Match: v Droylsden - Blue Square Premier

Date: Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Result: Droylsden 0 Cambridge United 2

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: 9am

Arrival at Ground: Although it was Grand National day, the traffic didn't seem to be much more heavy than on any other Saturday on the M6. In fact the only obvious sign of race goers was at Stafford Services where the clientele looked as though they were refugees from a wedding reception. While smartly dressed lads swigged cider from a bottle, under-dressed girls looked completely unprepared for a wind-swept racecourse and suggested that the local hypothermia clinic would be doing almost as much business as the bookies.

After picking our way around the baffling array of motorways that circumnavigate Manchester, the roads became ever narrower and ever more busy until we parked beside the ground shortly before 1pm.

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: Just four miles from the centre of Manchester, Droylsden has long been absorbed into the conurbation and the ground seems to be in a buffer-zone between shops and pubs on one side and a more residential area on the other.

I think most people went to the match expecting to find facilities at the pub league end of the non-league scale, and given the ground's name - The Butchers Arms - this was perhaps an understandable preconception. However, once inside fears of inadequacy were quickly dispelled.

A new stand runs about half the length of one side of the pitch. Although almost two-tier in height, where the lower tier would normally be is in fact a brick wall hiding the dressing rooms beneath the stand. A flight of stairs at either end leads up to the front of this stand and the eight or nine rows of red and black seats that are located therein. An enclosed press box is at the back of the stand but, being a hardy sort, I was delighted to find a good-sized bench for the media in the open air just beside it - a combination that made the press facilities better than many in the Blue Square Premier. Meshing has been strung under the roof of this stand, but it failed to prevent a small colony of pigeons from roosting under the eaves.

To the left of this stand, past a clubhouse in the corner, the Amber Nation had been allocated the best terraced stand in the ground. Reminiscent in style to the Deva Stadium at Chester - a club that has an advertising board at Droylsden's ground - this smart, new area of covered terrace runs the full length of the pitch behind the goal.

A temporary terrace that looks as though it is made entirely out of scaffolding poles stands in stark contrast behind the opposite goal, while the remaining side of the ground is also an area of terracing with a small roof to cover its centre section. This side of the ground is overshadowed by a couple of prominent buildings; a factory that was a scaled-down clone of Birmingham's Fort Dunlop and which had been converted into industrial units and a 'Pain Centre' where acupuncturists can, apparently, ease stress. Fortunately, United fans did not require their services on this occasion. The rolling hills of the moors are visible behind these buildings, at least they are until the rain and hail sweep in.

United Fans: From the ticker tape welcome to the victory celebrations at the final whistle, United fans sang and bounced their way through the match. The covered terracing helped the acoustics as the Butchers Arms was turned into the Abbey Stadium for the day.

View from Away End: The view was good from the away end thanks to a steep terrace, and the only disadvantage was that more U's fans were able to feel the 'benefit' of the hail that blew in during the second half. Any United fans that made it into the main stand were unable to see the near touchline.

Home Fans: Virtually all the Droylsden fans seemed to be in good spirits, accepting their almost certain relegation and treating the season in the Blue Square Premier as a great adventure.

There was a strange absence of applause from the home fans as the teams left the pitch at half time, which made for an eerie silence, but a hardcore of 20-30 Droylsden fans made up for this in the second half as they sung almost constantly throughout the final 45 minutes.

Police/Stewards: The stewards were augmented by club officials for this match and all were helpful and friendly. There were a couple of police in the away section and they entered into the good-natured spirit of the afternoon when they joined in with a 'bounce'.

Programme: £2 for 56 pages. With sparing use of colour and a standard front cover, this has the feel of a programme from the regionalised divisions of the Conference, as you would expect from a club operating on a budget commensurate with gates of 600 or so, but this can be forgiven as there were a decent number of articles to read.

Food/Drink: Catering was 'homely' in the - er - home sections of the ground, but the menu was more extensive for away fans with a 'Cumberland sausage barm' among the items available from 'Porky Pigs'! It was tasty fare too, unlike the burgers in the home areas where the serviettes in which they came were more appetising.

State of Toilets: Like a tree house behind the goal, with steps up to the wooden structure that had been fashioned from the back of a 40' lorry trailer with scaffold boards somewhat precariously holding a trough.

The facilities in the clubhouse were much more acceptable. The clubhouse was not normally open to away fans when the match is segregated, but some temporary fencing meant that home fans were able to use the facilities (and bar) upstairs, while United fans were made very welcome downstairs.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: Traffic was a little slow again at the start of the journey back, which gave us the chance for a look at snow-clad hills and we left Manchester grateful that nothing more wintry than hail had landed on Droylsden.

Mileage: 394.1 miles

Total Distance for Season: 5,797.1 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray, Paul Johnson, Ryan Johnson and Gordon McMillan

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