Today I am at the World’s oldest association football
ground to watch my local team Hallam FC play their last home match of the season against Dunstone FC. It is going well at the moment: an entertaining and competitive 0:0. A good crowd of a few hundred. Anyone else support their real
Local team?
Non league football?
by 25 Comments
Been watching Cheltenham town back from when I was just a kid in the 70’s . Non league football back then before there rise to league two . Great memories supporters changing ends at half time and getting in for free because I knew the bloke on the turnstiles.
As part of our lower-league odyssey @bejesus we were at Chelts on Tuesday night for the 17th v 19th derby. The 90th largest league ground in the country. we learnt. Very entertaining match with a home turnaround win sealed by a worldie crashed in by the big man Faal from the edge of the area deep in added time. We went to Dosa Station in the centre of town beforehand, recommended, so could not vouch for the pies. Very disappointed that the Steam and Whistle by the station was shut on a Tuesday as we had that down for a post-match/pre-train pint.
Next time if you come go for a pint in the Kemble Inn a cracking old fashioned boozer only about 10 minutes walk from the ground .
I was there today for the game vs Newport, who bought a decent number with them as well as a sizable number of Old Bill. Local derby I suppose. I go with a fellow West Ham fan because it’s equidistant between where we live and it’s a breeze getting in and out, His other game this month was PSG vs Toulouse, which was a little more complicated. We have a great view from seats almost on the touchline in the Colin Farmer stand.
I like that the quality is somewhat mixed compared to the EPL. The ball seems to spend much more time in the air, and as Newport illustrated today, effort without the finishing doesn’t get you far. We’re already planning another visit for early next season.
Used to watch Ebbw Vale FC every 2nd week. The rugby team would draw crowds of a few thousand, the football team probably didn’t get to 3 figures. Decent team at times though, qualified for Europe and travel costs to Eastern Europe were so expensive and with little help from the Welsh FA, the team went bust and folded some time in the 90s I think 🙁
@dai No match for the mighty Barry Town though back then!
No match indeed
Final Score: 0:1 to the visitors thanks to a contested penalty in the last quarter. Crowd Attendance: a very decent 660.
I don’t go to Hitchin Town very often but I always enjoy it. Quality cheap beer, great snack van. Proper old school local ground which obviously property developers want to knock down and put a vast Tesco in its place.
When I was little I used to go to see the local team with my dad. They dropped out of the football league years ago, but maybe things will pick up. Come on Wrexhaaaaaaammmmm!
Of course I was at a game today.
Our local team are considered Johnny-come-latelys, which I’m often reminded of when I’m standing on the edge of some Cornish field watching a St. Piran’s 3rd Division match. My answer is “… erm… if everyone in this village came to this pitch as often as I do, they’d increase their support ten times over!”
Actually, although I can’t wait for it all to end, I’ve a couple of county finals and the Cornwall rugby team to look forward to in May, and my favourite match every season is always a completely pointless game around this time on a Tuesday evening in front of 25 people.
The 2025-26 equivalent hasn’t yet happened, it will.
It’s not my first club, but I’m a season ticket holder at Altrincham FC. One of the biggest non league teams never to have made it into the Football League. We got to the playoffs and within 10 seconds of the FA Trophy final two seasons ago but sadly it’s been downhill ever since. Safe now with just one game to go but for a while relegation looked highly likely.
Despite that I love it. I can walk to the ground from my home, stand wherever I feel like in the ground, and get a decent local beer if I want one. And whilst the football is variable in quality that’s part of the fun. It’s always watchable, there are occasional moments of brilliance, and there is that glorious unpredictability that keeps us coming back.
Yes, the quality of the actual football can be found wanting, sometimes. If it’s just a few quid to get in, one should dial down expectations accordingly.
I went to many a Woking game in my youth and I believe they play to a much higher standard now. I was a regular at Kingfield when Clive Walker (ex-Chelsea) arrived. Although he was very much past his prime, he made short work of players half his age.
I remember in the mid 90’s when it was rumoured that Clive Walker would be signed from Woking by Rushden and Diamonds. It made the front page of local paper the Northants Evening Telegraph, although he never moved to Nene Park. The best they got (in terms of former division one/premier league players) was former Leeds defender Chris Whyte (bloody good he was too).
I know that ground – my Uncle used to live nearby and was heavily involved with the cricket club using the same ground. Spend many an afternoon there whilst visiting.
I knew that Sheffield FC were the oldest football club, but I always wondered when they first set up, who did they play ?
Good to hear Chris. I live around the corner myself.
Even more confusing: Sheffield FC is the oldest team – its ground is currently up by Dore, I think. Whereas Hallam FC have the oldest ground, first used in 1860. The Hallam Vs Sheffield match is the oldest derby.
The cricket pitch is all set up for the new season. Both the footie and the cricket have an uphill and downhill end. Well, it is Sheffield.
Thought Sheffield fc played in Dronfield these days?
you are right!
Jon McClure out of Reverend and the Makers has just become part-owner of Sheffield Club (as the locals call them) as this interesting piece from the Graun explains (if I’ve done the link correctly that is)
‘We invented the global game’: Reverend and the Makers frontman finds right note at Sheffield FC https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/apr/09/reverend-and-the-makers-jon-mcclure-sheffield-fc-non-league-football?CMP=share_btn_url
His brother Chris, who appeared on the cover of the Artic Monkeys debut album, is the man behind fictional non league manager Steve Bracknall – check out his podcast and videos for a good laugh.
https://m.youtube.com/@TheSteveBracknallPodcast
I see Southend a few times a year. Nice ground a walk away. We beat some team called Halifax away 2-6 yesterday to cement our place in the extremely unfair National League playoffs (only top go up, the next six play off for one spot).
I’d go to the last game of the season but I’m away. Go Shrimpers!
Yep, I’m a season ticket holder at Hampton And Richmond Borough in the National League South division. First went in 1980 when we were in the lower echelons of the Isthmian League, and have had a season ticket for about 32 years or so now. It’s much more professional nowadays, and probably a lot more mercenary than it was too, but it’s local, cheap, and non league is where the true soul of football is these days. I have absolutely no interest in going to a Premier League game.
Great Yarmouth FC has the oldest grandstand in the UK with the original wooden benches still in place dating back to pre 1900.
Listen to Colin Murray’s show on iPlayer from last Sunday on 5Live from 10.30a.-10.50am for the full details.
That’s not as impressive as it sounds, given that it’s still 1975 there.
I’ve been to Morecambe a few times this season; it’s a club that totally encapsulates how tough it is to run a football team. At the start of the season, they had something like three contracted players, and they’ve been improvising ever since. They’ll be playing in the National League North next season, which will be their second relegation in a row.
As for the actual match experience…I love it: it’s a cracking little ground. I can stand at one end and get a good beer and a pie at half time – with no queue. I’ve been to some grounds where any half-time refreshment means missing ten minutes of the first half to just about get served before the second half starts.