Worth the drive

 A midland double - another dip into the Midland Under 21 League then onto Gornal Athletic - to tick a ground on bucket list

12 noon
Walsall Wood Under 21s 4 Stafford Rangers Under 21s 0
MFL Under 21 Division, North
Oak Park

Arrived to an almost deserted ground, had good chat with a couple related to one of the Stafford players, main talking point for the Walsall Wood locals was the survival of the 1st team - third in the Division, but the manager followed by the players have walked out last week. Not being paid the issue - not sure where the money has gone, as it certainly has not been spent on the ground and the pitch. When I see the work Ipswich Wanderers have had to do to play at the same level in the East, do wonder if there are a different set of rules in other regions! Saying that, loved the ground, old wooden stand and the pit wheel in the field behind the ground.

The off field issues certainly did not seem to concern the Under 21 team as they were one nil up in the first minute and 3 nil up by half time. they added a further goal in the second half, for an easy win against a team who were second in the division at the start of the day. Will try and dip into this division again, a good way of seeing grounds you may not visit and the standard of football is OK.

It was then off to 

Gornal Athletic 1 Birstall United Community 1

Midland League, Divsions One

Garden Walk

This ground is a 'must visit' - I have been lucky enough to have been on a few of the hops to Romania and Serbia and we would be going overboard on how great this ground is if we hade visited something similar in Eastern Europe.

It is not just the ground that is great, obvious from listening to the fans, that this is real community club, and with most of them stood close together on the steep terrace, you get to hear some great conversations and banter. What ever they get - new ground wise, they will miss the Garden Walk but the new ground will bring benefits to the club, what they must try hard not to lose, is that close knit community spirit that obviously exists at this club - that may be a harder task to retain.

Just enjoy the photos - then plan your visit, they may be gone soon!