HIGH ROAD (HOME OF CHIPSTEAD FC)
COMBINED COUNTIES LEAGUE, PREMIER DIVISION
MARCH 10, 2018
GROUND NO 205
AT the tail end of the 19th century future Lord Mayor of London Horace Brooks Marshall, the first Baron Marshall of Chipstead, would wander around his vast Shadben Park Farm estate, breathe in the fresh Surrey air and no doubt reflect on the enormous success of his publishing and distribution business.
These days part of that land is occupied by the High Road football ground, home to both Chipstead FC and, since 2011, Epson and Ewell, today's hosts.
Lord Marshall was obviously a smart chap, and were he alive today he probably wouldn't have made such a pig's ear of getting into the place as I did.
First of all I turned into what it would seem was the wrong car park then after having reversed in to a space I noticed a sign telling me to 'park facing fence' and to cap it all I entered the ground through what I assumed to be the main entrance but was in fact simply a gate that happened to be open. No wonder the lad in the tea bar looked confused when I tried to give him my admission money. Nice cuppa for a quid, mind.
Having found the correct entrance - albeit from the wrong side - and being thanked for my honesty, I paid up and bought my souvenir club centenary programme.
The programme describes a visit to Wembley to play Hoddesdon Town, a Surrey Senior Cup final against Dulwich Hamlet in front of 6,000 spectators and a push for the London League title.
It also carries a report from the club's first ever game, back in March 1918, when it was known as Epson Juniors (the Ewell bit was added in 1960 in an attempt to attract support from all across the borough).
An excellent feature on the club's history reveals that it hasn't all been rosy since. Epsom and Ewell currently play in neither Epson nor Ewell, which is a shame, and they've been groundsharing since 1993, having had to sell their former West Street ground for housing to raise some readies.
It also reveals, however, that the club have revealed a 'vision' to the council to build a new ground at the Hook Road Arena - so maybe soon they'll have somewhere of their own to call home.
Meanwhile they operate from Chisptead FC's base, a modest ground not too far from their home borough.
The first thing I noticed after walking through the (wrong) entrance was that the pitch rises a fair bit around the centre circle. I know some people ask for their ashes to be scattered on the centre circle - maybe this one is particularly popular?
Hard standing surrounds the pitch, with small covered areas at either end, and there's also a 150-seater stand (which could count former England captain and Spurs manager Gerry Francis as one of its occupants today - his son was playing for Camberley) next to the snack bar and another covered area on one side.
This stand, added in 2004 to replace an old wooden structure, bears a sign which reads Chipstead Football Club Memorial Stand. That kind of reads like it's a memorial to Chipstead FC but fortunately that's still alive and kicking.
It must be hard for Epsom and Ewell to consider this home, but hopefully it won't be long until they have a ground of their own again and they can look forward to the next 100 years with optimism.
