Leatherhead

I've always liked going to Leatherhead. It's a reasonable ground, with most of the facilities down one side.

These photos are from my visit there last season, on Easter Monday.

Like the Hamlet, we are both a pale shadow of more illustrious times in our past, and while I don't think either clubs like 'languishing' in Division One South of the Isthmian League, we can both take comfort in the fact that we try to live withing our means, & are surviving.




This is the sign to rhe ground, & adjacent leisure centre, from the main road.



Here is the match poster.



These are the turnstiles, from inside the ground.



As we enter we are in one of the corners.



We're going to stroll round Fetcham Grove clockwise. Here we see the covered terrace behind the goal.



Good modern cover, and subtantial enough steps.



Home graffiti, as we look across the pitch.



From here we look to our right, and the main side of the ground.



Along the opposite touchline it is open, with the dugouts in the centre.



Basic hard standing, and slight grass banking.



From this corner we also look back to the covered end.



And again, from the side, with some of the covered terrace opposite in shot.



Here we continue along the open side, towards the far end.



From behind the dugouts, in the centre, we look across to the main stand.



Continuing along we can see the far end, not covered.



Before we go there we look back down the open side, with a Hamlet fan 'playing up' to my camera!



Now wer'e going behind the goal, open as we saw, but with a couple of steps of terrace behind the goal.



From this corner we look over to the main stand, on the far side.



Here is the terracing behind this goal.



Another look over to the dugouts, with the pylons in full shot.



A little bit of action, with the stand as a backdrop.



Behind the goal is this 'emergency exit', which is in use a lot, as the ball get kicked over the low fences.



Here is the Leatherhead keeper, who at one stage jumped over to try to retrieve the ball himself!



From the next corner we glance back to the open terrace at this end.



As we turn the corner we see an area of covered terrace.



Despite it's ramshackle look, i do like this side of the ground. It has 'character'!



From here we look back behind the goal again.



And as we move along we reach the seated area, with the 'patio' behind the bar immediately tucked at the back!



The seating continues as we move along.



It is a bit strange, in that it's divided up into little sections.



It's almost like lots of little stands, roofed over to make one!



From the centre we look across to the dugouts, as the second half is about to start.



The 'posh bit' for officials!



We're finally at the end of the seated area,press box at the back.



Before we move on, time to look back down the seats.



A couple of loyal Hamlet fans, Tony & Richard, pose for the camera!



This is the area behind the stand, various buildings, with the bar at the far end.



The tea bar, also behind this covered side, is busy at half time.



Now wer'e back 'ground side', for the final stretch, which is more covered terracing.



From this terracing we look over to the more recent covered terrace, behind the end where we started our tour.



Here we view it from a side angle.



We finish by looking back down the side, with the terracing prominent.





One last picture, of another poster displayed outside... cheekily covered over by local Kingstonian fans! ;-)

02 Arena

The 02 Arena is a multi-purpose venue, which I've only been to once. This was for a basketball match on 6th September 2008, for a Great Britain versus the Czech Republic, in a Group D Eurobasket 2009 qualifier. Team GB, an expression I hate, won 87-68.

As I say this was my first, & only visit to the 02, which also stages other sports such as boxing & ice hockey, but for the purpose of this posting I am filing under 'basketball', as this will be the main basketball venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

It was enjoyable enough, as I was with a fellow Dulwich Hamlet fan, Larry, who is a basketball fan, & who got me the ticket, so I could ask him about anything I didn't understand.



The match is advertised on the electronic hoardings outside.



A decent crowd outside, they published the attendance as exactly 7,000.



More advertising the match.



The way in was through here.



As someone who'd not been to the 02 before I was taking a keen interest in the design of this so called 'white elephant'.



I seemed to like these globes!



Another view of the roof, from inside the concourses.



And here we are inside the arena itself. clearly nothing like a full house, but I was surprised by the size of the crowd. This section was to the left of my seats.



Here I am behind an 'end', during an interval.



And, from the same vantage point, we look over to the section I was in.
At this point some jobsworth steward told me to stop taking photos, I asked him what his problem was, as I couldn't see any signs prohibiting it. He then told me to give him my camera, & then grabbed my arm as I walked off! I told him to let or or I'd have him for assault, & then as he was still being bloody rude to me, let forth with a stream of expletives, & told him to call his boss! Which he didn't!



Here I am back in my seat, looking over to the national flags at the other end.



Another shot of the arena.



How on earth do dancers provide entertainment at the breaks. Does anyone actually watch them? Just what is the point of this 'Americanised family entertainment?'



'Deng' is the big star of the Great Britain team, none other than Luol Deng, who plays in the NBL for Chicago Bulls.



A little bit of the action.



More of the game, with the far side, and scoreboard, in view.



I have no idea who 'Cabourn 66' is, but it's not the bloke who was Minister of Sport sitting in front of me! ;-)



One last look across the arena, at the end of the game.



And I know it's part of 'modern arena' but I can't stand this type of annoying advertising!