Truro City FC
Treyew Road
Truro
Cornwall
TR1 2TH
Ground Number: 619
Tuesday 13th September 2016
Truro City 0-0 Poole Town
Conference South
TRURO CITY - A BRIEF HISTORY
Truro City were formed in 1889 and for their formative years they played in local leagues in Cornwall as well as the Plymouth & District League. Founder members of the South West League in 1951, they stayed here until 2006 aside from 3 years in the mid 70's when they returned to the Cornwall Combination. Though they were 5 times champions, a runners up spot behind Bodmin Town was enough to see them promted to the step 6 Western League Division 1. This started an incredible few years where they shot up the leagues. 2006/07 was especially notable, losing once all season and scoring 185 league goals in the process. 2007/08 saw them break the 100 points barrier for the second season in a row as they won the Western Premier and the following season they were champions again - this time of the Southern League Division 1 South & West. 2009/10 saw them stabalise in the Southern Premier with an 11th placed finish before they won the league the following season. A couple of season in the Conference South followed, with the second one ending in relegation due to ongoing financial difficulties. A couple of seasons back in the Southern Premier followed, with the second ending in a 3rd placed finish and promotion through the playoffs. Last season saw a return to the Conference South and another playoff campaign, this time losing to Maidstone United in a 2-legged semi-final.
Surprisingly for a team that has seen so much success in recent years, the club have never progressed past the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round. On the 3 occasions that they have reached this point Mangotsfield United, Gloucester City and Margate have ended their ambitions. Last season saw their record progress in the FA Trophy, reaching the 2nd Round before a 2-0 defeat in a replay at Macclesfield Town. The club won the FA Vase in 2007, defeating AFC Totton 3-1 in the first final at the new Wembley. In terms of local cups the Cornwall Senior Cup has been won 15 times, the Cornwall Charity Cup on 13 occasions and the South Western League Cup on 3 occasions.
MY VISIT
For a long time now, the ground that I have not visited that stuck out like a sore thumb was Truro. Not because it was one that I really wanted to visit, but because it was so far! At 272 miles away it was nearly as far away as Carlisle, which is considered to be Wycombe's longest away trip. So generally it was a groundhop that I kept putting off, due mainly to the huge fuel costs that would be involved. However, things came to a head when it announced they would be leaving their home for a new venue. Initially I thought I'd missed out as they were going to leave at the end of last season, but a groundshare agreement with Torquay never came to fruition. I wasn't going to miss out if I could help it, so as soon as I discovered that they would be at home on my week off I booked a B&B opposite the ground and planned to visit for their game against Poole Town - ironically my only other unvisited Conference South ground. In the week before the game I was actually really looking forward to the game. The ground didn't look to be a classic, but it was a visit into cider country and there looked to be a couple of great pubs to visit.
Initially I'd planned in a trip to Roman Glass St George in the afternoon to break the journey and watch the U21 game between Bristol Rovers and Bournemouth. However, the day before this was postponed and so I'd be going straight to Truro. On the day of the game I woke around 7am to the sad news that Shaw Lane Aquaforce player Dan Wilkinson had died on the pitch during last night's game at Brighouse. It's crazy and very sad that a player can suffer a fatal heart attack participating in the sport that they and so many others love. I had a bath and got dressed, before getting my things together and leaving just before 10.30. I stopped for fuel at Asda on my way before making good progress on my journey west. It was supposed to be the hottest day in September for 50 years, however, there was little sign of that in Bristol, with torrential rain and lightning. Thankfully by the time I got to Exeter, it had stopped, so I stopped at Sainsburys for lunch and a rest.
From there it was time to go to Truro and with just under 100 miles to cover, I got there at 3.50. I checked in and spent 10 minutes in the room before going out to town. First stop was The Old Ale House, with 4 real ciders on tap. I'd had the 2 decent ones and was left with the 2 non Apple ones to try. I didn't fancy the Rhubarb & Custard one so had Mango, Lime and Ginger, which was OK, but a little sweet. From there it was a short walk to Try Y Dowr Wetherspoons where I had pints of the excellent Cheddar Valley and my personal favourite Black Dragon. On the way back to my room I got myself an excellent Burrito from a place called Hababeros, which really filled me up. When I got back it was only 6.15, so I chilled for a bit with a couple of glasses of Irn Bru.I walked the few minutes to the ground and wasn't impressed when I saw £13 entry and loads of notices about no photography. Football league prices and football league rules were not what I wanted. However my mood softened when I went in the excellent clubhouse and saw that they had 3 ciders on tap. 2 of them were not regulars on my travels and at £2.49 a pint they were well priced. Despite the happy mood inside the clubhouse, it was bucketing down outside and I was worried that I'd had a wasted journey, especially when Man City's Champions League game was called off.
However, much to my relief the referee was not one of those who is petrified by health and safety rules, so it kicked off, meaning that no matter what happened, it was a tick. Maybe I should have been grateful that I got a game at all, but what was put out was a pretty dire 0-0 draw with little quality up front and it seems that I used up all my luck, football entertainment wise with the 5-4 game I saw at Wembley FC a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed having a few drinks with the game though, and as a result fell asleep pretty much straight away after I'd made the short walk back to my room.
THE GROUND
TREYEW ROAD is situated around 15 minutes walk away from the city of Truro, which has a great range of pubs and takeaways. The best is probably the Try Y Dowr Wetherspoons which is well priced for both food and drink and is one of the better in the chain. There's also plenty of takeaways, with a decent place called Habaneros. Back at the ground there is an excellent bar with a great range of drinks and very well priced too. The club shop is fairly decent, though I didn't try the tea bar.
The ground itself only has the one permanent stand, this is a mixture of seating and standing and is all covered. There's an open terrace behind the near goal and on the other 2 sides there are 3 temporary open seated stands that were required for them to participate in last seasons end of season playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment