Steve B the Groundhopper

3pm  30 December 2017 Isthmian League, Division One North Aveley 1 AFC Sudbury 1 (att 271) Having spent Friday in Brighton I was hoping to see a game in Sussex, but wet weather meant postponements so I journeyed north into Essex and the safety of the artificial surface at Aveley's new home. The Parkside ground opened at the start of the season, and so for the third Saturday in a row I visited a newly-built football ground and was impressed by what I saw. The main stand backs onto a nice clubhouse, with plenty more seats in another stand on the far side and covered standing areas behind both goals. The pitch is artificial grass, but the only markings on it are for 11-a-side football, unlike most of the 'caged' 3G and 4G pitches around. Aveley seem to be getting good support in their new home, despite some indifferent form on the pitch. They should have won this game, but AFC Sudbury rescued a point thanks to an 88th minute equaliser. The visitors had 10 men by t...

3pm  23 December 2017 Combined Counties League, Premier Division CB Hounslow United 0 Banstead Athletic 1 (att 56) Pre-Christmas family commitments meant I was going to be in west London anyway, so I was fortunate the fixtures fell kindly and the weather was benign, allowing me to visit CB Hounslow United's new ground. For a newly-built ground at this level 'The Lair', in Green Lane, is an impressive venue. A large clubhouse dominates the turnstile side of the ground, there's a well-proportioned seated stand on the opposite side, and a small covered standing area behind one goal. The most surprising and unusual feature is an electronic scoreboard in the corner of the ground, which counts off the 90 minutes as well as keeping track of goals. Sadly the scoreboard operator had little to do during this game (although being non-League I'm sure he or she had plenty of other jobs to be getting on with while we spectators enjoyed the action). It was a game that...

3pm  16 December 2017 Western League, Premier Division Melksham Town 3 Hallen 0 (att 285) The south west seemed a good place to head to avoid the threat of frozen pitches, and once Melksham had confirmed the game was on I headed to the Wiltshire town to tick off the club's new Oakfield Stadium. Like many new grounds it's very much on the edge of town, although it's close to, if not part of, a recent development that includes plenty of houses, at least one pub and several shops. On today's showing local people are supporting the club in numbers at the new ground, which is encouraging. Most new grounds at this level have similarities with others, and Melksham's is a familiar design with the main feature being a seated stand built to the front of a two-storey building that houses changing rooms below and a clubhouse at the top. It looks good though, and the clubhouse would have been a nice place to enjoy a pre-match pint had I arrived early enough. There...

1pm  9 December 2017 Manchester League, Division One Leigh Athletic 4 Chapel Town 0 (att 17) Given the amount of snow I had to clear from my car in Manchester before heading to this game I was surprised to find none on the pitch at Leigh Sports Village. Leigh Athletic have returned here after a season playing at Culcheth High School , but whereas they previously played on the grass pitch inside the Sports Village's running track, they now use a 3G pitch in a different part of the complex. It's a basic set up, and typical of its type, but on a day when few grass pitches were playable locally, and even some artificial surfaces were ruled out by the amount of snow on them, it was good just to have a game that was on. The football goals are in front of rugby posts, a sign that Leigh is primarily a rugby league town. For this game spectators were allowed to stand inside the high fence that surrounds the pitch, despite signs to the contrary, and a pair of neat dugouts on t...

7.30pm  6 December 2017 Nottinghamshire Senior League, Division One Ashland Rovers 1 Netherfield Albion 1 (att 15) League leaders Netherfield left Ashland's Kingsway Park ground with their unbeaten record intact, but they dropped points for only the third time this season after a lively game that was good enough to take my mind off the conditions. Luckily it stayed dry, but it's an open venue with little shelter from the stiff breeze that was blowing across the pitch, making the playing conditions a challenge. Netherfield looked set for a win after a 15th minute goal put them ahead, as they created the bulk of the scoring opportunities with the hosts mostly limited to half chances. But 12 minutes into the second half Ashland converted one to level the scores. It set up a very enjoyable final half-hour or so, in which both teams threatened to score but neither did. Netherfield came closest with a late shot that came back off the cross bar. Ashland Rovers are based i...

2pm  2 December 2017 Welsh League, Division Two Pontardawe Town 1 Garden Village 2 (att 58) Occasionally I get reminders of just how long I've been visiting non League football grounds. I was amazed to realise it was over 25 years ago that I saw Pontardawe lose a West Wales Senior Cup tie at their former ground. A quarter of a century later and I returned to the Swansea Valley town to visit their new home, Parc Ynysderw. It's still a work in progress, but plenty of progress has been made in the relatively short time they've played here. It's an enclosed football pitch that's part of a large playing field, and Pontardawe Town's pitch was looking an lot better than what teams in a trio of local games had to contend with elsewhere in the park. There's small stand on one side, portable buildings providing pitchside changing rooms, and a snack bar to keep spectators supplied with food and drink. Both these sides are on the fringes of the promotion ba...

10.30am  2 December 2017 EFL Youth Alliance, South West Newport County U18 2 Bristol Rovers U18 4 (att 45) I watched this same fixture in January , at County's current first choice youth team venue of Lliswerry High School, but this season's encounter caught my eye when I spotted it was being played on 'pitch two' at Dragon Park. Dragon Park, in Newport, is Wales' National Football Development Centre, a bit like a mini version of the FA's St George's Park. I visited the main pitch in 2015 for an under 17 international , but the second pitch is some distance away from the main arena. It's just an enclosed grass pitch, adjacent to a 3G ground that was hosting Newport v Bristol Rovers at under 16 level. While it's a more enclosed ground than the usual pitch at Lliswerry High School, the down side for spectators is having to watching from outside the fence that surrounds the pitch. Peering through a fence isn't a great way to watch footbal...