Life long Southend United supporter (through thin and thinner) & football ground bore. Itinerant pan-European football watcher. Instagram:
@peterrmiles
The first match for the upcoming Football In Heaven trip to Romania (Oct 18-20) has been confirmed. Our Friday game will take place at this sublime location of Stadionul Dierna in Orşova. It’s still not too late to join us, contact me or
@Emishor
for more details
#FIH8
By far my most popular Instagram of 2018 was this one from May’s visit to AS Trenčín in Slovakia, one of the most stunning locations for watching football anywhere.
#Groundhopping
The abandoned Avanhard Stadium, was due to be the new home ground of FC Stroitel
#Pripyat
but the
#Chernobyl
nuclear disaster meant no matches were ever played there.
LOST GROUND - Tooting & Mitcham United vast Sandy Lane ground was probably the last of the big old amateur grounds in London when it was demolished in 2002.
Still one of my favourite grounds in England, Crook Town’s glorious Millfield. It became their permanent ground in 1898 having previously been used for rugby. Still has huge covered and uncovered terracing, a proper ground.
A comfortable winner this year was the football pitch surrounded by the Elizabethan fortifications of Berwick upon Tweed. The Stanks is just glorious, be sure to pay it a visit.
#Groundhopping
New entrants to the North Caledonian League, and the League’s most westerly venue, is Scourie whose Achlochan Park is one of the most scenic you will find anywhere
Grateful for the
@TranmereRovers
fans for the minutes silence and for their players’ black armbands in memory of our fallen captain Chris Barker. He will never be forgotten for the job he did here at
#Southend
My picture from FC Sobemai is nine years old today. The train carriage was seized by Hitler following the annexation of Lithuania, and was bought to Germany for renovation. After the War, Queen Elizabeth used this carriage on state visits.
One of the great remaining non-league grounds in London, the Maurice Rebak Stadium, home of
@WinFinchleyFC
comes complete with a superbly maintained Bailey’s turnstile to boot.
Malcolm Root’s evocative painting of Halstead Town’s wonderful Rosemary Lane ground as he remembered it c.1959. The artist is the small child peering over the fence.
Charlie Kelman is the youngest ever goalscorer for
#Southend
United on a league debut at 17 years and 71 days old, beating a record held by John Gymer since 1984. He is our second youngest first team goalscorer of all time behind Bobby Kellard who scored when he was still only 16
Wonderous Wearhead, the highest football field in all of England at 1,107 feet. Dry stone walling, abandoned farm buildings and hugely undulating pitch, the very epitome of grassroots football. Local team United, brush aside Bay Horse by 4-1 on this amazing windswept plain. Att:6
Abandoned Places - Aylesbury United (Buckingham Road) This stadium was barely 20 years old when the lease expired. It has lain derelict every since, hopes the club could buy it back ended in late 2019 when it was sold to property developers at auction (photos March 2015)
I will never tire of visiting Stonebridge Road while it still stands. It is a truly iconic non league venue and still plenty of character despite attempts to modernise.
The Welfare Ground in the High Street at Dodworth was opened in 1925 and the football club had stints in the old Yorkshire League before dropping right down to the Wakefield & District League. Climbed back to Step 7 in 2018 and the ground is looking in fine fettle
LOST GROUND - Dispiriting to see such a great community asset like Thurrock FC’s old Ship Lane locked up and unused. Sincerely hope Grays Athletic’s plans to move in here come to fruition this time. The grandstand at Ship Lane is rightly regarded as a modern classic.
The match in Escape To Victory was played at MTK Budapest’s old Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium as it resembled to the old Stade Colombes in Paris. That stadium has been replaced with a modern arena but in the film of the match you will see plenty of BKV Előre’s stand over the road
Interesting to look back on my “Favourite Scottish Places” series, the most popular grounds featured (likes, RT’s and comments) were:
1st
@Morton_FC
2nd
@FraserburghFC
3rd
@ArbroathFC
4th
@cambygers1899
All top grounds, please do your best to pay them a visit when you can.
Whilst in the Great Yarmouth area it seems foolish not to grab some more photos of one of England’s most iconic football grounds, the Wellesley Recreation Ground with its Grade II listed grandstand opened in 1892. 1/3
In a world where football programme sales are crashing through the floor you have to come up with some different to make people want to buy them. Massive salute to the people behind these stunning
@NonLgeProgs
at
@ClaptonCFC
beautiful artwork and insightful writing, wonderful!
Ilfracombe Town have played at Marlborough Park since 1924. The ground sits on a hill overlooking the Bristol Channel and needed levelling off before it could be played on. The club dropped to the North Devon League in recent years but are climbing back up the levels once again.
This arrived this week helping to plug the relative paucity of photographic books on Scottish football grounds. An absolute masterpiece from a grand old name of UK publishing
#DCThomson
#ThrowbackThursday
to a wonderful time spent in the Southern Carpathian mountains watching football at ACS Olimpic Zărnești as part of the Football In Heaven groundhop weekend
📅 Saturday August 26th 2023
⏰ KO: 2pm
🏆 West of Scotland League Div.1
📍 Dam Park
💶 £8 📖 None
Whitletts Victoria 0
St Roch’s 3 (Thompson 56,60, Ferns 67)
Att:172
Larkhall Athletic’s Plain Ham ground has a lovely setting overlooking Bath and the southern Cotswolds. Relatively basic in facilities, the stand was originally a cabinet maker’s bike shed. What it may lack in amenities is surely compensated by a lofty location and stunning vistas
The mid 1920’s were a fascinating period in the Scottish Football League as an attempt was made at establishing a Third Division. Small clubs from tiny, way out, villages were invited in to a national division at a time of great austerity.
Abandoned Places - Wolverton Town (The Park) The old stand was built in 1899 and was decaying when the club folded in 1992. Milton Keynes City spent a few seasons there before the ground closed. It is now a community space complete with a replica of the old stand. Photos 2010.
The story of Fort William FC, perennial Highland League strugglers, who now face their biggest ever struggle, being alive for next season! Good luck to all at the iconic Claggan Park!
@FortWilliamFC
There has been a Gayfield Park hosting Arbroath matches since 1880, although the current alignment of the ground, just feet from the North Sea, dates from 1925. The old pitch was known as Lesser Gayfield. The Red Lichties took on Rangers in 1952, a record gate of 13,510 gathered.
Abandoned Places - Chelmsford City (New Writtle Street) home to the club between 1922 and a hasty vacation in May 1997. It was abandoned for a couple of years before a housing development took it’s place. (photos from Jan 1999)
Good to see one of my local clubs,
@SouthendManorFC
making some long awaited ground improvements. The pitch is properly enclosed for the first time since the club gained senior status in 1985, also some new dugouts and a
@stad_solutions
terracing unit on the Lifstan Way side