Total: £23.80
Train ticket (Manchester to Northwich): £10.30
Entrance: £9.50
Programme: £2
Tea (x2): £2
Today brought my first King’s Lynn away of the season at Witton Albion, and (based on my records) my first King’s Lynn away in Step 3 since Kendal Town in 2009. It was just less than 4 years, but that felt like an age away now. Witton play in Northwich in Cheshire, and I reached the town by two trains from Sheffield, changing at Stockport. The trains were surprisingly quiet; perhaps as this was the last weekend of school holidays, this was the calm before the storm. It felt good to have a couple of grounds under my belt in August already, and I was pleased to be on my way to a King’s Lynn game so early.
Witton Albion are the less famous club in Northwich, and are often overshadowed by their neighbours Northwich Victoria. In recent years, the latter have built a new stadium, before falling into financial difficulties, and in fact currently play their home games at Stafford Rangers. Looking back at Mike Blackstone’s book The Brown Sauce is Off (on North-West non-league grounds), I note that in 2003-04, Northwich Victoria were ground-sharing at Witton’s Wincham Park (where I was today). I wanted to see the stadium that Northwich Vic had built, and what remained of it now they no longer played there. This is a groundhopper’s dream, as both grounds are located within a short walk from Northwich rail station (across Wade Brook), and are less than quarter of a mile apart.
The Northwich Victoria ‘stadium’ has fallen into a decrepit state, and I can only assume that this is because it is slowly being demolished. The floodlights were clearly visible from some distance away, but the ground itself looked like a building site. Nothing remained of any of the buildings or any of the stands, and the terraces had been partially flattened. There were sections of the old perimeter wall, and it was just possible to make out the pitch. The only remnants of anything to do with Northwich Victoria were a couple of weathered plastic signs on the ‘Ground regulations’. This was a sad sight, and it made me feel for the fans of this beleaguered club. It was one thing to see a club go out of business, and quite another to see a stadium demolished.
It was therefore a great relief to find a neat ground at Wincham Park a short walk away. The only major quirk of this ground appears to be that you cannot access the social club before or during the game, so have to go there first. Hardly the worst problem in the world, and I was happy to have a tea instead of a beer before the match anyway. The ground had three sides of partially-covered terracing (6 levels of narrow terracing on each side), and a stand on one side with 5 rows of seats. The set-up and colours reminded me vaguely of Hyde United’s Ewen Fields, though that was set in the middle of terraced housing rather than an industrial estate. The pitch looked in mint condition, and was almost bright green in the sunshine. The players were warming up on nearby pitches, which may explain why the ground was in such good condition.
King’s Lynn started most brightly, dominating possession in midfield and looking most likely to score. Witton had some physical players, and we did struggle at times to contain them, but we still looked like our skill could tell. It was particularly pleasing to see the ball played on the floor rather than hoofed into the air. The clearest chances came when Dan Jacob was twice put clean through, but was foiled by the Witton keeper on both occasions. Witton had one or two opportunities towards the end of the half, perhaps a warning that they were still dangerous on the counter-attack.
As the second half wore on, the away side looked a bit tired, and like they had run out of ideas. For all the possession they had in midfield, there were few clear-cut shots at goal, and it looked like the Witton defence had us well-contained. The most notable chance came when Danny Gay tipped over a looping left-footed shot from the Witton midfield.
On came Shaun Tuck for the home side and judging by the cheers from the Witton fans, I wondered if he was some kind of local hero. A quick Google revealed he had been jailed for a series of anti-Muslim Tweets, and had recently been making the headlines for the wrong reasons in non-league circles. He was a quick and wiry striker, and on 87 minutes made the most of a loose ball to make it 1-0 to Witton.
This was disappointing as we had done well all afternoon, but had just lacked a cutting edge up front to convert the possession into goals. I cannot fault the players for effort, but there was a real lack of width, pace and physical presence up front. Too often we lacked the aerial power to make the most of set pieces, and Witton knew exactly what to expect from us. All in all, a solid performance from King’s Lynn, which nonetheless produced a disappointing result. Wincham Park was a nice place to start my away season. Maybe I’ll be back here some day when Northwich Victoria return to the town?!
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