Written by Emma
Ground #35
Ron Steel Sports Ground – Dunkirk FC
Saturday 2nd April 2022 – United Counties League Div. 1 (Step 6)
Dunkirk FC 2 – 4 Barrow Town FC
Attendance: 38
Entry: £6
Dunkirk Football Club were founded in 1946 and are otherwise known as ‘The Boatmen’. They have spent most of their history in the lower levels of Nottinghamshire football until 2008 when they were promoted up to their current Step 6 level and this also meant they could enter the FA Cup for the first time. Just two years later, the club gained another promotion meaning they were playing Step 5 football for the first time in the clubs history. They remained at this level until the 2018/19 when they were relegated back into their current Step 6 league.
Today saw them come up against Leicestershire based side Barrow Town. The game started evenly with both teams struggling to have any clear-cut chances on goal. The hosts began to take control and took the lead on the half hour mark with the first real chance of the game. Dunkirk continued to be the better side and a good save from the visiting keeper kept it at only 1-0. Barrow had a great chance before half time, but it was well saved to keep The Boatmen in front.
Into the second half and this time it was the visitors who would fly out of the blocks hitting the bar within the opening minute of the half. A huge moment came as a Barrow shot was fantastically saved by the arm of a Dunkirk defender; this was obvious for everyone in the ground it seems apart from the referee who waved to play on. The visitors’ players and staff were quite rightly very angry but managed to turn this into a positive as they got an equaliser just five minutes later.
Not long after and the come back was complete as a counter attacking goal put Barrow 2-1 in front. It was like DeJa’Vu as another Dunkirk attack broke down and Barrow scored their third on the counter once more. This was becoming quite the second half performance from the visitors, but just as they thought the three points were sealed Dunkirk got a goal back of their own. That led to a nervy final few minutes until a late corner saw the Dunkirk keeper come forward to try and get a late equaliser. This back fired as yet another counter saw Barrow put the ball into the open net and confirm all three points were going back to Leicestershire.
Now to rate our afternoon at the Ron Steel Sports Ground:
Location: 3/10
Dunkirk is a small residential area of Nottingham with a population of around 11,000. The football ground is a short drive from Dunkirk itself and is located down a small track just off the A52 next to the two Michelin star restaurant Sat Bains (Max did not treat me to a meal out here even though I am worth it).
It is easy to get too if you are driving however there is no train station nearby so getting to the ground via public transport could be difficult. The car park is a gravelled area in front of the turnstile entrance with plenty of space for fans and groundhoppers today due to the low crowd.
Kit: 8/10
The kit was a smart black and red with subtle stripes down the front, paired with black shorts and black socks. The white sponsor across the front stood out and the plain back of the shirt made the numbers obvious. One of the better kits we have seen at this level.
Facilities: 5/10
The clubhouse at Dunkirk was outside of the ground with a bar and small food hatch. It was nicely decorated and clean inside with plenty of seating for the few that were at today’s game.
We arrived at 2pm and there was no sign that a match was happening. The clubhouse was quiet, the TV was turned off and the shutters on the bar were closed. We were worried if we would even be able to have a prematch beer at all and even debated seeing if they served Dark Fruits at the Michelin star restaurant next door! Luckily 40 minutes before kick off the bar did open and once we finished these pints we went outside to find that even the turnstiles still weren’t open with just 15 minutes til kick off. Bizarre!
Look: 6/10
Once we were allowed into the ground we were impressed with the standard of the place. With hard standing down all four sides and a new metal railing in the clubs colours up around the pitch. The place was well kept and in great condition.
Along one side of the pitch there was a covered standing area alongside another older stand with seats. There was also a brand new covered seating area to the left of the entrance when walking in. Pretty standard for a step 6 ground but you can tell that some improvements have been made recently which is great to see.
Food and Drink: 4/10
We arrived at today’s game having not eaten anything all day, so I was starving. As mentioned above we went into the clubhouse at 2 o clock only to find the bar wasn’t open yet and food wouldn’t be available until half time. When the bar did open there wasn’t a huge choice (and no dark fruit to add salt to the wound) so a Birra Moretti and Stowford Press were our tipple of the day.
By the halftime whistle I couldn’t run to the food hatch any quicker, ordered two cheeseburgers and a portion of chips to share. The cheeseburgers were, ok. Compared to the majority of non-league burgers we have tried they were very average. A lot of bread and no onions made it quite dry to eat even with the sauce we added but the chips were very good. By this point we were both starving so wolfed them down in seconds!
TOTAL SCORE 26/50
All in all, it was a good afternoon out visiting Dunkirk. We were sceptical when we first arrived but after an underwhelming start we left having had a pleasant time watching a competitive game of football which is what Saturdays are for.
It was a shame to see such a low crowd at today’s game and we hope that this was a one off due to it being an end of season dead rubber rather than the norm, although the late opening of all the facilities seems to suggest that they weren’t exactly expecting a bumper crowd! This is a shame as the ground itself was surprisingly nice and we would of course prefer to see local non league clubs thriving!
Dunkirk was one of the grounds I had been looking forward to ticking off when we started Emma’s Ground Guide and although it wasn’t the historic location in France that I had imagined Max treating me to, it is one that we both enjoyed.
If you would like to see where this places Dunkirk FC 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 