Plantation Park
Plantation Road
Blofield
Norwich
Norfolk
NR13 4PL
Official Website
Ground: 150
Date: Saturday 3rd September 2022
Norwich United 3-2 Long Melford
Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Attendance: 80
Norwich United - History
Norwich United were founded in 1903 as Poringland & District, playing in the Norwich & District League before joining Division 3 of the Anglian Combination League in 1965. They won Division 3 at the first attempt and climbed up the divisions while also winning local silverware such as the Norfolk Junior Cup in 1979 and 1981 and the Anglian Combination League Junior Cup in 1981. In 1982, the club achieved senior status for the first time and they won the Anglian Combination League's Senior Cup two years later.
In 1985, continuing success on the pitch forced the club to move from the Poringland Memorial Playing Field to the Gothic Social Club in Norwich and they celebrated the move by reaching the Norfolk Senior Cup Final (played at Carrow Road) for the first time, losing to Norwich City Reserves. They reached the final once more the following season, but this time they lost to Great Yarmouth Town.
The club changed to its current name in 1987 and finished their first season as Norwich United as Anglian Combination League Premier Division runners-up, before going one better the following season and winning the title. This saw them earn promotion to Division 1 of the Eastern Counties League for the 1989/90 season and they made a great start to life at a higher level, finishing as runners-up in their first season before winning the title the following season to earn promotion to the Premier Division.
The club's first spell at Premier Division lasted just three seasons before they were relegated back to Division 1. They spent eight seasons in Division 1 before winning the title in the 2001/02 season to earn promotion back to the Premier Division. After several years of bottom-half finishes, they secured their first top-half finish at Premier Division level since 1993 by finishing 6th in the 2010/11 season.
Other than one bottom-half finish in the 2012/13 season, the club quickly became one of the Premier Division's frontrunners and they won back-to-back titles in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, accepting promotion Division 1 North of the Isthmian League after that second title. They spent just two seasons at this level, finishing 9th in their first season before finishing bottom the following season to be relegated back to the Eastern Counties League. However, they also won the Norfolk Senior Cup for the first time in the 2017/18 season after beating Downham Town in the final.
The club went on their best FA Cup run last season by reaching the 3rd Qualifying Round for the first time: they beat Long Buckby, Newmarket Town, Bury Town and Mildenhall Town before losing to Stamford. In their two seasons in the FA Trophy, they failed to win a game, losing to Tooting & Mitcham United in the 2016/17 season and to Grays Athletic in the 2017/18 season. As for the FA Vase, their best run came in the 2014/15 season when they reached the 5th Round by beating AFC Kempston Rovers, Tring Athletic and Ashford United before losing to Ascot United.
My Visit
I also had a look in the Eastern Counties League and found a couple of options there (this and Mulbarton Wanderers), but I had to bear in mind that I was looking at an FA Cup weekend and that it was possible the fixtures I was looking at would end up postponed due to teams progressing in the cup. With that in mind, I drew up a list of options with Mulbarton Wanderers as my initial first choice and had a look on Google Maps at the bus routes I would have to contend with for each of my options.
By late August, I realised that wherever I ended up going yesterday would also be my 150th groundhop, thanks to having not gone to Yaxley's away game at Harborough Town. Around the same sort of time, I also double-checked the ECL fixtures after the weekend's FA Cup action and saw that the Mulbarton Wanderers game was postponed due to Mildenhall's progression to the 1st Qualifying Round and that pushed this up to first choice, with backups at Norwich CEYMS and Sprowston if necessary.
This worked out nicely, as with the bus to Norwich United leaving just before 2pm I could have the most possible time with my nan before having to leave for the game. And with that confirmed, the next step was to decide where and when we would meet up for lunch beforehand, a process that was somewhat complicated by the fact that Norwich City were also at home yesterday (meaning it would inevitably be much busier than normal). We initially decided on The Cafe Club, but I got a text on Friday to say that it is closed on weekends. I had another look on Google Maps and suggested the Butterfly Cafe instead.
With that sorted, all I had left to do was order my train tickets and get everything I would need for the day ready, as I had already written up the club's history on Thursday and gotten cash out on Tuesday. As it turned out, though, the latter was unnecessary as the club very kindly and unexpectedly offered complimentary admission to celebrate the game being my 150th groundhop. That friendliness very much set the tone for yesterday as a whole, as I'll discuss more in a bit.
Yesterday morning, I left the house at 9:15am having woke up just forty-five minutes earlier. I was dropped off at the station fifteen minutes later and picked up my tickets before getting on the 9:45am train to Norwich. Usually, even the early trains from Peterborough to Norwich are incredibly busy when Norwich City are at home, but this was surprisingly not the case yesterday as I was able to get a seat and not have anyone need to sit next to me for the entire journey.
With no significant delays,
I arrived in Norwich just over ninety minutes later and spent ten
minutes walking over to the Butterfly Cafe from the station and
arrived just as my nan was also arriving. We initially sat outside for a few minutes, but once it emptied out a little inside we decided to head in to get out of the sun as it was starting to get hot. Once inside, we each ordered a panini and a hot drink (I went with a spicy meatball panini and a hot chocolate) and spent time catching up as we ate. The last time we had seen each other was Cromer back at the end of June, so there was much to catch up on such as my provisional job offer, the possibility of me having a weekend away somewhere this season and other related topics.
It was really nice to catch up, so much so that we also bought cake after we finished our paninis (I went for a chocolate chip cookie). I had planned to spend as much time with her as possible before going to catch my bus to Blofield, but as the lunch rush intensified we decided to pay and leave rather than taking up a table before saying goodbye for the day; we'll be seeing each other again for a family event next weekend, so we were both okay with it.
At this point, it was around 12:20pm, much earlier than I had expected to be leaving the cafe. This meant that I could get the 1pm bus to Blofield instead and arrive at the ground at 1:30pm, though as that plan left me time to kill I popped into the WHSmith at the station and brought an issue of football magazine When Saturday Comes to read on the train later. Unfortunately, a basic error on my part meant that I missed that earlier bus, as it ended up being on the opposite side of the road to what I expected.
Given that I would have to wait an hour for the next bus, I seriously considered heading elsewhere for a moment and had a quick look on Google Maps to see how I could get to Norwich CEYMS instead. However, I almost immediately realised that this was a dumb idea and that I may as well wait, given that I had originally planned to get the 2pm bus anyway. Better yet, I now had something substantial to read to pass the time (and I still didn't finish it before the bus arrived or before the bus made it to Blofield).
The bus eventually arrived a few minutes late due to all the traffic in the city (thanks to a combination of it being a Norwich City matchday and due to a nearby festival called the Sundown Festival being on), meaning it arrived in Blofield with around twenty-five minutes to spare before kick-off. As I got off the bus, someone wearing a Norwich United scarf also got off and we chatted as we headed towards the ground.
As promised, I got in for free but did pay £1 for a programme (and later £4.50 for a cheeseburger at half-time) to make sure I put at least some money into the club's coffers to repay their kindness. After getting a photo of the teamsheet, I rushed to get my ground photos done before kick-off, after which I found a spot to stand in the terrace among some Norwich United fans and groundhoppers who I had noticed on Twitter on Friday after confirming this as my destination. We spent much of the game chatting about groundhopping while also getting updates through on the game at Carrow Road. A very friendly group who definitely made me feel very welcome.
Norwich United had a great chance to take the lead in the first 60 seconds when Alby Matthews brought a Jordan Buttle cross down with a great touch before finding space to shoot, only for a defender to get his body in the way to deny a goal. United were dominant in these early stages and really should have been in front in the 9th minute when Matthews volleyed over a cross from 3 yards out. Nine minutes later, they had a goal disallowed for offside after Buttle ran onto a through ball a moment too soon before hitting a nice first-time shot into the bottom corner.
After a two-minute stoppage for an injury, Long Melford took the lead with their first attempt in the 31st minute: after Jack Brame did well to hold up the ball and give his teammates time to come forward with him, Hassan Ally crossed to Perry Newman and the forward hit a shot into the top corner with the help of a deflection off of a defender. United responded well and earned themselves a penalty two minutes later after Matthews was brought down in the box: the striker took it himself and scored to more than make up for his earlier misses. The rest of the half was a more even affair with chances for both sides, but no further goals.
Four minutes into the second half, Haydn Davis almost gave United the lead with a shot from the edge of the box after some fine individual skill allowed him to elude a couple of defenders. However, it was instead Long Melford who once again took the lead two minutes later after a loose ball set Ally through one-on-one and he effortlessly beat United keeper Ryan Dickerson. As before, United responded well and went straight on the attack in search of another equaliser, but they had to wait until the 64th minute to get it: Buttle used his strength to win the ball on the left wing and break into the box before hitting a lovely if unconventional left-footed shot past Long Melford keeper David Leader.
At this point, United were well on top but were having a hard time producing more clear-cut chances due to an inability to stay onside, while Long Melford were primarily offering a threat on the counter-attack and making it risky for United to commit too many men forward in search of a winner. However, a chance to break at pace came the home side's way in the 77th minute and they capitalised to take the lead, substitute Kyle Richardson tapping a Buttle cross in at the far post.
Having taken the lead for the first time, United immediately switched into game management mode and started to take the ball to the corners to try and run the clock down and frustrate Long Melford, while the away side had little choice but to keep punting the ball upfield in the hope of getting any sort of chance to equalise. However, it was United who went closest to scoring in the last ten minutes: in the 83rd minute, Buttle charged forwards on the counter and set up Joel Watts to hit an audacious first-time shot inches wide of the post.
Almost all of the non-Yaxley games I have attended so far this season have been very entertaining, and this was no exception. It initially started with Norwich United well on top, but when Long Melford briefly took the lead it became more even and remained that way until the last twenty minutes when Norwich United went up another gear, took the lead and then saw the game out with effective game management. Plenty of good play from both sides and there could have been more goals too if Norwich United didn't drift offside so often when attacking.
That aside, the standout performance came from Norwich United's Jordan Buttle: he was involved in almost every key attacking move for the home side and deservedly got a goal and an assist while also having another goal chalked off for offside early on. Considering he was playing for 12th-tier Sprowston as recently as a year ago, it was a seriously impressive performance and the feeling among the Planters faithful is that he is only going to get even better too.
After the game, I had one final chat with the fans I had spent the game with before we headed our separate ways. They warned me that the return bus to Norwich sometimes simply doesn't turn up, but I decided to start walking to the bus stop anyway: if the bus didn't turn up, I would simply walk to the train station instead and get back to Norwich that way. As it turned out, though, I didn't get far in the car park before someone offered me a lift back to Brundall station. Given what I had just heard about the bus moments earlier, I was more than happy to accept and was at the station a few minutes later.
The train to Norwich arrived just over ten minutes later and was soon back in Norwich ready to get the first post-match train back to Peterborough (rather than getting the 6:30pm one back as I had initially planned). Usually, getting a seat on this train is very difficult even if you get onto the platform early due to how busy it is, but surprisingly I was once again able to get a seat for the whole journey back. This meant I could easily get my match report written up and finish reading my magazine before getting back into Peterborough at around 7:25pm.
All I had left to do now was wait half an hour for the bus back to Hampton, from which it was a ten-minute walk back to the house. In the end, I was back home by around 8:20pm, roughly forty minutes earlier than I had expected to be with my original plan to get the later train. As a result, I had plenty of time to have a shower and get my photos posted on Facebook before hopping onto the usual Saturday Discord call to round off the evening. All in all, it was a lovely day out both for getting to see my nan but also for visiting an exceptionally friendly club and seeing another great game of football.
There is a fifty-fifty chance that I will groundhop again next weekend, with the possibility of ticking off a Peterborough & District League Premier Division ground at either Oundle Town or Stilton United. If I choose not to do that, though, my next groundhop will be in two weeks when Yaxley visit Halesowen Town.
The Ground
Plantation Park is a decent Step 5 ground with just the one area of cover. This single stand does extend most of the length of the pitch, though, and contains some bench seating, some plastic seating and some covered standing. This amounts to around 200 seats and standing space for 100 across the four steps of terracing.
The rest of the ground is open hard standing and there is room for expansion behind the far goal as future needs dictate. The clubhouse is positioned behind the near goal and contains the tea bar and toilets. There is also a bar on the first floor, but I did not go up there on this occasion. The ground's official capacity is 3,000, with a record attendance of 401 for a local derby against Wroxham in the 1991/92 season.
The ground is in a rather isolated location, almost two miles away from the nearest train station at Brundall and about a half-mile walk from the nearest bus stop. That makes it a little tricky to do by public transport, but not impossible as there is an hourly bus service from Norwich train station (though, as mentioned before, the return bus sometimes does not appear) and a reasonably regular service at Brundall train station to and from either Norwich or Lowestoft.
Photos
