A trip to see another under 8’s game featuring my grandson meant I stopped off the A1 at Stamford on my way home to see them play Hitchin. Stamford is a historic market town and maintains many of its beautiful old limestone buildings. It is one of the few towns in Britain where the centre still has a vibrant centre.
Stamford AFC moved to their current ground, Borderville Sports Centre in 2014 just North of the Town and just in Lincolnshire on the border with Rutland. As you finish passing the retail park and housing you hit the countryside and the football ground. At the front of the Sports Centre is a very large car park and you walk past the main Centre building to the football ground. It is a very modern ground linked to the sports centre, with a covered 250 seated stand in the middle of one side and a tiered covered standing area behind one of the goals, the rest of the perimeter area is flat hard standing. The flat pitch was grass that had fared well in our very wet winter considering this was the last home game of the season. Behind one of the goals is a 3G artificial pitch that is used for training, junior teams, hiring out and there are also some more grass pitches.
Although there were some blue patches in the sky there were also grey and white clouds that along with a breeze meant that is felt colder than it looked at 10 degrees.
Football has been played in Stamford since 1870 but the current team seems to have gained full recognition in 1894 when it merged with Rutland Ironworks taking their name but using the name Stamford Town from 1896. They played locally on and off until in 1909 when they joined the Northamptonshire League that in 1933 became the United Counties League. They played most of their football in the UCL apart from a few short moves away until 1998 when they joined the Southern League and due to League reorganisation made it to the Premier Division in 2003 but were relegated the next year and promoted the year after that. Since then they have been moved between the Southern and Northern Premier Leagues depending on the geographic make up of those leagues and various ups and downs, the last of which was last year when they were promoted as champions of the Northern Premier League Midland Division 1 and moved to the Southern League. Stamford have a proud history in the FA Vase, before moving to their higher pyramid status. They won the cup in 1980 and were runners up in 1975 and 1984.
Hitchin were started in 1865 and were initially very successful eventually turning professional. By 1911 however they ceased playing due to a fire and financial problems. Hitchin town were restarted in 1928 joining the Spartan League, they progressed to the Athenian League in 1939 and on to the Isthmian League in 1963. They competed in different divisions of the Isthmian League for 41 years until in 2004 when they joined the Southern League where they are today. They have progressed well in both the old Amateur Cup and the FA Cup despite various off field problems. This North Hertfordshire club has been a stalwart of this level of football for nearly 100 years.
Stamford AFC 2 Hitchin Town 0
Saturday 20th April 2024 15.00 pm kick off. 7th v 18th Southern League Premier Central Division
Stamford AFC, Ryhall Road. Stamford PE9 1US.
The Daniels v The Canaries ( The Daniels after Daniel Lambert, England’s heaviest man at the time, who is buried in Stamford.)
Stamford, all red kit; Hitchin, all purple.
The first 15 minutes produced no clear chances yet Hitchin looked more interested and direct. Stamford then came more into the game and started to create some chances. With just 4 minutes to go until half time a ball was chipped in to the penalty area on the left hand corner where a defender was adjudged to have fouled the attacker and the referee gave a soft penalty. Will Glennon sent the goalkeeper the wrong way as he planted the penalty into the left hand corner of the net. The rest of the half was enhanced by a pair of red kites acrobatically soaring above one corner of the ground.
By the second half the chilling wind had increased and was blowing down the ground towards the covered terrace where I had moved to. After growing pressure on 65 minutes Stamford attacked down their right and Duffy battled for the ball, ran forward to the by-line and crossed for Harry Vince to run on to and place the ball into the right hand corner of the net.
Although Hitchin never gave up they did not look like scoring and Stamford saw out a competent performance that puts them in with a play off chance and drops Hitchin into a relegation spot with just one game left of the season.
The crowd of 611 was Stamford’s second highest of the season and the majority would have been happy with the result. The whole set up at Stamford is first class but as yet lacks the atmosphere that was associated with their old ground built up over many seasons and dramatic cup runs. Only time will deliver this.
The chips were a disappointing, warm to cold, limp, chewy, tasteless and although a good quantity were expensive for ÂŁ3. I only ate 30% of them and the rest went in the bin, hence a score of only 40. The Daniels Larder kiosk was well staffed and quick and the bar facilities were excellent.
payonthegate 