Written by Max
Ground #16
Plains Road – Gedling Miners Welfare FC
Saturday 17th July 2021 – Pre Season Friendly
Gedling MW (Step 6 UCL Div.1) 2-1 Newark (Step 5 UCL Prem North)
Attendance: 80 (approx.)
Entry: £5
Gedling Miners Welfare have been a team since 1919 playing under a number of different names. They have spent the majority of their existence in and around their current level, with them being in their step 6 East Midland Counties League since it was formed in 2008. For the 2021/22 season they have been transferred into the United Counties League Division 1 so will be looking forward to a new challenge.
Today’s match saw them come up against our local team Newark FC who play a level above in the brand new United Counties Premier Division North. The game kicked off in blistering 30 degree heat and Newark started on the front foot looking dangerous going forward. Inside the first 10 minutes they had the ball in the back of the net, but it was flagged for offside. The visitors continued to put some decent moves together and after spooning an easy chance over the bar they took the lead on the 15 minute mark.
From then though the hosts began to grow into the game creating a few chances of their own. They were denied what seemed a definite penalty as the ball struck a Newark arm at close range. They didn’t let this frustrate them as they continued to put moves together and on the 37th minute drew level through a headed goal from a brilliantly whipped in free kick. That wasn’t all though as on the stroke of half time they were this time awarded a penalty which was dispatched with the keeper sent the wrong way.
As the second half kicked off the heat was unbearable for us on the sidelines, so it wasn’t a surprise that both sides struggled to get many clear cut chances in the heat. This early in pre season both sides will still be working on fitness and in this weather even players in peak fitness would have struggled.
The game ended with the hosts holding onto their 2-1 lead. A great result for the step 6 side against a team from the Division above. With Newark having to groundshare away from the Town at Basford United for at least this next season the budget has been slashed. It will be interesting to follow their progress as they hope to stay up at step 5 with more limited resources this season. We will be following them closely and hope to get to as many new grounds as possible following them away from home.
Now to rate Gedling’s Plains Road Ground:
Location: 5/10
The ground is located slap bang in between the Town’s of Gedling and Arnold on Plains Road. It is easy to find with a large sign on the main road. There is also a pub directly opposite. There is no train station nearby and the ground is around a mile and a half from Gedling itself.
Kit: 6/10
This years Gedling kit is a popular combination of yellow shirt with blue shorts and yellow socks. It’s a classic colour combination and the blue number on the back was in a font I haven’t seen before. The sponsor fitted in quite well also. The reason it hasn’t scored higher is that last season we saw them play away at Rainworth and their kit then was a much more interesting design with a chequered effect on the bottom of the shirt. You can see photos including their shirt on our Rainworth blog here: Rainworth Miners Welfare
Facilities: 5/10
The bar was a huge building just outside the ground. It was pretty dated inside but did the job. The annoying thing was having to leave the ground to go to the bar so you couldn’t get a drink while the match was going on, which in the heat of today’s match was much needed!
This is something we are starting to find at a number of grounds with teams such as Bottesford Town, Sherwood Colliery and West Bridgford all having bars/clubhouses that aren’t actually within the ground itself.
Look: 7/10
The ground is all painted in the teams colours of Blue and Yellow. With covered standing down the near side and behind one goal, as well as another covered stand with one row of seating down the other side. The barrier around the pitch is very high compared to most grounds we have visited, and as you’ll see from the photo of the seats, they have had to be put on a raised step so seated fans can still see over to the pitch! There is only 1 row of seating in this stand as all round the ground is very tight. It’s something I found strange as both stands had plenty of wasteland behind, but for some reason all 4 sides were very cramped in. I suppose for a club that get less than 100 fans at the majority of their games this isn’t a problem the most of the time, but it was something that struck me as slightly strange.
Overall though a very well looked after and tidy ground. The pitch was also immaculate for todays game.
Food and Drink: 2/10
The tea bar at Plains Road is housed behind the seated stand and is in a bright blue shipping container. Unfortunately at this game they had no hot food available! Gutted! Luckily though, they were selling ice creams and ice lollies from the tea bar which went down perfectly in the searing heat. No dark fruits in the bar either which was a shame, although I did enjoy a couple of pints of Coors to quench my thirst during the game!
TOTAL SCORE 25/50
Overall an enjoyable day at a unique and quirky ground. It was good to see Newark for the first time since October last year due to all the Covid lockdowns and leagues being stopped, and was great to see a few of the fans we have got to know over the past 2 years following the Highwaymen. As we said earlier we look forward to following them to as many games as possible over the coming season and ticking off as many grounds as possible in the process.
It was great to finally get to a game at Gedling as they were one of the first clubs to contact us asking to visit their ground when we first set up this blog. We enjoyed our trip and I’m sure will be back again at some point over the season
If you want to see where this places Gedling on our Leaderboard, as well as seeing the other grounds we have visited so far, Click here: LEAGUE TABLE
Emma’s Ground Guide 