Today we take a look back at the last six years' worth of games for the three OHAFC teams on this weekend...

Six Seasons Ago: November 21st 2009

OHAFC 2nd XI 1 Old Carthusians 2nd XI 2: The Harrow second string went down to a narrow defeat against the perennially strong Charterhouse 2’s. Freddie Brunt opened the scoring for the hosts from the penalty spot, but despite a superb performance at centre-half from Ed Martins, the visitors proved too strong in the end and ran out 2-1 winners.

Five Seasons Ago: November 20th 2010

Old Salopians 4 OHAFC 1st XI 7: A miserable date and an appalling pitch in Chiswick failed to prevent the two sides putting on a goalsfest for those watching with eleven goals being shared. The result was far from a foregone conclusion with five of Harrow’s goals coming in the second half.

Ed Martins opened the scoring after 25 minutes and skipper Quentin Baker added a second shortly before the break. In the second half Luke de Rougemont scored twice in ten minutes to give Harrow the lead (and taking his tally for season to seven in just four starts) but the win was only assured when Harry Hoffen and David Lederman (two, one a penalty) scored late on.

Lancing 2’s 0 OHAFC 2nd XI 1: A tight context played on an excellent playing surface in Kingston saw the Harrow 2’s, under Harry Woolley’s leadership, run out 1-0 winners thanks to a strike from midfielder Kamil Amin shortly before the break.

Four Seasons Ago: November 19th 2011

Old Cholmelians 4 OHAFC 1st XI 4: For the second match in succession, the OHAFC 1st XI required a last-minute goal to rescue something from a match they dominated for long spells – although the 4-4 draw away at Highgate was even more spectacular than the previous weekend’s 3-2 home win over Haileybury.

The visitors took an early lead, Baker heading home a Lederman free-kick, but straight from the kick-off Cholmeleians equalised. That goal sparked mild panic in the Harrow ranks and they proceeded to concede twice more before the break in poor fashion, leaving themselves with an uphill task in the second half.

A fine spell of pressure after half-time saw the Blues haul themselves back into the fixture thanks to a second header from Baker. But against the run of play the hosts restored their two goal advantage from a half-cleared corner.

A superb save with five minutes remaining from Harrow ‘keeper Luke Raffety was to prove vital as Harrow launched a stunning fightback in the final two minutes of the game. They were awarded a fortunate penalty when a Cholms defender was adjudged to have handled inside the box but after lengthy protestations Lederman held his nerve to convert.

And an injury time scramble inside the Cholms box produced a dramatic equaliser for Fred Richardson, Lederman’s cross to the far post being headed back into the danger zone by de Rougemont.

Three Seasons Ago: November 24th 2012

OHAFC 1st XI 1 Old Cholmeleians 3: A tough game for the Harrow 1st XI as they were outplayed by a strong Cholms side in a game played in driving rain throughout on the Hill.

In an even first half, the deadlock was broken after half an hour when a corner was routinely headed home at the far post. Fortunately, Cholms deigned to concede an even softer equaliser ten minutes later – a short goal-kick out was mis-controlled on the edge of the box allowing Defty the simplest of finishes.

Harrow’s second half performance was as grey as the weather unfortunately and the Cholms midfield soon began to overrun their outnumbered opponents. Twice the visitors hit the woodwork but there was to be no escape for the hosts and two goals in the final twenty minutes earned Cholms the win their superior play had deserved.

OHAFC 2nd XI 3 Forest 2’s 2: A superb hat-trick from striker Dave Stead earned the Harrow second string a deserved win against their Forest counterparts in a closely-fought game.

The visitors took the lead midway through the first half but Harrow responded immediately when a well-worked move down the right allowed Woolley to cross for Stead to head home.

A perfectly-executed chip from Joe Bone at a Harrow set-piece saw Stead score his second header of the game shortly before the break and he completed his hat-trick ten minutes into the second half with a composed right-foot finish.

Injuries to Bone and Trower then left the side clinging on to their lead – Forest reduced the arrears to one with twenty minutes remaining – but Woolley’s men held out, due in no small part to the excellent performances at centre-half from Ben Kerry and Kamil Amin.

Two Seasons Ago: November 23rd 2013

Old Malvernians 1 OHAFC 1st XI 0: Probably the low point of the season for the 1st XI as they became the only side to suffer defeat at the hands of bottom side Malvern.

It didn’t help that there was no goalkeeper available and that in itself was the cause of the only goal of the game, stand-in Sam Pepys spilling a routine shot allowing a simple tap-in.

At the other end the Blues were denied by a combination of poor finishing, excellent goalkeeping and plain bad luck – a clearly-wrong offside call against Alex Breeden saw his ‘goal’ ruled out after he was playing in via a long ball.

The Malvern ‘keeper produced several excellent saves and the home side held on to record their sole success of the season.

OHAFC 2nd XI 3 Winchester 2’s 2: A fine win for the Harrow 2’s as they were missing a number of regulars, including skipper Jack Orr-Ewing and leading scorer Max Curry, who was called up to the 1st XI.

The hosts started the better of the two sides and opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour from a regular source – an Alex Cater long throw that was flicked home by Stead. Although they remained on top the hosts could not score a second and the game remained in the balance at the break.

There was little cause to panic however, as the pattern of the first half was repeated in the opening minutes of the second. Harrow continued to attack and score their second when a Cater corner was half-cleared allowing Matthew Main to hook the ball back over the ‘keeper from just inside the box.

The provider of Harrow’s first two goals then created a scored the third – a strong run down the middle of the pitch was unfairly halted just inside the box and Cater stepped up to confidently sidefoot the ball home.

Two late goals from some sloppy Harrow defending left the final five minutes far more nerve-wracking than they should have been but fortunately there was to be no repeat of the collapse suffered the previous week and the side held on to deservedly claim the three points.

Last Season: November 22nd 2014

OHAFC 1st XI 5 Old Brentwoods 1: In what ended up as their best victory of the season, the Harrow first team crushed Brentwood on the Hill, not for the first time in recent seasons.

Bizarrely playing in retro-style 1970’s wing-collar red pinstripe shirts clearly sat well with Fred Richardson’s men and they raced into a two-goal lead thanks to a fine Alex Gilbert strike and a Lederman penalty. The second half saw the visitors pull a goal back but further efforts from Gilbert, Quentin Baker and Alex Breeden ensured the long trip home would be a miserable one for the visitors.

OHAFC 2nd XI 5 Old Epsomians 4: The driving rain failed to prevent a veritable goal-fest on Phil 2 as Jack Orr-Ewing’s 2’s got their promotion push back on track with a thrilling 5-4 win over Epsom. The Curry brothers, Max and Oli, opened the scoring early on to put Harrow 2-0 up. A freak 40 yard free-kick from Jack Orr-Ewing made it three early in the second half and a well-worked move allowed Ben Kerry to score the fourth. When Oli Curry scored the fifth it appeared to be a question of how many Harrow would win by but to the credit of the visitors they kept plugging away and some Harrow over-confidence soon saw goals flying in at the other end.

Incredibly, the scoreline read 5-4 with still four minutes on the clock, but thankfully the Harrow rearguard decided they would like the points after all and managed to cling on as time ran out.

OHAFC 3rd XI 2 Old Foresters 3’s 3: Plenty more goals on the other side of the Hill but this time the hosts were on the wrong end, Forest 3’s running out 3-2 winners in another entertaining fixture. The visitors made the quicker start and found themselves 2-0 up. But Harrow rallied and efforts from Oli Walker and skipper Benjy Sewell looked to have earned a point.

That was before a cruel twist of fate, with the visitors striking home from a free-kick fully five minutes into injury time to snatch an ill-deserved victory.

On this weekend…In the wider footballing world

This weekend saw two very different but equally embarrassing occurrences on two of the game’s major stages in England…

On November 21st 2007, England took on Croatia at Wembley in their final qualifier for the 2008 European Championships needing only a draw to progress to the finals in Austria and Switzerland. A draw would have been sufficient for the Croatians too, leading those in Russia to believe a sterile 0-0 would be played out, thereby sending both sides through and leaving the Russians watching the finals on their televisions.

Unfortunately no-one had told the Croatians. Or, indeed, England goalkeeper Scott Carson, winning only his second cap that night. In pouring rain, England were 2-0 down inside fifteen minutes. The opener saw Carson spill a 30-yard effort from Niko Kranjcar through his hands and into the net.

England manager Steve McLaren stood on the touchline under his FA umbrella and watched on as his charges first gave the country hope by clawing their way back to 2-2 thanks to goals from Lampard and Crouch, then threw it all away when another long-range effort from Petric beat Carson and sent the Croatians and Russians through and England out.

The next day McLaren was dubbed the ‘Wally with the Brolly’ by the media and sacked by the FA.

On the same day two years earlier, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry cooked up their ridiculous penalty routine against Manchester City at Highbury that saw Pires eschew a shot at goal and instead try to roll the ball a yard forwards for Henry to run onto and tap home. Unforutnately, Pires took an air shot, everyone rushed into the box and confusion reigned.

That particular penalty routine has not been tried since.

Also on this weekend: Leeds United agreed a fee of £18 million with West Ham for Rio Ferdinand (2000); Spurs beat Wigan 9-0 at White Hart Lane with Jermaine Defoe scoring five (2009); Blackburn lost 3-0 at Spartak Moscow in the Champions League in the game where Graeme le Saux and David Batty had an on-field fight (1995); a future England manager was sacked with Roy Hodgson given the boot by Blackburn Rovers (1998).