Clapton v Ilford

Old Spotted Dog Ground

Essex Senior League

October 10, 2015

Ground No 176

CLAPTON FC: Part football club, part bitter power struggle, part socio-political rabble-rousing, tub-thumping, conscience-pricking hub of community activism.

The word "unique" is over-used but there surely can't be another club like this anywhere. And I genuinely don't know if I'll ever enjoy a matchday as much as this, anywhere.

The afternoon started with a delicious Swahili meal in a Kenyan café then a pint in the Red House, around the corner.

The Red House (built in 1717, redeveloped in the 1870s is a beautiful old building now occupied by St Antony's Catholic Club. Save for the blackboard outside declaring 'Come in in for a drink' you would never in a million years guess this was a pre-match drinking hole.

In it we met a member of 'the Real Clapton FC' and, for a small donation, acquired a couple of their alternative matchday programmes (which turned out to be far better than the official ones - plenty more to read, with spot colour. Oh and the official versions, basically a black and white photocopy, had Clapton v Newham on the front and the Takeley squad where the Ilford players should have been listed).

Basically the 'Real Clapton' fans hate the bloke in charge of the club. They believe he conned his way into power, which he refutes, and that the make-up of the club under his ownership is not bona fide, So they've formed their own members' club and committee and consider themselves to be the, well, real Clapton FC.

The fans are also very, very much against fascists and bigots. The unofficial programmes proudly proclaim 'No place for homophobia, fascism, racism, sexism" and the hardcore Clapton Ultras have a proud recent history of encouraging social inclusion, welcoming and helping refugees and standing up to far right idiots.

So very, very much not your average Essex Senior League club then,

This being Non-league Day both the club and the fans offered their own incentives to fans - the former by way of free entry to OAPs and under-18s; drinks offers and a free raffle to win season tickets; the latter by paying entrance fees for fans who were unemployed, on benefits, refugees or asylum-seekers.

And sure enough a big crowd turned up - a whopping 761 to be precise, the second biggest attendance ever for an Essex Senior League match.

There's absolutely no clue whatsoever that you're about to enter a football arena as you approach the Old Spotted Dog Ground. Even the historic old pub that gave its name to the ground is closed and boarded up now.

Entrance is along a passageway next to the old pub, past the fans' merchandise stall (antifascista scarves £8  - a fiver if you're unwaged)then through one of two turnstiles - which were kept clicking until near on half-time due to the large number of fans queuing to get in.

It's fair to say this is a ramshackle old ground - a basic one at that. No Tannoy, small, unkempt and seemingly uncared for too. I'd seen someone describe the pitch as "like playing on egg boxes" and you could see where they were coming from.

If it really was a spotted dog it would probably have been carted off to the vet and put to sleep well before now. But like a well-loved, if aging, family pet, we're glad it's still there to lavish our love and affection on.

To the right as you enter is the clubhouse with a small strip of concrete in front.

Along the side is mainly hard-standing except for a small, squat modern stand with seven rows of plastic seating overlooking the halfway life and behind the goal is more hard-standing but with a grass bank behind and three steps of terracing in the middle - this being home to Casuals who provided the half-time entertainment by way of setting off flares.

But it's the far side that provides the beating heart of this vibrant, energetic club. That's where the Ultras stand, sing and cheer, bringing a fervency and passion simply unheard of in the Essex Senior League.

Young people, male and female, in their hundreds nor just enjoying a step-five non-league football match but creating a lively, passionate atmosphere. Incredible. Far from your usual non-league demographic.

The hub of it all was the small scaffold stand where the Scaffold Brigada beat the drum - literally and metaphorically - for the things that mattered most to them.

BYO cans in hand (and singing 'We are recycling' as they diligently cleared up afterwards) the Ultras sang, chanted and danced their way through the afternoon. Where else in the country would you hear hundreds of voices (and there must have been at least 400 fans along that side) chanting 'Alerta, altera, antifascista'?

You can argue that much of the Ultras' passionate proclamations have nothing to do with football. But if football clubs are supposed to be at the heart of their community, the voice of that community has a right to be heard.

There were flares, flags and banners (two unfurled from the roof of the scaffold stand ad half-time, one proclaiming 'refugees welcome') too and it didn't stop on the final whistle either.

I've never witnessed anything like this before, but at the end of the game both teams walked over to face the Ultras. After mutual applause and hand-shaking I thought that would be it. Oh no!

The Ultras sang their hearts out as the players stood and showed their appreciation. At one point everyone in the crowd crouched down, remaining silent as they did so... and the players did too! Then they all leapt to their feet again, bursting back into full lung-bursting voice and waving their arms as they did so.

If I hadn't been there myself I'd have been convinced that that an afternoon like this could never happen. But it did because I was there.

Ebbsfleet Utd v Maidstone Utd

Stonebridge Road

National League South

October 3, 2015

Ground No 175

 

 

DOES someone have a gigantic specimen jar full of industrial strength pickling liquid, big enough to fit a football ground in?

You do? Then get in down to north Kent, pop Stonebridge Road in it and preserve it for all eternity - because this is exactly what a football ground should look and feel like.

There was a time when a matchday experience was like this at traditional grounds over the country and more is the pity that football venues such as Stonebridge Road are becoming increasingly few and far between.

I'm not going to rant on about soulless modern concrete bowls or propose a blanket ban on progress but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Wide open terraces - to which you can even take your fresh from the barrel pint of Palaeolithic ale - a proud old wooden stand, and the feeling that if this ground was a person it would be your elderly, yet wise, Uncle Alf who could regale you all day with stories and anecdotes from through the decades.

There are bold plans to modernise Stonebridge Road and the new-look stadium will be a striking structure by the look of it. But to the discerning visitor of football grounds it's like knocking down the Houses of Parliament to build The Shard.

After  parking at Ebbsfleet station, the stadium is a short walk away, situated just across the road from a café proudly trumpeting its speciality, the full Engllish breakfast. I'm sure it's llovelly.

With a big crowd taking advantage of the unseasonally warm weather as table-topping Fleet entertained their Kent rivals, the sizeable social club just the other side of the turnstiles was doing a roaring trade. The Wadsworth Old Rucker had sold out about half an hour before kick-off but fortunately there were a couple of barrels from the nearby Caveman Brewery and accompanying bar staff to ensure we didn't go thirsty.

And if you need to, you know, relieve yourself of said liquid intake during the match, you needn't miss any of the action - the eye level slits in the loo walls mean you can watch the action while you wee. Genius. I was going to take a photo must there's something intrinsically wrong about whipping out your camera and taking pictures in a crowed toilet.

The ground itself reminded me of Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road ground before areas of it were redeveloped.

There's a grand old all-seat stand on one side, an open terrace to the right - home to large and vocal visiting fans today - and a covered area to the left, this one a seated enclosure since 2006 but previously terraced, and opposite is a big, covered terrace.

Maidstone ended Fleet's unbeaten league record for the season so the home fans went home very much deflated. To be fair, the game wasn't a classic. But I went home buzzing in the knowledge that not only do grounds like this still exist, but that I'd just seen a game at one. I hope it's still like this next time I visit.

Tilbury v Dereham Town

Chadfields

Ryman League, North Division

September 26, 2015

Ground No 174

IF it hadn't been for Adolf Hitler, Leyton Orient and the demise of greyhound racing in Tilbury, I would never have spent a hot Saturday afternoon in the dying embers of summer soaking up rays on the Chadfields terraces.

Tilbury, you see, used to play next door on Orient Field - so called because the bloke who owned it was an O's director. During the Second World War the club were kicked out so the ground could be used as an anti-aircraft battery to defend the nearby docks from Hitler's Luftwaffe.

When hostilities ceased they were allowed back into their former home... but only on the proviso that they became Orient's nursery club. Blow that for a game of soldiers, or something similar, they replied and moved into the dog track next door which had fallen into disrepair.

With the cloth cap and betting slip brigade left to find somewhere else to try and win some beer money, Chadfields was turned into a football ground and remains a fitting venue for Ryman League action.

Almost too good in fact. With its concrete terraces, covered standing areas and two seated grandstands, Chadfields positively screams out for far more fans that the hardy 63 - including a noisy and enthusiastic bunch from Dereham - today.

The turnstiles are on the right as you enter the car park, just before the clubhouse, so you enter at one corner of the ground.

Catching your eye first, after collecting your free programme, is the distinctive main stand. Straddling the halfway line, it houses the boardroom and changing rooms underneath but there's nothing in front of it except hard standing - it's almost as if they've forgotten to add a paddock area of terracing in front it.

There doesn't appear to be a clear view of the action from the seats, either. Instead, anyone sitting there has to peer through the nine what appear to be window frames. In fact viewed from the other side, the stand looks like a small Butlins chalet block. When the teams came out I half expected them to be accompanied by redcoats ready to line them up for a knobbly knees competition.

I'm not sure what the view would be like from the seats but it's certainly the sort of unique stand that adds character to a non-league ground.

There's hard standing on either side of the structure and a section of missing fence exposed some disused and bricked up turnstile buildings, suggesting that the previous entrance to the ground was between houses on the estate that backs on to it.

On the opposite side is another, more conventional, brick-built stand with three rows of bucket seats. It's flanked by covered terracing, one section of which was home to a group of leather-lunged Dockers die-hards who were in vociferous form throughout the game.

Behind each goal is concrete terracing although anyone standing there has to watch through the enormous panels of wire mesh put up to prevent wayward shooting resulting in lost balls. "It's like being at school when you used to watch the girls play netball," remarked one visiting fan, thus letting slip the reason his exam grades weren't up to scratch.

Behind one goal is the clubhouse and function suite. I'd seen this described as looking "unwelcoming" and with its stark, no-frills exterior and black metal shutters, it didn't do much to offer a better description for itself.

More than welcoming, however, was the tea bar next to it and my cuppa went down a treat.

Bowers & Pitsea v Stansted

Len Salmon Stadium

Essex Senior League Premier Division

September 12, 2015

Ground No 173

 

WE are, as the Volvo radio ads suggest, a nation that loves double acts. Morecambe and Wise; Torvill and Dean; Ant and Dec.

Add Bowers and Pitsea to that list.

Pitsea, a concrete jungle of 1960s and 1970s buildings that blends seamlessly into the new town of Basildon, is home to an Essex Senior League ground well worth a visit. If you had to sum up the charm, character and feel of a ground towards the lower end of the pyramid grading system, you'd only have to visit the Len Salmon Stadium.

Situated right on the very outskirts of Pitsea, you arrive at the ground after driving through a sprawling residential estate.

It's impossible to imagine where there might be room for a ground as you pass through White Van Man heartland but suddenly there's an opening and a sign pointing to the ground. You head down a narrow lane then, boom! It opens up before you - sizeable car park, ground, clubhouse.

Entrance to the ground is close to the far corner flag. Behind the goal is a long, covered standing area - it feels more like walking into a large garden shed than into an area of a football ground. Even floor is largely wooden. Today was a warm, Indian summer's day with short sleeves the order of the day but you could imagine standing in there on a wet winter's afternoon, steaming Bovril in hand and feeling happily sheltered from the elements.

Immediately to the right of the turnstiles are loos, but to the left is the stuff that makes the Len Salmon Stadium such a gem.

There's split level terracing with a café behind (nice cuppa for a quid) and beyond that a VIP box with comfy seats and all; a 180-seat covered stand (the programme describes it as "well-appointed" - I  wouldn't disagree) and then some more terracing - an eclectic yet neat combination.

Behind the other goal is the Town End - this I know because of the banner attached to the brick wall behind the net - and some hard standing which extends along the far side too, with its backdrop of tall trees, but that is out of bounds to spectators.

Curiously for a team that plays in red and white there is an awful lot of sky blue in the ground (and a smattering of claret so presumably it's a nod to West Ham, in whose fanbase they are entrenched) but it certainly makes the place bright and appealing.

Today's match brought Bowers and Pitsea a 4-1 victory to keep them top of the Essex Senior League. The club have ambitions of climbing the pyramid and have the team and ground to match. I hope they manage it and I'll certainly be following them along the way.

Sporting Bengal Utd v Burnham Ramblers

Mile End Stadium

FA Vase 1st qualifying round

September 5, 2015

Ground No 172

 

WELCOME to the best kept sporting secret in London.

 

Sporting Bengal United's aims, objectives and achievements are admirable. Operated by the Bangladesh Football Association, the club was formed in 1996 to encourage Asian football in London.

They're currently holding their own in the Essex Senior League, having reached the League Cup final last year and they've even had players called up by the Bangladesh national team. But, blimey, they don't make it easy for anyone trying to find them on a matchday.

The Mile End Stadium is a not insignificant facility. Essentially an athletics stadium, it once attracted 27,000 fans to a Blur concert and as well as an adjoining sports centre with a pool, gym and more, there are also five-a-side pitches, a hockey pitch and tennis courts.

But once you get off the tube at Mile End you're on your own. No clues.

It's not much better when you get there either. The abundance of sports bags, towels and goggles being carried by the kids in the queue should have given it away - I'd ended up in a queue for an afternoon swim before being directed to the entrance round the other side.

Even on that side you wouldn't have known there was a match on had you not been able to see right through the wire mesh fencing that surrounds the stadium. No signs, no billboards plugging forthcoming matches, no mention at all of this being a home of the beautiful game.

Opened in the 1950s as the King George V Stadium, it's pretty unremarkable to be fair. There's one main stand with wooden bench seating, hard standing around the pitch/track and that's it. The sports centre runs immediately behind the far side/straight but the modern high rise structures of One Canada Square and its Canary Wharf neighbours behind the end/bend to the right of the stand forms a far more striking backdrop.

I'm not a fan of football at athletics stadiums due to the obvious distance from the pitch. And with no operational Tannoy, the tea hut being a couple of vending machines in the reception area and the small crowd looking rather lost in its surroundings, the Mile End Stadium doesn't help itself. There wasn't even a half-time draw.

It wasn't a great game either, although the hosts looked stronger and sharper as the game wore on and cancelled out an early goal by Ramblers (or Rumblers as the programme would have it) to force extra-time and a replay thanks to a regal finish from Prince William (not the Prince William of course - he would have been watching the egg chasers at Twickenham I'd imagine).

But the fans - especially the lads in front of the ground who yelled "shooooooooooooot" every time a Bengal player got the ball - gave plenty of encouragement to their team.

As a project, Sporting Bengal United is marvellous and long may it continue. But as a matchday experience for the floating fan? It's certainly different. It's not non-league football as we know it.

But the young and enthusiastic fan base made this matchday experience stand out too, and that's something that would be very welcome at other grounds of a comparable level. Let's hope they get the secret out in the open!





Prestwich Heys v Springhead

Adie Moran Park

Manchester League Premier Division

August 22, 2015

Ground No 171

THE new chairman of Prestwich Heys has some work to do if he is to tackle the big issues at the club.

Writing in the programme for today's big first versus second clash in the Manchester League, Neil Gilmore outlines two causes for concern he says should be dealt with "sooner rather than later". One is supporters, mainly the younger ones, going on to the pitch and the other fans bringing dogs with them to the game - both apparently no-nos in the North-West Counties League, to which Heys have genuine aspirations to be.

However as I glanced up from reading the programme before the match I spotted a couple of young kids having a kickabout in  one goal area and four pooches whose afternoon walkies involved a trip to the footy.

None were doing any harm, however, and it's all part of the charm of non-league football for me. Fortunately Mr Gilmore, a retired policeman, chose not to use the strong arm of the law on this occasion to enforce his vision of a dog-free ground and a pitch made out of bounds to anyone but players, officials team personnel.

The programme, incidentally, was well put together and interesting. It's entitled Touchliner, which was the nom de plume used by Alan Proctor Bell, a key figure in the formation of the club and later chairman, who wrote match reports for the local paper.

Another nice touch is that the ground - their home since Bury Council kicked them off their previous Grimshaw's base in 1991 - is named in honour of Adie Moran, who died in a tragic swimming pool accident in 2007 while chairman and manager of the club.



There's a good-sized car park outside the ground and access through the turnstile brings you in at one corner of the pitch.

To the right there is a new, small covered area, and there's hard standing all around the pitch with brick built dug-outs on the far side.

On the near side is a larger expanse of flat concrete standing. Behind the first buildings you come to are the changing rooms, then a homely bar/café with a couple of tellies, beneath one of them a decent collection of trophies, Nice cuppa for 70p too.

On the other side of the bar is a large, flat area which looks tailor-made to house a stand should the club achieve its ambition of climbing the pyramid.

There's no stand (at the moment anyway) but there were plenty of chairs stacked up in front of the changes, which meant you could just pick one up, plonk it where you like and sit down to watch the game.

I suggested to my brother-in-law - a West Ham fan - the Hammers fans would do something similar at the Olympic Stadium and let fans pick up a chair and find a spot on the athletics track to watch the action but he didn't seem all that amused.

The match ended goalless which ensured both sides extended their unbeaten records. Could this be the year that Heys return to the North-West Counties for the first time since 1986? Maybe. Dogs and kids beware.