Tags
Allesley, Coundon Court, Coventry Alliance, Coventry Colliery, Craven Athletic, Cup Final, Football, groundhopping, Hawkesmill Sports Club, Highway Coundon Court, Non League, Peter Toogood
Tuesday 17th May 2022 ko 18:30
Coventry Alliance “Peter Toogood” Division Two Cup Final
COUNDON COURT 2 (L Hawthorn 2 J Dixon 30)
CRAVEN ATHLETIC 1 (Dixon 86)
Att c150 at Hawkesmill Sports Club, Allesley, Coventry
Free Entry
The temptation was to compare this with the previous evening’s entertainment at MK Irish but the only thing the two finals had in common was that they were both divisional cup competitions. The manifest difference was that one was an on-pyramid competition; this one wasn’t.
Half the fun of finals season is seeing how leagues choose to present themselves at what it their chance to impress. Do you do a programme, what do you charge for entry, which ground to you use, and what mementos do you provide for the players? I’ve sat on trophy and finance committees, there’s a lot of thought goes into it.
Perhaps it was of little surprise that this was a evening mainly for participants- it wasn’t even mandatory for one of the teams to wear shirt numbers! The ground though was interesting, being the ground of the now defunct Lucas FC of headlights fame and now the home of Coventry Colliery.
Some may remember Highway Coundon Court FC and their ground just off Fletchamstead Highway in Coventry. That had cover, and unusual floodlights (the poles were behind the goals, not at the corners). They folded around 2012 and the site has been derelict since 2018 and there’s a planning application with the council to build flats. This Coundon Court FC has been around since 2020.
Here’s my photos from March 2011 from Highway Coundon Court’s 7-4 win over Triumph Athletic.
In this series of local cup finals the big difference was the weather, it chucked it down through much of the game. I’m sure we’re all arrived at a ground with little or no cover and slightly dreaded the step outside of the car and into the wet.
At least here the game was well worth getting wet for. Craven Athletic put up a good show, but that early goal proved to be the vital one for Coundon, despite some late pressure. But the rain stopped as the sun set, and the cry of “Campeones” went up as the trophies were presented. I may be heartily bored of the song, but I do attend more finals than most! And in the end I found myself looking at the similarities rather than the differences in the finals as I squelched back to the car. And sometimes those similarities are of comfort.
Football: Wherever it may be 
Sorry but you have confused me. What is the connection between the March 2011 game and the May 2022 game please ? Or is it just that they both took place in Coventry ?
On the matter of floodlights being behind the goals, that often suggests that the pitch has been rotated by 90 degrees at some point in time. “The Moorlands”, the old Moor Green ground at Hall Green was similarly curious, in that the large main stand, clubhouse and changing rooms were behind the goal. That too was as a result of rotating the pitch, ironically to secure planning permission to erect floodlights.
Ignore the first paragraph please – just realised that Coundon Court and Highway Coundon Court are presumably one and the same club.