THE ROAD to Wembley starts at Leamington in the FA Cup second round qualifying, or at least it does for me!
A midweek replay between two sides in the same league hardly screams classic but with a bit of local rivalry thrown in, I was looking forward to a good contest.
I arrived at Leamington’s New Windmill Ground with plenty of time to spare so naturally, I headed straight for the bar after getting a spot in the car park which was roomy and best of all, free!
I handed over £11 for entry, which is about average for Step 2, and entered the bar which had plenty of room for both sets of fans.
What it lacked in a proper bar feel, it made up for in decent prices – £3.20 for a pint of lager – and a number of big TV screens showing a variety of different channels.
The programme was a good read and at £2.50 for a full-colour publication, it has a good price point as well.
The match began and within ten minutes it had its first goal. Solihull’s Junior English stooping to head home and get a mouthful of boot for his troubles.
The visiting side then doubled their advantage just before half time thanks to an own goal from Leamington’s James Fry.
The break gave me an opportunity to head for the food hut with a decent cheeseburger and chips setting me back £3.50 – not too bad at all.
I even made a stop at the sweet hut (yes, they’re all huts) to get a hot chocolate for a quid. They seem to have something for everyone at Leamington.
The second half kicked off with the hosts taking the game to the Solihull. The ground is pretty nice and has two covered stands. One on the left-hand side of the pitch with plenty of seating and a covered terrace behind one goal.
However, if you were to describe the ground’s location, ‘in the middle of nowhere’ would suffice. No real problem with that apart from that it doesn’t bode too well for the atmosphere, which is a bit of a shame.
Regardless, Leamington made it an interesting last half an hour following Ricky Johnson’s low drive but after seeing a late penalty appeal turned down, their Cup run came to an end.
So the spoils, and the £4,500 prize money, went to Solihull. Not too bad for 90 minutes work on a Tuesday night!
Ticket value 3, Programme 4, Food 4, Bar 3, Toilets 4, Atmosphere 2, Match 3, Overall: 3
