The anniversaries at the Poppies continue to come thick and fast. 150 years of existence this year. 30 years of the Poppies Trust. This week it's been 10 years since our last game at Nonce Park. Coincidentally this week also marked the second anniversary of our former supremo Imraan Ladak being sentenced to 6 months in prison for basically being a dick.
Last year we marked 10 years since our last game at Rockingham Road. As our old ground fades into the background as a mostly good memory and the l-o-n-g threatened building work begins in earnest on the site I had a faintly heretical thought. While flicking through the channels the other day I briefly caught sight of a women's league game between Chelsea and Arsenal. Don't worry, I'm not going to lazily trot out a clutch of middle-aged man's clichés about females playing football (it's not 1990 after all!) No, these ladies could certainly play football. They spat, went down when barely touched and were tattooed beyond all sense. Everything. Even the goalkeepers have come on leaps and bounds. Why, one almost made a save at one point (...satire....)
Being a bit of a stadium nerd I wondered which ground they were playing at. These days we come across a lot of lower and non-league grounds who share with Premier League clubs to host their reserves, youths or ladies teams. I think a general rule of thumb is that if sprinklers suddenly pop-up at a non-league ground, they probably host a top level club for some of their minor fixtures.
I didn't immediately recognise the small, but well put together stadium Chelsea were playing at. It was obviously THEIR stadium as every inch of is was decked out with Chelsea livery. I struggled to imagine any club allowing someone to come along and completely take over the branding of their home by another team. A few minutes of online research unveiled the disquieting truth.
The stadium did belong to Chelsea. It had previously belonged to AFC Wimbledon. Who had acquired it from Kingstonian. Yes, this ladies game was being played at Kingsmead which used to be Kingstonian's home ground, before various shenanigans led to them being tenants of the Dons in their own stadium. OK, Kingstonian hadn't been playing there for many years before Kingsmead started to slip away from them, but still, it had been their home.
Kingstonian still exist as a distinct club and ground share with Tooting and Mitchum FC.
But how must it feel knowing YOUR stadium still exists, but it's not YOURS anymore? Another club is playing there. They have painted it in their colours. The terraces you stood on man and boy are being stood on by others. Another team is being cheered from your stands.
It's bad enough for us to walk past a derelict Rockingham Road, then heart-breaking to see the site demolished and stupefying to see dwellings start to emerge there. But, would it be worse to see Rocky Road still there, being used by someone else KNOWING we would NEVER be allowed to play there again? Sure, you could hang onto the hope that one day.....but as they say, it's the hope that kills you....Seeing it there. Knowing it wasn't yours. Better or worse than it disappearing altogether? I truly can't decide!
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| Is this the last remaining part of Rockingham Road as we knew it? |
didn't we do that to R&D? Or have I missed the point?
ReplyDeleteI did ponder this very good point when writing the above. I rationalised that the difference was R&D FC had ceased to be an active football club when we jumped into their still-warm grave.
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