Darwen - The Anchor Ground

Darwen FC

The Anchor Ground

Anchor Road

Darwen 

Lancashire

BB3 0BB

Official Website

NWCFL Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1517

Friday 27th February 2026
Darwen 0-0 Colne

NWCFL D1 North

DARWEN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The current club was established in 2009 as AFC Darwen. A successor club to the former Football League side, they had to start in the West Lancashire Premier. Despite only finishing 8th, they were admitted to the North West Counties Division 1. In 2015, a 3rd-place finish behind Atherton Collieries and Cammell Laird saw them promoted to the Premier Division after beating Chadderton and Hanley Town in the playoffs. Two 18th-place finishes were as good as it got for the club, and in 2018, they were relegated to Division 1 North after finishing bottom. For many seasons, they finished in the bottom half of the table, but a name change to Darwen in 2023 has seen them finish in the top half ever since.

The club has played five seasons in the FA Cup since reforming, but has recorded just one victory. That came in 2018 when they beat Barnton 3-1 before losing 4-1 to Trafford in the Preliminary Round. Darwen had a decent run in the FA Vase in 2022. They beat Handsworth, Charnock Richard and Thornaby before losing 2-0 at Horden CW in the 3rd Round. Local cup wins include the North West Counties Division One Trophy in 2015 and the Martin Vizzard Memorial Trophy in 2016. Their record attendance of 982 came against Bury in October 2021. Links with Wycombe Wanderers include striker Andy Bell, who scored three goals in eleven games for the Chairboys during the 2003/04 season before seeing out his career at AFC Darwen in 2016. Former managers include Peter Devine, who resigned after just one pre-season friendly in 2015. While playing for Lancaster City, Devine became infamous for a missed penalty kick attempt during the 1991 HFS Northern Premier League Division One Cup Final against Whitley Bay. The miss has been voted one of the worst penalty misses of all time and was included on the football blunders videos, Danny Baker's Own Goals and Gaffs and Nick Hancock's Football Nightmares.

 

The original Darwen FC was formed in 1870. They turned professional five years later and were an early pioneer of professional football in Northern England, reaching the semi-finals of the 1881 FA Cup, where they lost 4-1 to Old Carthusians at the Kensington Oval. Three further Quarter Finals were reached. In October 1878, at their Barley Bank ground, Darwen played a representative team from Blackburn under floodlights. This is believed to be one of the first in football. The game was a huge success (not only because Darwen won 3–0), but the experiment was not repeated in that era. They were Football League members from 1891 until 1899, spending one season in the top tier. They were voted out in 1899 after finishing bottom of the 2nd Division and losing their original ground. They remained in Non-League for the rest of their history, playing in the Lancashire Combination up until 1975 and then the Cheshire League before joining the North West Counties League. Their best finish here was 6th in the top tier in 1990. They resigned from the league in 2009 following multiple winding-up petitions in their latter years.

MY VISIT

From my game at Cullompton, it was a 15-minute walk to the bus stop. I had little faith in the service after the earlier palaver. But happily, it was on time. I got the vast majority of my blog done, but I wasn't sure if I could get the earlier rail replacement to Honiton. There were certainly a lot of people waiting outside Exeter Central Station. The first bus went to Exmouth, and the second to Honiton was a few minutes late. This made things tight for the passengers heading straight onto the train as it was set to leave within two minutes rather than the seven that it should have been. I was glad I was heading to Spoons rather than rushing around. There, at Wetherspoons 481, I first ordered chicken wings and a pint of Black Dragon for £6.29. Then a pint of Stowford Press for £1.99. It was a lovely place to spend an all too short 40 minutes. From there, it was Spar for a couple of bottles of both cider and soft drinks. The former was most certainly needed as it was a boisterous, or to put it another way, annoying atmosphere on the train. The thought of doing this sober did not bear thinking about. It was the old Amish train with no charging facilities, so I'd just have to see how long my laptop battery lasted. The train emptied at Yeovil Junction, and by the time we got to Templecombe, my laptop battery was as dead as the atmosphere. But at least I got the NCEL Premier in the bag, my fourth promotion in a row. From there, it was a nice, relaxed journey, and I was in a good mood as I got back to Waterloo. The Bakerloo took me to Marylebone, where I waited 15 minutes for the train back to Wycombe. I didn't have long to wait for a taxi, and I was back home by 12:45. I managed to drop off straight away and ended up getting just over three hours of sleep. I felt fine in the morning, though, which was just as well on the busiest Sunday of the year, which led to me having to stay on for an hour. A two-hour nap was taken in the afternoon to catch up.

Monday was fairly uneventful, but it was D-day for my car as it had its annual MOT and Service. Never a cheap time, but far better than last year, with the year's bills being a third of what they were last time out. I was back home early afternoon and after dinner, headed up to Sporting Benfica London v Deportivo Galacia at Amersham Town. It was postponed en route, however, due to the hosts only having eight players. Or was it due to the pitch, I couldn't work out as the two Twitter accounts argued. At least it was local, and I was back home in time to watch a stream of Exeter City v Wycombe Wanderers with the Chairboys leading 1-0 at half time. We eventually conceded a last-minute equaliser, but it was a good game to watch with a couple of pints. Wednesday and Thursday were standard work days. But disappointing news came in the evening when I checked the weather ahead of a potential game at Afan Lido tomorrow. It was due to bucket down yet again in the few hours before kickoff. Even if the match survived, I was planning on parking at the ground and walking into town, which would not be pleasant in the rain. It continued a long, barren run for midweek football, which has lasted for the entirety of 2026. To make matters worse, I was having no luck with linking up SkyScanner flights and potential games for my weekend in March. It will be all UK and Ireland for the first three weekends, and I really fancied something proper abroad for the fourth of my weekends I'd booked off from work.

Friday came, and with a few having the Wycombe game on Tuesday, it was a sober one. It didn't stop me from making an error in booking a non-refundable, poorly located hotel in Salzburg, though. It will require an Uber to get me to the early-morning coach stop on time, and it wasn't like me to rush and make errors. All being well, though, it'll be a nice trip to Salzburg, Ljubljana and Venice, though, all a bit more rushed than I'd have liked. I also booked a trip to Scotland for the previous weekend with Colin, the latter once being a solo trip. It played on my mind, the hotel misstep, but I'll sort it out in time. The worst-case scenario, I lose £27 in real money, as half of it was in loyalty points. I was asleep by 10.30 and up at 6, watching TV in bed for a bit. After getting up and getting ready, I walked down Wycombe and was in Wetherspoons by 10.15. Breakfast muffin, black pudding, Stowford Press and energy drink were £5.93 for my first order, then a pint of Pear Mania was £3.24. All great value for money. As was my bag of bakery goodies from Lidl, and the final can from Tesco Express. I was at the ground in a happy state half an hour before kickoff. It was not the greatest of games, but Wycombe won 3-1, and debutant Nathan Lowe scored within five minutes of coming on. Then a lift home before I headed up to Holmer Green for the second half of their 0-0 draw against PFC Victoria. It was a brave performance against their high-flying visitors, and it was a shame they couldn't grab a goal on the break. It was a few more drinks when I got home, but I was in bed by 8 and asleep before 9. As a result, I was awake nearly two hours before my alarm, as I've never really needed much sleep.

I was glad of my day off on Tuesday, doing my usual walk to Wycombe and back. I also carried on with my Hull United FM17 save, gaining my 5th successive promotion, this time through the playoffs to the NPL Premier. Having not played the game for over five years until recently, I've been playing it incessantly in 2026. The evening was spent making my 39th visit to Holmer Green as they beat Hillingdon Borough 4-2. There were hoppers there from Falkirk and Brighton, and it was good to bump into Kizz, who had come down from Nuneaton. It was just a matter of wishing away the week and looking forward to the first hop of the year. I awoke on Friday to the good news that the Green Party had won the Gorton & Denton election. Having been far worse off under Starmer with increased bus fares, more tax and those on benefits better off money-wise than me. It was a hard day, but I found it therapeutic. I saved my break until the end, got a sarnie and got changed with us leaving just before 1. It was a nice journey up at first but it all went bad when we hit the M42 and M6 around Birmingham. Delays galore and a very frustrating hour. We then got going, but it was not the usual delay at Stoke, just a sticky bit near Knutsford. It was then OK until we got to our room just outside Blackburn at 5.20. The Willows was a nice place to stay, and we were all checked in quickly. Having worked for 13 hours, I had a couple of drinks to help me wind down and ordered an Uber.

 

Good Old Quaisar was on time for the £8 Uber to the Wetherspoons in Darwen. A clean and pleasant car journey. Wetherspoons 482 was The Old Chapel in Darwen. Lovely building, but very busy. Some disgusting, filthy pigs left the table in a right state with drinks and food left but the excellent staff soon cleared it. Cheese Meltdown burger, etc., with Fierce Irn Bru was £10.02. Mine all came before Colin's, much to his disappointment. We left at 6.45, and it was a mixed walk to the ground, pleasant park and river giving way to main roads. £7 entry was given before I heard someone saying that scarves were a fiver, so I snapped the last one up before going into the ground.

Darwen were in 2nd place and were in great form. In their last six, they had won five and drawn one. Last time out, they won 1-0 at Maine Road. Colne were in 15th, but comfortably clear of the relegation spots. They were in decent form, having won two, drawn three and lost one of their last six. Last week, they beat Holker Old Boys 3-1. It was a boring first half with lots of huff and puff but no end product. Probably Colne had the better efforts in the second half, but it was tepid. The best chance came in the dying embers, but the Darwen keeper's last-ditch save kept it goalless. The ball was in the net in favour of Colne in the last minute, but it was disallowed. A drab game but an excellent post-match pint at The Anchor, which had a brilliant vibe and a lovely dog. A pint of Strongbow was all I had before Colin yearned for the hotel room. I had cans back at the room, and as it was cost-effective, I got us an Uber. We were back at 10.20, and I watched Newsnight as I typed my blog. 

THE GROUND

I first visited The Anchor Ground on 30th September 2006, on the way to Accrington Stanley v Wycombe Wanderers. This was back in the days of before I discovered groundhopping proper, but still liked visiting grounds for photos. The clubs were always most accomodating and Darwen were no exception. It was a pleasant ground with a decent main stand and a good amount of terracing. 

Upon my proper visit, I was impressed by the range of merch. The food was also good and the bars were palatial, and they had Somersby Cider. Right outside the ground were various takeaways and a fantastic pub, The Anchor. Not the most amazing range, but it had a brilliant vibe and a friendly atmosphere.

2026 PHOTOS

Cullompton Rangers - Speeds Meadow

Cullompton Rangers FC

Speeds Meadow

Duke Street

Cullompton

Devon

EX15 1DW

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1516

Saturday 14th February 2026

Cullompton Rangers 5-0 Newton Abbot Spurs

SWP East

CULLOMPTON RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1945 and initially played in the East Devon Victory League, before joining the Exeter & District League. They were Division 1 champions in 1960, earning promotion to the Premier Division. After finishing as Premier Division runners-up in their first season, they went on to win the league title in 1962 and 1964. However, they were relegated after finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 1967. After another relegation, the club were Division 2 champions in 1973 and won Division 1 again in 1979, earning promotion back to the Premier Division of the renamed Devon & Exeter League. They made the step up to the Devon League in 1992. Although findimg the going tough at times, they finished as runners-up in 1998 and 1999. In 2007, they were founder members of the South West Peninsula League, first in the Premier Division and, latterly, in the East Division. They enjoyed their record finish of 4th last season.

Cullompton Rangers' only FA Cup appearance came in 2009, when they fell at the first hurdle, losing 5-1 to Gillingham Town. The FA Vase 2nd Round has been reached three times. Local cup honours include the Devon Premier Cup in 1999 and the East Devon Senior Cup in 1994. Links with Wycombe Wanderers include Craig Woodman, who made 119 appearances for us between 2007 & 2010 and is still plying his trade for Cullompton at the grand old age of 43. Other notable names to play for them include former Birmingham City player Scott Hiley and Adam Stansfield, who started his career with the club but sadly passed away in 2010 whilst playing for Exeter City. The town of Cullompton is located in Devon, around 13 miles from Exeter. It has a population of around 10,000.

 

MY VISIT

Exeter had long been a part of the country I had wanted to explore, but I had been put off due to the ludicrously high price of train tickets. The cheapest it could be done for was around £70, and that was with taking specific trains with specific splits. Though the Great British Rail Sale was not as productive as in 2025, I was able to snag a pair of £10 singles from London Waterloo for this Saturday. It was a bit slower and more clunky than I would have liked, but for that price, I couldn't complain. It was annoying that I couldn't go from Reading, as that meant I could leave the car at home, but those tickets were far more expensive. I could potentially go back to Wycombe and catch a taxi from there, but the plan was to go back to Amersham and drive home, which would restrict my pub-going a bit. There were tons of pubs I fancied, but at the time of booking, I had six weeks to make a decision. As for the games, Cullompton Rangers was the overwhelming favourite, with Bovey Tracey also a contender. I also had eight others in lower leagues, though none on 3G at the time of my initial research. I was even considering accepting the loss of the £20 spent on train tickets, after a string of wet weather.

From my game at Kenilworth, I listened to and watched the Mansfield Town v Wycombe Wanderers game, which ended 0-0. It was a train to Coventry by which time I'd all but finished my blog, but the battery was almost dead. I decided to leave it until later, walking to the Bloomfield Tavern, where I had a pint of Derbyshire Buck cider, very pleasant too. There was only one cider I fancied, just as well as I didn't wanna get home too late. I only had time for one Wetherspoons, and it was to be the Earl of Mercia, as this had both special offers on food and Black Dragon cider. It did indeed come up trumps, though I was lucky to get a table for Black Dragon cider and a Spice Bag. I decided to take another break in the journey to stop in Leamington Spa. It wasn't nearly as nice as it sounds; perhaps the roadworks and scaffolding coloured my view, but it was a disappointing town. The Benjamin Satchwell Spoons was doing a brisk trade, which was why I was there. A can of Fierce Iron Bru was a change from cider, and it left me with enough capacity, according to my app, to have one more. So back to the station it was and more FM17 on the hour journey. I was back at 9.20 and walked via the bog to the bus stop. It was around ten minutes' wait for the bus home. I got through the door just before 10 and had a pint before bed. It was work as usual, and with a 3.50 am alarm, I needed a nap the following afternoon. I drew up a list of options for Tuesday in the evening, the weather looking crap again. It was the local side, Holmer Green, that got the nod. Harleston probably would have been OK, but with a lot of rain just before kickoff, 4-degree temperatures and a three-hour sleep before work the next day, I decided against it.

Out of all the new grounds I had considered, the Shawbury United game had already bitten the dust, due to Telford Town being unable to raise a team. I was going to keep an eye out to see what happened at Harleston Town & Melbourne Dynamo, just out of interest. As for my chosen game, a pitch inspection was scheduled, and with light rain all day, I wasn't confident. It wasn't enough to stop me from walking the ten miles to town and back, helping me undo some of the damage from all my snacking. Both the Holmer Green & Malbourne Dynamo games fell victim to the weather; however, the Harleston one went ahead. Nevertheless, it was abandoned after ten minutes due to a player injury, which is never nice. I was glad I took the option of a night in and was asleep well before 9. The week really started to drag on Wednesday with no game, and I could have done with a few drinks, but I decided to wait until Friday as usual. There was no reward at the end of the week, though, as Penn & Tylers Green v Oxhey Jets was called off due to the persistent rain. It was supposed to be a charity game in memory of club legend Andreas Latta. But the weather took the side of cancer and cost a great cause a four-figure sum, such is its arrogance and vicious spite.

It was a boozy Friday evening, I'd much preferred to have been out at football, but instead I got a third successive promotion with Hull United on FM17 and earned a debut in both the FA Cup and FA Vase. This carried on the next morning until I left for the Wycombe game at 10.40. A pint and some wings in Spoons, a pint of Old Rosie in the Rose and Crown, a Romanian mixed grill and a can from Tesco made it the usual indulgent pre-match. A great Wycombe win, 4-0 against Doncaster Rovers, put me in a good mood. It was a couple more drinks on the way home, and I'd walked 16 miles in all. Finally, a nightcap to send me off before a hard day at work the next day, which was intolerably busy. It was my day off on Tuesday, and the standard walk to town and back. I was glad to get my car booked in for the MOT & Service next week, though it was annoying to be a bit too late to take advantage of some better prices. I prioritised getting it done as soon as possible, though ahead of some long-distance drives in the coming month. I had planned to go to Chalfont St Peter v Holmer Green in the evening, but once again, it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The same could be said of New Milton Town v AFC Stoneham on Wednesday, which was postponed early afternoon. It's been a very frustrating start to the new year with only one midweek non-league game so far, which was, of course, played in torrential rain. It was a dull Wednesday and Thursday, with the week dragging again due to no football.

Final plans were put in place on Thursday evening. I decided that I'd probably leave the car at home to be safe and not have to do a stinking sober trip home. It was a super busy day at work on Friday, but with it being so constant, time flew. I had a few drinks to help me relax and was still considering taking my car to save time, finally settling on coming back via London, Wycombe and Taxi. On the day, I woke at my usual work time, missing out on a lie-in when I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed at 6.50, getting ready and leaving at 7. Bus, Chiltern train and tube got me to London Waterloo well on time for my train. 40 minutes early in fact, naturally, the Wetherspoons was my refuge with a £3.49 pint of Stowford Press going down a treat. I was at platform 9 in plenty of time, a good job as it left a minute early. It was a pleasant enough train, shockingly though, no plugs or USB charging, so I would be limited in playing my Football Manager 2017 save with Hull United, seeking my fourth promotion in a row from the NCEL Premier. It was a pleasant enough journey, though, and the free WiFi was useful. I got good news at 10 am, first choice game at Cullompton was on. Not the most interactive club, with replies turned off on Twitter by default. It was interesting to note, though, that former Wycombe player Craig Woodman was still playing for them at the grand old age of 43. A couple of cans of Stromgbow aided my research during the picturesque journey. The comfortable surroundings aided my research into the club, which I left until the journey down due to the perilous state of the weather.

I was at Honiton at 12.15 for the rail replacement. Despite being late leaving, it was well organised but very busy. It was a frustratingly slow trip once we got near Exeter due to traffic. Then people took ages getting off the bus. Ten minutes late, I headed to the first Wetherspoons, The Chevalier Inn. Unlike other Wetherspoons in Devon, it was awful, with most stuff out of stock. A pint of Thatchers Gold was quaffed for £3.80. Next up, George's Meeting House, it had some good ciders, but they weren't in the meal deal. A spice bag and Aspalls came quickly, and I headed for the bus stop with five minutes to spare. However, the bus didn't turn up despite Google Maps claiming it did. The next one was five minutes late, and finally, I was on my way, behind schedule. I had been following the Reading v Wycombe game, and despite us coming back from 2-0 down to level, we lost the game 3-2. It was a long, old route, very rural. There were huge gaps between stops, but I got off just short of the town. It was a fifteen-minute walk to the ground. I arrived a few minutes past but heard the referee blow for kickoff as I got near. 

Cullompton Rangers were in 4th place, going well but in mixed form. Their last game was a 4-0 win at Ilfracombe Town, but that was a month ago. Newton Abbot Spurs were 7th and amazingly, this was their first league game since December 28th, when they'd drawn 1-1 at Teignmouth. The visitors had possession but didn't create much. Instead, Cullompton took the lead on ten minutes, a right-sided cross headed home. It was 2-0 around 27 minutes in, a good cross and #10 headed home at the back post. Similar to the first, but I had a far better view this time. It was a similar goal for 3-0, just before halftime. I had a bottle of Rattler Gold at halftime, a new one for me. A well-worked move and a low shot made it 4-0 on 49 minutes, although there was no communication on lineups or goals. A penalty with fifteen minutes to go saw Cullompton lead 5-0, this after a trip just inside the area. There was still silence from both teams and the FA Full Time being the hopeless system that it is, I had no idea who had grabbed the goals when I came to publish this blog.

THE GROUND

SPEEDS MEADOW is a well-kept but basic ground. The main covered area is on the far side, a brick-built stand with bench seating. This holds around 150. On the near side is some cover in front of the bar for me under 50. The bar itself offers a reasonable range at reasonable prices and also serves food. The ground is adjacent to the M5 and main train line, though Exeter is the nearest station. The town is 20 minutes walk away, where the Pony and Trap is worth a visit.