Written by Max
Ground #8
Rainworth MWFC – Kirklington Road
10th October 2020 – FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round
Rainworth MW 3-3 Gedling MW (Rainworth Win 4-3 on pens)
Attendance: 77
Entry: £5
This cold Saturday brought us to another of our local sides Rainworth Miners Welfare FC. ‘Ren-Uff’ as pronounced by the locals is a village just outside Mansfield. The club were formed in 1922 and played as high as step 4 in the non league pyramid as recently as 2015! Their most famous day though, came back in 1982 when they made it all the way to Wembley before losing 3-0 to Forest Green Rovers in the final of the FA Vase. Its pretty amazing to see the differing fortunes of the 2 sides now with FGR currently in League 2, and Rainworth sadly now plying their trade in step 6 of non league.
Today they faced off against East Midland Counties League rivals Gedling in an all Miners Welfare affair!
The first half was a very competitive battle with tackles flying in all over the place. A few yellow cards were handed out early as both sides roughed each other up. Funny then that both sides were then awarded penalties within a minute of each other that were incredibly soft at best. Both were tucked away though and the score 1-1. Rainworth looked the more likely from then on and made the pressure pay with a headed goal right the stroke of half time.
There was a great moment at half time as the winner of the draw was announced as number 99. A couple of minutes later it was then corrected to 66 as the numbers actually only went up to 90! Got to love non league!
‘The Wrens’ came out for the second half and continued where they left off. They would go 3-1 up around 10 minutes into the second period. The men in blue seemed to be coasting into the next round until with 15 minutes to go Gedling made it 3-2. Rainworth should have put the game to bed missing 3 or 4 good chances to get a fourth but they would be made to pay for the lack of composure as Gedling got a late equaliser and took the game to penalties.
Rainworth though would hold their nerve scoring 4 of their 5 spot kicks to go through to the next round. Overall though a very good competitive game and a great advert for step 6 football.
Now to rate the ground itself…
As you’ll see below, when we originally visited Kirklington Road we couldn’t go into the clubhouse due to covid restrictions. We returned to the ground on the 1st February 2022, when covid restrictions were lifted, in order to give the ground a fair score. Any additions from this game can be seen in bold.
On our return visit we saw The Wrens come up against local rivals Shirebrook Town in the NCEL Premier Division. A bumper crowd of 140 saw the visitors come away with the points in an exciting game which ended 3-2.
Location: 7/10
The ground is located opposite Rainworth village hall and just a short walk from a row of takeaways and shops. The chippy looked tempting and as you’ll see later we maybe should have eaten there beforehand! The ground is very easy to find and if, like us, you are driving to the game on the A617, the ground is less than a minute from the junction and is visible from the road itself.
Kit: 8/10
Rainworth play in a dark blue kit with a red stripe down the side and along the top of the shirt. A very smart looking kit and a colour combination we don’t think we have seen on a kit before. Very nice.
Facilities: 4/10
Unfortunately at this match we weren’t allowed into the bar area. We aren’t sure the reason but we were disappointed as we arrived 50 minutes early to the game expecting to be able to sit in the bar and have a few drinks before kick off. Sadly though all that was available was a hatch to the side of the clubhouse from which you could buy cans and food. I’m sure we will be back to see Rainworth again at some point in the near future, and will amend this score once we have been able to see the bar and clubhouse properly.
On our return visit all covid restrictions had been removed and we were therefore allowed inside the clubhouse. The bar is a small room including a limited amount of chairs. Sadly there was no built in bar so only cans from the fridge were available, but as you’ll see below Emma was still happy with what she found! The clubhouse itself is remarkably similar to another of their local divisional rivals Clipstone
Look: 6/10
This one is always a difficult one to judge for us, especially at this level as before this we have only ever been to Ollerton at step 6. This ground though was very nice for the level, including a covered terrace on the dugout side spanning about ¾ of the length of the pitch.
On the opposite side is a Large seated stand with 4 rows of elevated seating meaning a good view can be had from here. We laughed at the fact there was a designated ‘Away section’ within this stand. Over the far side of the ground are some great views of the nearby Sherwood forest.
There was also a strange area of uncovered black seats in one corner of the ground. One of those quirky random things you only see at non league but also one of the great things about visiting so many grounds. Each one has its own quirkiness and differences. There is also hard standing on all 4 sides meaning there are plenty of options to find the best view of the match.
When we returned to the ground for a second time we noticed that the club had installed brand new LED floodlights. It’s great to see the club able to invest in improvements to the ground.
Food and Drink: 3.5/10
As mentioned above we were slightly disappointed at the lack of food options available at the ground. As far as hot food went, it was either a sausage roll or a pasty. We went for the sausage roll which was ok. The pastry was limp so it was difficult to tell where the sausage ended and pastry started! We don’t want to be too negative as we know this level is all volunteer run and the 2 ladies serving the food were lovely. They happily handed over 2 cans of Dark fruits which made Emma’s day! Extra half a point as usual has been added for that!
TOTAL SCORE: 26.5/50
Overall a very nice set up and a ground we will very happily return to in the not too distant future I’m sure. Today’s game was a great battle and as mentioned before a great advert for football at this level. You can see where Kirklington Road features on our League table here.
Emma’s Ground Guide 