Bracknell Town 3-0 Havant and Waterlooville, Monday 17th November 2025

Bracknell Town 3-0 Havant and Waterlooville, Southern League Premier Division South, att. 525, The SB Stadium (Bottom Meadow, Sandhurst)

I’m due to be driving down to London for business. A quick scan of the fixture lists brings Havant and Waterlooville away at Bracknell. My mate Ian supports Havant. Where’s Bracknell? Somewhere near Reading. Doable, even if a late nite to bed. Let’s go! I message Ian to make sure he’s going. He is. He goes to most games.

Unfortunately, things conspire against me. I can’t get set off from the Pennines as early as I would like due to a hospital appointment (not mine). Traffic is also at a standstill on some motorway or other (it’s dark, raining, I’m tired, and I’m beginning to past care). However, I dig in. It’d be good to see Ian, who’s hopefully doing better than his beloved Havant, who haven’t won in a while (about 2 seasons, the way they’ve been plummeting).

I reach Bracknell, see some floodlights...is this it? Off some ring road? Is it a leisure centre? Warehouse? Dunno, but it’s not a football ground. What brought me here? I definitely had something in my satvav. Let’s have another go. This one takes me OUT of Bracknell, about 5 miles out, to a housing estate in Sandhurst. No obvious signs of a ground here, either.

I drive back to Bracknell, and check out a location by a(nother) ringroad, what looks like floodlights to a non-league ground. It’s not. (I can’t remember what it was.) By now, I’m half an hour into the game. I message. ‘You’re not missing much’ he replies. I am beyond careful this time, taking the postcode from Bracknell’s website. As I’ve already done once. GU47 9BJ. I drive back to Sandhurst. This time I see some lights beyond the trees in a park. Christ, no wonder they have such small crowds for a town this size. Who’d travel HERE to see a game? (Ian says they lost their previous ground about 5 years ago.) I should feel more sympathetic to their plight.

I park up in a housing estate (a different one) as the car park next to the road is full. Then I traipse through the car park, across a field in darkness, towards the Holy Grail: Bottom Meadow. At least the turnstiles are on this side. Even betterm they’re wide open. A decidedly uninterested steward is nearby, so I ignore him and walk straight in. It's half time. Now to find Ian.

I imagine this will be an easy task. He’s of a size (errr...tall!) However, it’s bitterly cold and everyone appears to be wearing several layers of clothing, as well as woolly hats. At least I can narrow it down to Havant hats, and eventually I find him at the far end. Havant are kicking this way this half (occasionally!) and there’s problies 50 or 60 visitors hopeful visitors. (Hopeful in that they’ve yet another new manager). The second half is 3 minutes old before it’s 2-0.

Behind the goal, up a height in the stand, is where the Bracknell ultras congregate. Best spot in the house, and they seem to be having a good time. Otherwise, there’s couple of covered seating areas on either touchline and a swanky looking social club behind the other goal. But I’m staying here, with my buddy, and foregoing the tour. When will I be back? Never.

It gets worse for Havant and Waterlooville too. A poor home side triumphs three goals to nil with little effort. Ian and his carful are back off to the south coast, me to London. At least I could get the hell out easier than I got my way in.

The Damage:
free (late entry)