Midland League
Division 1
Tuesday 15th September 2026
Kick Off 19.45 On Time!
Anstey Town 1 Stapenhill 1, attendance 109
35’ 1-0
90’ + 5, 1-1
@ Beaumont Park
Bennion Road
Beaumont Leys
Leicester
LE4 1DE
£6 Admission
£1 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
When I first visited Anstey Town, back in May 1999, they were playing at a ground in Leicester Road, Thurcaston. Having been ground sharing since leaving their former home, they’ve now moved to a ground in Beaumont Leys, the other side of the A46 from the town of Anstey itself. The new venue is somewhere I’ve previously seen a game. There’s a 3G pitch here, where I saw Leicester Nirvana host Oadby Town in a United Counties League Division 1 match in 2018, but Anstey Town are using the grass pitch to the right of the clubhouse. It’s railed off on three sides and has a 113 seat stand and a small section of cover just beyond it, on the right hand touchline, whilst there’s a pair of dugouts opposite, backing on to another pitch running parallel. Oddly this pitch is also railed on three sides, but there’s no barrier running between the two on this side. Parking is at the adjacent car park of Leicester Lions Speedway track, about five minutes walk from the ground.
Even this early in the season, this had a ‘relegation battle’ feel, with third bottom hosting second bottom in the league table, with each team having won just a single game each from the combined seventeen matches played so far. Sometimes though, these sort of games are better from a neutral point of view, as at least both teams will see it as a real possibility of picking up all three points. The only goal of the first half saw Anstey open the scoring after thirty five minutes, when a long ball over the top was controlled and finished low into the far corner from twelve yards. Midway through the second half Anstey saw a point blank header saved by the ‘keeper and Stapenhill had a lobbed effort from thirty yards tipped over the crossbar with twelve minutes left. Five minutes into stoppage time the visitors grabbed an equaliser, when a diagonal cross from wide on the right was met with a downward header at the far post. So, it’s as you were as far as league positions go, but Anstey are just two points adrift of Saffron Dynamo now and still have a game in hand. Stapenhill are two points further back, but still have games in hand on the two above them.
This re-completes the league once again and now leaves me with a round half dozen grounds to visit at Step 6 now. Journey north saw heavy traffic on the M25 from the M4 to M40, but clear otherwise. Not so good coming back, with a couple of lane closures on the M1 and the M25 closed from J16 to J15 and again from J11 to J10.
