Stamford - Borderville Sports Centre

Stamford AFC
Borderville Sports Centre
Ryhall Road
Stamford
Lincolnshire
PE9 1US

Official Website
Twitter

Ground: 127
Date: Monday 27th December 2021
Stamford 1-2 Yaxley
Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands
Attendance: 624 (official)

Stamford - History

Stamford were founded in 1896 and initially played in the East Midlands League before going several years without league football. In 1909, the club joined the Northamptonshire League and won the title in the 1911/12 season. In 1939, they left what was now known as the United Counties League and joined the Peterborough & District League for a season.

In 1946, the club returned to the United Counties League, but they left again nine years later to join the Central Alliance League. In the 1961/62 season, they joined the Midland League but consistently finished in the bottom half. After consecutive second-from-bottom finishes in the 1970/71 and 1971/72 seasons, they left the Midland League and returned to the United Counties League once more.

This time, the club started to become a dominant force in the league, only finishing outside the top five once in the next fourteen seasons and winning the title five times (in the 1975/76, 1977/78, 1979/80, 1980/81 and 1981/82 seasons). The 1979/80 season also saw the club win the FA Vase, beating Soham Town Rangers, Letchworth Garden City, Skegness Town, Shepshed Charterhouse, Desborough Town, Cray Wanderers and Curzon Ashton before beating Guisborough Town 2-0 in the Final at Wembley.

After this, the club's fortunes dipped slightly for the next decade as they spent most of their time in the bottom half of the United Counties League Premier Division, even finishing second-from-bottom in the 1990/91 season. However, they soon recovered and won back-to-back Premier Division titles in the 1996/97 and 1997/98 seasons to earn promotion to the Southern League's Midland Division, transferring to the Eastern Division after one season.

In the 2003/04 season, the club finished 7th in the Eastern Division and were promoted to the Premier Division due to restructuring, only to be relegated back to the Eastern Division twelve months later. The club's return to the Eastern Division was short-lived as they finished 4th and won promotion via the play-offs by beating Barking & East Ham United and Wivenhoe Town. They finished a respectable 8th-place in their first season back in the Premier Division before being laterally transferred to the Northern Premier League's Premier Division.

The club struggled to adapt to their new league and they were relegated to Division 1 South of the Northern Premier League after one season in the Premier Division. After five seasons at this level, they won promotion via the play-offs in the 2012/13 season, beating Belper Town in the semi-finals and Chasetown in the final. This time, they spent three seasons in the Premier Division before being relegated in the 2015/16 season. They have remained at Division 1 level ever since.

The club reached the FA Cup 1st Round in the 2016/17 season, beating Sleaford Town, St. Neots Town, Gresley, AFC Mansfield and Wrexham before losing to Hartlepool United. In the FA Trophy, their best run saw them reach the 5th Round in the 2004/05 season by beating Bedford Town, Rocester, Willenhall Town and Walton & Hersham before losing to Exeter City. As for the FA Vase, the club have also been losing finalists on two occasions, losing to Billericay Town in the 1975/76 Final and to Stansted in the 1983/84 Final.

My Visit

When Yaxley's fixture list was announced in the summer, this was one of the matches that was always on my radar. However, it was always contingent on what the family Christmas plans would end up being. Furthermore, with the Omicron variant on the rise, I was wary of a new wave of restrictions coming into effect and jeopardising everything.

In the end, though, no new restrictions came into effect before Christmas (or after Christmas, at the time of writing) and my concern shifted to the match being postponed because of either the weather or covid cases in either squad. When a match at Spalding was announced as postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, I was fully expecting this match to follow suit but by yesterday morning it became apparent that wouldn't be the case.

In the end, we left the house at 2pm to make the 15-mile journey to Stamford. I thought this would get me to the ground for around 2:20pm, but traffic was slow and I ended up not arriving until 2:40pm, rushing to do a circuit of photos before kick-off and then choosing somewhere to stand pitchside for the first half. At half-time, I headed into the boardroom with the other Yaxley officials for some half-time hospitality before taking a seat in the main stand for the second half to get out of the rain.

Though we were on a very good three-win streak going into this fixture, I expected that Stamford would continue their play-off charge and stop us in our tracks. However, I was hopeful that we could at least get a point out of this, especially with the weather having the potential to act as a leveller.

Yaxley made the better start to this match with Bradley Gothard having a header cleared off the line early on and Matt Sparrow shooting narrowly wide from a corner in the 9th minute. Stamford fired their first warning shot in the 10th minute as Jack Duffy scooped a shot narrowly over the bar after a quick counter-attack. After this, the home side quickly took control and they went close again in the 21st minute, Cameron Johnson being denied by an excellent save from Yaxley keeper William Larkin.

Stamford took a deserved lead in the 29th minute when Jack Duffy latched onto a Rob Morgan through ball and shot beneath Larkin. This was followed by a prolonged period of Stamford pressure, with Yaxley struggling to find an outball to relieve the pressure or get some counter-attacks going. However, they did spurn two golden chances on the stroke of half-time: first, Florian Tsaguim had a shot from inside the 6-yard box saved after taking the time to turn and shoot; then, from the resulting corner, Hameed Ishola somehow headed over the bar from a yard.

The second half took a while to get going as the rain caused conditions to deteriorate, though Stamford remained in control and continued to put pressure on the Yaxley backline. Surprisingly though, it was Yaxley who scored next as Ishola made amends for his first-half sitter with a wonderful solo goal: after picking up the ball on the halfway line, he charged forwards, eluding several challenges before hitting a powerful shot into the net from a tight angle. Fourteen minutes later, Ishola scored his second by pouncing on an underhit backpass and sliding the ball beyond Stamford keeper Dan Haystead as he rushed out and slipped.

After this, Stamford threw everything forward in search of an equaliser but were denied again and again with a series of blocks from Yaxley centre backs Bradley Gothard and Connor Peters. Yaxley almost nicked a third on the counter as Ishola set Sparrow through on goal, but the winger scuffed his shot and it was easily retrieved and cleared by the Stamford defence. Then, with the last action of the match, Stamford launched a cross into the box, but Larkin was there once more to push the ball clear under pressure from Jack Duffy and with Rodrigo Goncalves unmarked waiting to tap in at the far post.

I'd be lying if I were to describe this result as anything other than a smash and grab win for us in very difficult conditions for both teams (lots of players slipping and sliding all over the park as the rain kept pouring). However, the fact that we held out under so much pressure says a lot about the confidence in the squad and how much we have improved since our struggles earlier in the season. William Larkin was undoubtedly man of the match, but Hameed Ishola also deserves serious credit for basically making both goals happen on his own (it was his pressure on the defender that caused the backpass leading to the second).

After joining some of our other fans in congratulating the players as they left the pitch, I headed out of the ground and traversed the very muddy overflow car park to get back to the car. After we eventually got out of the car park, we made swift progress back home and were back in the house by around 5:30pm. I then sorted my photos out before getting my match report written up after a light dinner.

As this was my final match of 2021, it's time to have a look at my stats for the year. Overall, not too bad considering I couldn't watch any football at all until June due to covid restrictions. Really, the only disappointment is that I didn't see a match with more goals so I could fully excise that Loughborough Dynamo match from my memory.

While my first match of 2022 won't be a groundhop (I'll be watching Yaxley host local rivals Wisbech Town on New Year's Day), I am planning to get my first groundhop of 2022 in on either the 3rd (as it's another Bank Holiday Monday) or Saturday the 8th, though I've not yet had a look at what sort of options I will have. So, as before, Athletic Newham on the 15th remains the next groundhop I've definitely got planned.

The Ground

Borderville Sports Centre (or the Zeeco Stadium as it is known for sponsorship purposes) is a fairly new ground, having opened in 2014 after Stamford left their old ground. By new build standards, it's a decent ground with two big areas of cover. The only seated cover at the ground is a large 250-seater stand on the near side. Views from this stand are mostly excellent, though the floodlight pylons do get in the way of each corner area on the near side.

The clubhouse is next to the main stand and contains a tea bar at ground level and the bar and boardroom areas elevated above pitch level via a stair case. A small hut where programmes are sold is also situated on this side of the ground. The ground's other area of cover is a large terrace behind the far goal, which contains standing cover for up to 500 people. Next to this terrace is the club shop.

The other two sides of the ground are open hard standing, with the toilets situated on the corner between the near goal and the near side. There doesn't appear to be much room for ground expansion on the current site footprint, but the ground is almost certainly good enough for at least Step 3 level, possibly even Step 2 level.

The record attendance at the ground was 1,572 for a 2019 pre-season friendly against Peterborough United. The ground has an official capacity of 2,000.

Photos

Langford - Forde Park

Langford FC
Forde Park
Langford Road
Henlow
Bedfordshire
SG16 6AG

Official Website
Twitter

Ground: 126
Date: Saturday 18th December 2021
Langford 2-1 Burton Park Wanderers
Spartan South Midlands League Division 1
Attendance: 65 (official)

Langford - History

Langford were founded in 1908, though it is believed that another team played friendly matches against other local villages for at least a decade before this. Initially, the club played in the Biggleswade & District Junior League, finishing as runners-up in the four of the five seasons preceding World War 1.

At some point after the War, the club joined the Bedford & District League and won the title for the first time in the 1931/32 season. After winning the title for a second time in the 1949/50 season, they moved up to Division 1 of the South Midlands League in 1951 and won promotion to the Premier Division in their third season at this level. However, they were immediately relegated back to Division 1 and then left the league entirely at the end of the 1956/57 season.

After spending one season out of the South Midlands League, the club returned to Division 1 for the 1958/59 season and stayed there for a decade before earning promotion to the Premier Division once more in the 1968/69 season. This time, they lasted two seasons at this level before dropping back down to Division 1, but it only took two seasons for them to bounce back.

This time, the club spent seven seasons in the Premier Division before being relegated back to Division 1. In 1985, they were once again promoted back to the Premier Division and remained at this level for thirteen years, suffering relegation from the newly-formed Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division North at the end of the 1997/98 season. They were able to return to the Premier Division once more after finishing as Division 1 runners-up in the 2003/04 season.

After seven seasons back at this level, the club finished bottom in the 2010/11 season and were relegated back to Division 1, where they have remained ever since. The club have mostly finished in the bottom half in this latest spell in Division 1, but they did finish 4th in the 2016/17 season.

In the FA Cup, the club have twice progressed as far as the 1st Qualifying Round: in the 1993/94 season, they beat Leighton Town before losing to Purfleet; in the 1995/96 season, they beat Bedfont after two replays before losing to Wembley. Their best FA Vase run also came in the 1995/96 when they reached the 2nd Round by beating London Colney and Hoddesdon Town before losing to Whitstable Town.

My Visit

Things haven't gone to plan with my groundhopping this month. I had intended to go to Yaxley's away match at Spalding United last weekend, but after ordering my train tickets and making it to the train station my train was cancelled and no replacement service was offered. That meant I had a rare blank Saturday and meant I was determined to get a match in yesterday.

However, that also proved difficult due to both money and covid issues for both clubs and trains. My initial plan from a few weeks back had been to head into London somewhere, with me doing a few Twitter polls to help me decide where to go. However, as I did that I was informed that Tube strikes were planned for yesterday and that removed several of my options from the equation.

As a result, I was at that point favouring going somewhere like Sherwood Colliery instead. However, after last weekend's debacle I was reluctant to go somewhere with an infrequent train service and was leaning back towards heading into London as there were still a few options I could do despite the Tube strikes. However, with cases rising at an especially high rate in the capital, I wasn't too keen on that idea and headed back onto the Futbology app to find some more options.

In doing so, I found this fixture and a fixture at Shefford Town & Campton and I started doing some research to figure out how to get to both on public transport. By this point in the week, another problem was starting to become apparent: rising covid cases were causing fixtures at all levels to be postponed and that meant I spent most of both Thursday evening checking social media and Full-Time both for postponements and for more fixture options I missed (including one at Letchworth Garden City Eagles that was my first choice on Thursday, but had been announced as postponed by the end of the evening).

The next step was to determine how well trains would be running and what options that would leave me, with it quickly becoming clear that Thameslink were probably the safest choice and that Langford and Shefford Town & Campton were my primary match options, with Langford being my first choice due to being a bit easier on public transport than Shefford Town & Campton would be.

So the plan yesterday was to get the 12:24pm Thameslink train to Horsham and get off at Arlesey (the train ticket cost £7.10) to allow me to head to either fixture if either was postponed late in the day. Unfortunately, this did not quite work out and I instead ended up on the 1:23pm train. This meant that I could only go to Langford, but at that point I wasn't concerned about a postponement.

To get to the ground, I had two options: either get off at Arlesey and walk 2.3 miles to the ground, or get off at Biggleswade and take the bus there. In the end, I opted for the latter and made it to the ground by 2:20pm (the bus stop is across the road from the ground), paying £6 for admission and a programme and paying an additional £3 for a pin badge. I then set about doing my circuit of photos before heading into the clubhouse fifteen minutes later to wait for kick-off. I also ordered a cup of tea and hot dog for £2.50 (both were nice and good value for money, but the hot dog roll was a bit big compared to the sausage for my liking) while in here to help me warm up before kick-off. During the match, I sat in the middle of the seated stand.

On paper, this didn't look like the most exciting fixture, but Langford were involved in a 5-3 thriller earlier in the week and were against a struggling Burton Park Wanderers side so I was hopeful of being entertained.

I didn't see a teamsheet anywhere at the ground or online, so I've only had numbers to work with for this match report (except the Langford goalkeeper and scorer, both of whom I figured out about via Twitter).

The early exchanges of this match can best be described as disjointed, with both teams passing to the opposition as much as to themselves. The first chance of note came BPW's way in the 19th minute when their number 7 - who was lively throughout - hit a low shot narrowly wide of the near post. Two minutes later, a chipped pass set BPW's number 11 through on goal, but Langford keeper Sam Galatis got a hand to his shot and then moved quickly to block the attempted rebound.

Six minutes later, BPW took a deserved lead when a through ball set 11 through one-on-one and he placed his shot beneath Galatis for an easy finish. Eight minutes later, Langford had the ball in the net themselves, but it was disallowed for offside. This was Langford's main problem in the first half: they got a few good attacks going, but couldn't seem to stay onside for the final pass. In any event, the first half petered out after this as offsides and niggly fouls disrupted the flow of proceedings.

Langford started the second half on the front foot and went close in the 48th minute when their number 8 had a shot from the edge of the box tipped wide for a corner. The corner reached a Langford head, but it was an easy save for the BPW keeper. Moments later, though, Langford went close again as a free kick was headed goalwards and palmed over the bar for another corner.

Five minutes after this, Langford had a player sin-binned and were temporarily down to ten men. The home side weren't deterred by this though and were awarded a penalty in the 63rd minute as their number 2 was brought down in the box by the BPW keeper. However, after consulting with his linesman, the referee changed his mind and gave a corner instead. A few minutes later, another Langford player was sin-binned just as the first one was about to return to the pitch.

In the 69th minute, Langford came close with a moment of individual skill: their number 16 weaved his way past some defenders before curling a shot just over the crossbar. Four minutes later, BPW responded with their first clear-cut chance of the second half as their number 7 ran down the wing into the box and did a step-over to elude a defender before having his shot well-saved by Galatis. In the 80th minute, he went close again as he was set through one-on-one but his shot went wide.

After that near miss for BPW, Langford went straight up the other end and were awarded a penalty as the BPW keeper once again brought a player down. This time, the decision wasn't overturned and James Younger stepped up and calmly converted the penalty. Having found their equaliser, Langford clearly upped their intensity and pressed higher up the pitch in search of a winner and BPW struggled to adapt. As such, it was no surprise when Younger scored his and Langford's second with two minutes to spare: their number 6 found space to shoot from outside the box and the BPW keeper pushed the shot back into the box, with Younger reacting quickest to scramble it in and secure the win for Langford.

This was a scrappy contest in which there was little to separate the two sides besides the fact that Langford were able to step up a gear late on while Burton Park Wanderers weren't. The fact that the match was very stop-start due to a lot of niggly and soft fouls being given didn't help, as it meant that neither side was really able to build any momentum.

The final whistle blew just before 5pm and I spent a few minutes checking trains and deciding what I wanted to do before heading out of the ground. In the end, to get full value for money, I decided to walk back to Arlesey station rather than getting the bus back to Biggleswade station. This was at least partially because I'd still be getting the same train back to Peterborough either way (the 6:25pm from Arlesey) due to the bus leaving at the same time as the previous train back to Peterborough.

This was a 2.3 mile walk and took me around 37 minutes, though if you were so inclined you could break that walk up by stopping at one of the several pubs along the way. In the dark, I was slightly nervous about it, but it was fully-paved back to the station and the vast majority was also lit by streetlights. The only exception to the latter was a stretch of Arlesey Road which wasn't lit, but I did have the torch on my phone for those sections. In the end, I reached Arlesey station at around 5:40pm, so I had a forty-five minute wait for the train.

The train left on time and I was back in Peterborough by 7:10pm and back in the house fifteen minutes later. After having enchiladas for dinner, I spent the evening sorting out my photos and writing up my match report before starting on my blog earlier today (unlike usual, I also had to write up the history due to how late my final decision was made).

Assuming there are no changes to covid restrictions, I have one final groundhop planned for this year when Yaxley visit Stamford on the 27th. After that, I might get in a groundhop on the New Year's Bank Holiday weekend somewhere, but if not my next concrete plan is a visit to Athletic Newham on the 15th of January for their FA Vase 4th Round tie against Littlehampton Town.

The Ground

Forde Park is a typical Step 6 ground with two Arena structures on one side providing the only cover at the ground. On one side of the dugouts is a 100-seater Arena stand, while on the other side there is an Arena terrace of a similar size. Besides this, the rest of the ground is open hard standing and it is surrounded by trees on all sides to give it a pleasant, rural feel.

The clubhouse is positioned behind the near goal and is where all food and drink can be purchased on matchday. The pitch distinctly undulates in places, most noticeably in front of the main stand.

The record attendance at the ground was 450 for a friendly against Queens Park Rangers in 1985, possibly played to celebrate the opening of the ground (Langford moved here in 1984).

Photos

Whittlesey Athletic - Feldale Field

Whittlesey Athletic FC
Feldale Field
Drybread Road
Whittlesey
Cambridgeshire
PE7 1YP

Official Website
Twitter

Ground: 125
Date: Saturday 20th November 2021
Whittlesey Athletic 0-0 Worcester City (7-6 on penalties)
FA Vase 2nd Round
Attendance: 314 (official)

Whittlesey Athletic - History

Whittlesey Athletic were founded in 2014 as a merger between local sides Whittlesey United (founded in 1957) and Coates Athletic (founded in 1950). The newly-merged club replaced its predecessors in the Premier Division of the Peterborough & District League and finished as runners-up in the 2015/16 season to earn promotion to Division 1 of the United Counties League.

Seven matches into their first season at this new level, the club resigned from the league after funding for the needed floodlights was withdrawn (meaning the club would face demotion at the end of the season). The following season saw the club return to the Peterborough & District League Premier Division and they gained promotion back to Division 1 of the United Counties League at the end of the 2018/19 season, this time with floodlights in place.

After both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons were declared null and void due to the coronavirus pandemic, the club were transferred to Division 1 North of the Eastern Counties League for the 2021/22 season. They have made a strong start to life in their new league and currently sit in the play-off places.

The club have yet to compete in either the FA Cup or Trophy, but have competed in the FA Vase for two seasons (including this current season): in the 2020/21 season, they reached the 1st Round by beating Debenham LC before losing to Mildenhall Town; this season, they have gone one step further so far by reaching the 2nd Round, having beaten Framlingham Town and Wolverhampton Casuals prior to this tie against Worcester City.

My Visit

With Whittlesey being one of the few grounds in England's top ten tiers to be within ten miles of me, a visit here has been high on the agenda for a while now. In fact, when I looked through their fixtures at the start of the season, I'd initially put their match on this date down, though at that point it was a league fixture against Norwich CBS listed.

However, this date did clash with Yaxley's visit to Bedworth United and that was always in the back of my mind, especially with the prospect of the weather starting to turn for the worse by this point in November (Bedworth play on a 3G pitch). The other possibility I had in mind was that the FA Vase 2nd Round was going to take place on this weekend, so I wanted to keep an eye on the situation until closer to the time.

Around a month ago, I was starting to lean towards the Bedworth match, even with the logistical difficulties I'd have to work around to make it happen. However, after the previous round of the FA Vase took place on the 23rd of October, I noticed that Whittlesey had progressed again with an impressive win against Step 5 side Wolverhampton Casuals, so I kept a close eye out for the 2nd Round draw that Monday.

When the draw came out and threw out this fixture, I was very interested but still undecided due to my interest in visiting new grounds with Yaxley. So, with Bedworth playing on a 3G pitch, I decided to hold off on making my final decision until a week or so beforehand based on what the weather forecast looked like: if lots of rain was forecast, I'd play it safe and head to Bedworth, but if not I'd head to Whittlesey.

In the end, by the time last Saturday rolled around I had more or less made my decision, and Yaxley's disappointing defeat cemented my choice. With that being the case, I asked for a lift and then just kept my eyes on the weather forecast during the week in case anything suddenly changed (as is very often the case). By Friday morning, it became apparent that such concerns would be unfounded, so I got to writing up the club history after coming back from having my booster jab.

Yesterday morning, I had my usual slow start to the day, perhaps even slower than usual given that we wouldn't have to leave until around 2pm for this match. After having lunch, we ended up leaving just before 2pm and made relatively quick progress to the ground, arriving roughly 20 minutes later.

I was dropped off outside the ground and made my way in, paying £5 for admission. At this point, I had 45 minutes before kick-off, so after getting my winter gear on (it was colder than I was expecting it to be) I went about my usual circuit of photos for around 20 minutes before buying a 1/4lb cheeseburger with bacon for £4 from the tea bar.

With this in tow, I took a seat in the main stand to wait for kick-off and was pleasantly surprised to run into one of Yaxley's regular supporters in the stand. We had a bit of a chat as we waited for kick-off and as I ate my burger (which I had evidently put too much burger sauce in, given how it dripped out a couple of times onto my bag). I remained in the stand throughout the match and was fortunate that penalties were taken at that end later on.

While I wanted Whittlesey to win this fixture due to the Yaxley connections in their squad, on paper it very much looked like Worcester City were the favourites, being at a higher level in the pyramid and being on a fine run of form lately as well.

Whittlesey started on the front foot and came close to opening the scoring after 8 minutes when Jack Bates almost beat Worcester keeper Jake Daniels to an aerial ball (had he done so, he'd have had a tap-in). Six minutes later, Lewis Cook spurned a golden chance for the hosts when he headed over the bar unmarked from a corner.

Worcester's first chance of note came in the 26th minute when a bobbled pass back to Whittlesey keeper Aaron Bellairs caused him to mishit his clearance straight to an attacker just outside the box. Fortunately for Bellairs, the shot ended up going narrowly wide. Twelve minutes later, Worcester went close again as a shot from the edge of the box deflected off a defender and forced Bellairs into a reactive palmed save.

In the first half, Whittlesey had done a good job of remaining compact and limiting Worcester's chances while also providing a threat on the counter and from set pieces, but the match was always going to become more stretched in the second half and Worcester started to find themselves on top, but Bellairs was in fine form to keep them at bay.

In the 64th minute, Bellairs was there again to keep Worcester out: an aerial side-foot volley looked to have caught everyone out, but he somehow got back to save it on the line. Fifteen minutes later, Bellairs denied James Douglas with another fine save from the midfielder's curled shot from the edge of the box. Towards the end of normal time, Whittlesey broke away on the counter and had a golden chance to nick it, but the shot was sent way over the bar.

With it finishing goalless in the 90 minutes, it was time for penalties. Whittlesey were going first but had their first penalty saved, while Worcester scored theirs to take the lead. However, Whittlesey were given a lifeline when they scored their second but Worcester skied theirs over the bar. Worcester then missed their fourth penalty and it looked like Whittlesey were going to progress, but they hit their fifth penalty into the crossbar and Worcester took their chance to take it to sudden death.

In sudden death, both teams scored their first three penalties to make it 6-6 from eight penalties. Then, Whittlesey scored their ninth penalty while Bellairs saved Worcester's ninth to send Whittlesey through to the 3rd Round of the FA Vase for the first time ever.

Despite the goalless scoreline, this was an entertaining if nervy cup match which Whittlesey played exactly how an underdog should play such a match: they kept things tight at the back, made use of set pieces and always tried to give Worcester something to think about on the counter. For Worcester's part, they did generally have the better of proceedings and became more threatening as the match progressed and gaps opened up, but they were either let down by their finishing or kept at bay by man-of-the-match Aaron Bellairs.

After the final penalty was taken and the celebrations began, I headed out of the ground to get picked up but took ten minutes to find the car in the dark. As a result, we didn't end up leaving until around 5:15pm, getting back into the house again twenty minutes later. It made a nice change to be back that early after how late I got back from my previous two, not least because it meant I had longer in the evening to both relax and warm myself up after an afternoon in the cold.

Overall, this was an enjoyable afternoon out at what was my most local unvisited ground in the top ten tiers of English football. I can say without a doubt that I will be back again, not least because I want to pay the Straw Bear pub a visit next time (which will mean going on the train as well).

After this, I'm aiming for three more groundhops this calendar year, but it'll be three weeks before my next one on the 11th of December. That will either be Yaxley's away league match at Spalding United or Whittlesey's next match in the FA Vase if they're drawn away at a ground I haven't visited and that I can somehow get to (I'll find out about that tomorrow). On the 18th, I'm planning one final neutral groundhop for the year, hopefully somewhere in London if my budget allows. Finally, the 27th will see me at Yaxley's away league match against Stamford.

The Ground

Feldale Field is a fairly typical Step 6 ground with just the two areas of cover. On the near side is an area of covered standing built out of scaffolding which provides standing cover for around 50 people. Directly across from this on the far side is a 50-seater stand (thankfully not the typical Arena structure). The clubhouse is positioned on the near side next to the scaffold stand.

The rest of the ground is open hard standing on all sides, though this only extends as far as the dugouts on the far side due to a lack of space. The ground is very exposed to the elements, but this does mean you get great views of the changing late-evening sky at this time of the year from the main stand.

All in all, the ground is perfectly sufficient for the club's current needs and seemed to handle the bumper crowd for this fixture very well.

Photos