The 100FgC 2011 Accolades

(Shaun's choices in the 100FgC new years honours list)

*Best Match Attended*

Gateshead 5v4 Sunderland RCA,Durham Cup QF 12th January.

The best game of the year goes to a Durham Cup tie witnessed by roughly 100 supporters “crammed” inside the International Stadium, the quarter final tie between Gateshead Reserves and Sunderland RCA producing a nine goal thriller.

The Northern League side came from behind to lead 4-2 courtesy of a Richard Logan hat-trick and looked set for a place in the next round, however the young Heed side refused to lie down, scoring three goals in the last nine minutes to progress into the semi-finals on route to lifting the Durham Cup for the first time in the club’s history. 

                                  *Goal of the Year*



Paul Clayton - Alfreton Town

My goal of the year goes to Alfreton Town striker Paul Clayton, who scored a cracker against Gateshead in the Blue Sq.Bet Premier in November. The ball was played up the right wing to Jake Moult, his back heel flick fell into the path of Clayton who placed an unstoppable shot beyond the reach of Jak Alnwick from 18 yards.

*Favourite Previous Uncharted Senior Ground*

Amex Stadium - Brighton & Hove Albion

The Amex Stadium wins the best senior ground because it’s bonny, with lovely comfy seats, nice mantled shiny stands and most of all it became my Shangri-La in the lifetime pursuit of The 92.

* Favourite Previous Unchartered Non-League Ground*
Church Road - Hayes & Yeading

Church Road in Hayes is another classic old non-league ground which was lost this year after over 90 years of use. I arrived just in time for the final match making the long trek to Middlesex on a Tuesday night for the final farewell.

*Favourite My Matchday*

281 Plainmoor

The most enjoyable My Matchday was my furthest journey of the year, a 380 mile drive to Torquay on the Thursday before their Good Friday clash with Wycombe Wanderers.

This was the first of an Easter treble which included Yeovil and Bournemouth which formed part of an enjoyable weekend in the South West for the Smudger family.

*Best Pre-Match Bevvy*
The Bear - Oxford

The Bear Inn in the fine city of Oxford is probably the titchiest pub I’ve ever been in. The bar is decorated throughout with old school ties and serves a regular selection of Fuller's beers as well as a couple of guest ales. The Bear claims to be the old boozer in the city and is worth seeking out, found just off the main High Street on Bear Lane. 

*Silver 'Spoons Award*
Tilley Stone - Gateshead

At long last we have a JDW in Gateshead(the one in the Metty doesn’t count) The Tilley Stone opened in October and over the last few months I’ve been a regular caller, especially on Thursday’s, as the weekly curry nights are popular with the Smudger family.



*Scabby Eye of the Year*

Cornish Pasty - Yeovil

The ‘Scabby-eye Award’ goes not to a pie but another form of pastry based product with the delicious belly filling Cornish pasties at Huish Park in Yeovil. This is the first and probably the only time a Football League club takes this award which is usually dominated by the superior food on offer at non-league grounds.

Last years winners and the year before and the year before that can be viewed HERE.

My Matchday - 304 New Broomfield

Airdrie United 3v3 Arbroath

Scottish League Division Two

Saturday 26^th November 2011

It was my intension that last month’s trip north to Raith Rovers was to be my last journey to Scotland until the spring. However it was hard to resist taking a gamble on the weather to book advance trains to Edinburgh and if I couldn’t bag another ground there’s always the back up plan of a day on the lash in one of my favourite cities.

The weather was rough in the West side of Scotland, but not match threatening, so I confidently headed up to Airdrie in North Lanarkshire. The town forms part of a municipality with Coatbridge in the former district known as the Monklands, situated approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow.

The Airdrie name is believed to have originated from Gaelic dialect; An Àrd Ruigh meaning a level height or high pastures land, or possibly from An Àrd Àirighe denoting a sheiling or wayside town

Airdrie United formed in 2002, born out of a collapse of one club and the takeover of another. Airdieonians with debts of almost £3m went out of business after finished runners-up in the Scottish First Division in the 2001–02 season, their vacancy in the SFL taking up by Gretna, a non-league side playing in the Northern Premier League in England.

Airdieonians fan and accountant Jim Ballantyne led a consortium to gain entry to the Scottish League with a newly formed club out of the ashes of “The Diamonds” with a buy-out of the ailing Second Division side Clydebank, to take over their League place and relocated to North Lanarkshire.

The new club kept the traditional Airdrieonians colours of all white with a wraparound red diamond and the name changed to Airdrie United. Although the club are officially a continuation of Clydebank, they are mainly recognised as a reincarnation of Airdrieonians, with Clydebank having been reformed by the UCS supporters group, plying their trade in the West Region of the Scottish Junior League.

Airdrieonians formed in 1878 and played at the original Broomfield Park from 1892. My own link to Airdrie, or should I say, the Tyneside connection to the club comes in the way of a famous son of North Lanarkshire - the legendary Hughie Gallacher.

After signing from Queen of the South in 1921, Hughie made his name at Airdrieonians, earning the first of his 20 Scottish caps in 1924 going on to score 23 international goals. During his four years at Broomfield he scored 91 goals in 111 appearances before heading south to St James Park in a 6,500 deal in December 1925.

The wee man became one of the earliest legendary Newcastle number 9s, a key member of the 1926-27 title winning team with a remarkable 133 career goals in 160 matches before a big money move to Chelsea. Such was his popularity at United that when he return with the Blues a record attendance of 68,386 was set, with several thousand locked outside. Gallacher scored 81 goals in 144 games and was Chelsea’s top scorer in each of his four seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Hughie went on to play at Derby County, Notts County and Grimsby before returning to Tyneside in 1938 at Fourth Division Gateshead. A delighted and emotional Gallacher was quoted as saying “It’s grand to be back on Tyneside, my heart has been here ever since I left United eight years ago. I intend to spend the rest of my life with my adopted folk in Gateshead."

Crowds at Gateshead’s Redheugh Park soared to 20,000 as he hit 18 league goals for the club before retiring from football due to the outbreak of World War 2. Hughie continued to live in Gateshead until his sad demise and tragic suicide in 1957, taking his life just a short walk from my own home in Gateshead, stepping in front of an oncoming express train on the London-Edinburgh line at Low Fell.

Broomfield Park was sold to supermarket chain Safeway for £5.5m in May 1994. The club’s intention was to build a new, 10,000 all-seated stadium to SPL standard in readiness of gaining promotion from the First Division. However acquiring planning permission proved difficult as the club struggled to find an appropriate site, which meant Airdrie had to groundshare with Clyde at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld for four seasons.

Once a viable site was found, building work on the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium (as it was originally called) was completed in time for the start of the 1998-99 season. The stadium is made up of four separate single tier stands with open corners. The Jack Dalziel Stand is the largest, having a row of executive boxes at the top and decked out in red seats with white diamonds and AFC (What about the ‘U’?) picked out in black. The Perspex dugouts are at each side of the tunnel and the stand also houses the ticket office, club shop, conference and banqueting facilities and a public bar.

Opposite is the East Stand which is closed to the public and is only used by the press. I was one of the eight in the spacious press box, made up of six writers and two on the TV gantry section. The stand is similar in height and appearance as the North and South Stands behind each goal, the seats are horizontally colour banded into white red and black.

The ground also has electric scoreboards behind each goal, four prominent corner floodlights and a new 3G artificial pitch which made its debut in August 2010.

Although only one stand was available to the paying public on this visit, overall New Broomfield holds 10,171 with a record attendance of 9,613 coming in the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final between Hamilton Academicals and St. Mirren.

The biggest gate for an Airdrieonians match was 8,762 against Celtic in a Scottish League Cup tie in August 1998, as for Airdrie United it’s currently 5,924, set during the Scottish Cup 3^rd round against derby rivals Motherwell in January 2007.

I arrived in a sunny but windy Edinburgh at 1130am. Predictably I spent my brief time in the Scottish capital visiting a couple of unchartered JDW pubs, namely The Playfair in the Omi Centre and the Alexandra Graham Bell on George Street, before taking the 1248 train west towards Helensburgh Central.

The journey to Airdrie takes just over 45 minutes. The closer I got to Lanarkshire the darker and wetter it became, but having seen the weather forecast I was well prepared, well wrapped and water proofed. On arrival I completed a ‘Spoons hat trick in Airdrie, calling into The Robert Hamilton before taking the 20 minute walk to the stadium in the piss-istent rainfall.

I entered the press area via a gate at the Main Stand, the steward handed me a programme and informed me I had to walk around the pitch to the opposite stand, plus if I needed a drink or something to eat I had to walk back.

This wasn’t a convenience, in fact it was bloody great news as I took the longer route around the perimeter, able to freely take pictures with no problems whatsoever and without any hassle from the stewards, not like those mardy jobsworth tits that I experienced at Clyde.

I always enjoy attending games in Scotland but over the last few years the standard of football in the SPL and SFL had been, if I’m brutally honest, piss poor! I’ve been long overdue a great game, and I got it, the game had plenty of goals with both sides fully committed, giving their all in continuous rain and a swirly wind.

The game got off to a lively start; in Arbroath’s very first attack they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. Gavin Swankie stepped up and from 20 yards he curled his shot inside the keeper’s right hand post to give the visitors a 57 second lead (according to my digital watch)

Airdrie equalised in the 5^th minute, a cross by McClaren was handled in the box by Baxter and from the spot kick skipper Paul Lovering smashed the penalty in off the underside of the crossbar.

Arbroath regained the lead in the same fashion just before half time. This time a Swankie cross was handled by Green and Steve Doris made no mistake with his spot kick, then after the break The Smokies looked to have bagged the points when Swankie again was on hand to tee up Falkingham to fire home on 56 minutes.

Diamonds top scorer Ryan Donnelly rescued an unlikely point with a headed brace in a two minute spell, getting on the end of a Boyle cross on 69 minutes, then a minute later he was left unmarked to nod home from close range to take his goal tally to 18 goals in 19 games this season.

Both teams had chances to win it, the best effort falling to Donnelly who was denied a hat-trick with a tremendous tip over by keeper Hill, but overall neither side deserved to lose, a draw being the fairest result.

Full marks to both teams for producing a cracking game in horrendous conditions. I felt my planned arrival to Airdrie came 7 days too late after they pulled of a record 11-0 win in the Scottish Cup last week, but I’m quite happy to settle for a 6 goal thriller and an enjoyable but soggy day north of the border.

Matchday stats

AUFC 1 (Lovering 5pen Donnelly 69,70)

AFC (Swankie 1pen Doris 42pen Falkingham 56)

att.687

Admission:Press (£15)

Programme £2

Ground no.304 New Broomfield - Matchday Web album (22 pictures)

My Matchday - 303 North Street

Alfreton Town 1v1 Gateshead

Blue Sq.Bet Premier

Saturday 19th November 2011

This week I was back on the road with the Heed Army for a relatively short trip (compared with what I’m used to) to Alfreton Town to tick off one of the three remaining Conference grounds I need to complete Blighty’s top 116 clubs.

Alfreton is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley, neighbouring the districts of Bolsover and North East Derbyshire. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District.
Legend has it, that Alfreton takes its name from Alfred the Great, who drove the Danes from settlements in this area of the country and overhauled much of the damage. There’s also evidence that a settlement existed here in Saxon times.

Alfreton Town formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfreton United. The club originally playing in the Central Alliance North Division One, before joining the Midland Counties League from 1961 - winning three league titles during the 1970’s.

Town became founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982, becoming league champions in 1987 thus winning promotion to the Northern Premier League.

Back to back relegations at the end of the 1990s saw the club back in the Northern Counties East League. However good fortune returned, two promotion seasons and a 4th place finish saw the Reds placed in the Conference North when the football pyramid was reformed in 2004.

Last season the club had their most successful season in winning the Conference North title with a ten point margin over nearest rivals AFC Telford to take their place at the top table of non-league football.

The local council provided a ground for the newly formed club on North Street, which was originally called the Town Ground. Within a year a covered banked terrace was built on the Welfare side, followed by seating for 180 and a small covered stand at the Alma Street end in 1963. The ground’s early years witnessed a record crowd when 5,023 saw a Central Midland league clash with Derbyshire neighbours Matlock Town in 1960.

In the early ‘70s the original stand was replaced with a covered terrace and seats combination, followed by floodlights and a new dressing room building, which was later renovated with a players lounge bar and directors box.

More improvements were made as the club progressed with the most significant change coming in 1994 with a new Main Stand. The stand runs pitch length and is split up into different sections, having two rows of blue seats and press box in the centre, the Tommie Bradley Terrace next to the club shop and at the opposite end of the stand is the Red Bar and the Lottie Bradley Hospitality Area.

The main turnstile entrance is in the corner off Bentley Close, where you’re met by the refreshment bar and club shop which has a huge selection of programmes and pin badges which is well worth visiting.

Opposite is the Tom McRoy Stand named after “Mr Alfreton Town” himself who was responsible for the amalgamation of the new club 52 years ago and is still going strong, celebrating his 92nd birthday this year.
The stand is two-thirds covered with a scaffold assisted TV gantry on the roof, with half a dozen rows of blue flip seats which continue around to the Bentley Close end behind the goal. The seats were purchased from Leicester City’s old Filbert Street ground at a bargain price of £1.50 per pew. The Bentley Close has only four rows of seats which were bolted onto the terrace in 2003 and there are plans to add cover in the near future, as well as moving the changing rooms and adding other facilities around the ground.

At the top end on the Alma Street side is a small steep terrace known as the 'Tin End' which is split into three separate sections. This has a small covered area in the centre section and the back walls are painted red.

In 2004 a new £70,000 floodlighting system was installed courtesy a £45,000 award from the Football Stadia Improvements scheme and several wheelchair access ramps for spectator points for the disabled. The Impact Arena as it’s now officially known* has a capacity of 3,600 with 1,500 seats.

(* as a regular at St James Park for 37 of its 119 years history, I prefer to call grounds by their traditional name)

On current form I expected a convincing away win, confidently predicting a 3-1 victory for Gateshead, but if I was any good at this prediction malarkey I would be rich enough to pack in work and spend my leisure time exploring the delights of stadiums around the continent.

Alfreton didn’t look like a side that’s struggling at the wrong end of the table as they dominated early on. Kris Gate was on hand to twice to make goal line clearances and Jak Alnwick tipped over a free kick from Anthony Church as the Reds bossed the first half.

The opening goal duly arrived on 37 minutes with probably the best goal I’ve seen so far this season. The ball was played into the right flank to Jake Moult, who’s back heel flick teed up Paul Clayton who hit a bullet first time shot which found the postage stamp position in the frame of the goal.

The Tynesiders improved after the interval, the Reds invited the pressure with keeper Joe Day denying Gate and Cummins, with the Heed number 11 also going close with a near post header.

The equaliser came on 68 minutes from Chris Moore, Brittain played a square ball to the edge of the box and the substitute fired home from 20 yards.

In the closing stages the hosts should have won it as the Heed’s desperate defending saw goalmouth scrambles and goal line clearances, the best chance saw Marwood on hand to clear off the line from Clayton and a Leigh Frank shot just whistled over the crossbar which would have been the third cracking goal of the afternoon.

The Town fans post match view was that this was the best home performance of the season. The luxury of having almost a full squad to choose from making the difference and if they can produce performances of a similar ilk then they have every chance of surviving this season.

A travelling distance of just 146 miles from the Civic Centre to the ground meant a 10am departure and an arrival time of 1.30, so this gave me amble time to check out a few of the local hostelries. I had arranged to meet Squad #108 John Robinson his brother Neil and Squad#194 Keith Arthur when I arrived, but their replacement bus service from Derby was caught in heavy traffic so unfortunately they didn’t arrive till just before 2.30pm.

I did do a solo run to the local Wetherspoons – Waggon & Horses, followed by the King Alfred where I met a drunken exile Geordie from Birtley who had lived in Alfreton for the last 10 years. He was positive that he knew me from his days working in Gateshead, however he may have been mistaking as he was really really pished!

My last pre-match pub was The Victoria where most of the Heed Army had taking root and this was where I finally met John (ground no.509 today) and Keith (ground no.381) for the first time, which brings my 100FgC handshake total to 53/198.

Its always good to meet up and have a bit crack with some of the squad, also I was made welcome by the staff working at the ground who were very friendly, so overall a it proved a very good trip and a canny day out.

Matchday stats

ATFC 1(Clayton 37) GFC 1(Moore 68)

Att.651

Admission:Press (£13)

Programme:£2.50

Ground no.303 North Street - Matchday Web album (20 pictures)

All Roads Lead South or How I Finally got The 92 Monkey Off My back

I can clearly recollect when the notion of trying to do the 92 was first

mentioned. At the time I was still living at my Mam’s house, lazing around in the sitting room with Ian Patrick, two typical dole wallers listening to The Undertones Sin Of Pride album whilst waiting for the racing to start on TV.

In our 40 plus years of friendship, we’ve always tested each other on football trivia. On this particular day there was one of those guides to the football season, free with an earlier issue of Match magazine lying on the coffee table. We were testing each other on football grounds and the quiz led to chat about how many grounds we had been to so far and the idea of one day completing the set.

After a wholehearted agreement was made, we looked at making a start at Newcastle United’s next away fixture at Stamford Bridge, which was a perilous ordeal in 1983, but if we harboured ambitions of doing all the grounds then we had to take our lives into our own hands and run the risk of the Chelsea Headhunters.

We survived the daunting trip to west London. A couple of wayward bricks failed to cause any damage to our coach plus we had the added bonus of a Toon victory, so that was ground number 23 successfully ticked, which meant I was already a quarter of the way to achieving my goal.

The following season United looked a good bet for promotion, so I tried to get to as many of the previous uncharted Second Division grounds as possible, then the following season in the top division I made my debut at the homes of the country’s top clubs to finish the 1984/85 season on 46 grounds, so I was now half way there, so far so good.

After this successful spell I spent the next few years treading water, trying to tick grounds while only supporting your team gave little chance of making major progress. Living in the north-east is a big disadvantage as well because all roads lead south, so attending neutral games isn’t as easy as living in the middle of the country when you have all points of the compass to aim at.

The dawn of the 1990s began with a trip to Reading in the FA Cup, as I reached my half century at Elm Park. From then on it became a case of two steps forward then four steps back, relegation into the Conference and ground moves meant I couldn’t get past the number 57. I first peaked at this total at Meadow Lane in 1993, then at St Marys in 2002, Darlington Arena in 2007 and Sincil Bank in 2008.

When I next hit “the Heinz” at the Keepmoat Stadium at the beginning of the 2008/09 season I never looked back, as I now regularly ground bagging at neutral matches, ticking off another 8 to finish the season on 65, with Luton Town’s relegation adding the predictable Forth Bridge syndrome to take the running total to 64.

The 2009-10 season began a new dawn in my football supporting life.After a lot of soul searching I made the decision to pack in my season ticket of 27 years at NUFC. There were many reasons why I parted with my seat in the Gallowgate End, one of which was so that I take some time out from St James Park and concentrate on getting The 92 Monkey off my back.

I was one of the few Toon supporters that welcomed relegation to the Championship, I felt at the time that the club needed to get rid of the overpaid “star” players, to basically start again and come back stronger, but a more selfish reason was that I could tick off Preston, Plymouth and

the two grounds in south Wales.

The season was a good one, not only did Newcastle win the Championship title but I bagged 14 League grounds to finish off with a healthy 78, of course that was before the Forth Bridge painters kicked in again, taking four away which meant I still had 18 left to do.

I approached 2010-11 campaign obsessed with finally completing the set in one and a half seasons, setting myself a finishing line target of Christmas 2011. Last season I played a blinder, scratching off a mighty fine 16 to finish the season on 89, with naturally the two steps back meant I only had 5 left to do in the first half of the new season. I managed to bag the last handful with ease this season, the only hiccup being ticket issues at Brighton which I got around by buying a ticket for the away end.

So after 28 years since a couple of spotty teenagers spent those long work-free days talking about lasses, records, betting and football trivia I finally arrived at the Amex Stadium, my much sought after “Shangri-La” and a major cross off my bucket list.

With that box now ticked I can start thinking about completing other bucket list targets, the likes of skydiving, standing at the top of the Empire State Building, doing the Coast-to-Coast walk and if I’m really really lucky an Ménage à trois! But whatever else I manage to achieve it won’t give me the same satisfaction as completing The 92, its took a long time but nonetheless, it’s been an awarding experience

My Matchday - 301 Amex Stadium

Brighton & Hove Albion 2v0 Barnsley

Championship

Sunday 6th November 2011

And so it came to pass that on the thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety fourth day since I went to football ground number one, I can at long last look at the league tables of the top four English divisions knowing I’ve done the bloody lot!

The 92nd ground honour in this long belated achievement goes to the Amex Stadium, the new home of Brighton & Hove Albion which also completes a Seagulls hat-trick, following on from visits to the Goldstone in 1983 and an enjoyable day with the Brighton lads at the Withdean last April.

The American Express Community Stadium is located near the village of Falmer in Brighton and Hove. The stadium was designed by London-based KSS Architects with building work undertook by Buckingham Group in December 2008. The £93m construction of the stadium is sunk three storeys into the ground, having 138,000 cubic metres of chalk removed for its foundation.

The ground is dominated by the large three-tiered West Stand, which has two strips of executive facilities above and below the middle tier, including 14 luxury boxes and the premium fans' 1901 Club .The bottom tier is the largest which also has the managers/players section and altogether the stand has a capacity of 11,833.

The Family Stand is on the east side which holds 5,404 fans and like the West stand has an attractive curved roof. If the need arises for the stadium to be increased a further tier can be added to the East stand which would bring the capacity up to 30,000. This also means the extra unused space at the rear gives an unfinished appearance to the stand.

The North Stand has 2,688 seats and is occupied by the club's main vocal support and also has a control centre and large video screen scoreboard. I was amongst the visiting away supporters in the South stand which is similar in design with 2,575 seats. Both stands behind the goal have distinctive sloping roofs which link the four individual stands together.

The stadium was completed in May with the first game, the now customary new stadium ‘tester match’ being the 2011 Sussex Senior Cup Final between Brighton and Eastbourne Borough on the 16th July, followed by the official opening with a pre-season friendly with Tottenham Hotspur at the end of that month.

The first League fixture was against Doncaster Rovers on the 6th August, who were coincidently the last opponents 14 years earlier at the Goldstone Ground. The Seagulls supporters celebrated watching League football in a ground which they can finally call their own with a victory, with two late goals from substitute Will Buckley clinching a 2-1 win.

The Falmer Stadium confirmed sponsorship naming rights with American Express Europe, Brighton and Hove's biggest private sector employer. The Amex includes a banqueting and conference facility, a nursery school crèche, education facilities for the University of Brighton, large office space, the ticket and merchandise store and the 200 capacity ‘Dick's Bar’ named after the club's life president Dick Knight.

The stadium offers real ales from local breweries; Harveys and Dark Star, both businesses have been supporters in the club's pursuit for a new stadium and there’s also a unique special guest beers option from breweries local to the away teams.(Although drinking ale isn’t something that this author indulges in*wink*…Eddy) However on this visit there was no guest ales and the Harveys Ale was off the menu, the only option being puffy larger, on which I declined.

As I was at Brighton’s last game at the Withdean in an ideal world it would have been great to have been at the first match at the Amex, however the demand for home tickets has meant my eventual visit is amongst the away supporters, so for this day I was an honorary Tyke!

I left Newcastle on the 0755 to Kings Cross, alighting at Peterborough where I met up with Squad#88 Graham Precious, who was also completing ‘The 92’ for the first time. I was pleased that the two stars of Radio 4’s The Completists got to finish together, as Graham has played a major part in my progress over the last few years, chauffeuring me to the likes of Aldershot, Burton, Chesterfield and Crawley.

We drove out of Peterborough at 1120 and arrived at Falmer at 1.30 which was around the same time as everyone else who travelled by car. In search of a decent parking space Graham drove straight into the main car park and told the steward that a parking space was reserved in the name of Precious with his personal suffix of “As in valuable” The parking steward searched in vain for a Mr Precious on the parking guest list, which obviously wasn’t there, but after a quick word with his gaffer we were allowed through to pick up a free prime parking spot.

I bought a programme and was pleased to see that our 92 visit was mentioned

on page 9, before visited the club shop where the large queue outside was reminiscent of the days when pensioners stood outside the post office on a Monday morning to pick up their pension an hour before it opened. I bought the usual pin badge, a postcard (see top picture, only cost one English pound) and for this special occasion a pint glass with the Seagulls crest which I’m going to have engraved with the details on reaching the 92.

At half time I met up with Squad #111 Steve Mann who had travelled from Hastings for the match and ground visit. It was the first time we had met and he too had the clever idea of picking this game and an away end ticket to tick off the Amex.

As the game went into the last few minutes with the result assured, we made a sharp exit and just as we hit the A27 5Live confirmed a 2-0 win for Brighton had ended a run of nine league games without a win.

The first ever Sunday match at the Amex started quite even as both teams playing turns each at having an unsuccessful furrow up field. The best chance for the visitors came on 27 minutes when a Perkins chip was tipped onto the crossbar by “There’s only one Stevie Harper” then just before the break the hosts took the lead, when a shot by Harley was well saved before falling into the path of Gordon Greer, firing his left foot drive past the despairing defender on the goal line.

The Seagulls doubled the lead just before the hour mark when a penetrating run and shot from Mackail-Smith came back off the crossbar but Ryan Harley was on hand to finish off his good work with his second goal of the season.

A welcome result for Gus Poyet’s side, the win takes Albion back up to 10th spot and only two points from the play-offs positions.

The quick getaway meant I arrived back at Peterborough at 7.30pm, which gave me a good hour for my first pint or three of the day. I had plenty of time to visit the two JDW’s in the town; The Drapers Arms and College Arms, which I found easily enough but what I couldn’t find was a chippy or takeaway, as I was in desperate need of some bait after having nothing since breakfast.

I arrived back home just before midnight, tired but delighted that I’ve finally done it at last, my 123rd League grounds on from my first visit to St James Park in 1974 is no.92 - The Amex Stadium, a great new addition to League stadia and worthy final destination on my long quest.

For you Googlers a more detailed look at Brighton & Hove Albion can be read on my visit last season; My Matchday - 285 Withdean Stadium.

Also you can read more about how I finally did ‘The 92’ in the article - All Roads Lead South

Matchday stats
B&HAFC 2(Greer 44 Harley 57) BFC 0
att.19,841
Admission £24
Programme £3

Ground no.301 Amex Stadium - MatchdayWeb album (19 pictures)

My Matchday - 300 Priestfield Stadium

Gillingham 1v0 Oxford United

League Two

Saturday 22nd October 2011

My penultimate ground on this long journey towards the completing the 92 takes me to the only ground in the football League which is set in the Garden of England - the county of…(wait for it)..Kent!
Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway which includes the settlements of Brompton, Rainham, Hempstead, Rainham Mark and Twydall.
The name originates from the Gylla's family, followed by the Old English words; ingas (family, followers) and ham (village, homestead) and was first recorded as Gyllingeham in the 10th century.
Gyllingas was a war lord named from the old English word "gyllan" meaning "to shout". He was a famous man in Kent history as he led his fighters into battle screaming and shouting. (If a biopic was made Brian Blessed would be perfect for the role…Eddy)

New Brompton FC formed in 1893 originating from a team called Excelsior which played on the Great Lines. The new club proceeded to purchase a ground on Priestfield Road for £600, which had a wooden stand and a pavilion.
In 1899 a stand was built by a group of dockland workers on the Gordon Road side, made up of wooden benches under a thin roof that remained robust and survived until 1985, being the oldest remaining stand in senior football at that time.
The club changed their name to Gillingham FC in 1913 and the following year built a new stand which was damaged in a gale, having its roof ripped off and most of the ironwork damaged. The structure only lasted one year due to its poor design, pity the dockland workers weren’t around to build another sturdy stand in exchange for beer and tabs!
The Gills were elected to the newly formed Football League Division Three in 1920 which was followed by extensive ground work over the next decade with new terracing and cover to the Rainham End.
The club lost its league status in 1938 and as a Southern League club the renamed Priestfield Stadium witnessed a record crowd of 23,002 for an FA Cup tie with QPR in 1947. Gillingham again became Kent’s only League club in 1950 and more ground improvements followed at a cost of £28,500. The pitch was levelled with a new perimeter wall, as well as new terracing and cover added on Gordon Road.
In 1963 Priestfield became one of the last League grounds to install floodlights at a cost of £14,000, switched on for a League Cup tie with Bury, which was the last noteworthy development until the Taylor Report in 1985.
The Priestfield Stadium as we know today was developed after Paul D.P.Scally took over as chairman in 1995.
The first new stand was built in 1997 on the unused Gordon Road side. The 2,400 capacity stand cost £2m, kept as a single tier due to row of houses on the street, with only 12-15 rows of seats. Above there’s a TV gantry and electric scoreboard central with the club name on the facia in white capital letters.
The main stand at the north side is the Medway Stand opened in 2000. The two tiers are split by a row of 20 executive boxes with two rows of seats outside each box. The stand also housed the changing rooms, media centre, fitness facilities, offices, club shop and the Blue Rock Café nightspot.
The Rainham End terrace was replaced with a single tier cantilevered stand in 1999 and like the other completed stands is decked out in blue seats with white lettering.
The Town End terracing was removed in 2003 and replaced with a temporary seated stand named after the late legendary football commentator Brian Moore who was a former director and Gills supporter. The away end has 3,400 uncovered green seats and depending on the away following only one section of seating is open to spectators.
In the north-east corner is the Conference and Banqueting Centre and the players enter the pitch from here. The ground is completed by a set of four tall corner floodlights which I spotted from the train station and due to a sponsorship deal the ground has been rebranded as the MEMS Priestfield Stadium with a capacity of 11,582
Even though I attended the match as a neutral, I favoured the home side because like a vast majority of football fans on Tyneside, we have a soft spot for the Gills as they were the team that sent SAFC into Division Three in 1987.
As the game progressed my favouritism diminished in desperation to see some goalmouth action from either side, as neither keeper had a save to make in a dire opening 45 minutes. Then when least expected, just on the stroke of half time, the best effort on goal found the back of the net with a spectacular effort from 25 yards from Lewis Montrose.
The U’s dominated after Joe Martin was sent off for a second booking early in the second half with Davis, Potter and Hall all going close for the visitors.
Goal scorer Montrose was shown a late red for a rash challenge on United substitute Asa Hall, then deep into injury time James Constable missed a sitter when clean through on goal, chipping his effort well wide of the post.
The nine-men held on and the result leapfrogged Gillingham above Oxford into fifth spot as the U’s drop down to seventh after their eight-game unbeaten run came to a disappointing end.
The journey from Newcastle to Gillingham is quite a decent trip, once arriving at Kings Cross there’s no clart on with the tube, just a simple stroll around the corner to St. Pancras International to catch the South Eastern connection to Kent. So after departing on the 0630, I arrived in Gillingham bright eyed and bushy tailed by 11.15am.
As Priestfield is a short 10 minute walk from the station I decided to head straight there to take some photos plus I thought while I was on, I may as well enquire about a press pass, because like wor lasses granny use to say “shy bairns get nowt”
On arrival the on duty steward allowed me through the players entrance to the media office where I eventually met a very nice helpful club official called Ray Foord, who on my behalf tried to contact the press officer on his mobile. Unable to make contact he took me up into the players lounge to wait, telling me to help myself to a hot drink and a sit down after my long journey south.
Just then an elderly club official approached me telling me off for wearing jeans as there’s a dress code in the players lounge. He also mentioned that apparently I’ve got him into some kind of trouble, that was until Ray piped up to tell him that I’m not the man he thought I was, seemingly I have a doppelganger in Gillingham!
I decided to decline the offer of a drink and a seat and head into town instead. “Why do you want to do that” said Ray “There’s nothing there!” Of course there were some things in town that I found interesting - Medway Records which is a cracking music store and two GBG listed pubs; Will Adams and the Frog & Toad. When I returned at 2.15pm there was a press pass with my name on it at the desk, so many thanks for your help and hospitality Mr. Foord you’re a genuine gent.

I had planned to meet up with squad#68 Jonathan Elton when I eventually came to tick off Priestfield, as he lives in nearby Chatham, but unfortunately it was badly timed as he’s currently on holiday.

I received an email from squad#153 Mark Chatterton this week saying he would love to meet for a drink to celebrate my 300th ground, but he text me that morning saying he couldn’t make it due to car trouble.

Last week I had my annual bevvy with squad#31 Steve Dobson prior to his beloved Spurs playing at Newcastle, he was in the company of football blogger Richard Bysouth who said he hadn’t been to Gillingham. But guess what? I didn’t meet him either, as he was running late so we didn’t have time for a drink, although luckily I bumped into him at half time and we also had a quick word after the match.

Overall I had a great day, the only downer being engineering works between Peterborough and Doncaster which put an extra 2 hours on the journey home, so it was nearly midnight when I arrived back at 100FgC HQ. Nevertheless that couldn’t spoil my good mood after completing another expedition from The 92 tour, which leaves me with just one left to go and that final destination is a club with a brand new stadium that coincidently once used to play home games at Priestfield.

Matchday stats GFC 1(Montrose 45) OUFC 0
att.5819
Admission:Press (£21-£24)
Programme £3

Flysouth Bysouth(report to follow)

Ground no.300 Priestfield Stadium - Matchday web album (20 pictures)

299. Stark's Park

Raith Rovers 2v0 Partick Thistle

Scottish League First Division

Saturday 15th October 2011

I first clapped eyes on Stark’s Park whilst travelling on the east coast line from Edinburgh to Dundee and since then its been a ground that I’ve been looking forward to visiting, not just for its unique appearance but because it’s the only ground with a rhyming name in senior fitba.


Raith Rovers formed in 1883 in the former royal burgh of Kirkcaldy on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, the largest populated town in Fife. The town takes its name from the Pictish words Caer and Caled which translates as "place of the hard fort" or "place of Caled's fort". Kirkcaldy has long been nicknamed the Lang Toun in reference to the nigh mile long main street, which eventually stretched to four miles when the burgh boundaries were extended to the neighbouring hamlets of Gallatown, Linktown, Pathhead and Sinclairtown in 1876

Raith isn’t actually a settlement but an area of land that once stretched from south of Loch Gelly as far as Kirkcaldy. The Battle of Raith is said to have taking place here, when invading Angles forces defeated an alliance of Scots, Britons and Picts under King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata. There is also a Raith House and Raith Tower which sit on Cormie Hill to the west of the town and several parts of the town are build upon the Raith estate.


Although there were other football clubs in the shape of Kirkcaldy United and Kirkcaldy Wanderers, Rovers were the most successful team in the town, turning professional in 1892 and became the first club in Fife elected to the Scottish League in 1902/03


The club played at two previous grounds until settling at Robbie’s Park, then in 1891 were forced into a move when the land was incorporated into a new public estate called Beveridge Park, named after Provost Michael Beveridge. The team moved a short distance, transported their pavilion along Pratt Street to Stark's Park named after and run by councillor and licensee Robert Stark.
The Archibald Leitch Grandstand was built in 1922 and was partly funded by the sale of Alex James to Preston North End, replacing the original main stand which was destroyed by fire in 1918. The L-shaped structure still stands today, its main feature being the gable roof with the RRFC and club crest an the facia. The stand runs from the corner of the ground to half way which leaves the other half filled with unused terracing. The players emerge from a proper tunnel as the changing rooms are under the stand with the team dugouts pitchside. The stand is furnished with a mixture of old and new, with wooden flip seats and a section of bucket seats. The pavilion remains largely unchanged apart from remedial work and upgraded seating and a new metal roof in 1999.


Major developments were made to Stark’s Park during the 1950s after a record gate of 31,306 against Hearts in February 1953, with new concrete terracing and partial cover behind each goal, which along with the "coo shed" opposite the main stand meant there was cover to all four sides of the ground. Shortly afterwards four large floodlight pylons were added with the cost of the improvements mostly subsidised by the sale of star players like Jackie Stewart to Birmingham City, Jim Baxter to Rangers and Jimmy MacEwan to Aston Villa.


The Railway End shed was replaced with a new roof and seats in 1981 which also ran half pitch length, which was later extended in 1996. It’s now easy to see the two separate stands as there is no seats in the empty stand, which is unused apart from the TV Gantry and a large Rovers supporters flag.


Raith won their first major honour in 1994 after lifting the League Cup(Coca-Cola Cup) by causing a major upset in defeating Celtic 6-5 on penalties after the final finished in a 2-2 draw. This success meant to club qualified for the UEFA Cup and with the extra revenue two new 3,370 all seated stands were built behind each goal by Barr Construction.
The stands are decked out in dark blue with white lettering amongst the seats, with the main feature the floodlights perched in each corner of the stands. The McDermid Stand is set aside for away supporters and the overall capacity stands at 10,104.


During the clubs UEFA Cup campaign they faced eventual winners Bayern Munich at Easter Road due to their own grounds limited capacity with the Germans returning to the San Starko when the all-seated stadium was complete.
The Scottish Division One clash with Partick Thistle got off to a drab start, looking like of a potential nowts each draw which wouldn’t have pleased the three special guests in attendance. Those being myself, Squad#155 James Little and former PM Gordon Brown, who seemed to spend the game sitting in the pavilion checking his phone. (Probably checking on the Heed score as well…Eddy)


Raith took the lead on 31 minutes when a corner kick to the far post was nodded back across goal into the path of Laurence Ellis who tapped the ball home to score on his 300th appearance for the club.
The second half was much better with Rovers doubling their lead on 56 minutes through John Baird, giving plenty of time and space to nod home from six yards. The hosts won comfortably and could have expanded the score line, while Thistle depending on long range efforts, lacking a cutting edge in front of goal.


So it wasn’t exactly a vintage performance from Raith, nothing to get the Rovers fans so excited that they’ll be "dancing in the streets of Raith tonight" (in tribute to Sam Leitch)
After enduring long journeys south so far this season, it was nice to take a short trip north, leaving Newcastle on the 1144 direct train to Edinburgh. On arrival I met up with James the Hearts fan (I refuse to call him a jam tart!) for the rest of the jaunt across the Forth which took about 40 minutes.
On arrival we planned to call for a pint in the Starks Bar, but the boozer is now closed and boarded up. However we spotted three gents walking at a swift pace meaning they must surely be heading to a pub, so we followed them until the big red capital T emerged in the distance, which in these parts is a sign of a pub which sells Tenants Lager. The Estuary pub is on Links Street and had a mixture of Rovers and Thistle fans watching the football on TV.


Afterwards we were back in Edinburgh by 5.30pm which gave me an hour before my train home, so we had time for a pint in the Cask & Barrel(Swannay 'Orkney Best' 3.6%***) before James dropped me at the train station where I still had time for a drink in the Halfway House (Barneys Beer 'Pale Ale'3.8%***).


I was nice to be home early, back in 100FgC HQ by 8.15pm, but unfortunately there always has to be a fly in the ointment! I finished the ‘My Matchday’ report on the train which I was due to publish when I got home until it suddenly disappeared from my laptop and into cyberspace, which meant I had to write this whole article again from scratch. Also to make things worse and rub salt into my wounds, the breadknife was watching that effin X-Factor on TV, which all resulted in a disappointing end to the days events.
However these trivial things couldn’t spoil a great day, which was mainly due to Squad#155 for make the trip possible by picking me up at Waverley and driving across to Fife. My mission of finishing the English 92 is almost complete and I look forward to more trips north of the border in the spring when I’ll start chipping away at the Scottish 42.

Matchday stats
RRFC 2(Ellis 31, Baird 56)PTFC 0
att.1769
Admission £17
Programme £2


Ground no.299 Stark's Park - Matchday webalbum (24 pictures)