THE FISH HOOKED ME IN

FOOTBALL WRITER AND POET CHRIS TOWERS VENTURES TO WATCH FISHER FC IN FA VASE ACTION...

- CHRIS TOWERS

I TOOK a ferry ride over the Thames to see Fisher FC in action. The bright lights of Canary Wharf shone from the imposing tower blocks to Rotherhithe, the other side of the Thames.

The Thames was choppy as the Clipper boat meandered from the quay side of Canary Wharf, a three-minute ferry ride to the Hilton Hotel, at the Royal Docks. It must be the first time I have ever taken a ferry to a game within the mainland of England.

There was I sailing from the banks of the financial sector where city workers strolled in sharp suits, to the humble abodes, the Hilton apart, in Rotherhithe. From the clocks counting time on the stock exchange, quite literally amid the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, with numerous timekeepers surrounding the tower blocks, to the beating heart of another part of the city, separated by the estuary.

I was there to witness Fisher take on Steyning Town in the first round of the FA Vase, just a short ferry ride away but in financial terms a long way from Canary Wharf.

But once over the water the imposing towers of the area could be seen from many vantage points, including a panoramic view of the skyline from Stave Hill Ecological Park, with the auburn and green leaves of autumn mingling with grey steel.

Fisher play at the St Paul's ground. A nomadic club with a ground nestled between apartment blocks and old dockland buildings, literally close to the community.

I could see immediately how the ground itself is a resource, home not only to the Millwall Women's team but to other sides who play there.