Tuesday 31 January 2012

Molesey - Walton Road Stadium



Molesey FC
Walton Road Stadium
412 Walton Road
West Molesey
Surrey
KT8 2JG

0208 979 4823
Official Website
Twitter






Ground Number: 97
Wednesday 27th October 2004
Molesey 3-1 Windsor and Eton
Ryman League Cup 1st Round






MOLESEY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Molesey FC was founded in 1953. After playing in the Athenian and Spartan Leagues they joined the Isthmian League in 1977. Their best spell came at the beginning of the 1990s. After winning promotion from the Division 2 South at the start of the decade they spent 3 seasons in Division 1 before being promoted to the Premier Division in 1993. 1994/95 saw their best ever finish of 8th in the Isthmian Premier. However the next season they were relegated back to Division 1 and never really recovered. In 2008 they were relegated again, this time to the Combined Counties League. Since then their previous best finish of 3rd came in 2011, but this season they finally won the league and can take their place in the Isthmian League next season, should they accept promotion.

In the FA Cup, they reached the FA Cup 1st Round for the first and only time in 1993/94. After battling through the qualifying rounds they might have been slightly disappointed to draw Conference side Bath City when they could have a league side. They lost 4-0 and the Romans went on to beat then League side Hereford United before taking Stoke City to a replay in the 3rd Round. A great run to the FA Vase Quarter Final in 1982 was ended by Rainworth Miners Welfare while the FA Trophy 1st Round had been reached twice. They won the Southern Combination Cup in 2012 and can count Cyrille Regis amongst their ex-players as well as former Wycombe player Sergio Torres.



VISIT 1: MOLESEY 3-1 WINDSOR & ETON (BRYCO CUP)

Another of my several visits to go and see Windsor and Eton play. This one saw me off to Molesey for a Ryman League Cup 1st Round game. Windsor were flying high in the league and Molesey were struggling. But Windsor fielded a second string side as the League Cup is not highly regarded and ended up getting beaten 3-1. The only points I can remember from this were sitting next to Neville Southall (former Everton and Wales keeper) in the main stand. And some fireworks going off and landing on the pitch, while the players just carried on!


VISIT 2: MOLESEY 3-0 BEDFONT & FELTHAM 


I only found out about this game the day before when my Football Traveller hit the doormat. I don't usually get it, but had treated myself to the last couple of issues of the season as I know the fixtures were thinning out. I was delighted to find a Friday night game within a reasonable distance and although I had been here before, I was yet to obtain a programme. I'd been doing a lot of revisits lately for that very reason, so as to plug the gaps in my collection. It also meant I'd be delaying ground number 500 (with around 8 to go) so as to reduce the chance of 'wasting' it on a pre-season game. On the day of the game, it was not so bad at work as I was expecting. It had been mega busy lately and upon arrival, I found that someone had pinched half of the equipment that we needed to do our job, which meant it would take longer. But in the end, I was out at 12.30. I came home, had lunch and a bath before going down to the post office to send off my voucher for a Conference playoff final ticket. My iMac had been running pretty slow, so when I came back I wiped the hard drive and started to reinstall it having backed up all I needed last night. This killed pretty much all of the afternoon. I had dinner around 5.30, meaning I was ready to leave before 6, having allowed extra time for the Friday rush hour traffic. I actually made very good time and was at Molesey just after 7. After going to the turnstile and getting a programme I went out and back into the bar. There was a great choice of drinks including 2 ciders. I opted for the Olde English at £2.90 a pint which was very nice and good value. I checked Facebook while listening to the 80s music they had on.


I then went into the ground at around 7.25. I walked around the ground getting pictures before going up to the stand to meet my mate Johnnie who had come along with his mate Ryan. He was filming for a YouTube channel called Fox In The Box productions. They normally film Sutton United games as they are both ardent fans. Not that there was much to film in the first half, which was very dull. Bedfont started the brightest but it was the home side that took the lead just before half time with a neat diagonal finish into the bottom left-hand corner. The second half was a lot brighter with Molesey's dominance reflecting their league position. It was 2-0 around halfway through the half. The visiting keeper came flying out and clattered their striker. Though he wasn't injured, it still seemed a nailed on sending off, but the referee gave only a booking. A penalty was also awarded which was converted to double Molesey's lead. To compound matters, the keeper did the same again soon after, picked up his second yellow card and was off the field. The Bedfont number 9, a striker had to take over in goal and although he guessed the right way, he couldn't keep the penalty out. That was it as far as goals were concerned and although it had been a naff first half, it had really livened up in the second to become a good game. I stayed behind and watched the trophy being presented and this meant it was a double winning season for Molesey  It had also been a decent evening in good company and I was going to savour every last bit of this season before the miserable summer starts. I had a good drive home and was back at 10.35 where I went online and watched TV before going to bed at around 1am.



THE GROUND 

WALTON ROAD STADIUM is a smart ground for the level they are playing at. The main feature is the big stand. It holds around 130 fans and though old offers an excellent view of the action, elevated high up and without any supporting pillars. The rest of the ground is pretty flat, though there are small areas of cover on each of the other 3 sides.

The bar is excellent, one of the better ones in football with a wide range of drinks and a good atmosphere. The tea bar looked decent too although I didn't have anything, having just had dinner. There are plenty of takeaways and pubs nearby too, should you want a bigger choice. I'd certainly recommend a visit there, it was a good night out at a nice friendly club.   

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