TT No.74: Mike Latham - Tuesday 2 October 2007: West Midlands Regional League Premier Division.  Wednesfield 0-2 Pelsall Villa.  Att: 50 (h/c); Admn: £3.50; 20pp programme: 31; FGIF Match Rating: 3*

On a mild, dry evening and with a surfeit of league and European football being played the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division clash between Wednesfield and Pelsall Villa was the choice of 50 or so discerning spectators.   Wednesfield is a suburb of Wolverhampton, easy to find if coming south on the M6 motorway, just a few minutes’ drive from J11 along the A460.  Turn left at the New Pear Tree pub and the Cottage Ground of Wednesfield will be found on the left-hand-side after negotiating a few mini roundabouts.   Situated in Amos Lane, the ground has been home to Wednesfield since 1971 after they relocated from their original home in King George’s Park following the club’s formation in 1961.  The Cottage was originally an institute for children who were homeless, deprived or orphaned.  The main building was demolished in the late 1980s and a new complex of flats for the elderly now occupies much of the site together with allotments.  The football pitch is situated on ground formerly used as a sports field.   Driving into the ground through opened wrought iron gates with the emblem ‘WFC’ the traveller is met by a cheerful gate man who takes your £3.50, directs you to the car park behind the far goal, informs you that you can get a good pre-match pint in the social club, sells you a programme (a rather basic 20-page effort though containing good club histories of the competing teams) and generally makes you feel you have made a good choice in settling for an evening at the Cottage Ground.   First impressions count for an awful lot and, suitably cheered after the travails of a drive through rush-hour traffic down the M6, it’s time to investigate the ground.  Tree-lined and bordered on one side by housing there is plenty of space to move around.  Behind the far goal is a welcoming social club with a play area for children and an outside seated area. And there is also an excellent tea bar with a wide range of hot food and drinks manned by cheerful staff.  It’s all very civilised.   The main feature of the ground is a small rectangular red-roofed seated stand straddling the half-way line containing six rows of benches.  This provides the only cover but few people take advantage of this facility on such a balmy evening, most preferring to stand behind the post-and-rail fence that surrounds an immaculately kept and slightly sloping playing area.  Behind the goal at the club house end a goat is tethered and spends the evening happily munching grass and oblivious to a hard-fought game between two decent sides.  At one point a large rabbit appears by the side of the goal, takes a cursory look at the action and then disappears again.   Pelsall take a two-goal lead into the interval and when the home side lose one of their central defenders to two yellow cards in quick succession the contest is effectively over. It’s a good game, though, as, in my experience, games in this league tend to be.  A visit to Wednesfield comes highly recommended- it’s an atmospheric ground full of character and it was just a shame I visited on an evening when, despite the excellent floodlights, it was too dark to take photographs that would do the place justice.

contributed on 03/10/07