Spennymoor Town 1-0 AFC Fylde, Tuesday 21st September 2021

Spennymoor Town 1-0 AFC Fylde, FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round, The Brewery Field, att. 1,094 (54 away)

It’s 35 years since I last saw a match at the Brewery Field. The Main Stand had burnt down, or was simply demolished, leaving the brick pillars only; behind one goal lay a stagnant pond, the whiff of which you could smell within the ground and the team turned a 3 goal half time lead against Hartlepool United into 3-5 friendly defeat. Worse followed, back in 2005, as the club was forced to fold following the social club burning down and a consequent inability to fulfil Unibond League fixtures. So, to see where Spennymoor are these days, riding high in Conference North, is somewhat of a fairytale. However, for myself, there’s lots to question.

Upon United’s folding, they bought out Evenwood Town, a proud Northern League side representing a village the other side of Bishop Auckland, moved them to the Brewery Field and renamed them Spennymoor Town (the FA have since twice refused the club’s request to reclaim ‘United’). Thus, they’re more of a Milton Keynes Dons than an AFC Wimbledon. Town even took over Coxhoe Athletic in the Wearside league, just to give their reserves a run about. (The name has since reverted to Coxhoe.) They also play in black and white stripes, never a good thing in my mind, and were the local rivals to my own town’s team (now defunct), Ferryhill Athletic. So, lots to abhor.

However, Evenwood were going bust anyway, the black and white stripes currently have an amber flash, so they’re more Notts County than Newcastle, and they’re now cleverly marketing themselves as a team for County Durham, not just Spennymoor. Indeed, if Tyne and Wear claims Sunderland, and Hartlepool is a unitary authority, Spennymoor can currently claim to be County Durham’s premier side, half a league ahead of Darlington, whose own renaissance has coincided with Spenny’s.

It helps to be bankrolled though. The club owner has invested heavily. All 4 sides of the ground have been rebuilt, or roofs added. The Main Stand includes a large corporate facility, while the stagnant pond end now has 4 rows of covered seating, as well as a state of the art scoreboard which is superior to my own side, Barnsley, 4 levels higher in the Championship. Opposite the Main Stand is a small terrace, the pick of the spots surely being to stand above the dugouts. The Wood Vue end (where the turnstiles are) is similar in size and roof to the other end, but is pure terrace. And for the commoners, a covered bar named after club legend Jason Ainslie, as well as a smaller bar in the opposite corner. All in all, a very smart stadium, as well as a pitch to die for.

I spent most of the first half wondering if the pitch was artificial, such was its’ carpet of green and only the players’ stud marks gave it away. A Gateshead fan, who, like me, had nought better to do than watch some local football, told me it’d cost £100k. It was the perfect surface for what was possibly the pick of the round’s ties; Conference North leaders AFC Fylde taking on 4th placed Spenny in a replay after a draw on Satdy. And the game didn’t disappoint, played at a terrific pace with the home side dominant. However, despite plenty of shots and not a few chances, it took a penalty just before half –time to decide the tie, as Spenny talisman Glen Taylor stepped up after a debatable foul.

Half-time, and most of the seated stand behind the goal changed ends, vocal element included. In a throwback to the good old days of my youth, it was great to see the teenagers of present year follow every goalkick of the Fylde keeper with a ‘You’re sh*t , ARRRGHHHH’. Later, I heard them sing a derisory song about Darlington. I’d better not tell them who my second team is. Either way, I’ll be back. Loved it, black and white stripes and all!

The Damage:
£10 ent
= £10

I’d have had a programme too, if they hadn’t sold out 10 minutes before kick-off. Oh well.

The Tunes:
BBC6 Music (Marc Riley / Gideon Coe)

Kingstonian 0-2 AFC Fylde, Saturday 30th November 2019

Kingstonian 0-2 AFC Fylde, FA Cup 2^nd Round, att. 1,460

Welcome to ...

I don’t know which had me here today, whether it was my disillusionment with my own team (Barnsley), without a win in forever, or the state of the nation’s train system, .  A month ago, I looked at train prices and it was 36 quid return to the north.  When I went to book the next day, it had gone up to £41.  And even then, I wouldn’t get back to London till half ten at nite due to engineering works.  Bargain.  Sod that, I thought – let’s see what alternatives are out there.

The teams line up.

Having checked the fixtures, it turned out to be FA Cup 2^nd round day.  The greatest knock out competition in the world, apparently.  Of the games played at the weekend, the only team I’d not been to was Kingstonian.  Didn’t they play at Leatherhead these days?  I did a bit of digging, and no, they didn’t play at Leatherhead.  They’d moved on to a groundshare with Corinthian Casuals, at King George's Field in Tolworth.  That probably means nothing to anybody – ‘cept I see this stadium from the  train every day on the way to work each day in Chessington.  I had to.

It's a sign!

The stadium is a basic affair, though it does benefit from cover on three sides.  A small seated stand straddles the halfway line, with a decent sized clubhouse behind.  Each end has a small covered terrace about 4 steps high (enough for the average Corinthians’ game, that’s for sure) while the fourth side only contains the dugouts.  Today, a couple of camera gantries on scaffolding eye up proceedings, no doubt provided by the BBC, who broadcast their Football Focus programme from here earlier.  It also provided the most surprising answer of the day to ‘what’s been the highlight so far?’  ‘The arrival of the portaloos.’  THAT’S when non-leaguers realise they’ve hit the big time.

Them there portaloos.  Stars of the show.

It was the usual advantage of not travelling up north today.  I could leave the house the right side of one o’clock.  I could have a flat white and Greggs steak-bake.  I could get there before the match actually started.  I could also have a 20 minute walk along the A3 and marvel at the mixture of concrete and Edwardian semis that make up suburbia.  You can tell I’m not a fan.

Lovely.

I bought my ticket last week.  Not wanting to risk the game selling out (it was bad enough repeating my weekday commute on a Satdy), I ordered it online.  So well done the local record shop who allowed Kingstonian to utilise their online facility.  Ticket ordered Sunday, on my doorstep Tuesday, and queues beaten at the stadium.  There were still cash sales though, as AFC Fylde are not the biggest draw in the hat.  Indeed, I shared a stand with their fans 2^nd half, and they can’t have brought more than 50.  What will happen when their sugar daddy leaves, time will tell.  

The Fylde hordes, pre-match.

The rest of the ground was busy though.  The main home end and seats looked full, so I went to the far end and stood by a railing with a great view of the pitch and Fylde’s superiority; one up after 9 minutes (a shot from the edge of the box through a crowd of players) and the game sealed in 1^st half injury time with a rebound.  Jordan Williams bagged both, but my highlight was still when he controlled the ball and blazed over from 6 yards in the 2^nd half.  I guess he doesn’t like scoring hattricks.  The result never seemed in doubt, for all Kingstonian’s endeavour.

Oh, and Barnsley won.  Of course they did.  3-1.  After 17 matches without a win, they wait till I’ve gone AWOL.  Typical.

The Damage:

£10 ent
£0.60 postage
£2.50 prog
£8 train
= £21.10

The Tunes:
The Far Field (Future Islands)
Endtroducing (DJ Shadow)
Dubnobasswithmyheadman (Underworld)

St. George's panorama

1st half action

Behind the goal, 1st half

View from behind the other goal, 2nd half.

Kingstonian's twin towers.

The turnstiles

Back of the stand (board room this way)

(Both) Corinthians' legend Socrates.

The Main Stand (with clubhouse behind)

The cameraman behind the K's net, 2nd half.

The home terrace

Check out the hump in the goal.

The sponsors await the teams.

The TV/radio gantry.

Leyton Orient 2-0 AFC Fylde, Tuesday 26th March 2019

Leyton Orient 2-0 AFC Fylde, National League, att. 4,696

Welcome to ....

Tonite is a bit off the beaten track for me, a cheeky midweek match on schoolnite.  But what brings me to my old stomping ground of Leyton?  Well, my mate Loko actually knows one of the linesmen through his work and so he’s procured free tickets.  Brilliant!  Guests of the referee’s assistant.  This is a new one on me.

Oi!  Linesman!  Keep up.

Of course, the linesman is too professional to meet us pre-match for beers.  Initially we went to the Leyton Technical, basically a pub in the old town hall (where I used to live; long story).  Leyton was crying out for a decent pub when I lived in a flat around the corner, but as soon as I move out…(well, as I say, I lived in the town hall…they could hardly turn it into a pub while I lived there).  But it’s quality, and actually only takes up part of the downstairs. 

Not the Leyton Technical, but the West Stand exec bar.  For us execs.

We leave early for the ground though.  Loko wants to see Orient’s social club, pick up a few tips for Oakwell (Barnsley) and the certificates behind the bar tell the story.  The social club has won more awards than Leyton Orient!  A quid or two to get in, then a range of real ales, all in the ground floor of the towering West Stand.  It appeared to be open to anyone, though it was doubtful there were any away fans in there, AFC Fylde barely brought a dozen to the game.

Leyton Orient's award-winning social club.

Then it was into the West Stand to bag our freebies, behind none other than Barry Fry in the queue.  I bet he gets about a bit.  The lower division Harry Redknapp, if ever there was one.  Another treat was a teamsheet.  I presume your name doesn't have to begin with 'J' to play for the Orient...but it helps.  Joe, Josh, Jobi, James, another Josh, Jamie...with James, another James and Jay on the bench.  This must be some sort of record.  It must be working too: Orient are marching to the title.

Sign welcoming us big knobs into the West Stand.

Fylde, in amongst the leading pack and contenders for the play-offs, put up little resistance against a team on the cusp.  A goal down after 15, the match was effectively all over after 24 minutes when Bonne scored a penalty.  Otherwise, all that was left was giving our linesman some ‘advice’ during the game, probably to the bemusement of the home support, as no-one else was giving him grief.  We were only teasing.  And he got his beer later (but only one; he’s professional!)

The Damage:
free ent
beers?  Can’t remember, but only had one in the ground.


The Tunes:
none

I remember when that was a large terrace.

The penalty for 2-0.

Looking towards the (main) home end.

The Fylde hordes.

The old main stand.

Match action.

A personal fave; the social club carpet.

A blurred panorama.  Sorry, best my camera can do at night.