Match: v Forest Green Rovers - Blue Square Premier
Date: Saturday 20 February 2010
Result: Forest Green 1 Cambridge United 1
THE JOURNEY
Departure Time: 9.10am
Arrival at Ground: An icy stretch of road early in the journey - surprisingly not out in the sticks where I started my journey, but on one of the major roads in St Ives, where I paused to collect passengers - didn't exactly bode well. But the main roads were clear enough of ice and traffic as we passed between the snow-clad hills of Northamptonshire and Worcestershire. The Gloucestershire hills were snow-free though, which was just as well given that Forest Green's ground is close to the top of one of them.
We duly arrived in the large car park at the ground a little before 12.45pm.
AT THE GROUND
The Ground: From the outside, the stadium looks decidedly utilitarian. An insipid green metal corrugated outer wall sits atop a lower, brick-fronted storey that is interrupted, at regular intervals, by the glass doors of the bar and the reception area. But behind the functional frontage, beats a warm heart and much more auspicious surroundings.
A friendly receptionist dealt with the press passes. Whereas at many grounds it never occurs to the receptionist that someone loaded down with bags, asking for a press pass for a radio station might be carrying broadcasting kit and might need to get to their in their seat in good time to set up, Forest Green's receptionist had both initiative and common sense. She even found someone to usher us via an elevator, along a corridor perfumed by the aroma of newly laid carpets and past numerous offices and entertainment areas to the press area located towards one end of the main stand.
This stand runs almost the length of one side of the pitch and is filled with ten rows of comfortable plastic black and white seats. With a concourse under the stand, where the usual facilities are located, the only slight quibble I have with this stand is the position of the press area, which is almost level with the penalty spot at one end of the ground. When coupled with a slightly protruding platform for disabled supporters, it does make the view of the play a little less than perfect at times.
What looks like a low-rise grain silo occupies the corner to the left of the main stand. This leads to a small stand of green seats that fill the central area behind the goal and is allocated to the visiting fans. Filling the corner to the left of this section, a Cotswold-yellow brick building is home to the dressing rooms.
Facing the main stand an open terrace has a corrugated metal back fence to separate that side of the ground from a hillside on which baaing sheep grazed bucolically during the match.
Another yellow-brick building in the left hand corner of this terrace houses a turnstile block, while the remaining end of the ground contains a covered terrace that takes up about two thirds of the space available.
United Fans: No ticker-tape welcome of ripped up yellow paper before the match; instead what looked like a rather more old-fashioned cascade of toilet rolls greeted the teams as they emerged from the dressing rooms (in fact, it turned out that till rolls, rather than toilet rolls were used … but the effect was the same). One United fan managed a very good balancing act, walking along the top of the barrier at the front of the stand when we scored. No doubt Messrs Barnum and Bailey will be in touch shortly.
View from Away End: Although United fans were only allocated half of the away end, it was an elegant sufficiency and there was enough room in which to move around to find a decent view.
Home Fans: The home sections were sparsely populated, with significant numbers moaning about their players.
Tannoy: There was blessed quiet for longer than usual after I got into the ground … unfortunately they eventually got the tannoy working so we could be 'treated' to Queen 'live' and the theme from 'Minder' before the match. The scores announced at half time were a little surreal, with random teams such as Wolverhampton Rovers, Northwich City and Wrexham Town cropping up.
Police/Stewards: One or two police were in evidence but they - and the stewards - had little to do.
Programme: £2.50 for 52 pages. A glossy design, 28 of adverts and, for a change, no full set of pen pictures for the United squad. Instead, United's history and a couple of paragraphs about the manager and four players served as the section about the visiting team. This left plenty of room for some readable articles.
Food/Drink: Tea was quite acceptable at £1 while the chip butties (£1.50) were very popular and very tasty.
State of Toilets: Spacious, although the exposed overhead pipes made you feel as though you'd wandered onto the set of 'Blade Runner'. And there seemed to be a drought in this particular part of Gloucestershire … the taps went round and round, but no water issued forth.
AFTERWARDS
The Journey Home: A straightforward and incident free trip back through plummeting temperatures.
Mileage: 353.6 miles
Total Distance for Season: 3,526 miles
Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by Paul Johnson, Ryan Johnson, Gordon McMillan and Doug Shulman.
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