Written by Max
Ground #52
Saturday 29th April 2023
UCL Division 1 (Step 6) – Play Off Final
Birstall United 1-1 Hucknall Town (Hucknall win 5-3 on pens)
Attendance: 850
Entry: £6
Birstall United were formed in 1961 as a Sunday League club representing the village in the Leicestershire and District league. After winning the title 3 years in a row they switched to Saturday football and continued to be successful rising up through the local Leicestershire divisions. The club played in the Leicester Senior League at step 7 for around 20 years until in the 2015/16 season when they were promoted to their current step 6 level as champions. Today’s play off final would see the club hoping to continue their rise up the leagues to their highest ever position in the pyramid.
The hosts, who finished 2nd in the league faced off against Hucknall Town who came 4th, 7 points behind Birstall in the table. In the league both fixtures ended 1-0 to the home side so this was always going to be a competitive affair.
The first half started, as many fans were still queuing to get in as it seemed like the whole village had come out in support of their team! The fans outside didn’t miss much though as the first half was incredibly cagey with both sides struggling to create anything on a bobbly pitch. The only real chance of the half coming on 40 minutes as Hucknall forward Craig Westcarr took the ball around the keeper but scuffed his effort into the side netting.
As the second half began, Birstall came out fired up, but after a few decent runs from the winger a couple of crosses came to nothing. Around 10 minutes into the half the game really sprang to life as a huge Hucknall chance was missed as the tall number 7 had a header well saved by the home keeper. From the resulting corner the ball was bundled in by Kieran Knight which sent thee large away following into ecstasy!
This joy would be short lived though as just 2 minutes later a penalty was awarded to the hosts after a handball in the box. The ball was confidently tucked away by Paul Pallett and we were back level again!
On 75 minutes there was some great play by Hucknall’s number 7 as he beat his man and put in a brilliant cross, but unfortunately for the yellows it was headed over. Moments later there was confusion at the back for Hucknall as the keeper came out into no mans land and slipped, but the Birstall striker couldn’t sort out his feet with an open goal at his mercy!
That was about it as far as chances as the game ended 1-1. Amazingly, with both clubs entire season on the line the game went straight to a penalty shoot out! Surely in a game of such importance it would make sense to have played extra time?
Into the shootout we went and after the first Hucknall penalty was confidently scored, the reply from Birstall was saved! A brilliant stop from the Hucknall keeper who denied Paul Parnell, the very player who had scored his penalty during the match!
That miss would end up being crucial as Hucknall went on to confidently score all 5 of their spot kicks and win the shoot out 5-3! This saw the yellows clinch promotion to step 5 as the former step 2 club look to climb back up the ladder!
Congratulations to everyone involved at the club!
But now time to rate Birstall United’s Meadow Lane ground:
Location: 6/10
The ground is located on Meadow Lane, on the Eastern edge of the Village. It is a short walk to a couple of local takeaways and around a 10 minute walk from the local pub.
Birstall doesn’t have a train station but is handily located just a couple of minutes from both the M1 and A46.
Kit: 4/10
Birstall’s kit consisted of a white shirt with dark blue shorts and socks. The shirt had a faint pattern on it but it was difficult to make out unless the players were directly in front of you.
Facilities: 7/10
The clubhouse at Meadow Lane is located behind the goal and is a decent size. The walls of the bar included honours boards with all the clubs achievements throughout their existence. Sadly today they couldn’t add yet another promotion to the board! We especially liked the personalised ‘Birstall United FC’ bar mats!
With a large crowd expected at today’s match the club had also put on an additional outside bar and BBQ which was a great way to avoid overcrowding in the bar.
Look: 7/10
The main feature of Birstall’s Meadow Lane are the 2 stands along one side of the pitch. The small seated stand sits next to the impressive covered standing terrace.
Opposite these 2 stands are 3 steps of open terracing. These were extremely helpful as it allowed us, along with many others to get a decent view of the pitch with the large crowd in attendance at todays game!
The ground is only 3 sided with no space for fans behind the far goal. Alot of fans crammed behind the other goal though with plenty making use of the outside beer garden. There is also a small area of covered standing in front of the clubhouse.
It’s good to see that the club appear to be making improvements to the ground with some extra hard standing being put down next to the two stands.
Food and Drink: 8.5/10
As mentioned above, the club had put on an outdoor BBQ for today’s game and we excitedly headed straight over to it when we arrived! 2 cheeseburgers were ordered, both really thick and juicy with fried onions too! If anyone from any other club is reading this, please put a BBQ on every week and we will be there!!!
The bar had a great range of beers on draught including Cobra which you don’t see very often outside of an Indian restaurant! I went for a pint of that while Emma of course went for her beloved dark fruits! Bonus half point added!
TOTAL SCORE: 32.5/50
It had been a while since we had been to a new ground, so it was good to get back into groundhopping mode and to finish the season with 1 final blog!
We both enjoyed our day out in the Leicestershire sun. Commiserations to Birstall who I’m sure will be up there again next season but I still think it was incredibly cruel for their entire season to go down to a penalty shoot out when surely extra time could have been played!
Either way Congratulations to Hucknall Town who will be playing at step 5 next season. Going away to both Bourne and Birstall in the play offs wasn’t an easy way to earn promotion, but they did it!
If you would like to see where this places Birstall 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 