My Matchday Pics 2006 -109 Recreation Ground

Chesterfield 0v3Yeovil Town
March 4th 2006
Football League One
att.4843

Formed in 1866,Chesterfield are the fourth oldest football league club,and have played at Saltergate's Recreation Ground since 1884 having moved from their previous residence nearer the town centre called Spital,but football has been a feature on the Recreation Ground as way back as 1870.

Saltergate was the last league ground to install floodlights after an appeal fund was set up in 1964 to raise £10,000,with the aim to have them installed for the clubs centenery in 1966.The Spirites purchased pylons from Sheffield United but were found to be unsuitable for Saltergate so these were sold on to Stafford Rangers and new floodlights were purchased,and the Recreation Ground were finally switched on in October 1967.

The Recreation Ground has a capacity of 8504 and is a bit of a blast from the past,which I'd describe as a good old fashioned ground.After a few pints of local Derbyshire bitter I arrived at the ground in need of the toilet.I found a sign saying 'Toilet' but what I entered was a wall to pee on,with a slight slope to help your wee on it's way down to the drain!!

I sat in the Compton Street end,which is also known as the Popular Side which is now an all seated stand,and is partly covered(if you sit at the back)and has supporting pillows which can restrict your view,depending where the action is on the field.

To my right is a terraced 'cow shed type' Spion Kop where the Spierites are housed.To my left was the Cross St. Terrace where the away supporters are left open to the elements and facing me is the Main Stand,which is a bit of a rust bucket and could do with brightening up a bit.

After being treated to the delights of Peter Kay's(or was it Tony Christie's?) version of 'Is This the Way To Amarillo 'as the players entered the field,I was then treated to an entertaining game,in which the away side came away with a convincing 3-0 win,much to the annoyance of several irrate fans sat around me.

There are plans to relocate to a 12000 capacity purpose built stadium at Wheeldon Mill in 2007,so I was pleased to cross the old ground off my list while I still had a chance to attend there.Saltergate is a bit of a 60's throw back,and a reminder of what football grounds used to be like,and due to this fact I absolutely loved the place.

My Matchday Pics -110 Wheatsheaf Sports Ground

Blyth Spartans 1v2 Newcastle United Reserves
Northumberland Senior Cup Final
3rd May 2006
att.850-1000approx
(neutral venue-Wheatsheaf Sports Ground,home of Ncle Blue Star)

The Northumberland Senior Cup has been contested for from as way back as 1881,when Tyne FC were the winners for the first and only time.
The venue for the final is usually St James Park,but the NFA decided that this years final tie would be hosted at the Wheatsheaf Sports Ground the regular home of Newcastle Blue Star.
The Wheatsheaf lies just north of Newcastle in the sleepy suburb of Woolsington,Blue Star have been Senior Cup winners on seven occasions but their biggest feat was winning the FA Vase in 1978 beating Barton Rovers 2-1 at Wembley.
Formed in 1930 the club played in minor leagues and progressed to the Wearside League in 1973,where they became the most successful club in that period, winning the championship five out of twelve seasons,they became members of the Northern League in 1985/86 winning the 2nd Division at the first time of asking with a massive record breaking 109 points.
Newcastle Blue Star had a prosperous 2005/06,becoming Northern League Champions for the first time and they also won the League Cup to complete a memorable double.
There was a healthy attendance for this years final,amongst the crowd were a few senior Toon players along with Terry McDermott and Glen Roeder(who arrived at the ground eating an apple,he mustn’t have had time for his tea)and a big following down from Blyth,hoping to see their side win their third trophy in a week after winning the Unibond Chairmans Cup,and of course becoming Unibond Northern League Champions,hence booking a place into the Conference North for 2006/07 season.
Blyth Spartans are no strangers to winning this trophy having amassed twenty wins their last being in 1998,while Newcastle supporters welcome the Senior Cup because it’s a rare chance to see the Toon lift a pot,even though the Magpies haven’t won it since 2001.
The Wheatsheaf is a homely ground,which has open standing areas on three sides,you can tend to get distracted by the Metro which runs parallel with the pitch,in front of which is the team dug outs and a covered terrace,and there’s an added distraction of constant planes taking off from Newcastle International Airport,which is just along the road from the ground.
The game was an entertaining but tight affair with Newcastle lifting silverware again,when I say again I mean winning the Northumberland Senior Cup for the 27th time.

Match Report @ - http://www.nufc.com/2005-06html/2006-05-03blyth-res-n.html

Updates

May 2007 - After a season of will they or won’t they, Newcastle Blue Star took the ambitious step up into the newly formed Unibond League North, their decision was a controversial one with the club finishing 11th and the ANL not happy about the so called “cherry picking” of their clubs, but the previous season Blue Star were league champions, so basically I feel they’ve won promotion, be it a year later.
Their ambition was further strengthened by their decision to move from the Wheatshief along the road into Kingston Park, so they will now have the benefit of one of the best grounds and facilities in Non-League football.
The Wheatshief has been used by the ladies team from Newcastle United and there are plans to lay an all weather pitch.

The Northumberland Senior Cup Final returned to St. James’ Park for 2007, with Blyth Spartans again reaching the final but sadly once more they missed out on the trophy, losing 3-2 to Morpeth Town.

My Matchday Pics 2006 -'Derby Day'

April 17th 2006

Stadium Of Light,sunderland

v.Newcastle United

FA Premiership

(score 1-4 att.40,032)

Revist-1st visit- Ground No.76- sunderland 1v1 Newcastle Utd-21st April 2001, FA Premiership

This was my fourth(and most enjoyable) visit to the Stadium Of Light.Not only was it memorable for the score,but it was also to witness the last competitive appearance and goal from the legend Alan Shearer.

Football fans in general love the big Derby games,when the season's fixtures are released in the summer it's the first games they look for,I do the same thing myself,and look out for the matches with the makems,but it's not with excited anticipation but with dread.I hate the Tyne-Wear Derby more than anything,and not just in football terms but in my life itself.Football is supposed to be an enjoyable experience in both playing and spectating,but I get no enjoyment from being in the SoL surrounded by forty-odd-thousand makems,filled with hatred towards their neighbours from Tyneside.

I keep hearing on local radio stations from fellow Toon supporters saying how they hope sunderland return to the Premiership so we can have the Derby's back,well in the words of Alan Brazil.."Wheyy,tell me wheyy"because personally I would be quite happy to never play sunderland again,so I don't have to go through those nerve racking 90 odd minutes.I can't imagine sunderland supporters somehow saying the same sort of thing if the roles were reversed.

Throughout last season I was adamant I wouldn't be going to the away derby,mainly because we haven't lost on Wearside for 26 years,not since I witnessed little Stan Cummins netted a late winner in a 2nd Division clash in Easter 1980.My thinking was we are due to lose this time and I couldn't bare to be there to see it.When the time came to apply for my ticket,I reluctantly send for it and when it arrived,I had that usual sick feeling in my stomach.I had many offers from many fans asking if I'd sell it,and I said no,even though I didn't know why,am I a glutting for punishment? A masochist or something?

As it turned out it was one of the most memorable football occasions I've been fortunate to witness.Winning 4-1,yes 4-1 I've waited all my life to see us hammer sunderland,but it didn't look that way in the first half.United were shocking in that opening 45 minutes and if it was possible I would have gone home,but once we equalised there was only going to be one winner.The four goals were all special,firstly Michael Chopra's first Premiership goal with his first touch of the ball,10 seconds after coming on as a sub.This was followed by Shearers last ever goal,a cool taken spot-kick.The best of the lot,little Charlie Zogs mazzey run and finish,and then remarkably a goal from Albert Luque,this was the stuff that dreams are made of! ;)

The win still hasn't changed my opinion,I know we'll meet again,don't know where,don't know when,but I know when it does eventually happen I'll have to go through the same rigmarole again.So seeing us win 4-1,how can you beat that?(5-1,4-0 aye,ah know) but I think this is as good as it gets regarding my trips to the great unwashed.

My record of makems v mags on Wearside is ;

P 12 W 4 D 6 L 2 F13 A8

So that's it for me,officially retired from going to see the Toon in makemland,I'll just have to hide in a bunker for 90 minutes or something and be let out on the final whistle with the good or bad tidings.I'll still go to the home derbies of course but I'm finished with making that trip into the darkside.But..wait a minute...I did say all this at the beginning of last season as well.

Magic Moment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edm9yDhKFoU

My Matchday Pics 2006 -108 New Bucks Head

AFC Telford United 1v1 Gateshead
Unibond Premier Division.
28th January 2006
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Gatesheads longest trip of the season is a 480 round trip to Shropshire, yes this is the Northern Premier League, to take on AFC Telford at the New Bucks Head.
I travelled to the game on the luxurious team coach, which our driver made a point of telling everyone was a very expensive coach, where kitbags were not allowed on the bus but to be put in the boot, no mess, use the black bags provided, and we have a DVD player, oh what luxury, and all for £15.
After a long and distinguished history, going back to 1872 as Wellington Town, Telford United came to being in 1969 after the designation of the New Town of Telford.The name change came at a great time as the “Road to Wembley” was now open to Non-League sides in the FA Trophy, and in that first season Telford reached the twin towers losing to Macclesfield Town in the final. They bettered this feat the following season winning the FA Trophy along with the Southern League(yes,the South,not the North)and the Midland Floodlit League to round of a remarkable 1970/71 season.
Telford are of course famous for being FA Cup Giantkillers, their victims have included amongst others Stockport, Northampton, Lincoln, Stoke, Crewe, Brentford and they played a fifth round tie at a 47000 Goodison Park full house against Everton in 1985 and more cup success followed in the FA Trophy including a revenge win against Macc Town in 1989.
The club became full-time in 2000, but events took a turn for the worse in 2004 when the club went into liquidation as the club lost all its financial support with the collapse of the chairmans business empire, even the raised £50,000 through a supporters trust wasn’t enough to save Telford United.
On the day of the announcement of the club liquidation, the supporters trust known as Telford United Supporters Ltd took up ownership of the club and AFC Telford United were born and were placed in the Unibond 1st Division by the FA.
The biggest supported team in the Northern Premier League have maybe the most impressive ground in the Non-League pyramid. It comprises of two matching covered terraces behind each goal, to the North is the David Hutchinson Stand where the most vocal of the Bucks fans gather and to the South the Frank Hagington Stand where I joined up with the other half a dozen or so of the HeedArmy for the 2nd half. The Sir Stephen Roberts Stand is the all seated main stand with a capacity of 2,200, I sat here for the 1st half of the game and got some 'hackie looks' from the Telford supporters when I jumped out of my seat after Adam Johnston headed the Tynesiders in front after only 11 minutes.There is also the uncovered East terrace adjacent to the main stand, which holds 1800 where they are in the process of building a sports college. Work on the stadium began in 2000, with the work completed in 2003 and replaced Bucks Head where Telford played for over a century, it has an overall capacity of 6,300.
Telford rallied in the 2nd half and grabbed an equalizer through Luke Reynolds, but not before a mass brawl from both sets of players, a controversial sending off to Keith Graydon(“Ah didn’t touch him man” I heard him say in the bar afterwards)and to cap it all off Gateshead manager Colin Richardson being escorted away from stewards after being less than happy by one or two(well maybe five or six)decisions from the officials, and I was astonished when the tannoy announcer made it known that Shrewsbury were losing throughout the game, so overall an eventfull and enjoyable afternoon.

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About this site

Welcome to the 100 Football Grounds Club, a website dedicated to football fans who suffer the age old ailment of stadiumitis, as a life long sufferer myself, this blog helps cure my affliction, by sharing my views, thoughts and pictures of my football ground adventures, all written and presented with with usual crack!
This site is for real football fans, who have a passion for visiting football grounds and stadia, be it with the team you support or just as a casual fan who likes to see a match at as many venues as possible.
There's nothing like the experience of visiting a new football ground for the first time, the anticipation as you see the floodlights and stands in the distance, and the excitement as you enter the terrace or into the stand and see the football arena for the first time.

I used to mainly concentrate on seeing my favourite team Newcastle United on as many stadiums as possible, with the aim to eventually see them play at 100 different grounds, I achieved my goal in December 2003, but within the last few years I've grow frustrated at not getting to more new grounds,so I decided to attend more 'neutral' games and venture into the wonderfull world of the Non-League scene.
I started this website to blog my visits to the new grounds I visit, but I opened the site up to fellow football fans with the same interest, to share their information on the grounds they've visited, and so within this I've set up a 'Groundhoppers Union' as I like to call it...'The 100 Football Grounds Club' where the main criteria is to attend a match at over 100 grounds, be it league, non-league, cup games, friendlies, in fact anywhere in the world.
All contributors and members all have the same things in common, the love of the beautiful game and the 'stadiumitis bug' an infection that continues to spread into a football plague but without any antidode, if your a sufferer I'm here to help :-)
If you've been to over 100 grounds and would like to become a member of our happy band of fans then please get in touch.
Hope you enjoy the site, Cheers!!!

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