Barton Rovers FC
Sharpenhoe Road
Barton-le-Clay
Bedfordshire
MK45 4SD
Ground: 66
Date: Saturday 29th December 2018
Barton Rovers 0-0 Yaxley
Southern League Division 1 Central
Attendance: 101 (official)
Barton Rovers FC - History
Barton Rovers were founded in 1898 and played village football until World War 2. After the war, the club joined the Luton & District League and remained here until joining Division 2 of the South Midlands League for the 1954/55 season. They won back-to-back promotions to the Premier Division and then remained there until being relegated back to Division 1 at the end of the 1962/63 season. The club then spent two seasons back in Division 1 before winning the title to return to the Premier Division for the 1965/66 season.
This then saw the club enter a decade or so of success, never finishing outside of the top 3 of the Premier Division and winning the title on eight occasions (including a run of five consecutive titles ending in the 1978/79 season). After this final title win, the club were promoted to Division 2 of the Isthmian League, remaining there until it was regionalised into North and South Divisions, with the club joining the North Division.
The club continued to have inconsistent finishes in Division 2 North, before Division 2 returned to one single division after seven seasons. The club then spent a further four years in Division 2 before finishing as runners-up in the 1994/95 season to earn promotion to Division 1. The club remained in this league for six seasons but, having failed to break into the top half in any of these campaigns, they were eventually relegated back to Division 2 after finishing bottom in the 2000/01 season.
After one season in Division 2, restructuring saw the club placed in Division 1 North, which is where the club remained for two seasons before being transferred to the Eastern Division of the Southern League. In 2006, further restructuring saw the club placed in Division 1 Midlands, which then changed named to Division 1 Central for the 2010/11 season. This is where the club have remained ever since, and they have reached the play-off final twice in recent years: in the 2014/15 season, they beat Royston Town in the semi-finals before losing to Bedworth United; in the 2016/17 season, they beat Marlow in the semi-finals before losing to Farnborough.
In the FA Cup, the club's best run saw them reach the 1st Round in the 1980/81 season, beating Camberley Town, Walton & Hersham, Slough Town and AP Leamington before losing to Torquay United. In the FA Trophy, the club's best run saw them reach the 3rd Round in the 2000/01 season, beating Banbury United and Uxbridge before losing to Forest Green Rovers. As for the FA Vase, the club reached the final in the 1977/78 season, beating Leyton Wingate, Rushden Town, Kempston Rovers, Billericay Town, Haringey Borough and Hungerford Town before losing to Blue Star in the final. The club also progressed to the semi-finals in the 1976/77 and 1981/82 seasons, as well as reaching the Quarter Finals in the 1978/79 season.
My Visit
This was a match I had been looking forward to ending 2018 with for a while, ever since the fixture list first came out and even more so after our 4-1 home win against them in our first ever game at Step 4. It was then just a matter of the weather cooperating (I had a list of backups if it ended up taking a turn for the worse) and by Friday morning it was pretty clear that I had nothing to worry about on that front.
After heading out for some post-Christmas shopping on Friday morning, I texted Jeff to book my seat on the Supporters' Coach, which was set to leave the ground at 12:15pm yesterday. I left the house around 35 minutes before that and arrived with just over 5 minutes to spare, quickly taking a seat and making an overdue start on some coursework as the coach headed south into Bedfordshire.
By the time the coach arrived (around 70 minutes after departure), I had written 600 or so words for my coursework, which felt like decent process to me (about a third of the way through the main portion of the coursework, so reasonable enough for just over an hour of work). Having been put down as one of our complimentary guests for the game, I got into the ground for free, although I did contribute to the club's coffers by buying a programme for £2 and a 50-50 ticket for £1.
I then did my usual circuit of photos to kill some time, before eventually heading into the boardroom in the back of the main stand at around 2:15pm. Some of the other Yaxley club officials were there, and I joined them in talking about recent games (including the derby defeat on Boxing Day that I missed) while the last ten minutes of the Old Firm derby played in the background. We remained in here until just before kick-off, joining some other Yaxley fans standing beside the main stand as we awaited kick-off, then moving towards whichever end we were shooting at in each half.
The league table suggested there wasn't much between the two sides and, despite the 4-1 victory on the opening day of the season, that certainly seemed to be the case at that point. I was hoping we could bounce back from the Boxing Day defeat and end 2018 on a high, but with Matt Sparrow suspended and key striker Tom Waumsley unavailable I knew it would be a bit trickier for us to secure victory here.
Here's my report on a tight and poor game which neither side ever took control of, with the goalless draw that came being an entirely fair and acceptable result:
Well, there's not really much to say about this one. On a sloped and bobbly pitch, both teams pushed and battled hard for the 90 minutes, but chances were few and far between in both halves and neither team ever truly looked like scoring.
In the first half, Barton were playing down the slope and had the better of what few chances there were, most notable of which being a close-range header that James Blake somehow reacted to and kept out with one hand. As for us, we were limited to a couple of long-range efforts that were never going to trouble the keeper.
In the second half, we had the slope and took advantage by creating much better chances than in the first half, but even then we rarely tested the Barton keeper other than from a few audacious Dan Cotton free kicks from range.
Overall, a draw was a fair result but we are certainly capable of beating teams like Barton, and most likely would have if we had been able to keep hold of the ball in the attacking third more often than we did.
MOTM: James Blake (for that vital first half save and a couple of other crucial ones)
Honourable Mention: Cain Eagleton (a solid performance from him at right back with some crucial defensive tackles and decent play going forwards)
So, not exactly the greatest football match to end the year with, but it was still a reasonable result to close out what has been a remarkable 12 months for the Cuckoos. This time last year we were 7th in the United Counties League Premier Division and still well adrift of the top two, yet now we find ourselves 10th in the Southern League Division 1 Central. It's been a great year for the club and I'm quite annoyed that I've missed a lot of it due to University.
As for the groundhop itself, despite the poor match I did enjoy the day out at a quirky ground and a friendly club, with some lovely post-match food in the form of chilli-covered jacket potatoes to top off the day.
On the way back I should have continued with my coursework, but I was inexplicably tired so didn't bother doing any more of it. The journey back was quiet and uneventful, with the bus arriving back at our ground at 6:50pm, with me getting back in the house half an hour later.
With 2018 coming to a close, here are my stats for the calendar year. Compared to last year, I saw more games but far fewer goals (partially because of three goalless draws, I suppose). I also visited a lot of new grounds again, but ended up falling just two short of doubling my overall tally for the second year running. Still, 32 new grounds in a year is fantastic progress for me, and 18 for the season so far means I'm well on course to beat last season's ground total (26) already. Up next (weather permitting) will be another Yaxley away day as we once again head into Bedfordshire for a game against former UCL opponents Kempston Rovers, who now have former MK Dons and Barnet (among many others) striker Izale McLeod playing for them.
The Ground
Sharpenhoe Road is a quirky ground with plenty of character, one that I definitely enjoyed despite its bobbly pitch and the effect this had on the match. The only seating at the ground is in the main stand on the near side, which contains 160 covered seats. Inside the back of this is the boardroom, with an excellent view overlooking the pitch.
Directly across from the main stand are five areas of covered standing, built in such a way as to emphasise the slope of the pitch. Each of these are virtually identical in design and contain a couple of steps of terracing, probably giving them a capacity of around 150 each. There is also a couple of steps of uncovered terracing behind the far goal, which can probably hold around 200 people.
Other than this, the rest of the ground is open hard standing, but there is an unusual area behind the near goal which is flat standing, but has been at least partially cordoned off, perhaps in preparation for future ground upgrades. There is also a bar behind the main stand, which provides a small range of food and drink options for spectators.
The ground has an overall capacity of 4,000, with a record attendance of 1,900 for an FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round game against Nuneaton Borough in 1976. There is still a decent amount of space to expand in the future if necessary, at least behind the near goal.
Photos
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