Wodson Park - WP Sports & Leisure Centre

Wodson Park FC

Wodson Park Sports & Leisure Centre

Wadesmill Road

Ware

Hertfordshire

SG12 0UQ

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 663
Wednesday 4th January 2017
Wodson Park 1-3 Broadfields United
Spartan South Midlands D1



WODSON PARK FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club were founded in 1997 and started in the Hertford & District League. They rapidly progressed through its 4 divisions and joined the Herts Senior League Division 1 in 2006. An initial 9th placed finish was followed up in 2007/08 when they were runners-up in its second tier, finishing behind Baldock Town. Instead of progressing to the Premier Division, they moved sideways to the Spartan South Midlands League Division 2. Two seasons were spent here, until a 4th place finish in 2010 saw them promoted to Division 1.  They remain there this day and after initially finishing in the lower reaches of the table every season, last year saw a huge improvement as they finished in 6th place. This season has seen the good work continue, and they sit in 7th at the time of the game.

Both of Wodson Park's outings in the FA Cup have ended in defeat in the Extra Preliminary Round - to Oxhey Jets in 2012 and Colney Heath in 2013. Their FA Vase debut season of 2010/11 saw a mini-run with them beating Feltham and Canning Town before a 1st Round defeat at Bracknell Town. The club had a spell playing at the adjacent Ware FC ground before returning to their own home in 2013.



MY VISIT

After a rare Tuesday off for me due to highly limited options (there was just one potential game at Ashby Ivanhoe with no backups) fellow hopper Anwar and I were keen to do a game on another day of the week. With Wodson Park the club I needed to complete Division 1 of the Spartan South Midlands League, we pencilled it in. There wasn't too much in the way of backups though, so we'd have to keep an eye on the weather to avoid a wasted journey. On the day of the game it was a busy day at work, unexpectedly so for a Wednesday. I came home and didn't have time for my planned afternoon nap. Instead, I caught up on fixing some broken picture links on my blog, which was pretty annoying to have to do, and there are still plenty more to fix. After a dinner of Jambalaya, I made myself a hot flask and left at 5.45. I met Anwar at 6.15 and after checking if there was any news of a postponement, we were on our way. We got to the ground an hour later, paying £5 to get in which included an excellent programme.



This ground completed the Spartan South Midlands Division 1 for me, and is regarded by most as one of the worst grounds at step 6. Whilst this is true, I was glad to finally get it done, especially on a week when there was little else on. As it was cold, we went and sat in the bar. There, we met Splodge and a couple of others who had travelled up from the south coast. Wodson Park opened the scoring on 25 minutes when a decent through ball was played through to their number 9 who finished well past the keeper despite claims of offside by the visiting defence. At the start of the second half, the hosts almost doubled their lead when a pass back was played too short, but the keeper came out and made a great save. Despite their keeper making another good save shortly after, it was Broadfields United who got the next goal, getting the equaliser on the hour with a low finish from just inside the area. They went ahead on 75 minutes when a cross was headed home. Once more their keeper was the hero, making some good saves to prevent an equaliser as Wodson Park also hit the bar. The visitors sealed the win a few minutes from time with probably the best goal of the night - a well-placed diagonal shot from the edge of the area.



That was it as far as the scoring went, and although Broadfields United staged a mighty comeback, it wouldn't have been possible had it not been for some great saves by their goalkeeper. The match had been another decent one as ever in the Spartan South Midlands League, though it didn't really get going until the second half. Though I've been to every ground in the top 2 divisions, there will no doubt be some revisits to some of the grounds that I've not been to for a while with Hillingdon Borough and Berkhamsted being near the top of the list. After saying our goodbyes, we were on our way and once more it was a hassle free journey. I dropped Anwar off at 10.30, getting home myself at 10.50. For once I didn't stay up for ages, watching Corrie and going to sleep around 11.30.



THE GROUND

WODSON PARK SPORTS & LEISURE CENTRE is an athletics arena and therefore is totally unsuited to watching football. At least the club give you a friendly welcome and do their best to give you a reasonable view of the action. If you stand up against the fence at the edge of the track, the view is not too bad. There is a stand, but it is set way back against the leisure centre building some 25 meters away so unless you are desperate then you won't use it and it's more to tick ground grading boxes.

There's very little sign of personalisation apart from the club sign outside the stadium. The bar at the ground is nice enough though drink choices are extremely limited. There's no hot food - just tea, coffee and biscuits available on a 'pour it yourself and make a donation' basis. One thing that the club excels on is the matchday programme. Included free with the £5 admission fee, it's the current holder of the 'Best Matchday Programme in SSML D1' award. Deservedly so too, full colour and glossy throughout, the layout is well presented and there are plenty of facts to peruse over as well as a club history and various other bits and pieces.

AFC Bridgnorth - Crown Meadow

AFC Bridgnorth

Crown Meadow

Bridgnorth

Shropshire

WV16 4HS

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 662
Saturday 31st December 2012
AFC Bridgnorth 3-1 Willenhall Town
WMRL Premier Division





AFC BRIDGNORTH - A BRIEF HISTORY

AFC Bridgnorth are one of football's youngest clubs, having been formed in 2013. They are the phoenix club of Bridgnorth Town who existed from 1949 until 2013, playing mainly in the Southern League and Midland Alliance. They've enjoyed incredible success since reforming, finishing as  West Midlands Regional League Division 1 champions. Since 2014 they have been in the WMRL Premier, which sits at step 6 of the non-league pyramid. They have finished the last 2 seasons as runner-up, although this season has seen a massive downturn in form, with them sitting in 15th at the time of the game.

Since reforming, AFC Bridgnorth have never got further than the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. They've had a mini-run in the FA Vase however. Last season they beat Cadbury Athletic, Willenhall Town, & Radford before losing to Midland League runner-up Alvechurch in the 2nd Round. The club were also runners-up in the TJ Vickers Cup losing to Ellesmere Rangers in the 2014 final.



MY VISIT

This was the second part of our New Years Eve double and was a ground that both myself and Chris had wanted to visit for a while in Crown Meadow. Being close to the town, we were hoping that there would be just enough time for a pre-match meal, should the traffic be kind to us. From our game at AFC Wulfrunians we left at 1.55, making the fairly simple 12-mile journey to Bridgnorth. We went through the town on the way in, which looked very pleasant and it was a shame we didn't really have time to stop, with us getting to the ground at 2.25. We went in and headed straight for the bar, with me enjoying a pint of Strongbow Cloudy Apple. It's no great shakes in the cider stakes, but it was pleasant enough and well chilled. Later on, at half-time, we would have some chips, which were decent enough, though they did take a while to be cooked.



We made our way outside to watch the game, and having enjoyed our earlier game, we were hoping for a decent contest. We were not disappointed, with AFC Bridgnorth taking the lead after just a couple of minutes. The ball was played to Anwar Olugbon who tricked the keeper into committing, put him on his backside and slotted past him into the empty net. It was 2-0 just before the break - the ball dropped nicely for Karl Griffiths who rifled home. Willenhall pulled one back on 65 minutes, a cracking header that gave the home keeper no chance. Five minutes later, the visitors thought they had equalised, however, Liam Wilkinson's shot in a goalmouth scramble was ruled out for offside as it was deflected in by a player in an offside position. A minute later the game was put to bed, with Bridgnorth making it 3-1 when Griffiths got his second, tapping home from a low cross. It was probably deserved on the balance of play, but an unfortunate day for Willenhall was compounded in the final 5 minutes as Cavan Chapman was sent off for reacting to the crowd following a foul.



It was nearly 5 by the time Chris and I left and we put the radio on TalkSPORT, first to listen to the results and reports from the days games, then the commentary of the Liverpool v Manchester City game which the hosts won 1-0. It was a slow journey at first, stuck behind dawdlers on the smaller roads until we got to the motorways around Birmingham. After a brief stop at Morrisons for fuel, I dropped Chris off in Wavendon at 7.15, getting home myself just after 8. I started my blog before having a couple of pints with Match Of The Day, though towards the end of it, I was falling asleep. I stayed awake long enough to toast the new year with my parents, but less than 10 minutes into the new year, I was in bed watching last night's Coronation Street. 2016 might have been a mixed year for me, but it was a good one groundhopping wise. I ended the year having seen 173 games and 116 new grounds, having met many great people, visited some lovely places and of course seen some decent games.



THE GROUND

CROWN MEADOW is a delightful ground with plenty of little bits and pieces to look at. The seated stand is comprised of a few rows of seats, though it's pretty long, with enough seating for around 200 supporters. There is further cover behind the near goal, and although it's a fairly large area, it doesn't have steps. The rest of the ground is open, though there are a fair few benches, with most dedicated in memory to former supporters and club officials.

The pleasant looking town of Bridgnorth is a half-mile walk or drive away and has a Wetherspoons as well as several other nice looking pubs and takeaways. Back at the ground the bar is above average - no real cider, but Strongbow Cloudy Apple which I've never seen on draught before, as well as Dark Fruits. I can't remember what there was for ale drinkers, but everything is well-kept and the bar is nice with sports TV. Food is a bit limited, but the chips I had were OK, and there was a good choice of sauces.

AFC Wulfrunians - Castlecroft Stadium

AFC Wulfrunians

Castlecroft Stadium

Castlecroft Road

Castlecroft

Wolverhampton

WV3 8NA

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 661
Saturday 31st December 2016
AFC Wulfrunians 1-3 Sporting Khalsa
Midland Premier



AFC WULFRUNIANS - A BRIEF HISTORY

AFC Wulfrinians are a fairly young club, having been formed as recently as 2005. They can trace their roots back to an older club, Old Wulfrunians, who were established in 1922 and play in the Birmingham Amateur Leagues. The new club started out in the West Midlands Regional League, initially at Division 2 level, although two rapid promotions saw them progress to the step 6 Premier Division for the 2007/08 season. All in all, six seasons were spent here, with the club never finishing outside the top 6. After becoming champions for the second time in 2013, they had the facilities in place for promotion, following the move to their current Castlecroft Stadium. Since then, they've been at step 5, originally in the Midland Alliance, then moving to the Midland League when the league merged with the Midland Combination. Their best ever finish came in 2015 when they finished 7th. After finish 13th last season, they've fallen further this season, sitting 18th at the time of the game.

In the FA Cup, the club have reached the 2nd Qualifying Round twice - losing to Alfreton Town in 2009 and Stamford in 2013. The 2015/16 season saw the club embark on a notable FA Vase run - beating Pershore Town, Bilston Tow, Harrowby United, Quorn & Alsager Town before a 3-2 defeat to Nuneaton Griff in the 4th Round. Locally, AFC Wulfrunians won the JW Hunt Cup in 2011.



MY VISIT

Fellow hopper Chris & I decided the first part of this double on Boxing Day, as it won over local rivals old Wulfrunians on the account of some hoppers we know attending this game. I'd deactivated Facebook the night before, and so I'd had a fairly late night after getting back from Wycombe's game at Cheltenham the previous night as I was making sure that I could still remain in contact with those that I needed to. The reason for having a break was pretty simple - I was spending far too much time on there. Every time I got to a game I was catching up with what had gone on in my absence and spent far too much time with my face in my phone, even missing goals on occasion. So I decided to stick with Twitter, which was a little more casual in terms of 'workload'. On the day of the game I woke at 8 am after around 5 hours sleep. I got ready, and in a rush opened the fridge and had that ever so traditional breakfast of a chicken kebab that had been left over from last night. I left home at 8.45, getting to Wavendon to meet Chris just after 9.30. Bar the long-running and frustating long stretch of roadworks on the M1, we had a good journey, arriving at our destination at 11.10.



Entry was £6, and a well presented and informative programme was £1.50. First stop was the tea bar, where I got the second part of my breakfast. Sausage and chips were great value at £3 and the tea bar in general was one of the better ones I have been to. From there we went up to the bar, where I had a can of Thatchers Gold. It was a real hopper fest, with Anders from Norway, Jens from Germany and Eddie from Grimsby as well as various faces that I'd seen out and about on various groundhops in the past. The earlier point about Facebook being too distracting was exemplified here as it was nice to chat and catch up without being distracted too much by my phone. There was only one stand at the ground, so after walking around and getting some pictures, I joined Chris, sitting near the halfway line.

AFC Wulfrunuians 0-1 Sporting Khalsa. Craig Bannister on 22 minutes

A video posted by Russell Cox (@russ_wwfc) on Dec 31, 2016 at 4:24am PST

The game started with chances at a premium, in fact, the first two notable incidents were injuries to home players, which thankfully remedied after treatment by the physio. Visitors Sporting Khalsa took the lead with the first real chance of the game on 22 minutes. A free kick was blasted against the wall, Craig Bannister was quickest to react as he drilled home the rebound into the bottom corner of the net. The lead was doubled 5 minutes later, this time it was a cross from the left that was headed in by David Meese at the near post. The scoreline reflected the fact that Khalsa had the better chances, but the deficit was reduced on 32 minutes. A great through-ball was played and it was left to striker Marcus Robinson to finish tidily in the bottom right-hand corner. The first half had been a decent contest, though there was not so much action in the second period. One further goal was scored, a penalty, awarded for a trip just inside the area. David Meese stepped up to convert the spot-kick, and complete his brace in what was a deserved victory for his side.

64 minutes gone and David Meese extends Khalsa's lead to 3-1

A video posted by Russell Cox (@russ_wwfc) on Dec 31, 2016 at 5:23am PST

THE GROUND

CASTLECROFT STADIUM is a smart and modern ground. Built initially as Wolverhampton Wanderers training ground, then as a base for English Rugby, AFC Wulfruniuans have played there since around 2012. There is just the one stand, a highly impressive structure seating 500 supporters under cover. Views are good, as is leg room. The rest of the ground is open hard standing and the ground has an overall capacity of 2000. The tea bar facilities are excellent - great choice, great value and generous helpings. The bar does the job. Not too much in the way of AFC Wulfrunians personalisation and restricted mainly to cans and bottles. But it's spacious, has plenty of seating and is reasonably priced.