Hallen - The Hallen Centre

Hallen FC
The Hallen Centre
Moorhouse Lane
Hallen
Bristol
BS10 7RU

0117 9505559
Official Website
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Ground Number: 459
Tuesday 16th February 2015
Hallen 2-2 Brislington
Western League Premier Division







HALLEN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

HALLEN FC was formed in 1949 and were originally called 'Lawrence Weston' after the area in which the club was born. They moved to the village of Hallen in 1979 and from then from 1982 until 1990, they were known as Lawrence Weston Hallen. After that, they adopted their present moniker. 3 years later saw them join the Hellenic League at Division 1 level after several seasons playing in the Gloucestershire League. They finished 6th in that season of 1993/94 and after progressing well they won promotion to the Hellenic Premier in 1997 after finishing runners up behind Ardley United. They spent 3 seasons here before transferring to the Western League in. This would mean they were geographically much better off but had to drop down a level to get the move. They took 4 seasons to win promotion to the Western Premier, where they have remained ever since 2004. They had a best-ever finish of 4th in 2012 and have always looked pretty secure at this level. They were sitting in 17th place at the start of the game, not the best season, but still a few points clear of the relegation spot.

The club has seen considerable success in the cups. In 2005 they beat Melksham Town, Bemerton Heath Harlequins, Team Bath and Bishops Cleeve to set up a 4th Qualifying Round tie with then Conference Premier side Canvey Island. 90 minutes from reaching the 1st Round, they were eventually beaten 4-1. They have also reached the 5th Round of the FA Vase on a couple of occasions, most recently last season when they went out to West Auckland Town. They have also won a few local cups - The Gloucestershire Challenge Trophy, Gloucestershire Junior Cup and most recently in 2010, the Les Phillips Cup which is the name of the Western League's Cup competition. The village didn’t get much of a selling on it’s Wikipedia entry saying it retained some charm, but had ‘been bisected by the M5 motorway which has left it somewhat desolate’ It was also noted as having a ‘dark past’ as it was the hanging place for poor condemned wretches and suspected homosexuals from Bristol in a field called The Gastons. The name of the village comes from the old Saxon word for a place of salt. 



MY VISIT

On Saturday morning before this week, I started compiling a list of games that myself and Anwar could go to this midweek. It was lucky that I only spent 10 minutes as at the game Anwar had let me know that he fancied doing Bristol City or Rotherham to tick another of the 92 off his list. He said Bristol was his preference and I was fairly happy with that as I was in Yorkshire this coming weekend, plus the M4 was generally more reliable in the rush hour than the M1. I was left with 2 nearby options, both in the Western League and 20 minutes away. Hallen v Brislington looked the more attractive game, but Almondsbury UWE v Oldland Abbotonians had a decent looking pub near it. When I established that there were no new ciders for me to try at The Swan Hotel, I plumped for Hallen, as they were also the better communicators on Twitter out of the 2 clubs.  I had not been on a groundhop in 11 days due to my commitments with Wycombe, and with my last one being the Friday night ay Keynsham, it would be my second consecutive visit in the Western League. Not that this was a problem, they were well run and communicated well on the internet, with a well laid out and informative site. I was delighted to find this very blog featured on the front page of their site. The football had been a mixed bag, the game at Keynsham was pretty average, but my only other game in this league was at Melksham Town in November 2013. As well as one one of my favourite grounds of all time, it was also a decent game, with Bristol Manor Farm recording a 5-1 away victory.



On the day of the game, I woke at 8am, having had a decent nights sleep. Though it was my day off, I still had quite a lot to do. Firstly after having some breakfast and a bath, I had to go up Tesco and check some prices. Then I had to take a parcel up our local shop to be returned. The rest of the time was spent chilling and being distracted by various things on the internet. I left at 3.15, getting to Aylesbury to meet Lewis, Connor & Anwar just before 3.45. I got there bang on time and within 5 minutes we were on our way. Despite some slow traffic on the single carriageways, we still made good time, getting off the M40 at 5.10 and into the centre of Bristol 10 minutes later. From there to Ashton Gate,  it was 3 miles, but the city of Bristol was a disgrace road wise. I have expressed a desire to explore Bristol more, mainly because of my love of cider. Also, there are lots of nice waterways and hopefully clean air. Well, that would have been spoilt as it was completely gridlocked and it took 1 hour 45 minutes to do 2 of the 3 miles. Luckily it eased up and I was dropping the lads off at the ground at 7.10. I spent most of the time in traffic cursing and swearing, as there is nothing worse than wasting your hard-earned free time being stuck somewhere.

I had planned to pick up a takeaway somewhere between Bristol City FC and Hallen, as looking on Google Maps, there only seemed to be a local pub there and I wasn’t that sure what they would do at the ground.  Of course, thanks to the earlier fun and games in Bristol, there was no time. I got to the ground at 7.38 after a much better journey than my earlier experience. I paid £6 for entry at the turnstile and also £1 for a fairly decent programme. There was some decent content in there and not too much advertising. One of the people taking out space in there though was central defender Mark Reid. As well as learning from his pen picture that he had the less than inventive nickname of ‘Reidy’ and that he was a ‘legend; who ‘bolstered the defence with his leadership and experience’, he was also a plumber. So supporters could have last seasons player of the year come and fix their taps or heating for them, and he was gas safe registered too. There was still 5 minutes to go until kick-off, and with my head stressed from the travel chaos I fancied a pint. Sadly the bar was located outside the ground, and you couldn’t bring your drink inside. So I drank up fairly quickly and got back into the ground a couple of minutes into the game. I was pretty hungry by now, so after taking some pictures of the ground, I went to the tea bar and got myself a nice sausage roll, returning later to get a chicken balti slice. Both were £1.50 and were tasty and good value.

As for the game itself, I didn’t take too many notes due to being rushed/ It was a decent enough encounter though. Brislington was the better side throughout, especially in the opening stages. They took the lead on 10 minutes, Danny Hunt finishing after a good run. It was all square on 19 minutes. Brislington retook the lead 6 minutes later as Mark Rimmer netted from the penalty spot. The visitors had not won since Boxing Day, despite being fairly high up in the table. It was some victory though as they trounced Bishop Sutton 11-0. They looked to be finally ending that run but Hallen popped up with a second equaliser on 87 minutes to spark wild celebrations on the home bench. After the game, I nipped to the toilet before making a swift getaway. It only took 20 minutes to get back to Ashton Gate and as I was still quite hungry. I was surprised to see the roads clear around the ground and so I parked up and went to a local takeaway called ‘China Capital’ which did a very good and generous portion of chips for £1.40. My passengers were back by now and after they had got their chips and got in the car it was 10.40. We made good time again on the way back, even with a stretch of the M4 having a daft 50MPH speed restriction we were back in Aylesbury by 12.15. After dropping everyone else it only took me 15 minutes to get home, but I wasn’t ready to go to sleep. I watched TV for an hour before dropping off. I only had 2 hours of sleep before getting up at 4, but a couple of energy tablets set me up for the day and ensured I didn’t feel tired.

THE GROUND

THE HALLEN CENTRE is a ground that I had previously visited to take photos of in 2007 when I was on the way down to Plymouth Argyle for a Wycombe away game. At the time I was impressed with the smart set up. There are 2 areas of cover - a smart 200 seated area called 'The Frank Fairman Stand' which was named after one of the founders of the club. There is also a small area of cover behind the goal at the clubhouse end of the ground, while the rest of the ground is open. The surroundings are green and pleasant, despite it's proximity to 2 motorways and everything is smart and well kept. The tea bar offers a small range of tasty and good value pastries, while the bar has tons of old memorabilia from various clubs and a choice of 2 Thatchers ciders. I am not sure how far the ground is from the village, but I do know that there is a pub that serves food there. 

Keynsham Town - Crown Field

Keynsham Town FC

Crown Meadow

Bristol Road

Keynsham

BS31 2BE

Official Website

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Ground Number: 458
Friday 6th February 2015
Keynsham Town 1-0 Roman Glass St George
Western League D1





KEYNSHAM TOWN - A BRIEF HISTORY

Keynsham Town FC was founded in 1895 and joined the Western League in 1973. Since it became a 2 tier league in 1976, they have spent most of their time in the lower Division 1 league. Their best ever league finish came in 2002/03 when they finished 10th in the Premier Division. However they were relegated in 2007 and despite a 5th placed finish in 2009 they have generally struggled, rarely finishing above mid-table. This season was the same story, but at least in 16th place, they were well clear of relegation.

The team had never won a FA Cup game in 11 attempts, though they did take Westbury United to a replay in 2003/04. That proved to be a great season for them in the FA Vase when they reached the FA Vase 5th Round - beating Liskeard, Downton, Bishops Cleeve, Hertford & St Neots before losing to Cray Wanderers. They have won the Somerset Senior Cup on 3 occasions, most recently in 2003/04.

MY VISIT

It had been a while since I had done a Friday night game, and as a big fan of ending the working week with a game, I was really pleased when Keynsham Town announced that their game against Roman Glass St George would be played on Friday night. Most weeks the only Friday games were to be found in Wales, so I was certainly going to support this one to try and encourage more teams to do it. With the freezing temperatures, normally the pitch would be a concern, but luckily Keynsham had a 3G pitch. So barring flooding or huge snowfall, I could travel down without worrying about a wasted journey. On the day of the game, I had a hugely busy day at work and was totally knackered by the time I finished at 2.30. I drove home, checked out some stuff online, and had a bath before leaving home at 4.15. I had to stop for fuel on the way, so that delayed me even more, as I had intended to leave at 4 to avoid any traffic problems. Traffic was expected very poor and it wasn't until 7 that I got to the ground. When I got there I was surprised to see that it had been completely rebuilt since my last visit when I stopped to take photos. I decided against going into town and instead went into the bar for a couple of pints while I went on Facebook to catch up on goings-on. I then looked at my programme and was delighted to get a personal mention in there. I was feeling really happy having had a drink and chatting to some good mates online too. There wasn't a huge amount on offer at the tea bar so I just got a burger to keep me going.

The game started with Roman Glass having the better of the game, much to the frustration of the Keynsham bench. Gradually they got back into it though and they took the lead on the half-hour when number 10 finished from just inside the area. It wasn't the best of games but Roman Glass could count themselves unlucky not to have a share of the spoils. They had the ball in the net 5 minutes from time, but it was disallowed for a foul. That was that as far as the game was concerned and although it wasn't the best game. Having a look at the attendance, the Friday night football experiment can be deemed a success. It was Keynsham's second highest gate of the season. Barring the 152 attendance that they got against Barnstaple on January 3rd, the attendance of 76 was their highest of the season. While that figure may not seem great to the uninitiated when you consider their next best was the 65 against Plymouth Parkway in the FA Vase, and their average attendance of around 40, it makes for good reading. I am really hoping that other Western League clubs follow suit, as I like that part of the world. I know that Slimbridge tried it a few weeks back, but were thwarted by the weather, so some are obviously coming round to my way of thinking. After the game, I wanted to go to Tesco to see if they did any local cider that I could take home, but I found the place in darkness as it was closed. I was still hungry though, and after a stroll around town, I got some chips from a local kebab shop and made my way back to my car. By now it was 10.30 and getting quite late, but I made good time on my way home. I was back in around ten past midnight and after a drink and catching up online I went to sleep, looking forward to my next footballing adventure the next day when Wycombe faced a trip to Cambridge.

THE GROUND

CROWN FIELD has seen extensive work done on it since I last visited to take pictures on a non-matchday. There was just the one area of cover though, a combination of seating and standing that must hold around 500 in all. That also houses the bar, which was very good, with a decent range of cider. There were also badges on sale behind the bar. Food-wise, there was the usual selection of burgers and bacon rolls, which will keep you going.

The best thing though is the 3G pitch. Had it not been for this, the game would not have gone ahead, as the grass around the pitch was frozen solid. It was nice to visit a friendly club, and this is an excellent one to keep for a rainy day. The town is close by, and I was disappointed not to get to try a pub called 'The Old Bank' which is supposed to be good for real ale and cider.

Spelthorne Sports - Spelthorne Sports Club

Spelthorne Sports FC
Spelthorne Sports Club
296 Staines Road West
Ashford Common
Ashford
Middlesex
TW15 1RY

Official Website
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Ground Number 457
Tuesday 3rd February 2015
Spelthorne Sports 4-0 Horley Town
Combined Counties Premier







SPELTHORNE SPORTS - A BRIEF HISTORY

Spelthorne Sports were formed in 1922 but played in local leagues up until 2011 when they joined the Combined Counties League at Division 1 level, which is step 6 of the non-league Pyramid. They adapted well, finishing 7th and 6th in their first 2 seasons. It was last season that they won Division 1, going unbeaten for the whole campaign and winning 22 out of their 30 league games. That was part of an incredible 46 match unbeaten run which came to an end when they lost to higher league Hanworth Villa in the final of the Combined Counties League Challenge Cup. Not that this detracted from a great season with them winning both the Middlesex Intermediate Cup and the CCL Division 1 Challenge Cup.

This season had seen them start well and they were just above mid table in the league which is decent progress considering recent history. They also made their debut in the FA Vase, beating Bedfordshire side Langford in a replay. They then faced Risborough Rangers, beating them 2-1. The first round proved their limit though as Sussex side Pagham disposed of them 2-1 to end their mini cup run. They won their first 7 league games too, but have since fallen away. 

MY VISIT

When I started planning fixtures for this week, I had a huge list of 54 possibilities. Basically, with the weather being the way it was, I had planned in every game at a ground I had not visited,  even including some Welsh ones and others as far away as Marine. But these plans were severely cut back when Anwar text me to say that he could not make it due to family commitments. As the weather was poor anyway, I decided to save money and eat at home. This meant that my choice was down to one game realistically - Spelthorne Sports v Horley Town in the Combined Counties League, and I was fully expecting a night in on a Tuesday for the first time since June.


On the day of the game, I woke up at 9am after a good nights sleep. Though it was my day off from work, I still had some casual work to do, and for this, I had to go to Tesco in Amersham and go and check some prices of various things. I also bought a few things, but they didn't have everything I wanted so I went down Wycombe. I spent the afternoon at home, checking Twitter, but there was no news from either club, even when I tweeted them. Horley Town were usually reasonable at updating their Twitter, but Spelthorne had not posted for weeks. Luckily a player called Ashley Nadison for Horley spotted my tweet and let me know that the game was on. I was still sceptical that it would go ahead with falling temperatures forecast. I had my dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese before checking Twitter one last time, getting my stuff together and leaving at 6.20. My Sat Nav said I would get there around 7, and it was right, even the M25 was clear, when normally whatever time you go, you get stuck around Heathrow Airport. Soon enough I was near the ground and was really pleased to see the floodlights lighting up the night Sky. Night matches are always special, but it was even more of a welcome sight on a night like this. I found myself a parking space and walked to the ground, paying my entry and getting a programme from a friendly man on the gate. Normally I'd say that £7 was a quid or 2 too much for step 5, but on a night like this, I was just glad to get a game in. Also, I appreciate that running costs for clubs are ever rising, and with fairly small crowds, they need to get the money from somewhere. As for the programme, there was not a huge amount to read, but it had all the essentials. It was also printed on nice quality paper and was worth the quid I paid for it. After I had gone round and got some pictures, I found a place in the covered side stand and checked my phone for Facebook updates while I waited for the game to start.



The game started with the lower placed visitors seizing the initiative and taking the game to the hosts, but it was Spelthorne who took the lead on 19 minutes when their player ran through the defence before slotting past the keeper. This bought them into the game more but it was still Horley that were edging it. The game reached it's decisive point on 42 minutes when a soft penalty was awarded. It looked nothing more than 2 players coming together but the referee and linesman both agreed that there was an infringement and the spot-kick was duly converted. At half time I dropped my stuff back at my car and went in the bar to keep warm and watch 10 minutes of the Man U v Cambridge FA Cup game. I then went back into the ground and retook my place for the second half. The second goal really seemed to have knocked the stuffing out of Horley team and from here on in it was pretty much an easy victory for Spelthorne. They were unlucky not to make it 3 right after the break when the keeper flapped at a corner and the ball was scrambled away. They did increase their lead on 52 minutes with a curling shot from just inside the area. Horley's night went from bad to worse on the hour mark when they had a player stretchered off with a suspected fracture and gashed leg. An ambulance even had to be called to take him away at the end of the game. Their misery was complete on 83 minutes when Spelthorne got their 4th after a goalmouth scramble. It had been a decent night's viewing, even if it wasn't a thriller. I went back to my car and drove home, listening to the football on the way back. I made good time and got back by 10.10. I watched some Youtube videos and some TV before getting to bed just before midnight, which was a bit earlier than usual after coming back from a groundhop.



THE GROUND

SPELTHORNE SPORTS CLUB is a basic but well-kept venue. It is mainly open, with only 2 areas of cover. There is some covered standing along the side that could probably hold 100 at a push. The seating area is behind the goal and isn't your typical Arena type stand. It holds around 50 and is made out of wood making it really nice to look at.

The tea bar offers the usual range of stuff, as does the clubhouse. It is warm and pleasant in there though and has BT Sport and Sky Sports for the live footy. Overall I'd recommend a visit here, especially if the weather is bad, as their pitch seems to hold up really well.