Match Information
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Wellington 3-0 Cheltenham Saracens
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When: Saturday 12th October 2024
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Kick-off: 3pm
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Where: Kensal Ground, Wellington Community Association Playing Fields, Wellington, Hereford, Herefordshire HR4 8AZ
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Competition: Hellenic League Division 1
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Attendance: 91
Each time I think of football in Herefordshire, I immediately recall watching on television as a young lad when plucky Southern League club Hereford United famously beat top flight Newcastle United 2-1 in the FA Cup back in 1972.
Yes, Ronnie Radford’s thunderous 35 yard shot into the top corner, small boys wearing zipped up parka coats racing on to the muddy pitch to celebrate and John Motson’s first ever BBC commentary... “Oh what a goal! What a goal!” Marvellous!
However I should add some other very good Non-League sides exist within the area and I’ve previously visited Westfields FC, Pegasus Juniors FC and Hereford Lads Club FC (where I wrote a blog for 888sport in April 2023).
Bringing the story up to date, Wellington’s elevation to the National League System this season captured my attention.
They are newly promoted in the Hellenic League Division 1 having won the Herefordshire Football League Premier Division by a 10 point margin during 2023/24.
The club had embraced Hellenic League status before but pulled out at the start of August 2021 citing a lack of players available locally. So it is nice to see Wellington have regrouped and returned to our Step 6 Non-League level.
Accordingly, I embarked on a meandering 160 mile drive via the M1, M45/A45, M40, M42 and M5 concluding on the more basic roads across from Worcester.
As for Wellington itself, it is a traditional farming village housing 1,000 residents based six miles north of Hereford.
Ground Description
On approaching my destination, I followed signs for “Village Centre” until a helpful roadside arrow pointed out the home of “Wellington F.C.” It is located opposite an imposing 800 year old church and behind the village school/community centre.
There are bowls and tennis facilities on site too. I must say I loved the football ground’s really unusual lay-out.
Two sturdy home-made seated stands sit diagonally to each other hugging contrasting corners of this arena and are curiously constructed at 45 degree angles to the playing surface.
In addition, covered standing overhang extends off the main pavilion building incorporating a kitchen hatch which did brisk trade in food and drinks.
Furthermore, Wellington possess eight surrounding pitches of various sizes for their 12 youth teams aged at under-7’s upwards.
Two volunteer groundsmen look after everything and were justifiably proud of the fact that only one first team match was postponed last season despite almost incessant rain.
Programme Details
On sale at the entry hut, priced £2 for 16 pages.
I particularly liked reading a heartfelt column penned by club chairman Phil Smith outlining the problems Non-League teams face just to survive in the modern era.
The Match
On a mild and sunny autumnal day, I witnessed 11th versus 13th in the Hellenic League Division 1 rankings.
Therefore, anyone with decent knowledge of football odds amidst sports betting stakes would have expected a close game. Nevertheless, Wellington quickly established a two goal lead.
Sam Griffiths headed the opener at point blank range on seven minutes. Then 12 minutes later, Josh Harrison slammed their second through a penalty awarded in controversial circumstances.
Cheltenham Saracens rallied beyond half-time and hit the crossbar before being reduced to nine men late on due to sin bin dismissals for dissent. That led to Tom Dixon’s making it 3-0 to Wellington five minutes into added time.
Overall, I felt my rural matchday experience was enhanced by incessant cattle and tractor noise emanating from the adjoining farm.
The People
Aforementioned chairman Phil Smith has contributed 54 years of loyal service to the club since his teenage days. He gave a warm handshake to welcome me to Wellington.
Phil also explained the mystery of the grandstands saying: “You will notice they are not square to the pitch. When we built them, we wanted to provide perfect viewing so I decided angled stands were better for sightlines.”
Football grounds visited: 2,602
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
