TT No.47: Mike Latham - Sat 21 Oct 2006: Southern League Midlands Division: Woodford United 2-2 Bromsgrove Rovers.  Attendance: 179; Admission: £6; 44pp programme: £1.50; FGIF Match Rating: 3*

View matchday images 01 02 03 04 05   My groundhopping friend Rupert had alerted me to the delights of Woodford United during a recent visit there having taken time out from his busy city legal practice.  Rupert is a discerning soul with a good taste for quality and his observations had made a deep impression.  With a host of potential visits planned the competing delights of Selkirk, Lincoln Moorlands and Bodedern were left for another day and it was decided to venture south down the M6 towards Woodford Halse.   Once an important station on the old Great Central Railway line, Woodford Halse is now a pleasant residential village nestling deep in the Northamptonshire countryside. Banbury, 14 miles away, provides the nearest railway station.  The journey south from J2 of the M6 skirting round Coventry was uneventful and soon the floodlights of the Woodford United ground came into view.   With plenty of car-parking facilities and a spacious social club, Woodford United makes for a stress-free visit and the welcome at the turnstiles was friendly.  The programme is an excellent production with good photographs and information about home and visiting clubs and clearly is a labour of love for its editor, Rich Usher.   The Byfield Road ground is tree-lined and has a rural feel.  The main facilities are along the side of the club house entrance where three small seated stands give an excellent view of the slightly sloping pitch.  The pitch is surrounded by a neat post and rail fence and the rest of the ground is open standing though a grassed banking, with a few stanchions to lean upon, provided a good view to the left of the stands.  The stand to the extreme right was scarcely populated die, no doubt, to the existence of many wasps buzzing around the vicinity.   Catering is of a high standard with a clean and pleasantly staffed refreshment bar offering an excellent array of wares at reasonable prices and the club also earns top marks by having a team board with both line-ups at the entrance.  Simple but effective.  Having risen up through the United Counties League Woodford United are now establishing themselves in the Southern League and have achieved FA Charter Standard “Community Club” status.   Bromsgrove, unbeaten leaders of the league, provided a stiff test after taking an early lead but Woodford equalised through a penalty and took the lead with a rousing shot just after half-time.  The visitors, though, dominated the latter stages and thoroughly deserved their equaliser, albeit from a deflected shot.  The game was well contested and of good standard and, in my opinion, well refereed though the visiting players and supporters differed from that view and gave the impression of being hard done-to.   The pitch was heavy with a thick covering of grass but despite that both teams tried to play football and the home side certainly impressed with their disciplined style of football.   A friendly and thoroughly peaceful setting with a nice feel, Byfield Road is a civilised place to watch a game with plenty of good vantage points and freedom to walk around.  The neat ground is superbly maintained with no signs of vandalism or litter and on a mild autumnal afternoon made for a thoroughly good venue to spend an afternoon.

contributed 22/10/06