Welling 1-0 Aldershot
Park View Road
24/09/13
Att: 837 with 284 shots
In an ideal world we'd play Welling on a Saturday, with no segregation, but this isn't an ideal world. The fixtures came out and the first blow was dealt, another midweek away game, then in the run up to the match it was announced that this was to be the first Welling game to be segregated this year. While I can see the reasoning I was annoyed for what can be considered a selfish reason, I quite fancied wandering around the ground, with it being another traditional London Non-League venue. As it was we were given only the Erith side, which wasn't ideal, as you can probably guess from the Panoramic. The walk from the station is unbelievably easy, straight down Welling High Street. It was nice on arrival to be greeted by Stewards with a sense of humor, setting the mood for the game somewhat, and leading to me questioning further why segregation was needed/enforced.
Park View Road is an odd setup in that it can be split in two between the two teams that play here. It's not conventional in the sense that the ground share isn't an owner and tenant agreement, rather both teams are equal. Originally the home ground of Bexley United until 1976 it has been home to Welling since 1977, Erith and Belvedere moved in in 1999 after the main stand at their previous home, also named Park View Road, burnt down. As mentioned Away fans are situated on the 'Erith' side of the ground, named so as everything along it is owned by Erith. There is a path running up to half way, along the front of their social club/offices. After this is a seated stand for 600, built in 2002, underneath is Erith's changing rooms. This doesn't run right into the corner, instead there is a small shallow terrace, that we weren't allowed onto. Either ends are similar, small uncovered terraces, the Park End slightly larger than the other. The final side is the Main Stand, which is where Welling's changing rooms/clubhouse are. This stand opened in 1950, looks fairly steep, although doesn't run the full length of the pitch. The Floodlights are annoying, being fairly gloomy, meaning I couldn't take any decent photos without glare.
The game was awful from an Aldershot point of view as an early goal meant our first defeat in 4. There was little else that happened. At half-time I had an amusing moment when stood by the fencing the segregated the fans, talking to a Bournemouth/Welling fan I know (if you're on Twitter you probably know the one I'm talking about!) and a steward stood looking confused and had to ask how we knew each other. Apart from that it was a fairly dull trip, as you've probably guessed, but it means I'm only 5 off completing the Conference.
Park View Road is an odd setup in that it can be split in two between the two teams that play here. It's not conventional in the sense that the ground share isn't an owner and tenant agreement, rather both teams are equal. Originally the home ground of Bexley United until 1976 it has been home to Welling since 1977, Erith and Belvedere moved in in 1999 after the main stand at their previous home, also named Park View Road, burnt down. As mentioned Away fans are situated on the 'Erith' side of the ground, named so as everything along it is owned by Erith. There is a path running up to half way, along the front of their social club/offices. After this is a seated stand for 600, built in 2002, underneath is Erith's changing rooms. This doesn't run right into the corner, instead there is a small shallow terrace, that we weren't allowed onto. Either ends are similar, small uncovered terraces, the Park End slightly larger than the other. The final side is the Main Stand, which is where Welling's changing rooms/clubhouse are. This stand opened in 1950, looks fairly steep, although doesn't run the full length of the pitch. The Floodlights are annoying, being fairly gloomy, meaning I couldn't take any decent photos without glare.
The game was awful from an Aldershot point of view as an early goal meant our first defeat in 4. There was little else that happened. At half-time I had an amusing moment when stood by the fencing the segregated the fans, talking to a Bournemouth/Welling fan I know (if you're on Twitter you probably know the one I'm talking about!) and a steward stood looking confused and had to ask how we knew each other. Apart from that it was a fairly dull trip, as you've probably guessed, but it means I'm only 5 off completing the Conference.