Written by Max
Ground #48
Saturday 4th February 2023
National League North (Step 2)
Alfreton Town 3-1 Boston United
Attendance: 650
Entry: £15
Alfreton Town were formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfreton United. The club were given the ground on North Street by the council and have played there ever since.
The club played in the NCEL as recently as 2002 but after back to back promotions found themselves in the Conference North by 2004. The club acclimatised well to this higher level making the play offs on numerous occasions before winning the league and gaining promotion to the Conference in 2010/11. The reds managed a few mid table finishes before relegation back to the Conference North in the 2014/15 season. They have remained in this division ever since.
Today’s game saw them come up against one of the more local clubs in the division as Lincolnshire side Boston United were in town. A large away following from the visitors made for a great atmosphere with the attendance being more than double Alfreton’s average crowd.
The game started evenly with both sides trying to work each other out. The first big chance came the visitors way as a Boston counter saw the striker one on one with the keeper but it was tipped wide. Soon after this the Alfreton players were convinced there was a foul but instead the referee gave a throw in to the visitors. The hosts were still berating the ref as Boston put together a quick routine and took the lead through a good finish. The fans behind the goal were loving it!
The game had really come to life now and it was Boston really putting the pressure on. From nowhere though Alfreton got the ball up to the other end and won a penalty for a high boot. Former Mansfield Town & Lincoln City striker Matt Rhead stepped up for the hosts. He saw his penalty well saved to the keepers right, but managed to latch onto the rebound and slot it into the empty net. He enjoyed that one alot and celebrated infront of the travelling supporters who had been giving him stick all half.
This goal caused a complete change in the games flow as now Alfreton were looking much more in control. on 40 minutes they thought they had a second but it was headed off the line after a scramble in the box. Not long after though they did have their goal and they went into the half time break deservedly ahead.
Into the second half we went and the game became really end to end. It was really entertaining stuff with chances at both ends including Boston hitting the post.
Alfreton had a huge chance with around 15 minutes to go but a good save denied them. From the resulting corner they put it to bed though scoring a 3rd and ending all hope of a Boston comeback. The visitors didn’t give up though and managed to hit the woodwork for a second time! It wasn’t to be their day though as the hosts took the 3 points.
Now to rate our day at North Street, or to give it its sponsored name, The Impact Arena:
Location: 8/10
Alfreton is a Town in Derbyshire with a population of just over 22,000 which sits just 2 miles from the Nottinghamshire border. The ground is located right in the middle of the Town itself, just a short walk from the high street and a 15 minute walk from the train station. The Town centre has a number of pubs and there are also a few on the walk from the High Street to the ground.
There is quite limited parking at the ground itself but there are plenty of streets nearby where I’m sure a space can be found.
Kit: 6/10
At first glance we were pretty underwhelmed with the Alfreton kit being, like most of the ground, all red. The more you look at it though the better it gets with a number of small details such as the white collar and sleeves and the detail on the socks. The sponsor also fits in very nicely on the front.
The shirt also contains the clubs badge subtly added into the design but the fact it doesn’t come across at all in the photos we took show it is possibly a bit too subtle!
Facilities: 5/10
As soon as you walk in the turnstile at North Street you are greeted with the club shop and food and drink hatch. The shop had a large collection of pin badges as well as club merchandise on sale.
Further down the main stand is the ‘Reds Bar’. We actually came across this by accident as I was trying to find the toilets but within the stand is a small bar. It was really nicely decorated and had loads of old football shirts on the ceiling. They were also playing the 6 nations opener on the TV’s within this bar. It was a really nice little room, although at half time it quickly filled up and was pretty rammed making it difficult to get to the bar!
Look: 6/10
North street is a unique looking ground with 4 very different stands. The ‘main’ stand contains the club shop, bar, changing rooms and offices. This stand is very close to the pitch and contains a small number of seats mainly for club officials and media. There is a small section of terracing near the entrance where we decided to watch the game from
On the opposite side of the pitch is biggest stand filled with both covered and uncovered blue seats. This is the only area of the ground that isn’t painted in the clubs colours of bright red
Behind the far goal is a large terrace which was used as the away end for today’s segregated game. A large number of travelling Boston fans stood behind this goal on what looked to be a fantastic terrace. Behind the other goal was an uncovered seating area where the loudest home fans stood.
One thing you notice about this stadium is there are seats everywhere! Over 1,500 of them and with the crowd at today’s game being 650 alot of these were empty. In my opinion the seats behind the home end goal aren’t really needed and this end would be much better as a standing terrace. Overall though this is the type of ground we love! Unique and full of character. Unfortunately for Alfreton though we need to compare the ground to others in the league they are currently in, and that is why I don’t think we can score it any higher that a 6.
Food and Drink: 2.5/10
We weren’t really very hungry at today’s game so decided just to share a cheeseburger between us. In the end it was a good job as the burger was really overdone and crispy. I’m sure it was just us being unlucky and they are usually a lot better but it was really disappointing and we ended up only eating half of it between us!
We weren’t too downhearted though as in the bar they served dark fruits, so the bonus half point has been added! The bar, as shown above did have pumps but they weren’t in working order at today’s game so drinks were all from cans only.
TOTAL SCORE: 27.5/50
It was great to get to our first new ground of the year and I’ve really enjoyed putting together this blog, our first since the start of December! We both really enjoyed our day in Alfreton, visiting the local pubs, and of course seeing an entertaining game of football!
When we announced the game we would be going to we received by far the best response so far on our Twitter page. Loads of people said we would really enjoy our visit and even the club chairman replied! We agree with everyone’s opinion that this is a great little ground and a really welcoming club that continues to punch above its weight as a top half step 2 club. They are certainly a club we will continue to look out for and I’m sure we will be back at North Street again in the near future.
One final thing I want to add which sums up why we all love the football pyramid is this. In the club bar there were a number of mementoes from the ‘biggest game in the clubs history’ as they played league 1 giants Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup back in 2008. If things don’t improve quickly for The Iron this game could very possibly be a league fixture next season which no one would ever have believed at the time! It’s amazing how quickly things can change!
f you would like to see where this places Alfreton Town in our Non League Leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
If you’d like to see the football league grounds we have visited click here: The 92
Emma’s Ground Guide 