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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: Bilborough Pelican

Goodbye To All That?

05 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bilborough Pelican, Brian Wakefield Memorial Ground, Bulwell, Central Midlands League, Collingham, Nottingham, South Division

Wednesday 27th January 2016 ko 19.45

Central Midlands League South Division

BULWELL 3 (Fisher 36 61 Towle 72) Wheelhouse sent off 57 (violent conduct)

COLLINGHAM 3 (Price 49 J Wapplington 51 M Wapplington 87)

Att 31 at Brian Wakefield Sports Ground, Lenton Lane, Nottingham

Entry £3

Programme £1

I used to think the acid test of the serious hopper was completion of the Lenton Lane triptych of Bilborough Pelican, Dunkirk and Greenwood Meadows, with the hotel owned by Su Pollard to drive past along the way. Dead easy if you did the Central Midlands League hop back in the day that clocked up these and two more in a day, in testing weather, but as the years have passed the challenge has become more difficult. Continue reading →

52.933342 -1.171603

Hot Potatoes!

16 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by laurencereade in R

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bilborough Pelican, Boots Athletic, central midlands, Gaz Willows, Hop, Notts Senior League, Rob Hornby, Ruddington, Ruddington Village, Senior League Senior Division RUDDINGTON

Saturday 12th April 2014 ko 12.50

Notts Senior League Senior Division

RUDDINGTON VILLAGE 0

BOOTS ATHLETIC 1 (Bonnick 58)

Att 319

Entry £3

Programme £1

Team Sheet 20p

Badge £3

The trip from Wollaton took the cavalcade over Nottingham’s Clifton flyover, where for Rob Hornby his groundhop organising started, the famous 5-games-in-a-day Central Midlands hop where in 2004 Bilborough Pelican, Dunkirk and Greenwood Meadows were the meat in a Graham St Prims and Sandiacre Town sandwich!

From there it is was a very short drive to Elms Park in the pretty village of Ruddington, and my first impression of the place was that an awful lot of cars were doing U-turns! The reason was that in with the prepaid ticket was a set of instructions on how to get to the ground, but the club had decided to make that entrance for players and officials only! Cue a quick volte-face and an entirely sensible trip to car park on the 2nd XI pitch which allowed a surprisingly quick exit afterwards.

Continue reading →

52.889193 -1.146435

The price of a tank

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by laurencereade in G

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bilborough Pelican, Borrowash Victoria, Carl Spencer, Cup, East Midlands Counties, East Midlands Counties League Cup, Greenwood Meadows, League, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, Nottingham's Lenton Lane, Round GREENWOOD MEADOWS, Su Pollard

Wednesday 27th November 2013 ko 19.45

East Midlands Counties League Cup 2nd Round

GREENWOOD MEADOWS 2 (Spencer 45 91)

BORROWASH VICTORIA 3 (Thompson 90 105 Finlay 100p)

Att 31

Entry & Programme £5

Tea 70p

Pie & Chips £1.50 (what no peas?)

If I kept detailed records of where I’ve visited, Nottingham’s Lenton Lane would loom large. Its not the prettiest place in the world, a narrow road a sharp left from the Clifton flyover, with a hotel owned by former Hi-de-hi actress Su Pollard at one end, but to the groundhopper you find yourself returning time after time. Continue reading →

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The Hub

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Belper United, Bilborough Pelican, Brian Wakefield Memorial Ground, Central Midlands League, groundhop, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, Ron Steel Ground

Tuesday 21st May 2013 ko 18.30

Central Midlands League South Division

BILBOROUGH PELICAN 2 (Tarbotton 62 Andrews 90)

BELPER UNITED 3 (Wadsworth 23 Smith 29 Nicholls 85)

Att c40

played at Pitch 2 Ron Steel Sports Ground, Lenton Lane, Nottingham

Entry & Programme £3

Nottingham’s Lenton Lane on the face of it isn’t the most prepossessing place, a narrow road, on a tight bend just off the Clifton flyover. It’s a place of a faceless hotel, albeit one owned by former Hi De Hi actress Su Pollard, and dull industrial units, but for groundhoppers it’s a footballing heaven.

Three adult clubs play here, nearest the bridge is Greenwood Meadows, then there’s Dunkirk FC, and at the end is Bilborough Pelican’s Brian Wakefield Memorial Ground. There’s more too, as nearest the entrance is Lenton Youth FC, and there’s Grove Farm now under the umbrella of the University of Nottingham, but home to many local league clubs. There can’t be many Saturdays where NO football is played on Lenton Lane.

That wasn’t lost on the Central Midlands League who in 2004 used the 3 clubs as part of a 5-games-in-day groundhop. They were the meat in a sandwich between Spondon-based Graham Street Prims and Sandiacre Town. With the 5 clubs now spread across several leagues that event is unlikely to be repeated, and so far no groundhop organiser has attempted the 5-game-trick again. There aren’t many places where its possible!

Pelican’s Brian Wakefield Ground is shared with cricket, and with that sport taking precedence there at this time of year, the club’s final fixture of the season was moved one ground down Lenton Lane, or as the crow flies, through the line of trees! The problem was that Dunkirk had a reserve game to complete, so they took the main pitch, relegating the nomadic first eleven game to the reserves pitch. It broke every ground-grading league rule, there wasn’t even a rail round the pitch, but the game got played.

The Belper substitutes commandeered the one dug-out, and chairs from the bar provided the home bench with somewhere to sit on a cold, wet and windy evening.

And to be honest it wasn’t the easiest game to watch, Belper clearly had a little too much for their hosts and 0-2 at half time was a fair reflection on what was a niggly, scrappy game. The second half saw Pelican claw a goal back but Belper soon re-established their two goal lead, and although Pelican scored in stoppage time an equaliser never looked on the cards.

Pelican’s Brian Wakefield Memorial Ground can be seen beyond the trees
Lovingly borrowed from the ref at half time

The first XI pitch being used for a reserve game and the reserves pitch used for a 1sts game.
The Belper bench fail to avoid the lens
Here’s Pelican’s ground given over now to cricket

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