Tims 92

Droylsden

The Butchers Arms Ground

A Saturday with no football? It’s snow laughing matter!

Well, I’ll probably never be a comedian, but a ground-hopper I do claim to be, and the prospect of a Saturday with no game to go to is a grim one that sends shivers down the spine more than the recent cold spell had been doing.

I’d set off in the morning for Darwen to see what could have been their last ever game with a winding-up order going through the courts, but thanks to a combination of scrounging chavs and ticket inspectors, then the already delayed train I was on was nearly an hour late getting into Manchester after the aforementioned charvers thought it a great idea to pull the emergency brake just before Stoke and jump off. I ended up missing the connection, so a backup was needed, with Droylsden vs Hinckley seeming a good bet. Despite only knowing the bus number to catch and a very vague idea of where to get off, then I surprisingly (at least for me), managed to come across their Butcher’s Arms Ground with little trouble. It was all going too smoothly for a hastily arranged trip, and so it proved to be, arriving at the ground only to find it eerily quiet and the realisation that the match had fallen to the weather.

Still, after being allowed in, then I managed to get a good look around and see what looks to be a good mixture of old and new. The Main Stand sits in the centre of the near side, raised some distance above pitch level with seats for 500. This is the only seated area at the ground, with hard standing behind the far end, and an ageing terrace situated on the far side. The near end is a tall, modern terrace that feels very close up to the pitch, giving this end quite a closed-in feel. Unsurprisingly, the ground is named after an adjacent pub, the former landlord having started the club himself way back in 1892.

Despite not getting to see a game there, then it was good to have at least seen the ground, and I’ve no doubts that I’ll be back to add it to the list one of the days, just hopefully not as another backup game to test the nerves!