Lincoln United - Proper Football 'On The Road'
- danslawson
- 59 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The venue for our latest Proper Football 'On The Road' club visit was Ashby Avenue, the home of Lincoln United who play at Step 4 in the Northern Premier League East Division.
We arrived at the aptly named Sun-hat Villas & Resorts Stadium in good time on what was a beautiful, sunny day, which made a change from the endless rain so far this year! We were greeted by Stadium Manager Paul Marsh, who kindly gave up his time from his usual busy matchday schedule and took us under his wing, devoting his whole day to look after us.
Paul gave us a guided tour of the ground and its facilities and explained the hard work that has gone into upgrading many different aspects of the infrastructure and how vital it is to improve the matchday experience for the fans and to move the club forward.
We have to say we were blown away by what Paul has achieved since he has been involved at the club along with the help of many volunteers and the funding from some of their fantastic sponsors.
The stadium has been the home of The Whites for 87 years dating back to their formation in 1938, with a capacity of 2,700 and it has recently passed grading for Step 3 football.
There are covered areas on all 4 sides including 3 different stands with plenty of seating which you can see below.
The fantastic work Paul, the volunteers and Lincoln United Supporters Trust have put into the ground is highlighted no better than the fan zone which was built from pallets and reclaimed wood and kitted out with football memorabilia and is connected to a shipping container that has been converted into an excellent Club shop!
Another lovely touch inside the ground was a Memorial garden to remember supporters and club officials who have passed away.
Having good sponsors is vital at this level and they have clearly stepped up to the plate by funding the fantastic digital scoreboard and have been instrumental in supplying the materials for some of the stands, it was also great to see a raised area especially designed for wheelchair users.
In the lead up to today's match, we were a bit worried the game may not go ahead due to the biblical amount of rain that has swept the country in recent weeks but the pitch was looking excellent, so a massive shout out to groundsman Matt Bradley who like most groundsman are unsung heroes of non-league football!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Today's opponents for The Whites were Bishop Auckland FC and with only 1 point separating them just above the relegation zone, this was set up to be a classic 6-pointer!
Kick-off!
The half-time whistle blew bringing an enthralling first half to an end with Lincoln United's early goal seeing the Whites go into the interval 1-0 up.
It was time for some more refreshments in the hospitality suite which Paul had kindly sorted out for us, we had already been treated to a lovely pre-match meal of pie, chips and mushy peas and now it was time for a cheese board with the biggest grapes we've ever seen!
A big thank you to all the ladies in the canteen who couldn't do enough for us even though they were very busy serving all the supporters!
We were also joined by two Lincoln United season ticket holders for our meal called Dave and Ben who follow the Whites home and away, a couple of lovely fellas who gave us a fans' view of the club and Dave shared his thoughts on the first half.
Second half
The second 45 continued in the same vein as the first with nothing to choose between the two sides, both teams were giving it everything with Bishop Auckland pushing for the equaliser, as I walked around the ground (which is one of the many great things about non-league) I struck up a conversation with an away fan who turned out to be their former Chairman and he was more than happy to have a chat on camera.
Full Time
The match finished 1-0 to Lincoln United in what was a very tight exciting match between two good sides who both belied their current league positions at the wrong end of the table.
A draw wouldn't have been unfair on balance but as we all know goals win games!
It was wonderful to see the reception from the home fans as their team came off the pitch and you could also see what it meant to the players as well, full credit to the crowd who applauded the effort by the visitors who gave it everything.
This clip courtesy of Bishop Auckland's YouTube channel really summed up the fighting spirit of the Whites, throwing their bodies on the line in a remarkable sequence of play in the 27th minute and a fantastic finger-tip save late in the second half to deny the visitors.
After the match we were joined by Dave Frecklington, the Manager of Lincoln United who kindly gave up his time to talk about the game, we also asked him how he has managed to turn around the fortunes of the club on the pitch in his short reign which has now seen them go on a 6-match unbeaten run.
This is how the Northern Premier League East Division looked after today's match.
Summary
Well, what can we say, we had an absolutely fantastic day and we can't thank Paul Marsh enough for going above and beyond in accommodating us, everyone we spent time with was an absolute pleasure and a credit to Lincoln United Football Club.
You can see the players have completely bought into what their manager is trying to achieve and even though we only spoke to Dave Frecklington for a short time you can see why.
Lincoln United are a proper community football club who are all working together on and off the pitch with a connection with the fans that will no doubt stand them in good stead going forward.
We wish them all the best for the rest of the season and would urge any locals who have not been to Ashby Avenue before to give it a go, with affordable ticket prices, well-priced food and a nice clubhouse outside that lets you take a beer into the ground, you really won't be disappointed!
Comments