Pie and Mushy Peas: Leamington FC

Saturday, November 05, 2022

Leamington FC

Leamington 1 Scarborough Athletic 1 - National League North

Royal Leamington Spa is a town in Warwickshire. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew as a spa town in the 18^th century, following the popularisation of its water which was reputed to have medicinal qualities. In the 19^th century, the town experienced rapid expansion. The name comes from the River Leam, which flows through the town which is situated around 9 miles south of Coventry and 20 miles south-east of Birmingham. Leamington Spa railway station is served by the Chiltern Main Line which links London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill.

The football club was established in 1933 as the works team of Lockheed Borg & Beck, gaining the nickname “the brakes” due to the products manufactured. Initially they played in the Warwick & District League before progressing to the Coventry Works League. In 1947 the club became Lockheed Leamington and subsequent name changes saw the club become AP Leamington prior to folding in 1988. The club was reactivated in 2000 and joined the Midland Combination. Subsequent promotions via the Midland Alliance and the Southern League, resulted in the club reaching National League North in 2013. Relegation back to the Southern League in 2015 was followed by promotion to National League North again in 2017.

A Saturday jaunt to Warwickshire was facilitated by the offer of a lift (much appreciated Phil). The journey via the M25 and M1 was swift once we had got onto the former. We arrived at the New Windmill Ground around 13:30 and parked in the spacious car park (room for 450 cars). This allowed plenty of time to take photographs of the ground. The stewards were welcoming and took the time to explain where everything was. We were soon adjourning to the clubhouse for pre match refreshment.

On entering the spacious clubhouse, this Pieman was delighted to see real ale on offer from the local Church Farm Brewery. Both options were in fine condition. Harry's Heifer (4.2%) is a "quaffable session ale with a hoppy aroma. Brewed with a blend of Marris Otter, Vienna and Crystal Malts, with Centennial and Cascade Hops", IPA (5.0%) "Brewed with Citra and Crystal Hops, Easy drinking, yet full of flavour" I was impressed with both brews and at half time purchased a box of four bottles of Church farm offerings that I will share with Ian Harvey (Harlow Town FC).

I was impressed with everything about this ground, the folks at the club have clearly worked hard to get it to the required standard for this level of football and you sense their pride. There is covered seated accommodation along both sides of the ground. At the clubhouse end there is a covered terrace. This is also where the bulk of the impressive array of flags are displayed. The other end of the ground is open, but is also terraced. An electronic scoreboard is situated in a corner at this end.

There is so much more to the ground, a toilet block (in addition to the clubhouse facilities), a well stocked club shop, a separate programme shop and two refreshment options. The traditionally burger van, selling some very tasty looking fayre and the tea bar which doubles as as a sweet shop (our party indulged in the consumption of large jelly snakes at the brakes!).

This was an intriguing match to watch with both sides giving their all. The visitors were worthy of their half time lead and the goal from Michael Coulson was a fine strike. It will have been interesting to hear what Leamington manager Paul Holleran said to his troops during the break as the home side were transformed from the start of the second period. The reward came when Adam Walker levelled on 50 minutes. From this pointed it looked as if the home side would go on to score again, but gradually Scarborough Athletic came back into the match and could have won it. In the end, I believe most would agree that a draw was a fitting result for this entertaining match, played in good spirit.