Saturday 29th July 2023 ko 17:00

United Counties League Premier Division North

HUCKNALL TOWN 1 (Kelly 76)

WISBECH TOWN 1 (Conyard 22p)

Att 688

Entry £8

Programme £1

When in January this year Hucknall moved roughly 500 yards from the now demolished Watnall Road to Aerial Way, Chris Berezai and I raised an inward smile. We knew we wanted the new ground on the UCL Hop, and advertised as such, and then watched a whole cohort of groundhoppers make a beeline for the place!

Now diving to tick off a newly opened ground is classic groundhopper practice to the extent that Robyn my wife has often commented “Surely they should be diving for grounds just about to close?” She’d know, she was at Hucknall’s last game at Watnall Road!

Now for us, knowing the ground is going to be on a hop is much more of an incentive to wait, we know we’re going to be at the event after all, but I was amused when one hopper tweeted to ask why we were visiting Aerial Way as “Everyone’s done it!” Self-awareness isn’t some folks’ strong suit.

I must admit I did approach this game with a little trepidation. I knew from ticket sales, we weren’t going to lose any great numbers of hoppers from the Gedling Miners Welfare game, but I was also aware that we weren’t going to be providing the majority of the crowd. Hucknall have played in the National North and while they tumbled all the way to Central Midlands League due to financial troubles, they have always retained their core support. In fact I remember them enhancing the crowd at Hilton Harriers in 2018.

So it was more a case of GroundhopUK adding 250-or-so onto an already large crowd. I saw as us helping out in a test event for how the stadium would cope with a large crowd. It was unfortunate that the industrial estate closed at 6pm, but that wouldn’t cause an issue normally. I loved seeing the steward to directing ticket holders to a separate gate, and once inside the bar area is huge, and coped with what was thrown at it.

There are two real oddities though. The first is that the hard standing doesn’t extend behind the dugouts meaning you can’t walk all the way around the pitch. The second is that the players’ tunnel when in use cuts off the route from the stand to the food area, I do wonder if an extra access point at the back of the stand might be the answer to it?

On a personal level I was pleased to see the opposition was Wisbech Town. For one thing they were wonderful hosts, closing the 2017 Hop, and wherever you see Wisbech, you’ll find superfan, and now club secretary Spenny Larham. It was wonderful to be able to catch up with one of non-league’s characters.

With that in mind perhaps it was no bad thing thing the game finished in a draw. I did kind of have a foot in either camp after all! And as a snake of cars pulled out of Aerial Way, and we collectively glanced right at the waste ground where the old ground once stood, I grinned at the sense of purpose. On to Eastwood….