ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
There’s been a marvellous community feel to the last couple of weeks of Maccabi football. Back-to-back Sundays of important league and cup matches at Rowley Lane have been a sight to behold, with supporters, from the very young to the very old, watching their loved ones achieve their sporting goals.
Anyone present would’ve done well to avoid the flying champagne on Celebration Sunday, where there were five matches, including two junior games, running simultaneously, as well as junior cricket training, with London Maccabi Vale’s colts being put through their paces.
The Arkley venue has become a real hub for Jewish sport and I was delighted to hear that the new stand on the main football pitch will be named in memory of the late Alan Mattey, a wonderful servant to the club.
Sport for him, as it is for so many of us, was a religion. He threw himself at it and never left anything on the pitch. If any team had 11 Alan Matteys in it, they wouldn’t lose many games.
The sporting focus shifts to Wingate & Finchley this Sunday, where the first two senior finals take place. Attendances have been somewhat under-whelming at the showpiece matches in recent years, and with Chelsea and Spurs on the box the same afternoon, they could be smaller than anticipated once again. But nothing can detract from the occasion for the teams involved.
The line-up for all the MJSL finals have also been confirmed, with Salford FC playing host. Tuesday sees South Manchester 2nd and Reich Insurance Rangers meet in Tony Cohen Cup final, while it’s the clash of the titans in the final of the Fay and Henry Shonn Cup as league champions Leeds Maccabi take on Heaton Park Rovers.
The season finale comes on May 17 as Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park’s hosts Leeds Maccabi and Maccabi Manchester Yellow in the Harold Feldman Cup.
This will be followed by the Peter Morrison Trophy tie where national braggings rights are up for grabs as holders Hendon United Sports Club go head to head with AFC Flixton. That promises to be a tasty contest.