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    Matchgoing Gold

    Subsequent to the requests on other threads, the first report from seasons past.

    Hasn't taken too long at all, so should be able to get some more up.

    I would do another tonight but it is the Allotment Association AGM.

    #2
    Matchgoing Gold

    Saturday 6th September 2014

    March Town United Reserves 3 – 2 St Ives Rangers

    Newmarket Motor Company Cambridgeshire FA County League Division 1B

    This was a new copy of Groundtastic week, and the usual scan of the grounds/stands in danger was made. The only one required was the stand at March Town United. This coincided nicely with it being the last day of operations for First Capital Connect, so a trip to the fenlands was organised.

    The 0641 from Swindon to Paddington was had, for the underground round to Kings Cross, for the 0844 to Ely. Plan was , to visit the market at Ely for cheese, then get the train up to Downham Market for the guide pub at the station. The market was suitably visited, and rations obtained, but the plan was thwarted by the train to Kings Lynn having a Cat A SPAD, so was cancelled. A joyous extra hour was spent at Ely station before a packed unit was had to Downham.

    At the station, is a micro-pub, occupying the upside station buildings, with the barman doubling up serving behind the newsagents counter. The Railway Arms other noticeable feature is a model railway running around the ceiling.

    Due to being an hour down, there was no time to do the other guide pub in town, The Crown, so instead, the next unit was had to Kings Lynn.

    From previous visits to the speedway and football, it was known that Kings Lynn is a shithole. As brief a stop as possible was had, a necked pint at the guide Wetherspoon, before heading down to the quayside for the more acceptable Crown and Mitre. Here the ferry was had over to West Lynn.

    From here, the bus was had down to Wisbech, to clear the Red Lion. This is another strange town, previously visited for the old ground, but not in a rush to visit the new one. The bus was a Great Yarmouth to Peterborough service; four and a half hours on this.

    From Wisbech, another bus was had to March. The town is obsessed with entendre pub names,

    …and another…

    …even the beer.

    Clearing the Rose & Crown, and then yet another guide Wetherspoon, the Hippodrome, it was time to head for the main event. The object of the day was immediately noticeable.

    Strangely , the road and car park were rammed with cars, but the pay gates were devoid of prices and firmly shut, surely it couldn’t be a lock out?

    Obviously not as the usual luxury players entrance was wide open and the ground sparsely populated.

    The old stand dominates the ground. It was built in the mid 1920s, and whilst originally green, has enjoyed some vivid colour schemes https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccpub/10222099854/ . In the late 1960s, greyhound racing was introduced to the stadium, hence the odd looking control room to the left of the stand.

    The stand as it is today.

    The stand is now sponsored by Cambridgeshire’s premier supplier of chopped carrots and onions. A real half-arsed job has been made of the most recent painting.

    Seating is on benches, and whilst the wooden posts and floodlights are in the way, at least the grey hound track has gone.


    However, what luxury seating awaits the club officials………

    ……..well, a leather three piece suite, dumped in the old press area, with one sofa at 90 degrees to the pitch.

    On the far side is the ‘chicken shed’, with one lonely spectator bench….

    …..sun roof….

    ….inovative use of any scaffold coupling for the perimeter rail…..

    ….and an opportunity to make your own slogans. Junction? Workers? Arse?

    A new site for me was the away team having this set up, with a video camera on a tower, and one of the substitutes doing opta style stats on an I-Pad. At step 13? Whatever next.

    A good game with St Ives going 0-2 up in the first half, then March scoring 3 in the second half to take the game. Afterwards, more cock obsession was forewent……

    ……to visit the clubhouse. The Ground is known as the GER Sports Gorund, which stands for the Great Eastern Railway, for which March was a major junction, and employer.

    Once inside the club house, it was revealed why the car park was so busy. It was hosting Cambridgeshire v Lincolnshire Super League darts.

    It was a very professional set up, with the main stage being televised onto a big screen, and a number of practice boards.

    The outstanding item for me was this wonderful top. My ebay searches are still littered with “Elvis Hoodie” and “The King Fleece”. Still no luck finding one.

    I headed back to the station and whilst taking a picture of the signal box, the level crossing barriers came down, trapping me from the station entrance when my train was due.

    Fortunately, instead of it being my train, an EWS 66 rumbled into view on an engineer’s train, passing the Eastern region snow ploughs stored for summer.

    Clearing the level cross just in time……

    ….for me to make my way to the down platform. In the background is the entrance to the old Spalding line platforms. This line was one of the last to shut, in the mid 1980s. Whilst it is no real loss to passenger traffic, it does mean that container traffic from Felixstowe to the north has to travel along the East Coast Main Line. The line can’t re-open as Whitemoor Prison has been built across it, and it is easier to congest a main line than it is to move Charles Bronson.

    Ex Hull Trains 170 turned up on a Liverpool Street - Peterborough service.

    This was had to Whittlesea, another case of the station being spelt differently to the village of Whittlesey.

    Three guide pubs in the village, the George Hotel, Wanky sounding but ok Letter B, and the Boat Inn. Was quite a wander to do these there but walk back to the station was direct along the river. Station still has manual crossing gates and with long signal sections, I wanted to make sure I was the right side of the gates.

    With me safely on the right side of the barriers, the crossing keeper soon emerged to shut the gates…..

    ……as a train appeared in the other direction...

    …….and without reopening, the peg was pulled off…..
    ….and a One liveried 170 arrived to take me to Peterborough.

    The plan then was, for posterity, to take a First Capital Connect service to Kings Cross, but I couldn’t be arsed and instead an East Coast service was had, taking half the time, giving the opportunity to enjoy the Suffolk Farmhouse – Suffolk Gold, and for reasons I never recorded, a few bottles from Craddocks (of Stourbridge).

    Comment


      #3
      Matchgoing Gold

      Gold indeed

      Comment


        #4
        Matchgoing Gold

        The write your own slogan bit made me laugh out loud.

        Thank you for this BB&F!!!

        Comment


          #5
          Matchgoing Gold

          Lovely stuff, BB&F, thanks. My uncle used to operate a set of manual gates on the Sussex coast - long since gone, but treasured childhood memories of being allowed into the box to help press buttons etc. Rest assured this was all in line with health and safety regs of the time.

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            #6
            Matchgoing Gold

            Thanks again. Much pleasure was had reading this.

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              #7
              Matchgoing Gold

              This should be the standardised form for all match reports. It needs rolling out across the press stat.

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                #8
                Matchgoing Gold

                Our mate Lee has always, always brought cheese and cured meats on away trips, and I thought it was bizarre and unique behaviour. The more I learn, the more I realise I know nothing at all.

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                  #9
                  Matchgoing Gold

                  Great stuff BB&F. Thanks for taking the time to share this.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Matchgoing Gold

                    Fan-tastic. I bet there's a lot of journey planning on the Traveline site beforehand.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Matchgoing Gold

                      Kings Lynn takes a lot of stick on here - but as someone who split his time growing up between Liverpool and Kings Lynn, I like Lynn a lot. The town has many majestic buildings and some fine pubs. The locals may have six fingers but so what...

                      Other than that - that was a fine read.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Matchgoing Gold

                        Thanks BB&F! Much appreciated.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Matchgoing Gold

                          Good lord. A life well lived.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Matchgoing Gold

                            Brixham 1 v 4 Appledore

                            South West Peninsula League Dividion 1 East

                            30th August 2014

                            Brixham United had been a novelty in the Western League in the late seventies. 2014 saw their promotion back to senior non-league circles, and this time I was determined not to miss it (though being aged between 2 and 6 might have been an excuse the last time).

                            Travelling mob-handed, the usual inconvenient connection off the 0730 PAD-PNZ at Exeter, gave the usual opportunity for the stroll up the hill at St David’s, for Britain’s poshest Wetherspoon, the Imperial.

                            Eventually the all shacks sea wall service appeared. Identities have been protected in the style of readers wives/reverse burkha.

                            Unit was had to Teignmouth for the Brass Monkey, a St Austell pub but with full bodied Hicks on stick, then the Blue Anchor freehouse for something unrecorded.

                            Next move was the Teignmouth – Shaldon ferry, which markets itself as the words oldest ferry. It sails from the shingle beach at Teignmouth quay…..

                            ….avoiding the heavy shipping traffic.

                            ….to the shingle beach at Shaldon……

                            At Shaldon, the rather pretentious Clifford Arms and Shipwright Arms were had, before finishing, amongst much deliberation, at the third Guide pub, the Conservative Club. Awesome rolls at 50p, and Teignworthy Neap Tide, overcame any ideological differences.
                            Next move was the bus onto Torquay, rear seats had with the road climbing away from the Teign….

                            ….and then round Torbay. Notice Mad Dai is sporting perhaps the only Welsh Rugby League hooded top in existence.

                            Off at Torquay for the then guide Hole in the Wall. The token offering of a Bays Breaker was had, before the next ferry move, the more substantial Torbay-Brixham.

                            Arriving into Brixham, the football ground is predictable up the side of a cliff face, but does eventually offer up a road sign.

                            Whilst the entrance….

                            ….and clubhouse remained the same….

                            ….I was distraught to find these stands were no more. http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/brixham_united.html
                            Moving on, the surfing lifestyle had reach the officials uniform requirements.

                            Appledore had been members of the South West League since the late 1970s, before dropping down to the Devon County League in 1995, and then rejoining the senior set up with the formation of the South West Peninsula League in 2007.

                            If I’m honest, I didn’t record the sequence of scoring, only that it ended 1-4. Highlight was a players mother, who follishly made conversation with Mad Dai. Five minutes later, I turned back to find Dai giving a graphic description of how he once met Angela Rippon on a train back from Cornwall.

                            After the game, the hillside walk to the awesome local Quenns Arms was had, before a bus round the bay to Paignton, for a connection onto the gold service to Totnes.
                            Here, a quick stop at the Seven Stars was had before fish and chips at the Silver Grill, enjoyed at the station.

                            On the train, Dai announced that his phone contract was shortly up, so this could be the end of his legendary white tiger phone cover.

                            Engineering work meant the other got off at Taunton, whilst I continued back to Reading. Good news was that FGW stocked proper job, whilst a Little Stinky was obtained earlier in Teignmouth.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Matchgoing Gold

                              Britain’s poshest Wetherspoon, the Imperial.
                              My parents had their wedding reception in there. In 1967, when it was, you know, The Imperial, not a Wetherspoon.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Matchgoing Gold

                                Appledore's a real place? I always thought it was a village in an Enid Blyton book.

                                I'm disappointed to realise that Mad Dai is certainly not the absolutely normal Dai I knew during my first year at Birmingham - a Physics student. I was sort of hoping he'd become Mad and a groundhopper to boot. Would love more graphic details of the Esther Rantzen on a train story.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Matchgoing Gold

                                  The readers wives/reverse burkha disguises are wonderful touch.

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