Stopsley United - Stockwood Park Academy

Stopsley United FC

Stockwood Park Academy 3G

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Luton 

Bedsfordshire

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Ground Number: 1442
Tuesday 1st July 2025

AFC Welwyn 9-2 Codicote
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AFC WELWYN - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2023 with lofty aims, having previously been the development side of Welwyn Garden City FC. For their first two seasons, the club played at the Herns Way ground, which it shared with their former parent club but now they share at Potters Bar Town FC. They started out in the Spartan South Midlands D2 and won their first competitive game in the league 8-1, at home, against Milton Keynes Irish Reserves. It was a sign of things to come as they won the title at the first time of asking. Last season, they stormed to the Spartan South Midlands D1 title and will play at step 5 for the first time this season.

AFC Welwyn are also known as "The Romans", chosen because of the nearby Welwyn Roman Baths, situated in Welwyn Village. This theme was also incorporated into the team logo and badge. The club motto is "Sic Parvis Magna", which translates into English as "Greatness from Small Beginnings". They won the Spartan South Midlands D2 Cup in 2024 and will enter the FA Cup for the first time this season. Last season, they entered the FA Vase for the first time but fell at the first hurdle against Arlesey Town.

The ground that was being used tonight was Stockwood Park Academy. It is part of a secondary school in Luton. It is in the Farley Hill Suburb of Luton which is located to the south of the town and has a population of 11,500. The area includes Stockwood Park, which contains the Mossman Collection, Stockwood Museum, gardens, playing fields and 3 3-par golf course. Luton Town Women's Reserves use the ground as do Stopsley United of the Beds County League who won promotion to the Beds County Premier for this season.

MY VISIT

Originally, I had a nice double lined up on this day, a rarity for a Tuesday. CONIFA initially announced that Tibet v Tamil Eelam would be a 12.30 kickoff, which would mean a nice day out in London and a later game at 7 PM. It was also going to be at a new ground, Selhurst Sports Arena. However, the goalposts were then moved with the game being relocated to Walton & Hersham FC with a 5.30 kickoff. I looked, and it was a terrible journey by public transport and not much nicer by car. It would also be a revisit, so a change of plan was put in action. Codicote v AFC Welwyn was being played at a neutral venue, so I'd use it as an opportunity to delve into the history of AFC Welwyn, given that they were a groundsharer. I'd also try to see if any teams used the Stockwood Academy for home games. I'd also have Colin on board for the first time in ages; I'd not seen him in over a month.

From the game at Machynlleth, I had a five-minute walk to the car. It was less than four hours to home, broken by a stop at Frankley Services for the bog and an energy drink. I was back at 7:50 to hear the news that good friends Dan and Richard had suffered a blowout on the M6, but were thankfully okay. It was a few drinks for me and a big catch-up on all the things I'd missed this weekend. That energy drink meant I was wide awake, even after three bottles of cider, but I'd had a good day. I eventually went to sleep around 11, and this affected me the next morning. It was hard to get through the day, especially when it turned into the busiest Sunday of the year, with many families enjoying their usual day out. I was glad when 1 PM came and I could go home. I had a couple of hours' sleep and felt a lot better for it. I started updating steps 5 and 6 on this blog, hoping that any appeals would be resolved by now.

 

Monday was another busy one at work, but I was in a better frame of mind after a good sleep. I was pleased when the Cymru North fixtures came out, as it meant I could find my Friday night game for the West Lancs Hop. Llandudno, Rhyl, Holyhead, and Buckley were options, but Llandudno won out due to the scarcity of accommodation at the others. It was my usual day off on Tuesday, and I took an early morning walk down to Wycombe before meeting up with Colin and walking home. The chicken wings that I purchased from Lidl made for an excellent lunch. The afternoon was spent updating the step 5 and 6 leagues on my blog. A big undertaking which took longer than I'd hoped, however, I was glad to get it done. I got my stuff together and left just before 5, being sure to take plenty of fluids with me. I It was a fairly slow journey over to Colin, owing to roadworks. The M25 was OK, but the M1 had some slow bits. We got to Tiago's in Luton at 6.20. I got a Mexican Burger, a huge portion of fries and a can of Rubicon for £8.48. It was very decent for the money, and I'd not bother charging it to my football costs.

 

From there, it was a few minutes walk to the ground. Both teams were in their change kits, AFC Welwyn in yellow and Codicote in blue. The game kicked off at 7.05. Within two minutes, Codicote were ahead on two minutes when a right-side corner was recycled and prodded home. It was sloppy defending that saw the Welwyn equaliser on four minutes, lines were not cleared, and the ball was put home from six yards. Then on five minutes, AFC Welwyn were ahead, a penalty awarded for a trip was converted. It was 3-1 on 20 minutes, a ball across the area and a low finish from 15 yards. Then on 30 minutes, not including a water break, Codicote reduced the arrears to 3-2, heading home a long ball from six yards. The two-goal lead was restored on 34 minutes following an attack down the right and a low shot from ten yards. It was only a five-minute half-time and within a few minutes of the restart, a well-worked move saw AFC Welwyn lead 5-2. On 50 minutes, it was 6-2, a mazy run and a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner from the edge of the area. There was a bit of aggravation between two players, despite it being a friendly. Another attack down the right made it 7-2 on 55 minutes. Two minutes later, it was 8-2, a great shot into the top right corner. On 80 minutes, it was 9-2, another case of sloppy defending from Codicote, although they had a few chances in between the goals.

 

THE GROUND

THE STOCKWOOD ACADEMY is very basic as far as the pitch goes, as it's a basic 3G cage with no viewing area. There is no food or drink for sale. It does have plenty of parking, though and is well connected by buses. Plenty of takeaways are within a 20-minute walk, and I can recommend Tiagos.