Welcome to Shaun Smith's groundhopping football blog 'The 100 Football Grounds Club'(est.2006) the original internet ground logging website. Please feel free to leave any comments if you wish. Cheers!!! site updated on post date
Welcome to The 100 Football Grounds Club
Welcome to Shaun Smith's groundhopping football blog 'The 100 Football Grounds Club'(est.2006) the original internet ground logging website. Please feel free to leave any comments if you wish. Cheers!!! site updated on post date
My Matchday - 306 Fenland Stadium
Wisbech Town 2v2 Dunston UTS (a.e.t.)
FA Vase 4th Round
Saturday 21st January 2012
Away trips with Dunston in the FA Vase are amongst the highlights of my season, and I once again I enjoyed a good day out with the Fed Lads for the 4th Round clash at Wisbech Town.
We departed the UTS Stadium at 9am and after two (one would have been sufficient) stops we arrived in the Cambridgeshire town at 1.30pm. There was much debate over what today’s destination was actually called. I’ve always thought the town was pronounces as Wiz-beck, however my travel companion Lee Robbo declared it’s Wiz-beach, which was later confirmed by the locals. However if it is Wiz-beach then where is the A and where’s the Sea? (Did you C what I did there?)
Wisbech is a market town and inland port on the River Nene in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The town’s main feature is Wisbech Castle built in 1071 by William I, which in the late 16th century became a notorious prison. Amongst those inmates were political Catholic priests and bishops, many of which died due to the jails unhygienic conditions. The Norman castle was destroyed in a devastating flood in 1236 and has been rebuilt several times throughout the centuries.
Wisbech Town formed in 1920 after the merger of three local clubs, originally joining the Peterborough & District League which they won on five occasions during the 1920’s and early ‘30s. The club formed a Limited Company and turned semi-professional in 1935, progressing to the United Counties League, becoming champions three times after the Second World War. In 1950 The Fenmen switched to the Eastern Counties League before joining the Midland League two years later.
In 1957-58 they reached the second round of the FA Cup, beating Colchester United 1-0 in the first Round, coupled with achieving promotion to the Southern League after finishing league runners-up. The club played within the Southern League set up for twelve seasons until returning to the Eastern Counties League in 1970.
Wisbech finished runners-up and won the League Cup in their first season back in the ECL and won the double the following season and lifted the league title again in 1976-77 and 1990-91.
In 1995-96 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1966 and also finished second in the league winning promotion to the Midland Division of the Southern League. The club continued to produce good performances in the FA Cup reaching the first round again in 1996-97 and the following season they reached Round Two, losing 2-0 at home to Bristol Rovers.
Town had a second spell in the Southern League for five seasons until returning to the Eastern Counties League in 2002.
Wisbech played there final game at Fenland Park in September 2008 and secured a temporary move to Outwell Swift's Nest ground after installing a seated stand, floodlights and terracing.
Construction began on the new 9-acre site ground in January 2010, with the first match on August 14th for an FA Cup extra-preliminary round tie against St Andrews which The Fenmen won 5-0.
The 118-seater stand which relocated from its brief home at Outwell is a basic structure filled with red seats. The stand is situated at the far side and is flanked by open hard standing. Behind each goal are fully covered single step terraces, named the Spicer McColl Stand and the Fenland Fire Stand.
Next to the turnstile entrance is the main building block which provides a large clubhouse, changing rooms and refreshment bar. The near side also provides more terrace space and the team dugouts. There’s also a club shop in one corner(£4.50 for a pin badge!) and the ground is finished off by a set of thin six lamped corner floodlights.
Wisbech deservingly lead at the break after a disappointing first half performance from the visitors. The goal arriving on 25 minutes when a low cross from the right was sliced home by Nick Davey finding the roof of the net.
The Geordies produced a more positive performance in the second half, as they turned the match around courtesy of two scrappy goals. A free kick from 25 yards was crossed to the far post where Young nodded back across goal, where Bulford was on hand to get a faint touch that wrong footed the ‘keeper. Then on 76 minutes a free kick from the left from McAndrew, missed everyone and found the far corner of the net, although initially I though Swailes got his head on the cross.
Dunston looked set for a place in the fifth round but on 81 minutes it was all square, Matt Lunn picked up the ball on the right and darted into the box, then from a tight angle his cross shot found the top corner, if he did mean to shoot (I couldn’t tell from behind the opposite goal) it was a great goal to take the match into extra time.
The hosts almost took the lead after the restart hitting the foot of the post, but extra time was dominated by a monsoon which swept across the pitch which limited any clear cut chances and a crucial winner for either side. On 110 minutes a game which was littered with yellow cards produced a second booking for Michael Dixon, but Dunston’s ten men comfortably held on, which means The Fenmen will have to do the reverse journey to Tyneside next Saturday.
Unfortunately I’ll not be in attendance next week, but I can guarantee that followers of Wisbech Town can look forward to an enjoyable and hospitable afternoon at the UTS Stadium, because that’s just the way we are, as we understand how to treat visitors to our part of the world.
Matchday stats
WTFC 2(Davey 24 Lunn 81) DUTSFC 2(Bulford 50, McAndrew 76)
att.548
Admission £7(but I paid a fiver)
Programme £1
WTFC 2(Davey 24 Lunn 81) DUTSFC 2(Bulford 50, McAndrew 76)
att.548
Admission £7(but I paid a fiver)
Programme £1
Ground no.306 Fenland Stadium - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)
My Matchday - 305 Flaxley Road Ground
Selby Town 0v2 Staveley Miners Welfare
Northern Counties East League Premier Division
Saturday 14th January 2012
On this very day in 1988 as a bright eyed and bushy tailed shy young lad, I made my seventh attempt at permanent employment, crossing the office threshold for the very first time. I marked this 24 year anniversary and the fact my working career has stagnated with a day on the lash in one of my favourite drinking cities – York, incorporating of course another new ground visit at nearby Selby Town.
Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, situated 12 miles south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse. Historically the river was part of the town’s large shipbuilding industry and a thriving port due to the Selby Canal, which brought trade from the city of Leeds.
The main feature of the town is Selby Abbey, founded by Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and one of few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period. Its main feature is the 14th century Washington Window which shows the heraldic arms of the ancestors of America’s first president George Washington.
Selby Town formed in 1919 and the following year entered the Yorkshire Football League as founder members. The club were ever present throughout the history of the Yorkshire League before it became part of the Northern Counties East League in 1982. During the league’s 62 year history ‘The Robins’ were champions on five occasions, three times in the 1930s and successive seasons between 1952 and ’54.
They also progressed in the FA Cup during this decade, reaching the 1st Round in 1953-54 when a club record crowd of 7,000 witnessed the clash with Bradford Park Avenue, and the following season were knocked out at the Second Round stage by Hastings United, the longest cup run in their history.Selby won their first honour in the Northern Counties East League in 1995-96, lifting the Division One title and have remained in the league’s Premier Division since,with there best performance as runners-up in 2004-05.
The ground is open terracing on three sides with a covered seated stand behind the north goal. The stand has the club name in large red letters on the white back wall and has three rows of wooden block seats with a cordoned off section of 16 seats set aside for club officials and guests.
There is a small covered stand added directly behind the opposite goal, with the team dugouts and changing rooms at the far side. Next to the turnstile entrance is the clubhouse which was opened in the late ‘60s and is quite spacious with a selection of hot food and drinks.
There's a set of tall floodlights on each side which were installed in 1994 and as part of a three-year sponsorship deal, Flaxley Road was renamed the Rigid Group Stadium from August 2010. There’s plans afoot to move to a brand new Conference-standard stadium on East Common Lane next to Selby College.
The visitors were awarded a penalty five minutes before the break when keeper Barford brought down Barraclough with Ryan Damms making no mistake with the spot-kick. The points were assured on 54 minutes, when a nice exchange of passing was finished off with a neat chip over the keeper from Simon Barraclough, to move The Welfare into second spot in the promotion race.
To break up my journey to Selby I enjoyed a canny pub crawl in York, a city where your spoilt for choice as far as a decent pint is concerned. I started off with breakfast and a pint in the Punch Bowl, then called into Brigantes, Last Drop Inn, Three-Legged Mare and the cities oldest pub Ye Olde Starre Inne.
I arrived in Selby at 2.10 and the Flaxley Road Ground is a 10 minute walk to the station, so I headed straight to the clubhouse for a pint and a read of the match day programme, which had an interesting feature inside titled ’On this day… 14th January.
The many landmarks on this particular day include Zsa Zsa Gabor getting her leg chopped off(2011) The Simpsons premiered on Fox-TV(1989) Roy Castle breaking a tap dancing record on the Beeb(1973) and the Sex Pistols final concert in 1978. Another personal milestone which could go on that list is in 1988 when I began working for one of the world’s biggest communications businesses, an occasion I marked by not actually being in the f***ing place but instead spending a great day doing the things I like i.e. enjoying my football ground hobby and a day on the lash.
STFC 0 SMWFC 2 (Damms 40p Barraclough 55)
att.82
Admission £5
Programme £2
Ground no.305 Flaxley Road Ground - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)
The 100FgC 2011 Accolades
(Shaun's choices in the 100FgC new years honours list)
*Best Match Attended*
Gateshead 5v4 Sunderland RCA,Durham Cup QF 12th January.
The Northern League side came from behind to lead 4-2 courtesy of a Richard Logan hat-trick and looked set for a place in the next round, however the young Heed side refused to lie down, scoring three goals in the last nine minutes to progress into the semi-finals on route to lifting the Durham Cup for the first time in the club’s history.
*Goal of the Year*
Paul Clayton - Alfreton Town
My goal of the year goes to Alfreton Town striker Paul Clayton, who scored a cracker against Gateshead in the Blue Sq.Bet Premier in November. The ball was played up the right wing to Jake Moult, his back heel flick fell into the path of Clayton who placed an unstoppable shot beyond the reach of Jak Alnwick from 18 yards.
*Favourite Previous Uncharted Senior Ground*
Amex Stadium - Brighton & Hove Albion
* Favourite Previous Unchartered Non-League Ground*
Church Road - Hayes & Yeading
Church Road - Hayes & Yeading
Church Road in Hayes is another classic old non-league ground which was lost this year after over 90 years of use. I arrived just in time for the final match making the long trek to Middlesex on a Tuesday night for the final farewell.
*Favourite My Matchday*
281 Plainmoor
The most enjoyable My Matchday was my furthest journey of the year, a 380 mile drive to Torquay on the Thursday before their Good Friday clash with Wycombe Wanderers.
This was the first of an Easter treble which included Yeovil and Bournemouth which formed part of an enjoyable weekend in the South West for the Smudger family.
*Best Pre-Match Bevvy*
The Bear - Oxford
The Bear - Oxford
The Bear Inn in the fine city of Oxford is probably the titchiest pub I’ve ever been in. The bar is decorated throughout with old school ties and serves a regular selection of Fuller's beers as well as a couple of guest ales. The Bear claims to be the old boozer in the city and is worth seeking out, found just off the main High Street on Bear Lane.
*Silver 'Spoons Award*
Tilley Stone - Gateshead
Tilley Stone - Gateshead
At long last we have a JDW in Gateshead(the one in the Metty doesn’t count) The Tilley Stone opened in October and over the last few months I’ve been a regular caller, especially on Thursday’s, as the weekly curry nights are popular with the Smudger family.
*Scabby Eye of the Year*
Cornish Pasty - Yeovil
The ‘Scabby-eye Award’ goes not to a pie but another form of pastry based product with the delicious belly filling Cornish pasties at Huish Park in Yeovil. This is the first and probably the only time a Football League club takes this award which is usually dominated by the superior food on offer at non-league grounds.
Last years winners and the year before and the year before that can be viewed HERE.
My Matchday - 304 New Broomfield
Airdrie United 3v3 Arbroath
Scottish League Division Two
Saturday 26th November 2011
It was my intension that last month’s trip north to Raith Rovers was to be my last journey to Scotland until the spring. However it was hard to resist taking a gamble on the weather to book advance trains to Edinburgh and if I couldn’t bag another ground there’s always the back up plan of a day on the lash in one of my favourite cities.The weather was rough in the West side of Scotland, but not match threatening, so I confidently headed up to Airdrie in North Lanarkshire. The town forms part of a municipality with Coatbridge in the former district known as the Monklands, situated approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow.
The Airdrie name is believed to have originated from Gaelic dialect; An Àrd Ruigh meaning a level height or high pastures land, or possibly from An Àrd Àirighe denoting a sheiling or wayside town
Airdrie United formed in 2002, born out of a collapse of one club and the takeover of another. Airdieonians with debts of almost £3m went out of business after finished runners-up in the Scottish First Division in the 2001–02 season, their vacancy in the SFL taking up by Gretna, a non-league side playing in the Northern Premier League in England.
Airdieonians fan and accountant Jim Ballantyne led a consortium to gain entry to the Scottish League with a newly formed club out of the ashes of “The Diamonds” with a buy-out of the ailing Second Division side Clydebank, to take over their League place and relocated to North Lanarkshire.
The new club kept the traditional Airdrieonians colours of all white with a wraparound red diamond and the name changed to Airdrie United. Although the club are officially a continuation of Clydebank, they are mainly recognised as a reincarnation of Airdrieonians, with Clydebank having been reformed by the UCS supporters group, plying their trade in the West Region of the Scottish Junior League.
Airdrieonians formed in 1878 and played at the original Broomfield Park from 1892. My own link to Airdrie, or should I say, the Tyneside connection to the club comes in the way of a famous son of North Lanarkshire - the legendary Hughie Gallacher.After signing from Queen of the South in 1921, Hughie made his name at Airdrieonians, earning the first of his 20 Scottish caps in 1924 going on to score 23 international goals. During his four years at Broomfield he scored 91 goals in 111 appearances before heading south to St James Park in a 6,500 deal in December 1925.
The wee man became one of the earliest legendary Newcastle number 9s, a key member of the 1926-27 title winning team with a remarkable 133 career goals in 160 matches before a big money move to Chelsea. Such was his popularity at United that when he return with the Blues a record attendance of 68,386 was set, with several thousand locked outside. Gallacher scored 81 goals in 144 games and was Chelsea’s top scorer in each of his four seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Hughie went on to play at Derby County, Notts County and Grimsby before returning to Tyneside in 1938 at Fourth Division Gateshead. A delighted and emotional Gallacher was quoted as saying “It’s grand to be back on Tyneside, my heart has been here ever since I left United eight years ago. I intend to spend the rest of my life with my adopted folk in Gateshead."
Crowds at Gateshead’s Redheugh Park soared to 20,000 as he hit 18 league goals for the club before retiring from football due to the outbreak of World War 2. Hughie continued to live in Gateshead until his sad demise and tragic suicide in 1957, taking his life just a short walk from my own home in Gateshead, stepping in front of an oncoming express train on the London-Edinburgh line at Low Fell.
Broomfield Park was sold to supermarket chain Safeway for £5.5m in May 1994. The club’s intention was to build a new, 10,000 all-seated stadium to SPL standard in readiness of gaining promotion from the First Division. However acquiring planning permission proved difficult as the club struggled to find an appropriate site, which meant Airdrie had to groundshare with Clyde at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld for four seasons.
Once a viable site was found, building work on the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium (as it was originally called) was completed in time for the start of the 1998-99 season. The stadium is made up of four separate single tier stands with open corners. The Jack Dalziel Stand is the largest, having a row of executive boxes at the top and decked out in red seats with white diamonds and AFC (What about the ‘U’?) picked out in black. The Perspex dugouts are at each side of the tunnel and the stand also houses the ticket office, club shop, conference and banqueting facilities and a public bar.
Opposite is the East Stand which is closed to the public and is only used by the press. I was one of the eight in the spacious press box, made up of six writers and two on the TV gantry section. The stand is similar in height and appearance as the North and South Stands behind each goal, the seats are horizontally colour banded into white red and black.
The ground also has electric scoreboards behind each goal, four prominent corner floodlights and a new 3G artificial pitch which made its debut in August 2010.
Although only one stand was available to the paying public on this visit, overall New Broomfield holds 10,171 with a record attendance of 9,613 coming in the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final between Hamilton Academicals and St. Mirren.
The biggest gate for an Airdrieonians match was 8,762 against Celtic in a Scottish League Cup tie in August 1998, as for Airdrie United it’s currently 5,924, set during the Scottish Cup 3rd round against derby rivals Motherwell in January 2007.
I arrived in a sunny but windy Edinburgh at 1130am. Predictably I spent my brief time in the Scottish capital visiting a couple of unchartered JDW pubs, namely The Playfair in the Omi Centre and the Alexandra Graham Bell on George Street, before taking the 1248 train west towards Helensburgh Central.
The journey to Airdrie takes just over 45 minutes. The closer I got to Lanarkshire the darker and wetter it became, but having seen the weather forecast I was well prepared, well wrapped and water proofed. On arrival I completed a ‘Spoons hat trick in Airdrie, calling into The Robert Hamilton before taking the 20 minute walk to the stadium in the piss-istent rainfall.
I entered the press area via a gate at the Main Stand, the steward handed me a programme and informed me I had to walk around the pitch to the opposite stand, plus if I needed a drink or something to eat I had to walk back.
This wasn’t a convenience, in fact it was bloody great news as I took the longer route around the perimeter, able to freely take pictures with no problems whatsoever and without any hassle from the stewards, not like those mardy jobsworth tits that I experienced at Clyde.
I always enjoy attending games in Scotland but over the last few years the standard of football in the SPL and SFL had been, if I’m brutally honest, piss poor! I’ve been long overdue a great game, and I got it, the game had plenty of goals with both sides fully committed, giving their all in continuous rain and a swirly wind.
The game got off to a lively start; in Arbroath’s very first attack they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. Gavin Swankie stepped up and from 20 yards he curled his shot inside the keeper’s right hand post to give the visitors a 57 second lead (according to my digital watch)
Airdrie equalised in the 5th minute, a cross by McClaren was handled in the box by Baxter and from the spot kick skipper Paul Lovering smashed the penalty in off the underside of the crossbar.
Arbroath regained the lead in the same fashion just before half time. This time a Swankie cross was handled by Green and Steve Doris made no mistake with his spot kick, then after the break The Smokies looked to have bagged the points when Swankie again was on hand to tee up Falkingham to fire home on 56 minutes.
Diamonds top scorer Ryan Donnelly rescued an unlikely point with a headed brace in a two minute spell, getting on the end of a Boyle cross on 69 minutes, then a minute later he was left unmarked to nod home from close range to take his goal tally to 18 goals in 19 games this season.
Both teams had chances to win it, the best effort falling to Donnelly who was denied a hat-trick with a tremendous tip over by keeper Hill, but overall neither side deserved to lose, a draw being the fairest result.
Full marks to both teams for producing a cracking game in horrendous conditions. I felt my planned arrival to Airdrie came 7 days too late after they pulled of a record 11-0 win in the Scottish Cup last week, but I’m quite happy to settle for a 6 goal thriller and an enjoyable but soggy day north of the border.
Matchday stats
AUFC 1 (Lovering 5pen Donnelly 69,70)
AFC (Swankie 1pen Doris 42pen Falkingham 56)
att.687
Admission:Press (£15)
Ground no.304 New Broomfield - Matchday Web album (22 pictures)
My Matchday - 303 North Street
Alfreton Town 1v1 Gateshead
Blue Sq.Bet Premier
Saturday 19th November 2011
This week I was back on the road with the Heed Army for a relatively short trip (compared with what I’m used to) to Alfreton Town to tick off one of the three remaining Conference grounds I need to complete Blighty’s top 116 clubs. Alfreton is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley, neighbouring the districts of Bolsover and North East Derbyshire. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District.
Legend has it, that Alfreton takes its name from Alfred the Great, who drove the Danes from settlements in this area of the country and overhauled much of the damage. There’s also evidence that a settlement existed here in Saxon times.
Alfreton Town formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfreton United. The club originally playing in the Central Alliance North Division One, before joining the Midland Counties League from 1961 - winning three league titles during the 1970’s.
Town became founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982, becoming league champions in 1987 thus winning promotion to the Northern Premier League.
Back to back relegations at the end of the 1990s saw the club back in the Northern Counties East League. However good fortune returned, two promotion seasons and a 4th place finish saw the Reds placed in the Conference North when the football pyramid was reformed in 2004.
Last season the club had their most successful season in winning the Conference North title with a ten point margin over nearest rivals AFC Telford to take their place at the top table of non-league football.
The local council provided a ground for the newly formed club on North Street, which was originally called the Town Ground. Within a year a covered banked terrace was built on the Welfare side, followed by seating for 180 and a small covered stand at the Alma Street end in 1963. The ground’s early years witnessed a record crowd when 5,023 saw a Central Midland league clash with Derbyshire neighbours Matlock Town in 1960.
In the early ‘70s the original stand was replaced with a covered terrace and seats combination, followed by floodlights and a new dressing room building, which was later renovated with a players lounge bar and directors box.
More improvements were made as the club progressed with the most significant change coming in 1994 with a new Main Stand. The stand runs pitch length and is split up into different sections, having two rows of blue seats and press box in the centre, the Tommie Bradley Terrace next to the club shop and at the opposite end of the stand is the Red Bar and the Lottie Bradley Hospitality Area.
The main turnstile entrance is in the corner off Bentley Close, where you’re met by the refreshment bar and club shop which has a huge selection of programmes and pin badges which is well worth visiting.Opposite is the Tom McRoy Stand named after “Mr Alfreton Town” himself who was responsible for the amalgamation of the new club 52 years ago and is still going strong, celebrating his 92nd birthday this year.
The stand is two-thirds covered with a scaffold assisted TV gantry on the roof, with half a dozen rows of blue flip seats which continue around to the Bentley Close end behind the goal. The seats were purchased from Leicester City’s old Filbert Street ground at a bargain price of £1.50 per pew. The Bentley Close has only four rows of seats which were bolted onto the terrace in 2003 and there are plans to add cover in the near future, as well as moving the changing rooms and adding other facilities around the ground.
At the top end on the Alma Street side is a small steep terrace known as the 'Tin End' which is split into three separate sections. This has a small covered area in the centre section and the back walls are painted red.
In 2004 a new £70,000 floodlighting system was installed courtesy a £45,000 award from the Football Stadia Improvements scheme and several wheelchair access ramps for spectator points for the disabled. The Impact Arena as it’s now officially known* has a capacity of 3,600 with 1,500 seats.
(* as a regular at St James Park for 37 of its 119 years history, I prefer to call grounds by their traditional name)
On current form I expected a convincing away win, confidently predicting a 3-1 victory for Gateshead, but if I was any good at this prediction malarkey I would be rich enough to pack in work and spend my leisure time exploring the delights of stadiums around the continent.
Alfreton didn’t look like a side that’s struggling at the wrong end of the table as they dominated early on. Kris Gate was on hand to twice to make goal line clearances and Jak Alnwick tipped over a free kick from Anthony Church as the Reds bossed the first half.
The opening goal duly arrived on 37 minutes with probably the best goal I’ve seen so far this season. The ball was played into the right flank to Jake Moult, who’s back heel flick teed up Paul Clayton who hit a bullet first time shot which found the postage stamp position in the frame of the goal.
The Tynesiders improved after the interval, the Reds invited the pressure with keeper Joe Day denying Gate and Cummins, with the Heed number 11 also going close with a near post header.
The equaliser came on 68 minutes from Chris Moore, Brittain played a square ball to the edge of the box and the substitute fired home from 20 yards.
In the closing stages the hosts should have won it as the Heed’s desperate defending saw goalmouth scrambles and goal line clearances, the best chance saw Marwood on hand to clear off the line from Clayton and a Leigh Frank shot just whistled over the crossbar which would have been the third cracking goal of the afternoon.
The Town fans post match view was that this was the best home performance of the season. The luxury of having almost a full squad to choose from making the difference and if they can produce performances of a similar ilk then they have every chance of surviving this season.
A travelling distance of just 146 miles from the Civic Centre to the ground meant a 10am departure and an arrival time of 1.30, so this gave me amble time to check out a few of the local hostelries. I had arranged to meet Squad #108 John Robinson his brother Neil and Squad#194 Keith Arthur when I arrived, but their replacement bus service from Derby was caught in heavy traffic so unfortunately they didn’t arrive till just before 2.30pm.
I did do a solo run to the local Wetherspoons – Waggon & Horses, followed by the King Alfred where I met a drunken exile Geordie from Birtley who had lived in Alfreton for the last 10 years. He was positive that he knew me from his days working in Gateshead, however he may have been mistaking as he was really really pished!
My last pre-match pub was The Victoria where most of the Heed Army had taking root and this was where I finally met John (ground no.509 today) and Keith (ground no.381) for the first time, which brings my 100FgC handshake total to 53/198.
Its always good to meet up and have a bit crack with some of the squad, also I was made welcome by the staff working at the ground who were very friendly, so overall a it proved a very good trip and a canny day out.
Matchday stats
ATFC 1(Clayton 37) GFC 1(Moore 68)
Att.651
Admission:Press (£13)
All Roads Lead South or How I Finally got The 92 Monkey Off My back
I can clearly recollect when the notion of trying to do the 92 was first
mentioned. At the time I was still living at my Mam’s house, lazing around in the sitting room with Ian Patrick, two typical dole wallers listening to The Undertones Sin Of Pride album whilst waiting for the racing to start on TV.
In our 40 plus years of friendship, we’ve always tested each other on football trivia. On this particular day there was one of those guides to the football season, free with an earlier issue of Match magazine lying on the coffee table. We were testing each other on football grounds and the quiz led to chat about how many grounds we had been to so far and the idea of one day completing the set.
After a wholehearted agreement was made, we looked at making a start at Newcastle United’s next away fixture at Stamford Bridge, which was a perilous ordeal in 1983, but if we harboured ambitions of doing all the grounds then we had to take our lives into our own hands and run the risk of the Chelsea Headhunters. We survived the daunting trip to west London. A couple of wayward bricks failed to cause any damage to our coach plus we had the added bonus of a Toon victory, so that was ground number 23 successfully ticked, which meant I was already a quarter of the way to achieving my goal.
The following season United looked a good bet for promotion, so I tried to get to as many of the previous uncharted Second Division grounds as possible, then the following season in the top division I made my debut at the homes of the country’s top clubs to finish the 1984/85 season on 46 grounds, so I was now half way there, so far so good.
After this successful spell I spent the next few years treading water, trying to tick grounds while only supporting your team gave little chance of making major progress. Living in the north-east is a big disadvantage as well because all roads lead south, so attending neutral games isn’t as easy as living in the middle of the country when you have all points of the compass to aim at.
The dawn of the 1990s began with a trip to Reading in the FA Cup, as I reached my half century at Elm Park. From then on it became a case of two steps forward then four steps back, relegation into the Conference and ground moves meant I couldn’t get past the number 57. I first peaked at this total at Meadow Lane in 1993, then at St Marys in 2002, Darlington Arena in 2007 and Sincil Bank in 2008.
When I next hit “the Heinz” at the Keepmoat Stadium at the beginning of the 2008/09 season I never looked back, as I now regularly ground bagging at neutral matches, ticking off another 8 to finish the season on 65, with Luton Town’s relegation adding the predictable Forth Bridge syndrome to take the running total to 64.
The 2009-10 season began a new dawn in my football supporting life.After a lot of soul searching I made the decision to pack in my season ticket of 27 years at NUFC. There were many reasons why I parted with my seat in the Gallowgate End, one of which was so that I take some time out from St James Park and concentrate on getting The 92 Monkey off my back.
I was one of the few Toon supporters that welcomed relegation to the Championship, I felt at the time that the club needed to get rid of the overpaid “star” players, to basically start again and come back stronger, but a more selfish reason was that I could tick off Preston, Plymouth and
the two grounds in south Wales.The season was a good one, not only did Newcastle win the Championship title but I bagged 14 League grounds to finish off with a healthy 78, of course that was before the Forth Bridge painters kicked in again, taking four away which meant I still had 18 left to do.
I approached 2010-11 campaign obsessed with finally completing the set in one and a half seasons, setting myself a finishing line target of Christmas 2011. Last season I played a blinder, scratching off a mighty fine 16 to finish the season on 89, with naturally the two steps back meant I only had 5 left to do in the first half of the new season. I managed to bag the last handful with ease this season, the only hiccup being ticket issues at Brighton which I got around by buying a ticket for the away end.
So after 28 years since a couple of spotty teenagers spent those long work-free days talking about lasses, records, betting and football trivia I finally arrived at the Amex Stadium, my much sought after “Shangri-La” and a major cross off my bucket list.
With that box now ticked I can start thinking about completing other bucket list targets, the likes of skydiving, standing at the top of the Empire State Building, doing the Coast-to-Coast walk and if I’m really really lucky an Ménage à trois! But whatever else I manage to achieve it won’t give me the same satisfaction as completing The 92, its took a long time but nonetheless, it’s been an awarding experience
My Matchday - 301 Amex Stadium
Brighton & Hove Albion 2v0 Barnsley
Championship
Sunday 6th November 2011
on page 9, before visited the club shop where the large queue outside was reminiscent of the days when pensioners stood outside the post office on a Monday morning to pick up their pension an hour before it opened. I bought the usual pin badge, a postcard (see top picture, only cost one English pound) and for this special occasion a pint glass with the Seagulls crest which I’m going to have engraved with the details on reaching the 92.
At half time I met up with Squad #111 Steve Mann who had travelled from Hastings for the match and ground visit. It was the first time we had met and he too had the clever idea of picking this game and an away end ticket to tick off the Amex.
Matchday stats
B&HAFC 2(Greer 44 Harley 57) BFC 0
att.19,841
Admission £24
Programme £3
And so it came to pass that on the thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety fourth day since I went to football ground number one, I can at long last look at the league tables of the top four English divisions knowing I’ve done the bloody lot!
The 92nd ground honour in this long belated achievement goes to the Amex Stadium, the new home of Brighton & Hove Albion which also completes a Seagulls hat-trick, following on from visits to the Goldstone in 1983 and an enjoyable day with the Brighton lads at the Withdean last April.
The American Express Community Stadium is located near the village of Falmer in Brighton and Hove. The stadium was designed by London-based KSS Architects with building work undertook by Buckingham Group in December 2008. The £93m construction of the stadium is sunk three storeys into the ground, having 138,000 cubic metres of chalk removed for its foundation.
The ground is dominated by the large three-tiered West Stand, which has two strips of executive facilities above and below the middle tier, including 14 luxury boxes and the premium fans' 1901 Club .The bottom tier is the largest which also has the managers/players section and altogether the stand has a capacity of 11,833.
The Family Stand is on the east side which holds 5,404 fans and like the West stand has an attractive curved roof. If the need arises for the stadium to be increased a further tier can be added to the East stand which would bring the capacity up to 30,000. This also means the extra unused space at the rear gives an unfinished appearance to the stand.
The North Stand has 2,688 seats and is occupied by the club's main vocal support and also has a control centre and large video screen scoreboard. I was amongst the visiting away supporters in the South stand which is similar in design with 2,575 seats. Both stands behind the goal have distinctive sloping roofs which link the four individual stands together.
The stadium was completed in May with the first game, the now customary new stadium ‘tester match’ being the 2011 Sussex Senior Cup Final between Brighton and Eastbourne Borough on the 16th July, followed by the official opening with a pre-season friendly with Tottenham Hotspur at the end of that month.
The first League fixture was against Doncaster Rovers on the 6th August, who were coincidently the last opponents 14 years earlier at the Goldstone Ground. The Seagulls supporters celebrated watching League football in a ground which they can finally call their own with a victory, with two late goals from substitute Will Buckley clinching a 2-1 win.
The Falmer Stadium confirmed sponsorship naming rights with American Express Europe, Brighton and Hove's biggest private sector employer. The Amex includes a banqueting and conference facility, a nursery school crèche, education facilities for the University of Brighton, large office space, the ticket and merchandise store and the 200 capacity ‘Dick's Bar’ named after the club's life president Dick Knight.
The stadium offers real ales from local breweries; Harveys and Dark Star, both businesses have been supporters in the club's pursuit for a new stadium and there’s also a unique special guest beers option from breweries local to the away teams.(Although drinking ale isn’t something that this author indulges in*wink*…Eddy) However on this visit there was no guest ales and the Harveys Ale was off the menu, the only option being puffy larger, on which I declined.
As I was at Brighton’s last game at the Withdean in an ideal world it would have been great to have been at the first match at the Amex, however the demand for home tickets has meant my eventual visit is amongst the away supporters, so for this day I was an honorary Tyke!
I left Newcastle on the 0755 to Kings Cross, alighting at Peterborough where I met up with Squad#88 Graham Precious, who was also completing ‘The 92’ for the first time. I was pleased that the two stars of Radio 4’s The Completists got to finish together, as Graham has played a major part in my progress over the last few years, chauffeuring me to the likes of Aldershot, Burton, Chesterfield and Crawley.
We drove out of Peterborough at 1120 and arrived at Falmer at 1.30 which was around the same time as everyone else who travelled by car. In search of a decent parking space Graham drove straight into the main car park and told the steward that a parking space was reserved in the name of Precious with his personal suffix of “As in valuable” The parking steward searched in vain for a Mr Precious on the parking guest list, which obviously wasn’t there, but after a quick word with his gaffer we were allowed through to pick up a free prime parking spot.
I bought a programme and was pleased to see that our 92 visit was mentioned
on page 9, before visited the club shop where the large queue outside was reminiscent of the days when pensioners stood outside the post office on a Monday morning to pick up their pension an hour before it opened. I bought the usual pin badge, a postcard (see top picture, only cost one English pound) and for this special occasion a pint glass with the Seagulls crest which I’m going to have engraved with the details on reaching the 92.At half time I met up with Squad #111 Steve Mann who had travelled from Hastings for the match and ground visit. It was the first time we had met and he too had the clever idea of picking this game and an away end ticket to tick off the Amex.
As the game went into the last few minutes with the result assured, we made a sharp exit and just as we hit the A27 5Live confirmed a 2-0 win for Brighton had ended a run of nine league games without a win.
The first ever Sunday match at the Amex started quite even as both teams playing turns each at having an unsuccessful furrow up field. The best chance for the visitors came on 27 minutes when a Perkins chip was tipped onto the crossbar by “There’s only one Stevie Harper” then just before the break the hosts took the lead, when a shot by Harley was well saved before falling into the path of Gordon Greer, firing his left foot drive past the despairing defender on the goal line.
The Seagulls doubled the lead just before the hour mark when a penetrating run and shot from Mackail-Smith came back off the crossbar but Ryan Harley was on hand to finish off his good work with his second goal of the season.
A welcome result for Gus Poyet’s side, the win takes Albion back up to 10th spot and only two points from the play-offs positions.
The quick getaway meant I arrived back at Peterborough at 7.30pm, which gave me a good hour for my first pint or three of the day. I had plenty of time to visit the two JDW’s in the town; The Drapers Arms and College Arms, which I found easily enough but what I couldn’t find was a chippy or takeaway, as I was in desperate need of some bait after having nothing since breakfast.
I arrived back home just before midnight, tired but delighted that I’ve finally done it at last, my 123rd League grounds on from my first visit to St James Park in 1974 is no.92 - The Amex Stadium, a great new addition to League stadia and worthy final destination on my long quest.
For you Googlers a more detailed look at Brighton & Hove Albion can be read on my visit last season; My Matchday - 285 Withdean Stadium.
Also you can read more about how I finally did ‘The 92’ in the article - All Roads Lead South
Matchday stats
B&HAFC 2(Greer 44 Harley 57) BFC 0
att.19,841
Admission £24
Programme £3
Ground no.301 Amex Stadium - MatchdayWeb album (19 pictures)
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