Lincoln City 0-1 Aldershot Town
Sincil Bank
Att: 2,748 (193 shots)
12/10/13
It really would be silly to suggest that my choice of University education won't be affected in the slightest by how many football clubs I can visit within an hour. It really would. No way am I putting myself thousands of pounds in debt, living in a strange place without being able to tick off a few grounds in the process. Today was my first chance to test out the Universities in the Midlands, where the predominance of my choices are. Starting in Derby we made the cross country trip over towards Lincoln, about 60-80 minutes away, and the signs were wonderful. We passed place after place that had teams not yet discovered, an exciting prospect.
Before I look too far into the future, first we had to get this Saturday out of the way, the tour of Derby's campus finishing earlier than anticipated meaning we could make the first Saturday away game since the end of August, I think, and it was a chance for Phil to see the 'new and improved' Aldershot for the first time this season. The rain was relentless as we sought the solitude of the social club behind the away end. We both sat there, I don't know about him, but I sensed that this wasn't going to be our day. Just a hunch, one that was thankfully incorrect.
Sincil Bank has been extensively redeveloped in recent years to get to its current form. The oldest stand is the the one to the right of the away end, the Lincolnshire Echo Stand, originally a timber stand built in 1932. This was replaced by the current structure in November 1987, running a third of the pitch, it has a capacity of 1,700. Due to Lincoln's original drop into Non-League football when this was being built it is smaller than originally envisaged. Next to this is a small structure named 'Poachers corner' which is currently the 'overflow' away end, which Aldershot also occupied today #massive. This opened in 1994, replacing a small open terrace. The other part of the away end is half of the Bridge McFarland stand, a small covered structure, with executive boxes and a decent sized social club. The roof was useless today. To our left was the largest stand in the ground, the 1995 built Lincolnshire Cooperative stand. Originally an uncovered terrace, it is now a 5,700 capacity seated stand, that cost £1 million to build. The final end, the Stacy-West stand, was closed on this occasion. This is the traditional home end, replacing an old terrace, and opened in 1990. When first built, it had terracing at either end. Then it became completely a terrace, before being made all-seated in 1999. The name derives from two Lincoln fans that were tragically killed during the Bradford fire.
Going into the game Aldershot had still only won once away from home, at Hereford, but luckily today that changed. A Brett Williams penalty early into the second half was the difference, in a fairly exciting game. It was probably so exciting because the wind and rain played havoc all game, with players slipping all over the place and the ball getting caught in the wind on more than one occasion. I'd also like to say fair play to the 4 fans, that looked like they weren't going to make the game at all due to the trains, hopped in a cab at Peterborough, arriving a minute or so before kick off.
Before I look too far into the future, first we had to get this Saturday out of the way, the tour of Derby's campus finishing earlier than anticipated meaning we could make the first Saturday away game since the end of August, I think, and it was a chance for Phil to see the 'new and improved' Aldershot for the first time this season. The rain was relentless as we sought the solitude of the social club behind the away end. We both sat there, I don't know about him, but I sensed that this wasn't going to be our day. Just a hunch, one that was thankfully incorrect.
Sincil Bank has been extensively redeveloped in recent years to get to its current form. The oldest stand is the the one to the right of the away end, the Lincolnshire Echo Stand, originally a timber stand built in 1932. This was replaced by the current structure in November 1987, running a third of the pitch, it has a capacity of 1,700. Due to Lincoln's original drop into Non-League football when this was being built it is smaller than originally envisaged. Next to this is a small structure named 'Poachers corner' which is currently the 'overflow' away end, which Aldershot also occupied today #massive. This opened in 1994, replacing a small open terrace. The other part of the away end is half of the Bridge McFarland stand, a small covered structure, with executive boxes and a decent sized social club. The roof was useless today. To our left was the largest stand in the ground, the 1995 built Lincolnshire Cooperative stand. Originally an uncovered terrace, it is now a 5,700 capacity seated stand, that cost £1 million to build. The final end, the Stacy-West stand, was closed on this occasion. This is the traditional home end, replacing an old terrace, and opened in 1990. When first built, it had terracing at either end. Then it became completely a terrace, before being made all-seated in 1999. The name derives from two Lincoln fans that were tragically killed during the Bradford fire.
Going into the game Aldershot had still only won once away from home, at Hereford, but luckily today that changed. A Brett Williams penalty early into the second half was the difference, in a fairly exciting game. It was probably so exciting because the wind and rain played havoc all game, with players slipping all over the place and the ball getting caught in the wind on more than one occasion. I'd also like to say fair play to the 4 fans, that looked like they weren't going to make the game at all due to the trains, hopped in a cab at Peterborough, arriving a minute or so before kick off.