Beveree Stadium
Ryman Premier League
August 15, 2015
Ground No 170
A TEAM called Hampton. Nicknamed The Beavers. Oh I know it's schoolboy humour but a club boasting not one but two colloquialisms relating to rude parts of the body marked the Beveree Stadium out as a 'must do' ground.
Having got the obvious puns like "Is Dick Advocaat their manager?" and "Does Rod Fanni play for them?" out of the way, we jumped on the train from Wimbledon to the sleepy London suburb of Hampton for this Ryman Premier League clash.
When you step off the train at Hampton, it's almost impossible to believe there's a football ground just a few hundred yards down the road because, well, it's a bit quiet and a bit posh! There's even cheese and wine bar on the way, although we chose the more down to earth Worlds End pub where the burger and chips, pint of Surrey Nirvana and Premier League football on the telly went down a treat.
The ground is nestled off the main road and surrounded almost entirely by tall trees, as though they are trying to hide it from the rest of the world. I'm sure they're not and, in any case, it's certainly not something that deserves to be hidden away.
The Beveree Stadium is an eclectic mix of shapes and structures. Stands old and new sit side by side and face to face.
Entrance is through turnstiles acquired when the nearby Hurst Park racecourse closed in 1962 (Mansfield Town bought one of the grandstands) and immediately you get the feel that this a well-run club that likes to do things properly.
There's a club shop, a hut selling old programmes, a matchday programme outlet and a fund-raising stall.
To the right is Hammonds Bar (Doom Bar on draft - result) and next to it, behind the goal, are a sort of two-tier pavilion, some terracing and the elevated Alan Simpson Stand (named after the club president, better known as the bloke who wrote the scripts for Steptoe and Son with Ray Galton) - a modern, 100-seater structure.
Along the side - known as the School End - is a narrow strip of hard standing. There's a covered area looking out over the D of one penalty box and a video gantry, proudly bearing the club crest, level with the halfway line.
Behind the other goal are three steps of terracing, with a semi-permanent-looking roof giving a feel of walking through a tunnel as you head for the far side.
And the far side is where it's at as far as the Beveree Stadium is concerned.
In the middle is the main stand, modest but functional, and to one side is a large covered area of terracing. To the other is another covered stand, closed on the day of our visit. The 'mix and match' feel of 'The Bev' all adds to its charm, but this stand sticks out like a sore thumb - its garish green seats in marked contrast to anything else in the ground.
It's said that The Beavers struggle to get big crowds because of its close proximity to Twickenham, marking it out as heartland of the game played by men with odd-shaped balls. But the 303 present for this match all seemed to enjoy themselves, especially as the home side came from behind to win 2-1 and notch their first win of the season.
I went home happy too - it was a decent match at a delightful ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment