Hinckley United - De Montfort Park

Hinckley United FC
De Montfort Park
Leicester Road
Hinckley
Leicestershire
LE10 3DR

01455 840088
Official Website
Independent Website (much better)
Twitter

Ground Number: 238
Tuesday 29th January 2013
Hinckley United 1-3 Brackley Town
Blue Square North





HINCKLEY UNITED - A BRIEF HISTORY

This blog was created in 2013, back when I didn't bother with researching club histories, so the history page is taken from the Bradford Park Avenue programme from when I saw them earlier that season. Sadly, the club was dissolved at the end of that season and split into two clubs. Hinckley AFC was established by supporters and played at Heather St Johns before moving to Ibstock United. The original clubs owners and ground owners created Leicester Road FC who play at this ground. Both currently compete in the Midland League Division 1 which sits at step 6 of the Non-League pyramid.



MY VISIT

I had been intending to go to Hinckley for quite a long time now, after hearing about their excellent club shop, which is supposed to have a great selection of old programmes. But various postponements had thwarted my attempts so far, mainly due to the weather, but in one case, because they could only raise 8 players for their game against Bishops Stortford back in December. I had actually been to the ground back in October 2008 when on the way to Tamworth v Barrow just to take pictures. And had been told abruptly but reasonably politely that only sponsors were allowed in the ground at that time! And I had also visited their old ground at Middlefield Lane, this time on the way to a Mansfield v Wycombe game, where I found this rather amusing sign.




I had had something of a football famine over the past 2 Tuesdays with pretty much the whole of the football calendar being wiped out. I had turned to alcohol to replace the buzz of a game, firstly with my Mum's birthday and then last week with a couple of cans whilst watching Bradford City's epic route to the Carling Cup Final after beating Aston Villa over a 2 legged semi-final. But it was not as healthy as football and it didn't make the week go any quicker than it does normally. I had consoled myself for the lack of games with making future plans for games. Firstly on my week off, I had already booked a ticket for Liverpool v Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday, which would be one of only 4 grounds that I needed to complete the 92. I was thinking of doing a 7 game marathon, starting on the previous  Friday with Spennymoor v Darlington. I have several mates who support Darlo, but it was looking like I would have to go in the Spennymoor end as, despite several attempts to ask Darlington if they could post tickets over Facebook and Twitter, they are as yet too ignorant to reply. Spennymoor meanwhile replied within 15 minutes. Whether I would be doing this depended on what was going on in between, with me waiting on the result of Huddersfield v Leicester in the FA Cup (to see if Burnley v Huddersfield would go ahead) and also the TV scheduling of Manchester City v Leeds (to see if the game would be moved to the Sunday. And I was also considering doing the NCEL groundhop, the main attraction being the local derby between Bridlington Town and Scarborough Athletic, which I really fancied.

On the day I woke up with the cold that had been bugging me for the past couple of days and spent the morning writing the start of this blog post, getting stuff ready to send on eBay and listening to the BBC Non-League Show podcast. There was still some doubt if the game would be on, so I kept checking Twitter and the Hinckley United message board for any news. I had also been playing Football Manager on my iPad, with Hinckley United. I started off with 3 straight defeats, as per the form book. But had started to turn things around, and climbed to mid-table by September, even beating Colwyn Bay 8-0! It turned out to be an epic game and as I give this blog a tidy up, 6 years to the day of the game, I can reveal that I won the Premiership, Champions League and Club World Championship with them. In real life, they had been struggling, going 1-0 down in under 10 seconds the last time I had seen them at Bradford Park Avenue, eventually losing 4-0. They has only one win and one draw to their name so far, but three of those points had been deducted due to financial irregularities. This meant a pretty much nailed on relegation to the NPL for next season.The win ironically came against one of the bigger sides in the division - Boston United and to cap it all on Boston's own patch.



After killing time in the afternoon, I set off to pick Anwar up in Aylesbury at 3.50 and after stopping for petrol along the way, I was there at 4.25. The journey to Hinckley went pretty smoothly for the most part. We spent some of the journey planning future trips to Solihull Moors, Worcester City and Nuneaton Town. The only time we did hit traffic was in Hinckley itself, due to road repairs which added about 10 minutes onto the journey. I had done my research and found a local Chippy called 'Tudor Road Fish Bar' where you could park outside. Scallop and Chips were had by both of us for the very reasonable sum of £1.85. Although they weren't the best I have had, it was still nice and the portions were pretty generous. On the way to the ground, we went through Middlefield Lane which was where the old Hinckley United ground was. I couldn't see what had become of it, as it was pitch black. My earlier research also paid off when I parked on the roadside outside the ground, rather than parting with £2 to use the car park.



After arriving at the impressive stadium, we were glad to see the floodlights on and people milling around as there had been a slight doubt earlier whether the game would be on. As the fears proved unfounded, we went for a quick look around the bar before going into the ground. I didn't mind paying the £10 admission this time, as the club were having financial issues and needed all the money they could get. I took a few pictures of the ground and waited for the programmes to arrive and the club shop man to open up. The shop, as previously mentioned came with a good billing and it lived up to it with a great selection of programmes, magazines, books and other football related stuff, as well as the usual pin badges and scarves. I bought 7 fanzines and a 'You are the Ref' book all for £2.50. I must have spent about 35 minutes in there and it was pretty much time for kick off when I came out. I was going to get a picture of the pre-match lineups, but my camera batteries were dead, so I had to make do with my phone. It was nice to see a couple of people from the non-league forum that I go on, they assured me I'd get a warm welcome and they were right.



As for the game, an attendance of just 152 fans saw Brackley stroll to a fairly dominant win. Notable names from their side included former football league players Billy Turley and Jefferson Louis and they must have a budget around 10 times that of Hinckley. The visitors opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Steve Diggin made a weaving run into the box before putting the keeper on his backside and finishing neatly. It wasn't until the hour mark that Brackley scored again, despite several chances. Tom Winters scoring direct from a corner. It was Diggin again on 70 minutes, this time when home keeper Rob Peet lost the ball. He was left with a simple tap in to double the lead. At this point, it looked as if it could be a rout but Hinckley held firm and even got a goal back - Harvey Headley scoring after a home player was tripped just inside the box. Hinckley could have got another back when they came close moments later, but it was not to be. Overall they had not looked too bad at the back and in midfield, it was just the lack of anything up front that meant that every time they tried to create a chance, the ball was won back by Brackley and putting the home side back under pressure again.

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#OnThisDay in 2013. @hinckleyafc 1-3 @brackleytownfc - a late Hinckley penalty from Harvey Headley was unable to prevent a 3-1 win for the visitors.

A post shared by Russell Cox (@russ_wwfc) on Jan 29, 2019 at 12:46am PST

It's a sad state of affairs for Hinckley. Despite having a very good ground and a decent catchment area, they could only manage a little over 100 fans of their own for the game. They might be playing poorly and not appeal to many in the town but it's a vicious circle - until they get more people through the gate they will not have the funds to attract new players. I had enjoyed another football night out After dropping Anwar off, about 15 minutes later than expected due to those infamous invisible workmen on the M1 I was back home by 11.40. I wasn't feeling sleepy at all and in the end only got 2 hours sleep which left me feeling very groggy the next day.



THE GROUND

DE MONTFORT PARK is an excellent non-league ground, that would not be out of place in the Football League with a few more seats. For those wishing to sit, there is a seated stand holding around 500 fans with executive facilities at the back. It costs £2 extra to sit here, but like the rest of the ground offers good views. Behind one goal there is a large covered terrace with around 1200 capacity and this is matched by a similar side terrace holding around the same amount. Finally, there is an open end with some small steps of terracing

The club shop as mentioned before is excellent, stocking thousands of books, programmes and other bits from teams all over the globe. There is also an impressive range of pennants and scarves on display. Other facilities include a large bar which has a decent range of drinks. The tea bar looked good also, but I didn't get anything from there. Sadly, the ground is no longer the home of Hinckley United, the club went bust in 2013, reformed by supporters as Hinckley AFC soon after. The ground's owners also created a new club, Leicester Road FC, both teams competing in the step 6 Midland Division 1, a sad state of affairs for such a decent ground and former club.

Daventry Town - Communications Park

Daventry Town FC

Communications Park

Browns Road

Daventry

Northants

NV11 4NS

01327 311239

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 237
Tuesday 8th January 2013
Daventry Town 0-0 Aylesbury
Southern League D1 Central

DAVENTRY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1886 as a local club playing in the Northampton Town League, where they won Division 1 in 1976. The club moved up to the Northants Combination in 1987, winning Division 1 and the Premier Division in successive seasons. This was enough for promotion to the United Counties Division 1, where the success continued with the title won in their first two seasons. They had to wait until the second title win to gain promotion to the Premier Division due to ground issues. Despite a 5th place finish in 1993, they were relegated back to Division 1 the following season. Daventry would have to wait until 2001 for promotion back when they won their third United Counties D1 title. The club finished bottom of the table in 2004 but were given a reprieve following a reorganisation of the Non-League pyramid. However, the relation trap door opened the following season after another bottom finish.

The club was threatened with extinction in 2005/06, when the Elderstubbs clubhouse and changing rooms were destroyed by fire. However, a sponsorship deal with mobile phone company Go Mobile enabled the club to survive. United Counties D1 title number four came in 2008 and this time, Daventry were more successful at the higher level. The United Counties Premier title followed in 2010 and the club would spend six seasons at step 4. In 2011, they finished 3rd in the Southern D1 Central and made the playoff final after beating Biggleswade Town 2-0 in the semis, only to lose by the same scoreline to Hitchin Town. They also finished 4th in 2014 but lost 1-0 to Kettering Town in the playoff semis. In May 2016, Daventry Town resigned from the Northern Premier League due to financial problems and were later placed in the United Counties D1. They won their 5th title in 2017 and their second Premier Division title two years later. Daventry did well during their two seasons back in the Southern D1 Central but these were both cancelled due to the pandemic. A switch to the NPL D1 Midlands saw results decline, and the club was relegated to the United Counties Premier South in 2023 and has had two top-half finishes since.

The year 2013 saw Daventry Town's best-ever FA Cup run. They beat Hillingdon Borough, Berkhamsted, Belper Town, Grays Athletic and Hartley Wintney to reach the FA Cup 1st Round. They were drawn away to Chesterfield from EFL League Two, and ended up losing the tie 2–0. The same year, they reached the FA Trophy 1st Round and also have two FA Vase 5th Round appearances to their name. Local honours include the Northants Combination Knockout Cup in 1988, the United Counties Knockout Cup in 2019, two Northamptonshire FA Junior Cups, the Northamptonshire FA Lower Junior Cup in 1991, the Northamptonshire FA Hillier Cup in 2014, two Daventry Charity Cups, the Buckingham Charity Cup in 2018 and the Taygold Cup in 1989.

Famous players to pull on the Daventry Town shirt include Lee Hendrie and Mark Kinsella, amongst many others. The club used to have town rivals, Daventry United, who were established as Ford Sports Daventry in 1968. However, after the motor firm demolished the ground in favour of a factory, the club folded, having been located a few hundred yards from Daventry Town's current home. The old stand stayed in Northamptonshire, having been purchased by Kettering Town to aid their groundshare at Burton Park Wanderers. The Northamptonshire town of Daventry has a population of just over 28,000. Daventry once had its own railway station on the former London and North Western Railway branch line from Weedon to Leamington Spa, which opened in 1888 and was closed on 15 September 1958 and is now demolished. Daventry is now one of the largest towns in England without its own railway station with the nearest being in Long Buckby, four miles away.

MY FIRST VISIT

For my first new ground of 2013, I was off to Daventry Town v Aylesbury, again with my mate Anwar. He is actually an Aylesbury fan, so it would be nice to see a team that I could get some extra knowledge of. I already knew of 2 of their players - former Wycombe striker Craig Faulconbridge who came to the club with a big reputation after being top scorer at Wrexham the previous season. But he never lived up to his big billing and eventually departed after a bad run of injuries. The other was James Faulkner, also for Wycombe, but only as a youth teamer and occasional reserve team player. I had actually been to Daventry's ground before, when on the way to a Wycombe game and had been impressed with the venue. It was also a good game to go to, as after today, I would only have 4 grounds to tick to complete the Southern League Division 1 Central. My finances had received a boost with a nice profit on the Groundtastic magazines that I had bought at Yeovil, but that was knocked off with getting caught speeding on the way back from Hornchurch which meant I would have to pay the best part of £100 for a 'driver improvement course' with a sizeable commission going towards the Thames Valley Police 2013 Christmas party I would imagine. But it was my own fault really, I knew the camera was there and just kept pace with the car in front, being clocked at 35MPH, the very lowest speed that they can 'do' you for.

As per usual, I was off on Tuesday. I had been looking forward to getting my new TV, but sadly had relied on my parents being in to receive it as it was due to come when I was out at the game. But they forgot and had plans elsewhere, so I had to reschedule it. I could have cancelled tonight, but was looking forward to it and was in no rush anyway, as the TV I have at the moment is still doing its job well enough. I spent the day getting parcels ready to send on eBay, going down the post office at lunchtime before going down to Wycombe for a quick pint with a mate from work. I had planned to meet Anwar just after 5, so after coming back home and chilling for a bit, I set off at 4.30, getting to Aylesbury bang on time. The journey to Daventry took just under an hour and a half, with traffic and slow-moving roads. We got to the ground about 6.45 and so with time to spare, headed off into town to find something to eat. We found a Chinese and got a small bag of chips each, which in truth were pretty massive and filled us right up. They were good chips too, only hindered by a complete lack of condiments. After eating them, we went back to the ground and got in about 7.10, each getting of only eight programmes that they had printed. At £1 it was just about the only thing that came cheap, as the entry, the club shop and the tea bar were all a bit more than you would expect at this level. We spent pre-game chatting to some Aylesbury fans, getting some pictures and checking my phone, though the data signal was a bit iffy, especially for a club that had loads of mobile phones advertised, thanks to one of the clubs sponsors.



Though the game finished 0-0, it was a fairly decent game to watch. Daventry dominated, though both sides struggled to create chances despite lots of attacking intent on a damp pitch. Daventry hit the woodwork twice from open play, and then again from the penalty spot after a player was felled in the area. Aylesbury keeper Simeon Charles played a blinder, though ex-Wanderer Craig Faulconbridge looked like the years had caught up with him, making a few errors. The visitors actually had a chance to take all three points late on, Leon Osie going down in the area, but the appeals were waved away and the game stayed goalless. After the game, the journey home was much quicker, dropping off Anwar at 10:50 and getting back myself 25 minutes later. Though I was wide awake and didn't manage to get to sleep till 2am, not good when you have to wake up at 4.

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On this day in 2013.... Daventry Town 0-0 Aylesbury with the hosts missing a penalty late on.

A post shared by Russell Cox (@russ_wwfc) on Jan 8, 2019 at 5:10am PST

THE GROUND

COMMUNICATIONS PARK is a typical new non-league ground with just the metal style stands for cover. In this case, a small bit of cover on the far side and 2 smart looking stands with yellow seats either side of the clubhouse. The rest is open standing. Talking of the clubhouse, it is as smart and as modern as you will find anywhere and has the usual range of drinks you would expect to find in such a place. The ground is pretty isolated, so it's probably your only choice for a drink nearby. This also houses the club shop, and although there were no old programmes, there was a good range of merchandise, albeit expensive, for example, a scarf cost £10.