Bournemouth 1 Hamble Club 5 - Wessex League, Premier Division
Bournemouth is a coastal resort town in Dorset. With Poole to the
west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth is part of the South East Dorset
conurbation. The town centre has notable Victorian architecture and the
202-foot spire of St Peter’s Church, one of three Grade 1 listed churches in
the borough, is a local landmark. In the 12th century. The region around the River Bourne
was part of the Hundred of Hoddenhurst. The Hundred later became the Liberty of
Westover when it was extended to include the settlements of North Ashley,
Muscliff, Muccleshell, Throop, Ilford, Pokesdown, Tuckton and Wick, now
incorporated into the Manor of Christchurch. Bournemouth has two universities:
Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth, both of which are
located across the boundary in neighbouring Poole.
The football club was founded as Bournemouth
Rovers on 11 September 1875 at a meeting held at Abbotts Auction Mart in Old
Christchurch Road. In 1988 the club changed their name to Bournemouth Dean
Park. A further change of name to Bournemouth FC came in 1889, when the club
merged with local side Bournemouth Arabs and moved grounds a season later to
Victoria Park. In 1896 the club became a founder member of the Hampshire League.
Whilst in Bournemouth I was able
to enjoy the delights of two Micropubs where they brew on the premises. The
first of these is the Poole Hill Brewery where I enjoyed Stroller, an Oatmeal
Stout (4.6%) followed by Headlander Bitter (4.2%). Just a short walk away was the Brewhouse
& Kitchen where I delighted in Churchill’s Fall (4.0%), a traditional caramel
bitter. This was followed by Supermac (5.0%), an amber ale. All of the beers
brewed at the establishment are named after significant facts relating to
Bournemouth. The latter being Ted MacDougall for his nine goals against Margate
in an FA Cup tie and the former, for when Winston Churchill suffered a nasty
fall whilst in the area.
It takes around 45 minutes to
walk from the railway station to Victoria Park, significantly longer for me on
this occasion as I was walking from the Poole Hill area in town. The entrance to the ground is tucked away at
the very end of Namu Road and is enclosed by residential housing on three sides. In the immediate vicinity of the ground, I
did not see any public houses or eating establishments.
The clubhouse building,
incorporates the changing rooms and refreshment facilities, including a
licenced bar. As part of this structure, there is also a covered seated stand.
Immediately opposite are the dugouts. There are no other structures at the
ground with both ends being open to the elements.
I had received a warm friendly
welcome with the officials manning the gate. This match pitted struggling
Bournemouth against mid table Hamble Club, from the Southampton area. Although
the visitors were ahead early in the match the home side drew in confidence and
had spells when they were in the ascendency. That said the opposition could
have added to their tally before the break. The second period was a very open
affair and the final score did not flatter Hamble Club.
In the latter stages of the match,
the home side fashioned a number of chances and although they only scored once,
there was enough to suggest that on another day they would fare better. It was
nice to watch a match in sunshine if a little breezy. My journey back to London
involved a rail replacement from Bournemouth to Southampton Airport Parkway
Station before the connection to London Waterloo.
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