When I last visited Bedford Tigers (0-42 versus West London Sharks in a Conference Southern Premier match in June 2009) they were playing on an outside pitch at Bedford International Athletics Stadium. These days they’re based at the ground of Bedford Athletic R.U.F.C. where they have use of the main pitch, which is a floodlit 3G. It runs widthways in front of the clubhouse and is fully railed and has a pair of dugouts on the far side.
Bedford Tigers still play in the Southern Conference League and were making their third appearance in the Challenge Cup, with this being the first time they’d had a home draw. Medway Dragons, who are based in Brompton, Kent, midway between Chatham and Gillingham, play in the London & South East League, which is one level below Bedford.
The hosts opened the scoring with a try in the corner after eight minutes, but were unable to convert the kick. Three minutes later a diagonal run in from the right saw a try for Medway under the posts, which they converted to lead 4-6 and it was very much game on. Unfortunately, it was to be the only points the visitors would score and Bedford edged back in front and despite having a man sin binned late on in the half, went in leading 14-6 at the break. They were still a man light when they added their fourth try of the game, breaking through the centre for a try easily converted under the posts and there was no way back for the visitors with Bedford soon back at full strength. They added three more tries, all converted, going over in the corner with six minutes left to round off a 36-6 win. They now visit tier two side North Wales Crusaders in Round 2.
Another Saturday and another day where finding a game on grass was the main objective. Half a dozen options fell by the wayside, but I received a positive response from A.M.G. Ballerz that their game had survived the elements, so I headed into South East London for the second successive week, There’s plenty of parking here, which is next to the clubhouse/changing room building, with the pitch in the far right hand corner, enclosed with metal barriers along the left hand touchline, with the other three sides officially out of bounds to spectators, but not enforced.
The match was 2nd in Division 1 West (W11 D1 L1) versus 17th in Premier Division (W4 D1 L13) and looked, at least on paper, like an interesting tie, but Ballerz totally blew the visitors away, scoring three times in the opening four minutes. The opener came inside ten seconds, played through on goal and finishing into the top corner from the edge of the box. A penalty doubled their lead two minutes later, quickly followed by a third goal, again put clear before shooting into the bottom corner. Midway through the half they added a fourth and it was surprising that it took until nearly the hour mark before they made it 5-0, when a corner from the right was met with a downward header that was saved by the ‘keeper, but followed in from close range. A long ball, flicked on and fired low past the ‘keeper at his near post made it six, before a cheeky back heel rounded off the scoring with sixteen minutes left.
It was an afternoon where the temperature remained at a constant 3 degrees, but felt colder due to a biting wind. This was the last ground I hadn’t yet visited in this division and it also completes the top two levels of the league. Plans in the clubhouse showed that two 3G pitches are to be installed here, out of view behind mounds of earth at present, with the area where they played today’s game being given over to small sized youth pitches when completed.
I’d been putting off a visit here, due to its unappealing set up, but by 12 o’clock, with all my preferred options on grass biting the dust (or should that be snow/ice), it was at last the day to play the ‘3G card’. It’s every bit as bad as you’d expect. It’s just a caged pitch, with no designated spectator area, but thankfully, helped by a very sparse crowd, there was no problem standing inside the fence. It’s part of the same complex where I’d seen Bridon Ropes play on the stadium grass pitch back in 2008 (they were also at home this afternoon, kicking off at 3 o’clock), with the cage on your left as you enter off Charlton Park Lane, with the two grounds separated by the clubhouse building.
The match was top of the league table, with just one defeat so far, versus seventh and went to form in the end, but Orpington certainly made the hosts work for the points. The visitors took an unexpected lead just after the half hour mark, breaking down the left before cutting inside to get in a shot that was fumbled by the ‘keeper and followed in from close range. Equinoccial had a shot tipped onto the post three minutes before halftime, before getting an equaliser two minutes into stoppage time, meeting a corner from the right with a bullet header from 6 yards. Ten minutes into the second half the hosts saw an angled shot go in off the far post to put them ahead and eight minutes later they added a third, cutting in from the left before beating the ‘keeper low at the near post. They made it 4-1 right on ninety minutes, following in on a blocked shot and also had a fifth goal chalked off in stoppage time as it was offside.
It was bitterly cold throughout, especially when the sun began to drop and the temperature only rose to between 2 and 3 degrees for the entirety.
I first saw Totterdown United play a game here at Bristol Barbarians R.U.F.C. in September 2019, when they beat Pucklechurch Sports 2-1 in a Bristol Premier Combination League match. Back then, they played on the pitch that runs parallel with the track leading into the complex, to the left and having no more than a pair of dugouts on the far side. They’ve since developed a new pitch beyond the brick built changing rooms, which has enabled them to make the step up into the Gloucestershire County League and today’s visit would once again complete the league. It runs lengthways away from the building and is fully railed off and has a pair of dugouts on the left hand side.
The match saw 15th (out of 17) host 2nd in the league table, with the visitors trailing league leaders Tewkesbury Town by two points, having played three games fewer and the only team yet to lose a game this season, having won 10 and drawn 2 of their twelve played. The first half was very poor. Neither team managed a shot on goal. The second half was much better, helped considerably by Totterdown making the breakthrough just two minutes after the break, when a cross from the right was deflected high into the air, looping over the backpedaling keeper and dropping into the far corner. Sharpness piled on the pressure and deservedly drew level with fifteen minutes left, when a diagonal ball in from the right saw a striker just beat the ‘keeper to the ball and poke it past him into the bottom corner. Having rescued their unbeaten record, they now set about grabbing all three points, rather than settle for the draw. They almost lost it three minutes into stoppage time, when a Totterdown one on one against the ‘keeper resulted in a good save, before stopping the follow up too, but three minutes later the visitors grabbed the winner, when a corner on the right was met with a glancing header that was swept in at the far post. The win sees Sharpness leapfrog Tewkesbury at the top, whilst Totterdown remain third from bottom.
What should have been a two and a quarter hour drive down to the south east of Bristol took almost four hours, arriving just nine minutes before the scheduled kick off, due to horrendous traffic on the M25 from J9-J12 as well as coming off the M4 at J17 and going cross country from there. The return took just three hours, including diverting off the M4 from J17-J16 and the usual queue at the M3/M25 interchange.
As far as ‘new’ ground visits go, that rounds off 2025 for me, ending the year with 153 (91 England, 30 Wales, 20 Scotland, 5 Belgium, 5 Spain and 2 France) and an overall tally of 6,254.
Above photo : 1. First visit and 2. The new pitch.
Pre-Christmas shenanigans in Stroud should have seen me at Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2 club Painswick, but by ten o’clock that was showing on F.A. Full Time as postponed. The only other club I hadn’t visited in that league, Winchcombe Town, were also at home this afternoon, but they play on a 3G cage with no spectator area. With it being a nice sunny morning, with plenty of blue sky, it seemed a waste to settle for an artificial pitch, so I looked for a local game on grass, but with enough time to get to Winchcombe if need be. I opted for Stroud United, one step lower and to my surprise, the only club in the top division of the Stroud & District League I’d yet to see a game at, although it’s not that difficult with only seven of the twelve teams being non-reserves.
I arrived at Stratford Court Playing Fields just after one o’clock and was pleased to see the corner flags in and the goal nets being put up. There’s no car parking here, but it’s free to park across the road at Stratford Park, as long as you don’t exceed the 12 hour time limit! It’s a basic venue. There’s a wooden changing room/clubhouse building, serving a variety of canned alcohol and soft drinks, which has a covered overhang, but not needed today. The pitch runs widthways in front of here, roped from one corner to the halfway line.
The match was 11th (out of 12) versus 4th and attracted a far bigger crowd than I was expecting, with almost half appearing to be with the visitors. Just to add spice to the fixture, the Minchinhampton manager was making a return to his former club, as were a number of his players. It was real end to end stuff, with both teams going at it with 100% commitment and a great advert for this level of football. Stroud took the lead after half an hour, when a diagonal ball in from the left was chested down and finished from the edge of the box and although the ‘keeper got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep it out. Minchinhampton levelled two minutes into stoppage time, when a throw in was laid off in the corner of the 18 yard box for a curled shot into the far corner.
The visitors had a headed goal disallowed for a foul nine minutes into the second half, before going in front a minute later from the penalty spot. The home No.5 was scuffing up the penalty spot, whilst a number of his team mates surrounded the referee arguing the decision, but it made no difference, with the penalty emphatically fired into the corner. Minchinhampton totally dominated from here, but didn’t get the all important third goal until ten minutes from the end, heading in a corner at the far post and five minutes later they added a fourth, when a header back towards the ‘keeper fell short and was lobbed in from just inside the box.
The win sees Minchinhampton move up to second in the league table, two points adrift of leaders Abbeymead Rovers and a point ahead of Tuffley Rovers Reserves and Old Richians, who both have games in hand on the top two.
So, that’s it until after Christmas. The home linesman certainly got into the festive spirit, dressed in full Santa outfit, just minus the white beard.
@ Ford Sports & Social Club (Basildon), North Pitches
Gardiners Close
Basildon
SS14 3AN
No Admission or Programme.
With this being my 4,000th ground I’ve seen a game on in England, I wanted to avoid doing a 3G cage if at all possible and was pleased to see a text message to the home club being replied to with the news that the game was going ahead okay. I’d read somewhere recently that the Ford Sports & Social Club in Basildon was/is closed and under threat of housing development. That is partly true. As you turn off Gardiners Lane South, into Gardiners Close, the social club is on your left, where there are also two pitches. This is the bit that is now fenced off and inaccessible, whilst on the other side of the road are another four or five pitches, where there’s a good sized car park and separate brick built changing room building, which backs on to a bowling green. Today’s game was on the middle of three pitches at the far end of the complex (Basildon Post Office Ground is the other side of the hedge) and was roped off on all four sides.
The match was 2nd versus 9th (out of 11) and was in the balance right up to the final whistle. Rawreth Lane took a seventh minute lead, when a corner was only partially cleared and played back into the box where it was met with a glancing header that went in off the post. Galleywood’s best chance of the first half saw the ‘keeper tip the ball onto the crossbar as he backpedaled as a looping shot went over his head. The visitors drew level with a penalty just after the hour mark and edged in front with fifteen minutes left with a long range effort. With five minutes left the hosts grabbed a deserved equaliser, when a long throw in was headed clear of the box, but returned with a first time shot into the bottom corner.
My trip to Essex was hindered by a problem at the M25/M26 intersection, which meant diverting cross country from J6, meaning it took 1 hour 10 minutes to drive the 32 miles to Dartford Crossing. No problems on the return and back home for 16.30.
Enfield Town U19 1 Folkestone Invicta U19 2, attendance 7
12’ 1-0
34’ 1-1
86’ 1-2
@ Enfield Playing Fields, 3G Pitch
Donkey Lane
Enfield
EN1 3PL
No Admission or Programme.
F.A. Full Time was (still is) showing this game as being played at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, which hosts Enfield Town’s first team games, which I’d visited in 2011. Although the players used the changing rooms there, the game was actually on the 3G pitch on Enfield Playing Fields, about 300 yards away, on the right hand side when heading south from the M25 at J25, running parallel with the A10. It’s a standard cage set up, with spectator access along three quarters of one side.
An easy tap in saw Enfield break the deadlock after twelve minutes, with Folkestone levelling the scores eleven minutes before halftime, with a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Folkestone had the better chances in the second half, hitting the crossbar and having another effort cleared off the line, before grabbing a late winner, avoiding a possible penalty shoot out, when a cross from the left was side footed in at the far post.
I ignored the quick route on the M25, going via Dartford Crossing, by opting to go westbound instead, which was only eight minutes longer, but avoided the toll. Came back the same way, which took 40 minutes longer, not helped by enforced 40 mph and 50 mph speed limits all the way from J25 to J10.
I’d been to see Bromley here at Hayes Lane (pre sponsor names) twice before. First up was for a 1-1 draw versus Slough Town in an Isthmian League Premier Division match in April 1995 (att. 514) with a re-visit on New Years Day 2010 when they lost 0-1 to Welling United in a National League South match (att. 1,093). Since then they’ve gained promotion into the Football League and tonight was a perfect opportunity to see them as part of ‘The 92’.
The ground has certainly developed over the intervening years and now has a capacity of over 6,000 following the opening of a new full length covered terrace opposite their main seated stand. The visitors are accommodated in the end section of the new terrace and a small covered section behind the adjoining goal end, with 558 making the relatively short journey up from West Sussex. I opted to stand on the new structure, which gave a decent view, but has yet to be fully kitted out behind the scenes, so temporary/portable refreshment huts and toilets are currently in use. I did have some food here, which although very tasty, was an absolutely eye watering price, especially when you’ve already paid £27 to get in. It’s certainly not cheap to attend games in the bottom division of the league these days. There’s no car parking available here, so at least that’s not another expense incurred, but there’s ample free parking in the surrounding roads anyway. I arrived about 18.30 and parked just two minutes walk away, on Hayes Lane itself.
The match was 4th versus 19th (out of 24) in the league table, with Bromley unbeaten in their last twelve home games coming into this, with eight of those being wins and they’re the only team in the division yet to lose a home game this season, so it was a bit of a surprise when Crawley went ahead after nine minutes, when a diagonal ball in from the left was met with a diving header from Ryan Loft that sent the ball low into the far corner of the net. The equaliser for Bromley came two minutes before halftime, when a corner from the right was headed in from a couple of yards by Omar Sowunmi. Four minutes into the second half Bromley edged in front, when a shot from just outside the box by Idris Odutayo took a deflection on its way into the corner. They made it 3-1 with twenty one minutes left, when Crawley lost possession when trying to play out from the back and the ball was squared across the six yard box for top scorer Michael Cheek to roll the ball into the empty net. Crawley never looked like getting back into it from here and Bromley easily held on to take a vital three points in their promotion push.
Unlike the outward journey, which took just over an hour to cover the 18 mile journey, cross country via some very rural lanes, considering it is inside the M25, the drive home was much quieter and I was back home for 22.30. It leaves me with Everton’s brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium and Newport County and Salford City, both as re-visits, to tidy up the 92 now.
It was a day when the option of going a game on grass was very risky. I’d intended heading for East Anglia, with my preferred game being at Mutford & Wrentham, but with the pitch inspection not taking place until 11.00, it would be too late for me to then get there for the 13.30 kick off. News came through about 11.10 that it was going ahead, but by then I’d resigned myself to staying more local and played it safe with the 3G option.
Ansty play at St. Paul’s Catholic College, on the north-west edge of Burgess Hill. It’s a cage set up, with no designated spectator area, but no problem watching from inside the fence, with all spectators and both ‘benches’ using just the near side. Rather annoyingly, there were a couple of overhead wires, which hold the dividing curtains for the small sized pitches, which the ball hit at least half a dozen times during the game. There are no other facilities here, although toilets may have been available inside the changing room building, which was on the far side of some concrete tennis courts that backed onto the cage.
The match was 9th (out of 11) versus 1st, with Old Oxted Town leading second in the table Wakehams Green by five points, as well as having a game in hand, having won eight of their nine games played so far. Ansty had just one win and one draw from their seven games played, with the reverse fixture having been won 1-0 by Old Oxted, when they met at the start of last month.
It was a tight game today too. Old Oxted had an early chance cleared off the line, after a fumble by the home ‘keeper, but it was Ansty who opened the scoring after thirteen minutes, breaking quickly from defence before finishing with an angled shot into the far corner. Within two minutes, a close range finish saw the visitors draw level, which was the 25,000th goal that’s been scored at matches I’ve attended. Seven minutes before halftime they edged in front, when a corner from the left was headed back across the six yard box and met with another header from six yards that gave the ‘keeper no chance. They just couldn’t find the killer third goal and had Ansty not hit the post early in the second half, as well as having a goal ruled out for a foul on the ‘keeper from an in swinging corner, then we might have had a different outcome, but it would have been harsh on the visitors, as they were the better team for the majority of the match.
Apart from a couple of very brief (1-2 minutes) spells when it threatened to rain, it remained dry for a change. It did go gloomy towards the end of the game, with the floodlights coming on as we entered the last 15 minutes and with everyone having stayed out on the pitch at halftime, we were done and dusted for 15.43. Just three more grounds required in this league now, with one of those shared by a team from the West Sussex League.
St. Marys 4 Boys Brigade Old Boys 4, attendance 13
11’ 0-1 (pen)
21’ 1-1
45’ + 1, 1-2 (pen)
47’ 1-3
67’ 2-3 (pen)
81’ 2-4
87’ 3-4
90’ 4-4
@ Durrington Recreation Ground
Cuckfield Crescent/Rogate Road
Salvington
BN13 2ED
No Admission or Programme.
Last Saturday I failed in my attempt to see a St. Marys home game, having turned up at Pond Lane Recreation Ground, which is their home venue according to the F.A. Fulltime website, but it was totally deserted, so I headed elsewhere and a result subsequently appeared later that evening. I’d noticed on the BBOB Instagram page yesterday that this game was listed as being played at Durrington Recreation Ground (still down as Pond Lane Recreation Ground on Full Time) and I managed to confirm this with the very helpful away team manager around noon and that the game was definitely going ahead, following yet another Friday evening of heavy rain.
The ground here at Durrington Recreation Ground is very basic. The only access is on foot, via a pathway off either Rogate Road or Cuckfield Crescent. I opted for the latter, where you enter next to the brick built changing rooms. The pitch runs lengthways away from here, with a second pitch at the far end, which runs the opposite way. I was told by a home official that St. Marys play all their home games here, as do table toppers T.M.G. who Full Time also wrongly show as using Pond Lane.
The match was 8th versus 6th (out of 9) in a league that must be living on borrowed time and will surely be absorbed into the Mid Sussex League before too much longer. It had become noticeably drier as I headed down the A24 and blue sky started appearing once I was south of Horsham. There were plenty of games off in Sussex today, but the pitch here was fine, apart from a puddle in the near goalmouth, scooped away using a bucket as the nets were being put up. The Referee only arrived about fifteen minutes before kick off, so no time to carry out any type of inspection, but thankfully no problems.
Neither team could be questioned for their efforts and despite not being the highest of quality, it was certainly entertaining. An early penalty put the visitors ahead and despite losing their captain to injury after nineteen minutes, St. Marys drew level a couple of minutes later. They then found themselves playing with ten men for the last ten minutes of the half, when one of their players went off injured (he obviously wasn’t ‘really’ injured though, as he took over as linesman for the second half) and he wasn’t replaced until the start of the second half. Very odd, especially as they went behind to a second penalty in stoppage time while still a man short.
Two minutes into the second half BBOB made it 1-3, with a low angled shot into the far corner, but wasted numerous chances to kill the game off. Another penalty saw the hosts pull it back to 2-3 with twenty three minutes left and ten minutes later they had a goal ruled out for offside. Nine minutes from the end the visitors added a fourth, finishing one on one after beating the offside trap and the three points looked safe. A chance out of nothing was fired high into the roof of the net as St.Marys made it 3-4 with three minutes left, before a ball over the top was smashed past the ‘keeper, hitting the inside angle of post and bar on it’s way in, to make it 4-4 right on ninety minutes and the full time whistle went immediately after the game restarted.
So, that’s the Brighton, Worthing & District League wrapped up for this season. By my reckoning, there’s just six more required (could be 7 depending on who/if anyone uses a grass pitch at Eastbourne Sports Park where I’ve already done the 3G pitch) to complete the Sussex pyramid now.
