Match: v Southport - Nationwide Football Conference

Date: Saturday, November 25th 2006

Result: Southport 1 Cambridge United 2

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: A little before 8.30am

Arrival at Ground: Not a great journey for the most part with torrential rain and heavy spray in places, but that had all subsided by the time we'd left the M6 for the final part of the journey along the winding roads through Ormskirk into Southport.

We passed through a village with a set of stocks at either end, and saw a gigantic skein of geese flying overhead before we parked outside the ground at about 12.30pm, and you might have thought that was enough scenery for one day. But no, while I was left to set up and prepare for commentary, two of our travelling party decided that they wanted to see Anthony Gormley's 'Another Place' art installation just down the coast at Crosby.

By all accounts - to quote a phrase often used by well-known United player in a regular newspaper article - the short and inexpensive Merseyrail journey was picturesque enough, taking them past Royal Birkdale Golf Club, and they found the beach on which the installation was situated. Unfortunately, they hadn't thought to check the tide tables...

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: Meanwhile in Southport, your BBC Radio Cambridgeshire commentary team was taking in the surroundings at the football ground, and can report that Haig Avenue has one large stand that not only overshadows the rest of the stadium, it also dominates much of the surrounding area. Visible for some distance as you approach the ground, steps at the front lead into this imposing edifice and, as you might imagine, the view from it was a commanding one across flat playing fields behind the ground and past retail parks to the undulating, mist clad hills beyond. Oh, and with no pillars in the way, you also got a great view of the pitch and the rest of the ground.

To the right of this stand, a smallish covered terrace stood in splendid isolation in the centre of the area behind the goal. Toilet and catering blocks were to one side of this terrace, while an area of empty tarmac, backed by a decrepit wall, was to the other.

Continuing around the ground, a low open terrace ran the length of the other side of the ground. Amber barriers separated this terrace into distinct sections; a configuration required due to the four floodlights that were evenly spaced on the steps along its length. Each of these floodlight pylons - if such the word can be applied to such flimsy-looking affairs - supported half a dozen bright lights and seemed to be held together entirely by rust.

The away end was another open terrace behind the other goal. Again amber barriers divided this terrace into sections although, unlike the side terrace, this separation was not because of floodlight incursion but rather because both ends of the terrace, which looked newer, were raked more steeply.

United Fans: While a good number elected to transfer to seats in the stand, the majority that decided to stay on the open terrace were grateful the expected rain failed to materialise. Of course, being in an area without a roof did have the disadvantage of making it difficult to make much noise, although one particular fan compensated for this lack of volume with a particularly spectacular outbreak of what looked like St. Vitus's dance when we went a goal down.

View from Away End: Not a pillar to be seen, so the view was very good.

Home Fans: Southport fans were happy enough to share the main stand with United fans, and they had even supplied a number of eccentrics to distract the visitors should the game go through a quiet spell. These included a loud, but unintelligible one that seemed to have wandered in from an episode of 'The League of Gentlemen' and a pair of older supporters with views that made the Ku Klux Klan seem like lily-livered liberals!

Police/Stewards: There were no police in the ground. The stewards were very helpful and there was even one on hand to escort the managers to the press area after the match.

Programme: £2.50 for 48 pages, with a number of decent articles and plenty of adverts - including one from 'friends of real Lancashire' rattling on about 'The County Palatine' - which I thought was a Crusades-era knight, but apparently is something to do with the county of Lancashire as defined 900 years ago. Some of the other content harked back to a bygone age too, with United's manager listed on the back page as 'Rob Newman'.

Food/Drink: Food was forgettable, which is sometimes a good thing!

State of Toilets: Fully functioning if sparse and happily without too much of a pungent aroma given its proximity to the catering facilities in some areas of the ground.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: The long journey back was, of course, made all the better by the result and memorable only for the extraordinary number of Liverpool fans at Corley Services - which was odd, given that they had been at home. If things carry on at this rate with supporters travelling to the northwest from the south for home games, matches between Liverpool and Man United could soon be dubbed 'the Guildford derby'.

Mileage: 404.8 miles

Total Distance for Season: 2,683.0 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray, Gordon McMillan and Steve Line.

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