Tag Archives: Essex

The Forge

26 Monday Jul 2021

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Tuesday 20th July 2021 ko 19.45

Pre-season Friendly

CATHOLIC UNITED 1 (Trialist 39)

WHITE ENSIGN 6 (Woodward 1 13 45 Locke 6 Reynolds-Blanche 28 71)

Att c60 at Len Forge Centre, Southend-on-Sea

Free Entry

There are some grounds that ought to be on every groundhopper’s bucket list, there are some that you’d barely count as a tick, and there are one or two that for little or no reason contrive to intrigue you. For me, Southend’s Len Forge Centre definitely fell into the latter. Continue reading →

What A Carry On

12 Tuesday Mar 2019

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Tuesday 5th March 2019 ko 20.00

Southend Charity Shield Section A Quarter-Final

LEIGH TOWN 0

LAINDON ORIENT 1 (Williams 90)

Att 31 at James Hornsby School, Leinster Road (Laindon Orient FC)

Free Entry

Programme £1

It seems to me that if you want a really obscure ground under lights you need to be able to trawl the obscure cup competitions. That’s not one of my few talents so I’m indebted to Southend-based hopper Peter Miles’ observation skills. It could have been even more obscure, the fixture was originally scheduled for the Stambridge Memorial Ground a week earlier, and Stambridge exited the Essex Senior League in 1992 and folded altogether in 2016. The ground is currently used by Essex Olympian League outfit Corinthians.

Continue reading →

Ghost Rail

31 Friday Mar 2017

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Tuesday 14th March 2017 ko 19.45

Essex Senior League

TAKELEY 4 (Cole 16 18 65 Das 90)

WALTHAM FOREST 1 (Baluaka 73)

Att 76

Entry & Programme £7

Takeley FC, other than being mighty close to Stansted Airport is one of only a few clubs, Copnor-based Moneyfields being another, where you navigate to the ground via a railway station that doesn’t exist! In Moneyfields’ case that’s due to the station being planned but never built, but in Takeley’s case you go over the hump-backed bridge glance to your left and there’s the station- with no trains, or indeed rails either! Continue reading →

Blackwater

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Tuesday 10th November 2015 ko 19.45

Isthmian League North Division

HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS 1 (Morrison 76)

BRIGHTLINGSEA REGENT 5 (Malton 4 Kelly 9 15 Gould 55 Read 90)

Att 134

Entry £10

Programme £2

Badge £3

Looks can be deceiving sometimes. You pull into the car park at Scraley Road and the ground immediately impresses. There’s a large main stand, with its little brother opposite, and there’s the friendly club shop too. I enjoyed having a chin-wag at the burger bar, and the clubhouse is spacious and well-appointed. It is the kind of place where I could sit back before the game, and watch the club being unconsciously competent. The problem was that one of my footballing bad habits was to bite me somewhat. Continue reading →

New Town Blues

01 Sunday Nov 2015

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Wednesday October 28th 2015 ko 19.45 (but actually kicked off at 20.15)

Essex Senior League

BASILDON UNITED 4 (Hunter 5 9 Nyanja 54 Clark 69) Sartain sent off 60 (2nd booking)

TOWER HAMLETS 0

Official attendance 84

Entry £6

Programme SOLD OUT

Groundtastic editor Vince Taylor summed up Basildon neatly.

“Other New Towns such as Crawley and Stevenage have produced Football League teams, why not Basildon?”

He has a point, and you can add Milton Keynes to that list albeit by rather nefarious means, but why is a town of 100,000 residents only supporting a club at the 9th tier of English football? Continue reading →