Uttoxeter Town - Oldfields Sports Ground

Uttoxeter Town FC

Oldfields Sports Club

Springfield Road

Uttoxeter

Staffordshire

ST14 7JX

01889 564347

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1446

Friday 11th July 2025

Uttoxeter Town 2-0 Stoke City

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UTTOXETER TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1972 when they split from Uttoxeter Amateurs after a disagreement on the club's location. The club joined the North Premier Division of the Staffordshire County League. In the late 1970s, the club stopped playing Saturday football and switched over to Sunday league football. In 2012, they switched back to Saturday football and the Staffordshire County Senior League Division 1. They won the league at the first attempt, losing just once all season. The 2013/14 saw Uttoxeter Town finish as Wolstanton United in the Premier Division and this earned them promotion to the Midland League Division 1. They had a great season, finishing 5th but financial considerations meant that they dropped back down to the Staffordshire County Senior League. A 6th place finish was good enough for a return to the Midland League Division 1 in 2016. Their performance over the two pandemic-hit seasons was considered good enough for promotion to the Premier Division. They remain there to this day, although they have struggled. In 2023, they were given a reprieve following Winsford United's decision to drop down to the North West Counties Division 1 South, rather than play in the Midland Premier. They have made the most of their good fortune are still in the Midland Premier to this day. 

Uttoxeter Town have played just two seasons in the FA Cup. 2021 was the only season they progressed as they won 2-1 at Romulus before losing 7-0 at Chasetown. Their debut FA Vase season was also their best as they beat Bolehall Swifts, Loughborough University and Coventry United before they lost a thrilling game 4-3 to Coleshill Town in the 3rd Round. Local cup wins include the SCSL Presidents Trophy in 2013. The market town of Uttoxeter is located in Staffordshire and has a population of around 14,000. It is most known for its racecourse, built in 1907.  Coronation Street star Charlie Lawson aka Jim McDonald, is a big horse racing fan, racehorse owner and regular visitor to Uttoxeter. Famous former residents include Peter Vaughan, most famous for playing Grouty in the sitcom Porridge.

MY VISIT

Uttoxeter had been a long-term aim for me, what with it being the one I needed to complete the Midland Premier at the time. This was still the case, despite the league taking a shift northwards in recent years. It was just about doable in midweek, even with my early start. I'd had a couple of previous attempts, but with limited midweek fixtures available, it was easier said than done.  My last attempt was on 28th November 2023 for their game against Studley. However, perhaps not surprisingly, that was called off due to the weather. No further opportunities would come up, and it was still around £60 on the train, even with splitting and a long journey. So I was glad when the opportunity came up to do it in pre-season on a Friday evening. It turned out that it would be exactly 200 grounds later than expected.

From Tooting on Tuesday, the journey home was far easier than getting there, although it took a while to get going. Several sets of roadworks, including the complete eyesore at junction 10 of the M25 and 20mph speed limits hindered our progress. I dropped Colin off at 10.45 and got home myself at 11. It took me an hour to drop off, which isn't great with a 3:50 alarm. I was groggy at stupid o'clock and would be glad of a night in on Wednesday. Luckily, it was my short 6-hour shift on Wednesday, and after a small nap, I was fine. There was good news around lunchtime, with the announcement of the Somerset County League Hop for next April. Thursday was another easy day, although I was looking forward to the end of the week. I used Thursday evening to research next weekend's trip to Silsden and also to add a history to my Daventry Town blog ahead of my revisit there in a fortnight.

It was the usual hectic day at work on Friday, although it was good-natured and went quickly. I finished at 1, came home and put everything in the wash before relaxing at home for an hour. I left at 2.30 to get Colin, no issues with him for once. It was a reasonable journey until we hit the M42, where abandoned traffic cones slowed everyone down, damaged the environment and wasted fuel. No wonder everything takes ages to complete in this country. It was back roads all the way to Uttoxeter, Colin shouting abuse at the top of his voice when 'The Essex Twat' as he has it stored on his phone, kept ringing. After the eighth time, the novelty was wearing off. We eventually got there at 5.40 after stopping at Morrisons in Lichfield for petrol. It was a ten-minute walk to Wetherspoons, where another two phone calls came from Dan. It was a bit of a hoppers convention with many old friends in the Old Swan, Spoons number 418 was a decent place amongst good company. A pint, wings and chips set me up a treat, although I was still peckish. It was just over ten minutes back to the ground via my car, and £5 entry to the game was a bargain.

There was a minute's applause before the game, impeccably observed for the man of the moment, Dean Arnold. He was a former player and manager of the club, taken too young. The young Uttoxeter faithful were in good voice, and they erupted in delight when a close-range header by Dawson gave their side the lead on five minutes. It was all them for the first half, during which time the disappointing news that one of my favourite Wycombe players, Jasper Pattenden, had been sold. Old Dan twisted my arm, showing how easy it was to get a ticket on the Roma site for £25. That, together with a brilliant deal on the train from Hemel (£35), meant that it was too good to turn down when I might not get the opportunity again. The second half continued with the same balance of play. It was 2-0 on 78 minutes, another close-range finish down the opposite end to where we were, scored by Toprak. The game might not have been amazing, but it was good to spend time with brilliant people.

THE GROUND

OLDFIELDS is an unusual setup, with the clubhouse and dressing rooms a long way away from the ground. It's a nice clubhouse with lots of merch from the rugby and football clubs on display. The ground itself is quirky and unique, with a few standing areas behind one goal and two seated stands behind the other. The town is ten minutes walk away and has a Wetherspoons and many other places worth a visit.