Ground #375 - Arbories Memorial Sports Ground

Date: 26th December 2022
Ground: Arbories Memorial Sports Ground
Location: Padiham, Lancashire

My fifteenth new ground of 2022 was on Monday 26th December at the Arbories Memorial Sports Ground in Padiham, Lancashire. The game was Padiham vs. Barnoldswick Town in the North West Counties League Premier Division.

The Arbories Memorial Sports Ground is located on the northern edge of Padiham. It sites up a hill at the end of a residential street with houses to the south and east, a pub and cricket club to the west and trees separating from a road to the north. The venue is a couple of miles north of Hapton and Rose Grove railway stations and has been the home of the club since 1949. 

The ground is a hotchpotch with lots of different spectating areas without an overall standardised design - this gives it a unique look for the level. The entrance is at the south and by this is a fairly small clubhouse with a digital scoreboard attaching to the exterior of the wall. Next to this is a food outlet under cover and then the proper spectator areas begin. Initially there is a small covered standing area, then an uncovered area to create a gap back to the dressing rooms and to the right of this is an all-seater stand which extends past the halfway line. There is then another uncovered section before finishing with another covered section towards the western end.

The opposite side has covered standing for a third of the pitch length towards the eastern end and then an uncovered section for two dugouts in front. Beyond the halfway line is a shorter covered standing area taking up around a quarter of the northern flank and finally uncovered standing towards the western end. There is a grass bank for the whole of the northern side but spectators are prohibited. The eastern end has a covered two-level terrace by the northern section and this takes up about a third of this end. There is a covered flat section behind the goal but the southern area of this end is uncovered save for a small covered section with a park bench and a dugout-like structure with another park bench. The south-east corner also has a dedicated beer shed. The western end is the only one with no structures with uncovered standing only.

Half-way through the season there was little to play for except local pride for the two teams as both were already sitting in mid-table posing little danger to the top or bottom of the league. The hosts scored with their first proper chance in the 10th minute - a 25-yard shot by David Sherlock bounced just before Barlick keeper Jordan Gidley and he palmed straight to Jack Gooden who tucked into the gaping net. The visitors then attacked the home goal and went close in the 17th minute when a ball from the right just needed good contact from Jack Foster but the forward could only divert wide from a couple of yards while on the stretch. The equalising goal arrived ten minutes later and this time Foster did get his reward - again it started with a cross from the right but this time Foster was able to control the ball via a couple of keepy-uppies before smashing the ball into Padiham defender Kieran Sherlock and into the roof of the net. Barnoldswick remained on top for the rest of the half and really should have gone into half-time ahead after two late chances. Padiham were failing to address issues down their left flank and another cross to Foster at the back post found him only for the forward to shoot over from close range. Sixty seconds later it was the turn of Ben Ashton to advance down the right but one-on-one with Matthew Hamnett he shot straight at the Padiham keeper. After an entertaining first half the second was a scrappier affair with little in the way of clear cut chances. Padiham got the ball in the net in the 67th minute when Charlie Disney-Ridge weaved his way into the box with the ball falling to Jack Gooden who tucked home. However, Gooden was in an offside position and this disallowed goal ended up costing the hosts as in the 88th minute Barlick grabbed a late winner with yet another cross from the right and Jack Foster poking in to score his second of the game and secure all three points for the away side. 

Result: Padiham 1-2 Barnoldswick Town

Division: North West Counties League Premier Division

Attendance: 741

Ground #356 - Memorial Playing Field

Date: 4th September 2021
Ground: Memorial Playing Field

Location: Downham Market, Norfolk

My sixth new ground of 2021 was on Saturday 4th September at Memorial Playing Field in Downham Market, Norfolk. The game was Downham Town vs. Diss Town in Eastern Counties League Division One North.

The Memorial Playing Field lies in the north of the town and is a dual purpose venue as a football and cricket ground. The pitches sit adjacent to one another with only erected fencing on the southern side of the pitch separating the two. The area has two full-size pitches to the north with housing to the east and west as well as the south on the opposite side of the road. The venue is one mile north-east of Downham Market railway station.

The club building outside the ground is shared with the cricket club and has the dressing rooms and a bar. All the other structures run along the northern side of the pitch. The main stand in the middle is two rows of covered benching and there are two other flat covered standing areas either side with the two dugouts positioned between them respectively. All these take up the middle half of this side with the rest uncovered standing.

The eastern and western ends both have a strip of concrete with grass behind. The eastern end is set back some way from the goal and then has fencing separating it from a cage pitch and cricket nets. The western end is more restricted space wise. The ground is a three-sided one with the temporary fencing in place to separate the southern side from the cricket field.

Both sides came into the game in the top-half of the table early in the season with Diss a few places above Downham. It was the hosts though who took an early lead in the 9th minute as a good cross from DaVillian Katabana on the right found Jack Prentice who rose above a couple of defenders to head home from six yards. Katabana almost made it two shortly after when he cut inside and unleashed an excellent dipping curler which came back off the underside of the bar. Diss started to create opportunities as the game headed towards the quarter-hour mark - first there was a scramble in the box from a corner where Owen French had two bites of the cherry only to see both efforts saved on the line. Later on a good run down the right wing by Ryan Gibbs culminated in him holding off a defender into the area and seeing his shot across goal well saved. The second half proved fairly uneventful - Downham notched up their second in the 66th minute when a long ball up field saw Davillian Katabana in a race with the Diss keeper for the ball. The latter got there first but spilled it allowing Katabana to tap into an empty net. After this Downham never really looked under threat - with a good goalkeeper and a toothless Diss attack the game fizzled out to a solid Downham victory.

Result: Downham Town 2-0 Diss Town

Division: Eastern Counties League Division One North

Attendance: 54

Ground #324 - Memorial Ground

Date: 16th July 2019
Ground: Memorial Ground
Location: Little Oakley, Essex

My thirty-ninth new ground of 2019 was on Tuesday 16th July at the Memorial Ground in Little Oakley, Essex. The match was Little Oakley vs. Brightlingsea Regent in a friendly.

The Memorial Ground is located on the south-west tip of Dovercourt just to the east of the village of Little Oakley that gives the club its name. The complex is bordered by housing on the northern, eastern and southern sides with the western side taken up with mini grass pitches and fields beyond. The site is just under 3 miles from Dovercourt railway station to the east and Harwich International railway station & Harwich International Port to the north. The venue has been home to the club since they formed in 1947.

The northern section of the Memorial Ground has a club building by the car park and entrance. This building houses dressing rooms and a bar while the outside area has picnic benches and a playground. However this is not a place to watch the action due to a cage pitch separating it from the field of play. A pathway on the eastern flank takes you out to the main ground emerging in the north-east corner. Due the cage pitch the northern end has the least space and is mainly uncovered standing though there is a small covered metal terrace towards the north-east corner.

The western flank has two dugouts in the middle and an all-seater stand towards the southern end which has 50 seats spread across 4 rows. The rest of this side is hard standing with grass behind. The remainder of the ground is uncovered grass standing with no other structures. The eastern side is fairly contained on space due to it backing onto the gardens of adjacent houses but the southern end has a vast flat grass area behind the goal which can also double as a site for another mini-pitch.

This friendly was a match-up between Eastern Counties League Division One South side Little Oakley and Isthmian League Premier Division side Brightlingsea Regent. With the visitors three leagues above the hosts it was no surprise to see them well on top in the early going. Within the first five minutes a 25 yard half-volley had stung the hands of the home keeper before the resulting corner was cleared off the line by Little Oakley. The respite was brief though as Brightlingsea opened the scoring in the 8th minute - good work on the left side of the area saw the ball passed into the box where it was drilled low past the goalie from close range. The second goal came in the 14th minute after a ball in from the right was met by a fluffed attempted clearance by a home defender allowing the grateful Regent attacker to tuck the ball into the net. There were not even 20 minutes on the clock when the third went in - this time an attacker picked the ball up on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful shot into the bottom corner. The visitors continued to harry Little Oakley - just after the half-hour point a 25-yard shot required a decent save from the keeper. Less than a minute later it was 4-0 after a well-worked short corner found a Brightlingsea striker in plenty of space and he drilled a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. This goal irked Little Oakley in particular as it was very poor defending on their part. The rest of the half passed without action as a dominant Brightlingsea took their foot off the gas with the contest already won. The home side barely made it out of their own half in the first 45 minutes but to their credit started the second period in a much improved fashion. After edging the opening quarter of an hour of the second half the away side edged the rest of proceedings and had a few good opportunities for fringe players to get on the scoresheet. In the 62nd minute a substitute did well to dance through a series of tackles on the left side of the area but after creating space well managed to drag the shot wide. The same player was denied by the keeper with 15 minutes left to go after attempting to finish off a quick attack but only shooting straight at the Little Oakley shotstopper. It just wasn't his night as he had the final chance of note in the 89th minute when a deflected shot from the left came back off the outside of the post. An easy win for Brightlingsea then who used the second half as a training session but Little Oakley would have been content to have prevented further goals going in after a very difficult first 35 minutes.

Result: Little Oakley 0-4 Brightlingsea Regent
Friendly
Attendance: N/A

Ground #152 - Colston Avenue

Date: 26th July 2014
Ground: Colston Avenue
Location: Carshalton, London

My twelfth new ground of 2014 was on Saturday 26th July at Colston Avenue in Carshalton, London. The match was Carshalton Athletic vs. Leatherhead in a friendly.

Colston Avenue, also known as the War Memorial Sports Ground, is part of a green space in the middle of a built-up area. The ground is bordered by a mixture of trees, allotments and parkland on three sides with a secondary school on the other. The venue is just a third of mile from Carshalton railway station and has been the home of the club since 1921.

The single all-seater stand is located on the southern side of the ground. This stand, which can hold 240 fans starts from the half-way line and extends towards the western side of the ground. Attached on the eastern side of the structure is the walkway leading back to the player dressing rooms and further towards the eastern end of the ground there is a clubhouse and food outlet.

The northern side of Colston Avenue consists of a covered concrete terrace which extends the whole lenth of the pitch. There is plenty of space for fans here with the roof providing protection from the elements. The two dugouts are positioned directly in front of this stand. The eastern end of the ground also consists of covered concrete terracing although it is much smaller than the area on the northern side. The western end is mostly uncovered standing though there is a small covered section directly behind the goal.

The game was a friendly match between Isthmian League Division One South side Carshalton Athletic and Isthmian League Premier Division side Leatherhead. The hosts almost took the lead in the 28th minute when Nassim Dukali dispossessed a Leatherhead defender and struck the ball towards goal from 20 yards. With the keeper beaten the ball came back off the post and away. Just a couple of minutes later it was the turn of the visitors to hit the woodwork when a corner was swung in to the back post and looked to be going in. Carshalton defender Ricardo Panto reacted quickly to head the ball off his own crossbar and it was scrambled away. In the 43rd minutes Leatherhead did grab the lead as Kiernan Mason-Hughes drew the home defence out with a positive run and when the ball found Ashley Miller he was able to clip the ball into the bottom corner. The away side continued their play into the second period and should have stretched their lead on a couple of occasions. In the 79th minute they were punished when Jason Henry ran down the wing before laying the ball off to Kingsley Aikhionbare to slot home to make it 1-1. In the final two minutes both sides had excellent chances to win the game - first Mason-Hughes split the defence to go clean through but was denied by a good save by Jack Eden. Just after this Jason Henry then found himself one-on-one with the Leatherhead keeper but his weak shot was easily stopped as the referee blew the final whistle.

Result: Carshalton Athletic 1-1 Leatherhead
Friendly
Attendance: N/A

Ground #99 - Memorial Stadium

Date: 14th April 2012
Ground: Memorial Stadium
Location: Horfield, Bristol

My eleventh new ground of 2012 was on Saturday 14th April at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, Bristol. The match was Bristol Rovers vs. Burton Albion in Football League Two.

The Memorial Stadium is nestled in a residential area in the Horfield area in the north of the city of Bristol. The nearest railway station is Filton Abbey Wood which is 1.7 miles away. The ground has been home to the club since 1996 when they moved back to the city after spending a decade playing in nearby Bath. Prior to this Bristol Rovers had played at Eastville Stadium for 89 years up until 1986 when financial difficulties forced them out. The Memorial Stadium itself was built in 1921 and was primarily used as a rugby venue until the football club moved in.

Despite a capacity of nearly 12,000 the stadium has just 2,500 seats split across three separate stands. The 1,060 seat Uplands Stand was built on top of a terrace in the late 1980s and looks very tall compared to the rest of the ground. The stand is level with the half-way line and takes up around a third of the north-eastern side of the venue. The rest of this side of the ground is uncovered terracing which sits to the left, right and in front of the Uplands Stand and has a capacity of just over 2,300. On the opposite side of the pitch is the DAS Stand, a dramatic structure that looks more like a cricket pavilion than a conventional football stand. This stand contains 710 seats and like the Uplands Stand has terracing in front of it with room for a further 1,100 fans. Next to the DAS Stand there is the small Family Terrace stand which adds another 720 spectators to this side of the ground.

Behind the goal at the south-east side of the ground is the South Stand, an all-seater stand which can place just over 1,000 supporters. This was initially erected as a temporary stand and has no less than ten stanchions holding up the roof meaning that almost all the seats in this area will have their view partially blocked. Behind the opposite goal is the Blackthorn End, a covered terrace where around 3,700 home fans can watch the match from.

The game was a drab affair during a poor first half where neither team showed any real invention and with half-time approaching it looked like it would be a goalless first period. However, in the 39th minute the game sparked into life when Burton's Jimmy Phillips rounded the goalkeeper and when presented with an open goal managed to hit the post with his effort. The visitors were punished for not taking this opportunity just a couple of minutes later when Mustapha Carayol unleashed a speculative 25-yard drive which fooled Ross Atkins in the Burton goal and ended up in the back of the net. It took just 12 seconds of the second half for the hosts to double their lead when Burton defender Ryan Austin completely missed the ball with his attempted headed clearance and Eliot Richards snuck in to poke it into the goal. In the 54th minute Calvin Zola's looping shot from close-range pulled a goal back for the visitors but on the hour Rovers regained their two-goal lead as Matt Harrold converted from the penalty spot after Eliot Richards was felled in the area. Shortly after Jim Paterson added a fourth when he steered the ball into the bottom corner from 12 yards out to put the home side in control. In the 75th minute a deflected Matt Harrold shot from the edge of the box made it 5-1 and less than a minute late it was 6-1 after a terrible mix-up between Burton goalie Ross Atkins and defender Nathan Stanton saw them collide and allow Eliot Richards to tap home into the empty net. The scoring was completed in the 81st minute when a deflected shot from Eliot Richards allowed him to complete his hat-trick and ensure Bristol Rovers ran out 7-1 winners.

Result: Bristol Rovers 7-1 Burton Albion
Division: Football League Two
Attendance: 5,353