Pre season Friendly
Wivenhoe Town 1 v Heybridge Swifts 1
Maple Tree Cars Stadium
Broad Lane Sports Ground
Elmstead Road
Wivenhoe
Essex
C07 7HA
Attendance: 54
Customer Service: Good
FootballFans.eu
The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students from Colchester Grammar School in 1925, in 1974 the club were renamed Wivenhoe Town. In 1977/78 the club bought a carrot field on Broad Lane for £2,500 in order to move back to the town. They previously played at the University of Essex (UoE) in nearby Colchester.
The UoE was a haven for punk bands during 1977 namely - The Stranglers, 999, X - Ray Spex, UK Subs and Peter and the Test Tube Babies. all quality acts - Why not "check 'em" out via You Tube - it may help you to see matters in a new light - you may finally realise that the system is designed to keep people like you and me down!!
Apologies, I digress - the move to a new ground resulted in a very successful spell for the club - they were promoted to the Essex Senior League and after several near misses the club were promoted to Division Two North of the Isthmian League in 1986. The following season they were won title and were promoted to Division One.
The success continued, and in season 1989/00 the club won the division by accumulating 100 points and were promoted to the Premier Division. A record attendance of 1,992 was achieved by the visit of Runcorn Town in the FA Trophy - Wivenhoe lost by the way - and this appears to be the turning point in the club's fortunes.
In 1993/4 the club experienced financial difficulties and needed to raise £150,000 to buy the ground back. They finalised bottom of the Premier Division this season, and were relegated to Division One. For a period of time, they flirted with relegation for a number of years and were eventually relegated to the Eastern Counties League in season 2007/08.
Here's one of the reasons the club feel on hard times. They tried to develop the ground too quickly, and quite simply ran out of money. As illustrated by this picture, the main stand was left half finished by the builders when the cash went west. The supporting box section beams were put in place - see the two large supports to the left of the main stand - but nothing else was forth coming.
Yeah I bet she does!
Good to see the terraces full again.
In terms of a bit of "urban" I struck gold at Wivenhoe.
Here's a close of the main stand - whereby it's "half development" is clear to see.
Believe it or not this is the club shop - not the local tip. It's amazing what you can do with a freight container - cut out a slot for a UPVC door add some "wobbly" steps and Bob's your Uncle.
Hey, that Bacon bap - looks tasty :)
The wild plains of deepest Essex - Old Fordy country!
A close of the supporting box section I mentioned earlier - just love this ground - really quirky. I've not come across anything like it in all my "hopping" days - I wonder if it will be surpassed this season readers?
and one more for luck - this club clearly has no shame or finances - the latter I suspect is the case.
Hey this all looks a bit fishy - Anchovy in the UK - we all know it's Anarchy in the UK. Now let's have a sing a long courtesy of Uncle Johnny.
"I am an anti -Christ"
"I am an anarchist"
"Don't know what I want but I know how to get it"
"I wanna destroy passer by cos I wanna be anarchy!
"No dogs body"
What you looking at?
Or that crazy main stand again.
Not so friendly.
What is it with Essex and car dealers - can you help us with this one Old Fordy?
The keeper's all over the shop in this one.
The corner pin by night.
Red sky at night - Shepherd's Delight - not Shepherds Pie or Angel Delight either. Although both equally as nice - a great combo.
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