Lutterworth Town - Dunley Way

Lutterworth Town FC
Kong Park
Dunley Way
Lutterworth
Leicestershire
LE17 4NP

Official Website
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Ground Number: 832
Tuesday 26th February 2019
Lutterworth Town 1-1 Bugbrooke St Michaels
United Counties Premier







LUTTERWORTH TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club appears to have been formed in the early 1920s as their first playing records were of them playing in the Lutterworth & District League around that time. They progressed to the Leicester & District, Rugby Junior and Leicester City leagues, winning titles in each. 1955 saw Lutterworth Town make the step up to the Leicestershire Senior League. Starting in Division 2, they would yo-yo between here and Division 1 for the next 30 years until in 1985 they won promotion to the Premier Division for the first time. Lutterworth Town were champions in 1991. The club was relegated to Division 1 in 1995 and aside from a three-season spell back in the Premier between 1997 - 2000, remained there until 2016. That year, after finishing in 3rd place behind Shelthorpe Dynamo and NKF Burbage, they were promoted back to the Premier Division after walking to the title, remaining unbeaten and winning 25 out of their 26 league games. With the appropriate ground now in place, Lutterworth Town were promoted to the United Counties League D1, finishing a credible 3rd in their first season, just three points short of a promotion place.  This season has seen another good showing with the team sitting 2nd at the time of the game.

Lutterworth Town entered the FA Cup for the first time this season, beating Heanor Town before going out 3-0 at Staveley Miners Welfare in the Preliminary Round.  In the FA Vase, their best progress has been the 1st Round, most recently last season when they beat Friar Lane & Epworth and  Teversal prior to a 3-2 home defeat to Coventry United. Local cup wins include the Harborough Charity Cup (three times), the Lutterworth Charity Cup (three times) and Leicestershire & Rutland Senior Cup in 1990. The town of Lutterworth has a population of just over 9,300 according to the 2011 census and is known for Frank Whittle inventing the jet engine in the town in the 1930s and 1940s.



MY VISIT

Originally, on this Tuesday, I'd been hoping to use the train and visit May & Baker for their game against Hackney Wick. I signalled my intention to do so on Twitter on Sunday only to be informed by the away team that the game had been moved to Barking, a ground that I'd visited less than three years ago. Luckily, I had a list of backups and so quickly it was decided between me and fellow hopper Anwar that we would do our nearest unticked ground in Lutterworth Town. It would be my 100th game of the season - although this had been my slowest season since 2013/14 in terms of reaching three figures. One disappointing aspect of the journey was the food choices on offer. My previous experiences in Lutterworth had included a lazy Morrisons cafe that shut early and a mediocre and pricey curry. When I looked on Google, the limited offerings that were open at the time of my visit had lukewarm reviews, so I opted for a chippy and Chinese located close together in the hope that the competition would cause them to buck their ideas up.



The day of the game came and it was a pretty standard day off for me. A good nights sleep was followed by breakfast and a bath, followed by a walk down town. The afternoon was spent sorting out photos and tidying up some blogs of games that I have been to on this day in previous years. I also continued my ever-frustrating search for a 'new' car - one that I fancied but was told had been sold over the phone was still listed. I did contact the garage via email, but just like the last time, was met by a wall of silence. My internet was also unreliable just before I left, so I gave up and left slightly early, topping up with fuel before getting to Aylesbury at 5 to meet Anwar. We had to go cross country to avoid delays, but generally, it was a good journey and we got to Lutterworth at 6.40. The Great Wall Chinese was our dinner place, sausage and salt and chilli chips were had for £4.20. We then drove the 10 minutes to the ground but had to park outside as the car park was full. Entry was £5 and a programme from the original game was £1, the original date being 2nd February when the country was in the grip of poor weather, a far cry from the mild conditions of today. I saw Groundhop UK’s Chris Berezai at the game and also chatted to a couple of friendly people from Lutterworth Town as I awaited kick off.



Both teams were in good form. Lutterworth Town's only defeat in 9 games was at league leaders Anstey Nomads and included a 3-3 draw in the reverse game of tonight's fixture. Bugbrooke's form was not quite as good, but still decent and included a recent 9-0 win over Northampton Sileby Rangers. It was the hosts who started the brightest, having a number of chances early on. Bugbrooke soon got back into a very physical game, a Lutterworth man getting a booking for a heavy tackle that saw his opponent need treatment from the physio. Lutterworth had a goal disallowed for offside but the finishing was generally wayward and it was goalless at the break. The dodgy shooting continued after the break but finally, a bit of quality saw Lutterworth take the lead. There are no details online of the home lineup, but their number 9 controlled well, showed some great footwork and laid the ball off for his fellow player who drilled home into the bottom left-hand corner from just outside the area. Both sides had chances to score but Bugbrooke gave it a real go towards the end. They got their reward on 88 minuted when Daniel Quigley headed home firmly from a corner. This prompted wild celebrations amongst the visiting side and although Lutterworth had the better of the game, Bugbrooke never gave up. We left the game at 9.40 and had a good run home with me dropping Anwar off at 10.50. I got home myself at 11.15 and although I went to bed just before midnight it took me ages to get to sleep and so I was tired after a work shift at 4 am tomorrow.



THE GROUND

DUNLEY WAY or The KONG STADIUM as its known for sponsorship purposes is a smart stadium. There's a really nice wooden stand with seating for around 50 and also a less attractive metal stand holding around the same amount. The rest of the ground is open hard standing, though behind the far goal is out of bounds to spectators. There's a tea bar and bar at the ground, though I didn't use either. Around the corner is a chip shop and convenience store or the town is around a mile away. I didn't see any merchandise, but the programme was well presented and had plenty of stats, but little reading material for the £1 asking price.