Bilston Town
Queen Street






With me getting more and more interested in the local non-league scene, one ground that I had been meaning to pay a visit to was Bilston Town’s Queen Street. I’d first come across it several years ago, passing by on a bus one of the days, and driving up the Black Country Route it’s easy to spot with its distinctive yellow metal structures (I’m unsure as to what to actually refer to them as, fences doesn't seem quite right given their size and shape!), but despite that had never actually come to look at the ground, let alone see a game here, so with a spare day, off I went down to the other side the city to Bilston.

Unfortunately, Bilston isn’t exactly the nicest of areas, and from the outside the ground fits in perfectly with its surroundings, looking run down and uncared for. After finding an open gate and going inside, if anything it was worse than the outside. There is only one stand, situated on the halfway line of the side you come in. It’s raised above the ground, and does look somewhat imposing, but with broken seats, and in desperate need of a repaint, it really does look a sorry sight. The other sides are undeveloped, with the only hard standing being behind the goal nearest to town (the Town End?), where there are a few fragile looking crush barriers. Despite the Main Stand being the ‘best’ part of the ground, the thing that dominates it more than anything is the imposing fences on the far side, their shape surely designed to immitate something when a basic fence to stop the balls going over onto the road would have been more than sufficient.

Whilst the club do do play at a rather low level compared to their past, it is a shame to see a ground fall into ruin such as this one has. The Main Stand really is a sad sight, and it’s a shame that all it would take is a little hard work and a small outlay for it to be made to look respectable, but with money and volunteers scarce, not to mention the constant assault from vandals that the club have been suffering from, then that of course is easier said than done. The one thing that possibly saves the ground, is that if ever Bilston (or Bustleholme, who also share the ground), start to move up the pyramid, then there is room to expand it on all three sides. Some small terracing behind the goals, and perhaps a seated stand opposite the Queen Street side, and its feasible for it to become a nice little place, but unfortunately it really doesn’t seem likely to happen any time soon.





Rear of the Main Stand


The Clubhouse


The Turnstiles


The Dugouts


The Town End


The Town End


The Far Side


The Far End


The Main Stand


The Main Stand


View from the Main Stand


Players Tunnel



 

1 comment:

  1. Hi there, I am the historian for Bilston Town football club. I am currently collecting together a book about the history of the club and its ground and its fans stories & memories and wondered if you had any memories they would like to share about this game or any others you might have attended. The full details of the project can be found here at the Non League Matters forum:

    http://nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?post=783395;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

    I look forward to your reply,

    Many thanks,

    Jay.

    ReplyDelete