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Welcome to Shaun Smith's groundhopping football blog 'The 100 Football Grounds Club'(est.2006) the original internet ground logging website. Please feel free to leave any comments if you wish. Cheers!!! site updated on post date

My Back Pictures - 35 Leeds Road

Huddersfield Town 2v2 Newcastle United
Monday 7th May 1984
Football League Division 2



One of the first grounds to be knocked down and replaced with a swanky new stadium was Huddersfield Town’s Leeds Road in the Kirklees borough of Yorkshire. The old ground was set amongst the picturesque backdrop of Last of The Summer Wine, but on a Bank Holiday Monday in 1984 these tranquil surroundings were invaded by 12,000 Geordies arriving for a promotion party.
This particular era evokes some of my fondest memories supporting the lads away from home. On reflection it’s hard to believe that up to this point, I had been following United for only ten years, but what an eventful decade it had been. 
My first season ended with embarrassment and in floods of tears on 5th May 1974 as a United side not only lost to Liverpool at ‘It’s a Knockout’ on Grandstand but were also humiliated on FA Cup final day, and when I say humiliation I don’t just mean the purple tracksuit tops the players wore as Moncur lead the players out of the Wembley tunnel.
This was following by my first Wembley visit in ’76 (more crying) the departure of my first hero Supermac, the Gordon Lee exit, the players revolt which lead to the appointment of Richard Dinnis, a brief stint in Europe and eventual relegation in 1978.
Bill McGarry had a crack at a quickie return by assembling an experienced side but fell short. The board then turned to Arthur Cox who made a steady but uninspiring start, as the club looked as far away from a return to the big time, as the night they played the last home game in Division One against Norwich City in front of a 7,000 crowd and the sad sight of a demolished Leazers End.
After the most uninspiring season in 1981-82 which is fondly known as “The Bobby Shinton Season” when the spoon nosed striker was the club’s top scorer, netting 7 times out of a grand total of a piddly 30, me and my mate Jimmy decided to purchase season tickets for the following season. 
This wasn’t because of the prospect of an exciting season ahead, with the likes of Trewick, Halliday and Haddock, it was because we went to every home game anyway and there was the added attraction of a bargain early purchase price of £38 in the East Stand benches.
As it turned out this was a master stroke on our part and the best value for money from a week’s giro ever, because in the space of a few weeks United shocked the football world with the signing of England captain Kevin Keegan from Southampton for £100,000, and the rest as they say is history.
United eventually finished fifth in Keegan’s first season, hovering on the outskirts of the promotion places without actually threatening to make the final cut. The team had improved greatly with the signings of McDermott, Clarke, McCreery and the emergence of youngster Chris Waddle, however the team lacked that extra spark, which came the following season as a little lad from Wallsend came half way around the world to play for his hometown club.


As I’ve mentioned this particular period conjures up some great memories. I travelled to away matches with the Newcastle United Supporters Club on the Armstrong Galley coaches. Bookings for away travel were taking at the club shop in the Haymarket, where you purchased your travel tickets and also got your membership book stamped, so you could show off how many away matches you’d attended. The “Sarnie Squad” always used to travel on the same bus together with John Moody (who took these photographs) as our coach steward. 


During that promotion season I travelled to almost every away match, even back in those days I was an avid football ground bagger, making sure I went to the grounds I hadn’t been to that season, as I was positive that we were on our way up and hoping we wouldn’t be returning to these Second Division backwaters again.
The promotion party was expected to take place nine days before the last away game at Huddersfield, when we took over the tiny Abbey Stadium in Cambridge. The required victory was a formality when you consider our hosts were without a solitary win in 31 games. However in typical Newcastle United tradition we blew it, going down to a shock 1-0 defeat, which still ranks as the greatest day in their 35 year Football league history.
The players made up for that disappointing afternoon in the Fens with a dazzling display the following Saturday, thrashing Derby County 4-0 which virtually guaranteed promotion, as we lead fourth place Grimsby Town by six-points with two games remaining, plus we had the advantage of a 15 goal swing in our favour.


And so to make it all official (i.e. when our name is coloured in different from the others in the league table on final score) we just needed a point at Leeds Road. United went into the game without our talisman Keegan for the one and only time that season, but what difference would it make? Keegan was retiring so we had to get used to not having him in the side, plus it was only Huddersfield Town, we’ll piss this especially with a large fanatical backing which would virtually make it like a home game.
Prior to kick off trouble flared in the cow shed paddock, the terrace shared between both home and away supporters. Running battles took place with the police struggling to cope until the aggro died down as just as kick off approached. There were Geordies here, Geordies there, Geordies every *cough* where, as the Toon Army ranks were gathered in different pockets of the ground with a few climbing the floodlight pylons to get the best possible view.


As for the match itself, The Terriers started the game in a positive manner against a United side which looked disjointed and nervous in the first quarter of an hour. In the 22nd minute the Yorkshiremen took the lead, when a free kick from Brian Laws was flicked on by Jones and Cooper was on hand to smash home from six yards.
Four minutes later Town doubled their lead when a long ball from Wilson got caught in the wind and in true comical United style the ball glanced off the back of Steve Carney’s head over the hapless Kevin Carr. The script wasn’t going according to plan and as the ball hit the net a thought crossed my mind which was echoed by a fellow Toon fan standing next to me on the terrace; "We're shite without Keegan, we're a one man team"
Any negative doubts I had were soon diminished by half time by Keegan’s “Heir Apparent” Peter Beardsley who produced two pieces of magic in a frantic five minute spell just before half time. Wearing the United legend’s coveted number 7 shirt in his absence, he halved the deficit on 41 minutes. A cross by McDermott found David Mills just inside the area, who laying the ball into the path of Pedro who unleashed a vicious 20 yard drive which rifled into the roof of the net for his 19th goal of the season.
Two minutes later John Anderson had a goal disallowed for offside, and then on the stroke of half time United were level. Beardsley returned the earlier favour by flicking the ball into the penalty area for Mills to score his fifth goal in only ten full appearances during this campaign.
United failed to capitalise on their supremacy in the second half as Beardsley continued to torment the Terriers defence, but it didn’t matter, we had done enough and it was now official - Newcastle United were back in the First Division after a six year absence.


The final whistle was greeted with a mass invasion of the Leeds Road pitch from the Geordie hordes, as Arthur Cox and the players were chaired off the pitch by the supporters. We stayed behind as the players finally remerged to do a lap of honour with Kenny Wharton holding the “Pride of Blakelaw” banner which had first made its appearance at St James Park 48 hours earlier.


A fabulous finish to one of my favourite seasons, this matchday being one of many highlights which including great away wins at Leeds, Man City, Charlton and the best of the lot being the 4-1 win at Portsmouth. These matches were all attended on the Armstrong Galley buses with the Supporters Club, an organisation which is still sadly missed, nevertheless the spirit of the “Sarnie Squad” will always live on. 

This updated version titled 'The Sarnie Squad' from the post originally written in September 2006 was published for Issue 8 of Toon Talk Magazine.

Editor Steve Wraith describes the magazine as;
The young upstart of Newcastle United fanzines. Its the new kid on the estate who spray paints his tag on your corner shop wall...the new boy next door who sits on your wall and hockles on your driveway...the new lad who drinks your special brew and snogs your lass.


More details on Toon Talk and where to purchase the magazine can be found on the website;
http://fansonline.net/newcastleunited/index.php

My Matchday - 311 Cressing Road

Braintree Town 3v1 Gateshead 
Blue Sq.Bet Premier
Saturday 10th March 2012

After a couple of weeks travelling north and catching two games in one day there was only one destination this week, as the only way was Essex to watch my beloved Gateshead in action at Braintree Town.

The town was first recorded in the 1085 Domesday Book as Brantry and Branchetreu, when originally consisted of 30 acres of land owned by Richard, the son of Count Gilbert. From the 17th century the town prospered as Flemish immigrants made the town famous for its wool trade, until the vocation died out in the early 19th century. Braintree then became a centre for silk manufacturing and by the mid-19th century thrived in agricultural and textile, benefitting by the rail connection to London.
Braintree is 40 miles from London in the north of the county and has contiguous grown with several surrounding settlements. The town is referred to as Braintree and Broking, with the main part of Braintree to the south of Stane Street and Broking to the north.

Manor Works FC formed out of the Crittall Window Company works team in 1898, giving the nickname of “The Iron” The new club replaced the defunct Braintree F.C side in the North Essex League, going on to win the title on three occasions in 1905–06, 1910–11 and 1911–12.

The club were renamed Crittall Athletic in 1921, progressing to the Spartan League in 1928 and founder members of the Eastern Counties League in 1935. They won the league in its second season, but left to join the new Essex County League which folded after a single season and so they made a quick return to the ECL.

After the Second World War they played in the Eastern Division London League. They rejected the chance the return to the ECL in 1947 until eventually returning in 1952, the same year as a record attendance of over 4,000 for a testimonial against Tottenham Hotspur. They turned professional two years later but financial problems forced a U-turn, dropping down into the Border League at the end of the 1954–55 season.

The sixties was an eventful decade winning a league and cup double, before twice switching divisions to the Greater London League in 1964, and then to the Metropolitan League in 1966. They were renamed Braintree & Crittall Athletic in 1968 and at the turn of the 1970s they again returned to the Eastern Counties.

The club became Braintree FC in 1981 and two years later added the Town suffix. They won back-to-back ECL titles from 1984 before stepped up to the Southern League in 1991. Due to Geographical reasons they switched the Isthmian League in 1996 and over the next ten years progressed through the three divisions to reach the Conference South in 2006. After twice losing out in the play-offs they won the title last season to earn a place in the top division of the Non-League pyramid.

The Manor Works originally played at the Fair Field, before a move to Spaldings Meadow in 1903. The club moved to Cressing Road in 1923, built by the Window Company to provide recreation facilities for its workforce with a 400 seated covered stand and three sides of banking. In 1926 a new clubhouse and changing rooms were built, then in the 1930s a second stand was built opposite the original structure known as No.2 Stand. After the War the second stand was cut in half and attached onto each side of No.1 stand, meaning the Cressing Road end was fully covered but the opposite side was desolate.

In 1967 floodlights were installed before the ground fell into decline, with one side of the attached stand demolished due to a state of disrepair, then the other side was destroyed in a severe gale in 1974. The rest of the stand was taken down in 1975 and a lack of funds saw the ground closed for two years.
The ground began to take shape again from 1990 with a new seated stand, followed by an enclosure supplied from Bedworth’s ground. New terracing was laid and cover was added at the Quag End. Cressing Road has seen numerous changes in almost 80 years of existence and improvements and changes have continued this season with just a few finishing touches left to complete its reconstruction.
The ground is quite homely decked out in blue with orange crash barriers and trimmings. The Main Stand contains 553 blue seats and stands centrally, running half pitch length with terracing at each side and six supporting pillars. The TV gantry is positioned on top of the roof. Opposite is the Cressing Road Terrace which is two thirds covered and has a 1300 capacity with the team dugouts at the front.

The changing rooms, Iron Bar clubhouse and club shop are behind the nearside goal. The terrace has recently seen improvements with a new section recently added and can accommodate approximately 800 fans. Behind the far goal is the open Quag End terrace which also been restored with improvements almost complete. The ground has a set of eight floodlight pylons, four at each side and for sponsorship purposes is known as the Amlin Stadium with an overall capacity of 4,151.

This was the fourth meeting between Braintree Town and Gateshead this season, the previous three games have finished all square but a win result was never in doubt this time as The Iron outmuscled, out battled and outplayed a team which again looked out of sorts and disjointed, producing another poor performance.

The host took a two goal lead with two goals in the opening six minutes. Britt Assombalonga struck first in the 5th minute, giving time and space to curl a right foot shot from the edge of the box, then a minute later a similar goal, this time the defence stood off Ben Wright, allowing him to fire a low hard shot past Farman.

Gateshead had plenty of possession but posed little threat and the second half began in a similar ilk to the first as Assombalonga added his second on 55 minutes. The big striker got on the end of a through ball, left totally unmarked, the slack defending gave him plenty of time to tee up his shot and volley home to make it 3-0.

Braintree looked dangerous with every venture forward while the Heed didn’t muster a single shot on target until the 90th minute, when a corner kick was cleared out to Jamie Chandler who chested and volleyed the ball high into the net from 25 yards. It was a shame that such a wonderful goal was nothing but a token consolation.
Overall a good home performance from The Iron while Gateshead’s chances of reaching the play-offs become more remote as the weeks and fixtures go by.

No public transport required for yours truly this week, with much appreciation to Andrew Gelder (aka “Adolf Travel”) for the door-to-door lift to Essex, with the other car spaces taking up by young Mark Thompson and Squad#185 Simon Grobari. After a false start we finally hit the A1 at 9.25am arriving in the home town of Louis Spence and The Prodigy just after 1.30pm
According to the gateman at the ground it was a half an hour walk to the town centre, which put everyone off following me to Wetherspoons. The stroll only took just over ten minutes (That’s at Postman’s pace…Eddy) giving me plenty of time to enjoy a couple of local ales from the Brentwood Brewery in The Picture Palace. This particular branch of ‘Spoons is very impressive, in its previous life the building was the Embassy Cinema and maintains its original features, with the old cinema screen still in use to beam live football.
I had a quick look around the town and the market place, avoiding the temptation to buy a cheap electric guitar before heading back to Cressing Road for the game.
The Heed backing was giving a boost with a few Toon fans making use of their pre-booked train tickets for the Arsenal match, which has been moved to Monday night for live broadcast. I also seen a few faces I hadn’t seen for a while, as well as Squad#194 Keith Arthur who had travelled down from York.
This was one of those days when a good day out was spoilt by 90 minutes of football, but at least I’m pleased to tick off another ground amongst the top 116 clubs. However trips away aren’t just about the football, as some of the Geordies in the crowd only visited Essex for one reason, with claims on the terraces and chants of “We only come for the vajazzle”

Matchday stats
BTFC 3(Assombalonga 5,55 Wright 6) GFC 1(Chandler 90)
att.651
Admission £15
Programme £2

Ground no.311 Cressing Road - Matchday Web album (28 pictures)

My Matchday - 309 Pittodrie Stadium

Aberdeen 1v1 Celtic
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 3rd March 2012

For a second successive Saturday, Aberdeen were giving the noon TV slot, this week entertaining champions elect Celtic at Pittodrie. Last week I saw the Dons in action at St Mirren as part of a Scottish groundhopping double and again I was back in northern Britain to take advantage of another early kick-off to bag another two new grounds.

Aberdeen is the third most populous city in Scotland, situated between the rivers Dee and Don on the North Sea coast line. Aberdeen is traditionally home to fishing, textile mills, shipbuilding and paper making. The city is nicknamed the “Granite City” in relation to the grey granite which was quarried at Rubislaw for over 300 years until production ceased in 1971. The stone was used for paving setts, kerb and building stones, and also monumental and ornamental pieces, seen at the likes of the terraces at the Houses of Parliament and at Waterloo Bridge in London. Aberdeen is also known as the Silver City with Golden Sands and also the Oil Capital of Europe since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s.

Pittodrie was opened in 1899, the original tenants being the first Aberdeen club, which amalgamated with Victoria United and Orion to form Aberdeen FC on the 18th April 1903. The land, situated only 500 metres from the North Sea, was leased from Mr Knight Erskine of Pittodrie(a village 20 miles north-west of Aberdeen) although the origin of the name may well stem from the Celtic interpretation meaning ‘ a place of manure’ as the ground was built upon a former dung mound for police horses.

The first game at Pittodrie Park took place on the 2nd September 1899, when the original club hammered Dumbarton 7-1, with the integrated club drawing 1-1 with Stenhousemuir on 15th August 1903 in front of 8000 spectators. The ground also held a Scottish international in its early days, with a match against Wales in February 1900.

Pittodrie came to prominence once the club purchased the ground outright in December 1920. The Main Stand including club offices, dressing rooms and trophy room was built in 1925 and the land opposite on Pittodrie Street was purchased in 1928.The ground became a football pioneer in this decade with the first ever dugouts introduced by club coach Donald Coleman, built to study the players footwork from a lower level to the pitch.

During the 1950’s a record attendance of 45,061 was set in March ‘54 for a Scottish Cup tie against Hearts, cover was added at the Beach End and then in October 1959 Luton Town provided the opposition in a friendly match as floodlights were switched on for the first time.


The Main Stand became all seated prior to the 1968-69 season with seats installed in the paddock as part of £100,000 worth of ground improvements, which coincided with the renaming from a Park to a Stadium. In February 1971 part of the Main Stand was destroyed by fire which also gutted the dressing rooms and club offices, this mini-disaster was the catalyst for the eventual conversion to an all-seated stadium. The restoration work on the stand cost £140,000, and then as a cost cutting exercise, expensive crash barriers with replaced with bench seats, so by 1973 both the Merkland Road End and Beach End became seated stands. The final stand to be transformed was the uncovered South Side making Pittodrie Britain’s first all seated stadium in 1978.

The Main stand still looks in good shape for a structure which is approaching its 90^th birthday. The stand has a number of supporting pillars which has restricted views amongst the 3,655 red seats. You’ll notice where the roof was extended after the fire, now covering the former paddock. At the rear of the stand are 24 executive boxes installed in 1985 and at the front are the historic dugouts at each side of the tunnel.

The south side became the South Stand in 1980, following the construction of a cantilever roof covering the majority of the stand, with the benches replaced by individual seats the following year. The stand has 8,400 seats with the east part of the stand housing the away fans and just over half the stand put by for matches with the Old Firm. The television gantry is suspended centrally and the stand is filled with both red and amber seats.
Named after the club’s former player, manager and long serving chairman, the £4.5m Richard Donald Stand is the stadium’s most recent development replacing the Beach End stand in 1992-93. The two tier structure towers over the rest of the ground, almost twice the size of its three mates with 6,064 red seats split by a row of 12 executive boxes, which brings the overall ground capacity to 22,199.

Behind the west goal is the Merkland Stand which is now the club’s family stand and also has a section for disabled supporters near the pitch. The stand entrance façade constructed from local granite stone has stood since 1928 when the club bought the land on Pittodrie Street.  The stand has 3,545 red flip seats and a new low roof was built in 1985. In between this stand and the South Stand is the only section of uncovered seating in the corner.

My day started early on the 0630 from Newcastle to Edinburgh, from where I caught the 0828 Scotrail service to Aberdeen, where on-board  I met squad#173 Andy Hudson for the first time, who introduced himself to me via a tweet!  We arrived in the Granite City just before 11am and marched straight to the nearest ‘Spoons for a swift pint before jumping a taxi to the stadium. Our approach to the ground was accompanied by rowdy Celtic fans, who also provided a good atmosphere within the stadium.

The match itself took a while to get going, what the game desired was Aberdeen to take lead to give the match more of an edge, but it was Celtic who broke the deadlock on 28 minutes. A Kris Commons through ball was played into Anthony Stokes who showed good control to round the keeper before slotting home from a tight angle.
Celtic looked set to boss the game and extend their lead, but just before the interval the Dons equalised. Scott Vernon’s pass found Rae whose effort took a wicked deflection off Andre Blackman to give Foster no chance.

Aberdeen played much better in the second period and had chances to win it, going close with a Rory Fallon effort, before Vernon headed narrowly wide and a golden opportunity was wasted by Mitchel Megginson. The Dons battled well in the closing stages as Celtic pushed for a winner, but on the whole the draw was a fair result. The hosts can be satisfied with ending Celtic’s 17 game winning streak and both clubs remain unbeaten in 2012.

Andy made a sharp exit from the press box to catch the train to Arbroath, missing the closing stages but thankfully no winning goal. Gayfield was also part of my original plan for the double, until a text message on Friday night meant a plan B was required. So for my second new ground of the day I left Pittodrie and took a leisurely stroll up Ardarroch Road to Aberdeen Sports Village, arriving with time to spare for a 2pm kick off at Lewis United.

Matchday stats
AFC 1(Blackman 44OG) CFC 1(Stokes 28)
att.13,127
Admission:Press (normally £20)
Programme £3


Ground no.309 Pittodrie Stadium - Matchday Web album (18 pictures)

My Matchday - 310 Aberdeen Sports Village

Lewis United 4v6 Banchory St. Ternan
SJFA North Superleague
Saturday 3rd March 2012

After the match at Aberdeen my original plan was for myself and Squad#173 Andy Hudson to travel down to Arbroath with Squad#68 Jonathan Elton who was hiring a car from Edinburgh Airport. Unfortunately Jonathan was stuck in the America, his flight to London was cancelled meaning he was unable to catch his planned flight to Scotland the following day.

On receiving the news I scanned the internet looking for Scottish Junior fixtures with hopefully a 2pm kick off. It didn’t take me long to find a game, as Aberdeen based Lewis United were at home in the North Region Superleague. I looked on Google Maps to find the distance between the two grounds and you can imagine my upmost delight on finding that it’s 0.3miles and a 6 minute walk, basically just around the corner.

The Chris Anderson Stadium (formerly the Linksfield Stadium) is part of the Aberdeen Sports Village. The complex includes an indoor football pitch and athletics area, hockey pitch, squash courts and also includes a seminar and office centre. The stadium was rebuild between 2007 and 2009 and during this period Lewis United played all their games away for one season before ground sharing with neighbours East End F.C.

From 2009 Lewis United agreed a ten year lease to use the main outdoor pitch which is surrounded by an 8 lane running track. There’s a neat looking 500 seated stand which backs onto the main building at the village, which is fitted with silver plastic flip seats and a flat Perspex aided roof. The stand is the only spectator point in the ground, there’s also standing room on the balcony which leads out to the exit. Refreshments are found in the Village Centre, with a café area in reception and there are also hot drinks machines.

Over the far side next to the hockey pitch is New Advocates Park, the home of East End, where you can see the action in one half of the pitch. If I was the kind of groundhopper who briefly visits grounds and still counts them, then I could have done a treble today, watching the first half at Lewis and the second at East End. The Richard Donald Stand at Pittodrie can also be clearly seen, in fact if both clubs were at home at the same time you would probably viddy both games from the stand’s top tier.

Lewis United formed as a Juvenile side out of John Lewis & Sons shipbuilders in Aberdeen in 1942, becoming a Junior outfit in 1947 and nicknamed “The Hoops” because of their Celtic style green and white shirts. The club are very much a cup winning team gaining many honours between the 1950s and 1970s in most notably the Archibald Cup, McLeman Cup, North East League Cup and lifting the Duthie Cup seven times.
The Hoops won the North East Division One League title in 1996-97 and the Morrison Trophy three times, the last of which came in 2002-03. Despite being homeless at the time, promotion was achieved to the Northern Region Superleague in 2008.

The (deep breathe) North Region Junior FA PMAC Group Superleague clash with Banchory St Ternon produced ten goals and amongst them one of the best strikes I’ve seen this season. Instead of a proper full detailed match report, which would take up at least 1000 words I’ll just make do with a summary of proceedings.

The Hoops took the lead on nine minutes through centre-forward Law, before the visitors got a foothold on the game and eventually equalising on 33 minutes. A corner kick was cleared out of the danger zone and picked up by right back Burke who unleashed a raker of a shot from at least 35 yards which flew into the top corner of the net. An absolutely stunning goal, it’s a pity that a crowd of only 24 and the players and managers were the only fortunate ones to witness such a strike.

McRae headed the visitors into a half time lead, then two goals early in the second half by Watt and Carroll put Banchory 4-1 ahead, but Lewis wouldn’t lie down, hitting back through Bescott and McCormack to make it 3-4 with only an hour played. But any hope of snatching a draw were diminished as the Saints added a further two goals to their tally and a consolation from United resulted in a final score of four goals to six.

Instead of watching this ten goal thriller I could have still have made it to Arbroath, but this meant leaving Pittodrie early and rushing to catch the 1404 train. Then once arriving in Arbroath I would have missed the kick off and also the end of the match, having to leave early to head south. However I’m not too bothered as there’ll be other opportunities to visit Gayfield, plus I would have missed out on an entertaining encounter and going to a ground that I otherwise wouldn’t have thought of visiting. So yet again, I have to announce that I enjoyed another cracking day out whilst travelling north and the furthest point that I’ve hit the north so far.

Matchday stats LUFC 4 BSTFC 6 (full scorers and goal times to be confirmed) att.24(HC) admission & programme:none

Ground no.310 Aberdeen Sports Village - Matchday Web album (14 pictures)

My Matchday - 307 St Mirren Park

St Mirren 1v1 Aberdeen

Scottish Premier League

Saturday 25th February 2012

It’s four years since I made my last visit to Paisley to tick off Love Street, a year before retail giants Tesco got their greedy hands on St Mirren’s home for the previous 115 years. The noon kick off meant the possibility of bagged two grounds, so I set off on the 0738 to Glasgow Central for the first train journey out of a series of six in pursuit of a Scottish double.
As I’ve already featured St Mirren on 100FgC, any Googlewallers that have arrived at this page looking for information on the Saints, their ground history and the town of Paisley should check out my previous post - My Matchday – 157 Love Street.

I have a bit of a soft spot for St Mirren, the principal logic being that I have an affinity for clubs that wear vertical black and white stripes, well apart from Juventus of course, and Grimsby as well, and come to think of it I’m not too chewed on Notts County either, but apart from them I always cheer on the black ‘n’ whites.

St Mirren completed their move from one St Mirren Park to another in January 2009, or to use their more common names - from Love Street to Greenhill Road. The new stadium was officially opened by club chairman Stewart Gilmour and First Minister Alex Salmond, prior to the first match against Kilmarnock. The game finished 1-1, with the stadium’s first goal scored by Kilmarnock striker and former mackem lummox Kevin Kyle ,with Dennis Wyness grabbing the first goal for the Buddies.
St Mirren Park was built on a former housing estate site in Ferguslie Park by Barr Construction at a cost of around £8m. The ground is pretty basic affair containing four separate stands with an overall capacity of 8,023.

There are single tiered stands on three sides, similar in size with large windshields at each side. The North and South Stands have a capacity of 1,600, decked out in black with two horizontal white bands of seats.
The 2,200 Main Stand is taller than the others due to the large panel wall which rises up to the roof. This area contains office space, hospitality, press room as well as having the team dugouts at the front.
Opposite is the 2,216 capacity East Stand, which is similar to the stands behind the goals except it has SMFC in white seats in front of the TV gantry.
Outside of the stadium there’s plenty of car park space around three sides and next to the main reception is the club shop with a supporter’s wall of fame. There are also outdoor 5-a-side pitches behind the North Stand.

I arrived at Paisley St James just before 11am, then after doing a lap of the interior of the ground I picked up my press pass and got prepared for the noon SPL clash with Aberdeen.

I don’t know if it was the early kick off or maybe the cold breeze and rain showers but the match produced an uneventful first half. Aberdeen were the better side with Icelandic playmaker Kari Arnason going close with a header and shooting just wide from the edge of the box.
I welcomed the half time interval as I was pleased to get out of the wind tunnel stand and get stuck into the hot drinks, scotch pies and biscuits in the press room. The lads covering the game for ESPN struggled to find anything to discuss, focusing on the disallowed goal in injury time from Ryan Jack who was marginally offside, the linesman getting the decision spot on.

The game sprang into life with two goals in the space of a few minutes just before the hour mark. Danger man Nigel Hasselbaink (before you ask it’s Jimmy’s nephew…Eddy) got on the end of a Steven Thompson flick to race into the box and place his shot inside the far post. However the Dons reply was instant, a long ball from Mawene found Megginson in the box who calmly laid the ball into the path of Vernon, who rifled the ball high into the net.

The match improved as both sides looked for a winner and it was the visitors who went closest with substitute Pawlett going close and then Teale had a last minute strike which Brown dealt with comfortably.
After the match I legged it across the road to catch the Gourock train, the 30 minute journey gave me time to defrost before alighting at Cartsdyke for the second leg of today’s double at Greenock Morton.

SMFC 1(Hasselbaink) AFC 1(Vernon 59)att.3,627     Admission:Press (£20) Programme £2.50

Ground no.307 St Mirren Park - Matchday Web album (23 pictures)

My Matchday - 308 Cappielow Park

Greenock Morton 1v2 Hamilton Academicals
Scottish League First Division
Saturday 25th February 2012

As part of my Scottish double, I left behind a typical modern identikit stadium at St Mirren and headed to Cappielow Park, a classic old fashioned football ground and the home of Greenock Morton.

Established in 1874, Morton Football Club became founder members of the old Scottish Second Division in 1893. The reason behind the innovative name remains uncertain, although it’s believed the name derives from a row of houses named 'Morton Terrace' next to the original pitch where some of the players lived. The town’s name was finally added 120 years later, becoming Greenock Morton FC in 1994.

Greenock is a town in Inverclyde and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire. The town lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the "Tail of the Bank" where the River Clyde expands into the Firth of Clyde and forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.

Historically the town was established through shipbuilding, the first harbour was built in 1710 with the Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. commenced work the following year. Sugar refining and wool manufacturing has also been major sources of employment, although none of these industries are today part of Greenock's economy.

Cappielow Park has been home to Morton F.C. since 1879 and in its early years hosted public lectures, athletics, cycling and the novelty of women’s football (it’ll never catch on…Eddy) as well as hosting a Scotland v Wales clash in the 1902 Home International Championship.

The record attendance of 23,500 was set in 1922 for a league-decider against Celtic, which kicked off both on and off the pitch, as the match ended in a riot causing damage to the ground and surrounding area.

The existing main stand was built in 1931, initially installed with bench seats until the late 1990s, when replaced with blue flip seats with GMFC picked out in amber. The stand has a blue roof and frame with three distinctive floodlights perched on the roof which were first used for a league match against Third Lanark in 1958. The stand is quite picturesque and is nicely completed with the club name and crest above the player’s tunnel.

Opposite at the north end is the Cowshed which once fully terraced until bucket seats were added at the front section instead of the traditional reverse style, probably because of the thick supporting pillars. The stand also has a set of three floodlights akin to those opposite and is three-quarters covered with open terracing at each side.

Behind the eastern goal is the open Sinclair Street Terrace and opposite is the Wee Dublin end, named after the Irish immigrant population of Greenock, that once lived behind the west side of Cappielow Park. Bench seats were bolted onto the terrace in 1978 after the club won promotion to the SPL, which takes the number of seats up to 5,741 in an overall capacity of 11,100. The stand is currently not used but that may change if plans go ahead to cover the seats with the Kerr Reid Stand from local rivals St Mirren’s old Love Street ground.

I arrived at Cartsdyke rail station at 2.20pm. The ground is only a five minute stroll away so I had time to have a good look around before heading onto the terraces early, to take my photographs before the Scottish Division One match with Hamilton Accademicals.

The home side had a nightmare first half; lucky to be only two goals behind at the break as the Accies constantly tore through the home defence like a spoon through jelly. After a spell of early pressure the opening goal arrived in the 10th minute, a cross from the left fell to McShane to fire the ball home from just inside the box.

The visitors were wearing a replica Brazil strip as their away kit and the second goal had a touch of the Brazilians about it, as Andy Ryan unleashed a 35 yard daisy cutter of a shot which totally caught Stewart by surprise, as the keeper’s desperate dive was made just as the ball hit the back of the net.

Morton improved in the second half but never seriously troubled the Hamilton defence, until grabbing a late consolation goal through David O‘Brien on 85 minutes, latching on to a flicked header to run through on goal before poking the ball under the ‘keepers body.

The home fans were naturally unhappy with their teams display and booed their side off at the end of each half and I don’t blame them, they made Hamilton look like world beaters in the first 45, it actually was just like watching Brazil.

After the game I headed straight back to Glasgow, having an hour to kill before catching train number 5 in a series of 6. I spent the time look around music stores, naturally going to ‘Spoons for a drink and calling to a takeaway for a fish supper(that’s fish & chips to you Sassenachs)

I caught the 1840 Virgin train to Carlisle, hoping it would reach my destination early as it was due to arrive at 1946 and there’s a Newcastle train at 1941, with the next one not until 2120. I was hoping one train would arrive early and one would depart late, however they were both late, I arrived in Carlisle at 1948 but the Toon train was still at the platform running 9 minutes late so luckily I caught it with seconds to spare, meaning I was back home at Gallowgate View earlier than expected.

I had an excellent day when everything ran like clockwork, the six different train journeys knitted nicely together which made the whole day more enjoyable and hassle free. The only spoiler was the typical west of Scotland weather; damp, breezy and very cold, but I’ll not be making that mistake again as I’ll be fitted up in thermals and scarf when I head further north for another Scottish one-two next week.



GMFC 1(O'Brien 85)HAFC 2(McShane 11 Ryan 30) att.1,594 Admission:£15 Programme £2.00

Ground no.308 Cappielow Park - Matchday Web album (23 pictures)

My Matchday - 306 Fenland Stadium

Wisbech Town 2v2 Dunston UTS (a.e.t.)

FA Vase 4th Round

Saturday 21st January 2012

Away trips with Dunston in the FA Vase are amongst the highlights of my season, and I once again I enjoyed a good day out with the Fed Lads for the 4th Round clash at Wisbech Town.

We departed the UTS Stadium at 9am and after two (one would have been sufficient) stops we arrived in the Cambridgeshire town at 1.30pm. There was much debate over what today’s destination was actually called. I’ve always thought the town was pronounces as Wiz-beck, however my travel companion Lee Robbo declared it’s Wiz-beach, which was later confirmed by the locals. However if it is Wiz-beach then where is the A and where’s the Sea? (Did you C what I did there?)


Wisbech is a market town and inland port on the River Nene in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The town’s main feature is Wisbech Castle built in 1071 by William I, which in the late 16th century became a notorious prison. Amongst those inmates were political Catholic priests and bishops, many of which died due to the jails unhygienic conditions. The Norman castle was destroyed in a devastating flood in 1236 and has been rebuilt several times throughout the centuries.

On arrival the club stewards pointed us in the direction of the nearest boozer. The ‘Black Bear’ was just a short walk away, so we also had time for pint in ‘The Locomotive’(Should be renamed “The Filthy Looks Saloon”…Eddy) before heading back to the clubhouse. As I waited to get served at the bar, I overheard one of the home supporters making an disparaging remark about people who live in the top end of the country, which quite frankly annoyed me. After travelling for over 4 hours and 200 miles this isn’t the kind of welcome I’m used to, and that I would expect at a respectable non-league club. I made the culprit aware that I was unhappy about the incident then disregarded it - determined to see a Dunston win which would wipe the smile of his smug face.



Wisbech Town formed in 1920 after the merger of three local clubs, originally joining the Peterborough & District League which they won on five occasions during the 1920’s and early ‘30s. The club formed a Limited Company and turned semi-professional in 1935, progressing to the United Counties League, becoming champions three times after the Second World War. In 1950 The Fenmen switched to the Eastern Counties League before joining the Midland League two years later.


In 1957-58 they reached the second round of the FA Cup, beating Colchester United 1-0 in the first Round, coupled with achieving promotion to the Southern League after finishing league runners-up. The club played within the Southern League set up for twelve seasons until returning to the Eastern Counties League in 1970.
Wisbech finished runners-up and won the League Cup in their first season back in the ECL and won the double the following season and lifted the league title again in 1976-77 and 1990-91.


In 1995-96 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1966 and also finished second in the league winning promotion to the Midland Division of the Southern League. The club continued to produce good performances in the FA Cup reaching the first round again in 1996-97 and the following season they reached Round Two, losing 2-0 at home to Bristol Rovers.
Town had a second spell in the Southern League for five seasons until returning to the Eastern Counties League in 2002.

Fenland Stadium is a relatively new ground, opened in August 2010. The club previously played on several different grounds until moving from Harecroft Road in 1947 to Fenland Park, a former orchard in Walsoken. The record attendance at their former home was 8,044 against local rivals Peterborough United in August 1957.



Wisbech played there final game at Fenland Park in September 2008 and secured a temporary move to Outwell Swift's Nest ground after installing a seated stand, floodlights and terracing.
Construction began on the new 9-acre site ground in January 2010, with the first match on August 14th for an FA Cup extra-preliminary round tie against St Andrews which The Fenmen won 5-0.
The 118-seater stand which relocated from its brief home at Outwell is a basic structure filled with red seats. The stand is situated at the far side and is flanked by open hard standing. Behind each goal are fully covered single step terraces, named the Spicer McColl Stand and the Fenland Fire Stand.
Next to the turnstile entrance is the main building block which provides a large clubhouse, changing rooms and refreshment bar. The near side also provides more terrace space and the team dugouts. There’s also a club shop in one corner(£4.50 for a pin badge!) and the ground is finished off by a set of thin six lamped corner floodlights.

The Fenmen’s best performances in the FA Vase came in the mid-80s reaching the semi-final stage two years running. In 1984-85 they lost to Halesowen Town in a semi-final replay after a draw over the original two legs, and then the following year they again missed out on Wembley losing out to Southall. If The Fenmen are to progress towards the later stages in this year s competition they’ll have do it the hard way after this 4th round tie finished all square after 120 minutes.



Wisbech deservingly lead at the break after a disappointing first half performance from the visitors. The goal arriving on 25 minutes when a low cross from the right was sliced home by Nick Davey finding the roof of the net.
The Geordies produced a more positive performance in the second half, as they turned the match around courtesy of two scrappy goals. A free kick from 25 yards was crossed to the far post where Young nodded back across goal, where Bulford was on hand to get a faint touch that wrong footed the ‘keeper. Then on 76 minutes a free kick from the left from McAndrew, missed everyone and found the far corner of the net, although initially I though Swailes got his head on the cross.
Dunston looked set for a place in the fifth round but on 81 minutes it was all square, Matt Lunn picked up the ball on the right and darted into the box, then from a tight angle his cross shot found the top corner, if he did mean to shoot (I couldn’t tell from behind the opposite goal) it was a great goal to take the match into extra time.


The hosts almost took the lead after the restart hitting the foot of the post, but extra time was dominated by a monsoon which swept across the pitch which limited any clear cut chances and a crucial winner for either side. On 110 minutes a game which was littered with yellow cards produced a second booking for Michael Dixon, but Dunston’s ten men comfortably held on, which means The Fenmen will have to do the reverse journey to Tyneside next Saturday.

Unfortunately I’ll not be in attendance next week, but I can guarantee that followers of Wisbech Town can look forward to an enjoyable and hospitable afternoon at the UTS Stadium, because that’s just the way we are, as we understand how to treat visitors to our part of the world.

Squad #10 Tim Rigby attends the last match at Fenland Park. – Tims 92 Tims 92

Matchday stats
WTFC 2(Davey 24 Lunn 81) DUTSFC 2(Bulford 50, McAndrew 76)
att.548
Admission £7(but I paid a fiver)
Programme £1

Ground no.306 Fenland Stadium - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)

My Matchday - 305 Flaxley Road Ground

Selby Town 0v2 Staveley Miners Welfare

Northern Counties East League Premier Division

Saturday 14th January 2012

On this very day in 1988 as a bright eyed and bushy tailed shy young lad, I made my seventh attempt at permanent employment, crossing the office threshold for the very first time. I marked this 24 year anniversary and the fact my working career has stagnated with a day on the lash in one of my favourite drinking cities – York, incorporating of course another new ground visit at nearby Selby Town.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, situated 12 miles south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse. Historically the river was part of the town’s large shipbuilding industry and a thriving port due to the Selby Canal, which brought trade from the city of Leeds.

The main feature of the town is Selby Abbey, founded by Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and one of few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period. Its main feature is the 14th century Washington Window which shows the heraldic arms of the ancestors of America’s first president George Washington.

Selby Town formed in 1919 and the following year entered the Yorkshire Football League as founder members. The club were ever present throughout the history of the Yorkshire League before it became part of the Northern Counties East League in 1982. During the league’s 62 year history ‘The Robins’ were champions on five occasions, three times in the 1930s and successive seasons between 1952 and ’54.

They also progressed in the FA Cup during this decade, reaching the 1st Round in 1953-54 when a club record crowd of 7,000 witnessed the clash with Bradford Park Avenue, and the following season were knocked out at the Second Round stage by Hastings United, the longest cup run in their history.
Selby won their first honour in the Northern Counties East League in 1995-96, lifting the Division One title and have remained in the league’s Premier Division since,with there best performance as runners-up in 2004-05.

The Robins originally played at the James Street Recreation Ground, known as The Bowling Green, which had also been home to both Selby Mizpah and Selby FC at the turn of the century. The club moved across town to the Flaxley Road Ground in 1951, opening in August with a local derby clash with Goole Town in front of a crowd of over 4,000.

The ground is open terracing on three sides with a covered seated stand behind the north goal. The stand has the club name in large red letters on the white back wall and has three rows of wooden block seats with a cordoned off section of 16 seats set aside for club officials and guests.
There is a small covered stand added directly behind the opposite goal, with the team dugouts and changing rooms at the far side. Next to the turnstile entrance is the clubhouse which was opened in the late ‘60s and is quite spacious with a selection of hot food and drinks.
There's a set of tall floodlights on each side which were installed in 1994 and as part of a three-year sponsorship deal, Flaxley Road was renamed the Rigid Group Stadium from August 2010. There’s plans afoot to move to a brand new Conference-standard stadium on East Common Lane next to Selby College.

The Robins stretched their current run of successive defeats to eight games and remain rooted at the bottom of the NCEL Premier Division, as a goal either side of half time secured a comfortable win for Staveley who strengthened their position at the top end of the table.
The visitors were awarded a penalty five minutes before the break when keeper Barford brought down Barraclough with Ryan Damms making no mistake with the spot-kick. The points were assured on 54 minutes, when a nice exchange of passing was finished off with a neat chip over the keeper from Simon Barraclough, to move The Welfare into second spot in the promotion race.

To break up my journey to Selby I enjoyed a canny pub crawl in York, a city where your spoilt for choice as far as a decent pint is concerned. I started off with breakfast and a pint in the Punch Bowl, then called into Brigantes, Last Drop Inn, Three-Legged Mare and the cities oldest pub Ye Olde Starre Inne.

I arrived in Selby at 2.10 and the Flaxley Road Ground is a 10 minute walk to the station, so I headed straight to the clubhouse for a pint and a read of the match day programme, which had an interesting feature inside titled ’On this day… 14th January.
The many landmarks on this particular day include Zsa Zsa Gabor getting her leg chopped off(2011) The Simpsons premiered on Fox-TV(1989) Roy Castle breaking a tap dancing record on the Beeb(1973) and the Sex Pistols final concert in 1978. Another personal milestone which could go on that list is in 1988 when I began working for one of the world’s biggest communications businesses, an occasion I marked by not actually being in the f***ing place but instead spending a great day doing the things I like i.e. enjoying my football ground hobby and a day on the lash.

STFC 0 SMWFC 2 (Damms 40p Barraclough 55)
att.82
Admission £5
Programme £2

Ground no.305 Flaxley Road Ground - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)