GROUNDS FOR NOSTALGIA

GROUNDS FOR NOSTALGIA

We all love our grounds, in most cases non league grounds are a throwback to past league football with their unique quirkiness , even the rundown state of some just means it needs a little tender loving care but in a way is a reminder of an era of the game that is lastly being forgotten, I thought I would remind you all of some examples where grounds & clubs in some cases have gone but because the stadiums still stand today have certainly not been forgotten. My first example is in London, where everyone knows there is not enough grounds ,so to gave one not used but standing seems criminal. Leyton f.c. used to play at the ground formerly known as the Hare and Hound.Over in 2011, after a short suspension from the league for not paying it’s subscription fees, the club was forced to withdrawn from the Isthmian League Division One North due to the debt.

Following this the chairman, secretary management and the players left the club and ended its existence. It’s left the ground still there, fully intact although some parts worse for wear.The West London side Yeading used to play at the warren before merging with Hayes to become Hayes & Yeading back in 2007. They moved to Church Road, the former home Hayes.They played their for four years before the ground was demolished in 2011 and had to go and groundshare with the liked of Woking, Maidenhead United and Beaconsfield, but before moving it to the SkyEx Community Stadium, a newly built ground on the sites of The Warren which was opened in 2017.Bizarrely a stand actually still remains at The Warren, well as least a part of the stand, as the new stadium was built slightly further south on the site, so this stand wasn’t fully demolished. In Sussex there was a ground known as the firs.St Leonards moved to the ground, from Pannel Lane, in 1993 but it was previously home of Hastings Town until they moved into the Pilot Field next door after the demise of the old Hastings United. During 1993, The Firs was redeveloped so they could play in the Sussex County League. More improvements were made in 1996, to allow the club to enter the Southern League, after being rejected.The club folded and then the ground was used by St Leonards Social, who play in the East Sussex League, however the ground became disused and had graffiti in parts. Uniquely though, an astroturf pitch was put up where the pitch used to be so that no club can again used it. All of this, yet there is a stadium right next doorNene Park was built in 1969, got renovated between 1995 and 1998, then closed in 2012.It could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing.Irthlingborough Diamonds played in it between 1969 and 1992, before they merged with Rushden Town and became Rushden & Diamonds on 21 April 1992 where it continued to be their home.Rushden went under, then became Kettering Town’s home for 18 months, though they left in November 2012 to play at Corby, due to the costs of running the ground.it was left abandoned then was demolished in late February 2017 and lasted approximately two and a half months.To this day fans are left extremely gutted at it being no longer. Bizarrely Coventry City considered moving there in 2012, but instead ground-shared with Northampton Town, before then going to Birmingham.

So just a few examples of famous venues no longer used to play we are love but still around to remind us of some of the memories played out in some of footballs many fields of dreams.