Below are a couple of posts from Groundhoppers who have visited Oldfields & Uttoxeter Town in the past few months:
Uttoxeter Town 1-2 Ball Haye Green
Staffs County Premier Div
£1 admission with programme
Attendance: 100
The main event of the day was a top of the table clash which turned out to be the best game I've seen this season.
Uttoxeter led the division this morning, 5 points ahead of Ball Haye Green but with the visitors having a game in hand. BHG grabbed an early goal but Uttoxeter pretty much controlled the game thereafter. They played some great football, head & shoulders above anything I've previously seen in this league, as they kept the ball on the ground, worked it out wide and delivered cross after cross into the middle. All that was missing was the finishing touch and it seemed that their luck would be out after hitting the crossbar late in the game. A few minutes later they finally converted one of the many crosses but any sense of urgency seemed to immediately disappear from their game as they looked to be settling for a draw. BHG, who had battled strongly all afternoon, then advanced up the field a few times and won the points with a deflected goal in injury time.
It's difficult to complain about value for money as a programme (and there were plenty printed) was included in the £1 admission. Last Saturday, incidentally, I was at Hilton Harriers (a tidy venue with the pitch railed-off through wooden stakes and trees enclosing 3 sides) and the £1 raffle ticket 'donation' also included a free hot drink at half-half.
The venue itself is pretty good for this league. Only a 5 minute walk from the town centre, it's a small complex shared with rugby but the football pitch is fully railed with dugouts and 3 sides are enclosed with trees & houses beyond, the near side opening out onto the rugby pitch. There's also a decent bar which I assume served hot drinks.
And this one too.....
1.30pm
Staffordshire County Senior League, League Cup, Third Round
Uttoxeter Town 2 Hilton Harriers 0 (att 62 h/c)
Admission, incl Prog, £1
Plan A was a rare first team game at Stirling University's Gannochy Sports Centre, but I was already concerned about frost when I heard about the motorway being closed between Carlisle and Glasgow, so I opted instead for a stress-free option (wisely as it turned out, the Stirling game was off).
Uttoxeter's ground has been covered on here before. The pitch is now railed off, with plastic barriers, but is a long way short of step 6 standard (unless they join the Hellenic League). Perhaps a move to share at nearby Rocester would be an easier option.
On the pitch Uttoxeter made hard work of winning this, despite being the better side throughout. A goal in each half earned them a place in the semi finals.
You can read more of this one by logging onto: http://stevebthegroundhopper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/uttoxeter-town-v-hilton-harriers.html
Uttoxeter Town v Hilton Harriers
1.30pm 23 November 2013
Staffordshire County Senior League, League Cup, Third Round
Uttoxeter Town 2 Hilton Harriers 0 (att 62)
Not my first choice game for the day, but I abandoned plans to travel to Scotland for fear of frozen pitches, for once justified as my intended match was postponed.
I'd wanted to visit Uttoxeter for a while though, as they've taken the Staffordshire County Senior League by storm since joining, and now sit top of its Premier Division.
Further progress will need some rapid ground improvements, or maybe a move elsewhere, although the Oldfields Sports Ground is a perfectly good place to watch football at this level. The pitch, some distance from an impressive-looking clubhouse, is newly-railed off, with two dugouts on the far side. A third dugout is behind the goal, serving as a tiny stand.
On the pitch Uttoxeter certainly seem equipped to climb higher, even if they made hard work of seeing off Hilton in this league cup quarter final. Uttoxeter were ahead after seven minutes, but missed a number of good chances to increase their lead before half time.
Uttoxeter lost their way in the second half, and with more luck Hilton might easily have equalised. But the home showed flashes of how good a side they can be, one of them resulting in a fantastically well worked team goal which sealed the tie with about 15 minutes remaining