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  • Jan 5, 2019
  • 4 min read



Today, on a very cold and cloudy Saturday in January, I made the short train ride from my hometown to Bell Close, home of Leighton Town FC (Leighton Buzzard) in their match against Potton United in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division (tier 9), which was the first ground hop and stadium review of the year. Potton United, placed in fifth position at the start of the day, won the game 2-1 after going into the half-time period a goal down.




FACILITIES

The ground, which has a capacity of 2800 of which 400 is seated (according to Wikipedia, there seemed less seats than that) is comprised of a main seated stand located close to the pitch’s halfway line, a roofed standing section behind one of the goals as well as an unroofed terrace behind the goal closest to the turnstiles, as well as perimeter fencing all the way around the pitch meaning you can stand pretty much anywhere. There is also a very decently sized bar and hall which is seen just as you walk through the turnstiles

For this level of the game, this a very tidy ground which is slightly above average in its capacity compared to the other teams in the same league and the main stand is one of the biggest in the division.

I am a big fan of the main stand in particular as it looks appealing with its alternately red and white coloured seating sections and it offers a good, unrestricted view of the game while still being close to the action.

It is better than Tring’s stadium, who are in the same league, in my opinion, and for that I will give the facilities at Bell Close an

8/10



FOOD AND DRINK

Food and drink is served from a little hatch which is hidden away (took me a while to find!) in the far corner of the end closest the turnstiles. The typical items that you would expect such as burgers, bacon rolls and hot dogs as well as hot drinks like tea, coffee and hot chocolate are all on the menu, however, just like last week at Tring, there was no place for my match essential, chips, which may be a theme at football clubs of this level. Cold snacks such as crisps (which I ended up getting) and chocolate bars are also available and cost 80p.

The food is priced reasonably but at a rate that is just slightly higher than the same products at Tring Athletic, while I noticed that the bacon rolls are served with tiger bread instead of just normal, which is something I would rate if I had one.

Decent selection and price but lack of chips means it will only get a..

4/10





FANS

When I saw a fairly large group of fans gather behind the goal and unveiled a flag, I expected them to sing throughout the game, but this was not the case, unfortunately. Except for a couple of light-hearted attempts and the occasional “You’re Sh!t” to the opposition strikers and goalie, they made no noise during the match.

A decent number of fans did turn up for this game though however, and, although an official attendance has not been announced as of writing, I would estimate there were no less than their seasonal average of 109, which is amongst the highest in the division.

4/10




MATCH PROGRAMME

The match programme, which cost £1 from the turnstiles, is very basic and thin and, while it does contain good information on the history of both teams and limited adverts, the images used (which are in colour) are not of the best quality and it doesn’t feature the typical two page spread with the teams fixtures, results, attendance, starting line ups, goal scorers etc. which was a big disappointment as this an essential in my opinion.

Nowhere near as good as Tring’s efforts last week and cost a pound more, although it was only £1 still so I maybe can’t expect too much.

4/10



PRICES

Like last week at Tring Athletic (sorry I keep comparing too much but they are in the same league) the cost for an adult is just £6, with an even cheaper £3 ticket (as opposed to Tring’s £4) for concessions, although under 16s do have to pay a quid rather than getting a free entrance. Maybe these are the standard prices for this level of the game, but in my opinion, this seems very cheap to watch a full 90 minutes of football which is still of a reasonable standard.

The food and drink is also reasonably priced although is slightly more expensive than what Tring where offering, but you can still easily pay under £15 for your whole time in the ground, including getting a pint or two from the bar.

8/10




OVERALL

Overall, this a very tidy ground for a team at this level which will not cost you an arm and a leg. Some aspects can be improved upon, such as the match programme and atmosphere, but altogether this ground is well worth a visit if possible, with the train station, which is on the route from London to Birmingham, being a 20 minute walk or 10 minute bus journey away, as well as being located close to a main road and having good car parking if you are travelling by car.

28/50


Where does this rank on the official Football Ground-Low league table? Click here to find out!


 
 

This Saturday, I travelled down to Lewes via bus and train to watch the F.A Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round match between them and my hometown side, Hemel Hempstead Town FC.

The game, played in very wet conditions at The Dripping Pan, was an end to end affair with both teams having plenty of scoring opportunities before ending in a 2-2 draw, with Lewes coming back from two goals down to salvage a replay, which will be played back in Hemel on Tuesday.



FACILITIES

The Dripping Pan is made up of an unusual curved roof stand, modern all-seater stand at the side of the pitch, a smaller terrace behind one of the goals and fence which is situated at the top of a steep bank and extends the length of the pitch, enclosed within a medieval looking stone wall that surrounds the ground. It is a unique stadium and one that you will remember after visiting and I like it very much. In a good location too, only a short walk from the train station while large chalk cliffs are visible in the background from the curved roof stand (Philcox Terrace).

8/10




FOOD AND DRINK

The portion of chips I bought where of high quality and while it wasn’t the largest portion ever, at £2 you can’t complain. The burger my friend bought was very well put together and included just about everything you could want (burger, bacon cheese and a salad). Cost £5 but looked like something from a restaurant than a football ground and was apparently very tasty too. Good selection of food served at two different outlets, although no pepper for my chips will bring the rating down a bit.

7/10



FANS

I was a little bit disappointed with the amount of Lewes fans that turned up for this match, with the attendance only being 325 as opposed to their normal league turnouts of around 700. However, this is most likely due to Brighton, which is just a train stop away, playing at the same time and the wet weather and early round fixture probably meant many fans opted to give this one a miss. The Lewes fans that did come out grew into the game and started singing a lot in the second half and the fans that we spoke to seemed very friendly and knowledgeable about their team too.

6/10




MATCH PROGRAMME

The match programme is available for free for everyone online at https://lewesfcprog.com/ and I massively rate that the club opt to do this as it means less resources are used to produce the programme and anyone that is interested can easily access previous match programmes all in one place, not to mention that you can read the match programme for free. Being online also benefits the content, allowing the club to include audio in the form of an interview, attach a Spotify playlist to enhance the “Today's Match Music” section while YouTube clips are included to the show recent results. Can’t really ask for much more, and free! Hopefully more clubs at this level choose to go with the times and start to offer similar services

10/10


PRICES

The £12 standard adult ticket that I payed to get in is fairly average nowadays for this level, while the food and drink prices where also very reasonable, with the £2 I payed for chips and £5 my friend payed for a burger resembling good value for money for the quality of the product. Overall cost for me was £15 inside the ground which includes a £1 “guess the minute of the first goal” ticket (I unfortunately didn’t win). Overall, very acceptable prices that is made cheaper due to a free programme!

7/10


OVERALL

Despite a slightly disappointing result for me team, Hemel Hempstead Town, I very much enjoyed my visit to the unique ground that is The Dripping Pan. Although it might not be for everyone, I really liked this ground, with the food, drink and service of high quality for a good price and a free match day programme included. The amount of Lewes let me down slightly, however they made a good amount of noise, especially in the second half, to get behind their team while also coming across friendly and knowledgeable to us away fans. Lewes FC seem to be a very forward thinking club in terms of being completely fan owned, having a free online programme and being a pioneer in equality – as they are the first professional or semi-professional team to pay its male and female teams equally. I would happily make a trip back to the Dripping Pan in the future and I would recommend it to football ground enthusiast and potential away fans.



38/50

Where does this rank on the official Football Ground-Low league table? Click here to find out!



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