Skegness - Seaside Memories and Football.

 Hopping About.

I’m not sure if there’s something that happened in life that pointed me in the direction of visiting a different, usually new, football ground rather than go and watch the teams that I support and love. it's just something I've enjoyed doing since my teens.

Skegness Rocks

I could blame my brother, Harry, because I distinctly remember him telling me on one of the early games he took me to about the 92 club and how some supporters like to visit every league ground. That was probably when he took me to watch Crewe Alexandra v Darlington (a 1-1 draw BTW) just before Christmas 1980 and his way of explaining why we were going to get another ground ticked off his own list of “to do’s”. That day he’d chosen Crewe because Jimmy Greenhoff was making his Crewe debut just after leaving Manchester United. It seems a strange transformation from division 1 to division 4 but Jimmy was joining his former Stoke boss Tony Waddington for his brief stay at Gresty Road.

Groundhopping started here.

It must have been a late transfer that week because there's no mention of Jimmy in the programme at all. Looking back at the line ups in the programme I realised the brilliant David Speedie was in the Darlington squad and for Crewe, former Spireite, Colin Prophett.

Where's Jimmy?

Anyway, the idea of visiting all 92 league grounds stuck with me and I liked the idea of doing that, of course it’s like free drugs isn’t it, “yeah I’ll take you here but you’ve got to sort the others out yourself”.

92+

The 92 was never enough to stop the craving and early on I discovered non-league which is why I’m on the train going to Skegness in February. 

Final Destination.

Who goes to Skeggy in February? Quite a few judging by the amount of folk out and about and not all of them were locals, the girl having her photo took on the beach with her hen night sash on for example.

Skegness beach and pier.

I always fancied going to the seaside in the winter months, though I imagined snow, or at least really heavy rain, crashing horizontally across the beach as I watched from the warmth of a bar but today was fairly mild.

Skegness was the destination for lots of East Midlands families when I was at school and I got to go when me Mam & Dad brought me here in the 70’s, thanks to my Brothers, Alan who had a share in the caravan we stayed in and Harry who drove us there. I was really surprised how many people from school and the village I lived in were also there. I guess lots of towns and villages round Britain had similar seaside areas they migrated to in those days.

 It may have looked a little brighter back then, some of the shops are looking tired now despite having the “Lumley Shopping Plaza” trying to entice you in. I don’t recall the amount of people with teeth missing, drinking cheap lager out of cans or the tattoos cascading down their face on to their necks back in 1978 but then again I would have been too busy trying to get money for the arcades at Winthorpe having walked over from Walsh’s caravan site and up to the seafront, looking forward to fish and chips, with mushy peas of course, from Linga Longa that night.

 

I’ve always thought Skeggy has something for everyone, there’s the pubs and clubs for the younger adults, the theatre and social clubs for those that going out doesn’t start at 9pm and then of course the arcades plus the now myriad activities along the front for the kids. It’s great and it looks like there’s been some levelling up/regeneration or whatever the new buzz word is to spruce up this old seaside town. The fish and chip shops and diners I would have gone to with my Mam & Dad back in the day are still there, different frontages and owners but still providing the usual fare for us holidaymakers.

If my kids had been with me then we’d have had to detour to Ingoldmells just to hear “Welcome to the secrets of Fantasy Island” it’s impossible to say this out loud without a slightly Hispanic accent.

Best of both worlds, Seaside and Football

However, today I’m here for the football, so, after a nostalgic walk round Skegness and a meal in the “Hot Roast” café and a quick coffee in “Mooch” it was time to get over to The Vertigo Stadium the new ground of Skegness Town for their United Counties League game v Sherwood Colliery.

I visited Burgh Road, Skeggy’s former home, some years ago and it still had the old corrugated cover over the terraces but what with the rust and the holes it didn’t cover much. There was a Lillywhites Social Club as well but the club probably made most of its money from the regular car boot it held on the car park.

The Lillywhites Social Club at Burgh Road.

Skegness Town's Burgh Road Ground.

Another view of the cover at Burgh Road.

Action from Skegness Town v Bourne Town in a 1996/97 PSF.

I first heard of Skegness Town FC from old Alfreton Town programmes when they had played each other in the Midland League, any seaside town football club was a popular away game for players and supporters and a weekend spent was the main attraction. Overhearing that nights plans from supporters of Sherwood Colliery it’s the same now.

I’d actually seen a game on this site back in 1998 when a team called Croft United were based here, it would have been just a pitch with some changing rooms back then and the pitch was probably on a slightly different plot to the current ground which also has another pitch adjoining it which the reserve and youth teams use.

The Vertigo Stadium.

Skegness were formed in 1947 being a successor to Skegness United and Skegness Blue Rovers following the war. Their first season was played on Wainfleet Road Recreation Ground, though whether this is the same site as the current ground I'm not sure. 

After 1 year at Wainfleet Road the club spent a year at United's former ground on Richmond Drive before they got a permanent base of their own at Burgh Road.

Skegness moved into The Pavillion Sports Hub in 2017 after leaving Burgh Road which is  now the site of a small shopping centre. The complex is also the home of Skegness RUFC & Skegness Imps FC, a youth set up of varying ages plus the Bowls club and cost £2.7M to build.

For a number of years Skegness' senior side played in the Lincolnshire League and were one of the top sides, regularly chasing league honours. Following the move to what is now The Vertigo Stadium they transferred to the Northern Counties East League for 3 seasons though only 1 of those was completed due to Covid. This is their second season in the UCL.

Skegness, not afraid to scale the heights.

Club motif & signage.

The entrance to the clubhouse complex.

Signage at the entrance on Wainfleet Road.

The new ground is neat and similar to a lot of new builds in non-league. Two identical prefabricated metal structures. The ones at Skegness were half seated and half terraced on 4 steps. A large mesh fence encloses the ground with a wooden fence separating the previously mentioned second pitch. Skegness have grass, if this had a new fangled 3g or 4g hybrid pitch then we would have the obligatory green metal pitch perimeter topped with a thick white rail, as it was though we have the more pleasing white post and rail structure with advertising boards hanging intermittently.

 

One of the stands at Skegness' Vertigo Stadium.

The "Sister" Stand at Skegness

Opposite the prefabs are the dug-outs with the rest of the ground being hard standing. The main facility is the really good clubhouse with a large main room and a smaller hospitality room both with a glass front allowing a view of the game behind the goal.

 

The Two Stands at Skegness.

The Dug Out Side at Skegness.

The tea bar is part of the clubhouse with its serving hatch to the side, conveniently in place just after you enter from the turnstiles.

 

The Clubhouse & Dressing Rooms at Skegness.

Skegness Town 0 Sherwood Colliery 1

Sneaking a Look.

Respect.

The game itself was decent enough, plenty of endeavour from both teams. With the sides being next to each other in the table, Skeggy 6^th & Sherwood Colliery 7^th prior to kick off, two well matched sides played out a close game with the visitors being the slightly more likely to score. The Skegness forwards finding it difficult to break through particularly when chasing the game in the 2nd half.

Sherwood Colliery (blue) put keeper Jake Lovelace under pressure.

In the toilet at half time 2 blokes were discussing the game with one saying “I knew this game would be crap” and though it wasn’t a classic by any means he was looking in the wrong place for his entertainment. If the football isn’t sparkling then you need to look around you.

Sherwood Colliery (blue) on the attack.

Skegness supporters wearing their colours.

On the pitch there were a couple of “incidents” which in football speak mean someone disagreed with how the ref interpreted it. Sherwood were incensed that a foul was given because as their man slid in and took the legs of the Skeggy guy he only did so after his boot had touched the ball so the cry of “HE GOT THE BALL, REF” was repeated until it was obvious the ref was still giving the home side a free kick.

 

The keepers glove terrifies both sides.

The most interesting bit for me as a neutral was when those in the visiting technical area had an interaction with a Skegness steward. While the ref was calming down things on the pitch a guy behind the goal just outside the clubhouse pointed out to one of the Sherwood personnel in the dug out that he was a steward and wouldn’t be allowing him in the bar afterwards and he was now banned. It didn’t seem to upset the visiting party but it did exacerbate the dialogue between the two. I don’t imagine the visiting management bloke would have had to wait too long if he was banned as I’m sure some solidarity amongst the club would have seen to that and Skegness would have been out of pocket.

It escalated further when one of the Sherwood Colliery players tried to diffuse the situation with the steward but he wasn’t having any of it, whether he threatened to ban the visiting player from the clubhouse as well I’m not sure. It only calmed down when the ref got involved and had a chat with the steward.

 

The ref checks if he's banned from the clubhouse too.

It was still getting a bit tasty on the pitch though and at one point when a couple of players came chest to chest after a tackle the Colliery guy was booked and told in proper testosterone terms by his own captain and manager to cut it out NOW. In fact his teammate said he’d sort him out if he carried on. When he did get sent off it was too late to sort out but he was warned.

No backing down.

There were a few  more “HE GOT THE BALL, REF” challenges and players and managers must think that a foul preceded by touching the ball is legitimate, something for FIFA to look at, obviously.

Great tackle from the Sherwood Colliery player.

Wanting it more?

Despite being a man short Sherwood Colliery took all 3 points thanks to a Aaron Korpal goal on 51 minutes and the efforts of the home side were just not threatening enough to warrant anything from the game.

 

Aaron Korpal (10) taps in the only goal of the game.

I didn't hang around after the game to see if anyone was refused entry to the clubhouse, I suspect not. I'd got a train to get and that was an experience in itself. I couldn't decide if the drama being played out by the teenagers, who, luckily were only on for 2 stops, was worse than the drunken Bolton Wanderers supporters celebrating a 5-0 win at Peterborough. In fairness they were just singing victory songs and it was a drunken woman who provided further entertainment to the day by going into the middle of them and shouting to SHUT THE F*** UP". Anyone who has previously discussed anything rationally with someone who is drunk will know there would be only one winner and it wasn't the offended lady. So, the victory songs continued to Nottingham and my connection from there to Alfreton was slightly quieter.

So, another ground ticked off and a stroll down memory lane to make it a good day. There was all forms of entertainment throughout the day, I told you Skeggy has something for everyone.

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