I haven't provided too many Cambridge United updates this season so far. They're playing pretty well, but I haven't seem many games and they have a lot of new players--plus our favorite player has been absent due to injury. Simply put, they've failed to ignite a lot of enthusiasm so far, and lost a chance yesterday when they lost 1-0 to knock themselves out of the FA Cup.Now Histon is another story. A small town just a few miles north of Cambridge, Histon fields what many dismiss as a "village" team. i.e. many of the players have other jobs. But Histon has been on quite a run. They beat United last year and also got promoted from their league into the same one as Cambridge United. This year they have even risen above United in the rankings, once making it as high as third place. I also like that their nickname is the Stutes, since they were originally called Histon Institute
Since United's FA Cup game was away, I decided to take the bus to Histon to see them battle Swindon, a team in League One, two levels above Histon. As I walked to the small stadium (see picture), Swindon fans could be heard remarking about quaint the village was. They were expecting an easy victory. The stadium itself was wee, with perhaps a capacity of 3000 at most, and everyone from Histon, and their kids, seemed to be there. The children running around the field even got to request the songs played over the loudspeaker--for the first time, I heard the theme from High School Musical at a soccer game.
Since United's FA Cup game was away, I decided to take the bus to Histon to see them battle Swindon, a team in League One, two levels above Histon. As I walked to the small stadium (see picture), Swindon fans could be heard remarking about quaint the village was. They were expecting an easy victory. The stadium itself was wee, with perhaps a capacity of 3000 at most, and everyone from Histon, and their kids, seemed to be there. The children running around the field even got to request the songs played over the loudspeaker--for the first time, I heard the theme from High School Musical at a soccer game.
Histon was the more aggressive team from the opening whistle and never showed a trace of being intimidated. They scored 1 goal, and had 2 others controversially waved off for infractions, and Swindon never put away its few chances. An amazing 1-0 upset and Histon moves on to the next round of the FA Cup. At this point that means a lot of money to such a small "village" team--they might be able to afford some new players in the spring and give United a battle for promotion into the Football League. I haven't abandoned United by any means, but I'm now a Stutes fan.--J.T.
