Wessex League

Premier Division

Tuesday 28th January 2020

Kick Off 19.45. on Time !

A.F.C. Stoneham 0 Horndean 0, attendance 102

@ Stoneham Lane Football Complex, Stadium Pitch

Stoneham Lane

Eastleigh

SO16 2PA

£6 Admission, including Programme (they had run out, but still charged full price)

It is hard to believe that this 3G caged pitch meets the standard to play matches at Step 5. Stoneham moved into the ground a few weeks ago and surprisingly it is the sixth ground I have now visited in Stoneham Lane! There is just one Atcost seated stand and that is it. To use the toilets you would have to go back through the turnstiles, unless you didn’t need to use the facilities until after the players and officials left the pitch at halftime, when they finally opened the gate to the side.

The most ridiculous thing here is that you have to register to access the site in the first place. One rumour going round was that this is a requirement from the Hampshire F.A. (they paid for the development, which also has two other artificial pitches) so that they can monitor the demographic of users and how frequently they visit. Full personal details have to be given online in order to receive your ‘QR’ code, which is scanned just to get you into the reception area. It would be interesting to understand how this scheme complies with GDPR and how the personal data collected is managed. It is a pointless exercise though, as it is just as easy to just scan yourself in using someone else’s code as you can go in and out as many times as you want.

Every so often you visit a ground you wish you hadn’t bothered doing and this is one of them. You know how bland it will be before you go, but would expect far better for this level of football. The pitch even has other markings on it, which really shouldn’t be allowed so high up the pyramid. It makes matters worse when the club is not welcoming in the first place. They advertise admission which includes the programme, but having not produced enough, they still continue to charge full price to those outside the print run numbers. Having paid with a £10 note, I was given 2 x £1 and 2 x 20p coins as my change, which was apparently a genuine mistake by the gateman! It was soon rectified.

Despite this being 2nd versus 3rd in the league table, it was absolutely dreadful. These were two really poor sides and if they are this high up the table, just how bad are the teams below them. At least Horndean had a couple of shots, both early in the game. Stoneham were just awful.