Lincoln City
Hucknall Town's Watnall Road
By Nathan Jackson
November 12 2011
Hucknall Town's Watnall Road is what you'd expect from the 8th tier of English football. Based just north of Nottingham, Hucknall would be considered a local game if City ever drew them in a cup and they certainly have an interesting array of chants.
DATES VISITED GROUND | ||
DATE | OPPONENT | SCORE |
12/11/2011 | Lincoln United | HT 3 LU 0 |
With Lincoln City being eliminated from the FA Cup in the qualifying rounds we had a free Saturday afternoon and looking at all the fixtures, there was only one game being played at a nearby ground that I hadn't visited, and that was Hucknall Town's Watnall Road.
The journey from Lincoln is a relatively simple one, although the ground is not easily locatable if you don't have a sat-nav or map. We did ask some of the locals and none of them seemed to know what left or right was.
-----------------
-----------------
Once you do eventually find the ground, there's nothing to indicate which car park is meant for fans and there are traffic cones all over the place. Whether this is a temporary feature or not is something I am not sure of, but it made it very awkward.
Around the ground there isn't a lot to do, but they do allow away fans into their supporters bar, although I didn't go in there myself. I instead went to find the turnstiles, which is a far harder task. I infact walked around the ground twice before eventually finding them....hidden around a corner with no signs pointing to them.
Inside the ground is a club shop, a very small club shop. Venturing inside there's very little actually in there. They were selling copies of Football Manager 2006 and various other little things from long ago, including a video, which if memory serves me correct, from the late 1980s.
-----------------
-----------------
The ground itself is quite strange but is a ground you would expect to find down in the eighth tier of English football. It is mainly terracing on all but 1/2 of one side of the ground, and to be far it's never going to rate high on a brilliant grounds list.
The stand you enter into is a pitch length pathway with a fence separating you from the pitch, there are no steps and I can't recall anyone actually standing there during the game. Behind the far goal is a terrace that was about 4/5 steps high, but due to the slope of the pitch one end is considerably higher than the other.
The third stand runs the length of the pitch but is half seating and half terracing. The seating is about 4/5 rows high and leg space looks to be at a big premium. The terrace is about 5 steps high and does offer a surprisingly good view of the action.
-----------------
-----------------
The final stand behind the other goal is a terrace of a few steps and with a very unusual structure with several sub-sections of the terrace. This offers a relatively poor view of the action with a lot of supporting pillars and hoardings that are so high that unless you stand right up against them, you're not going to see the goal.
Hucknall's fans certainly have some very unique chants, two examples are....
"Go back to the beach, go back to the beach, you're a donkey, you're a donkey, go back to the beach."
"You've got more hair than skill" (to bald players)
It wasn't constant singing but it was certainly some of the most creative chanting I have ever heard.
-----------------
-----------------
Overall Hucknall is a bit of a throwback a few decades. It's a town where people don't know left from right, is quite compact and has a ground where you struggle to find turnstiles, has an uneven pitch, sells Football Manage games from five years previously and has chants about donkeys.
I don't think I would come here for a random game, but if you're looking for unusual and unique grounds, this must certainly be up there.
SCORES | |||
| Ease of getting to the area | 8 | Friendliness of fans (outside ground) | 10 |
| Ease of getting to the ground once in area | 3 | Friendliness of fans (inside ground) | 10 |
| Transport in local area | 5 | Feeling of safety | 10 |
| Ease of parking | 6 | Atmosphere (noise) | 3 |
| Stuff to do near the ground | 3 | Atmosphere (chant variety) | 10 |
| Club Shop | 2 | Facilities in away end | 2 |
| Quality of Away End | 2 | Quality of food | 8 |
| View from "Away End" | 3 | Stewards | 4 |
| Rest of the Ground | 2 | Quality of games on visits | 3 |
| Programme | 3 | Chances of a non-Lincoln visit | 1 |
| Total (out of 200) | 98 | ||
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
12/11/2011 22:52
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Bit like Gainsborough, Basildon, Margate, Bognor, Barry, Immingham, Redcar, Brigg, Mexborough, East Kilbride, Flint, Mold, Lostwithiel, Goole, Grantham, Peterborough, Hull, Salford, Colne, Keighley, Swinefleet, St Helens, Skelmersdale, Corby, Nuneaton, Barnstaple, Wick, Londonderry, Eccles, Swinton, Middlesbrough, Putney, Doncaster, Grays Thurrock, South Ockenden, Gravesend, Rotherham, Birkenhead, Runcorn, Widnes, Castleford, Pontefract, Arnold, Gosport, Aldershot, Ascot, Wolverhampton.
My god, Britain is a giant shithole.
I could go on.
Worst league ground ever visited....... Millmoor.
Quote:Just hope you havent got the same cowboy buiding company Downes in to build it like Hinckley did. (Yes I know they are the directors of the club but they are also the reason why Hinckley are so in debt.)bertieostrich
The new ground will be of conference north standard similiar in design to Hinckley United.
However ground is nice.
Cheers Keith47424 - Hinckley Imp
theimps.ka Best Newcomer award winner 2007-2008 season.
Now let me see..
York (excluding the dire Bootham Crescent)
Leamington
Harrogate
Helston
Lincoln
Richmond
Perth
That`s about it.
Cheers Keith47424 - Hinckley Imp
theimps.ka Best Newcomer award winner 2007-2008 season.
More Lincoln City headlines
- Imps waste perfect chance to go third
- Gary Taylor-Fletcher signs for LCFC
- Fantastic Farman saves Imps after brilliant team goal
- Fantastic Farman saves Imps after brilliant team goal
- Ex-Imp's autobiography out on October 1st
- Two ex-Imps score in FA Cup
- Reaction to the draw at Barnet
- Nolan saves Imps with last gasp equaliser
- Imps still 4th despite an awful performance
Lincoln City latest threads
- Hello is there anyone there
- Thank you and goodbye once and for all
- Imps waste perfect chance to go third
- Gary Taylor-Fletcher signs for LCFC
- Fantastic Farman saves Imps after brilliant team goal
- Ex-Imp's autobiography out on October 12st
- Barnet's The Hive
- Two ex-Imps score in FA Cup
- Reaction to the draw at Barnet
- Nolan saves Imps with last gasp equaliser