Saturday, 11 March 2023

Yateley United - Sean Devereux Park


Yateley United FC 
Sean Devereux Park
Chandlers Lane
Yateley 
Hampshire
GU46 7SS







Ground Number: 1153
Saturday 11th February 2023
Yateley United 2-2 Burghfield (4-2 pens)
Thames Valley League Cup Quarter Final








YATELEY UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club played only friendly games at first. There had been a club called Yateley & Eversley prior to this as well, but the official formation date is given as 1902, and was called Yateley FC. They played in local leagues at first, such as the Aldershot Junior League & the Surrey Senior League. By 1978, they had changed their name to Yateley Town. That year, they were founder members of the Combined Counties League, which was known as the Home Counties League for the first year of its existence. Their debut season of 9th was their best finish, but after struggling for a few seasons, they left in 1984. There was then a split in the club, with the spin-off club Yateley Green being the most prominent. They won the Aldershot Senior League Division 1 in 1995 and joined the Hampshire League. Starting in Division 3, a 5th place finish in their first season was good enough for promotion. A 4th place finish in Division 2 was a decent start; by 1999, reorganization saw them placed in Division 1. However, they struggled and in 2003 were relegated to Division 2 after finishing bottom of the table. They spent one season here before becoming founder members of the newly formed Wessex League Division 3. Again, they found things difficult and finished bottom before leaving the league.


Yateley Green would return to local football and the Aldershot Senior League along with the other Yateley clubs. Town won it in 2003 and Green won it in 2011. In 2012, they joined the Surrey Elite Intermediate League, becoming champions in their first season. The following year,  four Yateley-based clubs - Beaulieu FC, Yateley Green AFC, Yateley FC, and Yateley FC Youth - merged to form a single club. They carried on where Green had left off but did not kick on. By 2017 after a few disappointing seasons, they switched to the Surrey County Intermediate League (West). They finished 8th in their only season here before moving to the Hellenic League Division 2. Yateley finished 5th in the East Division in their first season. Their best form sadly coincided with the Coronavirus pandemic so they never knew what might have been. The club switched to the Thames  Valley Premier League in 2021, finishing 3rd in their debut season and remaining there to this day.


Due to a lack of facilities, the club are yet to compete in the FA Cup or FA Vase. Locally they won the Aldershot Senior Cup in 1986. The club plays at Sean Devereux Park, which has seen recent significant redevelopment. Whilst it was being done up, they played at Cody Sports & Social Club in Farnborough, Cove FC & Sandhurst Town for a couple of years. The town of Yateley is located in Hampshire and has a population of around 20,000. Cricket is also played in the town, the cricket field is on the same complex as the football. Sean Devereux Park was named after a British Salesian missionary and aid worker murdered in Kismayo, Somalia in 1993 while working for UNICEF. He was fatally shot in the back of the head by a lone hired gunman while walking near the UNICEF compound on Saturday, 2 January 1993, aged 28. Other famous people with links to the area include footballer Jed Wallace. In 2011 Hart district was named the UK's most desirable place to live, and Yateley was mentioned in a BBC News article as one of the towns within the district.


MY VISIT

This weekend was planned back in January whilst I was in the pub pre Wycombe Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday. We lost that day, which may have proved to be an omen for this trip. Having seen a lot of people visiting Hucknall and being impressed, I put a plan in motion to pay them a visit myself. I remember it as being good for pubs, so I wanted to do it by public transport. I booked the Flixbus from Finchley Road to Nottingham for a fiver each way and assumed that by mid-March that we would be enjoying the start of spring. This proved to be far from the case with freezing temperatures and snow predicted in the week leading up to the game. I would have to play it by ear, but at least I'd not be losing much money unlike if I'd opted for the train.


It was a disappointing result on Saturday for Wycombe as they drew 1-1 against Exeter. Sunday was as dreadful as ever with a packed store and lots of screaming children at work. Monday wasn't much better as I'd spent a couple of days on my old department with all the frustration that it brought. There was at least some positive news as thanks to a very helpful person on Twitter, I was able to procure a Slovakia v Bosnia ticket for a few weeks' time. I'd initially had a bit of trouble as it was geo-restricted due to Bosnia fans misbehaving at a previous game. I was grateful that a complete stranger had gone out of their way to help me as I might have had to miss out.

It was a week of further revisits for me. Monday saw me walk up to my second most local club Penn & Tylers Green for their Allied Counties Youth League game against Slough Town, It was a comprehensive 6-1 win for the visitors with the fifth being a cracking strike. Tuesday was far better at Wycombe as we beat Fleetwood 2-0. It was the usual pre-match routine and generally just an enjoyable evening out. I was supposed to make another visit to Holmer Green on Thursday night, however, their Allied Counties League game against Didcot Town was off due to a waterlogged pitch. It became increasingly apparent on Friday that my trip to Nottingham would not be going ahead. Games were falling up there and with Friday night games off due to snowbound pitches and the whole of the Leicestershire Senior League programme cancelled, I had a strong feeling it would be a fruitless journey. I spent Friday night researching the history of Baldock Town FC, which took far longer than expected. This turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, not that that would become apparent until the next morning.


There was some confusion over the kickoff - Apsley Argyle and FA Full Time said 15:00 whilst Baldock Town's Twitter said 14:00. The hosts later confirmed 15:00 but I was gonna get there with time to spare if possible. Either time would have suited me fine - later and I'd have more time in the morning before leaving, earlier and I could go and watch the second half at Arlesey, a ground I'd really like to revisit. There turned out to be even more confusion, as when I awoke in the morning, I found that the game had been 'moved' to a local leisure centre. It turned out they don't actually play at the Arena and the FA Full Time site, not for the first time, turned out to be completely hopeless. Not the club's fault, but the Football Traveller and Apsley Argyle's Twitter had repeated the 'lie' before the latter corrected themselves when I checked again. I considered something in the Middlesex League and Roffey but eventually settled on Yateley United. I'd tried to visit them on 26th November, but opponents Wraysbury pulled out on the day of the game. Another attempt was made on 21st January, but this time, a frozen pitch called the game off whilst I was on the way to the game against Wargrave.


This time, it was a Thames Valley League Cup game, interestingly, since my first attempt, they'd only managed four home games. I awoke around 7 on the day of the game and took a couple of hours pottering about and trying to decide where to go. I walked down to Lidl to give me time to think, picking up a few bits and getting the bus home. As ever on a walk, it gave me time to think and that was when I settled upon Yateley. Shortly after I got back at 12, it was confirmed as game on, not that it had prevented it from being called off last time. I had a bratwurst baguette before leaving and continued to listen to the BBC 3CR Non-League show on the way to the game. I left later than I hoped, around 12.50. I used Waze to get me to the game and it coped well, aside from a wait at a level crossing. I was there by 1.55 and initially thought I'd had a wasted journey when there was no activity. However, that turned out to be the second pitch and the game was fine. I had a quick look around and purchased a programme for £1 before settling down to watch the game.

In terms of league position, it was 1st v 3rd, hosts Yateley having an unblemished record and visitors Burghfield also doing well. The sides had only met a couple of weeks ago, Yateley United beating Burghfield in a 4-3 thriller. To get this far, the hosts had beaten Wargrave 2-0 whilst Burghfield had won 3-0 at Woodley United Royals and 5-0 at Maidenhead Town. It was a fairly even start, before Yateley United hit the post after five minutes. The hosts took the lead after 11 minutes, lines not cleared allowed Charlie Westell to rifle home from the edge of the area. Burghfield had a good spell but Yateley defended well. It was 1-1 on 26 minutes when a corner from the left was headed home by Teo Atik. Two minutes later, Yateley retook the lead, a cross was only partially cleared before being gratefully poked home by Westell for his and his teams' second. It was becoming a keenly competed game with some hard tackles going in. Burghfield forced a series of corners but it came to nothing. They did manage to equalise right on halftime. Pinball in the area led to  Ollie Brown poking home from inside the area. The second half saw Burghfield make a bright start but there were fewer chances in the second period. It went to a penalty shootout and although the visitors had put up a brave resistance, the hosts triumphed 4-2 from the spot.

It had been a great game and the majority of the 80 or so crowd went home happy. I had enjoyed the day out, but elsewhere, it had been a day of frustration. Fellow hopper Anwar had got a lift to Heacham, a distant ground that I'd have loved to do. To be fair to him, he like me, had been under the impression that I'd be off to Baldock. There was also bad news on the Wycombe front. I listened to the second half as they went down 2-1 at ten-man Burton Albion, a lame performance according to those that went. I'd been hoping to get a second game, possibly a second half somewhere but by the time I left Yately at 4.10, it was pointless. I also passed up the chance of a revisit to Edgware & Kingsbury as it was way off route. Instead, I got in at 5.15, had a few drinks and also had steak and chips for dinner. No Match Of The Day for me, due to the BBC's disgraceful treatment of national treasure Gary Lineker. He'd been suspended for criticizing government policy. A load of other presenters walked out in solidarity and so the Beeb's flagship football show was reduced to a twenty-minute afterthought.


THE GROUND

SEAN DEVEREUX PARK is a huge sports complex amongst other things and so there is plenty of parking. It is also quite isolated from what I saw. The facilities at the ground are decent, a smart bar, though nothing special on the cider front. They also do food, but I didn't sample it. A good programme is also available for most games. As for the ground, it is fully railed and there is hard standing on two sides. It is open aside from a stand under construction that will being their seating capacity up to step six standard. Floodlights are due to be put in by October. All in all, a good place to visit and I think they will do themselves proud at a higher level. The club are welcoming and helpful on Twitter for any visitors.

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