Match Information
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Abbey Rangers 1-5 Westfield
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When: Tuesday 18th July 2023
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Kick-off: 7.45pm
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Where: Outside 3G pitch, Addlestone Moor, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2QH
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Competition: Pre-season friendly
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Attendance: 58 (my headcount)
This was a 110 mile round trip for me to the Surrey commuter town of Addlestone which has a population of almost 16,000. It is only a mile off junction 11 on the M25 motorway.
I first went there on Wednesday 2nd September 1981 when the well-established Addlestone & Weybridge Town FC lost 3-1 against Hillingdon Borough at Liberty Lane (attendance 165) in the Southern League Southern Division.
Unfortunately, that host club sadly folded in 1985 because the ground was sold. Then after nearby Abbey Rangers progressed to Step 6 of the National Non-League Pyramid, I returned to the area and saw them beat Staines & Lammas 2-1 at Addlestone Moor on Monday 17th August 2015 in a Combined Counties League Division One fixture before 157 spectators.
Bringing the story right up to date, I noticed Abbey Rangers were staging home friendlies this year on their outside 3G artificial surface while the usual pitch underwent re-seeding.
The 3G was already on my radar having been utilised in the past at very short notice for one or two first team minor cup ties amidst rainy weather. Under my own personal groundhopping rules, this is a separate ground so I decided to head back to Addlestone Moor.
Ground Description
Opened in 2019 through London Marathon Charitable Trust funding assistance, Abbey Rangers’ 3G pitch is floodlit and has a spectator viewing section running down most of one touchline.
It is reached from the club car park via a 150 yards long path stretching around the left hand side of the previously visited stadium. The 3G is used for football training by pupils of an adjacent school during weekdays.
Overall, I found the community facilities at Abbey Rangers are excellent embracing a total of eight pitches – including several mini-sized. These cater for the club’s 41 teams featuring boys and girls of school reception age right up to adult football.
I also noticed the main arena has improved considerably since my initial groundhop in 2015 and two new stands are thereby in place.
Programme Details
Programmes were not produced for this friendly, however, Abbey Rangers secretary Andy Robertson kindly handed me a teamsheet topped by a club heading.
This was a great souvenir of my visit.
The Match
On arrival, the car park was totally packed out. In fact, I had to wait a good 15 minutes before someone departed and a space appeared.
It seemed strange to me that such a large crowd would be present for pre-season friendly action. But I subsequently discovered a plethora of youth team training sessions were taking place on the satellite pitches so respective parents were patiently sitting in their cars.
As for the match itself, Abbey Rangers are now Step 5 competing in the Combined Counties League Premier Division South whereas Woking-based Westfield are one tier above in the Isthmian League South Central Division.
Following a tight first half which yielded just one goal, the visitors ran out comfortable winners courtesy of strikes by Jacob Breckon (45 minutes), Theo White (63 mins), Junior Da Cruz (78,86 mins) and Andy Crossley (81 mins, penalty).
The final effort by Da Cruz was an outstanding moment where he turned and curled a glorious 25 yard shot into the postage stamp top corner. Incidentally, Will Kendall scored for Abbey Rangers on 52 minutes.
The People
The aforementioned Andy Robertson gave me a warm welcome and spent the whole evening buzzing around to complete a variety of important matchday tasks on behalf of his club. Andy is a fantastic representative of our hard working Non-League volunteers.
I also had a long chat with Westfield coach Dave Powell - a fine football man possessing wide-ranging knowledge across the entire Pyramid. I liked Dave’s reminiscences about how Westfield were merely a tiny village side when he first joined them.
*Credit for photos in this article belongs to @TonyIncenzo*
