in further updates.
I am on holiday to the Czech Republic from Friday 22nd to Thursday 28th October. I am planning to go to eight football matches; two ice hockey games & one of basketball!
So plenty of sets of venues to come from there.
On Saturday 30th I have a long trip to watch Dulwich Hamlet, in the FA Trophy, away to Bideford, down in Devon.
So there won't be any updates on here until Sunday 31st October.
In the meantime feel free to delve into the archives down the right hand side, if you wish.
Many thanks for looking in on here.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Enfield Town / Enfield 1893
When I visited this ground last season for a Brimsdown Rovers FA Cup tie on a Friday night I didn't expect them to be 'swallowed up' by the 'original' Enfield, now called Enfield 1893, currently in the Essex Senior League. So they finally get to return to the borough that bears their name. Meanwhile Enfield Town, the original 'new' supporter led fan club, are not here for much longer, with plans well advanced to move back to the Southbury Road area, where the old club were located, to the Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Donkey Lane. They are members of the Ryman League Division One North.
This is the entrance to the ground.
Outside is the Brimsdown social club, with outside patio area. You can see the turnstiles beyond them, on the right.
Here we are through them, inside the ground.
As you can see they are set a little bit back from the ground. The changing rooms are to the right of this snap.
The home kit is hanging up inside.
Well we are close to Essex! ;-)
Looking ahead we see the pitch, with the cover behind the goal in view.
As we get to the corner of the pitch we can also spot the dugouts & another small bit of over on the far side.
To our right, down the near side, there is a stand on the halfway line.
But we are going to head round the ground in the other direction. Clockwise, through the players' tunnel.
Here we look into the tunnel, the changing rooms being to the left.
Behind the goal it's open, with hard standing all the way along, the covered metal terrace being set a bit of a way back from the pitch perimeter fence.
Here is a close up of the cover.
From behind the goal we look over to the other covered terrace, & the dugouts.
With the seats on the other side.
On the other side of the goal we're moving closer to the far side.
The hard standing continues up to the corner.
From where we look back at the covered end.
At the corner we look across the pitch.
Before starting to make our way along the next side of the ground.
From there we look back behind the goal.
And then move on to the oldest bit of cover in the ground. On my first visit here, a good few years ago, I can't remember when, this was the only bit of protection from the elements in the entire place.
From here we look across the pitch to the seats.
Before we carry on along the hard standing, & past the dugouts.
A bit ramshackle from the top!
Looking back at the halfway shed.
And then toward the open end.
More flat, open hard standing & grass here.
From by this post we look over to the main stand.
Now at the next corner, looking over the pitch once more.
Glancing back behind the goal, before we move on.
The same hard standing all the way along this last side, up to & past the grandstand.
Here we are. A modern stand, in Enfield Town colours, which I understand they will take with them to Donkey Lane.
Plenty of them reserved for season ticket holders.
From the front we look over to the covered end, as the final touches are made to the pitch.
Like many, this fan walked away from the old Enfield, to form their own fans' club, back in their own borough.
Some seats are reserved for the press.
And club officials.
This is the view of the seats from the other side.
Beyond this is the hard standing, up to the corner where we came in.
A last look behind the goal.
Time to settle down for the match.
Well ok, one more look behind the goal, after the weather turned.
Most of the crowd opt for the main stand, after the heavy pre-match downpour.
Kick off signals the end of our tour.
This is the entrance to the ground.
Outside is the Brimsdown social club, with outside patio area. You can see the turnstiles beyond them, on the right.
Here we are through them, inside the ground.
As you can see they are set a little bit back from the ground. The changing rooms are to the right of this snap.
The home kit is hanging up inside.
Well we are close to Essex! ;-)
Looking ahead we see the pitch, with the cover behind the goal in view.
As we get to the corner of the pitch we can also spot the dugouts & another small bit of over on the far side.
To our right, down the near side, there is a stand on the halfway line.
But we are going to head round the ground in the other direction. Clockwise, through the players' tunnel.
Here we look into the tunnel, the changing rooms being to the left.
Behind the goal it's open, with hard standing all the way along, the covered metal terrace being set a bit of a way back from the pitch perimeter fence.
Here is a close up of the cover.
From behind the goal we look over to the other covered terrace, & the dugouts.
With the seats on the other side.
On the other side of the goal we're moving closer to the far side.
The hard standing continues up to the corner.
From where we look back at the covered end.
At the corner we look across the pitch.
Before starting to make our way along the next side of the ground.
From there we look back behind the goal.
And then move on to the oldest bit of cover in the ground. On my first visit here, a good few years ago, I can't remember when, this was the only bit of protection from the elements in the entire place.
From here we look across the pitch to the seats.
Before we carry on along the hard standing, & past the dugouts.
A bit ramshackle from the top!
Looking back at the halfway shed.
And then toward the open end.
More flat, open hard standing & grass here.
From by this post we look over to the main stand.
Now at the next corner, looking over the pitch once more.
Glancing back behind the goal, before we move on.
The same hard standing all the way along this last side, up to & past the grandstand.
Here we are. A modern stand, in Enfield Town colours, which I understand they will take with them to Donkey Lane.
Plenty of them reserved for season ticket holders.
From the front we look over to the covered end, as the final touches are made to the pitch.
Like many, this fan walked away from the old Enfield, to form their own fans' club, back in their own borough.
Some seats are reserved for the press.
And club officials.
This is the view of the seats from the other side.
Beyond this is the hard standing, up to the corner where we came in.
A last look behind the goal.
Time to settle down for the match.
Well ok, one more look behind the goal, after the weather turned.
Most of the crowd opt for the main stand, after the heavy pre-match downpour.
Kick off signals the end of our tour.
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Farsley AFC
I visited Farsley AFC last season, though they hadn't started playing yet! Farsley Celtic had already been wound up, I was up in Leeds to watch South London Storm play rugby league, & Leeds Carnegie ladies were at home at Throstle Nest about a mile away. The womens' team have now reverted to their previous name of Leeds United Ladies, & were only under the Carnegie banner for two seasons.
So I went to the football, & caught most of the second half of the rugby league! Very cheeky of me, as the coach was free for the Storm game, but hey...I couldn't ignore the opportunity to go to the Throstle Nest, & have a rare chance (for me) to 'tick' a northern ground! Farsley AFC play in the Koolsport Northern East Counties League Premier Division.
My taking of photos was hampered by ignorant officials, who questioned me, as were a couple of junior girls teams in the crowd. They then begrudgingly let me take some of the ground again..if the girls were not in any, & I deleted the ones I had taken with them in. I was up for arguing my corner, but was a cockney up north, & didn't want to get into 'argumentative mood' if the old bill were called, even though I was totally in the right, as I was a long way from London & had no means to get home if they made me miss the coach! And I wanted them to get lost so I could watch the rest of the game in peace!
The woman from one of the teams was only interested in HER players & couldn't care less if any of the other girls team were in any shots! And her argument to me that supposedly made her above reproachment was that she had been CRB checked! Well...anyone can say that! So have I, for my job! Being an amateur photographer taking snaps of a sports ground does not make me a nonce!
I'm sure if I'd said I was from the local paper & wanted to take a team photo of her girls for the back page of it she'd have readily agreed!
Anyway, that aside, it was a decent ground, that has recently actually been home to Conference National football a few seasons ago, before Farsley Celtic went bust last season.
Leeds Carnegie, who play in the KoolSport Northern Counties East League Division One, groundshare here. They are a university based side.
You can see the clubhouse as you approach the ground.
No 'next game' listed, as Farsley Celtic were no more.
A proud old club...gone.
Make that proud FORMER members...
Smart gates next to the turnstiles. Impressive.
The turnstiles are at the corner of the pitch.
To our right, ahead of us down the side, is the main stand.
While behind the goal to our left is a covered terrace, with seats at the far end of it. We are going to head along here first, moving round in a clockwise direction.
Looking along the terrace we can see the seats, I would guess added for grading requirements when they played in the top division for the olny time in their history, in 2007/08.
From this end we look across the pitch, to our left, at the open terraced side.
With the main stand to our right.
Here we reach the seats, clearly added on to the terrace, to make a 'new' stand.
Pitchside we look at the main stand again, from behind the net.
Looking along the 'bolt-on' stand.
There is segregation in place here, again presumably to meet Conference ground gradings.
Moving on past the goal we see the dugouts down the side.
Beyond the seats, in the 'away section' there is the rest of the covered terrace.
Here we look back along the covered end.
Another angle down the open side.
In the corner are more turnstiles. Not the best of photos, but the sun was in my eyes, & I was snapping 'blind'!
Now we look along the open terracing down the side.
A corner flag shot, with the main stand opposite.
From the same spot we turn back to the covered end.
We start to move along the open side. Note the netting to prevent footballs going over the blue surrounding fence, where there is a steep drop to neighbouring housing behind.
Heading toward the dugouts.
Note how the steps are staggered here, to account for the slope.
Across the pitch, to the main stand.
Standing behind the dugouts.
Further down, we are passing the dugouts.
On our way to the open end.
In between the dugouts we look across the pitch once more.
The blue fencing gives way to green railings. I don't know why, but my guess is that some of the blue stuff had blown away in bad weather, as we are up on a hill.
The open end looks rather bleak from here.
Reaching the end of the terracing we glance back up it.
Another corner flag snap, with both areas of cover in view.
Behind the next goal is just open hard standing. I'll bet some of the former Football League fans, who are now non-league in the Conference, weren't too complimentary about this!
Now behind the goal, we look back to the dugouts side.
Directly behind the goal I look down the pitch, trying to 'artily' capture the main stand through the netting.
Here we see the main stand side, & can see the terracing to the left of it.
Another peek at the dugouts side, past the goal.
And a shot down the full length of the tarmac end.
The last corner flag picture today!
And here we are, about to walk along the last side of Throstle Nest.
Another man with a camera. I wonder if the 'nonce police' had a word with him?
This is a decent stretch of terrace, I'd imagine this is a popular vantage point at Farsley matches.
And here we are, at last, arriving at the main stand.
The press area. That man was reporting for BBC Radio Leeds.
From up in the seats we look back to the cage, that is the players tunnel.
Now we turn & look along the rest of the stand.
And from up in the stand we look across to the covered end, where we started our tour.
A bit of action from the match.
Another look along the stand from near the end of it.
And looking down from this end we see the last part of the ground, hard standinf to the corner. The tea bar & clubhouse are on the left.
Pitchside again, we have another look at the covered end.
Before we look back at the main stand, with a few steps of terracing at this corner.
A very last look at the covered end, before it's time to leave.
So I went to the football, & caught most of the second half of the rugby league! Very cheeky of me, as the coach was free for the Storm game, but hey...I couldn't ignore the opportunity to go to the Throstle Nest, & have a rare chance (for me) to 'tick' a northern ground! Farsley AFC play in the Koolsport Northern East Counties League Premier Division.
My taking of photos was hampered by ignorant officials, who questioned me, as were a couple of junior girls teams in the crowd. They then begrudgingly let me take some of the ground again..if the girls were not in any, & I deleted the ones I had taken with them in. I was up for arguing my corner, but was a cockney up north, & didn't want to get into 'argumentative mood' if the old bill were called, even though I was totally in the right, as I was a long way from London & had no means to get home if they made me miss the coach! And I wanted them to get lost so I could watch the rest of the game in peace!
The woman from one of the teams was only interested in HER players & couldn't care less if any of the other girls team were in any shots! And her argument to me that supposedly made her above reproachment was that she had been CRB checked! Well...anyone can say that! So have I, for my job! Being an amateur photographer taking snaps of a sports ground does not make me a nonce!
I'm sure if I'd said I was from the local paper & wanted to take a team photo of her girls for the back page of it she'd have readily agreed!
Anyway, that aside, it was a decent ground, that has recently actually been home to Conference National football a few seasons ago, before Farsley Celtic went bust last season.
Leeds Carnegie, who play in the KoolSport Northern Counties East League Division One, groundshare here. They are a university based side.
You can see the clubhouse as you approach the ground.
No 'next game' listed, as Farsley Celtic were no more.
A proud old club...gone.
Make that proud FORMER members...
Smart gates next to the turnstiles. Impressive.
The turnstiles are at the corner of the pitch.
To our right, ahead of us down the side, is the main stand.
While behind the goal to our left is a covered terrace, with seats at the far end of it. We are going to head along here first, moving round in a clockwise direction.
Looking along the terrace we can see the seats, I would guess added for grading requirements when they played in the top division for the olny time in their history, in 2007/08.
From this end we look across the pitch, to our left, at the open terraced side.
With the main stand to our right.
Here we reach the seats, clearly added on to the terrace, to make a 'new' stand.
Pitchside we look at the main stand again, from behind the net.
Looking along the 'bolt-on' stand.
There is segregation in place here, again presumably to meet Conference ground gradings.
Moving on past the goal we see the dugouts down the side.
Beyond the seats, in the 'away section' there is the rest of the covered terrace.
Here we look back along the covered end.
Another angle down the open side.
In the corner are more turnstiles. Not the best of photos, but the sun was in my eyes, & I was snapping 'blind'!
Now we look along the open terracing down the side.
A corner flag shot, with the main stand opposite.
From the same spot we turn back to the covered end.
We start to move along the open side. Note the netting to prevent footballs going over the blue surrounding fence, where there is a steep drop to neighbouring housing behind.
Heading toward the dugouts.
Note how the steps are staggered here, to account for the slope.
Across the pitch, to the main stand.
Standing behind the dugouts.
Further down, we are passing the dugouts.
On our way to the open end.
In between the dugouts we look across the pitch once more.
The blue fencing gives way to green railings. I don't know why, but my guess is that some of the blue stuff had blown away in bad weather, as we are up on a hill.
The open end looks rather bleak from here.
Reaching the end of the terracing we glance back up it.
Another corner flag snap, with both areas of cover in view.
Behind the next goal is just open hard standing. I'll bet some of the former Football League fans, who are now non-league in the Conference, weren't too complimentary about this!
Now behind the goal, we look back to the dugouts side.
Directly behind the goal I look down the pitch, trying to 'artily' capture the main stand through the netting.
Here we see the main stand side, & can see the terracing to the left of it.
Another peek at the dugouts side, past the goal.
And a shot down the full length of the tarmac end.
The last corner flag picture today!
And here we are, about to walk along the last side of Throstle Nest.
Another man with a camera. I wonder if the 'nonce police' had a word with him?
This is a decent stretch of terrace, I'd imagine this is a popular vantage point at Farsley matches.
And here we are, at last, arriving at the main stand.
The press area. That man was reporting for BBC Radio Leeds.
From up in the seats we look back to the cage, that is the players tunnel.
Now we turn & look along the rest of the stand.
And from up in the stand we look across to the covered end, where we started our tour.
A bit of action from the match.
Another look along the stand from near the end of it.
And looking down from this end we see the last part of the ground, hard standinf to the corner. The tea bar & clubhouse are on the left.
Pitchside again, we have another look at the covered end.
Before we look back at the main stand, with a few steps of terracing at this corner.
A very last look at the covered end, before it's time to leave.
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