Virginia Water - The Timbers

Virginia Water FC
The Timbers
Crown Road
Virginia Water
Surrey
GU25 4HS

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 782
Tuesday 24th July 2018
Virginia Water 1-3 Banstead Athletic
Pre-Season Friendly





VIRGINIA WATER -A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1920. They've played at The Timbers for the vast majority of their history - the ground getting its name in 1969 in memory of one of its founder members, Harry Timbers. They played in the Woking & District League during their formative years, even gaining financial support from the crown to the sum of £2 per year, this during the reigns of King Edward VIII and King George V. They progressed to the Surrey Intermediate League, later joining the Spartan League and London Senior League. A spell in the Combined Counties League followed, with a best-ever finish of 7th in 1982 and 1985. A poor spell in the late 1980s and ever-tightening ground grading have seen Virginia Water playing in what today would be regarded as step 7 and below in recent history. Highlights have included two Surrey County Premier League titles and a Surrey Elite Intermediate League championship. The latter saw them promoted to the Hellenic League in 2017 after entering a groundshare agreement with Windsor. They were an immediate hit, winning Division 1 East at the first attempt and for the coming season will take their place in the Hellenic Premier. They reserve and youth teams currently still play at their spiritual home, but not for the first time in football, objections from local residents have prevented them from building their own ground with the required facilities for step 5 football.

Virginia Water are yet to make their FA Cup bow and have not competed in the FA Vase for some years. Their best run in the latter came in 1975 when they won 3-2 at Ulysses but were defeated 4-0 by current landlords Windsor & Eton in the second round. In local cups, they've won four Surrey County Premier Cups and a Surrey Elite League Cup. The town of Virginia Water has a population of just 5,940 but has had many current and past famous residents including Bruce Forsyth, Elton John, Cliff Richard, Kirsty Gallacher, Nick Faldo, Kevin Pietersen and Prince Naseem Hamed.

MY VISIT

When Virginia Water were promoted at the end of the 2016/17 season, I was disappointed when they opted to share at Windsor FC rather than use their own ground. The reason why not turned out to be the all too familiar objections from local residents which had stymied their progress. The Timbers still looked to be a reasonably decent ground to visit, so I'd bear it in mind for the future. The opportunity came for a pre-season game against Banstead Athletic when all the hoppers I normally give a lift to were busy. Mt other option was Chesham United v Wycombe Wanderers but with admission a tenner and me having been there recently, I opted for my original plan.



It was my usual Tuesday off on the day of the game and the one day I get a reasonable night's sleep. I had my usual walk down town in the morning, coming home and having the scampi and chips I'd bought for lunch. In the afternoon, I researched Virginia Water's history, thanks mainly to the excellent website that they'd provided, much better than using the standard Pitchero template. I also watched some old episodes of 'The Bill' on YouTube, a great show that I've not seen for years. It was nice to see that a number of hoppers were heading to the game, hopefully drawing a decent crowd for the occasion. After some dinner, I left at 6PM, hopefully leaving plenty of time to allow for any potential delays. It turned out to be a wise choice, though not as bad as usual, I only got there around 10 minutes before kick off. It was good to meet fellow hoppers Laurence and Joseph and have a brief chat.



Virginia Water came into the game on the back of a 100% record, having won 1-0 at Farnham Town and defeated Royal Holloway Old Boys 3-0. Visitors Banstead Athletic were yet to win, having lost 1-0 at home to South Park last week. Despite this, it was Banstead who started much the stronger side and they took the lead on 11 minutes when a cross from the right was met with a looping header by Liam Holden. Though it was the visitors that continued to have the better of the play, it was Virginia Water that equalised on 25 minutes. A good through ball found Harvey Griffiths who kept his calm and put away a low shot from the edge of the area. Banstead Athletic deservedly regained the lead on 38 minutes, another cross from the right and another header from Holden from around the same spot as the opener exposed Virginia Water's defensive weak spot on the night. Both sides had chances in a less frantic half, but the visitors were full value for their win. They extended the lead to 3-1 a couple of minutes before full time. It was another cross, this time from the left that went on off the boot of home defender Finn Evered following an unfortunate deflection.



There was an attendance of around 40 on the night, a decent proportion which would have been groundhoppers with just a handful of fans from either side. It was a rare chance to tick off a ground that wasn't usually used for first-team football. I chatted to a friendly older hopper who had come up from Havant for the evening. Like me, he wishes he'd got into hopping earlier - I only started properly in 2012 and have missed out on the likes of Cambridge City and Wokingham Town which would have been easily doable. My biggest regret, however, is missing out on Wycombe's Loakes Park, with me getting into football around 16 months too late to see a game there. Talking of Wycombe, they scraped a 2-1 victory in the last few minutes but I heard from people that went that the performance was a lot better than that. I left at 8.50, having a much better journey home, getting in at 9.25. I sorted out my photos before watching TV in bed. It took me ages to get to sleep though and so I needed a nap the following afternoon after my 4 am start at work.

VIEW HIGHLIGHTS/VLOG FROM GROUNDHOPPING FC HERE

THE GROUND

THE TIMBERS is a very basic setup without any cover. The whole of the pitch is railed and is raised above the level of the car park. There's a clubhouse too, though I didn't check out what they had on offer. Certainly, the ground is worth a visit as the club hope to find a new home soon. The train station is around 20 minutes away with a pub and a row of shops including a chippy a little closer.

GROUND PHOTOS

Erith Town - Erith Stadium

Erith Town FC

Erith Stadium

Avenue Road

Erith

DA8 3AT

0845 602 6312

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 781
Friday 20th July 2018
Erith Town 0-1 Aveley
Friendly





ERITH TOWN - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1959 and was initially a Sunday League side known as Woolwich Town and had a decent amount of success. The'd not move into Saturday football until 1991 when they joined the Spartan League. Starting in Division 2, 9th place in their first season was good enough for promotion, thanks to restructuring. They coped with the step up well and by 1995 had earned promotion to the Premier Division, having finished as runners-up to Tottenham Wine. They spent a single season in the Spartan Premier before moving to the Kent League. In 1997 they adopted the name Erith Town. They've been in the Kent League (now called the Southern Counties East League) all of that time, finishes ranging from two 3rd place finishes in 2013 and 2014 to a 19th place finish in 1997.

Erith Town have been regular participants in the FA competitions all of that time. In the FA Cup they've reached the 2nd Qualifying Round on three occasions, most recently losing 5-0 at Cray Wanderers in 2011. The FA Vase 3rd Round was reached in 2013 - Lingfield & Hartley Wintney were beaten before they lost out to Norwich United. Local cup wins include the Kent Senior Trophy in 2011, beating Tunbridge Wells 3-1 in a final played at Welling United. The best ever attendance of 325 came for a friendly against Carshalton whilst the biggest win of 9-0 against Sporting Bengal United came on 15th January 2011. Former grounds include Woolwich Barracks (until 1991), Harrow Meadow (groundshare with Greenwich Borough 1991-95, 1998-99), Bayliss Avenue (groundshare with Thamesmead Town (2008-09) and Badgers Sports Ground (groundshare with Cray Valley PM 2013-16) and Oakwood (groundshare with VCD Athletic 2016-18). They will start this season back at Erith Stadium for a third spell, having played there between 1995-98 and 1999-2008.

MY VISIT

For the penultimate game of my week off, I was hoping to do one by public transport, having driven to all of my pre-season games so far. Erith Town came up trumps for their friendly game against Aveley. With them having moved back home to Erith Stadium, it was a rare opportunity for me to do a new ground within the London area that was included on a TFL travelcard. TFL is about the only train company who do affordable trains without having to pay well in advance. They are also the only ones that make midweek matches viable - doing a game in Birmingham on a midweek night is impossible seeing as the last train back from Birmingham to Wycombe is at 9.15. It wasn't the greatest stadium as it had a running track and the town of Erith was not great for pubs, but they seemed a decent club, having a reliable and informative Twitter and website.



For once, I'd had a good night's sleep on the day of the game, waking at 10am. It was a bit of a rush with my blogs to catch up on, especially with other jobs to catch up on. I had a bath and a change of clothes before I completed my Retford blog from Tuesday. I also took my Aunt's boxer dog out for a walk, before coming back and updating my Walsall blog. It gave me a good opportunity to catch up on my YouTube videos, though a patchy internet connection frustrated me. I even had time to type out my Cheadle Heath Nomads blog from last night, meaning that aside from my research for tomorrow's groundhop, I was all caught up. I left home at 2.40, parking up at Amersham and getting the 3.10 train into London. Changes at Harrow on the Hill, Finchley Road and London Bridge taken, before my eventual destination of Bexleyheath. The journey time was well utilised researching club histories for future blogs. The last leg of the journey was not the most pleasant on a busy and hot Southeastern train as it had to keep stopping at red lights, preventing much-needed ventilation. Unavoidable, obviously, but it made us a tad late, eventually getting to our destination at 5.



My first stop had already been planned. I’d spotted an excellent Micropub called The Kentish Belle. Here I had two lovely ciders - Malvern Magic and Ross on Wye Broome Farm. I even enrolled on their loyalty scheme, though it’s a shame that a return will be unlikely as it is so far away. I would ideally love to return, though and so gave up my Wetherspoons tick as further incentive to come back. I ordered a meal - curry samosas and salt and chilli chips from the local Chinese takeaway. Food that’s easy to eat on the move, as I’d decided to walk to Erith rather than save 15 minutes by public transport. It was a fair walk, longer than I expected, but I was there in plenty of time. I got a decent spot on the viewing gallery after paying a fiver to get in and waited for kick-off.




I got myself the best spot that I could in an athletics stadium, up in the viewing gallery. The on-pitch fare started with Aveley playing some neat stuff and carving out some chances, but soon descended into two sides aimlessly kicking the ball around. Aveley started to take control again towards the end of the half, their number 9 getting away from the defence and placing a shot just wide. Generally, though, it was disappointing fare, even if Erith Town ended the half strongly. The second half saw plenty of endeavour but not the greatest end product. The visitors eventually took the lead on 63 minutes, a long ball finding Antonio Martin who finished confidently past the home keeper. It was Aveley who continued to have the better of the game, shaving the bar from a long-range effort and a trialist smashing a free kick against the bar. That was really it for major chances and despite Erith Town trying their best on the break, Aveley always looked in control. An attendance of 80 saw the game, and although it wasn’t the best, I was glad there was a goal.



The game finished around 9.40 and I headed back towards town. I wanted to go to Morrisons and got some chicken and a drink. From there, I got to the station, getting a train back into London at around 10.10. For once, the service went smoothly, with trains to Amersham every half an hour, I’ll invariably miss one by a couple of minutes and have a long wait. This time, though, it was to be just 3 minutes wait after a quick dash across the platform. It meant that I got back to Amersham around midnight, having had a decent day. I managed to upload my blog on the night, having typed it on my journey home.



THE GROUND

ERITH STADIUM is an athletics stadium, which is not ideal for watching football, but it's not as bad as I thought. The distance from the viewing area to the pitch is not too far, and if you stand up on the viewing gallery outside the bar, you can get a great view. There's room for around 50 up there at a push, and a number of chairs are provided. There's seating below for around 500, plus standing for another couple of hundred, with all the accommodation being on one side of the pitch. There are basic food and drink facilities at the ground, plus the town is just over 10 minutes walk and has a decent range of takeaways.

GROUND PHOTOS

Cheadle Heath Nomads - The Heath

Cheadle Heath Nomads FC

The Heath

Norbreck Avenue

Cheadle

Cheshire

SK8 2ET

NWCFL Club Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 780
Thursday 19th July 2018
Cheadle Heath Nomads 3-1 Chadderton
Friendly






CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS - BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established as recently as 2004, having been formed as part of a merger between two local clubs - Linotype and Cheadle Heath Nomads, with both clubs having an extensive history in the Mid Cheshire (now Cheshire) League. The Cheshire League would be Linotype Cheadle Heath Nomads home for the next 14 years, with the club staying in the top tier for the entirety of their stay. Finishes ranged from a rock-bottom 16th in 2011 to their only league win so far in 2015. They were also runners-up the following year, but it wasn't until last season's 4th place finish and the expansion of the North West Counties League that they were able to make the step up. Though the new club has not yet played in either of the FA Competitions, former club Linotype were regulars in the FA Vase (reaching the 2nd Round on three occasions). With the facilities now in place for step 6 football, the new club should be able to enter the FA Vase. They appear to have dropped the Linotype from their name this season and are now known as Cheadle Heath Nomads.

MY VISIT

With me having an afternoon game at Walsall, I was keen to see something in the evening. I'd initially earmarked the reasonably nearby Malvern Town, but that game was called off after opponents Dudley pulled out. I found another close one at Eccleshall, but again, that was moved to Lilleshall, due to problems with the home club's pitch. Next choice was Middlewich Town, a ground that I'd seen on a Norwegian hopper, Anders' blog. But that too was cancelled due to an unsuitable pitch. I turned out I was going to have to travel over 60 miles to see a game, either Shirebrook Town (v Mansfield Town XI), Wellington (v Kidderminster Harriers XI) and Cheadle Heath Nomads (v Chadderton). With the latter one having a good Twitter and free entry, I decided to go for that and it also had the bonus of a 7PM kickoff, meaning that I'd be able to start heading home earlier. The club was newly promoted to the North West Counties League for this season and looked to have a nice tidy and pleasant home.



From my afternoon game at Walsall, it was just over 70 miles to this game. However, owing to rush hour traffic, it took over 2 and a half hours to get there, with me not arriving until 6.30. I decided against going for food as I wasn’t really hungry. I was slightly disappointed to see that the game was being played on the back pitch, but it was no big thing really. They were hard at work getting the ground ready for the new season, cables were being laid for floodlights and they’d not even got the rail around the pitch yet. It was still a nice place to watch football though, especially on a summers evening. I caught up with things while I waited for kick off, glad that it started at 7 so I could make my way home slightly earlier.



The game started with the hosts on the front foot, hitting the post in the opening minute, albeit for an effort that would have been ruled out for offside. The opening goal game around 20 minutes in. Chadderton keeper Jordan Hadlow made a great save from a shot to deflect the ball around the post for a corner, but he could do nothing to prevent Jack Warren heading home the resulting kick. A couple of minutes later, the lead was doubled, this time it was Kieran Hibert finishing from close range at the back post, following a cross from the left. Chadderton had chances on the break, but it was Cheadle Heath Nomads that were running the game. They were awarded a penalty around half an hour in following a trip in the area, but Rick Tindall, a recent signing from Manchester League side Poynton was denied by a great save from Hadlow. So a dominant first half from the hosts, with their number 10 looking a real handful overall, a team that should cope well with the step up to the North West Counties League. The second half saw a host of changes and the visitors a lot more competitive. They pulled a goal back early on in the second half, triallist Si Muhammed with a low shot following a good through ball. Chadderton came close to equalising on a number of occasions but the game was wrapped up on 75 minutes when Terrence Butler capitalised on some lax defending to fire past substitute keeper Daniel Havern to make it 3-1 and seal the victory.



It had been a really good game, and probably the best that I have seen this season. Before I headed home, I wanted to get home for something to eat and so drove to the nearest takeaway that I could find. This turned out to be Prego Pizza and there I had a Texas BBQ Chicken meal for a fiver. It turned out to be decent enough and prepared me for my journey home. I left at 9.15, getting home three hours later. It had been a tiring day and I only stayed up for 10 minutes before going straight to bed and getting a good 10-hour sleep in.



THE GROUND

THE HEATH is a smart set up, with a nice location. The original part of the ground is the smart looking pavilion, this has seating for around 20 and standing for a whole lot more. To comply with ground grading, a standard arena type stand has been installed, holding around 50. The rest of the ground is open hard standing.

There are plenty of pubs and takeaways in the vicinity and the town of Edgeley and Stockport County FC is around a mile away. Back at the ground, there is a bar with a reasonable range of drinks, though I'm unsure of prices as I didn't indulge. Hot drinks are available, and although I didn't see any food for sale, there is a kitchen there.

GROUND PHOTOS