Tims 92

Wycombe Wanderers

Adams Park

Ground No. 74

Visited - Saturday 29th October 2005
Result - Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Peterborough United
Competition - Coca-Cola League 2
Attendance - 5142

Despite Wolves due to play at Watford, I’d decided to visit a new ground instead of returning for a second trip to Vicarage Road, so after a quick look down the fixtures, I finally made up my mind to go down to the Causeway Stadium, home of Wycombe Wanderers.

The journey down to High Wycombe was relatively smooth, a change in Banbury gave me the opportunity to visit the Spencer Stadium, home of Banbury United, before carrying on my journey further south, arriving into Wycombe at about 11:30. Because of arriving relatively early, I had the chance to have a quick look around the town, which seemed pleasant enough, before heading off towards the ground out on the outskirts of it.

Normally I print off a map to follow, but despite having done so the previous night, I’d forgotten to take it with me, so had to try and remember the route as best I could from briefly having planned it. Thankfully (and quite surprisingly for me) I guessed exactly right, and without one false turn, managed to make the long walk from the town centre in good time, arriving at the ground just after 1pm.

Walking down, the first thing that strikes you is how hilly the area is, and once at the ground, this impression continues, with the stadium being situated in a valley, with hills rising either side to it. This manages to create quite an enclosed feel, and with the ground being at the bottom of one long road, and right on the edge of town, you really do feel submerged and quite isolated from the surrounding area, although that’s not a bad thing, as once entering through the gates onto the car park, the layout of the complex really is quite appealing. One thing you cant help but noticing is how modern and well laid out everything is, generally I’m not a great fan of many modern, purpose built grounds, but this is certainly the exception to the rule, and from having beer tents at either end of the car park for both sets of fans to drink in, to having the ticket office and club shop located in individual buildings, you can tell that it hasn’t been built on the cheap.

After going around taking pics, I managed to find an open gate, so had a quick look inside, and was able to take more pictures, before going off on a walk around the surrounding hills to get some pictures from up there, until coming back down and collecting my ticket.

I had chosen to stand on the Jewson Terrace, which was a smallish covered terrace at one end of the ground, to our left was the BCUC Stand, which was a small, all-seated single tier stand, raised above the ground which despite being the smallest stand at the ground, didn’t look too bad. Opposite was the Dreams Stand, slightly taller than the BCUC Stand, it was another all-seated, single tier design, although this time not raised from the ground. This is where the Peterborough fans were located, and it looked quite good, but by far the best stand was the Frank Adams Stand, which was an impressive looking two tiered affair, all-seated again, and had a row of executive boxes running across the middle of it.

After having surveyed the scene, and flicked through the programme, the game eventually got started, and it was a scrappy start, with neither side really taking the initiative, until in the 33rd minute the visitors made a breakaway, resulting in Danny Crow curling in a nice effort from the edge of the area past Wycombe goalkeeper Frank Talia. Five minutes later Peterborough doubled their lead when Trevor Benjamin slotted in a cross from the right, which further encouraged the travelling fans who had been keeping up a good atmosphere since the start.

In the second half Wycombe started to get back into it, and buoyed by substitute Sergio Torres they finally got a goal back on 74 minutes, when Roger Johnson headed home from a corner. This time it was the home fans creating all the atmosphere, and helped by the good use of a drum, the support had become impressively loud, and no doubt helped their team get the equaliser on 79 minutes when Clint Easton hit a long range shot, which took a deflection beating the Peterborough goalkeeper. With that, and the fans in good voice, it was an anxious finish with Wycombe really going all out for the win, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and the referee finally blew his whistle to end the game at 2-2.

After leaving the ground, it was another long walk back to the station, before catching the train back, only having a brief change in Banbury again, arriving home just after 8pm.

Overall, I was glad that I’d chosen this game, as not only was it a decent match in the end, it was also good to see the Causeway Stadium (or Adams Park as the fans would probably call it), it wasn’t really a ground I could find myself falling in love with, but despite this it was a good place to visit, and as with anywhere, a crowd can make or break a ground, and the Wycombe fans certainly helped to make it, so I’ll be quite happy to find myself back there one of the days.