot origin on the pitch at all times. Since the Barnet Sunday League has no such rule, Olympia can now select as many non-Cypriot players as it wishes and now arguably has a stronger squad as a result. In its first season in the Barnet Sunday League Olympia won its Championship Division (second tier) at the first attempt (losing only 1 league game all season), gained promotion to the Premier Division, and won the Barnet Premier Cup final against the simultaneous Barnet Sunday League Premier Division, London, and Middlesex Champions Highgate Albion.
“The Sunday League Jose Mourinho”
It is notable that 7 of the 9 trophies that Olympia has won in its 47 year history came in the last 7 years alone. That is due to its manager Steve Cinotti; who attracts football trophies like bees to honey. Where Cinotti goes, trophies follow. Before becoming Olympia’s manager approximately 8 years ago, Cinotti won four successive London county cup competitions in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 as the manager of another KOPA League team; Aris. He also won a fifth London county cup in 2014 as the manager of Tripimeni FC (also a KOPA League team), and led Tripimeni to the semi-finals of the 2011-2012 national FA Sunday Cup. 279 Sports FC manager Jimmy Wakeling (who also managed Cray Wanderers on Saturdays) and former New Salamis manager George Georgiou are the only managers who have won more London county cup finals than Cinotti.
However, Cinotti has not been so fortunate with Olympia; which has had an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” experience. Cinotti has lost all 3 London Sunday Challenge Cup finals he has reached with Olympia (in 2017, 2019, and 2023). If Olympia wins the semi-final against SE Dons, it will be the 11th time he has managed a team to a London county cup final.
Several ex-players who played for Cinotti’s former teams Aris and Tripimeni are involved with Olympia and have brought their winning culture there. Olympia’s Assistant Manager Nicky Rifat was Tripimeni’s captain and is also the Vice-Chairman of Isthmian League Premier Division (Step 3) team Wingate & Finchley FC. Nicky’s brother Ahmet is Wingate & Finchley’s manager. Olympia’s backroom staff also includes Terry Paul (who also played for Aris and Tripimeni), and Alfie Bartram is a veteran Olympia player who won the London Sunday Challenge Cup in 2014 with Tripimeni. Cinotti’s sons Giancarlo, Giuliano, and Rico also play for Olympia.
Both Olympia and SE Dons have indirect history with each other. In round 2 of this season’s London Sunday Challenge Cup, SE Dons narrowly beat another Cypriot-backed team from the same league as Olympia (North London Athletic) 3-2 on penalties (after a 1-1 draw).
North London Athletic’s squad is made up mostly of players who formerly played for APOEL FC in the KOPA League (such as Daniel Couldridge, George Lutaaya, Inarhu Martin, Alex Michaelides, Brandon Dujon, Alex Addai, and Darius Andreou). APOEL (Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias – “Athletic Football Club of Nicosia’s Greeks”) finished second behind Olympia in KOPA’s final season, and when KOPA closed, many of APOEL’s players left to join North London Athletic in the Barnet Sunday League. Like Olympia, North London Athletic is well backed financially, and has been able to attract some of the best Cypriot and non-Cypriot players to its squad.
Olympia scored 22 goals in the 4 matches it has played in this season’s London Sunday Challenge Cup. It already beat two teams from SE Dons’ league (Hatcham and SAHA) to reach the semi-final and will hope that SE Dons will be its third victim from the same league.
Olympia, New Salamis, and St Panteleimon all started in the Cypriot KOPA League. New Salamis and St Panteleimon were presumed to have left Olympia behind for greener pastures. It will be ironic if Olympia wins its first London Sunday Challenge Cup in the season that New Salamis and St Panteleimon hung up their boots.
Olympia’s Route to the Semi-Final:
| ROUND | OPPONENT | OPPONENT’S LEAGUE | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| 1 | Junction Elite | Southern Sunday League | 10-1 | October 1, 2023 | Whittington Park, Holloway, London, N19 4RS |
| 2 | Lusitanos | Metropolitan Sunday League | 5-1 | November 12, 2023 | Mottingham Sports Ground, London SE9 4NP |
| 3 | Hatcham | Sunday Football League – London | 4-1 | December 17, 2023 | Whittington Park, Holloway, London, N19 4RS |
| Quarter-Final | SAHA (Sport and Health Academy) | Sunday Football League – London | 3-2 | February 18, 2024 | Harris Academy Merton, Wide Way, Mitcham, CR4 1BP |
Who Will Win the FA Sunday Cup?
The FA Sunday Cup is perhaps the most under-appreciated of the FA’s competitions. A cup competition that has featured professional top flight footballers and that has a 57 year history, deserves more attention and respect. The final of this season’s competition will take place this Sunday at The Den (home of Millwall FC) in south London.
For those who mentally associated Sunday football with overweight, unfit, out of shape players – think again. The FA Sunday Cup is essentially semi-professional football – full of players who were on the books of Premier League clubs. A bystander who watched a game in this competition some years ago confessed: “I was very, very, very shocked just how good the football was”.
The FA Sunday Cup is like the Champions League of Sunday football, and features the best Sunday teams from across England. This year’s final is a historic one. This is only the second time in nearly 30 years that two teams from London have reached the final of this nationwide competition. The two teams playing in this year’s final are seriously good and both are champions of their respective leagues. Here is a preview of both teams and what to expect from them.
HIGHGATE ALBION
I will be immodest and give myself indirect credit for foreshadowing Highgate Albion’s run to the final (!). Four months ago, I sent a message to the club’s secretary (after they received a second successive bye in round 2 against Falcons FC of Cambridge) jokingly suggesting that they might “reach the final without having to play a game!”. Four months later, Highgate indeed reached the final (they did play a few games to get there though!). However, Highgate reached the last 16 of this competition without having to kick a ball; after receiving byes in the first two rounds due to the inability of their 1st and 2nd round opponents Skew Bridge and Falcons to fulfil their fixtures.
Their 1st round game against Skew Bridge was initially postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and the FA awarded the tie to Highgate after Skew Bridge was unable to play in the re-arranged fixture. Falcons folded and withdrew from the cup. However, those byes should not detract from Highgate’s quality. When Highgate eventually faced an opponent willing to play in round 3, they beat Burghfield from Reading 2-0, followed by a statement victory in a 6-1 demolition of highly rated Club Lewsey of Luton in the quarter-final.
Highgate are the three time consecutive champions of the Barnet Sunday League. It is a mark of how good they are that the club reached the final in what is only its second entry in the competition (having reached the last 16 in the prior season’s competition). The north London team has serious quality – especially in attack. Highgate’s prolific striker Jake Cass (who averages more than a goal per game this season) also plays semi-professionally on Saturdays for Step 3 team Enfield FC in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. This season Highgate also signed midfielder Jayden Clarke from their league rivals Rising Ballers. Clarke also plays semi-professionally on Saturdays at Step 3 for Hendon FC of the Southern League’s Premier Division. Some other Highgate players also play on Saturdays for Barnet based Hadley FC in the Premier Division of the Spartan South Midlands League (Step 5). These include the rapid forward Solomon Ofori; who is usually a handful for opposition defences, and left back Luke Alfano who is a very solid player both defensively and when supporting his team’s attacks. Forward Excellence Muhemba also plays on Saturdays for Windsor in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League.
Captain Marvel
A special word for Highgate’s captain and veteran center-back Ian Maitland. The name Maitland is synonymous with Highgate Albion. Maitland made this debut for the club before this century! (and before some of his team-mates were born) 23 years and about 500 games later, Maitland still plays for Highgate Albion. He followed in the footsteps of his father Nigel who also played for Highgate, and even played for the club alongside his younger brother Frankie. Last year a third generation of the Maitland family played for Highgate as Ian’s son Charlie made his debut for Highgate.
“the most important goal in the club’s history”
I saw (Ian!) Maitland score a spectacular volley into the top left hand corner during Highgate’s victory against AFC Hammersmith in the Middlesex FA Sunday Premier Cup quarter-final earlier this season. At the time I thought a 39 year old defender blasting a “worldie” into the top corner was an outlier. It turns out that Maitland is the Steve Bruce of his era; a goalscoring defender. Not only has he scored 14 goals this season, but he also scored the dramatic 93rd minute winning goal in the semi-final against Liverpool team Mayfair, as Highgate overturned a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2. The club dubbed Maitland’s goal as “the most important goal in the club’s history”.
I also witnessed Maitland’s old school captaincy philosophy earlier this season when he responded to one of his team-mates complaining about a refereeing decision by screaming at him to: “Shut the fuc* up and get back!”. As far as on-field tactical advice goes: it was concise and to the point.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of Highgate Albion’s formation. The club now operates four teams in the Barnet Sunday League. Its second team has already won the Middlesex FA Sunday Intermediate Cup this season. While the first team is riding high in the Premier Division, its second, third, and fourth teams are all well placed to gain promotion this season from Divisions 1, 4, and 6 respectively of the Barnet Sunday League. It would be a fitting “grand slam” pre-40th anniversary celebration for the club if its first team became champions of England and its other three teams all won promotion.
BAITEZE SQUAD
For the unitiated/those unfamiliar with these two teams, Baiteze is one of the most popular and successful of the so-called “YouTube teams” who film and upload footage of their games with commentary to YouTube. Baiteze are champions of the Essex Sunday Corinthian League (ESCL) which is based in east London and Essex. Before joining the ESCL Baiteze played as “Mile End Baiteze Squad” in the legendary Hackney & Leyton League, and won the league’s title three times in a row before an acrimonious split with their manager Justin Gardner (who also managed Barking FC on Saturdays in the Isthmian League (Step 4)) saw the club split into two. One group of players continued playing for Gardner in the Hackney & Leyton League under the Mile End Baiteze Squad name, while the younger players moved to the ESCL to play under the Baiteze Squad name. Mile End Baiteze Squad took the club’s football history and goodwill, while Baiteze Squad walked away with the cream of the club’s talented players and its social media following.
Baiteze has made many people eat humble pie this season. Many Liverpool teams (who consider themselves to be the guardians of amateur football’s traditions) were against the entry of what they considered to be an arrogant and brash “YouTube team” with no history. The Liverpool teams spent so much time on “the game has gone” complaints that they forgot the positive attributes that Baiteze brought to this competition: huge publicity and on-pitch quality. Baiteze has essentially provided free publicity for the FA, this competition, and for every team they have faced. Since Baiteze films and uploads all of its games to YouTube (accompanied by the colourful commentary of Joel Mensah), it has showcased the FA Sunday Cup to its massive young, urban based, music conscious Gen Z fanbase that did not even know this cup existed 1 year ago. The 1000+ attendance at their huge round 2 clash against SE Dons was the most well attended FA Sunday Cup match in decades and drew a bigger crowd than most finals. Baiteze and SE Dons have almost half a million social media followers between them, and SE Dons has more YouTube followers than 70% of Premier League clubs. Baiteze’s mere presence in this competition drew attention to it, and may increase participation and fan attendance for years to come.
Despite Baiteze’s penchant for self-promotion and social media “banter”, on the pitch, the club has an excellent squad. It is also well coached as its manager Billy Hession has coached at professional level at clubs such as Gillingham. Baiteze’s playmaker Ade Cole is a showman. Some of his skills in their thrilling 2nd round victory over SE Dons delighted the crowd into chants of “Ade are you OK?” (to the tune of the “Annie are you ok?” lyrics in Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.
Ade Cole’s older brother is also called… Ade Cole (do not ask me – ask the family!). Ade Senior is also a fine footballer who used to play for former Hackney & Leyton League champions Clapton Rangers.
In the same game centre-back Alex Cruickshank put in the best defensive performance I have seen from any player at this level for years. He did not put a foot wrong and blocked, headed, and intercepted everything that came his way.
Baiteze had by far the toughest route to the final. Not only did Baiteze have to play more games than Highgate, but all of the five teams that Baiteze beat to reach the final are champions of their respective leagues. Beating league champions from Ipswich, Kent, south London, Doncaster, and Middlesbrough is no mean feat. In round 2 Baiteze faced their massive “YouTube team” rivals SE Dons in what was undoubtedly the tie of the round. Baiteze won a thrilling game 3-2 in front of a packed and vociferous crowd of over 1000 at Barking FC. In round 2, Baiteze had to face the formidable London Sunday Challenge Cup holders and Metropolitan Sunday League champions Grand Athletic. Going into that game Grand Athletic had not lost a game for 16 months in a match sequence spanning almost 40 consecutive games. Baiteze ended Grand’s long unbeaten record with a 3-1 victory away, and two weeks later, proved it was no fluke by also eliminating Grand from the London Sunday Challenge Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
PUTTING LONDON BACK ON THE FOOTBALL MAP
This game also says a lot about the strength in depth of Sunday football in London. Neither team is the best team in its league and has been dethroned. Highgate is currently in 4th position in the Barnet Sunday League and Baiteze is in 3rd place in the Essex Sunday Corinthian League. Even if both teams win all of their remaining games, they cannot retain the league titles they won last season. Both teams have also been eliminated from the London FA Sunday Challenge Cup. If London teams that cannot finish top of their league can reach the final of the nationwide FA Sunday Cup, it says much about the quality of teams from London.
For many years the Liverpool teams have been sceptical about the quality of amateur football in the nation’s capital and kept reminding everyone of their region’s dominance of this competition. That dominance obscures an overlooked fact: London teams perform poorly in the FA Sunday Cup because they rarely enter it!
WHO WILL WIN?
Fittingly, the game will be played in south London which can be considered “neutral” territory for teams from north and east London. The FA Sunday Cup is notoriously difficult to predict. After round 2 there is very little difference in quality between the teams and all remaining teams are capable of beating each other. Highgate and Baiteze have played each other only once competitively; in the quarter-final of the London Sunday Challenge Cup in 2019. On that occasion, Highgate came from behind to win 3-1.
This final will definitely will not end 0-0. The quality of attackers in both teams will prevent that.
FA Sunday Cup Final
Sunday May 1, 2022 (Kick-off 2pm)
Millwall FC
The Den
New Cross, London, SE16
Buy tickets here
Highgate Albion’s route to the final:
| ROUND | OPPONENT | LEAGUE | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| 1 | Skew Bridge | Hertfordshire Advertiser Sunday League | N/A (walkover – Skew unable to fulfil fixture) | 5 December 2021 | Harpenden Town FC (Herts) |
| 2 | Falcons | Cambridge & District Sunday League | N/A (walkover – Falcons withdrew) | 16 January 2022 | Bottisham Sports Centre (Cambridge) |
| 3 | Burghfield | Reading & District Sunday League | 2-0 | 13 February 2022 | Sun Sports & Social Club (Watford) |
| Quarter-Final | Club Lewsey | Leighton & District Sunday League | 6-1 | 6 March 2022 | Hertford Town FC |
| Semi-Final | Mayfair | Liverpool Business Houses League | 3-2 | 27 March 2022 | Solihull Moors FC |
Baiteze Squad’s route to the final:
| ROUND | OPPONENT | LEAGUE | SCORE | DATE | VENUE |
| 1 | Borussia Martlesham | Ipswich Sunday League | 0-0 (5-4 on penalties) | 5 December 2021 | Redbridge FC |
| 2 | South-East Dons | Orpington & Bromley District Sunday League | 3-2 | 16 January 2022 | Barking FC |
| 3 | Grand Athletic | Metropolitan Sunday League | 3-1 | 13 February 2022 | Griffin Sports Ground (London) |
| Quarter-Final | Scawthorpe Athletic | Doncaster Rovers Sunday League | 4-2 | 6 March 2022 | Brodsworth Miners Welfare Ground (Doncaster) |
| Semi-Final | Middlesbrough Dormans | Stockton Sunday League | 1-1 (3-2 on penalties) | 27 March 2022 | Boston United FC |
#Nigeria National Security Adviser “Not Very Optimistic” about #Chibok Girls
The Nigerian National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt-Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retired) was spoke at Chatham House in London last week, in much publicised comments. Although Dasuki usually keeps a low profile he spoke frankly about many issues relating to Nigeria’s upcoming elections next month and the security threat posed by Boko Haram. Highlights from the NSA’s talk and answers to questions from the audience:
- He said that Nigeria will develop a new civil-military relations doctrine; to redefine how the military relates to the public – especially in areas where it conducts counter-insurgency operations. The military needs to move doctrinally from conventional warfare to asymmetric warfare. Nigeria has created a National Counter-Terrorism Center.
- He admitted that there have been “historical deficits” in the military; including the fact that the last significant weapons procurement for the Nigerian military was over two decades ago.
- He said his office will present a counter-insurgency narrative to undermine Boko Haram’s credibility and narrative by presenting “the true face of Islam” – counter to the message being presented by Boko Haram.
- The Nigerian government is open to negotiated solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, should Boko Haram be willing to dialogue.
- On allegations of sabotage in the army: Dasuki said the army has “a few cowards”.
- Boko Haram financing: he said Boko Haram obtains financing from bank and market robberies, kidnapping and ransom, and get fuel by staging fuel heists.
- The Baga attack: Chad and Niger troops withdrew from the military base in Baga, leaving only Nigerian troops there. Dasuki said the way the base was overrun was “not something anyone would be proud of”.
- Chibok girls: Dasuki thinks they have been dispersed, “some of them have been sold out…that is all we know”. United States officers are still conducting surveillance 24 hours a day. Nigeria has aerial surveillance footage, but he is “very hopeful but not very optimistic”.
- On the botched ceasefire announcement with Boko Haram: Chad’s President Idriss Deby received two letters purportedly sent to him by Boko Haram leaders who wanted to negotiate a ceasefire. Chad acted as an intermediary between Nigeria and Boko Haram. Dasuki stated his belief that there are “links” between the Chad government and Boko Haram’s leadership.
- Equipment of Nigerian Soldiers: Dasuki denied allegations that Nigerian soldiers are poorly armed/equipped. He reeled off a list of military equipment that Boko Haram captured from the Nigerian army in Baga, including: 6 armoured personnel carriers (each with at least 4000 rounds of ammunition each), and 4 artillery guns. He said lack of equipment is not the issue, but that there are “a lot cowards” among soldiers and that some of them “do not want to fight”.
- More than 70-80% of Boko Haram members are of Kanuri ethnicity.
Text of the NSA’s speech: Full text and video of Dasuki’s speech at Chatham House in London – DailyPost Nigeria
Big Spending Nigerian Shoppers Besiege London
Good article in the Guardian about how Nigeria’s rising middle class are outnumbering most foreign shoppers in London.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/nigeria-shoppers-rival-russia-middle-east?CMP=twt_gu
Key stats:
*Nigeria has 142,000 visitors to the UK per year.
*US supermarket giant Wal-Mart sees space for 50 stores in Nigeria.
*Other big name brands like Apple see potential in Nigeria’s expanding economy and rising middle class.
London Riots Continue
Ordinary Londoners discuss what is fuelling the violence.
Boris Johnson Speaks and gets heckled:
Riots in London After Police Shoot Mark Duggan
Riots in London spread to Tottenham and Enfield in London after the police shoot dead Mark Duggan in London. The Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate the shooting.
Max Siollun’s Website 