League leaders Slough Town gain narrow win over Cambridge City
Slough Town stretched their lead at the top of the Evo-Stik Southern Premier to four points, after a somewhat laboured 1-0 win over Cambridge City today, who stay 22nd. After a rather dull first half, when the home team struggled to break down the City defence and perhaps over-elaborated play, Slough ramped up the pressure in the second half and, after some near misses, scored the winner with an excellent 74th minute header from central defender Mark Nisbet, from a corner.
Playing as central striker for Slough was Lewis Putman, who you may remember had a week on trial with the Chairboys in April 2013, after scoring 80 goals for Oxhey Jets that season. After that he signed for Wealdstone before arriving at Slough. He didn’t really stand out, he took a knock in the first half and was subbed in the second half.
Both teams favoured a short passing game but I felt the 3G pitch affected the flow of the game, the ball doesn’t seem to roll as quickly as on grass. Plastic pitches are a good idea lower down the pyramid, in a community stadium, but not in the Football League, not yet anyway until improvements are made.
Slough’s new home of Arbour Park was opened on 29 August when a 1401 crowd saw them defeat Hayes & Yeading 2-1. The league attendances since then have been 575, 687 and, today, 656. When the main stand is completed, the ground will have a capacity of 1950. Behind both goals is covered, metal terracing, not very steep, and opposite the main stand is a smaller section of seating, behind which is a large empty area, perhaps earmarked for future expansion. Parking is limited, the small car park at the ground is reserved and the club suggest using the car parks around the train and bus station, a 15 minute walk away. We got there in time to get a space on the Stoke Poges Road, which the ground is on. Slough have been nomads since 2003, sharing with Windsor & Eton and then Beaconsfield SYCOB, so it is very pleasing to see them come home, and right in the centre of town. It is rather ironic that their former, still derelict, ground in Wexham Road is just 500 yards away from the new ground.
Cambridge City, too, are nomads, since moving out of Milton Road in 2013, sharing with Histon for two seasons, and now in the second year at St Ives. Last March the High Court approved the club’s plans for a new 3000 capacity stadium at Sawston, 8 miles from Cambridge. Their problems go back to 2005 when the directors sold the ground, at an undervalued price, and announced that the first team would be disbanded, to continue as the reserve side for Cambridge United. Supporters objected and created a Trust to keep the club going but were in dispute for years with the landlord before having to move out. The High Court have since ruled that the club had been fraudulently misrepresented in the sale of the ground by the previous directors, and that the club will receive 50% of the profits from the developed site.
Some photos at: https://goo.gl/photos/Rzew5HoPmTTyz1CH7
Comments
It amazes me that in big towns like Slough & Aylesbury that the local councils don't put a compulsory purchase order on these derelict grounds and sell them back to the football clubs - as long as they are trust-owned.
That's a more useful way of community involvement instead of trying to placate every single group with a cause. Trust-owned clubs are cross-class, cross-race and a real all-round benefit to a locality. Very few councilors seem to be able to grasp that concept.
Nice idea Andy, but I think you will find that Wexham Park was actually located in South Bucks, not Slough Borough (albeit right on the boundary between the two). Slough Council was not particularly supportive of the football club's dilemma for many years - I do not imagine South Bucks had any interest at all!
Aylesbury Council is not very supportive of the Ducks. Also the state of the Buckingham rd ground, it will probably cost more to make it football ready than to buy.
Some more points, the rather narrow pitch contributed to the congested play, perhaps the smaller size pitch is because of its community use for all ages. It was not watered before the game to help ball movement, as some are, and there didn’t appear to be an irrigation system in place.
There was a surprising lack of youngsters, i.e. groups of boys and girls going to the game as friends. Entry for U16s was only £2 (adults £10, concs £6) and the ground is in the middle of large estates. Perhaps the club has lost its youth support from being away for 13 years, and needs to concentrate on building it up again. There was a reasonable spread of ages amongst the adults.
Haven't been to the new ground yet but good to see them back in Slough and doing well (despite the fact they're historic rivals). I wonder how much Beaconsfield have lost out financially because Slough have moved on.