No.19 – Sat. 7th October 2006; FA Vase 1st Round                           3.00pm at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, Parkway, Guildford (att: 70; prog: 40pp, £1) 

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 Guildford City (0) 0  Three Bridges (1) 2

Travellers left deflAAted after City defeat!  

Having been a self-confessed athletics nut for as long as I can remember, it don't usually bother me about watching football matches played inside the confines of a running track. Many would argue that these stadia are not only characterless but that they also lack atmosphere and don't provide any proper spectator-friendly facilities. I disagree. Over the years I have attended many such venues from the likes of Hornchurch, Walton & Hersham and Corby back in the late 80's and early 90's to the more recent ones at Wodson Park, Hadley and of course Chelmsford City. I have enjoyed them all. Last Saturday saw the First Round of the FA Vase and my chosen game was Guildford City v Three Bridges, played at the Spectrum Leisure Centre. 

The re-emergence of Guildford City Football Club has been achieved in a relatively short space of time as the new club was only founded in 1996. At that time the club was known as AFC Guildford and it was formed with the sole purpose of bringing senior football back to Guildford. It was in consultation and agreement with Burpham FC that AFC was formed and the club moved to the city Leisure Centre playing initially in the Surrey Senior League. After gaining promotion to the Combined Counties League, the club shared with Cranleigh FC whilst the Spectrum Arena was being upgraded. By November 2004 the work had been completed which allowed the side to return home and close to the city centre. 

The magnificent multi sport complex is based just off the Parkway (A25). Upon arrival the massive car park was absolutely jam packed with cars; families poured into the bustling three storey arena to enjoy some of the activities. A brochure in the foyer lists some of the activities on offer and these include swimming, ice-skating, squash, keep fit and bowling, amongst many others. Football shares next door at the adjoining track which is also home to Godalming and Guildford AC.   

A pay booth and winding path lead down to some club buildings arranged in potakabins at track side. These include a new committee room, changing area and toilets for public use. Spectators are only admitted to this side of the ground from where there is an elevated view of the pitch. Recent ground improvements have allowed the club to sustain its present statusThere are a few steps of steep terracing and a covered stand providing several rows of plastic seats which can accomodate about 135 people. The rest of the ground is strictly out of bounds.

The game was full of endeavour with both teams starting brightly. There were several missed chances at each end. Unfortunately it didn't provide the greatest footballing spectacle you would have hoped for. Three Bridges, members of the Sussex County League, did however look the more committed and deservedly won the tie with a goal scored towards the end of each half. Sadly there was very little atmosphere created by the seventy or so spectators in attendance. Apart from a handful of die hards who had made the made the short trip up from Crawley there was really very little to distinguish both sets of supporters from one another; they sat almost motionless throughout the entire ninety minutes. Even when both goals came there was very little obvious sign of emotion. Alas my long suffering missus and daughter who had both accompanied me were having great difficulty in staying awake! Now this wasn't really the greatest show of appreciation you would expect to find at an FA Vase game was it? Or was there some truth about playing football matches inside an athletics arena?

A superb 40-page programme with gossy coloured cover was issued for the game. For £1 there was plenty of stuff to read including club news, an article on the FA Vase as well as reports and photos from previous matches. The best page was entitled the Wit and Wisdom of Bill Shankley and contained some brilliant quotes from the legendary Liverpool boss. Here's one example: "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden I'd pull the curtains". Great stuff. As with many clubs now City have their own website which is constantly updated with the latest news. The address is shown below. The small tea bar/club shop was kept busy and was doing a roaring trade in hot dogs, tea and chocolate bars. Replica Items such as home and away shirts were also on sale here.

Our day wasn't quite complete though. Within twenty minutes we had turned onto the M25 at junction 10 and were making good time back to East Anglia despite the heavy traffic. That was until a loud noise came from the back of the car. Looking across we could see a cloud of smoke outside the window and the vehicle then started to lean to one side. Several drivers who had by now overtaken us on the inside lane drew our attention to the problem. One of the rear tyres on the Megane had burst! We carefully pulled across to the hard shoulder and examined the damage. After several expletives and a phone call to the AA we all were by now totally deflated!!. The estimated 30 minute wait for assistance turned into two hours before a very nice man appeared in a yellow van with flashing lights. The job was sorted in ten minutes and we were soon moving again, eventually arriving back in Newmarket at 9.15pm. The joys of groundhopping (cough, cough)!!    

FGIF Rating: 2* 

Links - Map l Website l Spectrum Arena track Guildford