Worthing

I've always liked Worthing. You usually can't go wrong with a seaside trip. But throw in a nice ground, welcoming fans, & the fact they've also got a really friendly supporters' team, & it's up there with the best of them in the Isthmian League!

I first visited here at the beginning of the eighties, I think it was, when still at school. They were a fairly new club to the Isthmian, & had a home league cup tie on the August Bank holiday Monday. We had a nondescript home tie at Champion Hill, & I fancied a day out to somewhere new, & Worthing were two divisions below us. I chose them not just because they were at the coast, but I never thuoght we'd ever meet them in a league game! Oh the naiveity of youth!

I took these pictures on 23rd January 2010, when Dulwich Hamlet visited for a Division One South match.




These gates, with the club intials on, are the first thing you go past, on the way from the nearby Worthing train station.



This is the clubhouse building. Presumably the A2B Worthing Stadium is some sort of sponsorship tie up. No problem with that, as it brings money in, but it will always be Woodside Road to me, no matter how you dress it up.



At the end of that building are the turnstiles.



Here is a close up of them.



Inside now.



Raffle tickets on sale.



And programmes from this hut.



Some signs and benches on the patch of green behind the covered terrace at this end, and in front of the bar.



Going straight in front from the turnstile you see the pitch directly in front of you.



To the right is a stretch of open concrete terracing.



Down the side, also to the right, is terracing, a small section of cover, & grass banking.



Opposite that side is the impressive main stand.



Immediately to our left, behind this goal, & the way we shall take our tour, is more terracing, but roofed.



As we walk along it we can spot the club shop on the side.



From under the cover we can see the dugouts over on the right hand side, with the cover behind them.



Another angle of the main stand, as we get closer to it.



Here we look back along the cover behind this goal, as we reach the end of it.



Looking across the playing surface from this corner we can view the front of the stand, as well as spotting the cover at the far end for the first time.



Just past the cover at the end we are at is the tea bar.



Tucked away, right in the corner, is the groundman's 'soil dump' utilising an old club sign.



The first 'corner flag' snap of the day, looking across the pitch.



Now we are along the side, open hard standing leading up to the stand. Notice the sign for another bar, 'Rebels Tavern'.



From the corner we now look back behind the goal, & can see the club intitials on the corner flag.



Here is the club shop, open for business. I now have a book on 100 years at Woodside Road, as well as a scarf.



Still on the side, here a a half time snap of one of their supporters' flags.



Now we're almost at the stand. Note the sign saying there is a 50p transfer. I asked if I go up there for free, as I just wanted to take a few photos, rather than watch the match from up there, & the people collecting the fees happily obliged. Actually, if you walk round the pitch, in the other direction, there's just a gate, & you can just go through it for free, if you so choose, but maybe I shouldn't tell you that! ;-)



In front it's hard standing, with steps going up into the seats. The ground level is the bar, & the changing rooms.



Here we are up in the seats, which replaced an older one, burnt down a fair few years ago now.



From high up here, we look back to the 'entrance end'.



And past that to the open terracing we glanced at as we came in.



Here we look across the pitch.



And lean over the front, also getting the far end cover in shot.



Next up is a snap looking directly across the halfway line.



The centre seats are for directors & visiting officials.



At the back is a glass fronted press box.



This is the view if you are an official.



With the ordinary seats continuing to the left.



Looking down below from this end of the stand we see more open hard standing to the corner.



A glance back along the stand from this end, before we move on.



In the centre, at ground level once more, is the players' tunnel.



Further along, in front of the stand.



I call it the 'main stand', as most people do at football grounds, even if there is only one ( & thus automatically) 'main stand', but clearly more sponsorship is in place for this to be the Argyll Insurance Group Grandstand.



This sign was just inside the tunnel. The last one is one that should be adhered to. There's nothing that annoys me more than seeing players sporting tops or kit bags clearly nicked from their previous clubs.



After that moan it's time to continue are march round the ground. Past an ugly fenced off pylon & hard standing ahead...



Behind us is that gate I mentioned, where you can sneak up into the stand for free.



Bit of a minor junkyard to our left.



And an advert from the excellent Sussex local paper The Argus.




From where we are we look over to the cover behind the goal.



Before we get there it's the next corner flag picture.



And another glance back down the side we've come from.



Three steps of shallow terracing behind this goal, backing onto the garden walls of the houses.



The main stand, from this end.



And here we are at the covered part, directly behind the goal.



The small cover along the other side is see from by the goal, with the Dulwich Hamlet players partly obscuring it!



A similar picture, by the other post.



Past the covered area it's more terracing to the next corner of the ground.



Almost at the corner we look down the touchline, a club with plenty of supportive local businesses, by the look of it.



Turning the corner we see more open terracing leading up to the cover, with the grass banking being 'technically' out of bounds for spectators.



Our third corner shot of the day, this time with the main stand as the backdrop.



As you can see the grass banks look perfectly safe to stand on, but by doing so would be breaking ground grading regulations!



On this side are the dugouts, and this small covered shed.



Here we are under it.



This is the view to the 'entrance end'.



Straight over the pitch at the stand.



And back at the narrower far end.



Continuing past the cover along the side we pass the other dugout, and walk along more open terracing.



Some further 'dangerous' grass banking too!



Almost at the end, we look back, during the second half.



There are quite a few Worthing fans behind the goal.



In this last corner there is another refeshment hut.



Here we look along the touchline, toward the middle of the end where we began.



Behind the goal now, we glance back down the grass banked side.



Here we see the same side, with a somewhat poor attempt at a wonky 'arty farty' shot!



And so we finish with the open terracing, to take us back to the cover behind this goal.