Ground #369 - Bridge Road

Date: 23rd July 2022
Ground: Bridge Road

Location: Impington, Cambridgeshire

My ninth new ground of 2022 was on Saturday 23rd July at Bridge Road in Impington, Cambridgeshire. The game was Histon vs. Cambridge City in a friendly.

Bridge Road is located on the eastern edge of the village of Impington, just north of Cambridge. It is part of a sports complex that includes additional pitches and a tennis club. It has little in the way of neighbours with it mostly surrounded by roads or fields with only a GP surgery to the north. The venue is 2.5 miles north-west of Cambridge North railway station and has been home to Histon since they were formed in 1904.

The main side of the ground is on the west side. The two stands feature seating elevated above the walkway below with the lower section having a food outlet, the two dugouts a tunnel to the dressing rooms. The older stand by the halfway line has 350 seats with a newer stand attached to it with a larger 500 seat capacity. This stand was built in 2008 during Histon's brief spell in the National League and doubles as the Cambridgeshire FA Headquarters.

The other three sides of the ground all have the same base structures at a uniform height. The eastern side has 4 rows of seating for the whole length of the pitch adding 800 seats to the seating capacity and has a gantry atop the stand for TV cameras. The two ends have the same 4 row set-up but have terracing instead of seating.

The match was a friendly between United Counties League Premier Division South side Histon and Northern Premier League Division One Midlands side Cambridge City. It also doubled as a owners vs. tenants match as Cambridge City groundshare whilst their new stadium is under construction. Cambridge opened the scoring in the 8th minute - Ben Nolan advanced down the right before passing to Tommy Rigby who shot low from the edge of the box into the bottom corner. There was some end-to-end action in the middle of the half with firstly Cambridge seeing a point blank shot saved by the home goalie and a minute later Histon were up the other end of the field hitting the bar from a long-range shot. Two minutes before the break City doubled their lead with Mikey Davis laying up Connor Barnes to strike a long-range effort in off the post. The action continued into the second half with the third goal arriving in the 53rd minute after a defensive mix-up by Histon. As a defender headed the ball back to the keeper he dropped the ball and scrambling to grab it was outpaced by Connor Barnes who coolly dribbled round him and slotted into the net. Barnes was then on the hunt for his hatrick for the rest of the game - five minutes later Barnes picked up the ball on the right, shot his shot saved and then chipped the rebound just wide of the goal. With 20 minutes to go a scramble in the box fell to Barnes and this time it was the post denying him a third goal. Finally in the 89th minute Barnes got what he wanted when he got on the end of a cross to head into the net to round off his hattrick and a comfortable 4-0 win for Cambridge City.

Result: Histon 0-4 Cambridge City

Friendly

Attendance: N/A

Ground #88 - Hornchurch Stadium

Date: 29th November 2011
Ground: Hornchurch Stadium
Location: Hornchurch, London

My seventy-fifth new ground of 2011 was on Tuesday 29th November at Hornchurch Stadium in Hornchurch, London. The match was AFC Hornchurch vs. Hendon in the Ryman Isthmian League Premier Division.

Hornchurch Stadium (also known as Bridge Avenue) sits in a residential area just under half a mile from Upminster Bridge tube station on the District Line, although Upminster railway station is also of a similar distance. The ground has been home to AFC Hornchurch and its previous incarnation Hornchurch FC since 1953.

The ground is shared with an athletics club with a running track encircling the pitch. Because of this the viewing areas are along the length of the pitch with just walkways behind the two goals. The west side of the ground holds two stands - a 180-seat structure level with the half-way line and a smaller 150-seat stucture towards the goal at the southern end of the ground.

The east side of the venue has three stands - an all-seater stand able to hold just under 250 fans which sits towards the goal at the southern end of the ground, a 40-seat directors enclosure stand which sits level with the half-way line and a covered terrace stand which sits towards the goal at the northern end of the ground. The club also has an excellent clubhouse on the south side of the venue behind the goal as well as a club shop and gym facilities for the players on site.

The game was rather quiet to begin with in terms of action with no meaningful shots on goal until the 21st minute when Hendon hit the Hornchurch crossbar. Three minutes later the away side took the lead with a drilled shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the net. Hendon continued to press and looked the more likely to score again as the half ended with the visitors on top but only by a single goal. The home side had some decent chances in the second half but rarely threatened the Hendon keeper. The visitors themselves went close to scoring after a couple of goal-line scrambles but ultimately neither side could get the ball in the net and so Hendon went away 1-0 winners.

Result: AFC Hornchurch 0-1 Hendon
Division: Isthmian League Premier Division
Attendance: 187

Ground #74 - Stamford Bridge

Date: 21st September 2011
Ground: Stamford Bridge
Location: Fulham, London

My sixty-first new ground of 2011 was on Wednesday 21st September at Stamford Bridge in Fulham, London. The match was Chelsea vs. Fulham in the Carling Cup 3rd Round.

Stamford Bridge is 300 yards from Fulham Broadway tube station on the District Line. The venue was built in 1877, and was initially used primarily for athletics until Chelsea FC were formed in 1905, with them becoming the main occupiers of the ground from this point onwards.

The ground has four distinct stands which have undergone varying levels of development in recent years. The Matthew Harding Stand sits behind the goal on the north side of the ground and is a two-tiered stand with a capacity of just under 10,900. It was completed in 1996 and houses the most vocal Chelsea support in its lower tier. Behind the opposite goal on the south side of the ground is The Shed End - a smaller two-tier stand which can hold 6,800. It was finished in 1997 and is where away fans are positioned.

The oldest stand in the venue is the East Stand - a three-tiered structure running alongside the pitch with a capacity of just over 10,900. This was built in 1973 though has been refurbished and modernised since then. This stand also contains the dugouts, dressing rooms and media centre. Across from this is the largest stand in the ground - the West Stand. This 13,500 capacity three-tiered stand was built in 1998 though not fully completed until 2001. I watched the game from the upper tier of this stand.

The game was a League Cup 3rd Round tie between Premier League sides Chelsea and Fulham. The first period had sporadic bursts of action and the home side thought they'd taken the lead just before the break only to have a Daniel Sturridge goal ruled out for offside. Immediately after the restart the visitors were awarded a penalty and Chelsea reduced to ten men after Alex was sent off for a tackle on Kerim Frei. However, Fulham missed the penalty and Chelsea seemed to be spurred on by this creating a host of chances in the second half. They were unable though to find the net and so after 90 minutes the scores were tied at 0-0. Another half-hour of extra-time also failed to produce a goal so it was left to a penalty shoot-out, with Chelsea triumphing in this 4-3 to go through to the next round.

Result: Chelsea 0-0 Fulham (Chelsea win 4-3 on penalties)
Competition: League Cup
Attendance: 37,632