Our look back at fixtures played on the weekend before Christmas over the past six seasons has thrown up only three OHAFC matches…

Four Seasons Ago: December 17th 2011

OHAFC 1st XI 5 Old Cholmeleians 1, Arthur Dunn Cup Rd 2: The 1st XI enjoyed a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals of the Dunn Cup with a convincing win over Cholms on the Hill.

The side got off to the best possible start thanks to that rarest of commodities - a right-footed goal from Piers Bourke, who timed his run perfectly to connect with a Freddie Brunt cross.

The lead lasted only a few minutes thanks to some good fortune for the visitors - a long cross from the right caught the wind and sailed straight over 'keeper Luke Raffety's head and into the far corner.

But Harrow regained the lead shortly before the break thanks to a sweeping counter-attack that saw Harry Hoffen calmly round the 'keeper to slot home.

An intricate set-piece saw the lead doubled on the hour mark when a corner was flicked back across goal twice, first by Hadden-Paton then by Molloy, for Fred Milln to head home from close range.

The game was put to bed in the final twenty minutes with two long-range efforts: substitute Lederman curled the ball into the far corner, fortunately, direct from a corner before Ed Martins repeated the feat rather more deliberately from the edge of the box.

The draw for the quarter-finals wasn't the kindest: a trip to Tonbridge to play on the astroturf.

Old Salopians 2's 3 OHAFC 2nd XI 0: The Harrow 2nd XI enjoyed their pre-Christmas football slightly less than the 1's, slipping to a 3-0 defeat at the Old Salopians.

Despite playing well in the first half the visitors failed to take any of their chances and were punished in the second half when the Salopians scored three unanswered goals.

Last Season: December 20th 2014

Old Brentwoods 1st XI 8 OHAFC 1st XI 2: The OHAFC 1st XI travelled to Brentwood with just the bare eleven, including six players who between them had played only five matches previously for the side. One of them, Will Bamford, was making his club debut and he was asked to play at right-back, by no means his favoured position.

Nevertheless, despite the weakness of the side and the poor pitch which greeted the team on arrival, the visitors made a fine start to the game with Bamford setting up Ogyen Verhagen for a goal after only four minutes.

Harrow continued to acquit themselves well to the conditions but the game then turned in a ten-minute spell midway through the half that saw five goals scored, four of them by the hosts. Brentwood went 2-1 up but Soyinka levelled immediately after, chasing down a long ball. Two more goals from the hosts gave them a 4-2 lead and from that point on they never looked back.

The second half saw the visitors tire and with no substitutes they struggled as the match progressed into its final third. Brentwood scored four more times to run out comfortable 8-2 winners, ensuring it was the Harrovians who went into the New Year at the foot of the Premier Division.

On this Weekend...In the wider footballing world

This weekend has seen a plethora of interesting events take place in football, especially in the Premier League…

Dec 19th 1990 – Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams is sentenced to three months in prison for crashing his car whilst four times over the blood alcohol limit. It wasn’t until 1996 that Adams finally admitted he was an alcoholic and sought help for his illness. He later went on to set up the Sporting Chance clinic to help current and former players deal with addiction illnesses.

Dec 19th 1992 – Eric Cantona scored his first goal for Manchester United, earning the Red Devils a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

Dec 20th 1996 – should have seen Middlesbrough travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers in a Premier League game but a flu virus had struck Bryan Robson’s squad and, with 23 players unavailable by the manager’s reckoning, the club decided to cancel the game. The Premier League took a dim view, fining Boro £50,000 and deducting the club three points. In a tragic end of season, Middlesbrough lost both the FA Cup and League Cup finals and were relegated on the last day of the season after a 0-0 draw at Leeds.

That game, whilst heart-breaking for all Middlesbrough supporters, happened to include perhaps the finest post-game interview ever, when Boro skipper Nigel Pearson was asked by Sky’s chief football reporter Nick Collins in the tunnel how he felt. ‘F***ing hell Nick, ask a stupid question…’ came the reply.

Dec 19th 2003 – saw another England defender in trouble off the field, as Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand was banned from playing for eight months by the FA for missing a drugs test. Ferdinand pleaded, somewhat weakly, that he was out shopping at the time and forgot he was due to give a test. The FA took no notice, ruling the defender out of the remainder of the season as well as the summer’s European Championships that saw England reach the quarter-finals without him.

Dec 20th 2007 – saw Queens Park Rangers become, bizarrely, the wealthiest club in world football, following the purchase of the west London club by some of the world’s richest men, including steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and Formula One tycoons Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. The Loftus road side embarked on a spending spree on and off the pitch that proved less than successful…the side suffered relegation from the Premier League and, crippled by the huge wage bill and long contracts handed out, have been unable to mount a credible challenge for promotion in recent seasons.