CROYDON v MERIDIAN VP

CROYDON ARENA

SOUTHERN COUNTIES EAST LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

OCTOBER 12, 2019

GROUND NO 219

EVERONE has a local hero - someone who is revered by the community for bringing honour to the area. Someone whose name is the stuff of legends, whose exploits can be recounted by those far too young to remember them personally.

In the Norwood area of Croydon the hero is a little furrier than most - and a little more partial to Bonios and having his tummy tickled.

Pickles the dog became a national hero in 1966 when he found the World Cup in Upper Norwood after it had been nicked in London ahead of the finals being staged over here.

We all know what happened next, but had Pickles the pooch not spotted the gleaming Jules Rimet while out for walkies with his master, those pictures of Bobby Moore being triumphantly chaired round Wembley by his jubilant team-mates would have looked very different.

So in honour of their local hero, The Trams have a mini statue of Pickles and the World Cup on their clubhouse. He's also wearing a Croydon scarf, but I suspect they might have made that bit up.

The Croydon clubhouse simply screams non-league - its fascinating collection of pennants, newspaper cuttings, trophies, shirts from famous ex-players (England Ladies star Hope Powell being the most notable) as well as the Pickles memorial making it a min museum of Croydon FC history.

The locally-brewed Kotchin beer was decent too.

So it's kind of strange that when you walk through the exit door of somewhere so quintessentially non-league, you walk into an athletics stadium.

It's a football stadium too, of course. Always has been, Croydon FC was formed specifically to play at the Arena when it opened in 1953. But the eight-lane running track, the giant net around the throwing circle, the hurdles... 

The running track takes away that intimacy that you get at other grounds and that's a shame because Croydon are a lovely club to go and watch.

The first thing you see when you enter is the 'Megastore'  - a table with a new bits and bobs - everyone seems friendly and helpful and there's a real sense of pride about the place.

It was Non-League Day when we visited and fans could pay what they wanted at the smart, modern, turnstiles but the rain kept many would-be spectators away, leaving those who did attend to seek refuge from the elements in the squat, 388-seat main stand or in the covered standing areas on the opposite side of the pitch.

On a nice day they could even have taken a seat at the tables and benches on the elevated section outside the bar (maybe while raising a cool glass Kotchin to the heroic Pickles) before heading off through the car park after the game to the conveniently-located Arena tram stop.

Next time, maybe...