Larkspur Rovers - Lord Halsbury Memorial Playing Fields

Larkspur Rovers FC

Lord Halsbury Memorial Playing Fields

Priors Farm Lane 

Northolt 

Middlesex

UB5 5FE

07383 965181

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Ground Number: 1304
Wednesday 1st May 2024

Larkspur Rovers 1-5 Pitshanger Dynamo
Middlesex County Premier

LARKSPUR ROVERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1950 and is based in Northolt in Middlesex. Larkspur Rovers F.C. derived its name from two road names near to where its founder lived; Larks Road and Spur Road and he created the club logo to signify both the Lark and the Larkspur (Delphinium). The black and white stripes are the Club’s colours and the three swords in the fourth panel (a modernisation introduced at the turn of the 1970s) derive from the Heraldic crest of Middlesex. They are primarily a youth side and have teams from under 4's up to the open age team. They started as an Under 15's side, playing friendlies at first before joining the Ealing Youth League where they stayed for nine years. A second team started in 1962. Club founder Herbert Hern was made president of the Club while his son Trevor Hern became Secretary and Manager of the First Team. The team joined the Dauntless League which later merged with the Uxbridge and District League and later became the West Middlesex Combination. In the 1970's  Larkspur acquired a permanent home in Rowdell Road, where its Clubhouse remains to the day but the first team plays at the Lord Halsbury Memorial Playing Fields. They have played in the Middlesex Counnty League since 2014 and they won Division 2 in their debut season. They remained in Division 1 West until 2018 when they won that league. The club finished 4th & 3rd in the two interrupted seasons, last season's 5th place finish was their best in terms of completed seasons.

Northolt is a town in West London, spread across both sides of the A40. It is 11 miles northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at the 2011 UK census. The Grand Union Canal from Hayes to Paddington passes through Northolt, opening on 10 July 1801. The Great Central Railway Line (now the Chiltern Line) opened in 1906, passing through Northolt on its way from Marylebone to High Wycombe. However, it wasn't until 1926 that a station opened at Northolt Park. Jimmy Canning, The IRA member, lived undercover in Northolt from 1991 to 1993; he had wooed local Audrey Lamb and moved into her house at 15 Islip Gardens, using it as a weapons and bomb storage depôt. He and Lamb were arrested in 1992 following police surveillance.Steve Perryman, footballer with Tottenham Hotspur, was born in Ealing and grew up in Northolt. A faux documentary titled Ghostwatch, broadcast on Halloween in 1992, was filmed in Northolt. It was the tale of a single mother haunted in her Northolt home by a mysterious figure called "Pipes".

MY VISIT

Larkspur Rovers had been on my hit list for a while as it was near where I was born at the now-defunct Perivale Hospital, right near Hanwell Town FC. In terms of home up until I was five, although I was not into football for many more years, I lived not far from Viking Sports FC, later Viking Greenford which suffered financial problems before dissolving in 2003. The ground was later used by London Tigers when they played semi-pro football before they led a nomadic existence, eventually dropping down to step 7. I did have connections with Northolt too as it's where my Dad worked, ironically in Rowdell Road where Larkspur Rovers are listed as having some premises on. At Gallaher, a tobacco manufacturing firm which later decamped to the Hoover Building, I went to 'help' my Dad on some Sundays, although in truth it was just an excuse to take advantage of the drinks machine, canteen and any freebies I could wangle. I remember my 'pay' being packets of Mexico 86 football stickers, long before I liked football. The security guard seemed to have a cushy job that appeared to be watching TV all day while occasionally letting people through the entrance. I would later sell the completed album in the early days of eBay, netting a tidy sum of around £40 but not as much as I'd have got had I waited until the modern day and listed it properly.

I had seen several other hoppers visit and it looked like a decent venue with a club sign. It was only a short drive away and so I pencilled in a visit for the 1st May. I chose Pitshanger Dynamo as the opponent as they had a fairly reliable Twitter compared to the sporadic updates from Larkspur Rovers. I did all my research on Monday night, this was harder as the FCHD did not have any information. But with the use of the Internet Wayback Machine for some information from an old version of the club website and the modern-day Middlesex County League page, I was able to put a few bits together. Originally, I planned to visit the Greenwood Hotel, a Wetherspoons in Greenford. However, I soon shelved this when I realised it was a 35-minute walk away. I did pencil in a visit to the Sun-Wah Chinese takeaway but with fellow hopper Colin low on money and likely to take his own food, I might not even bother with that. Indeed, I opted to take my own food in the end, some chicken wings as it was pointless getting a takeaway on my own and it wasn't the best for parking.

The day of the game came and I'd not had the best nights sleep as is often the case after a day off. Work went like a breeze and I was out by 12. I got a huge tray of chicken wings which did me for lunch, taking to football and some in the freezer once they had cooked. I finalized my research and was glad to see Pitshanger confirm the game. I had been reading a great 'Only Fools And Horses' book and noticed that 78 Pitshanger Lane in Ealing was used for a filming location in the episode ' Go West Young Man. In 1981, it was a butcher, in 2014 it was a pantry and is currently back as a butchery. It was also a final chance to research the form of tonight's teams. It was an afternoon of relaxing before leaving at 5. I arrived at Colin's at 5.20 and had to call him around ten times before he woke up. He then kept me waiting another fifteen minutes and another load of phone calls while he messed about getting ready. Compared to the dreadful roads yesterday, thankfully today's were far better with only a small delay. We were there by 6.10 by which time Colin had apologised. It was par for the course, not much of a brain, but a heart of gold. It was nice to get some pictures of the impressive clubhouse.
Larkspur Rover sat 9th in the table but had ten games in hand over some teams and were playing catchup. Saturday was their first win in five games as they won 7-2 at Indian Gymkhana. Pitshanger Dynamo were in 3rd place in what was a keenly contested title race. It was all all their hands. Their form was a little patchy though, since I'd seen them at Feltham, they had won two and lost three of their last five. Their last game was a 2-0 win over Camden United. In the reverse fixture on 16th September, the two sides drew 0-0. It was a lively start, with both sides having chances. After 7 minutes, the visitors took the lead, a finish from within the box. Larkspur soon equalised on 15 minutes, a diagonal low shot into the bottom left corner. Pitshanger retook the lead on 26, a shot from the edge of the area that went in off the right-hand post. It was 3-1 on 38 minutes, a finish from within the six-yard box. The destination of the three points was confirmed on 42 minutes, a ball from the left was poked home at the near post. There was just one further goal in the second half on 51 minutes which came from a corner. Both sides had chances and the scoreline was slightly harsh on Larkspur who had a sloppy 15 minutes.

That said, Brentham clearly deserved their win. It was the third time I have seen them this season and I have seen them hit the net sixteen times. That was just one less than the 17 supporters who turned up. That included Hertfordshire Hopper who I gave a lift back to Denham station for nowt and another hopper that I dropped at the end of the road. Colin pointed out that Braintree Daniel would have been on the earhole for petrol money despite the short distance. He was soon back to praising him though when Dan got him a ticket for the Braintree playoff final as well as some other hoppers. There was much consternation as many genuine Braintree fans missed out. I dropped Colin off at 8.50 and got in myself at 9.05. I typed up my blog and tried to get an early night with a 5 am alarm.

THE GROUND

LORD HALSBURY MEMORIAL PLAYING FIELDS gave me a great first impression. A spacious private clubhouse with lots of memorabilia and a large car park. The pitch area could be better though, a bit scruffy and unkempt. It did have a lot of potential though, with space to expand should finances permit. It's a bit isolated but overall, it was well worth a visit.