Sandridge Rovers - Spencer Recreation Ground

Sandridge Rovers FC

Spencer Recreation Ground

High Street 

Sandridge

St Albans 

Hertfordshire

AL4 9DD

01727 835506

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Ground Number: 1168
Wednesday 5th April 2023
Sandridge Rovers 2-3 Cuffley
Herts Senior County Premier

SANDRIDGE ROVERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1896, playing in the Mid-Herts League for several decades. Facilities were spartan at first, but a move to their present ground in 1967 coincided with them being elected to the Herts Senior County League. Starting in Division 2, they made a flying start, winning Division 2 and then Division 1 in their first two seasons. Since 1969, they have enjoyed an unbroken spell as members of the Premier Division. Their best finishes came when they were champions four times - in 1982, 1983, 1988 and 1995. Their lowest finishes have been bottom in 1990 and 2013. Recent finishes have all been around 6th or 7th.

Sandridge Rovers do not qualify to play in the FA Cup. They have however had three campaigns in the FA Vase. The best progress came in 1987 as they overcame Rayners Lane 1-0 and then drew 2-2 at home to Rainham Town. They won the replay 3-2 only to lose 5-3 against Haringey Borough. The only County Cup success has been the Herts FA Intermediate Cup in 1982. Locally they've won the HSCL Sportsmanship Trophy in 1977, 1995 & 2002 as well as various honours in the Mid Herts League, some for their reserve team.

Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead, with a population of around 11,500. In 1939 the first Second World War secret Wireless Intercept Station was constructed by the GPO at the top of Woodcock Hill. It was the first of a group of stations dedicated to Diplomatic Interception with rows of radio operators listening to the wireless traffic between Germany, Italy, Tokyo and other enemy embassies around the world. Messages intercepted at Sandridge were sent to Bletchley Park for decryption. The results were vital to Winston Churchill who used the information to make important decisions about the course of the war. After the Second World War, it became part of the Diplomatic Wireless Service under GCHQ and in 1973 the site was taken over by the Home Office for police research.

MY VISIT

These games were decided on Sunday after discovering that my other hoppers were busy with other games at Berkhamsted and Arsenal. I wanted to keep it as local as possible to keep down costs but the nearest floodlit game at a new ground was AFC Portchester. Thankfully, it was finally 'silly season' time in abundance. This is 'hopper speak' for when clubs without floodlights can stage midweek games thanks to increased daylight. Tuesday included a few games in one of my local leagues, the Hertfordshire League. Bushey Rangers was my nearest and so that won out against the likes of Hinton, Ware Sports, Westmills and Allenburys Sports. For Wednesday it was an easy decision as I'd wanted to visit Sandridge Rovers for a while.

I'd been to a few football games since my last blog. Thursday saw me revisit Amersham Town for a St Mary's Cup game. It won out over a Holmer Green game and proved a great choice. Amersham beat Harpenden Town in a 5-4 thriller and it turned out to be one of the best games I've seen this season. On Saturday I went to my 925th game at Adams Park. Wycombe faced the footballing wart of Milton Keynes who we have not got the best record against. I predicted a draw and we got one, 2-2. The result was satisfactory but slightly disappointing. Then on Monday, I revisited Penn & Tylers Green for their Allied Counties game against Didcot Town. A warm welcome and good company in Colin & Martin awaited me as Didcot ran out 3-1 winners.

It was my day off as per usual on Tuesday. I finally sorted my car tyre which had a slow picture. It turned out to be a screw and was repairable for £27. This was a decent result and I was glad to get it sorted ahead of a weekend where I may be going some distance. I then dropped the car home and walked to town and back. On the way back, I had a stroke of luck. I found a discarded McDonald's cup with a 'winning sips' sticker. It turned out to be a £10 winner, so I claimed that before throwing the cup in the nearest bin. The afternoon was spent starting this blog and also planning future trips. I left at 5.30, but it turned out to be a wasted journey. I got to Bushey Rangers to find no activity despite the FA Full Time Website saying it was on. There was a poor mobile data signal, but it later transpired that the hosts had informed the league, ref, and opponents, that they couldn't raise a side. I don't blame them at all and they were friendly on Twitter. But the admin for the Herts Senior League is a bit sloppy, listing Baldock Town's home ground as a venue that they've not played at for a couple of years.

Instead, I headed back home for my second visit to Amersham Town in five days. Fellow hoppers Dan and Karl were there as landlords Amersham beat tenants London Tigers 4-2. It wasn't the greatest of games and London Tigers were actually hosts, but at least I was in good company. Fellow hopper Colin had a mare, twice falling asleep on the bus to Berkhamsted and ending up back where he started in Amersham. I was not so lucky with sleep. A good night Monday is inevitably followed by a crap one on Tuesday and I got around five hours of sleep. Luckily, that's enough for me, especially when I could have a later alarm, the roads being clearer for the school holidays. It was a fairly easy day at work and after coming home for half an hour, I set off at 5. Picking up Colin on the way, we got to Sandridge just after six. Dan was due to join us, but typically, he changed his mind around twenty minutes from kickoff and went to Biggleswade. It was a drizzly, chilly and dull evening, not exactly the scenes you associate with April. Martin also turned up and so I had good company for the second night in a row. There were 34 people watching overall.

Sandridge Rovers had won their last seven league games and sat 6th in the table. Their last game had seen them beat Colney Heath Reserves 4-0. They had three games in hand over Cuffley, who were a place and a point lower. They'd won their last two games 3-2 at Royston Town U23 and 2-1 at Hoddesdon Town Reserves, which was following a run of four straight defeats. The game kicked off early at 18:21 and that was just as well as it would turn out. Sandridge had the better of the opening period and they opened the scoring following a trip in the area on 32 minutes. Niall Lysaght stepped up and converted the penalty to give the hosts the lead. On 40 minutes, Jack McShane doubled the scoring, taking advantage of some hesitant defending to slot home. On the stroke of halftime, Cuffley reduced the arrears with an excellent shot from 25 yards into the top right-hand corner. The break was pretty swift, due to the diminishing light the linesman was banging on the Cuffley dressing room door, urging them to get a move on. The second half kicked off at 19:13 but was a bit less tame in terms of chances at first. It was getting pretty dark but on 72 minutes, Cuffley equalised, heading home a scrappy goal, Lysaght of Sandridge going into the sin bin in the process. Three minutes from time, Cuffley got the winner, a thunderous strike which flew into the net. The keeper was virtually unsighted what with the gloom. It was hard on Sandridge but it had been a good game to watch.

THE GROUND

The SPENCER RECREATION GROUND is a nice venue for the Herts League. As is typical at this level, there are no seats or floodlights. There's a rail and hard standing on three sides of the pitch, the other is where the cricket pitch. There is cover for around 20 people, thanks to the overhang from the club building. On the other side of this is a pleasant bar which has drinks, snacks, sports TV and a whole load of old photos of old teams. Overall, a club well worth a visit who has an excellent Twitter account to boot.