Sandhurst Town - Bottom Meadow

Sandhurst Town FC

Bottom Meadow
Yorktown Road
Sandhurst
Berkshire
GU47 9BJ

01252 878768
Official Website
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Ground Number: 376
Saturday 5th July 2014
Sandhurst Town 2-4 Farnborough
Friendly

SANDHURST TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Sandhurst Town FC was established in 1910. Their formative years were spent playing in local leagues. These were the Reading & District where they were Division 1 champions in 1933 and Premier Division champions in 1934, the  East Berkshire League and the Aldershot & District where they were Division 1 champions in 1981. After success in the latter, they were invited to join the Chiltonian League as founder members in 1984. Their best finish here was when they finished as runners-up to Coopers Payen in 1987. In 1990, the club were granted senior status and was accepted into the Combined Counties League. Whilst the league was just one division, their best finish of 6th came in 2003, just before it expanded to two tiers. Sandhurst Town would go on to finish 5th for the next two seasons in the Premier Division, this remains their best effort so far. They remained in the top tier until 2013 when they were relegated to Division 1. Tricky times were ahead, dropping as low as rock-bottom of the Step 6 league in 2015 but getting a reprieve. A couple of seasons were spent in the Hellenic D1 East and the club would stay at this level until 2023 when they were Combined Counties League Division 1 champions. Last season saw a respectable 10th-place finish in the Combined Counties Premier South.

 

The club's best-ever FA Cup run came in 2004 when they beat Southwick & Bracknell Town before losing to Leatherhead in the 2nd Qualifying Round. This year also saw their best FA Vase run as they beat Ash United, Reading Town & Miltion United before defeat at AFC Newbury in the 3rd Round. In 2011 they beat Wembley F.C. 1–0 at Farnborough to lift the EL Records Premier Challenge Cup. Other cup wins include four Yateley & District Hospital Cups, two Aldershot FA Senior Cups, the Southern Combination Cup in 2003, the Aldershot & District League Division 1 Cup in 1981, the Eric Perrin Silver Plate in 1998, the Fripp- Smith Trophy in 2021 and three Ascot & District Charity Cups. The club had the honour of being AFC Wimbledon's first ever competitive opponent when in August 2002, 2,449 fans squeezed into the then stand-less ground for a match in which the Wombles won 2-1, which remains their record attendance. The club explains its unusual nickname of 'The Fizzers', and it is unclear if the two are related. One explanation states that it derives from a Friendly Insurance Society (F.I.S.) set up in Sandhurst in 1933. The club alternatively state that the nickname originates from their supporters standing behind an opposing team's goal and shouting "Fizz Fizz Bang!" when the ball went into the net, though no explanation is given for why they would have done so.

The first ground used by the club was a field adjacent to the Bull & Butcher Public House, which was used as the club headquarters. After a few years, a move was made to the Memorial Park where the club remained until the 1996 close season apart from a couple of seasons during the 1950s spent on a nearby pitch in St John's Road. The introduction of the National Lottery prompted an immediate bid for funding to build a new ground in Bottom Meadow adjacent to the Memorial Park. The new facilities opened in August 1997 at a cost of £265,000. The ground is totally enclosed with a perimeter fence and contains a boardroom/changing rooms complex, floodlights, covered accommodation, hardstanding and a post and rail barrier around the pitch. In 2005, a 108-seater stand was added and then in 2023, the ground was given a revamp and a 3G pitch conversion. This was following the 2022–23 season when Sandhurst hit the national headlines as they were forced to play 10 games in 13 days following a wet winter which had seen many games postponed. The FA insisted that all leagues were to be completed by the end of April. Winning eight out of the ten games enabled them to clinch the Combined Counties League Division One title.

Sandhurst is a town and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough in Berkshire. It is in the southeastern corner of Berkshire and is situated 32 miles west-southwest of central London, 2.5 miles northwest of Camberley and 5 miles  south of Bracknell. Sandhurst is known worldwide as the location of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (often referred to simply as "Sandhurst", "The Academy" or "The RMA"). It has a population of just over 20,000. Greg Davies, the actor and comedian, was an English & Drama teacher at Sandhurst School in the 1990s.

MY FIRST VISIT

Initially, this was supposed to be my third game this season, but Horndean v Clanfield was called off and so this would be my second game of the season, having gone to a game in Lincoln last night. I'd left it till midweek to decide my destination. I decided that if Anwar came, we would go to Bugbrooke St Michaels, a team in the United Counties League who were playing Bedford Town. If not I would go to Sandhurst Town v Farnborough, a 40-minute drive away in Berkshire. Anwar had decided to take his lad to Hillingdon Borough v Metropolitan Police as he wanted to catch me up on the Spartan South Midlands League. After going to bed at 4am on Friday night after a few drinks and starting my blog from last night. I only had 6 hours of sleep, waking at 10 and finishing off my blog before having a bath and getting some breakfast. 

Before I set off for Sandhurst I stopped at Morrisons as I had a £5 Voucher for fruit and veg. That was nice, getting some free cherries and grapes, but what was an utter pain in the arse was the self-service checkouts. They must be the worst ever, needing to be wet nursed every 10 seconds and then the staff take ages to come. I feel sorry for them to be honest, as annoying as it is to be kept waiting 7 minutes as understaffing and shite checkouts is due to the management. After a slow journey out of Wycombe, it was a good journey. I arrived in Sandhurst at 1.40 and took the mile walk into town. The pub of my choosing was fantastic - the Rose and Crown allowed me to try a new cider which was delicious. By 2.15 that was down the hatch and so I made my way back to the ground. Arriving at 2.35 it was a bit tricky finding the football ground in the massive sports complex, but 10 minutes later I was in. A fiver entry was a fair price, but no programme was a letdown, but that was fully redeemed by offering free copies of last season's ones in the bar. There was not much of a selection cider-wise here, only Bulmers, so I made do with a Sausage Roll for a quid and ate that before starting my blog to kill time before kick-off.

Farnborough dominated the early stages but around about 20 minutes Sandhurst had a bit of a spell. It did them no good, however, as Farnborough broke, went down the other end and scored through Matt Ball. 2 minutes later it was all square as Sandhurst's number 9 poked in from close range. Word in the stand was that there were a few Brazilians in the Farnborough team. On 38 minutes, Farnborough's number 10 did the Brazilian bit with a mazy dribble around the keeper but his finish was poor, missing an open goal. Sandhurst punished this, taking the lead on 40 minutes when their number 3 fired into the roof of the net. Farnborough looked to get back into it and forced a good save out of the Sandhurst keeper but the hosts remained ahead at the break. To my surprise, Anwar turned up at half-time. His game had been moved to another pitch and he had decided to come to this time along with a couple of Wycombe fans - Chris and CJ. It was a welcome surprise and I agreed to give him and his son Hicham a lift back to Wycombe station. Farnborough equalised ten minutes into the second half when a horrible mistake from the Sandhurst keeper gifted them a goal as the ball went straight through him. He redeemed himself around 15 minutes later as a great save prevented Farnborough from taking the lead. the visitors got the winner on 90 minutes with a comical own goal. The keeper rolled the ball out to the number 2 who in turn whacked it back over the keeper's head, leaving him stranded. They added a 4th in injury time with a great shot from outside the area to cap off a decent comeback.

MY SECOND VISIT

0-7 v Hartley Wintney, Friendly (05/07/24)

As much as I love Friday night football, I didn't think that there was much available for this date. My nearest new ground was Colden Common, over a 150-mile round trip away. For a pre-season friendly, I didn't fancy going that far and fighting the Friday night rush hour. I also couldn't think of too much to include in another blog with my trip to Ledbury Town on Saturday. My nearest revisit was Sandhurst Town. It seemed a bit of a waste with it being a 3G pich and the weather being nice. However, when I checked my blog, it was precisely ten years to the day of my initial visit. a coincidence like that had me hooked. Added to that, I could eat at home and save money on food. Tickets were also great value and it would be a nice chance to get fresh pictures of the ground which had been given a revamp. I got my ticket on Friday afternoon for the excellent price of £4, saving £1 on the gate price.

Colin made a last-minute decision to come with me, so much so that I was on my way when he messaged. Despite a change of government, it was the same old vile weather, in complete contrast to ten years ago when we had summer. We listened to the Germany v Spain match on the radio, 1-1 when we got to the ground at 7.15. We had to park quite a way away and an umbrella was needed. Colin got some pricey chips at £4 and we went in the bar. Inch's, not my favourite cider was reasonable at £4.50 but I decided against it.

The game was only a couple of minutes old when Hartley Wintney took the lead through a penalty. It was all the way of the visitors and the Bracknell keeper had already made a number of great saves when a well-worked move and low shot into the bottom corner on 10 minutes made it 2-0. It was then 3-0 after 20 when a low ball from the right was converted, then 4-0 on 23 minutes, a similar move from the other flank. That was it until halftime. It was a much-changed side for the visitors in the second half. Even so, it was 5-0 on the hour mark. It was 6-0 on 65 minutes, the best so far. A good run down the left and a curling shot into the corner from out wide. Seven minutes from time, it was 7-0, a low shot from the edge of the area into the bottom right corner. That was it in a rather one-sided game, no scorer details were released on the evening of the game.

THE GROUND - 2014

BOTTOM MEADOW is a fairly basic ground but is in pleasant parkland surroundings. There is just the one stand, holding around 100, though there is further cover at the clubhouse end. The clubhouse itself is nicely decorated but only offers a basic range of drinks. The town is around a mile away and is well worth a visit for the Rose and Crown pub.

 

THE GROUND - 2024

THE SB GROUP STADIUM had completely changed since my last visit. The only thing that remained was the old club building and that had an extension added to it. The bar was smart but quite small and had at the back of it. There is a decent-sized terrace next to it, at the back of this is a tea bar which offers a reasonable range. There are two seated stands, these hold around 300 between them. The rest of the ground is open, though a base exists for a new stand in situ. The ground, despite being in Sandhurst, is primarily Bracknell Town's. The colour scheme is fairly neutral, giving it a smart but cold look. No merchandise was available on my visit and the parking was limited at the ground.