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A first-class game with joint honours
What a cracking game of football. Both teams showed great commitment and skill in this Rep game played at Grange Road, home to the CURUFC. The venue plays host to football at this time of year when a number of games are scheduled during the Spring Term.
The AFA dominated the first-half and scored after fifteen minutes. It may have been more but the Light Blues 'keeper was in fine form and made several important reflex saves. The students' superior fitness told in the end and it was not surprising when they equalised in the last ten minutes of the game.
The facilities at Grange Road are first-class. The CURUFC website refers to the historical developments of the ground and travellers can read an abridged version from the short notes highlighted below. Use of the impressive main stand which runs along the the full length of the far side, was prohibted for the game. Apparently this is due to insurance reasons as football and rugby are treated separately. Most spectators instead chose to sit in front of the magnificent pavilion on the near side. Visitors to the Windsor Room can appreciate the sense of occasion and decades of sporting tradition by examining the numerous photos mounted on the walls.
A fairly small crowd made up the attendance. Although a programme wasn't issued visiting officals from the AFA had produced their own team sheet for the game and this was handed out free of charge. Hot drinks and snacks were available from the kitchen at half-time.
The club is located to the west of the city. It is within easy walking distance of the main railway station. A number of car parking spaces are marked inside the main driveway.
For travellers who have not been to Grange Road the visit comes highly recommended.
Notes re the history of Grange Road (taken from the CURFU website):
'In 1896 CURUFC, together with the Cambridge University Association Football Club, jointly purchased land at Grange Road for the development of a playing pitch, changing and spectator facilities. A handsome Pavilion and Members' stand (still in existence) were erected, but it was not until nearly forty years later that further development took place with the building of the Comber Stand, with a capacity for 800 seats, in 1935.
Forty years later, in the mid-seventies, the Pavilion was extended to include a bar and a members' clubroom (the Windsor Room, named after Windsor Lewis, who was Captain in 1927 and a Welsh International 1926-28, Cambridge GP and President of CURUFC for many years). Subsequent development of the Grange Road site has followed rapidly - a groundsman's house, club dining room, medical rooms, offices, and a multi-gym. In 1995 a new meeting room was opened by and named after Micky Steele-Bodger, who was Captain in 1946, an English International 1947-48 and selector. For more than fifty years he has organised a Steele-Bodger's XV to play CURUFC ten days or so before the Varsity Match. A training pitch, adjacent to the ground, has been acquired on short-term lease'.
FGIF Rating 4*. | 