Great Wakering Rovers v Enfield 1893

Burroughs Park

Essex Senior League Premier Division

August 26, 2017

Ground No 195

MUCH of the land which surrounds Great Wakering is closed to the likes of you and me as it forms a Ministry of Defence firing range.

Given that this match remained goalless until the dying minutes, you could crack the old pun that both teams should have paid a visit for some shooting practice. Aaaaahfank you - I'm here all week.

But in fact this was a cracker of a game, played by two teams full of energy and commitment despite the searing late summer heat,

When I lived in nearby Shoeburyness back in the fag end of the 80s, the only reason I had to go to Great Wakering was for the Sunday market - the football club were in the lower reaches of the Essex Intermediate League and were in the process of moving into their current home after obtaining a lease from the parish council for what, back then, was a disused allotment plot.

These days Rovers are in the Essex Senior League (although there's a giant, invisible piece of elastic which keeps pinging them in and out of the Isthmian League) and Burroughs Park is a tidy, well-established little ground.

The ground is - predictably given the site's history - nestled between plots of allotments and entry brings you out into Nobby's End, named after club's former general manager Nobby Johnson, described as their "talisman", who died in 2010.

To the left of the turnstile is a low bank of terracing, To the right is the clubhouse and tea/snack bar - the standing area here is covered too, so your chips won't get soggy if it rains.

The side running along the right-hand side of the pitch has hard standing until just beyond the hallway line, where the club shop (closed) and main stand are positioned.

Until the club's elevation to Isthmian League level, the standing area was covered with crushed cockle shells (there's plenty of those in the nearby Leigh-on-Sea cockle sheds - where I once bought Buster Bloodvessel from Bad Manners a big bag of seafood, but I digress), however this was a no-no once they went up.

And the 250 seats in the stand were formerly occupied by the bottoms of Bolton Wanderers fans when they sat at Burnden Park prior to its demolition.

The end behind the far goal has another small bank of terracing diagonally opposite its little brother in Nobby's End, and some hard standing,

On the other side is a small stand containing concrete terracing peering out over the wooden dugouts. It straddles the halfway line and is flanked by hard standing.

This is Rovers' first season back in the Essex Senior League after relegation in May but they're going well so far and the infrastructure is there - maybe this term they'll put the Great back into Great Wakering.

West Essex v Sporting Bengal Utd

Mayesbrook Park

Essex Senior League Premier Division

April 8, 2017

Ground No 194

"THIS must be regarded as one of the best sporting weekends of the year," proclaimed the captain in his programme column, "but who needs the Premier League, Grand National and Masters golf when you've got 14th v 17th in the ESL in sunny Barking?"

My thoughts exactly! On an absolutely scorching spring day, a trip to Mayesbrook Park certainly hit the spot with me.

I can't vouch for the other 18 paying customers but it floated my boat.

I'd chosen this game because my good lady had an appointment not a million miles away and had to change trains at Barking, so I thought I'd tag a long, get the District Line one stop back to Upney and take a leisurely stroll for a mile or so from the tube station to the ground.

What a lovely walk it was too - anyone who thinks outer London is a concrete jungle full of smog and high rises should take a walk through Mayesbrook Park and check out its lake, acres of grassland and play areas.

Nestled behind an £8.1m sports centre and athletics track used as a training facility for athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is the home of Barking since 1973 (although they've merged with East Ham, folded and reformed in that time) and more recently Essex Senior League newbies West Essex.

Today it was the turn of the tenants to open the front door and invite some friends round. Having parted with just a fiver to get in - and that included a programme - the least I could do was put some money across the bar in the modest clubhouse just past the turnstiles.

Thirst suitably quenched by a cool can of Old Speckled Hen, I made my way up to the terracing behind the goal.

Comprising three long, wide steps, it's split by the entrance and exit to the dressing room area, covered on one side of the split, uncovered on the other.

The area behind the right touchline, which houses the dug-outs, didn't appear to be open to the public, while to the left is a long, short stand with terracing making way to seating towards the hard standing at the far end.

With only a handful of spectators in the ground - it's a crying shame that the hard-working people who run non-league clubs don't get the crowds they deserve - there was never going to be much of a matchday atmosphere.

But we were treated to five goals as the hosts triumphed 4-1 in a decent match and I got a free chocolate biscuit with half-time cuppa too. A result in my book.

I made a speedy getaway to meet up with my better half and as I headed out I couldn't help noticing a small pile of programmes in the turnstile booth which had long since been vacated by the club official who'd been manning it. Next to it was a note which read "honesty is the best policy".

It certainly is - I hope the latecomers took note and paid up as they went in, it's the least West Essex FC deserved.

FC United of Manchester v Harrogate Town

Broadhurst Park

National League South

January 21, 2017

Ground No 192

IT'S easy to knock FC United of Manchester. The 'we've got love enough for two' philosophy of the club set up as a backlash to the Glazer family's takeover at Old Trafford can be a difficult one to get your head around if you're a humble groundhopper in search of new ticks or indeed a fan of pretty much any other club.

So are FC United of Manchester simply a Manchester United presence in the non-league arena? Well no actually.

The roots of the club, and indeed the very reason for its existence, are clear. The name, the kit, the banners, the songs from the large and vocal crowd are reminders of that.

Even the exterior of the ground features imaginative use of railways sleepers - a nod to the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath who formed the club that went on to become Manchester United.

But since opening a ground to call their own in May 2015, FCUM have managed to retain their commitment to being a protest club while establishing themselves as an entity in their own right and a part of the community (one which is just three miles from Etihad Stadium, it's worth remembering).

Because it was set up as a Red Devils rebel club, FCUM had an instant fan base to tap into and as a result  the matchday atmosphere is more akin to that of a league game than a fixture outside the top four tiers of the pyramid.

And that's a good thing by the way - FCUM's rise from nothing to what they have now in 12 years is hugely commendable.

So too is their manifesto which pledges, among other things to make matchdays as affordable as possible (£9 for adults and £2 for kids is pretty cheap at this level); to encourage local talent to the club and to remain a not-for-profit organisation. Oh and there's free Wi-Fi in the ground too.

Broadhurst Park is covered on all four sides and the current capacity is 4,400. The area behind one goal remains undeveloped save for a roof, giving scope for further seats to be added in due course, while along one side is a narrow strip of hard standing. And some flags. Lots of flags.

That means the vast majority of those present watch the action from the St Mary's Road Terrace behind one goal, which holds 2,500 and was bought from Northwich Victoria whose Drill Field ground closed in 2002; and the all-seater main stand along one side of the pitch.

At the back of the main stand is the bar/clubhouse/hospitality area and underneath it is one of the ground's hidden gems. The tea bar. Yes, the tea bar.

Have you ever seen feta, butternut squash and leek pasties on sale at a non-league football match? Balti (vegetable or chicken) and rice was also on the menu, as were Lancashire cheese and spring onion sausage rolls.

We'd eaten before we'd set off but, as my brother-in-law remarked, "it's a shame you only go to grounds once or we could have lunch here next time!"

 There was certainly an appetite for goals too, as FC United fought back from behind twice to draw 2-2 and had an injury-time 'winner' chalked off. In all a very enjoyable afternoon out.

Aveley v Cheshunt

Millfield

Ryman League South

September 17, 2016

Ground No 191

WHEN I was a kid I always wanted to go to Aveley's Millfield ground. In the days before the M25 we'd often motor past the big, imposing stand that backed onto the main road as we made our way to the Dartford Tunnel.

I used to wonder what was on the other side of the perimeter fence and vowed that, when I was a big boy, I'd make it my business to find out.

Imagine my surprise, then, when at the age of 52 I finally made it to an Aveley home game to discover that this clearly wasn't the ground we'd passed when I was a nipper.

What that ground was, I honestly have no idea now. My mum and dad had very little sense of direction and an even smaller collection of maps, so even with the benefit of the internet, online maps and Google Street View, I'm still none the wiser.

But it was still good to visit such a proud, traditional football ground, especially as its days are numbered.

Home to the club since the 1951-52 season, the ground's main stand, with an expanse of concrete terracing in front and either side, is indeed the ground's most imposing feature, although not as imposing as the one the eight-year-old me looked longingly at from the window of a passing car.

The wooden stand, with 400 tip-up seats, was added in 1957, while opposite is a covered standing area - a cobbled together metal and scaffold affair.

Until high winds destroyed it in 2009, that area was occupied by the Pepper Stand, a standing enclosure bought from neighbours Grays Athletic for 100 quid after they decided they didn't want it at the Recreation Ground.

Grays feature heavily Aveley's history. As well as flogging them their old standing enclosure, Athletic were the visitors for the grand opening of the stadium and were also the opponents for its first game under lights. It's fitting, then, that they groundshare there in advance of their own new ground being built.

The clubhouse, situated in the car park is a sturdy and sizeable 1950s structure with the club's crest featuring ornately on some of the windows.

And above the bar is a reminder that it won't be around for too much longer. The club move to a fresh home at Belhus Park next season and plans for the new era are proudly displayed for all to see.

Burnham Ramblers v Ilford

Leslie Field

Essex Senior League

September 3 2016

Ground No 190

BURNHAM on Crouch is, as fans of Ian Dury and the Blockheads will already be aware, the place to lie with a nice bit of posh on the couch.

It's also the place to be if you want to see the Ramblers at home in Essex Senior League action on Non-League Day 2016.

I can only take Mr Dury at his word regarding the "bit of posh" activities but were said ladies to exist, he wouldn't have found any in the vicinity of Leslie Field.

For while Burnham is a popular haunt among bank managers, lawyers and accountants with a penchant for yachting, the ground is situated on the edge of a rough and ready industrial estate.

Home to the Ramblers since 1987, Leslie Field's dominant feature is the large, brick-built, gable roofed clubhouse which also houses the changing rooms and a function suite.

Leaning up against it inside the ground is the main stand with around 150 seats - pretty comfortable as it goes and with a decent amount of leg room.

It was while sitting in one of said seats that I was asked a question I'd never heard at a game before - "Have you got any Blu Tac?" The guy in need - who I'm pretty certain was joking - was trying to attach what looked like a Lithuanian flag to the perimeter fence. Fortunately he managed without the need for a sticking agent. Result.

Curiously there are dug-outs built into the stand - an arrangement that was never going to work - and bigger, more practically positioned dug-outs  on the opposite side of the pitch are used by the teams.

Also opposite is a covered standing area backing on to a changing room block that serves one of the three other pitches (including a training pitch) on the 10-acre site.

Save for a small terrace of three shallow steps behind one goal, that's about it as far as the ground goes.

I worried - unnecessarily as it turned out - at the very clearly inoperational  tea and snack van next to the main stand. Fortunately however, I heard a bloke taking tea and coffee orders from his pals at half-time so I followed him as he unbolted the main gate and made his way through the car park, into the clubhouse building and up the stairs into a cosy car area with a tea bar in the corner.

The tea was a snip at 70p and the surroundings were pleasant too, with pennants and photos adorning the walls and flags and shirts from various professional clubs on the ceiling.

Ramblers were in the Ryman League until recently and everything is in place for them to operate at that level again. Leslie Field is a decent enough ground with a particularly distinctive main stand (my in-laws bought me a postcard depicting it on a recent visit to Burnham - can't imagine too many step five clubs can boast that).

All they need is a team to match. Burnham are rooted to the foot of the ESL table without a draw let alone a win to their name and had conceded 16 goals in their previous four games without registering a single one themselves.

In fact they'd also crashed 9-0 at home to today's opponents in the FA Cup on the opening day of the season, so a 3-1 defeat on this occasion must have almost felt like a win.