Filwood Playing Fields
Creswicke Road
Knowle
Bristol
Avon
BS4 1UQ
Ground Number: 1496
Saturday 1st November 2025
Mendip Broadwalk 4-1 Hengrove Athletic
Western League D1
MENDIP BROADWALK FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club can trace its history back to two clubs. Firstly, Mendip United, who were formed in 2000 as Mendip Gate. They first played in the Bristol & Avon League before progressing to the Bristol and District League, changing their name in 2002. Subsequently, they joined the Bristol Premier Combination and won Division 1 in 2008. They won the Premier Division the following season and went on to become champions again four times in the next six years. Secondly, Broadwalk FC was established in 1998 and was primarily a youth-focused team. They established an adult team, and they were lodgers at Mendip's Filwood Fields. The two clubs merged in 2015 under the name of Mendip Broadwalk. They took the former's place in the Bristol Premier Combination, winning the league for the sixth time and now with the facilities to progress to the Somerset County League. They finished 5th in Division 2 East in their first season, gaining promotion to Division 1 East. They finished 5th here in 2018 before winning the newly formed Division 1 the following year. Mendip Broadwalk spent five seasons in the Premier Division, finishing as runners-up to Chilcompton Sports a year before winning the title in 2024. This led to promotion to the Western League Division 1, where they finished 10th last season.
MY VISIT
The FA Cup, past the very early rounds, had been a source of disappointment in recent years. With me having been to every ground in the top six levels of English football, groundhop opportunities were non-existent. Maybe a good draw for Wycombe could have provided me with a nice revisit, but it was not to be. As seems to be the trend, we got an uninspiring draw in fellow League 1 side Plymouth Argyle at home. With me having several Adams Park visits on either side, I decided to go groundhopping. A double with a kindly scheduled FA Cup game would have been good, but it was not to be. Instead, I decided upon a ground I had recently passed up in midweek in favour of a revisit to Rugby Town. The clincher was a good price on the National Express, £11.80 return from London. With travel at each end, it should cost no more than £25 all in. The only disappointment was that the cider pubs were not as good as I'd hoped for a city like Bristol, but I still had a good day out planned.
Since my last game, it had been business as usual. Work had become more tolerable, but come Saturday, I headed down to Wycombe with some scepticism. It had been some time, almost 10 months, since I'd really enjoyed a home game at Adams Park. I decided to give it my best shot. It was my first Saturday at 3 PM
at Adams Park since May 3rd, so it was nice to go back to my adopted local in the Rose and Crown. I could have gone to Wetherspoons to save a few quid, but I'd rather support good local pubs. A cookie and a bottle of Belgian Cherry Beer from M&S, and Wings, Cheeseburger and chips from Burger Daddy kept me going on the way to the ground. It was a tepid opening, with perhaps Huddersfield having the better of the game until they had their striker, Alfie May, sent off for a bad tackle. From then on, Wycombe dominated, playing some great football and winning 3-0. The best performance in a year, for me and the first time I had enjoyed a game at Adams Park in a year. A few drinks, more than is probably healthy, were enjoyed in the evening. The extra hour in bed gave it more time to wear off, and for once, I had a decent night's sleep on a Saturday.
Work on Sunday is never fun, but it was necessary to allow me Saturday off. It was hard work, but it felt therapeutic after a good Saturday. I met Colin & John at 1 PM and we drove to Burnham for the Wycombe Wanderers v Bridgwater United Women's FA Cup game. It wasn't the nicest route to drive, but I wanted to see the game after watching them beat Chesham United in the last round. Chicken nuggets and chips were good value at £5, but there were no announcements or music as at the Adams Park-hosted game. The attendance also suffered a setback due to Burnham being difficult to access. On the pitch, step 5 Wycombe gave it a really good go against step 4 Bridgwater. You could see the opponents were a step above, but Wycombe matched them and took them to penalties. Sadly, it was not to be as Bridgwater won the game, but it was still a great effort from the Chairgirls. It was grueller at work on Monday, with it being half-term, it'll be a week of Sundays with high footfall and loads of small kids running about the place.
It was my usual day off on Tuesday, and I walked down Wycombe and back. I cooked myself a Jambalaya for lunch, decent, but not as good as my late Dad used to make. It was the standard matchday of a couple of pints at the Rose and Crown, a hastily arranged takeaway of four samosas, four chicken wings, chips and a drink for £9.98. Wycombe v Fulham was not the most exciting tie when it was drawn out, but there was a fantastic buzz as I walked towards the ground. Stopping at Tesco for a final can of Crumpton Oaks, the road up to the ground was busy, as opposed to the usual disinterested shuffle. The atmosphere continued within the stadium. I'd bagged a seat on halfway for £25, a good price, even if it was lower down than I'd have liked. Annoying little brats became potential supporters of the future as I was in a good mood. Wycombe took the lead after five minutes through former Fulham starlet Cauley Woodrow, although it was annoying to have people still arriving ten minutes after this, the sort of day trippers that a game like this attracts. Fulham equalised in, and had much the better of the second half, but we eventually lost on penalties. It was still a fantastic effort, though, and I was proud of the Chairboys.
I was at home at a reasonable hour, but couldn't get to sleep as I was still buzzing from the game. It was only my short day at work on Wednesday, though, and I was able to catch up on sleep in the early afternoon. Thursday was quiet, and Friday was hard but satisfying, although it sometimes feels like I can do nothing right at work, such is the whining, nitpicking, and negativity that sometimes occur. I sometimes wonder if the place is some kind of social experiment to see how far they can push people's mental health, and I was far from the only person irritated by this. It was a sober Friday night for me as I'd had one of my 'drinking days' at football on Tuesday. It was an early night and a decent 7.5-hour sleep, with me waking naturally around 6. I took my time getting washed, dressed and having breakfast before leaving at 7.20. I popped into Tesco for a meal deal, trying another Christmas sandwich. Nothing comes remotely close to the Brie & Cranberry one in my opinion, though.
It was the 7.48 Metropolitan Line from Amersham, on an unusual platform due to engineering works. Then changes onto the Bakerloo and then the Victoria lines before a walk to Victoria Coach Station. The coach was well on time, but disappointingly full, and I had to share my double seat. I got lucky with my fellow passenger, unlike a few others who got seated next to an unclean, coughing, sniffing mess. We made good time, and it was a comfortable journey. Thanks to the bus lanes, we bypassed some of the traffic on Bristol's packed roads and were at the bus station over 20 minutes ahead of schedule. It was a fifteen-minute walk to the Stable, my first stop of the day. Everything new seemed on the sweet side, so I stuck with a pint of Bristol Cider Trinity for £5.75. It was nothing special, but pleasant. To be honest, the Hertfordshire region is far better for the type of cider that I like, but prohibitively expensive to get to on the train. Next stop, a few minutes walk away was Wetherspoons 452, the V-Shed. Bland and unremarkable, and the service took a while. But £5.48 for a pint of Stowford Press and five chicken wings was a good deal. It was then a 20-minute walk to the Robert Fitzharding in Bedminster, another unremarkable Spoons with a decent menu. A spice bowl with a pint of Black Dragon was £10.52; again, the service could have been better. The food came before the drink, but I got my order. From there it was a drizzly walk to the ground, where I paid £6 for entry and £3.50 for a can of Natch.
Mendip Broadwalk were 9th in the table, having won six, drawn five and lost three of their games. They'd not won for four games and last Saturday, lost 3-0 at Bitton. Hengrove Athletic were bottom of the table and had drawn five and lost eleven. Yet to win this season, they lost 4-1 at Wells City last Saturday. Both sides had lost in cups in midweek, Mendip Broadwalk a narrow 3-2 defeat to Shepton Mallet in the Somerset Senior Cup, and Hengrove lost 5-1 at AEK Boco in the Les Phillips Cup. It was a real local derby, with just three miles separating the two grounds. The weather started to get worse as I took my place in the stand, the rain ramping up as Jack Jones gave Mendip a scruffy lead on three minutes. Hengrove tried on the break, but didn't create much. On the half hour, it was 2-0, a header from a left-sided corner. It was then 3-0 from a right-side cross with Hengrove looking rather sorry for themselves. Mason Daggar had scored the two later goals for Mendip, and there looked to be little hope of a comeback. That proved to be the case as the second half continued in the same vein. It was 4-0 on 73, a well-worked move down the right, and a close-range finish from Daggar was his hat trick. On 76 minutes, Hengrove had a foray forward, a decent move, and it was 4-1. That was it, a clear win for the home side with little opposition from the visitors.
THE GROUND
BBS PARK, to give it its sponsored name, is a reasonable ground. As you come in through the turnstile, there is an area to the right, and this has flat standing for around 150. Opposite is a small seated stand for around 75. Both structures are fairly interesting. Outside are the facilities, which include a bar with a great range of cans and a tea bar with a reasonable range of hot food. There is not a huge amount in the immediate vicinity of the ground, just a shop and some takeaways that I could see. Both parking and bus links to Bristol exist, though.
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