Bedworth United FC
The Oval
Coventry Road
Bedworth
Warwickshire
CV12 8NN
02476 314852
Ground Number: 296
Saturday 7th September 2013
Bedworth United 0-1 Halesowen Town
NPL D1 South
MY VISIT
After leaving Sutton Coldfield, the destination of my morning game, I made my way back to Birmingham New Street station, where I then caught a train to Coventry. It was then that I discovered that the train service to Bedworth was utter rubbish, only running once every hour. The most I had to wait for a train was 10 minutes so far, so 45 minutes wasted time in Coventry was not welcome. I killed it by going in search of some lunch, in my case a very good value 99p Chicken Donner Baguette with salad and chilli sauce. Despite the price, the portion of chicken was generous and it tasted as good as anything from Subway or the like. Eventually, just after 2.40, I finally caught the train to Bedworth. After a short journey, it arrived at 2.53. I didn't bother with Google maps, instead. relying on a site called 'Getting To Football' to get me there. Despite the design looking like it was made in the 1990s, it does the job excellently. The information was spot on and I just made kick off after a quick jog, getting there with minutes to spare. I hadn't seen either team before, though I had been to see a game at Halesowen's ground. It was back in 2005 when I was aiming to do a game in every round of the FA Cup. The first one of the lot was in August in the extra preliminary round. It was Stourbridge v Glossop North End, and it was only being played at Halesowen due to Stourbridge's ground being used for the cricket club who they share with.
It was an enjoyable game, finally won in the 66th minute by Ben Haseley. I have included a match report below, from the non-league paper. I was still quite full from lunch, but I managed to squeeze in a big portion of faggots, mushy peas and chips which a mate had recommended on Facebook. They turned out to be every bit as good as suggested, and this has to be one of the better tea bars in non-league. I also went into the club shop and bought a pen, as pennants were £7 as opposed to the pens that were £1.50. I have started collecting pens more lately, but only have 5 at present. The reduced cost, along with my ever decreasing wall space for pennants makes them a decent option. After the game, I made my way back to Coventry, after waiting for around 25 minutes at the station. I had soon changed trains and was on my way back to Birmingham. I had been recommended a pub, the Post Office Vaults before, but had never actually got round to visiting it. I had searched for it with no luck last time I was in Birmingham, probably due to the fact that Google Maps had it in the wrong place. It was only a small door anyway, the entrance no bigger than a standard house door, but as I was to find out, it would be a good find.
I got there around 6.15, meaning I had just over an hour drinking time, as I didn't want a repeat of last time I was in Birmingham. That time, I was on my way back from Telford, spent a minute too long in the pub, and got to the station just as my train was pulling off. The next one was cancelled, which means I had to wait for 2 hours. Luckily there were no inspectors on that journey, as I had a timed ticket for a certain time. On this occasion, I was more careful but still managed to have a few pints of cider, lucky that I wouldn't have to drive for 3 hours. The pub turned out to be a real cracker, with 13 ciders on. I had halves of Border Orchards cider and Pennalt Capsy Wennet. To finish it off I had a pint of Hogan's Hazy Daisy, which was 3.9% and the lightest of the lot. It also turned out to be the nicest, a really pleasant tasting one which was a bit like some of the French ones I have had, which are amongst my favourites. I shall most certainly be returning, should I get the chance. I got to the station with 10 minutes to spare. I grabbed myself a can of Irn Bru and a chocolate bar and waited for the train home. On the way home, I hadn't got much to read, so I was glad I had bought my headphones. I listened to some music, which made the journey pass a bit quicker. I was back in Wycombe at 9.30, and after the walk to my car, back home by 10PM. Sadly there was no Match Of The Day, owing to the international weekend. But even more pathetically, there was no Football League show either, despite all of League One and Two playing. Instead, I had a curry out of the freezer, and a fairly early night for a Saturday, falling asleep just before 11.
THE GROUND
THE OVAL is set in nice green surroundings and makes for a pleasant place to watch football. The main stand usually holds around 300, but with part of that covered over, probably only holds around 200 now. Apart from that, the only area of cover is a small bit on the clubhouse side, whilst the rest is open standing. As mentioned before, the tea bar is excellent, with a wide range of nice stuff and big helpings. The club shop too has a fair few things and even has a small selection of old programmes and books for sale. The bar does the standard range of drinks but looked pretty nice with TV's to watch the football on. All in all, I enjoyed my visit here, it's a nice place to watch football at and is a short distance from the train station for those that don't have a car or find it cheaper on the train, as I did on this occasion.
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