Coventry United 5 Desborough Town 1 - United Counties League, Premier Division South
Coventry is a city in the West
Midlands, located on the River Sherbourne. Formerly part of Warwickshire until
1451, it is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham. The city is part of a larger conurbation known as the Coventry and Bedworth Urban
Area. Coventry suffered extensive bomb damage during the second World War. The
most severe was a massive Luftwaffe air raid on 14 November 1940 which carried
on for 10 hours until the following morning. This led to severe damage to large
areas of the city centre and to the historic cathedral. More than 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed along with three quarters of the city’s industrial
plants. Hundreds were killed with thousands injured and homeless. The poet
Philip Larkin was born and brought up in Coventry, where his father was the City
Treasurer.
The football club was founded in 2013 by Chairman
Jason Kay along with Jason Timms, Marcus Green, Pete Schofield and club
secretary Graham Wood. In 2015, the club announced the takeover of Coventry
City Ladies FC, rebranding as Coventry United Ladies FC. The club home kit
matches the civic colours of the city, dark red and green.
A Wednesday jaunt to the West Midlands was
facilitated by the offer of a lift (much appreciated Phil). The journey via the
M25 and M1 was decent and we arrived at the Butts Park Arena around 15:15 and
parked in the pay and display car park adjacent to the ground. This allowed
plenty of time to take photographs of the ground. We were able to gain access
to the ground as Coventry United Ladies were holding a training session.
Daylight photographs were secured as we toured the ground.
With plenty of time before the match, we explored
a couple of local refreshment options. Large Pizzas were enjoyed at the Railway
Bar & Grill just a few hundred yards from the ground. This deceptively
large bar was relatively busy and there were a number of screens showing the
Spain v Costa Rica world cup match. Our second port of call was the wonderful
Broomfield Tavern (only a stone’s throw from the ground, but tucked away). At
this establishment I enjoyed Goat's Milk (3.8%) from Church End and Golden Ale
(4.3%) from Pitchfork.
Whilst in the Broomfield Tavern,
it was good to chat with some regular Coventry United supporters. It was clear
from the discussions that these folk have been through the mill a bit in recent
years with the turbulent times at Coventry City, I sensed that Coventry United
was their stability and the clearly enjoy this allegiance. We sat close to this
group at the match and the banter throughout was excellent.
The only covered accommodation for spectators at the ground is the rather impressive seated stand. The stand seats 3000 spectators and a good view of the pitch is afforded from all areas. There is a bar and a separate food area beneath the stand. The car park end of the ground is completely flat, although it is possible to stand here for the match. The opposite end is also flat and houses various refreshment facilities for the rugby club. The remaining side of the ground is out of bounds to spectators and houses the respective benches.
This was a very one-sided match throughout. The hosts dominated visitors Desborough Town and displayed some excellent passing and movement. the only real surprise was that there was only one goal scored in the first half. This imbalance was rectified early in the second period and we were treated to the Hawaii five o theme tune when the fifth goal went in! However, it was Desborough Town that completed the scoring with almost the last kick, when Luca miller chipped the keeper. For the record, the scorers for Coventry United were Kyle Carey, Adam Miles, Samir Muzaffar, Renato Prifti and Sean Wills.
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