Saturday 14th October 2023 ko 15:00

Gloucestershire County League

WICK 2 (Towler 24 59p)

ROCKLEAZE RANGERS 4 (Taylor 56 Butt 77 Beard 86 90+4)

Att 52

Free Entry

Programme £1

It is strange how things work out. I’m well used to regular trips to see family in Bristol and using that as a springboard to visit grounds either in the area, the South West or in South Wales. Half the reason I was there was my wife Robyn and I knew that with the Southern Combination Hop coming up our opportunties to see family would be limited once again. But I did spot something that made me smile!

One of the clubs on the hop was Wick FC near Littlehampton. It got me thinking, is there a collection of “Wicks” that a groundhopper could visit. I’ve ticked off Wick Academy, Eton Wick, Hackney Wick, even Barnoldswick and you could visit Alnwick Town or of course Berwick Rangers. But there is one ground you definitely need to visit to complete your collection of footballing Wicks, and that’s Wick, just off Bristol’s eastern suburbs.

Do allow more time than you’ll think you’ll need to get there, Oldbury Lane is narrow and the horse riders expect and demand you to give way, no matter the inconvenience! But the car park is as generous as the space for both football and cricket here; there’s even space for a few bird boxes! More than else though I found a friendly club, and since they asked for feedback on it, the programme is excellent, and only a quid!

Those on the know will tend to use Rockleaze’s home at Hillside Gardens at the top of the M32 as a wet weather backup so when you have them as a visiting side you do feel that you are walking the weather tightrope a little. Still the @wickowls Twitter feed is kept up to date and the rains arrived late, and gave us a spectacular rainbow too.

It was a good game for the neutral, even if Wick will wonder how they managed to lead twice and still contrive to lose. But if like me, you tick off grounds looking for something more than the statistic of how many grounds you’ve visited then I’d highly recommend the good people at Wick. That said, I’d love to see a pre-season Wick vs Wick tournament!