Tuesday 1st July 2025 ko 19:00

Friendly

STANWAY ROVERS 3 (Mardell 19 63 Nalbant 38)

HALSTEAD TOWN 1 (Travelle 44)

Att 56 at Spring Lane

Free Entry

While the trip to Sweden and Estonia had been both enjoyable and educational it was good to be back home. That said I wasn’t back in my comfort zone, my job had changed and I found myself back on the road with a company car and a fuel card. The Financial Controller was very keen to explain the tax implications, and advised me to make plenty use of both to make it worth my while. I was then asked whether I’d be likely to do much driving in my personal life? My boss has just about stopped laughing…

So since I was working in East Anglia that day it was of little consequence to divert to metropolitan Colchester on my way home. Stanway Rovers’ Hawthorns is a gem of a ground, but a friendly at what is normally their youth team’s ground was intriguing. And fairly obviously a lot of groundhoppers throught the same way as me!

The ground does have a past in adult football. Colchester United played their Essex & Suffolk Border League games here from 1980-85 and South East Counties (youth) League fixtures from 1985-7. Regular fixtures stopped due to its propensity to flood, but Colchester did play Eastern Junior Alliance games fron 1988-93. A couple of first team friendlies were played here in 1982 when Layer Road was unavailable too.

But that does run the risk of overthinking things. Here was a game at an unusual venue, and Stanway about to start their maiden campaign in the Isthmian League were too sharp for Essex Senior League club Halstead Town. Now there’s another ground you ought to see!

My thanks to Andy English for his help with this.