Written by Max
Ground #32
Regatta Way – West Bridgford FC
Tuesday 22nd February 2022 – United Counties League Div.1 (Step 6)
West Bridgford 1-3 Gedling MW
Attendance: 57 (headcount)
Entry: £5
West Bridgford Colts were formed in 1990 as a youth team and claim to be the largest youth football club in Europe with over 120 teams consisting of over 1500 players at various age groups! I think you’ll agree that is quite a stat, and pretty amazing for a club in our area. In 2011 the senior side, West Bridgford FC, was formed.
The club have been at their current step 6 level since the 2016/17 season and have cemented themselves as a solid mid table club in that time. Today’s game saw them come up against fellow step 6 stalwarts Gedling Miners Welfare.
The match began as evenly as the league table would suggest with both sides cancelling each other out for the first period of the game. The deadlock was broken after 15 minutes as the hosts first real attempt on goal was parried by the keeper straight into the path of the Bridgford striker who tapped home into the empty net. Almost immediately though, the score was level as an almost identical goal was scored by the visitors! Gedling went into the break ahead after another well worked goal completed the turnaround.
Into the second half we went and the visitors continued to control the game and scored a third just 5 minutes in! West Bridgford struggled for opportunities but in the last 5 minutes missed what slooked like it would be a definite goal as a one on one was dragged wide from just 6 yards out! That pretty much summed up the home sides night and the Miners took away all 3 points!
Now to rate our evening at Regatta Way:
Location: 3/10
Regatta Way itself is actually closer to Gamston than West Bridgford with it being around a 30 minute walk from the centre. There is a small car park at the ground and the floodlights are visible from the A52.
Kit: 6/10
The West Bridgford kit is a trademark red and black striped shirt with black shorts and socks. Anyone that has ever seen youth football in the East Midlands will know this kit is used throughout all age groups and teams associated with the club. There must be thousands of the shirts in use across the county being worn on any given weekend.
Sadly we have rated the kit down slightly due to the sponsor not standing out too well unless the players are really close to you. This is such a shame as the sponsor this year is a local mens mental health charity called ‘bl0kes’
Facilities: 5/10
The clubhouse is actually outside the ground as it is shared between the cricket club and the rest of the football clubs which use the Regatta Way complex. The building contains the changing rooms, toilets and a decent sized bar area.
At today’s game there weren’t many tables set up in the bar so we had to stand with our food and drink which we had before going into the ground itself as we joined the rest of the supporters who were engrossed in tonight’s episode of Emmerdale which was being shown on the TV! We liked seeing the kits and pennants on display from matches in the past.
Look: 2/10
The Regatta Way Sports Complex is a large multisport venue on the edge of West Bridgford. It includes 3 football pitches and 2 cricket pitches and is used throughout the week by a huge number of teams and clubs. It is a fantastic complex overall and a great asset to the local community which is under threat as plans are in place to build houses and a school on the site which would be a massive shame. Luckily for the football club though it seems the Stadium Pitch and clubhouse will remain in place.
The ground itself though is about as basic as is possible at this level. There is hard standing around 2 sides and a small seated stand. To be honest I’m struggling to find anything else to write about here. A bizarre feature we noticed was the lack of any sponsor boards around the ground at all. The pitch was just surrounded by dark green barriers and not a single sponsor was to be seen anywhere. This along with the fact that the kit sponsor is a local charity, and the low crowds made us wonder how on earth the club is making any money at all?
Food and Drink: 4.5/10
As we walked into the clubhouse we saw an extensive list of options available at todays game. I opted for a chip cob whilst Emma decided on a cheeseburger. With the burger being £4 and my chips being £3.50 we both thought this was a little on the expensive side, but reserved judgement until they arrived.
Sadly neither were worth the wait or the cost! The chips we pretty well done and too crispy for my liking and Emma said her burger was very thin and flavourless and at £4.00 would have liked the option of onions. Credit though must be given to the woman serving behind the counter who was working solo at tonight’s game and did a good job getting everyone’s refreshments served before the match.
On a positive note, there were pint cans of dark fruits available behind the bar so Emma was a very happy hopper tonight!
TOTAL SCORE 20.5/50
Another local ground ticked off, but that’s about as positive as I can really get about this one unfortunately. I’m not sure whether it was the uninspiring ground, the low crowd or the fact this was pretty much a dead rubber between two mid table clubs but the whole evening just seemed a little flat to us both. Oh well, I suppose if they were all crackers it would become pretty monotonous…..On to the next one!
If you would like to see where this places West Bridgford 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 