‘Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross’

Date: 31.08.2019

Ground: 98

Match: 8 (2019/20200 Season

Venue: Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium

Teams: Banbury United Development v Woodstock Town

Final Score: 0-1 (H/T 0-1)

Referee: Michael Cofie

Attendance: 42 (Head Count)

Programme: No matchday programme but I did pick up a Banbury Utd 1st team programme from a game played earlier on in the season.

Mileage to Venue and Return: 158.2 Miles

Combined Driving Time: 3 Hours 46 Minutes.

Before I start talking about all things football and especially the absoultely superb Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium, I think that I need to explain the thinking behind the title for this blog.

‘Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross’ is the title of a English Nursery Rhyme connected to the town of Banbury and traditionally goes as follows:

‘Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross’

‘to see a fine lady upon a white horse’

‘Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes’

‘And she will have music where ever she goes’

The photograph I took of the ‘fine lady upon a white horse’ during my visit to Banbury. The statue was unveiled by Princess Anne in 2005.

The nursery rhyme is first referred too in the ‘Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book’ published in 1744.

So, why is there a nursery rhyme titled as such in the first place – at one time, the town of Banbury had several crosses named as follows:- The High Cross, The Bread Cross and the White Cross. All of these were destroyed by Puritans in 1600, following the events of that year, Banbury was left without a cross for a period of over 250 years. That all changed when the current Banbury Cross was built in the centre of the town in 1859 in order too celebrate the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal (the eldest child of Queen Victoria) to Prince Frederick of Prussia. The nursery rhyme is thought to refer to one of the crosses destroyed by Puritans in 1600.

The Photograph I took of the Banbury Cross – the ‘fine lady upon a white horse’ is situated just yards away.

Ok, thats the explanation behind my title for this blog, I will now talk a little about the town of Banbury itself then I promise that I will start talking about football!

Banbury

Banbury is an historic market town situated in Oxfordshire on the River Cherwell. The town is 22 miles away from the county town of Oxford. Following the 2011 census, Banbury was recorded as having a population of 46,853. The world’s biggest coffee-processing facility (Jacobs Douwe Egberts) built in 1964 is based in the town and situated opposite the Banbury Cross Retail Park. As well as the Banbury Cross and the nursery rhyme referring to the Banbury Cross, the town is also famous for Banbury Cakes. The cakes are similar to Eccles Cakes but are of a oval shape.

Right, I promised that I would start talking about football, the focus of my visit was to watch the Banbury United Developement team. The team is a new team for the club as a whole for this season and will compete in the Hellenic League Division 2 North. The next section of this blog will focus on Banbury United Football Club.

Banbury United Football Club

Founded: 1931

Nickname: The Puritans

Club Address: The Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium,                                                                                Banbury,                                                                                                                                                    Oxfordshire,                                                                                                                                            OX16 5AB

Website: https://www.banburyunitedfc.co.uk/ 

Twitter: @BanburyUnitedFC                                                                                                                               @BanburyUtdDev

Chairman: Phil Lines

Club Secretary: Stephen Barlow

1st Team Manager: Mike Ford

Development Team Manager: Ben Sadler

Club Honurs

Hellenic League Premier Division: Champions:1999/00

Oxfordshire Senior League: Champions:1934/35

Oxfordshire Junior League: Banbury Division Champions: 1933/34

Oxfordshire Senior Cup: Winners: 1978/79, 1987/88, 2003/04, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2014/15

Buckingham Charity Cup: Winners: 2001/02, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2015/16

Club Records

Best League Position: 6th Position in the Southern League Premier Division – 2016/17

Best FA Cup Performance: 1st Round: 1947/48, 1961/62, 1972/73, 1973/74

Best FA Trophy Performance: 3rd Round: 1970/71, 1973/74

Best FA Vase Performance: 2nd Round: 1999/00

Most Appearances: Jody McKay (576)

Brief History

Banbury United Football Club as you would have already read were founded in 1931 and back in those formative years were known as Spencer Sports Club. After a period of playing friendly matches, the club joined the Banbury Division of the Oxfordshire Junior League in 1933. That same year they also changed the name of the club to Spencer Villa and later that same year changed their name again, this time too, Banbury Spencer.

Banbury Spencer finished as Birmingham Combination runners-up in the 1947/48 season. To cap a successful 1947/48 campaign, the club also reached the 1st round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, losing 1-2 at Colchseter United. The Birmingham Combination ceased to exist after 1954 meaning that the league’s remaining clubs were placed in the Birmingham & District League, Banbury going into the Southern Section of the League.

The 1961/62 season saw the club again reaching the 1st Round of the FA Cup, on this occassion they were defeated 1-7 by Shrewsbury Town.

Regarding Banbury’s game at Shrewsbury Town – Before I attended the game on Saturday I spoke to my  Uncle (Tim) who has supported Shrewsbury Town for over 65 years now, I told him that I was going to watch Banbury United Development play. He remembered that day in the 1961/62 season when his beloved Shrewsbury Town hosted Banbury Spencer in the cup. He told me that before the game, he went with his cousin to Admaston Bridge, Shropshire to watch the trains carrying the Banbury supporters to the game at the Gay Meadow. He remembered that the trains were all decked out in Banbury Spencer team colours and was an amazing sight to see!

Due to a change of ownership the club was renamed as Banbury United, and at the conclusion of the 1965/66 campaign the club moved to Division One of the Southern League. Several seasons later Banbury were placed in Division One North due to Division One being halved into two divisions. More league reorganisation followed several seasons later, in 1979 the club were placed into the Southern League Midland Division. Banbury remained at this level in the pyramid until they were relegated to the Premier Division of the Hellenic League after the 1989/90 season.

The Puritans lifted the 1999/00 Hellenic League Premier Division Championship which meant the club were promoted to Division One East of the Southern League.

Last season Banbury United finished in 17th position in the Southern League Premier Division Central.

The Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium

Quite simply, this football ground is absolutely brilliant and as Craig Dabbs (a groundhopper with over 1,000 ground ticks to his name) told me – ‘its groundhopping porn!’

The ground is what I would describe as a proper old school traditional non-league football ground. Fantastic terracing, excellent viewing and a lovely covered main stand.

Access to the ground is gained by travelling down Station Road, on your left you will see Banbury Railway Station and on your right an industrial estate.

Banbury Railway Station

It is only a short drive (or a 5 minute walk, as I did) down Station Road before you enter the car park at the ground and a good sized car park at that. In front of you is the on-site club house and just to the right of the club house are the turnstiles for spectators to gain entry to the ground.

Unfortunately for this Shropshire groundhopper, the heavens opened during my walk down Station Road and I think that it is fair to say that I was soaked by the time I got to the turnstiles. I paid my £3 entrance and the turnstile operator, Paul kindly let me step into his hut so that I could get out of the rain. After speaking to Paul for approximately 5 minutes I made my way into the excellent club house. I was a bit cold after the rain shower so I bought myself a coffee for £1 and dried off. Whilst I was in the club house I had a bit of a look around and noticed this framed piece all about Sir Stanley Matthews. Very interesting indeed as I am sure you can imagine.

After finishing my coffee I ventured outside and I was pleased to see that the rain had stopped. This meant that I could now take a walk around the ground as I always like to do when I visit a football ground for the first time. I made my way to the left and walked down the hard standing area in front of the club house. Before I walked any further I got talking to a Woodstock Town coach by the name of Liam, of whom more later.

One of the first pictures that I took during my visit was of a new looking covered stand behind the goal nearest to the club house. This stand is named the Puritan Radio Stand and is positioned in the centre of the hard standing area at the Sutton End.

The Puritan Radio Stand

On I walked to the far side of the ground where the home and away benches are situated. Before I carried on with my self guided tour I turned to take another picture of the Puritan Radio Stand, this one shows more of the Sutton End and also features the club house.

The Sutton End of the Ground

The next part of the ground is my favourite section and I think it is fair to say one of my favourite parts of a ground of the 98 grounds that I have visited thus far.

As I walked past the home and away benches I saw to my left some stepped terracing, I love things like this and stopped to take a picture.

The steeped terracing – superb!!!

This area of the ground then led onto another excellent section – The Town End. This encompasses more excellent stepped terracing with sheeted cover all in the colours of Banbury United Football Club. These are two pictures that I took of the Town End.

Brilliant – just brilliant!

On I walked, alongside the terracing of the Town End and onto my last stop of my tour the excellent covered stand which comprises of what I estimate to be 250 seats. I watched the first 20 minutes of the game from the comfort of the seats.

I cannot stress enough what a superb football ground this is and I would urge anybody thinking of making a visit to the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium to do so!

The Match

This Hellenic League Division 2 North fixture was a hard fought encounter and a great advert for step 8 of the non-league pyramid. Some good passing football was played by both teams at certain periods throughout the game and was a good watch throughout.

The first chance of the game fell to the visitors in the 5th minute, a mix up between a Banbury defender with his goalkeeper allowed the Woodstock number 9 to latch onto the ball but his shot at goal was saved by the Banbury custodian.

Banbury forced their first effort at goal three minutes later, a period of sustained pressure resulted in their number 8 having a shot deflected wide of the target.

Woodstock replied with an effort at goal of their own in the 12th minute, a fierce shot from their number 7 from 25 yards out, forcing the Banbury goalkeeper into a fine save – the best moment of the game so far.

An end to end opening to the game then saw Banbury go close in the 14th minute, a great passing move created a 1 on 1 chance for their number 8 but the Town goalkeeper produced a great save to keep the scores level.

The next 10 minutes of the game were quite quiet compared to the exciting first 15 minutes. On around the 25th minute mark, a Banbury player and a Woodstock player both went up for an aerial challenge which resulted in a completely accidental and sickening clash of heads. Unfortunately the Woodstock player sustained a nasty cut to his head, an ambulance was called and the game was halted for around 20 minutes. I am happy to say (from speaking to Liam – Woodstock Coach) that the player was ok apart from the fact he would obviously need stitches for the cut.

The game restarted and you could sense that it was difficult for both sets of players to get back into the rythem of the game. The remainder of the first half was very quiet up until the point of Woodstock taking the lead on 45 minutes through a flicked header, over the goalkeeper by their number 5 – Will Spackman.

After 20 minutes of first half injury time, the first period ended with a scoreline of 0-1.

First Half Pictures

 

Banbury, looking to get back on level terms created the first chance of the second half on 51 minutes. Their number 3 provided a great cross from the left wing which was met by their number 9 who prodded the ball wide of the target.

Woodstock created a couple of half chances on 55 and 60 minutes respectively, both efforts coming from their number 9, both saved comfortably by the Banbury goalkeeper.

A first for me on 65 minutes! I witnessed my first ever sin bin at a football match with the Banbury number 11 serving 10 minutes on the sidelines.

In my opinion, Woodstock had much the better of the second half and created any real chances at goal that occurred but were unable to increase their advantage.

Then, deep into injury time the referee awarded a penalty for Banbury. I must confess that I could not see what for as I was at the other end of the ground. However, I did notice that the linesman had his flag off for offside – after consultation, the referee over turned his original decision and Woodstock secured the victory.

Second Half Pictures

Conclusion

This was a superb day of groundhopping and one that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. As I have already mentioned, the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium is brilliant and is now definately in my top 5 of grounds visited thus far.

Earlier in this blog I mentioned that I chatted to Woodstock Town coach – Liam. As we chatted about all things football, Liam said that he would arrange to send me a Woodstock Town pin badge through the post – a great gesture and one that I really appreciated. He also told me that Woodstock Town’s home ground is leased from none other than Blenheim Palace! I wonder how many other football clubs around the world lease their ground from a palace? Not many I bet!

On ending I would just like to wish both Banbury United Development and Woodstock Town all the very best of luck for the rest of the 2019/20 season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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