Long Lane - The Northwood Ground

Long Lane FC

The Northwood Ground

Dursley Road 

Kidbrooke

Greenwich

London 

SE3 8PB

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1457

Saturday 16th August 2012
Long Lane 0-6 Hawkinge Town

Kent County Premier

LONG LANE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Long Lane JFC was founded in 1981 and took over the derelict grounds at Kidbrooke Playing Fields in 1994. Three years later, the club became a registered charity and, with the aid of fundraising and grants, developed the facilities to cater for teams of all ages. A team of the same name existed in the Spartan League, Spartan South Midlands League and London Intermediate League between 1996 & 2001 but folded. The current men's team was established in 2012, initially joining the Kent County Division 2 West at step 9 of the Non-League Pyramid. They finished as runners-up to Peckham Town in their first season, earning promotion to Division 1 West. Despite a 3rd place finish in their first season, Long Lane were relegated in 2019 and would remain in Division 2 West until 2022, when they were promoted back as champions. At the end of last season, the club won promotion to the Premier Division after finishing as runners-up to Falconwood.

The area of Kidbrooke is located in Greenwich, South London and has a population of just under 15,000. Famous residents have included comedian Jim Davidson, who grew up in Holburne Road; interior designer Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, who lived in a bungalow on Kidbrooke Park Road until 2004; and singer Sandie Shaw. Former AFC Bournemouth player Junior Stanislas was born in Kidbrooke. The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisham, by which point it is part of the River Quaggy. It is a tributary to the River Ravensbourne. Kidbrooke, derived from an Anglo-Saxon name meaning 'the brook where the kites were seen,' indicates that the area was uninhabited at the time of naming. With its three streams and heavy, wet clay, Kidbrooke would have been unsuitable for Saxon settlement.

MY VISIT

After a couple of expensive and long-distance Saturdays, I was keen to keep it local this week. My first choice would have been somewhere around Reading, but the Thames Valley League hadn't started yet. There seemed to be a whole load of options around Essex, and initially, it was ACD United that was leading the race. However, after Colin visited Long Lane ten days ago and confirmed that it was a grass pitch, I decided to pay them a visit. It made sense to catch up with him, and it was fairly centrally located. It did involve extra buses, but a real bonus was a cider festival in Orpington. It was a bit of a detour and I'd need to rely on buses at both ends, but they had some I'd not tried before. Originally, I was going to do it post-match, but the bus situation towards home made me decide to do it before instead and tick a couple of Wetherspoons after.

From our game in Hertfordshire, it was a simple drive home via Colin's, albeit with some very slow drivers on the way home. I was able to get my blog up, photos sorted, and stats updated before bed. The night was far more pleasant, although I still felt the usual morning tiredness. Friday was its usual, busy, brutal self, and I didn't get out until 2. The evening was spent revisiting Dartford which is covered on that particular blog. From the game, it was a pretty good journey home and a couple of swift changes had us home well before Google Maps estimated. The star of the show was the Elizabeth Line, which whipped across London. We got chatting to a QPR fan about former Wycombe man Richard Kone on the last leg. We were back at Amersham before 11.30 and I was home 20 minutes later. I was originally going to stay up for a nightcap but opted for sleep instead. 

It turned out to be a decent decision. I slept through until just before my alarm went off at 8.15 and was out by 8.50. The buses and trains didn't line up very well, so I opted to play it safe and allow extra time. This led to my arriving far too early at my destination. Time was tight, but it's just about possible to squeeze another Wetherspoons in. I'm probably pushing it for time, but opt for The White Swan in Islington. It's an easy journey, but a grimy area, with rubbish all over the floor. Service was swift, though and despite being busy, it's a pleasant atmosphere. Some Burnley fans are in the pub ahead of their game at Spurs, but it's a quick in and out for me as I've gone way off route. Back to Highbury and Islington for the tube to Victoria, then the Southeastern to Orpington. The Cider Festival was excellent, four new tries with Monnow Valley Kingston Black and Redneck Rascal. Then it was Wilkins Dry and Biddenden Kentish Kiss. Four new ciders for a tenner, the pick was the Kingston Black. It was then two buses to the game, a delay on the latter meant that they lined up a treat, and I made a quicker journey than expected. Food places were available, a fiver for a pint of Strongbow was my donation in lieu of free entry. It was a highly impressive setup, a 3G pitch with a stand and lights was used by youngsters.

 

Long Lane had made a flying start to life at step 7 and sat top of the league. They'd won both home games - 2-0 against Sporting Thamesmead and 4-0 against Bexley as well as drawing 0-0 at Kings Hill. Hawkinge were 3rd and had won both their games - 5-1 against Guru Nanak and 6-1 against Metrogas. As Edison (not the Manchester City keeper) once said, it was 99% perspiration 1% inspiration in a hard-fought tie. The Long Lane #14 was impressive in his defensive duties but just before halftime, Hawkinge Town took the lead through a penalty awarded for handball. Long Lane had the ball in the net before halftime, but it was ruled out for a foul. I watched the end of the Doncaster v Wycombe first half during the break, but Wycombe Twitter were not happy with what had gone before. The second half started brightly, and Hawkinge made it 2-0 as they put home a left-sided cross around 55 minutes in. The referee's fussiness slowed the game down, but I couldn't fault any of his decisions. The visitors were also good at closing the game out. The 77th minute saw the visitors make it 3-0. An error in defence presented the Hawkinge man with an easy chance, which was slotted into the bottom right-hand corner. An attack down the left and a shot into the bottom right made it 4-0 in the dying embers of the game. A header made it 5-0, which typified the second-half dominance. A mirror goal of the 4th, only this time down the right, made it 6-0 with the last kick of the game.

 

THE GROUND

THE NORTHWOOD GROUND is an excellent setup for the level. The focal point is the club building, which has a decent bar and merchandise but no food. There are a number of pitches, the 3G pitch with a stand and the grass pitch with a rail are both worth a visit in their own right. There is plenty of parking, plus the ground is well linked by buses from Sidcup to North Greenwich.