Written by Max
Ground #38
Coronation Park – Eastwood Community FC
Saturday 2nd July 2022 – Pre Season Friendly
Eastwood CFC (step 5) 4-2 Loughborough Dynamo (step 4)
Attendance: 70 (Headcount)
Entry: £5
Eastwood Community FC were formed in 2014 as a phoenix club to Eastwood Town who sadly folded that year due to an un paid tax bill. The original club played as high as the Conference North and after finishing 4th in 2009/10 were denied the chance to compete in the play offs due to the ground not being up to standard. The new club play at the same ground and currently find themselves at step 5 of the non league pyramid.
Today they faced Step 4 Loughborough Dynamo in what was both clubs first taste of pre season action in the 2022/23 season. We were looking forward to seeing former Newark FC player Kevin Bastos in action for the visitors.
Strangely the game was split into 3 thirty minute periods as both sides tried a huge number of triallists and squad players in this game. There was an even start to the match but the hosts took the lead with the first real chance. Soon after the lead was doubled after what I can only describe as the most bizarre bit of goal keeping I have ever seen. The ball was lobbed back to him and to avoid a back pass the keeper decided a bicycle kick was the best way to clear the ball. He completely missed it and it went into the back of the net! Everyone in the ground was shocked to silence. He wont want to see that one back!
Into the second period we went and this time it was Loughborough who were on top. Getting a goal back early and then the moment we had been waiting for! Kevin Bastos had struggled to get into the game so far but a neat touch in the box followed by a great finish into the top corner from the former Newark favourite levelled the game up. Suddenly it was the Kevin Bastos show with the winger beating the defence and going through on goal. This time though he poked his shot just wide!
Into the final 3rd we went and Eastwood once again took to lead early on. With Loughborough trying to get back into the game the hosts were finding success on the counter and got a 4th late on with a quick move.
A game with many twists and turns with both sides changing tactics and line ups throughout. The teams will say the result doesn’t matter but the hosts must be quietly pleased with the result and 4 goals against a side from a level above them. We look forward to seeing how both teams get on in the upcoming season including hopefully visiting Loughborough Dynamo for a home game soon.
But now to rate our day at Coronation Park:
Location: 7/10
The ground is located right in the centre of Eastwood just down the road from the high street which contains plenty of pubs and takeaways. The Town itself doesn’t have a train station but Langley Mill station is around a 40 minute walk away. We made the most of this and created a pub crawl en route to the ground. As mentioned there were plenty of bars to choose from along the high street all just a couple of minutes from the ground.
Kit: 2/10
The original Eastwood Town played in black and white stripes and therefore were nicknamed ‘The Badgers’. The newly formed team are called ‘The Red Badgers’ and play in red shirts with black shorts and socks. This kit was very basic and didn’t seem to contain any detail or uniqueness at all. It was just a basic nike template. The only real positive we could think of was that the white sponsor fitted in nicely.
Facilities: 6/10
The bar at Coronation Park is another one that has access only from outside the ground. After entering and doing a lap of the pitch we then had to leave through the turnstyle to go into the bar itself. The bar is very nicely decorated with bare brick walls. There were large screens showing sky sports and a pool table aswell as a great view of the pitch through large windows. It isn’t the biggest bar in the world but it was certainly more than big enough for todays low crowd.
Within the ground there is a ‘Refreshments’ kiosk but sadly that was closed for todays game.
Look: 6/10
Coronation Park has hosted Conference North football in the not too distant past and just like their near neighbours Hucknall Town you can see the ground was up to a good standard but has seen better days. The main stand contains the majority of the seats but sadly the view from the most of these is restricted due to the large dugouts in front of it. On the far side is another seated stand but again the view from the first row is obstructed by the fact it is below pitch level. Many of the seats in the stand have been damaged too which is sad to see.
This is something noticed around the whole ground as the 3g pitch has been installed completely flat when the ground itself is on a hill. This means half the ground is above pitch level making for a great view, but the other half is a lot lower than the pitch meaning you have to be very tall to even see the game! This is most obvious in the far corner as you can see on the picture below.
Behind each goal are 2 large covered terraces with plenty of space for fans to get a view of the action. There are numerous turnstiles all around the ground which were obviously used back when the old club were playing at the ground and it is quite sad to see them all locked up and unused now as only the 1 turnstile is needed.
Food and Drink: 2/10
As mentioned above, the refreshment hatch within the ground was closed for today’s game. In the bar were a limited number of pasties in a hot cupboard but by the time we got there these had all been sold. This was really disappointing as we were both very hungry after our pub crawl through the town and were hoping for something substantial. Unfortunately we had to settle for crisps and nuts!
The bar had a decent variety of beers and ciders on offer but sadly no dark fruits for Emma!
TOTAL SCORE 23/50
Overall we both really enjoyed our day out in Eastwood and it was great to be back for our first game of the 2022/23 season! The game itself was bizarre with the three 30 minute periods and both teams were very obviously in the very early stages of pre season.
We saw a lot of goals though and enjoyed plenty of beers throughout the day, what more could you want!
If you’d like to see where this places Eastwood in our Non League leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
If you’d like to see our League table of Football League grounds click here: The 92
Emma’s Ground Guide 