Welwyn Garden City FC
Herns Lane
Panshanger
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire
AL7 1TA
Ground: 54
Date: Saturday 8th September 2018
Welwyn Garden City 3-2 Yaxley
Southern League Division 1 Central
Attendance: 110 (official)
Attendance: 110 (official)
Welwyn Garden City FC - History
Welwyn Garden City were founded in 1921 and, after playing friendlies in their first year, joined the Mid-Hertfordshire League in 1922. After a few years in this league, the club moved to the Bedfordshire & District County League in 1926, but only stayed in this league for one season before transferring into the Spartan League. The club remained in this league until the end of the 1934/35 season when, after finishing 3rd in the league, the club was forced to resign from the league and fold due to being unable to find a suitable ground and as such being unable to cover running costs.
The club were able to reform in 1937 when local rivals Shredded Wheat FC folded and their facilities became available, which allowed the club to rejoin the Spartan League for the 1937/38 season. After World War 2, the club continued in the Spartan League until joining the London League in 1950. The club's finishes in this league were mixed and, in 1955, the club returned to the Spartan League.
In 1959, the club then moved to the Herts County League Premier Division and finished second-from-bottom to drop down into Division 1. In the 1965/66 season, the club were again relegated and dropped into Division 2. The club remained in this league until 1970, at which point the club transferred to Division 2 of the Greater London League. The following season, the club then became a founding member of the Metropolitan London League, remaining in this league until joining the South Midlands League for the 1973/74 season.
The club won the Premier Division in the 1973/74 season, but three years later finished bottom and were relegated to Division 1. In the club's five seasons in Division 1, they always finished in the top 5, eventually winning the title in the 1981/82 season to return to the Premier Division. This is where the club remained until the formation of the Spartan South Midlands League in the 1997/98 season, with the club joining the Premier Division North and finishing high enough to qualify for the Premier Division for the following season.
The next decade was mostly spent in the Premier Division - other than three seasons in Division 1 from the 2001/02 to 2003/04 seasons - but as the first decade of the 21st century neared its end the club's fortunes dipped: the 2009/10 season was disastrous for the club as they finished bottom of the Premier Division to drop into Division 1. They then struggled in their first couple of seasons in Division 1 - finishing 17th on both occasions - before stabilising and finishing 13th in the 2012/13 season.
The following season saw a drastic change in fortunes as the club finished 4th in the league, and this was followed by the Division 1 title in the 2014/15 season to return the club to the Premier Division. The club finished 4th and 6th in their first two seasons back in the Premier Division before winning the title last season to earn promotion to Step 4 for the first time in the club's history.
In the FA Cup, the club have twice progressed as far as the 3rd Qualifying Round: in the 1998/99 season, the club beat East Thurrock United, Yeading and Great Wakering Rovers before losing to Ford United; in the 2005/06 season, the club beat Aylesbury Vale, Beaconsfield SYCOB and AFC Sudbury before losing to Histon. As for the FA Vase, the club's best run saw them reach the 4th Round in the 2005/06 season, beating Haverhill Rovers, Rothwell Corinthians, Oxford City, Concord Rangers, Slimbridge and Newmarket Town in a replay, only to be disqualified for playing an ineligible player in the replay against Newmarket. The club have yet to compete in the FA Trophy, but will do so for the first time this season.
My Visit
Originally, with this being my birthday weekend and Yaxley not having a game, this wwas set to be a blank weekend, but that all changed when an adjustment to the fixture list was announced: with both teams having been knocked out of the FA Cup in the previous round, the league decided to move this game forward from March, a logical and commendable decision to reduce possible backlog later down the line. With the Supporters' Coach making this viable, it was just a matter of waiting to see if I received any birthday money on Friday to cover the costs. Fortunately, I did, and as such another groundhop was on the cards.
On the day of the game, some rain was forecast and, as such, I took a raincoat with me when I first went out in the morning to get some drinks and some sweets for the coach. I then left the house to head to the ground just after 11:30am, with the Supporters' Coach (again, mostly players and playing staff this week though) leaving at 12:15pm. The journey was comfortable and uneventful, so I watched the first half of the FA Cup game between Maltby Main and Frickley Athletic to pass the time. We eventually arrived at the ground an hour and a half later, with the coach then having to squeeze into the very tight car park.
Rather than going straight in to take photos, myself and fellow Yaxley fan/matchday steward Tony sat at the tables just outside the ground and by the clubhouse, watching a large black aeroplane (possibly a Lancaster? I'm no expert, so I'm not sure) fly over a couple of times, before eventually heading in just after quarter past 2. I paid £5 for student admission and £1 for an excellent programme (extremely good value for money at this level).
I then did my usual circuit of photos before kick-off, talking with Tony as I went, before settling on the stand side of the ground and, in each half, moving towards whichever end Yaxley were shooting towards. At half-time, I purchased a pin badge in the clubhouse for £1.50 (much better than the £3+ a lot of clubs tend to charge) and bought some food at the food hut outside the ground, missing a couple of minutes of the second half due to the queue.
After the steady improvement in recent performances and a confidence-boosting win against Step 3 St. Ives Town in the League Cup on Tuesday night, I was hoping we could finally get some points on the board. As I report below, we came so close to doing so but missed out in the most agonising of fashions:
So, not the way I was hoping for this to go, and certainly not the late birthday present I would have liked result-wise (I'll just count the League Cup win on Tuesday night as an early one instead), but this was definitely a good groundhop on the whole: very good value for money in terms of the football and the food (the cheeseburger and chips I had were both excellent), lots of friendly people around and decent facilities to boot.
Next up will be something on Saturday the 22nd, most likely an FA Cup game somewhere near Guildford if I can find one at a ground I've not visited yet. After that probably won't be Wycombe on the Tuesday night, as that seems likely to be too inconvenient and too expensive overall.
The Ground
Herns Lane is a fairly basic but pleasant ground, good by Step 5 standards but still a work in progress at Step 4. The only seating at the ground is in the form of a 160-seater Arena stand on the near side, with the only other cover being some covered standing near the turnstiles at the entrance of the ground. The rest of the ground is open hard standing, all of which is sufficient for the club's crowds and probably not too far off of being sufficient for the Step 4 ground grading criteria.
The clubhouse and food bar are both situated just outside the ground, and as such fans are given tickets at the match to allow movement in and out during the game, while also making sure people don't just walk in for free. The other feature of note is the floodlights: the floodlights on the dugout side are all fairly standard by non-league football standards, but the floodlights on the near side are highly unusual by comparison, certainly unlike anything I've seen at a non-league ground before:
It's also notable how, other than the near side (which is roughly 4 or 5 metres from the pitch), you are very close to the pitch wherever you stand: why there is such a disparity on the near side I don't understand.
Photos
On the day of the game, some rain was forecast and, as such, I took a raincoat with me when I first went out in the morning to get some drinks and some sweets for the coach. I then left the house to head to the ground just after 11:30am, with the Supporters' Coach (again, mostly players and playing staff this week though) leaving at 12:15pm. The journey was comfortable and uneventful, so I watched the first half of the FA Cup game between Maltby Main and Frickley Athletic to pass the time. We eventually arrived at the ground an hour and a half later, with the coach then having to squeeze into the very tight car park.
Rather than going straight in to take photos, myself and fellow Yaxley fan/matchday steward Tony sat at the tables just outside the ground and by the clubhouse, watching a large black aeroplane (possibly a Lancaster? I'm no expert, so I'm not sure) fly over a couple of times, before eventually heading in just after quarter past 2. I paid £5 for student admission and £1 for an excellent programme (extremely good value for money at this level).
I then did my usual circuit of photos before kick-off, talking with Tony as I went, before settling on the stand side of the ground and, in each half, moving towards whichever end Yaxley were shooting towards. At half-time, I purchased a pin badge in the clubhouse for £1.50 (much better than the £3+ a lot of clubs tend to charge) and bought some food at the food hut outside the ground, missing a couple of minutes of the second half due to the queue.
After the steady improvement in recent performances and a confidence-boosting win against Step 3 St. Ives Town in the League Cup on Tuesday night, I was hoping we could finally get some points on the board. As I report below, we came so close to doing so but missed out in the most agonising of fashions:
After the penalty shoot-out victory in the League Cup on Tuesday night, we started much the stronger and came flying out of the gates with a goal after 3 minutes: initially, a corner was cleared, but Dan Cotton was able to play another cross into the box and onto the head of Ross Watson to give us the lead. Admittedly, after this, much of the first half passed me by as I was embroiled in conversation with fellow Yaxley fan Tony, but when I did pay attention to the game there didn't seem to be a lot happening: it seemed as if both teams were largely cancelling each other out for much of the half. Near the end of the half, a clash of heads meant that Ross Watson had to be substituted and, with no centre back cover on the bench (or any available in the entire squad at the moment, with Sam Spencer recovering from injury) Charley Sanders was brought on at centre back: in a way, this was a shame for him as Welwyn Garden City were not a very tall team, and I thought that he could have caused their defence chaos if given the chance. Shortly after the substitution though, and with the last action of the half, the home side equalised, a cross eluding our defence and reaching home captain Danny Payne to level things up.
The second half saw WGC make the better start, pressing well and causing problems for our defence. However, it was us who took the lead against the run of play on 56 minutes: in similar fashion to the first, a corner was cleared and Dan Cotton sent the ball flying back into the box, but this time it was Tom Waumsley on the end of it with a powerful header. The rest of the half after this was fairly even, with us looking to expand our lead or close the game out, while WGC were pushing for an equaliser.
We were looking good to pick up our second league win of the season for a while, but in the 90th minute (not long after the referee had stopped the home side from scoring, having called play back for a foul after they had put the ball in the net) a penalty was given to the home side, with much debate over whether the foul leading to it actually occurred inside the box or not (I personally thought it was just outside, but I was at the other end of the ground so not exactly in the best position to judge it). Whether it was valid or not, new signing Kaane Fehmi (I think that's how it's spelt, correct me if I'm wrong though) stepped up to take it and, unfortunately, Ollie Sutton couldn't recreate Tuesday night's heroics and they equalised. At this point, I was now hoping we could hold out for a draw, just to get any other points on the board and abate our difficult start, but it wasn't to be and, with virtually the last action of the game, Danny Payne was able to score again with another header, and with no time to respond that was the game.
Ordinarily, when a team I support loses a game at the death from a winning position, it would annoy and anger me to no end and, in the initial moments after the final goal I was quite angry and annoyed. However, after having a chance to reflect after the final whistle - talking to a couple of our players as they headed in for the post-match team talk and then sitting and waiting on the Supporters' Coach - my mood changed entirely. Sure, it wasn't great to lose a game that we should have really won, and sure we've lost all but the first league game so far, but after seeing the continuous improvement in performances I can't really get angry at all: the players are adapting to this level of football and are playing better and better each week, with 100% commitment and effort from everyone plain to see out there on the pitch. I still fully believe in this squad, and I'm confident we'll stay up and get some more points on the board in the upcoming games.
The second half saw WGC make the better start, pressing well and causing problems for our defence. However, it was us who took the lead against the run of play on 56 minutes: in similar fashion to the first, a corner was cleared and Dan Cotton sent the ball flying back into the box, but this time it was Tom Waumsley on the end of it with a powerful header. The rest of the half after this was fairly even, with us looking to expand our lead or close the game out, while WGC were pushing for an equaliser.
We were looking good to pick up our second league win of the season for a while, but in the 90th minute (not long after the referee had stopped the home side from scoring, having called play back for a foul after they had put the ball in the net) a penalty was given to the home side, with much debate over whether the foul leading to it actually occurred inside the box or not (I personally thought it was just outside, but I was at the other end of the ground so not exactly in the best position to judge it). Whether it was valid or not, new signing Kaane Fehmi (I think that's how it's spelt, correct me if I'm wrong though) stepped up to take it and, unfortunately, Ollie Sutton couldn't recreate Tuesday night's heroics and they equalised. At this point, I was now hoping we could hold out for a draw, just to get any other points on the board and abate our difficult start, but it wasn't to be and, with virtually the last action of the game, Danny Payne was able to score again with another header, and with no time to respond that was the game.
Ordinarily, when a team I support loses a game at the death from a winning position, it would annoy and anger me to no end and, in the initial moments after the final goal I was quite angry and annoyed. However, after having a chance to reflect after the final whistle - talking to a couple of our players as they headed in for the post-match team talk and then sitting and waiting on the Supporters' Coach - my mood changed entirely. Sure, it wasn't great to lose a game that we should have really won, and sure we've lost all but the first league game so far, but after seeing the continuous improvement in performances I can't really get angry at all: the players are adapting to this level of football and are playing better and better each week, with 100% commitment and effort from everyone plain to see out there on the pitch. I still fully believe in this squad, and I'm confident we'll stay up and get some more points on the board in the upcoming games.
So, not the way I was hoping for this to go, and certainly not the late birthday present I would have liked result-wise (I'll just count the League Cup win on Tuesday night as an early one instead), but this was definitely a good groundhop on the whole: very good value for money in terms of the football and the food (the cheeseburger and chips I had were both excellent), lots of friendly people around and decent facilities to boot.
Next up will be something on Saturday the 22nd, most likely an FA Cup game somewhere near Guildford if I can find one at a ground I've not visited yet. After that probably won't be Wycombe on the Tuesday night, as that seems likely to be too inconvenient and too expensive overall.
The Ground
Herns Lane is a fairly basic but pleasant ground, good by Step 5 standards but still a work in progress at Step 4. The only seating at the ground is in the form of a 160-seater Arena stand on the near side, with the only other cover being some covered standing near the turnstiles at the entrance of the ground. The rest of the ground is open hard standing, all of which is sufficient for the club's crowds and probably not too far off of being sufficient for the Step 4 ground grading criteria.
The clubhouse and food bar are both situated just outside the ground, and as such fans are given tickets at the match to allow movement in and out during the game, while also making sure people don't just walk in for free. The other feature of note is the floodlights: the floodlights on the dugout side are all fairly standard by non-league football standards, but the floodlights on the near side are highly unusual by comparison, certainly unlike anything I've seen at a non-league ground before:
It's also notable how, other than the near side (which is roughly 4 or 5 metres from the pitch), you are very close to the pitch wherever you stand: why there is such a disparity on the near side I don't understand.
Photos
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