My Matchday - 297 Memorial Stadium

Bristol Rovers 1v3 Cheltenham Town
League Two
Saturday 1st October 2011

For the second week running I ventured across to the opposite side of the country, heading from the north-east to south-west for my first ever visit to Bristol Rovers.

Over the years I’ve seen The Pirates in action on numerous occasions, but I’ve never seen them play as hosts. I did intend to visit Eastville in 1980, but at the time the club were sharing at the home of their City rivals after the South Stand was destroyed by a fire.
Newcastle played at Ashton Gate in successive away matches early in the season and we decided we would rather make the 600 mile round trip to Bristol to see the landlords rather than the tenants play at Ashton Gate.

I also missed out on watching Rovers play at Twerton Park in 1992, as I was on a beer, sex and souvlaki holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes. The Magpies made a blistering start to the 1992-93 season, and a 2-1 win gave United their fifth in a sequence of eleven consecutive wins at the start of that season. On that sunny afternoon the Toon were led out by a 5 year old mascot, who at the time was visiting his 13th ground and some 15 years later became Squad#79 in the 100FgC.

The customary early start for your truly, which meant getting up in the middle of the night and walking across to the town via the High Level Bridge to Central Station. I boarded the 0645 Cross Country service to Plymouth, arriving at Bristol Temple Meads station at 1145.
Bristol is the sixth most populated city in England, built around the River Avon with a short coastline on the Severn Estuary, which flows into the Bristol Channel.
Historically the city was an important port, handling trading goods to the likes of Ireland, Iceland and Gascony and became a centre for shipbuilding and manufacturing. Bristol’s chief sea port has a long history in trade, where deals were personally struck in the former trading area around The Exchange in Corn Street over bronze trading tables, known as "The Nails". It’s said that maybe this is where the expression "cash on the nail", meaning immediate payment, may have originated from.

Bristol Rovers FC originally formed in September 1883 as Black Arabs, in association with the Arabs rugby club, initially playing friendly matches on a pitch at Purdown in Stapelton.

The following year the club were renamed Eastville Rovers playing at Ashley Hill, Horsfield Downs and also the Ridgeway in Upper Eastville. In 1897 the club joined the Birmingham & District League and finally found a settled base at the former ground of Bristol Harlequins RC in Eastville.

The renamed Bristol Eastville Rovers became a professional outfit in the 1897-98 season, dropping the middle name in February 1899, before joining the newly formed Southern League where they played until 1920, when they were accepted into the Football League.

Eastville Football & Athletic Ground was purchased for a measly sum of £150 and remained Rovers’ home for the next 89 years until 1986, when financial problems resulted in the club being forced into a temporary ground share at Twerton Park in Bath.

Bristol Rovers were tenants at Bath City for 10 years until taking up another tenancy with Bristol Rugby Club in 1996 at the Memorial Ground in the Horsley area of Bristol.The stadium was opened in September 1921 on an area of land named Buffalo Bill's Field that was previously occupied by allotments. The ground is named in honour of the Rugby Union players from the city that died during World War One.
Bristol RFC redeveloped the ground, replacing the old Shed with the Centenary Stand to mark the club's 100th anniversary in 1988 and the West Stand, which had stood since the ground was built, was demolished and replaced in 1995. The Memorial Ground was also renamed with the Stadium suffix around this time.
The rugby club suffered major financial difficulties after relegation from the Premiership in 1998, resulting in Bristol Rovers taking over the ground ownership. The roles reversed with the rugby club becoming tenants in their original home.

On one side is the striking looking West Stand, which has a unique look to it, split into three sections with 10 hospitality boxes at the top, terracing at the bottom and 710 white seats in between. There’s also a TV gantry at the top with an electric scoreboard on the gantry’s facade. Next to the stand on the other side of the players’ tunnel is the South West Stand which is a small covered terrace, which is used as the family enclosure with space for 720 spectators.

At the opposite side is the Uplands Stand which has covered seating to its rear and terracing at the front. The stand is quite high in height with a good view over Bristol, one of my colleagues in the press box mentioned it’s the coldest stand in the country, my reply being that he mustn’t have been to Gateshead Stadium! The stand is prominently blue with staircase access to the seats at the sides and the front. There is open terracing at each side and the dug outs are located in front, which means that team staff have to trail across the pitch to the changing rooms in the West Stand.

The South Stand was originally erected as a temporary stand, having just over 1,000 green seats with a gazebo type covering, decked out in blue and white patched squares. The stand runs for just over half the width of the pitch and is shared with the away supporters.

Behind the opposite goal is the Blackthorn North Terrace, which is a covered terrace for home supporters with a capacity of 3,710, which brings the overall stadium capacity for football purposes to 11,750.

The Carrot Crunchers Derby or better still; The Cider Swiggers Derby was won by the club from 40 odd miles up the road, who produced a solid and confident away performance, giving the Gashead fans a frustrating afternoon.

In the opening half Cheltenham looked dangerous when pushing forward while Rovers struggled to string two passes together, the only threat coming from Zebroski, who created a couple of half chances for himself but failed to hit the target.

Town took the lead on 34 minutes. Kaid Mohamed ran half the length of the pitch before poking the ball home, then within ten minutes the lead was doubled when Luke Summerfield thumped the ball home from the edge of the box from a corner kick.

The three points were guaranteed just after the restart. The Cheltenham players must have worked hard in training on corner kick routines this week, this time the corner was

played to the near post where James Spencer flicked the ball home for another clever goal.

Rovers pulled a goal back on 64 minutes. The ball was cleared from a corner kick, which fell nicely for Lee Brown, his first time shot from 25 yards taking a slight deflection, giving the keeper no chance.

The home side rallied to get back into the game but it never looked likely as Cheltenham had chances themselves to catch the Rovers defence on the break. Overall a good game after a slow start, maybe the injury to Danny Woodards, stretchered off in the opening minutes knocked the stuffing out of Rovers, but take nothing away from The Robins, a good performance so the cider will be flowing on the edge of the Cotswolds after this “derby” win tonight.

To be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to this trip. I’ve got nowt against Bristol, but a five hour each way journey didn’t give me a tingle in the loins or have me rubbing my hands with glee. I had problems booking decent trains with the only sensible journey home being the 1740 from Bristol Parkway, changing at Derby, so the time span from match to train station was tight.

On arriving I had time for a couple of pints in the city centre, ticking off a couple of ‘Spo

ons at The Knights Templar and Commercial Rooms, as well as the GBG listed Old Fishmarket.

I wanted to get to the ground early so I decided to head to Parkway station, then get a

taxi so I could book my return in advance, arranging to get picked up at the bus stop on the end of Filton Avenue at 5pm.

After the game the taxi arrived spot on time so I was safely back at the station for 5.15pm. Then as I waited for my train, I received a string of text messages from an irate taxi driver informing me he couldn't wait any longer and wondering why I hadn’t shown up, so his fare had been “bumped” by a rival taxi firm.

On the long journey back home I had half an hour to spare between connections in Derby, so I had time to visit the excellent Brunswick Inn on Railway Terrace. The pub has a huge choice with 16 handpulls with a selection from its own Brunswick Brewery, unfortunately I only had time for a quickie before catching the train back to Newcastle.

I’m delighted to get this ground ticked off and to finally see Bristol Rovers play a home game, I enjoyed my brief visit to Bristol and I’ll hopefully return one day for a much longer stay. I finally arrived back home at 11pm, my train crossing the Tyne via the High Level some 16 and a half hours since I walked over the same bridge in the early hours of the morning when this daytrip kicked-off.

Matchday stats

BRFC 1(Brown 65) CTFC 3(Mohamed 36,Summerfield 43, Spencer 48)

att.6,108

Admission:Press(between £16-£24)

Programme £3

Ground no.297 Memorial stadium - Matchday Web album (22 pictures)

My Matchday - 283 Dean Court

AFC Bournemouth 2v1 Bristol Rovers
League One
Monday 25th April 2011
The third and final leg of my Easter treble finishes at Deans Court with a day spent in blazing hot Bournemouth.
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort in Dorset, founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, The town’s growth coincided with the arrival of the railway, becoming a recognised town in 1870. Originally part of Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974.
Bournemouth's location on the glorious south coast has made it a popular destination for tourists and was once surveyed as being the happiest place in Britain to live.

AFC Bournemouth originated out of the remains of the Boscombe St. John's Lads’ Institute F.C. in 1890, playing matches at King’s Park. The club became Boscombe F.C in 1889, competing in the Bournemouth and District Junior League on a pitch in Castlemain Road, Pokestown, before a return to King’s Park.
In 1910 the club was granted a long lease for a new ground on wasteland next to King’s Park by their president Mr. J.E. Cooper-Dean. The ground opened in December 1910, named Dean Court after the club benefactor who was instrumental in the club’s relocation.

The Cooper-Dean estate contained numerous cherry orchards, this as well as the team’s red jerseys gave the club the nickname of “The Cherries”
In 1923 the club changed their name to Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club and were elected to the Football League. Around this time the ground had only a small wooden stand, then in 1927 the club purchased turnstiles and a steel framework from the Wembley Empire Exhibition. The frame was used towards the building of the Main Stand. The stand held 3,700 seats with dressing rooms and offices and a standing paddock, all at a total cost of £12,000.
The South End covered terrace opened in 1936 followed by the extension of the west terrace, known as the “New Stand” in 1957, financed by a record attendance of 28,799 against Manchester United in the FA Cup.
In 1971 the club moved to the top of Football League, but only alphabetically, changing their name to AFC Bournemouth, but ground wise nothing changed until the club purchased land from the Cooper Dean estate to built a new stand on the north terrace. The project came to a standstill due to rising costs, so by 1984 the club abandoned the idea, demolishing the structure and building 27 houses instead. The properties were sold at a profit of £500,000 which helped eased the clubs financial worries.

The ground was completely rebuilt in 2001, with the pitch rotated ninety degrees from its original position, moving away from the aforementioned north end houses. The Cherries ground shared at Dorchester Town for eight games until the stadium was complete. Originally it was rebuilt as a three sided stadium with open corners. Each stand is of a similar size and style decked out in red seats, with the East and Main Stands having AFCB picked out in white. The Main Stand is located on the west side and differs slightly having a row of executive boxes at the rear.
Temporary seats were placed on the undeveloped south end of the ground in autumn 2005, which are rarely used.

Cherries’ legend Steve Fletcher came off the bench to grab a late winner and keep Bournemouth in the League One play-off picture against struggling Bristol Rovers.
Wayne Brown latched on to a long ball before slotting the ball under Jalal to give the visitors an early lead, but they were soon down to 10 men after David McCracken needlessly elbowed Adam Smith as they prepared for a corner kick.
It was soon 10-a-side as Danny Hollands saw red for two bookings just before half time as Bournemouth struggled to make any impression on the game.
Rovers looked likely to hold on until substitute Mathieu Baudry headed the equaliser on 84 minutes then four minutes later Ings capitalised on a mistake by keeper Conrad Logan to tee up Fletcher to score and send the bumper Bank Holiday crowd at Dean Court wild.
AFC Bournemouth remain in sixth place in the table with a three point cushion over seventh-placed Leyton Orient with two games left to play.

The weather on the south coast this Easter weekend has apparently been warmer than Spain. Since we left Tyneside on Thursday morning the weather has been glorious especially on the Dorset coast in Poole on Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday in Bournemouth. We arrived in Bournemouth around mid morning and the beach was already beginning to get packed with lazy sunbathers, it was hard to believe that we were actually still in England.

This has probably been one of the Smudgers best weekend breaks. We’ve had a fantastic time, everything has gone to plan and I’d say the only trouble we’ve had over the five days is getting people to understand our accents. This happened on several occasions, but the best example of our far far away southern hosts having trouble with the Geordie lingo was at Yeovil, when I asked for a cup of coffee and was handed a hot dog!
As was the case at Torquay on Friday, yet again I need to mention another warm welcome and say a big thanks to the staff at Dean Court for a great afternoon.
To finish the holiday all that was left was another mammoth road trip back home. The busy Bank Holiday traffic meant we finally arrived home at 1230am, “Wor Al” having clocked up at total of 985 miles over the weekend,however the laborious road travel has been well worth it having ticked off the three furthest grounds left in ‘The 92’ in one go!

Matchday stats

AFCB 2(Baudry 84, Fletcher 84)BRFC 1(Brown 4)
att.7,869
Admission PP(£18-£25)
Programme £3

Ground no.283 Dean Court - Matchday Web album (23 pictures)

My Matchday 129 - York Street

Boston United 2v1 Bristol Rovers
Football League Two
10th March 2007
att.1697

Boston have played on the same site at York Street since the late 19th Century under many guises, but it wasn’t until 1933 that the name of Boston United was initially used,around this time the ground was known as Shodfriars Lane,but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that the ground was renamed York Street,that’s until the recent sponsorship deal as the Staffsmart Stadium.
The Pilgrims has played in both North and South ends of the Non-League Pyramid,most of their success came in the North,winning the Northern Premier League on four occasions,including sadly missing out on election to the league in 1977 due to League ground regulations(runners up Wigan Athletic were elected instead,whatever happened to them?)But it was via the South which was their passage to the promised land of League Football,winning the Southern Premier League in 1999-00,and two years later Conference Champions and promotion to League Division Three
My trip to Boston came courtesy of a weekend away at ‘the breadknifes’ relations(Ann & Malc,my favourite Auntie & Uncle-In-Law) in Lincolnshire on the outskirts of Grantham,which as well as being a nice break,and as always an enjoyable weekend away,it also doubles as my East Midlands groundhopping base.
I’ve never been to Boston before,but I have driving through the town on a previous occasion and I remembered that as soon as you see the sign which announces ‘Welcome to Boston’ that the traffic comes to a stop,and then continues at a steady 3mph to get you from one side of the town to the other,so instead of travelling through‘traffic-jam-city’ I parked the car at the first opportunity and made my way to the ground on foot.
The ground was easy to find, as all of you groundhoppers know,and I’m sure can easily relate to,we have a built in radar which automatically redirects us towards the direction of floodlight pylons,and the lights at Boston United’s ground are easy to locate,being the good old fashioned type,tall and proud with a big square nappa.
Pre-match I called for a quick sherbet at the Sports Bar which is a smashing little club which I can recommend to visitors,it’s located in the car park at the York Street end of the ground,outside next door is the portacabin club shop.(see pic)
I stood in the Spayne Road Terrace which is a covered standing terrace which runs the length of the pitch,my first impression as I entered the ground was how spotless and tidy it is,the crash barriers looked like they had been freshly painted that morning and were a gleaming bright yellow.The reason became apparent why the place was in such pristine condition,there are rows of dustbins in front of the terrace(cannot recollect seeing this before) which the United fans are happy to use instead of littering the terraces,I even participated with confiscating my used coffee cup and I even deposited my chewing gum in the bin instead of sticking it under the crash barrier.
The players emerge from the tunnel from the corner of the York Street end, which is a small stand which has a bit of everything,the stand is two tiered with a seating area at the top where access is gained via a staircase on the terrace,there is more seating downstairs directly behind the goal with the standing areas on either side,there is a inimitable press box,and a match control area, all this squeezed into a wee 1435 capacity stand.
The Town End behind the opposite goal is for away supporters,the terrace has a short roof,so if there’s any piss-istent rain the fans would need to huddle up at the back of the stand,looking towards the right hand of the terrace is an advertisement which dominates the end,a long yellow rectangle board with ‘The Beijing Buffet’ with phone number in huge red letters,finally the main stand which is now named after the ground sponsors, the Staffsmart Stand, has a 1323 capacity and is an all seated in an assortment of various coloured seats.
The match pitted Boston who are desperate for Football League survival up against Bristol Rovers who are in the comfort zone,but with a trip to the fabulous Millennium Stadium to look forward to in the ‘Magnolia Emulsion Paint Cup’(or whatever it’s called)
The Pilgrims grabbed the 3 valuable points thanks to an early brace from Watford loanee Albert Jarrett,who scored a third minute penalty and followed up with a cracking strike to make it 2-0 after only 9 minutes,but United had to hang on as Rovers pulled a goal back midway through the second half which lead to a nervy and tense finish.
Match report