Written by Emma
Ground #60
Saturday 13th April 2024
Southern Premier League Central (Step 3)
Mickleover FC 1-1 Stratford Town
Attendance: 298
Entry: £13
Mickleover FC were formed in 1948 as Mickleover Old Boys. They started life in the Derby and District League where they played until 1993 when they moved into the Central Midlands League and renamed themselves as Mickleover Sports. The club has been on an upwards trajectory ever since and after establishing themselves as a Step 5 club for around 10 years, won back to back promotions which saw them make their way to Step 3 for the 2010 season. The club were relegated but the next season bounced straight back and have been Step 3 regulars ever since. In 2020 they dropped the ‘Sports’ and took their current name of Mickleover Football Club.
Today’s game saw 2nd place Mickleover take on 4th place Stratford Town in a top of the table clash with both teams looking to confirm their places in this seasons play offs. We were joined at the game by Max’s Dad who lives just 700 yards from the ground!
The game started evenly with both sides passing the ball around confidently on the pristine 4G surface, the only real chance in the first half came 20 minutes in as Stratford hit the inside of the post but the ball bounced clear.
Into the second half and as the hour mark struck we were starting to wonder if this would be our first 0-0 since September 2022. But then from nowhere a nice finish saw the hosts take the lead, this brought the game to life and just minutes later a long ball over the top saw Mickleover through on goal but the keeper did well to keep Stratford in it.
After a good spell for the hosts, Stratford had their first foray forward for a while and won themselves a corner. From this, the ball came out to the edge of the area and a deflected shot bamboozled the goalkeeper who parried the ball directly to the striker who put it into the open net to level it at 1-1.
For the last 20 minutes both sides were looking for a winner but neither could create any clear cut chances, as both teams took a point from the game.
Now to rate our visit to the Don Amott Arena, home of the king of caravans, as well as Derby County Women’s team:
Location: 5/10
Mickleover is a small town on the edge of Derby. With the football ground located right on the edge it would be a 30 minute walk to the centre but with no train station you would need to get a bus from Derby if you are travelling by public transport.
There is a good pub called The Great Northern about a 2 minute walk down the hill from the ground which is perfect for a pre-match pint and another one before getting the bus back. There is a car park at the ground which charge £3 to park in but if not there is a housing estate just down the road with plenty of roads to allow for parking.
Kit: 8/10
Mickleover’s home kit is a unique red and black design which from close up looked very snazzy but I also couldn’t help but think it looked more like a Wetherspoons carpet than a football kit! Tied in with black shorts with red trim and red socks with a black stripe it is definitely one of the more unique kits that we have seen.
Facilities: 5/10
The bar at Mickleover is quite small however with the addition of the marquee with another bar outside it makes it plenty big enough for home and away supporters. The bar inside is painted grey with two TV’s which was perfect for us to take advantage of when the Grand National was on at half time. Max was very happy when I am Maximus came first after only picking it because they are both Max……the winnings will pay for our next few groundhops!
Look: 6/10
The Don Amott Arena has had a complete revamp in the past couple of years, the pitch which is now 4G has been turned 90 degrees and the stands have all been replaced with new. Along one side of the pitch there are three stands. Straddling the halfway line is a good sized main stand which contains all 280 of the grounds seats and before kick off we took our seats in the stand. We found the seats were quite close together and it was a bit of a squeeze so decided to stand instead.
On either side of this stand are two small covered terraces and behind the far goal is another covered stand. The other 2 sides of the ground consist of flat open standing.
Something that we had to mention was that there was an interesting choice of sponsor boards around the ground. This was certainly unique! If anyone knows the link between Mickleover and Eddie Howe we would love to know!!
Food and Drink: 7/10
The bar at Mickleover has a good variety and the bar in the marquee even had an added selection of ciders available. As I was driving I had an alcohol free Thatchers whilst Max opted for a rhubarb cider, the drinks even came in personalised Mickleover cups which just like at a festival you got £1 if you handed it back in.
There is no kitchen within the ground so the food available at todays game came from a variety of food vans parked behind the goal. There was local pub ‘The Honeycomb’ there serving fresh burgers and chips out of their van or if you wanted something else there was also fresh woodfired pizzas available. But something that really caught my eye and that I couldn’t say no to was an ice cream van and for a single cone with toppings only setting you back £2 you’d be silly not to indulge in a half-time ice cream. Max went for a half pounder cheeseburger with onions which he said was nice and pretty standard for a burger van but at £6 thought it was a little steep.
TOTAL SCORE: 31/50
It was great to finally get to Mickleover after trying to plan this one for a while and it was good to get to another game with Max’s Dad. After todays game it looks like both teams will be in the playoffs so good luck to them both as they try to gain promotion to Step 2.
If you would like to see where this places Mickleover 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 