WADHAM LODGEFA VASE 2ND QUAL RDOCTOBER 10, 2020GROUND NO 230
HERE'S a quiz question which will never be asked, but it would be great fun if it was.
What's the connection between William Morris, punk and non-league football?
Answer: Walthamstow FC.
The non-league connection is obvious. Walthamstow FC have been around in various guises since being formed as Leyton FC in 1868 and can lay claim to being London's second oldest club.
Then there's textile designer, poet and posh socialist Morris. He was born in Walthamstow and the rear wall of the main stand has been given a striking makeover featuring one of his patterns. Very impressive it is too.
And as for punk - well if you're a 50-something spiky top like me, this is the place to come for some banging pre-match and half-time tunes. Guns of Brixton by The Clash, Babylon's Burning by The Ruts - heck, the presenter even brought it up to date with BHS by electronic punks Sleaford Mods.
In fact that's far from the only reason to come to Wadham Lodge.
By their own admission the club's history is less than straightforward. They've had more names than Kaliningrad - in fact they've only had the Walthamstow moniker since 2018 - and spent five years in exile not so long ago.
But you get the definite feeling that this a club back on the right track.
Wadham Lodge - also home to a cluster of well-used community pitches - catches you by surprise as you drive along Kitchener Road, a tight residential street round the corner from the North Circular Road. The mouth of its big car park just kind of opens up in front of you.
Entry is next to the big building housing the changing rooms and clubhouse, I'd got there early with the intention of having a pre-match cuppa but disappointingly there was no sign of a tea hut.
That was probably the only negative though - and the programme was a massive plus. Loads of reading including some imaginative and well-researched features - the best quid I've spent since pulling Greece out of the hat in a sweepstake for Euro 2004.
To the right is the stand, which would be an otherwise unremarkable modern steel structure had it not been Morrised up.
At either end are shallow banks of concrete terracing, both covered entirely by a corrugated iron and scaffold arrangement that looks as though it was meant to be a lot more temporary than it's turned out be. Most welcome in inclement weather, mind.
On the side, where the dugouts are situated, is a hard standing area with a small terrace in the middle, imposing homes - many extended to within an inch of their lives to serve London life - peer down from the other side of the perimeter fence.
Walthamstow haven't had an easy time of it in the past but there's a really positive vibe at Wadham Lodge - and not just when the matchday presenter is playing his tunes.
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