Match: v Stevenage Borough - Nationwide Football Conference

Date: Saturday, January 20th, 2007

Result: Stevenage 4 Cambridge United 1

THE JOURNEY

Departure Time: Just after midday.

Arrival at Ground: Not the longest trip of the season, and certainly not the most eventful either, with the Baldock bypass ensuring that the straightforward journey ended in arrival at the ground shortly after 12.30pm.

Most U's fans made use of the car park opposite the ground and then followed the sign, which read 'all football supporters use the underpass'. It wasn't entirely clear whether this was an instruction or a statement of fact until after the match when the hordes crossing the busy dual carriageway suggested the former as being the intention of the notice.

AT THE GROUND

The Ground: Virtually on the edge of town, with good road access and parking, Broadhall Way is a neat and tidy ground with better facilities than many in the lower reaches of the Football League (remember that?).

A reasonably sized stand, filled with red and white seats, runs the length of one side of the pitch. With a concourse at the front and the windows of offices and various executive suites cut into the red and white painted corrugated back wall, this was clearly the main stand.

White seats, with 'SBFC' picked out in red amongst them, filled a stand of similar height behind the goal to the right of the main stand. As this was the away end, a scoreboard had been built into a raised section of its roof, rendering it invisible to the travelling support - presumably on the basis that they could keep the score without electronic assistance.

This scoreboard, which kept flashing up scores from the Conference, went a bit Delia at one stage with a silent screech of, 'it's your team, your town, get behind the team' illuminating its face. For much of the time it appeared less sure of itself though. There was a character that looked suspiciously like a question mark on its right hand edge, making it look as though it wasn't entirely certain of the score.

Opposite, covered terracing had a large disabled area cut into it, while the remaining side consisted of an uninterrupted run of covered terracing. Floodlight poles - they didn't look substantial enough to be called 'pylons' - were spaced along either side stand.

Although each of the stands were linked by the umbilical cord of a tarmac concourse that ran around the ground, they stood in splendid isolation allowing space in the corners for the usual assortment of tea bars and turnstile blocks.

United Fans: U's fans seemed really up for it, enthusiastically cheering every shot that went into the net during the warm-up and roaring the team for much of the game.

View from Away End: Very good. Unlike last season everyone had a seat to themselves and there was no need for standing in the aisles.

Home Fans: Stevenage fans were so quiet it was almost as though they didn't turn up until their side went 3-1 ahead. They had no answer to United taunts of "chav army" and "you're just a town full of Asbos".

Police/Stewards: Before the match, the stewards seemed friendly enough - although one did have his radio turned up so loud that it sounded as though Sweep was swearing in his ear.

The stewards seemed a little heavy handed when called into action. One United fan - possibly misidentified - was about to be ejected for damaging a seat, until a dozen or so U's decided that they weren't going to allow that to happen and obstructed the stewards and police to such an extent that they actually gave up. Things did seem to be turning a bit nasty at one point but, in the eyes of a section of the U's fans, justice was seen to be done in the end!

Programme: £2.50 for 48 pages plus a four-page section in the middle advertising the main club sponsors (and programme printers). Although the design was basic, there were a number of excellent articles - including a piece about the history of the city of Cambridge.

However, I'm not sure when Gareth Jelleyman joined our squad. According to the back page he's been allocated the number eleven shirt... which presumably comes as news to Courtney Pitt. Mind you, it was one of those days for unexpected players popping up with George Boyd appearing for the home side on the team sheet initially handed to the press. I understand he's quick, but to simultaneously play at Stevenage and Peterborough would require the A1 to be unusually clear of traffic.

State of Toilets: The deepest steel troughs you could wish to see - they were a bit high for some though.

AFTERWARDS

The Journey Home: Little time to reflect on the encouraging performance of the discouraging result with full concentration required to safely negotiate a 10-minute free-for-all to reach the car park exit. Amazingly, none of the cars hit each other, and the brief journey home was soon underway.

Mileage: 51.2 miles

Total Distance for Season: 3,190.1 miles

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

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