Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2010 23:07:38 GMT
Did you hear about the club who couldn’t play a home game for the first two months of this season because of damage done by rabbits?
That’s Andover where I was today watching a Southern League match against Taunton Town, an easy trip for me up the Waterloo line from Exeter Central. And, if truth be told, that’s me almost done with respect to visiting previously uncharted football territory within convenient reach of home. Hampton & Richmond excepting, of course, and – maybe - Bickleigh on a sunny spring day.
By all accounts, the rabbits nipped in over the summer to ruin what was already a pretty dodgy playing surface. But, fear not, the club’s commercial director Bryan Hemstock claims the pitch is back to its best: "It's looking absolutely gorgeous and will be a pleasure to play on for the players. We've put extra lighting around the pitch to keep the rabbits off. In the long term we need to sort the fencing out. We'll have to look at next season for that but we're keeping them at bay now." Come what may, it’s been a pretty awful season so far for “the Lions” with just one win and thirty-two players used to date. Apparently there’s no money to pay players – whatsoever – and a return to the Wessex League beckons. Today’s gate receipts, from myself and ninety-one others, certainly won’t pay for too many improvements to the fencing.
Andover are a surprisingly old club – founded in 1883 – and you could say they’ve been members of the Southern League off-and-on for 112 years (although, admittedly, 1899 to 1971 is a fairly long “off”). That first spell, a single season when Victoria was in her dotage, saw Andover in a one-off league of six Hampshire and Isle of Wight clubs playing as Div 2 (SW). In those days Andover played at the splendidly-named Walled Meadow where they moved in the autumn of 1894 just as the Dreyfus Affair raised its ugly head (one for those who paid attention during history lessons!). Indeed, the Meadow remained the club’s home until the late 1980s meaning Torquay United Reserves would have visited in Western League days.
Then - in 1989 - the club moved to the Portway one of the first “industrial estate” grounds, a move that took them from the older part of town to “overspill” Andover full of new estates and roundabouts. Mind you, there’s still a feel of the Wessex Downs - and Ancient Britain - about the place with road names such as the Portway, the Drove and the Harrow Way. Desolate surroundings - astonishingly far from town and railway in such a small place - but, all-in-all, not a bad set-up of modest proportions. And, for those with a keen eye for such glories (step forward, Mr Hayes!), a lovely array of autumnal tints along the far touchline.
The game ended 2-2 with Taunton scoring first and last. I enjoyed it but supporters of each club were disappointed: Andover’s because they were denied a win by a 90+3 minute goal; Taunton’s because they didn’t look quite as good as the league’s poorest side. The talking point was a second-half incident when Taunton’s goalkeeper (as the proverbial “last man”) was adjudged to have fouled an Andover player. I didn’t think it a foul nor, it must be concluded, did the linesman who called over the referee. With the free-kick already given, booking the goalkeeper almost seemed an admission of error and a form of compromise.
The pictures are from the excellent Pyramid Passion site lacking, alas, today’s marvellous autumnal glow:
www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/andover.html
That’s Andover where I was today watching a Southern League match against Taunton Town, an easy trip for me up the Waterloo line from Exeter Central. And, if truth be told, that’s me almost done with respect to visiting previously uncharted football territory within convenient reach of home. Hampton & Richmond excepting, of course, and – maybe - Bickleigh on a sunny spring day.
By all accounts, the rabbits nipped in over the summer to ruin what was already a pretty dodgy playing surface. But, fear not, the club’s commercial director Bryan Hemstock claims the pitch is back to its best: "It's looking absolutely gorgeous and will be a pleasure to play on for the players. We've put extra lighting around the pitch to keep the rabbits off. In the long term we need to sort the fencing out. We'll have to look at next season for that but we're keeping them at bay now." Come what may, it’s been a pretty awful season so far for “the Lions” with just one win and thirty-two players used to date. Apparently there’s no money to pay players – whatsoever – and a return to the Wessex League beckons. Today’s gate receipts, from myself and ninety-one others, certainly won’t pay for too many improvements to the fencing.
Andover are a surprisingly old club – founded in 1883 – and you could say they’ve been members of the Southern League off-and-on for 112 years (although, admittedly, 1899 to 1971 is a fairly long “off”). That first spell, a single season when Victoria was in her dotage, saw Andover in a one-off league of six Hampshire and Isle of Wight clubs playing as Div 2 (SW). In those days Andover played at the splendidly-named Walled Meadow where they moved in the autumn of 1894 just as the Dreyfus Affair raised its ugly head (one for those who paid attention during history lessons!). Indeed, the Meadow remained the club’s home until the late 1980s meaning Torquay United Reserves would have visited in Western League days.
Then - in 1989 - the club moved to the Portway one of the first “industrial estate” grounds, a move that took them from the older part of town to “overspill” Andover full of new estates and roundabouts. Mind you, there’s still a feel of the Wessex Downs - and Ancient Britain - about the place with road names such as the Portway, the Drove and the Harrow Way. Desolate surroundings - astonishingly far from town and railway in such a small place - but, all-in-all, not a bad set-up of modest proportions. And, for those with a keen eye for such glories (step forward, Mr Hayes!), a lovely array of autumnal tints along the far touchline.
The game ended 2-2 with Taunton scoring first and last. I enjoyed it but supporters of each club were disappointed: Andover’s because they were denied a win by a 90+3 minute goal; Taunton’s because they didn’t look quite as good as the league’s poorest side. The talking point was a second-half incident when Taunton’s goalkeeper (as the proverbial “last man”) was adjudged to have fouled an Andover player. I didn’t think it a foul nor, it must be concluded, did the linesman who called over the referee. With the free-kick already given, booking the goalkeeper almost seemed an admission of error and a form of compromise.
The pictures are from the excellent Pyramid Passion site lacking, alas, today’s marvellous autumnal glow:
www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/andover.html
