Ground #404 - New River Stadium

Date: 28th September 2024
Location: Tottenham, London
Ground: New River Stadium

My fourth new ground of 2024 was on Saturday 28th September at New River Stadium in Tottenham, London. The game was AS London vs. Burnham Ramblers in the Eastern Counties League Division One South.

The New River Stadium is located on White Hart Lane so shares its road with Haingey Borough's Coles Park and the more famous Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a mile and a half east. The stadium is part of a wider sports complex with additional full-size pitches, mini 3G cage pitches, tennis courts, a boxing centre and a community hub. Other than the rest of the complex the only other neighbour of note is a school directly south. The ground opened in 1973 and is three-quarters of a mile north-east of Wood Green station on the Piccadilly Line. 

The southern side of the venue has the grandstand which is accessed via the sports centre entrance. The sports centre sits underneath the grandstand although the dressing rooms are located in another building to the west of the pitch. This grandstand consists of 1,034 bucket seats so offers more than ample capacity for a club at this level.

The 3G pitch is used for various other sports, with an American Football team also residing at the ground. The venue has an eight-lane lane running track with the two dugouts in front of this at pitchside. There is a concrete terrace which runs from the western end, round the northern side of the ground and stops before the eastern curve. This eastern end has a grass bank for the northern half whilst the southern half is inaccessible due to hedges and a power station. The ground has a total capacity of 5,000.

The day started with AS London in 7th place in the table on a six-game unbeaten run. Having just avoided relegation last season the north London side had turned things around this season. Burnham by comparison had suffered back-to-back defeats and were sitting in 13th. Despite this the visitors begun brightly and in the 8th minute a free-kick into the box was shot straight at London keeper Martin Arnauchkov who saved from six yards out. That start ended up being the high point for the visitors as two minutes later they were a goal down. It came about through really nice link-up play on the edge of the box which culminated with a lovely backheel by Alie Bangura to  Francisco Figuereo who controlled well and lifted over the keeper from 12 yards. The hosts kept chipping away and before the break went close with shots from Nicholas Sanchez and Juan Araque. However, it was in the second half was when AS London really pulled clear. In the 50th minute the ball went sent up field for Alie Bangura and under pressure from defenders he did really well to make space for a shot underneath the keeper. On the hour mark London grabbed their third when Juan Araque saw the keeper off his line and lobbed him from 40 yards. Seven minutes later it was 4-0 with Alie Bangura causing trouble down the right and crossing the ball for an unmarked Lamin Bangura to stroke into an empty net. Burnham thought they had a consolation with five minutes left when a cross from the right was smashed in but the linesman had already flagged that the ball had gone out for a goal kick. Into added time Zac Argent missed a golden chance to get on the scoresheet for the hosts slicing wide from a couple of yards out. Mo Mahmoud wasn't about to make the same mistake a couple of minutes later with the London midfielder dancing through the Burnham defence and drilling the ball low past the keeper from the right side of the area to wrap up a convincing 5-0 win.

Result: AS London 5-0 Burnham Ramblers

Division: Eastern Counties League Division One South

Attendance: 40

Ground #90 - White Hart Lane

Date: 7th January 2012
Ground: White Hart Lane
Location: Tottenham, London

My second new ground of 2012 was on Saturday 7th January at White Hart Lane in Tottenham, London. The match was Tottenham Hotspur vs. Cheltenham Town in the F.A. Cup 3rd Round.

White Hart Lane sat next to a trading estate in a largely residential area in north London. The closest railway station was White Hart Lane which was 500 yards away. The nearest tube stations were Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale on the Victoria Line both around 1.5 miles from the venue. The ground was home to Tottenham Hotspur from 1899 until it was demolished in 2017 to make way for the new 62,062 capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to take its place.

White Hart Lane was separated into four stands although the filing in of the corners with additional seating did give the feeling of a bowl. All four stands were two-tiered with the largest of these being the 10,691 capacity East Stand which ran the length of the pitch. This stand was the only one in the ground with supporting pillars with this leading to some restricted views. Opposite this was the West Stand, which was able to hold 6,890 fans. This had the lowest capacity of all four stands with much of this down to the large hospitality and media section in between the two tiers of the stand.

The North Stand sat behind the goal at the northern end of the ground and held 10,086 fans. Away fans were usually positioned in the north-east corner of the ground but for this F.A. Cup tie Cheltenham were given the entire lower tier of the stand. The remaining stand was the 8,633 capacity South Stand behind the opposite goal. Like the North Stand it featured a large video screen which is attached to the roof.

The game was an F.A. Cup 3rd Round tie between Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and League Two side Cheltenham Town. Both sides were having good seasons heading into the match with each occupying 3rd place in their respective divisions. Tottenham sent out a second-string side but they easily controlled the early going and in the 25th minute took the lead. A ball from the back split the away defence allowing Giovani dos Santos to sprint clear and lift the ball over the goalkeeper. With it heading for the net Jermain Defoe slid in to poach the goal off of Giovani. In the 43rd minute the home side doubled their lead when Defoe crossed across the box and Roman Pavlyuchenko slotted home from a couple of yards out. After the break the visitors played some decent football and had a few chances of their own but the game was finished off with three minutes remaining when a poor defensive clearance fell to Danny Rose who played in Giovani dos Santos whose deflected shot looped over the Cheltenham goalkeeper to round off a comfortable 3-0 victory for Tottenham.

Result: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Cheltenham Town
Competition: F.A. Cup
Attendance: 35,672