Atherstone Town 5 Earlswood Town 0 - Friendly
Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in North Warwickshire. It lies between the larger towns of Tamworth and Nuneaton and contains the administrative offices of North Warwickshire Borough Council. In Tudor times, Atherstone was a thriving commercial centre for weaving and cloth making. The town's favourable location laid out as a long ‘ribbon development’ along Watling Street, ensured its growth as a market town. While it remained an agricultural settlement in medieval times, attempts were made to encourage merchants and traders through the creation of burgage plots, a type of land tenure that provided them with special privileges. An annual tradition in Atherstone is the Shrove Tuesday Ball Game played on a public highway with large crowds. The game celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1999. The game is a complete free-for-all played along Watling Street at the point where it forms the main street of Atherstone town. The ball is decorated with red, white and blue ribbons that are exchanged for money by whoever is able to obtain one and is made of thick leather to make it too heavy to kick far. The match starts at 3:00pm when the ball is thrown from the window of Barclays Bank and continues until about 5:00pm.
I was fortunate to be offered a
lift to Atherstone (much appreciated Phil) and the journey via Cockfosters (where
we picked up the Fridge Magnet) took a little over two hours. Earlier research
indicated that Sheepy Road was an old-fashioned venue and this was confirmed
immediately on arrival. One notable observation was that there are five separate
floodlight pylons positioned along each side of the ground. From memory, I’m
not sure that I have seen that elsewhere.
The ground oozes history and I
should imagine that there have been some memorable matches played in front of large
crowds over the years. We were allowed to park behind the main stand. This
stand is covered and contains a mixture of seating and standing accommodation.
Toilet facilities are located at the rear, as is the Director’s Lounge. The
changing rooms are also located on this side of the ground.
On the opposite side of the
ground is a covered standing area which sits immediately behind the dug outs.
Also close to this area is a refreshment hut (closed for this match) and a
clubhouse selling refreshment and souvenirs (scarves and badges). Both ends of
the ground are open and are terraced, providing an excellent vantage point to
watch the match. It is a real shame that many new built non-league stadiums do
not factor this in at the planning stage.
Earlier research also revealed that
the Angel Ale House (North Warwickshire CAMRA pub of the year 2019) is less than ten
minutes walking distance from the stadium. At this fine establishment I was
able to enjoy Ground Zero (4.8%) from Norton Brewery in Essington Staffordshire
– a refreshing pale ale. I followed this with Black Sun (5.0%) from Potbelly
Brewery in Kettering - A blend of
two award winning beers, Beijing Black and Crazy Daze. Fine refreshment
and a recommended venue lying a couple of hundred yards from the historic High Street.
This start to the 2021-22 season
is earlier than usual, but considering the disruption caused to the beautiful game
over the last couple of seasons, just getting out there playing must be a relief
to many. The 5-0 victory for the home side reflects their dominance in a match
played against opponents from the lower division. We were treated to some good
football and I hope the workout benefited both sides. Along with my fellow
travellers I was glad to visit Sheepy Road, the club is extremely friendly and this
was underlined by the invitation to stand in for the Earlswood Town officials
for Coffee and biscuits at half time!
No comments:
Post a Comment