Written by Max
Ground #78
Saturday 7th March 2026
NPL Div.1 Midlands (Step 4)
Anstey Nomads 0-2 Carlton Town
Attendance: 474
Entry: £10
Anstey Nomads were formed in 1946 as Anstey Methodists before a year later taking on their current name of Anstey Nomads. Strangely, despite the name, the club have played at their ground on Cropston Road since formation.
The club have spent the majority of their lifetime in the Leicester Senior League before promotion into the Step 6 East Midlands Counties League in 2009. They would stay at this level for 10 years before a 2nd place finish earnt them promotion to step 5. Just 3 years later the club would win that division earning a place at their current step 4 level, and with the club currently sitting 2nd in the table ahead of today’s game they are certainly a club on the up.
Today was a huge game at the top of the table as the 2nd placed Nomads took on run away leaders Carlton Town. Going into the game the visitors held an 11 point lead at the top but with Anstey having a game in hand, and 2 games still to play against the Millers this was a big chance for them to close the gap.
The game started evenly with both sides trying to work each other out. Anstey are currently managed by former Leicester City keeper Conrad Logan and thanks to his connections they have a number of former pros in their squad. The only one of them to start this game was striker Martyn Waghorn and when he saw the Carlton keeper off his line decided to try for a lob from the half way line. Embarrassingly he miscued it horribly and it bounced twice before being caught by the keeper. This would pretty much sum up Waghorn’s afternoon as this was his only shot at goal before being subbed in the second half.
A great save from the visiting keeper kept it on level terms before on 36 minutes Carlton winger Niall Hylton broke the deadlock with a cut inside and toe-poked finish to quieten the home crowd.
Into the second period an it was Anstey who very much controlled possession for much of the half but the Carlton defence stood strong leaving the hosts frustrated and trying numerous shots from distance that struggled to test the Carlton keeper.
It was nervy amongst the Carlton fans as the onslaught continued but a rare counter attack saw substitute Jason Law send the away fans into dreamland as a scuffed finish rolled seemingly in slow motion over the line to double the lead.
The photo below taken by Carlton photographer Lou Lardi shows the players celebrating with the fans, including myself, as the goal secured the 3 points and extended the lead at the top of the table to a huge 14 points with just 10 games remaining.
Now to rate my day at Cropston Road:
Location: 7/10
Anstey is a large village on the outskirts of Leicester and is home to just under 8,000 people. The ground is located on the edge of the village just a short walk from the centre where there are a few pubs and takeaways.
Parking at the ground itself is very limited but there is plenty of space in the nearby housing estate just a short walk from the ground. Anstey doesn’t have a train station but the village and ground are just a couple of minutes from the A46 so it is very easy to get to if driving.
Kit: 5/10
Anstey’s kit this season is all red with a black collar and white detail down the side of the shirt. The kit is pretty basic and the black numbers on a red background aren’t the easiest to see from a distance.
Facilities: 7/10
The bar at Cropston Road is located along one side of the pitch and is a great sized room with a spacious bar area and TV’s showing the early kick off. There are numerous pitchside windows which make it really nice and light when inside aswell as creating a good vantage point to watch the match from the warmth. There is also a small amount of outside balcony space allowing fans to get an elevated view of the action.
The only real negative I found was the lack of tables and with a bumper crowd at todays game this meant the majority of people were forced to stand. As you can see from the photo below there is plenty of space for more tables to be added.
Look: 5/10
As soon as you are through the turnstiles you are greeted with the 2 main seated stands. As the pitch is on a noticeable slope these offer a great view of the pitch from behind the goal at the highest point of the ground.
On the far side of the ground is the clubhouse complete with balconies which were packed for today’s game. Opposite this is the oldest stand at the ground which has a single row of seats. This stand is strangely signposted as the ‘away supporters’ area although the majority of Millers followers congregated instead behind the goal they were attacking. The rest of the ground consists of flat hardstanding.
As mentioned earlier, the club have risen through the leagues quite quickly and this can be seen in some areas of the ground. If they were to gain promotion this season I assume some improvements would be needed to get the ground up to a step 3 standard.
Food and Drink: 6/10
I arrived at the ground around an hour before kick off and headed straight to the clubhouse to get some pre match food. If you want chips, Anstey is not the place for you as they aren’t on offer here, but a decent variety is on offer including massive pizzas which looked great. I went for a cheeseburger though which was reasonably priced at £4.50. I had to wait around 15 minutes while this was cooked but when it arrived it certainly looked worth the wait. One of the thickest burgers I’ve had at football but unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to it’s looks as it was slightly lacking in flavour. That being said I’ve certainly had allot worse at non league and I would happily have it again.
Drinks wise there was a pretty generic selection from behind the bar of carling, madri or guinness. Sadly no dark fruits so no bonus point today!
TOTAL SCORE: 30/50
After last weekends trip to Glanford Park, and with the fact Emma was at work during today’s game, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere new, but this top of the table clash was too big to miss!
It was great to join over 100 travelling Carlton fans at the game which is possibly the most to have ever watch The Millers away from Stoke Lane. This shows just how much the club have grown in a short amount of time as it wasn’t too long ago that they would have been happy welcoming that many fans for a home game!
This was a huge result which put any of the possible doubters of Carlton’s title chances to bed as only a complete collapse will now deny them the title and promotion to step 3 for the first time. For Anstey it looks as if they are going to have to settle for the play offs this season, but they too are in a great position to also rise to their highest ever place in the pyramid.
If you would like to see where this places The Nomads 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 