Everett Rovers - Dodd Road

Everett Rovers FC

Dodd Road

Watford 

Hertfordshire

WD24 5FS

01923 689322

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1269
Tuesday 5th March 2024
Everett Rovers 4-1 Hatfield Town

Norman Appleby Trophy Quarter Final

EVERETT ROVERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed as Everett Rovers FC in March 1997 when a group of local parents decided to go it alone and move away from Herons Youth FC. They held their first meeting at The Bill Everett Community Centre in Watford. The Community Centre was officially named in honour of Bill Everett, a local man well known and respected in the Watford area and serving as a local councillor. The club's main purpose is youth football and it has over 200 members in its younger teams which ranges from Under 7's to Under 18's. The only trace I can find of the Senior side is when they entered the Herts Senior County Premier Division this season where they sit in mid-table. They also have an adult Sunday League team and this is where the current Saturday side came from.

MY VISIT

It had been a weekend that had been enjoyable and frustrating in equal measure. The first three games of the North West Counties hop went brilliantly with clubs pulling out all of the stops to get games on. Sadly, for the Blackpool contingent of Squires Gate and AFC Blackpool, the weather's spite and malice were too much for them to overcome as they both suffered waterlogged pitches. Sadly, the latter was called off when I was already there as a late downpour undid all their hard work. It was an extra 25 miles on my car and a wasted few hours, though the friendly hospitality and excellent food did take a bit of the sting away. The green types bang on about carbon emissions but it's a bit of a vicious circle with the weather meaning loads of wasted journeys. With things showing no signs of getting dryer, I think that 3G is the only viable answer. When you are getting waterlogged pitches in July as we did last year, it's a sensible option. For this Tuesday, we would be taking advantage of one at Everett Rovers, a team I'd wanted to visit for a while.

I'd wanted to complete the Herts Senior County League for a while, even before Futbology added step 7 to their app. I thought that most of this would be in 'silly season' as many clubs don't have lights. Everett Rovers were a rare exception and seemed to be a forward-thinking club. Before I knew about what league they played in, I'd spotted the roadsign when driving through Watford and assumed they were a junior team which was true for the most part. Sadly they were not named after legendary DJ Kenny Everett which is what their name reminded me of. They had a reasonably active Twitter which was good as the FA Full Time site was shutting down for a ludicrous three days for security updates. Sunday & Monday had been tough days at work, with long shifts and generally being very busy. The only good thing was having my Aunt's friendly Boxer dog, Barkley to stay with us for a while. Happily, an email to the Everett Rovers secretary confirmed it was game on.

The day of the game came and I had a decent night's sleep for once, getting 10 hours in, double my usual quota. It was the standard walk to Wycombe and back with me buying very little. It was unusual to see blue skies and for the weather to be fairly mild. I came home and had steak and chips for lunch. I spent the afternoon relaxing at home and planning future games with my tip to Aachen & Liege coming up. Due to the weather once more decimating the fixture list. tonight's game was a popular choice as it was on a 3G pitch. Quite a few hoppers were making a beeline. so it was good when around 4.30, a tweet confirmed the game was going ahead. After a dinner of chilli con carne, I left at 6.30, picking up Colin at 6.50. It was a good journey and we were there by 7.15. We met Dan, Mick and Paul. Dan was eyeing up the tea bar menu and bemoaning the fact that it was closed and he couldn't enjoy some £1.50 chips. After a look around, we went in, entry was £3 including a programme.

Though it was a cup game, both teams played in the Herts Senior County Premier. Everett Rovers were going steady in 10th whilst Hatfield Town topped the table, albeit second place Belstone had plenty of games in hand. The hosts had beaten Apsley Argyle 5-2 on Saturday and were unbeaten in three. When the two sides met on 12th August, they drew 2-2 at this ground. Hatfield Town had beaten Cockfosters Reserves 3-1 in their last game and were unbeaten in twelve. In previous rounds, Everett Rovers had beaten Harpenden Town Development 6-2 and won 3-1 at Hemel Hempstead Rovers. Hatfield Town had beaten Knebworth 6-0 and won at Colney Heath Reserves by the same scoreline to get this far. It was a real end-to-end game with both sides having chances. Everett Rovers took the lead on 25 minutes, following up after a couple of shots had been blocked. They doubled their lead a couple of minutes later, finishing from close range after a cross from the right. They made it 3-0 just before halftime, another cross from the right, this time finishing from around six yards out. Hatfield had a couple of chances on the break but Everett Rovers extended their lead to 4-0 on the hour, bundling home a cross from the left. Hatfield hit the left-hand post on 75 minutes with the home keeper clawing the ball out. The visitors did pull one back on 83 minutes, a ball over the top and a good finish from #11.

It was good to catch up with people, albeit ones I'd only seen on Saturday. Dan spent much of the time looking at Scottish chip shops and dreaming of the treats he could sample whilst up there in a week or so. There were 68 attendees in all, a decent crowd for midweek at step 7. The game ended quite late and it was 9.50 by the time we got away. I dropped Colin off at 10.05 and got home myself at 10.20. I got lucky with the roadworks as they were on green both ways, saving a good few minutes. It would be a couple of days of work for me before a much-deserved twelve days off.

THE GROUND

DODD ROAD is an excellent setup for step 7 with lots of potential. There's a large viewing area along one side with the pitch being in a 3G cage. Outside, the bar is smart and there is also a tea bar for some games. There is a decent amount of parking and the club is forward-looking and could be in step 6 in the future.