Fleet Town FC
Calthorpe Park
Crookham Road
Fleet
Hampshire
GU51 5FA
Twitter
Ground: 77
Date: Saturday 23rd March 2019
Fleet Town 1-4 Cirencester Town
Southern League Division 1 South
Attendance: 310 (official)
Fleet Town FC - History
Fleet Town were founded in 1890 as Fleet FC. Initially, the club had two Saturday teams, one of which played in the Aldershot Senior League while the other played in the Basingstoke & District League. After several decades in these local leagues, the club joined Division 3 of the Hampshire League in 1961 and won the division in their first season to earn promotion to Division 2, only to immediately suffer relegation again.
In 1963, the club changed to its current name and finished 3rd to earn promotion back to Division 2 at the end of the 1963/64 season. Two seasons later, the club won the Division 2 title to earn promotion to Division 1. In the 1972/73 season, the club finished as runners-up in this league, but three seasons later they finished bottom and returned to Division 2. After finishing as runners-up of this lerague in the 1977/78 season, the club joined the Athenian League.
The club spent six seasons in this league and generally struggled, recording a highest finish of 13th in the 1980/81 season. After finishing second-from-bottom in the 1983/84 season and having struggled to meet ground grading regulations, the club were demoted to the Combined Counties League. However, this saw no improvement to the club's fortunes and they finished bottom for two seasons running before dropping down to the Surrey Premier League for the 1986/87 season, only to finish bottom of that league too.
After this, the club joined the Chiltonian League for the 1987/88 season and, after two seasons in this league, they moved up to the Wessex League. After a difficult first season that saw the club finish second-from-bottom, their fortunes improved and they steadily moved higher up the table, eventually winning the league in the 1994/95 season to earn promotion to the Southern League Southern Division.
The club struggled in this league and never broke into the top half, but remained at that level until being transferred to the Eastern Division for the 1999/2000 season: the club finished bottom of this league to return to the Wessex League. After two seasons back at this level, the club finished as runners-up to return to the Eastern Division of the Southern League, but they struggled again.
After finishing bottom of the Eastern Division in the 2003/04 season, the club were reprieved from relegation due to restructuring of the non-league pyramid and were transferred to Division 1 of the Isthmian League. Further restructuring in the 2006/07 season saw the club placed in Division 1 South. This season saw the club finish 5th and earn a place in the play-offs, but they lost in the semi-finals to Tooting & Mitcham United.
The 2007/08 season saw the club transferred to Division 1 South & West of the Southern League, with the club finishing as runners-up but again losing in the play-off semi-finals, this time to Uxbridge. After this, the club were transferred back to Isthmian League Division 1 South and finished 3rd, this time losing to Metropolitan Police in the semi-finals.
Since then, the club have been transferred between various Step 4 divisions on a regular basis: in the 2011/12 season, the club were transferred to Division 1 Central of the Southern League; two seasons later, they were transferred to Division 1 South & West again, before returning to Division 1 Central two seasons after that; they then played in Division 1 East last season before being transferred to Division 1 South this season. Amidst this constant instability, the club have unsurprisingly struggled in the bottom half of Step 4 and look likely to be relegated to Step 5 at the end of this season (barring a miraculous change in form, at least).
In the FA Cup, the club have twice progressed to the 3rd Qualifying Round: in the 2007/08 season, they beat Slough Town, Gosport Borough and Mangotsfield United before losing to Havant & Waterlooville; in the 2008/09 season, they beat Brockenhurst, Cowes Sports and Newport Pagnell Town before losing to AFC Totton. In the FA Trophy, the club have twice progressed as far as the 1st Round (by virtue of entering at that stage - and then losing - in the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons). As for the FA Vase, the club progressed as far as the 2nd Round on three occasions, most recently in the 1979/80 season: they beat Sholing Sports and Worthing before losing to Newbury Town.
My Visit
Earlier in the week, I had intended to look for more midweek options to do early next week due to other plans I had today, but it soon became apparent that my midweek options were severely limited. Upon realising that, I decided to look for any Sunday options, at which point fellow hopper Russell Cox suggested Greencourt (who play at the former ground of Alma Swanley). For a while, this seemed appealing, but after a while I remembered that I already had plans on Sunday as well.
With that in mind and considering how little the midweek options appealed to me, I decided to cancel my Saturday plans (they weren't anything essential, but it was still frustrating to have to cancel) and look for groundhop options again. Upon doing so, I noticed that Woodstock Town were at home again and, having changed my mind on visiting them at the last minute last week, I bumped them up to first choice, with this as back-up if required.
All was looking good for these plans for most of the week, but yesterday some unforeseen expenses came up that meant that I would not be able to afford going to Woodstock (well, I would have been, but it would have been at the expense of upcoming groundhops), so I had little choice but to make this first choice.
With my decision made and no issues with the weather, I ordered my train tickets late in the morning and headed out at 1:15pm, my train leaving the station 20 minutes later. While it pales in comparison with last week's travel nightmare, there was a very minor issue on the way: my initial train to Woking was a couple of minutes late, meaning I was left with just a few minutes to make my connection heading to Fleet, which I just about managed.
The train arrived at Fleet Station at around 2:10pm and, after a 20-25 minute walk to the ground I arrived, not having to pay for admission due to the club's offer of free admission for this game (to celebrate their recent change in ownership). There also wasn't a programme (as the club only do online programmes now), but there was at least a teamsheet by the entrance for me to photograph.
Almost immediately after this, a fellow poster on Tony's Non-League Forum - who was also at the Frimley Green match I went to a couple of weeks ago - introduced himself, and we had a brief chat before I went around to do my usual circuit of photos as the crowd gradually increased (the free admission offer really paid off for the club, as the attendance of 310 was the best they've had for several years). At half-time, I decided to put a little bit of money into the club by buying a hot dog for £3 and donating a further £1.50 to the club (to fund repairs to their tea bar, which was recently vandalised).
Considering the league table and recent form, only one outcome seemed likely here, but there was always the possibility that the long-distance that Cirencester had to travel would have some effect on the match.
Here's my report on a match that ended up following the form book, but only after a spirited performance from a Fleet side who looked much better than their league position suggests:
There was a chance for Cirencester within the first minute as a long ball over the top reached Aiden Bennett on the edge of box, with Fleet keeper James Stroud tipping over the effort. From this and the table, you would have been forgiven for expecting the away side to quickly take control, but this wasn't what happened. Instead, Fleet went on the attack and almost immediately looked much more threatening, so much so that it was little surprise when they took the lead after 11 minutes: a cross was played into the box and Billy Oram was there to head in from close range. It was almost 2-0 six minutes later, as an excellent aerial ball from Oram reached Bradley Wilson, who tried to lob Cirencester keeper Mateusz Wieczorek but put the ball well over.
After struggling to cope with Fleet's intensity in these early stages, Cirencester rallied and came very close to equalising in the 19th minute: a looping header by Bennett from just inside the box forced Stroud into an excellent fingertip save. The away side then had another great chance nine minutes later after some neat attacking interplay saw them break through the home defence, only for the pass across goal to be cleared for a corner. In the 33rd minute, it was the home side who almost scored, as Callum Abraham-Barlow charged forward, cut inside and shot low and wide from just outside the box. The rest of the half continued in this end-to-end fashion, but it remained 1-0 going into half-time.
After a frustrating first half, Cirencester would have been hoping to start the second half in style and did so by scoring within its first couple of minutes: a ball was played across the box and Tommy Anderson was able to run in unchallenged to score at the far post. They then almost took the lead moments later, as Fleet cheaply gave the ball away, allowing Alan Griffin to get forward and shoot, with Stroud once again making the save. Ten minutes later, Fleet missed two golden chances of their own: first, Anderson crossed from the right wing to Kofi Halliday, who should have had an easy tap-in but scuffed the shot; and second, Anderson played an excellent driven cross into the box that Halliday just couldn't get a touch on to tap in at the far post.
With Cirencester having looked much stronger since the start of the half, it seemed almost certain that they would punish Fleet's missed chances, and they did so in style in the 64th minute: Griffin cleverly controlled the ball outside the box to guide it to Bennett, who used his chest to take the ball past the defender before volleying to score. Four minutes later, it was Griffin's turn to score an excellent goal: after a long ball over the top, he controlled well before shooting on the half volley to score. After this, the game died down somewhat, insomuch as there were chances but none that were truly clear-cut. It looked like it would finish 1-3 right until the end, but a last-minute penalty for Cirencester changed that: Stroud caught Owen Windsor when punching clear, with Griffin stepping up to take and score the penalty. 1-4 at full-time.
Overall, this was a great match for the neutral, with both teams playing attacking football throughout and very little in the way of bad blood or niggly fouls (other than a few moments of handbags in the final ten minutes). For much of the match, Fleet belied their position at the bottom of the league and played some excellent football, but in the second half Cirencester upped the intensity and showed why they are competing for the play-offs. Even so, I don't think Fleet deserved to lose this game by a three-goal margin, as that doesn't truly reflect the balance of play here.
So, even though this wasn't my intended destination originally, this was another enjoyable groundhop, with a good match to watch and a great atmosphere amongst the bumper crowd despite the result. After this, I'd really like to see them stay up, as unlikely as it does seem now; if they do go down, I'll be wishing them luck in whatever league they end up in.
The journey back was easy, just with longer waits at each connection due to the timing of my arrivals (had I arrived at Woking even a minute earlier, I would have been able to catch an earlier connection back to Guildford). I eventually got back into the house at 6:35pm.
At this point, with the season steadily approaching its end and with me set to go home for Easter break next week, I'm going to roughly outline my groundhopping plans for the rest of the season (but at this month has shown, things can change very easily):
Next Saturday will see me on the Supporters' Coach for Yaxley's game away at Aylesbury. After that, my next groundhop will likely be on the 13th of April, this time for Yaxley's away game at Dunstable Town. Then I intend to do a neutral groundhop on the 20th of April, followed by another Yaxley away game on Easter Monday (against Corby Town). To finish the season, I will then do a final groundhop on either the 27th of April or something in early May (if there actually is anything available in that latter category this season).
The Ground
Calthorpe Park is a decent Step 4 ground with three areas of cover. The most notable of these is the impressive main stand on the near side, which contains roughly 200 seats (most of which were in use today by the bumper crowd). This has supporting pillars, but for the most part the views are very good despite this.
Behind each goal is a small area of cover in the form of scaffolding, both of which can probably provide cover for 50 or so people and are clearly in place to satisfy ground-grading criteria. The rest of the ground is open hard standing, with the only other notable feature being a small area of hard standing above the rest on the near side.
The ground has an overall capacity of 2,000 and is perfectly-equipped for both Step 4 and Step 5 football, with a reasonable amount of space available for upgrades should they ever be required or desired.
Photos
With that in mind and considering how little the midweek options appealed to me, I decided to cancel my Saturday plans (they weren't anything essential, but it was still frustrating to have to cancel) and look for groundhop options again. Upon doing so, I noticed that Woodstock Town were at home again and, having changed my mind on visiting them at the last minute last week, I bumped them up to first choice, with this as back-up if required.
All was looking good for these plans for most of the week, but yesterday some unforeseen expenses came up that meant that I would not be able to afford going to Woodstock (well, I would have been, but it would have been at the expense of upcoming groundhops), so I had little choice but to make this first choice.
With my decision made and no issues with the weather, I ordered my train tickets late in the morning and headed out at 1:15pm, my train leaving the station 20 minutes later. While it pales in comparison with last week's travel nightmare, there was a very minor issue on the way: my initial train to Woking was a couple of minutes late, meaning I was left with just a few minutes to make my connection heading to Fleet, which I just about managed.
The train arrived at Fleet Station at around 2:10pm and, after a 20-25 minute walk to the ground I arrived, not having to pay for admission due to the club's offer of free admission for this game (to celebrate their recent change in ownership). There also wasn't a programme (as the club only do online programmes now), but there was at least a teamsheet by the entrance for me to photograph.
Almost immediately after this, a fellow poster on Tony's Non-League Forum - who was also at the Frimley Green match I went to a couple of weeks ago - introduced himself, and we had a brief chat before I went around to do my usual circuit of photos as the crowd gradually increased (the free admission offer really paid off for the club, as the attendance of 310 was the best they've had for several years). At half-time, I decided to put a little bit of money into the club by buying a hot dog for £3 and donating a further £1.50 to the club (to fund repairs to their tea bar, which was recently vandalised).
Considering the league table and recent form, only one outcome seemed likely here, but there was always the possibility that the long-distance that Cirencester had to travel would have some effect on the match.
Here's my report on a match that ended up following the form book, but only after a spirited performance from a Fleet side who looked much better than their league position suggests:
There was a chance for Cirencester within the first minute as a long ball over the top reached Aiden Bennett on the edge of box, with Fleet keeper James Stroud tipping over the effort. From this and the table, you would have been forgiven for expecting the away side to quickly take control, but this wasn't what happened. Instead, Fleet went on the attack and almost immediately looked much more threatening, so much so that it was little surprise when they took the lead after 11 minutes: a cross was played into the box and Billy Oram was there to head in from close range. It was almost 2-0 six minutes later, as an excellent aerial ball from Oram reached Bradley Wilson, who tried to lob Cirencester keeper Mateusz Wieczorek but put the ball well over.
After struggling to cope with Fleet's intensity in these early stages, Cirencester rallied and came very close to equalising in the 19th minute: a looping header by Bennett from just inside the box forced Stroud into an excellent fingertip save. The away side then had another great chance nine minutes later after some neat attacking interplay saw them break through the home defence, only for the pass across goal to be cleared for a corner. In the 33rd minute, it was the home side who almost scored, as Callum Abraham-Barlow charged forward, cut inside and shot low and wide from just outside the box. The rest of the half continued in this end-to-end fashion, but it remained 1-0 going into half-time.
After a frustrating first half, Cirencester would have been hoping to start the second half in style and did so by scoring within its first couple of minutes: a ball was played across the box and Tommy Anderson was able to run in unchallenged to score at the far post. They then almost took the lead moments later, as Fleet cheaply gave the ball away, allowing Alan Griffin to get forward and shoot, with Stroud once again making the save. Ten minutes later, Fleet missed two golden chances of their own: first, Anderson crossed from the right wing to Kofi Halliday, who should have had an easy tap-in but scuffed the shot; and second, Anderson played an excellent driven cross into the box that Halliday just couldn't get a touch on to tap in at the far post.
With Cirencester having looked much stronger since the start of the half, it seemed almost certain that they would punish Fleet's missed chances, and they did so in style in the 64th minute: Griffin cleverly controlled the ball outside the box to guide it to Bennett, who used his chest to take the ball past the defender before volleying to score. Four minutes later, it was Griffin's turn to score an excellent goal: after a long ball over the top, he controlled well before shooting on the half volley to score. After this, the game died down somewhat, insomuch as there were chances but none that were truly clear-cut. It looked like it would finish 1-3 right until the end, but a last-minute penalty for Cirencester changed that: Stroud caught Owen Windsor when punching clear, with Griffin stepping up to take and score the penalty. 1-4 at full-time.
Overall, this was a great match for the neutral, with both teams playing attacking football throughout and very little in the way of bad blood or niggly fouls (other than a few moments of handbags in the final ten minutes). For much of the match, Fleet belied their position at the bottom of the league and played some excellent football, but in the second half Cirencester upped the intensity and showed why they are competing for the play-offs. Even so, I don't think Fleet deserved to lose this game by a three-goal margin, as that doesn't truly reflect the balance of play here.
So, even though this wasn't my intended destination originally, this was another enjoyable groundhop, with a good match to watch and a great atmosphere amongst the bumper crowd despite the result. After this, I'd really like to see them stay up, as unlikely as it does seem now; if they do go down, I'll be wishing them luck in whatever league they end up in.
The journey back was easy, just with longer waits at each connection due to the timing of my arrivals (had I arrived at Woking even a minute earlier, I would have been able to catch an earlier connection back to Guildford). I eventually got back into the house at 6:35pm.
At this point, with the season steadily approaching its end and with me set to go home for Easter break next week, I'm going to roughly outline my groundhopping plans for the rest of the season (but at this month has shown, things can change very easily):
Next Saturday will see me on the Supporters' Coach for Yaxley's game away at Aylesbury. After that, my next groundhop will likely be on the 13th of April, this time for Yaxley's away game at Dunstable Town. Then I intend to do a neutral groundhop on the 20th of April, followed by another Yaxley away game on Easter Monday (against Corby Town). To finish the season, I will then do a final groundhop on either the 27th of April or something in early May (if there actually is anything available in that latter category this season).
The Ground
Calthorpe Park is a decent Step 4 ground with three areas of cover. The most notable of these is the impressive main stand on the near side, which contains roughly 200 seats (most of which were in use today by the bumper crowd). This has supporting pillars, but for the most part the views are very good despite this.
Behind each goal is a small area of cover in the form of scaffolding, both of which can probably provide cover for 50 or so people and are clearly in place to satisfy ground-grading criteria. The rest of the ground is open hard standing, with the only other notable feature being a small area of hard standing above the rest on the near side.
The ground has an overall capacity of 2,000 and is perfectly-equipped for both Step 4 and Step 5 football, with a reasonable amount of space available for upgrades should they ever be required or desired.
Photos
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