Reading Town

Reading Town currently play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division, I visited here pre-season 2009/10, for a Friday night match with Hungerford Town. I'd been here once before, at least a decade ago, at a guess, for an FA Youth Cup tie with Dulwich Hamlet. Back then there was no clubhouse, as there had just been a serious fire.

It's a bit of a depressing ground, not for the place itself, I'm sure it would be good enough for step four football, but for the approach, which is a bit depressing & all the barbed wire!





The approach from the main road is down this one, which goes under the railway line. I could but help thinking about the Great Train Robbery!



Should I be feeling scared? ;-)



Here we reach the ground, the turnstiles being at the other end of this car park.



As we can see here. No bunking in with that barbed wire on top!



This is the other side. Note the plaque on the wall.



It's a fundraising 'roll of honour'.



The ground is very open, as you can see from this corner, with the turnstiles behind us.



But to our left, behind the goal, there is some substantial cover, with a couple of steps of terracing.



As we stand at the back under it, we look across the steps, in the clockwise direction we are going to walk round the ground.



From here we look down the near side, where you can just see a small stand down the far end of it.



Moving along, behind the goal, we get a better view of it.



Moving along we look back down the terrace, with the club house in view in the corner.



Past that stretch of the terrace there are two rows of seating. Presumably these were added to satisfy ground gradings for any potential promotion.



Still behind the goal we look to our left, there is a small area of cover along there, as well as the dugouts.



Another angle down the covered terrace, with the seats all in view.



Past the cover there is hard standing, the path being in front of the changing rooms.



Now at the next corner, the touchline is a fair way from the perimeter, as you can note from the position of the corner flag.



Down the side now...what can I say? Open & ugly, with those tanks.



Having moved round we get a good shot of the changing rooms, with the cover beyond.



Moving down the side we come to the covered area. Set back, it seems rather forlorn & in the wrong place!



Here is a close up shot of it.



From here we look back down the area we have just covered.



Just beyond the cover are the dugouts.



From between the two we look over the halfway line.



On the far side is the main stand.



Moving along it's more concrete hard standing, not sure why those seats are there though. A DIY stand maybe?



Who knows? Maybe the groundsman lives on site?



An open grass area behind the goal, used for training perhaps? A hard standing path runs along it. Nice to see the old hoardings painted in club colours.



The corner flag has seen better days!



A final look down this side before we turn the corner.



Completely open behind the goal....



All the way along.



From behind the goal we look across the pitch, to the covered end.



And zoom in on the dugouts, where it looks as though the corrugated cover is right behind them! Who said the camera never lies... ;-)



To our left we see the stand & clubhouse, further along.



Almost at our last corner now.



Again hard standing all the way along, with grass behind. The only built up bit being the main stand.



Before we get there our last 'corner flag' angled picture.



Here we are at the main stand, it might be one of those bland new ones, but it's tidy with the seats in their colours.



Here we look down them from the near side.



And from the back row, with covered terrace at the far end in shot.



At the other end is the 'directors box'.



Past the seats we are now on our last leg, back to the corner where we started.



Which is where the clubouse is.



Time for refreshment inside.

AFC Totton

AFC Totton play in the Zamaretto League South & West Division One, and are leaving their home ar Testwood Park, for the new development at Little Testwood Farm, in another part of the town. I stopped off here, to take some pictures, on my way to a pre-season match I heading to at Weymouth, but never saw a game here. Part of the ground had already been demolished, in anticipation of the impending move.



This is the main entrance to the ground, I think, from the residential road it's situated on.



Down the left hand side, as we enter from the corner we see a fairly open side, with a section of covered terrace.



But we're going to walk the other way. From where we came in we see the changing rooms, and the bar area is past it.



Club & League sponsors signage on the wall.



This is the interior of the bar.



This autographed AFC Totton shirt on the wall caught my eye, but I don't know the story behind it.



Here is an aerial picture of this ground, which we are at now.



Back outside again, we look over the pitch.



It's open behind the goal, tarmaced for an access road/car park; with the bar behind it, which we've just come out of.



A similar shot, with the Sydenhams sign in clear view on the front, presumably from their Wessex League days.



Netting behind the goal to protect cars & the buildings.



Now we're past the club buildings, we also see some storage shed, partly 'out of sight', set back slightly.



An open path down the far side.



Before we move along it, one more glance back behind the goal.



And across the pitch.



Now we move down the side, and we come to a fenced off open concrete area. I was told by a club man, who was on site, that this was where the old stand used to be, and it had been taken down for re building at the new stadium.



Just the concrete foundations left there now...so use your imagination. I have no idea what it looked like!



Now we look across the pitch, to the dugouts, & the covered terrace behind them.



We're now the other side of the 'phantom' stand.



The hard standing continues to the corner.



And once there we glance back down the side, & over the pitch.



The open path continues behind the goal, with a wooden fence behind. Utilised for some advertising hoardings.



The other side of the pitch appears to be the training area.



I'd no idea what the Daltons Cup is, nor who Daltons Transport are. To me Daltons will always mean ' Peaaaa--nuuuuuts!' I may be showing my age now, but whatever happened to the 'peanut man' at football? (To anyone under the age of,ooh, forty, ask yer dad! ;-)




Club sponsors displayed too.



As are the old League sponsors. Shouldn't the current ones ask for these to be taken down?



Behind the goal, we look over to the terraced side.



And then head to the next corner.



Behind that corner, behind the training area, it's a bit of an old scrap yard! Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose!



And now on the last leg, on our way to corner we came in.



Past the portakabin we see the covered terrace, set back from the pitch.



We pass the dugouts.



And just before the terrace is the turnstile. Presumably this is where supporters enter on a match day?



As we saw, this is set back a bit from the action, and only a shallow step under it, but a decent bit of cover nonetheless.



Fingers crossed there's not many people 'hugging the rail' in front of you.



Put up inside it is this policy from the league, personalised by the Club.



Here we are undernerath the shed, looking along it.



The club name is smartly, & proudly, on the overhang at the front.



Now we move on, open once more, with more storage sheds behind, on the left.



One of which is for the groundsman.



And another turnstile here, looking as though it was added to suppliment te other one, for ground grading reasons, at a guess.



Just a few more yards to go now, as we're back to where we started. Sad, in a way, that I never saw a game here, but pleased that I-at least- managed to have a quick look at it.