Non League Grounds...

[medibot]

A little quiz for you all to answer, add pictures and reasons where you feel they are needed

Favourite Non League Ground

I thought and thought and thought about this and still can't get past the battered, flawed old dog that is Gander Green Lane.

It's like the slightly odd looking lass in the corner of the pub that you somehow still get drawn too ;D

Best Ground in your league

Dorchester or Eastbourne, undecided between the two but they are what a modern non league stadium should be like. Sensibly sized, close to the action.

Dorchester has tons more character, the clock and attempts at making it less soulless than other new grounds and of course the incredible locals but it is in a Tescos carpark which always lets it down.

Eastbourne is well thought out and does the job perfectly, the main stand isn't really that impressive but other than that i like the tight clean design and the weird low bit of cover under the "executive" boxes means it isn't that boring.

Not really much to choose from in the conf south though.

Worst Ground in the league

Eastleigh by a mile.

Weirdest Ground



Place called Stanley up north ;D

Favourite Ground Feature

Mad little stands, Tonbridge Angels have one, our shoebox is another, anything that defies logic like off centre stands (Scummers), roofless stands (Horsham), wooden stands (Hitchin)

Favourite Terrace/Stand/Spot

My usual spot is behind the goal but i don't really have a favourite. Any view in the Millennium Stadium is amazing though.

[Col ISIHAC.]

OK For what it's worth, as I am far less widely travelled than most of you...

Favourite probably Worcester City - qualifies under quaint, quirky, that sort of thing, but also due to the welcoming locals and standard of fare in the clubhouse too. OK in bad weather it's possibly a slit yer wrist option duer to lack of cover, but that big old terrace down in one corner, and the resonance & racket just 60 voices can create has to be experienced.

Personally, the best in Connie Sarff is WLP, home of my lot. Have seen most others, but home is where the heart is Further improvements will have this season's visitors gasp in admiration. I DO like GGL - I have to because of the incomparable welcome and joviallity of all bar two of the regular supporters. ;D

Worst; agreed with Mr Meds. Beastleigh.

Weirdest - of those experienced, Wesel! The Dripping Pan is "Unique" in the same way that a rare tropical disease might be described as being unique. The joke is wearing rather thin now - and just like that tropical disease, the resources are there to cure the problem...

Ground features:

With the rush to get these installed with tippy-up-seats prior to the new league set up a couple of years back, dugouts have to feature here. The variety around out league; those situated in stands, under stands, those that look like bus shelters and those that look like lean-to sheds. I give you Tamuff, Beastleigh (Again) Sidlesham and Arundel as examples of what the imagination can do when confronted with the need to provide a dugout. Pretty good selection on Pyramid Passion for the terminally curious.

Favourite place to stand.
Unsure. We are becoming a tad factional at WLP, so the sound spreads quite thinly across the end terraces these days which lessens the atmosphere, but this is where you'll usually find me. For PSF's and some cup games I'll venture into the stand for a different view of things, and occasionally like to stand next to the home dugout, to witness the wit & wisdom of Mr Baird at first hand. ESPECIALLY if a refs assistant is winding him up!

[coops]

Favourite Non League Ground

This will go down well with one of our members, St Georges Lane, Worcester. It's just a proper ground, big old terracing, proper floodlights..I don't know, I just like it.


Best Ground in your league

It was probably Kidderminster last year but I have the feeling that Oxford United might trump it.


Worst Ground in the league

Any with an open away end, just no need in The Conference, in every case there would easily be room to put the away fans under some sort of cover. Hang your heads in shame Exeter and Altrincham. (Aldershot get a let off for changing their away end last season).


Weirdest Ground

I would have gone for Wolverton with it's fantastic old stand backed onto that massive railway viaduct, but it's gone now

Darlaston have the most amazing slope on their pitch, you need crampons when attacking up the hill!


Favourite Ground Feature

I'll get back to you on this one!

Favourite Terrace/Stand/Spot

The Shed at Tamuff is just a superb place to watch football. Not for the view (shite), the facilities (shiter), but for the banter and the atmosphere, I just love the place, but I am slightly biased!

[boyblue]

Of the new grounds I like Crawley and Hednesford (although Crawley could do with more supports to lean on)

Harrogate perhaps my biggest disappointmet. I expected so much from a well known club but rather open and small. (Plans to move I hear)

From a sheer nostelgia point of view I was at last Worcester City V Evesham UTD game at Evesham's Common Road before they bulid a new ground (oh how we get sentimental in the Mercia region).

[bonehead]

For each and every category I nominate a certain team in the E Midlands (sorry Ms Iguana)

Favourite non-league ground is a no-chancer. No matter how good or bad it is, your home ground ought to be your favourite ground (unliess you support Rothwell Town).

Best ground in your league? Rocky Rd because it has the best pitch in Conf North

Worst ground in your league? Rocky Rd because the club can't be bothered (because the ground is rented) to afford visiting fans the luxury of cover if it rains.

Weirdest ground? Rocky Rd 'cos I'm there and the club has had a clock that hasn't moved since at least 1966. At least the clock is right twice a day. I wish I could claim that.

Favourite ground feature: did I tell you about the clock that hasn't moved since at least 1966?

Favourite terrace/stand/spot: I've been in the main stand three times, and we've lost two of those games. No comment. Cowper St is the end where my sister tried to buy a house. I could have looked out of her dormer window to watch games in comfort in the middle of winter. I could have, but I wouldn't. It just isn't the same. Games I've watched from there have been 50/50 regarding success. Britannia Rd, where the faithful (but also some of the whingeiest fans in non-league football) stand is the only place to be. Level with the penalty box at the Rocky Rd end so I can scream and shout at linos who deny us a penalty ... or have dodgy haircuts ... or are so tall they block my view.

[ambersalamander]

bored now. can i do it tomorrow when the beer is gone

[Col ISIHAC.]

ambersalamander said:

bored now. can i do it tomorrow when the beer is gone

No!

Now.

If you please...

[davetscfc]

Favourite Non League Ground

I reckon another vote for Worcester here. Seems most of us prefer the old fashioned look. Merthyr, despite the crumbling terrace and smely outside urinal is another favourite!

Best Ground in your league

Being a newbie there's a few I've not been to yet, though not as many as you'd think, about 4 or 5. Quite a few I've not been to for a while though. Don't know about best, but Havant is one that's been raised in standard pretty well over the last few years.

Worst Ground in the league

Eastleigh by a mile.

A straight copy and paste there!

Might not be so bad for those of you who go when there's the usual 3 or 400 there. Trouble is when we go, it's 700+ and the complete lack of terracing means unless you've booked a spot on the railing an hour before kick off you see next to nothing.

Weirdest Ground

I reckon we're in with a shout here. For those who've not been for a while (Havant, Sutton), nothing's changed. We still have one side and one end of a half decent football ground with a pretty impressive covered end, and one side and one end of nothing!

Favourite Ground Feature

The wooden pavillion at our old Victoria Park ground was pretty unique.

Favourite Terrace/Stand/Spot

Because of the 'half and half' nature of the Ray Mac, desribed above, people don't tend to change positions at half time at our place. We (the main noise makers) stand on the side, almost level with the edge of the penalty area. Away from home, like most people, it's the half we're attacking, but can be behind the goal, or along the side, depending on where popular opinion decides the most racket will be made.

[ambersalamander]

hug me mr salisbiuRY

[pies]

Fave ground would have to be GGL, if only because of all the memories that place has for me, and the sheer uniqueness of it when compared to other grounds in the area.

Best in our league, that i've been to, would have to be Eastbourne.

Worst, well i'm biased, but i hate Colston Avenue

Wierdest, Ford/Redbridge just because of the sheer lack of home fans

Fave feature, The old Roses tea hut at Sutton, a funny wooden structure, which wouldn't look out of place selling ice cream in a park

Fave place to stand, behind the goal, with cool people having a laugh watching Sutton

[coops]

davetscfc said:

The wooden pavillion at our old Victoria Park ground was pretty unique.

You've put a grumpy faced emoticon after this statement but I absolutely loved that pavilion! I spent two seasons watching a lot of football at Victoria Park (I was based in Bulford in my Army days for a while) and grew to really like the ground and the fans.

[davetscfc]

coops said:

davetscfc said:

The wooden pavillion at our old Victoria Park ground was pretty unique.

You've put a grumpy faced emoticon after this statement but I absolutely loved that pavilion! I spent two seasons watching a lot of football at Victoria Park (I was based in Bulford in my Army days for a while) and grew to really like the ground and the fans.

No, no, It's not meant to be grumpy faced at all. It's tearful for all the good memories of the place. If we'd been allowed to develop Viccy Park into a proper ground it would have been perfect. The Walks at Kings Lynn always makes me think of what we could have had - a ground with character inside a big park. Bloody ground grading.

The local council couldn't wait to see the back of us, but once we were gone they didn't know what to do. The poor old pavillion got arsoned within a year and 9 years on there's still an empty space with a hedge around it.

[davetscfc]

ambersalamander said:

hug me mr salisbiuRY

{{{ HUG }}}

Heavy night was it.

[ambersalamander]

Um. I guess!

[frankiegth]

Agree with bonehead the Favourite ground has to be your own. In my case Watnall Road the home of the mighty yellow Hucknall Town ;D ;D

Best Ground must surely be Scarborough's even though I've not been there yet. But given it's an ex league ground nothing in con-north will compare.

Worst has to be Vauxhall Motors no atmosphere, character, anything, totally devoid of any redeemable features. (sorry)

Weirdest ground, not in our league, but Rolls Royce Leisure the floodlights are retactable to make way for the cricket pitch outfield. The stand behind the goal is offset to one side. Clubhouse though is absolutely brilliant.

Ground feature is purely seasonal. It's the downhill ski slope that can be enjoyed at Bower fold (Stalybridge) behind one goal when there has been a frost or sub- zero temps for any length of time.

Fave spot: Eighteen yard line Salterford road end at Hucknall Town main stand. No place for the feighnt hearted, the banter is ruthless yet, lighthearted