Tuesday 19th March 2019 ko 20.00

Hertfordshire Senior County League – Premier Division

WARE SPORTS 3 (Brown 46 76 Ellis 73)

CUFFLEY 1 (Brennan 38)

Att 23 at 3G caged pitch, Wodson Park Sports Centre, Ware.

Entry FREE

I really didn’t expect to return to Ware, and let’s face it, if you’ve ticked off a fair amount of the Spartan South Midlands League then you’ll have seen plenty of Tesco’s flagship store in Cheshunt and the former News Internation plant close to the M25. The standard line is that Ware FC play at one end of the Wodson Park Sports Centre in a purpose-built stadium, Wodson Park play in the athletics stadium next door, but where are Ware Sports?

Historically the answer is Hertford Heath! The club moved to Wodson Park in 2015 changing their name in the process. They’ve used the caged 3G pitch at the Apex of Ware FC’s ground and one end of the athletics track. The players change at the main sports centre, so there is a fair distance to walk between there and the pitch. That, and the fact that there’s only one viewable side does mean the club would have to move if promotion were achieved. As an aside a new Hertford Heath team has taken on the old ground and has just won the second tier of the Hertford & District League!

I’ll leave others to pontificate on whether it counts as a new ground, but being back here did give me the chance to answer another question. On the recent North West Counties Hop we visited Litherland Remyca and with both them and Wodson Park playing on municipal athletics stadia, plenty asked the question who has the worst home?  My initial thought was Wodson, and although still my last visit a tiny “Arena” stand has been installed some way from the pitch, it hasn’t changed my mind that here is the worst ground I can think of at Step 6.

But at the cage to the left Ware Sports have fostered their own identity. Yes, any hopper will correctly point out you could be virtually anywhere, but at this level this is football for the participant rather than the spectator, and taking that into account the ground is perfect for the club’s needs, and there’s two obvious groundshare opportunities should the need arise!

The entertainment on offer was excellent, two well matched sides taking advantage of a surface good for a passing game and lets face it, any game where a side comes from behind to win can’t be bad can it?

But as I headed back to roughly the same parking spot I’d used for both Ware and Wodson Park, I left feeling satisfied at my evening’s entertainment. And after all that’s said and done, what more do you need?