Bilston Town 1 v 2 Wolverhampton Sporting Community

Saturday 7th December 2019
West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division
Queen Street, Bilston
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (estimate)

 

Having booked a Megabus coach ticket from London to Birmingham for today some time ago, I did not conclusively decide where to visit until I arrived in Birmingham. It is fair to say that Bilston had not been on my radar at all as groundhop potential, but seeing it as a potential destination today on the Groundhopper/"Futbology" app and doing some research on the ground, I realised that Queen Street would be an interesting place to discover.

After arriving in Birmingham, I then made my way to the Grand Central stop to catch the tram for a half hour journey northwards to Bilston Central, from where Queen Street is about a ten minute walk. On approaching the entrance, the road facing perimeter wall is painted in orange and white stripes, with various doors out of use, apart from one into the clubhouse, and BILSTON TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB spelt out across the back wall of the main stand. More club signage and a fixture board is situated next to the entrance to the ground, with admission and a programme paid for at a small orange hut. The club has certainly stamped its identity all over the ground, with its predominantly orange colour scheme and an abundance of club signage around the ground. Along the length from the entrance there are three boards giving information about the club and its history, with uncovered standing to the front. There are then a couple of orange buildings which seem to not be in use, and then, straddling the half way line, is the main stand, containing five rows of plastic, high backed seats. There are some boxes along the top, and although the elevation is good, there are obstructing pillars along the front. Beyond the stand, there is a very small room selling refreshments and club merchandise, and next door is the clubhouse, which lacks natural light, but is quite cosy inside, with hot food on sale. Along the front wall is the "supporters club lounge", which consists of a random collection of seats lined up under cover. Immediately behind the far goal there is a breeze block stand designated as a Disabled Enclosure Enclosure, with a few chairs placed inside, and the rest of the end is raised a little and with some rails to lean on. Behind the other goal there is a wooden bench underneath shelter more commonly seen covering supermarket trolleys. There is hard standing along the remaining length, with cars able to park on the grass stretching back to the perimeter wall, above which there are large cubes of netting, a rather unique feature of this ground, intended to prevent stray balls landing on the Black County Route, which stretches immediately behind. The Tower of Light monument is also positioned just behind the perimeter wall. A key feature of Bilston Town games is the presence of an interesting "superfan" character, in an all-orange outfit, with the club and its nickname spelt out, along with lots of badges, and complete with orange gloves and an orange stetson. A really friendly guy, who made a point of saying hello to most of those present, before making his way to the other side of the pitch, shouting plenty of positive encouragement to his team.  The 20 page programme had plenty of reading material about both clubs and the league, a welcome message and a minimum of advertising, and so was decent value at a pound.

Bilston came into this game in sixth place in the table, following seven wins and a draw from their opening 16 league games, and they were in good form, winning their last three league games, and four of their last six. Wolverhampton Sporting Community, who were relegated from the Midland League Premier Division last season, came into this game in tenth place, following five wins and four draws from their 12 league games. There was some interesting background to today's game - in the reverse fixture, on the opening day of the season, Wolverhampton Sporting won 8-1, and their manager that day is now Bilston's manager.

On a chilly afternoon, where bright sunshine gave way to dark clouds around kick-off time, the first half was a cagey affair, a midfield battle with few chances being created, but Bilston had the two best chances of the half, coming in the last ten minutes. First, a drilled shot from about 40 yards went only just over the bar, and then, following a corner, the ball was drilled at the goalkeeper, who just managed to gather the ball in time before a Bilston player could get a touch.

The second half was a much livelier affair, with the visitors certainly upping the ante. On 61 minutes, the ball was floated in from a free kick by the outer edge of the penalty area, the keeper couldn't claim it, and a hooked shot at goal was well blocked. But on 68 minutes, the visitors took the lead, Oliver West striking a free kick into the top left corner. And eight minutes later, Jayden Ward did excellently to spin back past covering defenders close to the corner flag before sprinting along the byline and once inside the penalty area, he was brought down for a clear penalty, which Christie emphatically converted into the top of the net, down the middle. It was looking like the visitors were now cruising to a comfortable win, but on 81 minutes, Bilston were awarded a penalty of their own when the ball was played low across the box, and the keeper brought the chasing forward down. The penalty was struck powerfully into the bottom right corner by substitute Kevin Nickle, sending the keeper the wrong way. It was now very much game on, and Bilston really tried to pile on the pressure in the closing minutes, and there were plenty of those, without about ten minutes added on, but they couldn't find a way through, and Wolverhampton Sporting claimed the double.

As I made my way leisurely back down to Birmingham for the 18.20 Megabus coach to London, little did I realise what was in store. Traffic on the A4400 was absolutely gridlocked, with traffic just not moving, and with my coach already over an hour late, I made a judgement call to catch the train to Euston instead, not wanting to risk getting stranded in London. It turned out to be quite a historic journey, as I caught one of the last ever Virgin Trains services, the 20.10 service, before the West Coast franchise is handed over at midnight. Not that you would have known it was a Virgin service, as the train had already been stripped of its livery, and it was quite a sad experience, with many happy memories of good deals I took advantage of to travel up north over the years, stretching back to my university days, and it does seem strange that a train company that seems to have been much more popular with travellers than other train companies, are no more after 22 years of service.