My Matchday Pics - 119 Emirates Stadium

Arsenal 1 v 1 Newcastle United
FA Premiership
18th November 2006
att.60058

After residing at Highbury in the London Borough of Islington for the last 93 years The Gunners have shifted home just around the corner(well,they're settled in the area) to their new home at Ashburton Grove, or to give it it's current title for at least the next 15 years, The Emirates Stadium', thanks to a £100m sponsorship deal with the Dubai based airline.

This 17 acre site was build at a cost of £390m, and is a four-tier bowl type stadium decked out in comfy red seats with lots of leg room (I only discovered this in the half-time interval,due to the usual standing up at away matches stance amongst the Toon Army) The bowl shape is very stylish and I especially like to use of giant windows at the back of the top tier which lets in lots of natural light. Instead of advertisements the stadium is surrounded by a gallery of honours which runs inbetween two of the tiers, listing the clubs achievements from their first FA Cup win in 1930 through to their latest trophy win in 2005.

A refreshing change when attending an away game in the Premiership is meeting a friendly bunch of ground stewards. The lads employed at the Emirates spent a lot of time laughing and carrying on with the Newcastle fans, and didn't have the 'power-mad-jobsworth-type-attitude' which I've come across in the past. The men in orange coats in the section of the ground where we were standing(not sitting)were always smiling and seemed to actually enjoy their job, or were they Spurs fans in disguise? Happy to see that the Gooners were getting beat 1-0!

I hatched a very cunning plan in locating my way to the match, my mate Big Ian(100FGC squad no.2) drove myself and his son Lee to Cockfosters Tube Station, the most Northenly point on the Piccadilly Line, we then hopped on the tube and within half an hour arrived at Arsenal Station, this meant missing out on the chaos of the London traffic and saved a lot of drinking time. I then arranged to meet up with Wanstead based Geordie exile Decka T, we arranged to meet up at a pub called the 'Drayton Arms', but after asking several locals on the whereabouts of this drinking establishment, no-one seemed to know where it was or weren't interested in helping, I eventually got told how to find the pub by a helpfull hotdog seller. This reminded me of the words of the legend Paul Weller on The Jam's hit 'StrangeTown' the line being "when you ask in a strange town, they say I don't care and I've got to go mate" I know it's sterotypical to suppose that our friends in the South are unfriendly and not helpfull towards strangers, but when I found out the pub in question is opposite the ARSENAL entrance(see above pic)and surely everyone who supports Arsenal must know where it is, so maybe there's some truth in the fact some(not all)Southerners are pig ignorant. It can be compared to an away fan arriving at St James Park and asking where 'The Strawberry Pub' is and me saying "ah divvent knaa"

This was 'The Gunners' 10th game at their new home, winning five and drawing the other four, but in the Premiership they've played six, winning 3-0 three times and drawing 1-1 three times, so what was it to be for Newcastle's visit, any betting man would suggest the 3-0 scoreline and I would categorically agree, but Newcastle being as unpredictable as ever came away with a welcome and well earned 1-1 draw.

After all those glorious years spent at Highbury and only being residence in their new home for four months the Emirates Stadium probably still doesn't feel like 'home' yet to both players and supporters. The old ground was often criticized for lacking atmosphere and with a new 60,000+ stadium you would think this would be resolved, but I'm afraid it's the same as Highbury, with only a pocket of 200 odd fans in the opposite corner of the ground trying to stir the fellow Gooners into vocal action and a 5 minute spell after Henry's equaliser awakining the fans tonsils.

The club could have taking advantage in moving into a new development by asking fans when purchasing their season tickets if they would maybe like to sit in a specially designated 'singing end' of the ground, this would benefit both supporters and most of all be a great lift to the team, but sadly this mustn't have happened because it appears that the mighty Arsenal have moved from the quiet library to the quiet art gallery.

match report@-http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6138794.stm

'Simple Piemans' view @-http://pieandmushypeas.blogspot.com/2006/11/arsenal-fc.html

(click for larger pics)

Arsenal Stadium,Highbury 1913-2006 RIP

Before hitting the boozer,I had a some spare time to take a look at the current state of Highbury,which is in the process of being turned into a major residential area called The Stadium-Highbury Square.
The progress that has been made since Arsenal's final game at Highbury last May is the South Stand is now demolished,with the North Bank on it's last legs with half the stand and the last corner section remaining.With the East Stand being a Grade 2 listed building the facade along with the famous Marble Halls will remain,along with the West Stand facade thus becoming part of the Highbury Square project.
A nice touch about the new developement,is the area occupying The Gunners hallowed turf is to become a garden square,following the exact dimensions of the former pitch,the 711 apartments and flats will face inwards and become the vocal point of Highbury Square.

My Matchday Pics -118 Nissan Sports Complex

Nissan Sunderland 1v2 Dunston Federation Brewery
Arngrove Northern League First Division
11th November 2006



This was the second time in a week that I've seen Nissan in action,following the disapointment of seeing them knock Gateshead out of the Durham Challenge Cup, at the International Stadium on Monday night,I ventured into the outskirts of Makemland to check out one of the most progressive clubs in the ANL.

Nissan Motor Manufacturers UK formed their own football club in 1988 and played their first season in the newly formed Wearside League 2nd Division as Nissan FC.They made there first of two name changes in 1994 adding Washington to their title and won promotion into the Northern League 2nd Division in 2000/01, they then progressed with 6th,5th and then a 2nd place finish and promotion into the 1st Division.

At the beginning of last season came yet another name change,this time adding sunderland to the team name,This was the first time that the town of sunderland's name been used in the last 99 years of the Northern League,so they became Sunderland Nissan or is it Nissan Sunderland? On the cover of the matchday programme it announces "A Warm Welcome to Nissan Sunderland Football Club",but thumbing through the pages they are mentioned as Sunderland Nissan(7 times)Nissan Sunderland(5 times) and Nissan FC(5 times)so what is it? I think I'll just nickname them "Makem Japs" or should that be "Jap Makems"!!! The club nickname is naturally 'The Motormen' so that will have to do.

When I visit a new grounds for these games,I usually spectate it as a neutral and hope to see an entertaining game and of course get some good matchday pics,but this afternoon is different.If you tied me down and tortured me by sticking matches under my fingernails and blasting out a James Blunt CD in my ears I would then confess that my Northern League allegence lies with Dunston Federaton Breweries FC.This is because the club is based in Gateshead and therefore is my local ANL club,as the crow flies about 2-3 miles away from my fortress in Sheriff Hill.

The Nissan Sports Complex has one main stand,with two sides of the ground exposed to the elements with the Sports Complex and changing rooms behind the goal.The best thing about the ground is the Penshaw Lounge,which stays open during matchdays which means on a cold Autumn day like today there's the luxury of staying in the upstairs bar and watching the game from the window,with beer on tap and Sky Sports Soccer Saturday on in the background,i'd describe it as a communal executive box,not bad for £4. So after standing around in the cold for the 1st half I made the wise move of watching the 2nd half with the 'Fed Lads' in the luxury and warmth(my view of the game is the bottom pic on left)

The game was a typical ANL game which involves 'taking no prisoners tackles' and constant abuse towards the referee coming from both tug-outs and both sets of fans.The match seemed to have swung towards the Motormens favour after the dismissal of Leon Scott for a profesional foul around the hour mark,Nissan took advantage of the extra man with a goal from Stephen Halliday and looked to have secured the 3 points.But a late rally from 10 man Fed produced a goal from Graeme Armstrong capitalising on a football howler from the Nissan keeper(which wouldn't look out of place on one of those football funny DVDs which usually come out at Xmas)and an injury time winner from Stephen Preen,or was that Dennis Bergkamp? It looked like him from the bar window and that's without a good drink!

(click on thumbnails for larger images,sorry about the quality of some of the pictures,but my camera was in a funny mood)

Updates

May 2007- In a season where Nissan looked the team most likely to, having been league leaders for a large majority of the season, they were piped to the title by Whitley Bay.
The season went to the wire with the Motormen needing to win their last game of the season at home to Billingham Synthonia to guarantee the title. Billy Town had finished their season the previous evening and were hoping that their two rivals would slip up, Nissan did, beaten 2-1 by the Synners while Bay took the title on goal difference with a 3-1 win at Durham City, so in the end Nissan finished a dissapointing 3rd.
Final ANL Division One table

Ground Image Of The Month

November's 'Ground Image Of The Month' features a picture from the 'High Road Ground' home of former Northern League Club Stanley United.
United were founded in 1890 and played in the Northern League between 1910 and 1974,where they were League Champions on three occasions including two titles in the early sixties.
The club later became founder members of the Wearside 2nd Division until the league was disbanded and became a single division in 1996, they played out there time there until the club was disbanded in 2003.
The ground was then taken by Crook Wanderers of the Crook & District League,who changed their name in honour of their former tennants,so the name of Stanley United lives on.

You can find some similar pictures in the Former Club Photos section at the Northern League website athttp://www.northernleague.org/photos/view_photo_former_club_ground.php

October Ground Image -the sequel
Last month's ground image in the Faroe Islands was a popular one,so I scanned through the worldwideweb and found another picture from another angle,via Football Grounds In Focus.

The Latest Crack

Blog post updates
I've updated some previous posts which only had pictures,and didn't have any of my usual crack about whatever is relevant to the ground itself. So I've made changes and updated the Consett Chester-le-Street Town and South Shields posts,I've also updated the previous sunderland 'Derby Day' post as well, where I go into great detail about why I despise this fixture more than any other,all links are now in 'My Matchdays'

Famous HeedArmy Blog
A big well done to David Gaddess webmaster of my 'cousin site' The Famous HeedArmy whose website has been recieving hits from all over the planet,wanting to know the latest goings on at Gateshead FC and the latest adventures (and mug shots) of the Heed Army.
Davy asked if I would make a contribution to the site and write a piece about the first time I ever saw Gateshead play,I was happy to oblige...
http://heedarmy.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-first-heed-game-private-smith.html

100FGC Members
Some impressive new members to the blog over the last month,including Steve Dobson(aka Simple Pieman) a Spurs fan who has been to 461 in the UK alone including over 300 non-league grounds,he also has his own blogspot that you can find on my links list called 'Pie & Mushy Peas' There's also a few new ground lists from non-league fans(best fans in football,in my eyes)Leatherhead fan Matt Ross and Mossley supporter John Cawthorne.I'd also like to welcome Stefan Schnell an Eintracht Frankfurt fan who has been a great help to me in preparation for my trip to his fine country for the UEFA Cup clash later this month.

My Matchday Pics - 117 Albany Park - Washington FC

Washington 1v0 South Shields
Arngrove Northern League Second Division
21st October 2006
att.151

I located my way to Albany Park without managing to get myself lost(anyone who has been to Washington 'new town' will understand)for Washington's Northern League Division Two clash with table toppers South Shields.
Albany Park has been the home of 'The Mechanics' since 1979,and they're planning to stay after leasing the land on an 88 year contract,after their move from their previous home at Unsworth Park.The main feature of the ground is the impressive new club house,where the main stand is housed,it was rebuilt during the 1992/93 season after the original club house was tragically gutted due to a fire.
"Weshintin" as the locals call it, made their debut in Northern League in the 1988/89 season after a successfull application from the Wearside League,there best finish was winning promotion in the 2000/01 season,finishing runners-up to Ashington.Unfortunatly their stay in the First Division only lasted three seasons,but the club is showing enough ambition to regain their top league status.
This was only 'The Mechanics' third home game of the season,after having to play the first 12 competitive games away from home.This was due to the state of the playing surface which has been covered in water,and extensive work has been made to get it in playable order,this included having to enlist the help of the local fire-brigade.
The game was a tight encounter which became scrappy in the 2nd half,with Washington holding on to there early goal scored by Stephen Burns in the 6th minute,and trying to catch Shields on the break.Washington defended well,and could even added to their lead late on,overall they ran out deserved winners, and the win took them up to 5th in the table,and with plenty of home games in hand they look a good bet to return to the Northern League top flight.




(click on thumbnails for
larger images)

Updates -

May 2007 - Well I was right! I predicted that Washington looked a good bet to go up and so it was, piping South Shields by 5 points to claim third spot and win promotion to the ANL Division One.
Division 2 league table

Nearest Ground

I came across this handy website,which is usefull for finding out which is the nearest football grounds to you.It lists milage,ticket info,club websites and Streetmap links and It's a good source whenever your away and looking to take in a match.

Simply type in a postcode,and click on football from the drop list.
Unfortunatly it doesn't list non-league, only league grounds,but it's still a useful device to have.
http://www.hopewiser.com/cgi-bin/proximity.cgi



My Top 10 are;
Distance------Div--Club Name---------------Postcode
2.86 miles----PR--Newcastle United Football Co Ltd-NE1 4ST
9.72 miles----CH--Sunderland A F C Ltd------------SR5 1SU
22.67 miles---L1--Hartlepool United Football Club--TS24 8BZ
28.87 miles---PR--Middlesbrough Football Club-----TS3 6RS
28.89 miles --L2--Darlington F C Ltd ---------------DL1 5JB
54.69miles ---L1--Carlisle United F.C. --------------CA1 1LL
78.60 miles-- L1 --Bradford City Football Club------ BD8 7DY
80.15 miles --CH-- Leeds United A F C ----------LS11 0ES
83.45 miles---CH-- Burnley Football Club ----------BB10 4BX
88.92 miles ---L1- -Huddersfield Town A F C Ltd--- HD1 6PE


I can clearly see St James Park from my street,but now I know it's 2.86 miles away. :-)