Roade - Connolly Way

 

Roade FC

Connolly Way

Hyde Road

Roade

Northampton 

Northamptonshire

NN7 2LX

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1212
Tuesday 22nd August 2023
Roade 2-3 Blisworth
Northants Combination Premier

ROADE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The precise date of Roade FC's formation is unknown, but team photographs dated 1910 and 1920-21 exist. Prior to the Second World War, the club was known as Roade Albion. After the war, the club joined the Central Village League. In 1948, they joined the North Bucks & District League, winning Division 2 in 1955 and 1966. Following the move to their current home in 1956, Roade had the means to play at a higher level. They had a spell in the South Midlands League (forerunner to the current Spartan South Midlands League) between 1968 and 1975. Staying in Division 1 the whole time, their best finish was 5th in 1971. In 1974 the government imposed the 'Three-Day Week' to conserve electricity due to the miners' strike. The club struggled to field teams due to some players being required to work on Saturdays. In response, they dropped back down to the North Bucks League, winning the Premier Division in 1992. Roade subsequently joined the Northants Combination. They've been in the top tier since at least 2003 when they finished as runners-up, a feat they repeated in 2007. They eventually won the league for the first time in 2022.

Local cup honours include the Yarde Cup in 1948. The club also has a ladies side which has seen plenty of success and also Sunday and youth sides. The village of Roade is located in South West Northamptonshire, around five miles from Northampton. It is also located near junction 15 of the M1, with it being a cut-through to get there, The population is around 2.300 and famous people from the village include politicians Glenys Kinnock and Bernard Donoghue as well as cricketer David Capel. The village's name means 'clearing and it has a long medieval history dating as far back as 1066. Roade railway station was situated at the southern end of the village and the cutting, but closed in 1964. The line dates from 1838 and was electrified in the 1960s. The footbridge and platforms were demolished but the ticket office building survived in various uses for several years until it was also demolished in 2013.

MY VISIT

Roade is a club that Anwar and I had wanted to visit for ages. We had been for a look around in May 2021 after being tipped off by fellow hopper Chris and were impressed with the setup. We were heading north that day, but opportunities to see a game here were sparse unless we fancied giving up a Saturday. In fact, the Northants Combination had been kind to me with excellent venues in Harpole, Blisworth, Woodford United (albeit as a Southern League side), Thrapaston Venturas and Milton. The football had been great too and the people were really friendly. You got the impression that they were really pleased to see you and grateful too, even though no money changed hands. I'll be looking to complete the league and am enjoying 'step 7' football more than any at the moment. Even the clubs at steps 5 and 6 were edging their prices up and I was lucky if I got a retweet for my blog. Plus, the well was running a bit dry, at least in terms of teams within 100 miles.

I'd have preferred an FA Cup replay though, but despite having around ten possibilities, none of them drew to set up a rematch. Sunday was the usual hard slog, but the evening was better. Ex Leyton Orient manager John Sitton did a Twitter space and as usual, was a fascinating listen. One of his pearls of wisdom was to dismiss Henry the 8th as a 'fat bearded ginger c*nt with six wives!'. Monday was more work, then in the evening, I did some more work on my blog. I've decided to complete a lot of the local step 7 leagues and that includes the Northants Combination. I'd have done the best of them after this one, but there are still some good honest clubs with stories to tell. The day of the game came and it was my standard day off and walk down Wycombe.

After an afternoon at home, I left at 3.45. Travel was delayed to Anwar by the white elephant that is HS2 closing the main route. When you have the hopeless cowboys that are Chiltern Railways running the trains, the track makes no difference. The back route also had roadworks, this time by the equally useless Cadent and their invisible workmen. I was with Anwar at 4.25 and although there were roadworks on the way, we were at Roade FC at 5.30. We went to the local Chinese where I had the house special Thai Green Curry with boiled rice for a great value £7.10. It was only five minutes walk from the ground. It was not the best I've had but it was nice and worth the money. The game had been christened the 'Knock Lane Derby'. This was the name of the road that ran between the two grounds, with just two and a half miles between them. There was not much between the two sides on the field at this stage of the season, just one goal. Roade had beaten Medbourne 4-0 and Blisworth had defeated Higham Town 5-0. Last season, Roade had a disappointing 11th-place finish, whilst Blisworth finished as runners-up to Kettering Nomads. The two sides met in late April and early May with Blisworth winning 4-1 at Roade and 3-0 on their own patch.

The game started with Roade on top, encouraged by their noisy bench. However, no real chances were created. Blisworth took the lead with their first chance. It was a boob by the Roade keeper as he let a tame shot by Owen Heasman in at his near post. It was more poor defending that saw Blisworth make it 2-0 on 28 minutes. A hesitant defence failed to deal with a long ball allowing Nathan Bobowicz to nip in for an easy finish. A better ball forward on the half-hour mark saw Roade have their first real chance, heading against the bar from ten yards out. The visitors had the chance to make it 3-0 on 38 minutes, however, the penalty awarded for a trip was spurned and the rebound hit against the bar. The second half started with a Blisworth have two players sin-binned by the card-happy referee. Roade pulled a goal back on 53 minutes, a cross from the right headed home from six yards. The hosts had the ball in the net again on the hour, but it was ruled out for offside. Blisworth made it 3-1 on 63 minutes, a superb run and shot by Bobowicz who held off several tackles before finishing past the static goalkeeper. In the last few minutes, Roade pulled a goal back from the penalty spot to make it 3-2 and a nervy finish.

 

Blisworth had the chance to lead 3-0 at Roade but miss a penalty. Home fan not happy with the referee 😂 pic.twitter.com/y4FOWFdtYL

— ⚽Russell Cox💙 (@RussWWFC) August 22, 2023

It was good to meet fellow hopper 'Yorkshire Hopper' who I follow on Twitter. Compared to us, he had a long trek back to York. Hopefully, his journey was better than the start of ours with a load of small roads following the A508 closure. Other than that, it was decent journey to Anwar with us listening to TalkSPORT on the way. I dropped Anwar off at 9.10 and headed home. Road closures meant I barely touched a proper road on the way, all single-track roads. Happily, it wasn't busy and I was in at 9.40. I typed this blog having had a good night. It will be step 7 again next week, even closer to home with Oxfordshire Senior side Launton Sports having a decent venue.

THE GROUND

CONNOLLY WAY is an excellent setup for step 7 football. The ground is presumably named in memory of club man Mike Connolly. The pitch is railed around three sides and there is some hard standing and cover near the clubhouse. The clubhouse has a bar offering a reasonable range and there is a small tea bar outside. Nearby is a Chinese takeaway and chip shop, plus other amenities. The main part of Roade is further out and looks nice. The car park at the ground is quite small but there is plenty of overflow parking at the side of the pitch. The ground has definite potential to be used at a higher level but they've been happy playing local football and are well worth a visit on this basis.