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| Welcome to .... |
With the season nearly over, now’s the time to be visiting them there non-league sides. No Football League / Premiership to see (or very little) and the non-leagues over with save for the play-offs. So you get to visit somewhere interesting and still have a crowd. Tonite, it’s a Conference South play-off between Hampton and Richmond Borough FC and Truro City. An unfortunate draw for Truro, given there can’t be many longer trips at this level, and they’d only played their league game at the same venue 4 days before. A nightmare for the away fans too, as trains wouldn’t get you back till the next day and how extortionate would the fares be anyway? So I presume the 40 or so away fans either came by coach, car, or were west country exiles living in London.
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| The Big Match. |
At this level the play-offs have one thing right; semi-finals are one leg and the team higher up the league have home advantage, a reward for the efforts of the previous 42 games. However, to increase the palaver, it’s 4th v 7th, 5th v 6th, the winners away to 3rd and 2nd respectively. I’m not sure I agree with a team in 7th being able to gain promotion through the play-off ‘lottery’, though I’spose it keeps half the division’s hopes up till the end.
The journey from Peckham was easy enough, one hour and one change (Clapham Junction). The ‘Beveree Stadium’ was walkable from Hampton station, and while I do enjoy living in the inner city, it made a pleasant change to walk past an actual village green. I also passed a couple of watering holes, but time was tight, I had a match to get to.
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| The teams raring to go. |
The stadium was maybe a ten minute walk. Turn left out the station and keep going. The Beveree itself is a proper charmer, more stands than the old Manor Ground, Oxford. There was a covered terrace down one side, which finished abruptly on the halfway line, to be replaced by a small seated stand. Behind the far goal was a tiny end, with some cover, while the long side also had a cover 20 yards or so long, otherwise was mainly where some scaffolding supported the cameraman. Then, behind the goal you enter the stadium at, there’s a small cantilevered stand offering excellent views right behind the goal, with a small terrace next to it, in front of some kind of pavilion, a building housing the changing rooms downstairs and a viewing gallery above. Presumably this is where Hampton’s ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ hang out. I’ve heard it referred to as the ‘eyrie’ (and you’d understand why if you saw it).
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| The players emerge...while the eagle-eyed look down from the 'eyrie'. |
The ground was busy, but not overly so. The crowd of 922 was larger than average, but possibly hampered by the live showing on BT of the Champions (and runners up, and runners up runners up…etc) League semi-final between Roma and Liverpool. I bought my match programme and sniffed out where to buy a beer. I wasn’t going to wait in a queue THAT long, so took my position on the terrace and took a few snaps.
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| 1st half, I stood on the terrace. |
The previous Saturday’s match had ended all-square, one-all, and this match was very even for the most part too. Truro took the lead when a cross was deflected in off the Hampton left back and captain…though it was later credited to a Truro player. My eyesight, or politeness? Or my poor memory? Either way, it put the away fans in good voice, ‘T-R-U-RO-OH’ being sung to the tune of ‘D.I.S.C.O.’
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| There must be easier ways to light a pitch... |
Hampton equalised just after the half hour mark when a shot was blocked and fell to a forward to score 1st time, neat finish, which was great cos it legitimised chants ‘Beavers! Beavers!’ (it’s their nickname). Later, I heard a couple of chants ‘ooh to…ooh to be…ooh to be a BEAVER!’ to that chant by the Goon(er)s. Otherwise, there wasn’t much in the way of chanting beyond the visitors efforts. My favourite bit was a home fan asking his own captain ‘Are you going to blame the referee for THAT?’ after he’d sliced the ball out. I could tell why he was captain; he wouldn’t stop chuntering (mainly to the ref). Concentrate on your own game, sunbeam.
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| Small but perfectly formed...on the camera-stand side. |
The second half forged plenty of half chances, but no goals. I was dreading this. What time were the last trains to London? I had time. Good. I also had time for a 2nd beer (I’d gone in the social club earlier and it was nice to see an efficient and quick serving system). A separate food queue was still too long (though I nabbed the last burger of the night on the way out…) I timed my beer nice in the 1st half too, seeing Milner’s comedy OG for Liverpool (for Roma?) on the big screen, while not missing any goals in this match.
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| The mish-mash of stands down one side. |
Anyway, with penalties to look forward to, Hampton went and ruined it all by scoring two (both from the sub) in extra time, the second on the break as Truro piled men forward in search of an equaliser. An entertaining game had seen the Beavers triumph. Now who would take up the supporters’ club bloke’s offer ‘anyone for the coach to Chelmsford? Names here please.’
The Damage:
£12 ent
£4 Cobra (x2)
£0.90 peanuts
£2.50 prog
£3 burger
= £26.40
The Tunes:
Fabric 19 (Andy Weatherall)
Fabric 84 (Mathew Jonson)
All Melody (Nils Frahm)
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| side panorama...and that's not sunlight, it's floodlights. |
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| Panorama from the stand behind the goal. |
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| The view from the terrace. |
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| A busy main stand. |
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| Welcome to....(II) |
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| The cameraman's 'stand' |
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| Looking towards the eyrie. |
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| The view from behind the goal. |
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| Nevermind the corner flag...WTF is that hole? |
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| That's me! |
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