Diary Of A Groundhopper: Tony Incenzo On Winchester Castle vs Liphook United

14/06/2023
4 min. read
Diary of a Groundhopper Winchester Castle vs Liphook United
Tony Incenzo
By Tony Incenzo

Match Information

  • Winchester Castle 0-5 Liphook United

  • When: Saturday 27th May 2023

  • Kick-off: 3pm

  • Where: Hampshire County Council Sports Ground, Petersfield Road, Chilcomb, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1HU

  • Competition: Hampshire Premier League – Senior Division

  • Attendance: 53 (my headcount)

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It was the last Saturday in my 50th season of attending football on a regular basis yet slim pickings remained on the fixture lists since most leagues had completed their schedules.

Pleasingly, the Hampshire Premier League at Step 7 offered one final round of games and I opted to visit Winchester Castle FC. However, it seemed a little tricky to confirm the match would definitely go ahead as the host club’s Twitter account is dormant.

Fortunately, upcoming opponents Liphook United are very active in social media circles and they were helpfully able to corroborate the arrangements. So I set off in earnest on a 200 mile round trip.

Because the weather forecast correctly predicted warm and sunny conditions, my wife and daughter joined me for a day out. We experienced major delays on the M25 motorway en route due to the start of half-term holidays and people going away. But we still arrived with an hour to spare.

Winchester itself is a picturesque and historic city housing 45,000 residents. I had been there twice before on football groundhopping adventures.

The first occasion was on 4th May 1998 when I saw the area’s more senior team Winchester City FC lose 3-1 versus Moneyfields (attendance 41) at Hillier Way in the Hampshire League Division One.

I subsequently retuned on 29th January 2009 to watch Winchester College 0 Millfield School 7 at Bulls Drove (attendance 358) in the Boodles Independent Schools FA Cup Semi-Final – a fantastic national knock-out competition featuring Under-19 players.

Bringing the story up to date, Winchester Castle actually play in Chilcomb which is a small village (population just 91) three miles east of Winchester.

Ground Description

Located less than two miles from the M3 Motorway - off a roundabout on the main A31 Petersfield Road. Access is via a long dusty lane. It is an 11 acre site containing three football pitches and a pavilion where refreshments and toilets are available plus the dressing rooms.

The main playing area is railed off with sturdy brick built dug-outs and elevated viewing down one touchline on a grass bank (although sight lines are rather obscured by those aforementioned dug-outs). I noticed an enclosed feel courtesy of hedges and trees around three sides.

There was a tin shed covered spectator enclosure but this was demolished a few years ago. The site would certainly appear more homely if several colourful Winchester Castle club signs could be added to welcome spectators.

Indeed, the only photo opportunity I spotted in this respect was a bland roadside sign pointing to the facility out on the dual carriageway.

Programme Details

Winchester Castle do not produce programmes so I downloaded a colour teamsheet and league table from the extensive FA Full-Time web site’s Hampshire Premier League pages.

In addition, Liphook United displayed a Twitter matchday graphic that looked very nice when I printed it.

Therefore I derived adequate background information plus an essential souvenir of my groundhop.

The Match

Nothing at stake in this mid-table end of season dead rubber clash. Nevertheless, some good football and finely crafted goals unfolded.

I had seen Liphook United in action the previous week when they played really well away to Denmead FC but lost 3-1. This time, Liphook took their chances to become emphatic 5-0 winners.

The scorers were Harry Rolfe (32, 88 minutes), Patrick Muhiwa (52 mins), Ryan Justice (74 mins) and Ryan Pullen (77 mins).

My end of season 2022/23 football stats:

  • 2022/23 football matches attended - 100 exactly

  • 2022/23 new football grounds visited – 67

  • Overall total of football matches attended – 5,538

  • Overall total of grounds visited – 2,511

  • QPR consecutive home games attended – 1,285

*(every QPR home League, Cup, Friendly and Testimonial since April 1973)

*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*

About the Author See all Tony Incenzo Articles
Tony Incenzo
Tony Incenzo

Tony is an experienced football broadcaster who has worked for Clubcall, Capital Gold, IRN Sport, talkSPORT Radio and Sky TV. 

His devotion to Queens Park Rangers saw him reach 50 years without missing a home game in April 2023.

Tony is also a Non-League football expert having visited more than 2,500 different football grounds in his matchday groundhopping.

You can follow Tony on Twitter at @TonyIncenzo.