In recent months we
have planned to visit North Street, home of Alfreton Town, several
times, but the games have fallen foul of the weather. Today we were
luckier, and so we made the trip to the now-named Impact Arena (minus
one point) for the match against York, arguing over the rules of Pub
Sign Cricket as we went.
Alfreton Town play in
the National League North, the sixth level down in English football.
Obviously, so do their opponents today, York City, but they have a
history of consistently higher level competition. With a couple of
seasons in the old Division Two (now Championship) their loftiest.
York arrived as league leaders, while Alfreton are scrapping around
for points to try to squeeze into the play-offs. Big game for both
teams.
We'd been advised that
we could park in a nearby nunnery for free – we found the place
easily but it just didn't feel right and I was nervous about it.
“Just do it Dad” said Sam, “God won't smite you!” “No, but
the nuns might wheel-clamp me mate” I replied. So we drove down and
parked in the official club car park for a reasonable £3, directed
to our space by Alan the Nice Bloke (Colin the Bastard's
brother-in-law). Close to the ground and cheap, amen to that sister!
Entry was cheap, just
£16 for the two of us, which is low for National League North. Once
inside we beheld the magnificent colosseum that is The Impact Arena.
Well, it's a tidy non-league ground anyway. Along each side there's a
covered stand, behind one goal is an uncovered stand, and at the
other end is a nice size terrace with a metal shelter at the back for
when southern fans are visiting. For this game there was segregation
in place so the home end was the bank of red seating and the York
fans could enjoy watching the game while standing up. There appears
to be a definite slope on this pitch which you can make out in one of
the photos – the supports at either end of the side stand are
clearly different lengths. OK, it's not exactly Mount Everest but we
wondered if Alfreton use it to their advantage...
Right, time for some
food! The snack bar was right next to the turnstiles and there was no
queue – in we go! It's a basic menu but soooo much better than some
we've seen – in particular the shameful goings-on at Sheffield
United. This place has everything we ever want – pie and Bovril for
Dad, cheeseburger and water for Sam. And we both added chips to our
order today. The cost was £10.80 which is phenomenal value when you
consider just how much food we were served. My tray was so full that
the pie had to be wedged in edgeways. And Sam loved his burger,
especially as there was cheese on both sides of the meat. Top grub
ATFC!
But! There's a but. The
staff. Well, the two of them “front of house”, The lady running
around like a manic chicken in the kitchen deserves a medal. The two girls serving need a course in customer service:
Snack bar staff rating:
Attitude: Surly
Efficiency: Passable
Customer Interaction:
Aggressive
Summary: Stab vest
recommended
We parked ourselves
near the halfway line opposite the (extendable!) tunnel and watched
the warm-ups before the gladiators entered the arena. Now, we visited
Bootham Crescent in January and fell in love with York's crazy
centre-back pairing of Steve McNulty and Sean Newton. McNulty is a
sixty three year old silver fox who never leaves his own half, while
Newton obviously bets on himself to be the first goalscorer in each
match and shoots every time he receives the ball. We were not
disappointed with them here – McNulty played superbly within a
radius of 20 metres and Newton found his shooting boots and scored
two exquisite free kicks from outside the penalty area. As so often
happens we found ourselves alongside a scout (see pic) and as usual
he wouldn't tell me why he was there. Bet it was to look at future
prospect McNulty though...
The match was
thoroughly entertaining with occasional outbreaks of proper football.
York stormed into a 2-0 lead and never looked back, adding their
third courtesy of Newton in the second half. Although Alfreton pulled
a goal back near the end it was pretty much one way traffic
throughout and York were deserved victors. One of the great things
about non-league is that you can hear everything that the players and
officials are saying, which is highly entertaining. Effing this and
effing that is the dialect of choice, and that was just the ref. All
in all this match was well worth the visit.
Post-match we were in
the car within two minutes and homeward bound with the minimum of
fuss, perfect. Thank you Alfreton Town for such an enjoyable and
cost-effective afternoon!
And so to the scoring:
Atmosphere 2.0
Terrible. First team this season to miss out on a point for singing
at least three songs. York away support was good.
Food & Drink 5.0
Unbeatable. So much food, such tasty food. I couldn't eat it all, and
that's never happened before.
Stadium 2.5 Quirky,
wonky and perfect for this level.
Value For Money 4.0
Around £30 for everything – tickets, food, parking, the lot.
Non-league is great VFM.
Bonus points for
Bovril, 50/50 draw and a half for the extendable tunnel.
Man-bun bonus of 0.25.
Point deducted for
sponsored stadium name.
Final score 15.25. Good
score for Alfreton, 10th in the league, only behind
Worksop on Atmosphere. Which is fair.
Current table:
1 Rotherham United 19.0
2 Huddersfield Town
19.0
3 Chesterfield Town
18.5
4 Sheffield United 17.0
5
York City 17.0
6 Walsall 16.5
7
Stamford 16.0
8 Doncaster Rovers 15.5
9 Worksop Town 15.25
10 Alfreton Town 15.25
11 Boston United 15.0
12 Lincoln City 13.5
13 Newark Flowserve
13.25
14 Falkirk 13.0
15 Sleaford Town 12.5
16 Mansfield Town 12.0
Total goals so far = 47
Average goals = 2.94. Global average 2.75.
Miles this match = 58.
Miles this season = 1784.
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