Moving On

Melksham Town  2  Fleet Town  1

Southern Football League – Division One South

Nothing creates quite as much of a frenzy amongst the travelling community as a famous old football ground closing its doors.

When I say travelling community, I don’t mean the ones who live in caravans towed by battered old transit vans, which turn up and take over public spaces. I’m talking about the football traveller community, the groundhoppers, that special breed of individual who are unmistakable in their appearance and indeed mannerisms.

I spotted this phenomenon around ten years ago when Northern League club Ashington left their famous old Portland Park ground, the stadium they had used when a Football League club. It was like a pilgrimage when it was announced that it was in its final season. Of course, everyone was suddenly in love with the place, and of course it was a tragedy of the highest order. I didn’t attend the wake, I couldn’t be arsed, it was a long way and I’d not been bothered about it before, so why should I be bothered about going now?

The one that really got me though was a venue called Tinto Park, the home of Scottish Junior outfit Benburb. Playing in the delightful Glasgow district of Govan, not far from Ibrox, it was revealed that 2013-14 was to be the last season at the ‘famous old venue’.

Now, you might accuse me of being cynical, but when I first saw the pictures of Tinto Park, several thoughts came to mind. ‘Dump’, ‘Depressing’, ‘Death Trap’, ‘Derelict’, and that’s just those that start with the letter D.

To be more precise, it was a huge bowl that had certainly seen better days, in an area of Glasgow where vandalism would probably add value to a property from an aesthetic  point of view! But, the feature that everyone was soiling themselves over was a huge area of covered terracing that spread the full length of the pitch. Yeah, it was impressive, but to be honest, on a windy day, I wouldn’t feel safe under it, and on a wet day, of which there are many in Glasgae, avoiding the drips would be a challenge.

I didn’t go, I had no interest, I’d seen a photo, that was enough for me.

The Impressive Facilities

So then, moving on to 2016, and it was announced that Melksham Town were finally going to be leaving the Conigre, and guess what? Melksham Railway Station was inundated with ‘the bewildered’ with plastic bag in one hand and A-Z in the other as they stumbled towards the venue that quite simply must be visited.

To be fair, the Conigre was featured in the brilliant Groundtastic magazine, and I have to say that the pictures and the history did really sell it fantastically well as an old school non-league football, with lots of unique structures and features. It did look a truly super little ground, and in some ways its loss was going to be a shame, but from a personal point of view, the six hour round trip, and the thought of another six hour round trip for the new ground made my mind up for me, I’d wait for the new one!

The new ground, Oakfields, built on the very edge of the Wiltshire town, opened with a bang in January 2017 when over 1,200 attended the opening game against Bristol Manor Farm in the FA Vase.

View From The Stand

The 2017-18 season was a success on the pitch, as often happens after a club moves into a new stadium. A runners-up spot to Bristol Manor Farm saw them promoted to the Southern Football League for the first time in their history, and with crowds impressive, things were definitely on the up for the club, the move had been an unequivocal success.

So, onto this season, sat in the top six, and with the best crowds in the division based on an average attendance of 353, it was time to go and take a look at what it was all about.

The journey, considering it was the last Saturday before Christmas, was a relatively straightforward one. The M42 and the M5 behaved impeccably, while the route via Cirencester, Malmesbury and Chippenham added some interest to the journey as opposed to slogging it down the motorway.

The ground was well signposted once in the vicinity, and down a long driveway is the new home of both Melksham Town Football Club and indeed Melksham Rugby Club. The car park was spacious and with just over an hour to kick off it was time to wander up to the back of the stand and make my way into the very impressive clubhouse that offers views across the playing area.

Scoreboard End

Sat down with pint and programme in hand, it was interesting to read the comments of Melksham Chairman Darren Perrin (a former Manager of Chippenham who took them to a Vase Final at Wembley) who explained the club faced demotion at the end of the season as the ground had failed its grading. It appeared more covered accommodation was required, but on a positive, the club had obtained some sponsorship and a new covered terrace was going to be in place before the deadline at the end of March.

It was an impressive stadium anyway, the main stand, clubhouse and dressing rooms dominates a side of the ground, but what is interesting is the facility is also shared with the rugby club and the frontage for them faces the opposite way in the direction of the rugby pitch. The seats offer a great view, while the only other area of cover is a smaller Atcost on the opposite side of the pitch. Both ends are open but a large electronic scoreboard dominates one corner.

The Smaller Stand Opposite

A good sized crowd of just under 400 turned up to watch second bottom club Fleet Town from Hampshire take the lead before a minute was on the clock, thanks to a low shot from the edge of the box by Billy Oram that found the back of the net.

Despite the hosts having a lot of the ball, they struggled to create any clear chances, although they did hit the top of the bar on a couple of occasions. It was the visitors who looked like they might add to their lead when twice they had great chances to net a second goal.

With the clock ticking over ninety minutes, despite being under considerable pressure, it did look as though the visitors, who were well drilled, would hang on for a point, but then came the late drama.

Another cross (there had been many throughout the second half) from the right hand side was met powerfully by Warren Maidment and he found the corner of the net.  The resulting melee to get the ball back for the re-start saw something akin to tag team wresting break out on the pitch, and by the time it had all sorted itself out, the officials seemed clueless as to who to take action with, so they didn’t!

Moments later though, Fleet broke and as Meshach Williams moved into the box he went down, claiming a push, but the referee deemed it to be a dive, and as a result it was a second yellow followed by a red card.

Footy One End - Egg Chasing The Other

Melksham threw bodies forward and in the ninety fifth minute an almost replica of the equaliser saw Maidment rise again and head home, before disappearing under a pile of bodies made up of players and fans as he headed into the crowd to celebrate.

It had been a dramatic end, and despite not playing at their best, Melksham earned the points, while Fleet will be absolutely gutted that their efforts left them unrewarded. Play like that for the rest of the season and they should get to safety.

Could a second successive promotion be on the cards for Melksham? It’s a real possibility, something that could probably have never happened at the Conigre, it was such a shame to see it go……..