Sheffield or as they are nicknamed "club" play in Dronfield which is a short drive out of Sheffield. Dronfield is your stereotypical peak district kind of town with a very Yorkshire feel to it(even if it is just inside the Derbyshire border). There aren't many places i like in Yorkshire/Derbyshire but i can cope with places like this.
It was only an hour or so drive from Retford so there was plenty of time for a pint at the Coach and horses pub which is next to the ground. I have been trying a few real ales over the past few weeks as oppose to crappy 4-5% strength lagers so we went for a couple of Pints of "White Swan" which after the first mouthful went down very well(even though it looks like cat piss). The pub is a real country pub and the kind of place where you could have a real session in. Alas we had a match to go to. As it stands this place is my pub of the season so far.
It was only £6 to get in today which is the cheapest i have paid to watch a game in this division this year. The programme was £1.50 and was a decent enough effort with a few nice articles and not just the normal crappy adverts. The chap selling them was a decent fellow and we had a chat about Lincoln and the Imps (We had our Imps jackets on)
The first thing you notice as you walk into the ground is the members board. It reads as a list of who's who in world football. All the FIFA board members are there, England managers past and present many ex pros such as Alan Sherear and Les Ferdinand. Heads of national FA's are there from countries such as the USA, Holland and Hungary. People from all around the world have also joined, with members from places like Argentina, the US and Brazil. Probably the most famous name on the board has to be PELE, The greatest player to have ever played the game. When you see names like this up there it is very tempting to join and say that you to are a part of the oldest club in the world and in a way you are giving back to the club that started the game that we all love today. If you are interested in joining just check out their very good website.
The Stadium is quite smart and more than adequate for this league. The only seating is in the "MacDonald's community stand" behind the goal. To the right hand side of this is a small covered terrace. The rest of the ground is open with hard standing all the way round. The only disappointment was the club shop which was poorly stocked and didn't have any pin badges left. They did have team sheets on sale for 20p though.
Due to a decent FA Cup Run Sheffield have up to 7 games in had on some clubs in the division so its not surprising they are in the bottom third. Visitors Quorn were in midtable.
Quorn were fast out of the blocks and really took the game to the hosts forcing a flurry of saves from the home keeper. "Club" were struggling to defend set plays even though the manager was bellowing at his players to "Wrap them up" from corners. The pitch wasn't the greatest, not that it mattered as the ball spent more time in the air as oppose to on the pitch. After 20 minutes or so we sampled a cheese burger from the food hut. It was decent enough but little more than that. Sheffield doubled their lead before halftime but it didn't tell the whole story.
Quorn really took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and it was pretty much one way traffic they scored two and should have had more. The hosts will feel it was a better point than the visitors.
All in all i really enjoyed the day out and it is somewhere any football fan will enjoy going to. When people think of Sheffield and football they think of Sheffield United and Wednesday. Instead of going to either of them i would recommend either Sheffield FC; the worlds oldest club, or Hallam Fc who also play in the city and have the world's oldest football ground in the world. Plus you dont have to listen to Wednesday fans moaning about how the are a big club and shouldn't be in league one (Although it could be league two next year depending what happens on Thursday) Or Blades fans moaning about Carlos Tevez and West Ham.
Admission £6
Programme £1.50 8/10
Ground 7/10
Pub 8/10
Food Burger 6/10 £2.40
Match 7/10
Oh and the best thing about the day that we got to listen to the Imps hang on to a vital three points away at Morecombe! Happy days.
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