The Get Rid! advent calendar returns to Sound Diaries this December with twenty four sounds of 24″ duration from our growing archive of audio documentation of grassroots football.
Expect last-gasp equalisers; feral goal celebrations; baffling explanations of the offside law; erratic grass mowing; overwrought full-backs; the diesel-powered tremolo of the floodlight generator; goalkeepers making it up as they go along; nothing happening at all and a lot of sending it long!
Get up! Get on the spillage!
Visit the Get Rid! archive on RADAR here, take a look at the blog, or get a copy of the book and cassette.
In the first six Travel! posts I explored the close-season soundscape of football pitches on the route between Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Winslow. You can find out more here. During 2017-2018 I have returned to some of the pitches to experience the sounding presence of football happening.
One of the most distinctive sites that I came across in my close-season travels was Ashendon Playing Fields that sits on a ridge to the South-West of Waddesdon. The football pitch is on a considerable slope that runs between a covered reservoir at the top end and St.Mary’s Church at the bottom. The church is sited on the far side of the appropriately named Lower End – a lane that runs North from Main Street. I visited the playing fields – home of Ludgershall United – twice in the close season. On my second visit to the playing fields the soundscape was dominated by the sound of the wind:
There was a strong wind, so strong that many of the distinctive sounding characteristics of the area – the vibrations of distant jets, helicopters, and light aircraft; the phasing white noise of the passing traffic; the calls of red kites and wood pigeons – were obscured by the many and various sounds of the wind as it shook branches; whistled through bushes and shrubs; and turned the long grasses around the pitch into a multitude of whispering aeolian devices.
So the resonating gong-like tarmac of the A34 and M40; the tremolo of light aircraft and the beating of rotor-blades; the complex polyphony of hedgerow birds; and the calls of Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves and Red Kites were obscured by the dense texture of aeolian sound – the complex movement of the wind coercing the grass, leaves, branches and hedgerows into sound. You can read more about the sound of football not happening on Ashendon Ridge here. The presence of football provides a different form of distraction from the everyday sounds of the Playing Field. The ear is drawn towards the on field communication of players the sound of the ball being kicked and the reflection of that sound as it returns from the pavilion. The ear follows the play listening for meaning to support what can be seen. However, the auditory experience of watching grassroots football is always just a little disconcerting as depending on how far away from the pitch the spectator is standing the eye sees the players strike the ball before the ear hears the sound – similarly when the ball thuds into the earth following a particularly powerful goal-kick the visible action precedes the audible one. The football pitch is a good place to discuss the relative speeds of light and sound.
I returned to Ashendon to watch the Aylesbury & District Division One game between Ludgershall United and Oving FC. The game finished 5-5. The slope of the pitch has a clear effect on the sound of the game as unusual levels of fear and anxiety are unleashed each time a long ball is floated downhill towards the opposition penalty area. The most innocuous looking through balls can become deadly weapons as they rise above the slope challenging the laws of gravity.
(Ludgershall United v Oving FC at Ashendon Playing Fields)
too long don’t take that – don’t let him take that don’t fucking hey – hey come in win it yeah line stand – stand – stand yeah line come in now – now – now free how was he off – how was he off how was he off when he came from behind him behind him ref no way ref he ran past him when he shot – when he shot know the fucking rules when he shot the linesman flags up for anything hey boys – hey boys concentrate – concentrate ludgershall wake up you can feel it as well hey line shout to him fuckin’ hell wants win it behind you go on finish where’d that come from just watching fucking concentrate talk to each other yeah but why hasn’t he jumped for it he knows boys we’re putting pressure on ourselves did you do that flick Oi! we want this game yeah come on boys – boys come on boys i’m doing what i’ve been told yeah but then you talk pick it up fuck sake mate tell me one fucking thing carry on watch your man chase him do you want a free kick for that – matey boys pushing fucking what are you on about handball head bang it away mate well done boys very good – very good settle down man on – man on well done pick him out hey ref oh fuck off get in there everyone has their man drop – drop – drop – drop get in there – get in there up seconds – seconds stand him up go on then go on – go on – go on – go on – go on – go on now – now boys more talking are you playing left then left wing close him down he doesn’t want it either yeah come in left back 3-3 ref – ref how long your throw come on let’s get set boys keep going yellows keep going Ludgershall line one of you seconds line come back – come back well done turn out of there yeah well done options ref he was going nowhere what’s the point well done you ref – ref how can you see that come on Oi! boys concentrate now bounce back none of us we dig in we do not concede again and again yellows no silly fouls boys yeah i’m here now
(Cuddington Playing Fields)
(Ludgershall United v Oving FC at Ashendon Playing Fields)