Date: Saturday 23rd September 2017
Target: Sheffield FC v Basford United
Agents: Mick, Quincy, Richo, & Laddso
All aboard – and we off we head to the home of football – the home of Sheffield FC which is of course in Dronfield (obviously). Dronfield is in North East Derbyshire and is a small, unassuming town with a population of just over 21,000. The town does have its own football team playing on the other side of town but it’s current claim to fame is hosting the oldest football club in the world – Sheffield FC.
Sheffield FC was founded in 1857 and remains a proudly amateur club. It never owned its own ground in Sheffield so became somewhat nomadic and it wasn’t until 2001 that it finally bought its own ground…..in Dronfield.
The Coach & Horses Ground has a capacity of just over 2,000 but its main appeal is the Coach & Horses pub nestled in the car park. Actually I think the ground is in the car park of the pub but whichever way it’s a gem of a pub with good food and good beer. More of that later.
The journey to Dronfield entails a change at Nottingham. Time enough for a quickie at The Company Inn then back to the station for the 2nd part of our trip.
On arrival in Dronfield it looked like we had been dropped off in the middle of nowhere and in truth I think we probably had. For everyone in need of a wee (and that was all) then a fairly tedious search began.
With no obvious signs of life, we headed up the hill towards the town, and found a little shopping park with a Sports Centre (for the toilet) and a bakery (for snacks). Once relieved we popped into the closest pub, a nice looking place called The Blue Stoops. A friendly welcome and a good range of ales gave us a good first impression.
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| The Blue Stoops |
Next stop was a fair walk away. The Dronfield Arms is a great little boozer with a great selection of craft ales and its own micro-brewery to boot – The Hopjacker Brewery. This was a fairly low key pub with some oddball locals (one in short skirt and heels bless him) but the beer was great.
The walk to the ground is a good 15-20 minutes. The reward is the Coach & Horses pub. A Thornbridge Brewery pub which means Jaipur on draught. Not only that though – a great range of other Thornbridge and other local brews was most enjoyed. They also do great pizzas - wood fired and wonderful.
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| Pub & Ground in perfect harmony |
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| Richo tucks into is lunch - it's all his. |
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| Thornbridge beer...mmmm |
To get from the pub to the ground you literally walk across the car park. Inside the ground a badge and a shirt was acquired from some sales people young enough to be Richo’s grandson.
The game itself was an ok affair. Basford would go on to win this division quite easily and there were flashes of their superiority. It wasn’t one sided though…more just that Sheffield lacked real quality. They did take the lead however – Jack Brownell converting a penalty on 39 minutes.
The lead lasted only until the 51st minute when Keiran Wells equalised and 4 minutes later Basford had the lead when James Reid tapped in.
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| The Home of Football |
The main excitement left was when Basford’s Rob Duffy got sent off for a high challenge and then proceeded to fight the fans on the way down the tunnel. That was the last of the excitement mind and Basford held on comfortably to take the 3 points.
From there it was back to the pub before braving the walk back to the station.
Another cracking day out.
Stats
Match
Sheffield FC 1 Basford United 2
Stadium – Hummel Home of Football, Dronfield. Capacity – 2,080
Attendance – 235
Pubs-4
Best - The Coach & Horses
Worst - Company Inn
Lunch - Bakery
Dinner - Pizza
Pies - none
Marks
Ground - 6/10
Match - 6/10
Beer - 9/10
Food - 8/10
Pie-n/a
Enjoyment Factor – 9/10 because of the Coach & Horses.
