Posts from English League, Non-League and Welsh football grounds
Darlaston Town
January 4, 2012
4 comments
Date: Tuesday Nov 01 2011
Ground: City Ground
Comp: West Midland Regional Division (step six)
Match: Darlaston Town 0 Cradley Town 8 HT: 0-4
ATT: 45 (headcount)
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
City Ground in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 8, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 29
By a coincidence, just days before going to the City Ground of Darlaston Town, Neil Chambers emailed me. He is the author of the book ‘The History of Darlaston Town Football Club’. It is a 220 page glossy, superbly put together, history from 1893 to present. The club is thought to have existed as early as 1874, though. The introduction to the book describes it perfectly: Read more…
Walsall Wood FC
December 30, 2011
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Date: Tuesday Oct 04 2011
Ground: Oak Park
Comp: Midland Combination Premier (step six)
Match: Walsall Wood 1 Bolehall Swifts 3 HT: 1-2
Sequence: 1-0, 1-1 1-2, 1-3
ATT: 80 (headcount)
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Oak Park in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 6, Structures/Terracing 6, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 6
Total 25
Another WWFC exists to the north of Birmingham - Walsall Wood FC; my third of the ‘Walsall Quartet’ of Pelsall, Rushall, Walsall Wood and Bloxwich. The latter will complete the set. I’ve noticed that the many clubs around this area go in for wrought iron gates with the club initials on – Walsall Wood keeping up the tradition, along with Wednesfield, Pelsall Villa and Darlaston Town among the ones I’ve noticed. Read more…
Berriew FC
December 28, 2011
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Date: Friday Sep 30 2011
Ground: Berriew Recreation Ground
Comp: Spar Mid Wales League Division One (Welsh step three)
Match: Berriew 4 Rhayader 4 HT: 1-3
Sequence: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, 4-4
ATT: 50 (headcount)
Additional: Entrance £3.00, Programme NONE Coffee 80p
Berriew Recreation Ground in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 7, Structures/Terracing 6, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 27
Another Welsh ground pinched from what would have been an unmemorable Friday evening. Grounds gained outside Saturday afternoons seem somehow bonus ticks, knocked off in between games, so to speak. I’d arranged to meet my friend Nick from Newport (Shropshire), a real fan of mid-wales football, at Berriew. Read more…
Borrowash Victoria
December 18, 2011
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Date: Saturday Sep 03 2011
Ground: Atkinson Construction Bowl
Comp: FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round
Match: Borrowash Victoria 1 Carlton Town 3 HT: 0-2
Sequence: 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3
ATT: 132
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Atkinson Construction Bowl in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 8, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 29
Borrowash Victoria are one of two teams who play next to each other in the Derby suburb of Spondon. The other team in this binary star system, in a remote spiral arm of the Derbyshire galaxy, is Graham Street Prims; who play in the same league. Both grounds are accessed through the same entrance with Prims on the left and Borrowash slightly further on, down the gravel car park. Read more…
Stafford Town
December 4, 2011
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Date: Saturday Aug 27 2011
Ground: Evans Park
Comp: West Midlands Regional League (step six)
Match: Stafford Town 4 Dudley Town 1 HT: 3-0
Sequence: 1-0,2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 4-1
ATT: 35 (headcount)
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Evans Park in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 7, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 8, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 29
Stafford Town, founded 1976, are in only their second season back in the pyramid at step six or above. They have been there before, but had to share with Stafford Rangers’ Marston Road ground, in order to be eligible. The turn of the century was their highest elevation when they played in the step five Midland Alliance. In the 2000s they opted to go back to the West Midlands League Division One (step seven), playing at the Rowley Park Stadium, a municipal sports facility. In 2009-10 they had a new stadium built, named after their founder and still chairman Gordon Evans. They played their first game there near the end of their season and, coincidentally, also got promoted to the Premier step six division, and obviously had no problem meeting the grading requirements this time. Read more…
Shawbury United
November 27, 2011
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Date: Tuesday Aug 23 2011
Ground: Butler Sports Centre
Comp: West Midlands Regional League (step six)
Match: Shawbury United 2 Dudley Town 3 HT: 0-0
Sequence: 0-1,1-1,1-2,1-3,2-3
ATT: 25 (headcount)
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Butler Sports Centre in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 6, Structures/Terracing 5, Hospitality 6, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 5
Total 22
Another midweek trip into Deliverance country – this time to see one of the newer members of the West Midlands Regional League, Shawbury United – founded 1992. Shawbury is just north of Shrewsbury but they play in another Shropshire village called Wem, sharing the Butler Sports Field with Wem Town FC of the division below. Read more…
Gornal Athletic
November 13, 2011
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Date: Saturday Aug 20 2011
Ground: Garden Walk
Comp: FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Match: Gornal Athletic 2 Shifnal Town 2 HT: 0-1
ATT: 60 Head Count
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Garden Walk in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 8, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 6
Total 28
Gornal Athletic are a small, unassuming club that have been around since 1919, taking over from an earlier incarnation called Gornal Wood Excelsior. They have always played in Lower Gornal, between Sedgley and Dudley, in North West Birmingham, and indeed were know as Lower Gornal Athletic until 1972. They have played in the West Midland Regional League since 1962, a league that spans steps six to eight. They are currently in the Premier step six division, along with today’s opponents Shifnal Town, from near Telford. Read more…
Irlam FC
November 11, 2011
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Date: Tuesday Aug 09 2011
Ground: Silver Street
Comp: NW Counties League Division One (step six)
Match: Irlam 1 Wigan Robin Park 4 HT: 0-0
Burgess 90; Judge (pen) 49, Howard 65, 78, 80
ATT: 55
Additional: Entrance £4.00, Programme £1.00
Silver Street in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 5, Structures/Terracing 5, Hospitality 7, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 5
Total 22
Irlam FC, from West Manchester, started off as Mitchell Shackleton FC in 1969. They have only been at step six in the North West Counties league division one for three season, before that playing mostly in the Manchester league. They changed their name to Irlam Mitchell Shackleton in 2001, but then discarded two thirds of their name to become just Irlam FC. (I did see an old sign in the coffee bar of Irlam Town AFC though?) Read more…
Club Olimpico de Totana
August 19, 2011
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Date: Wednesday Jul 27 2011
Ground: Campo Municipal de Juan Cayuela
Comp: Pre-season Friendly
Match: Club Olimpico de Totana 0 FC Cartagena 7 HT: 0-4
ATT: circa 400
Additional: Entrance €10.00 adults €3 children, Programme NONE
Campo Juan Cayuela in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 8, Structures/Terracing 8, Hospitality 6, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 8
Total 30
Another friendly for Cartagena, in the area (well more or less!) we were holidaying. This one was the town of Totana, about 35 miles west of Murcia, home to a preferente (Conference) side Club Olimpico de Totana. Very nice ground for the level they’re playing at – I believe they have played at higher levels very recently, like the Tercera (Div 2) league. Read more…
UD Horadada
August 7, 2011
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Date: Saturday Jul 23 2011
Ground: Estadio Ikomar (home of Union Deportiva Horadada)
Comp: Pre-season Friendly
Match: FC Cartagena 3 Albacete Balompie 2 HT: 0-0
ATT: circa 600
Additional: Entrance €7.00 adults €0 children, Programme NONE
Estadio Ikomar in pictures
Ground Statistics (marks out of ten, maximum 40)
Character 7, Structures/Terracing 7, Hospitality 6, Backdrop/Scenery or aesthetics for larger stadiums 7
Total 27
We went on holiday to Algorfa, a small village in the Alicante Province in the Comunitat Valenciana. I wasn’t holding out much hope of catching a game, as website enquiries beforehand were fruitless, so I was relying on newspapers for information. Read more…
WSC Mention
