"Went against all expectations and was actually really enjoyable!"

The week before visiting for Croydon v Bridon Ropes, I'd visited Chalky Lane for Chessington & Hook v Staplehurst Monarchs. That was dire, and with Croydon in the same league, I didn't have high hopes. But actually, the experience was great. Both games ended 0-0 but the Sports Arena is so different to Chalky Lane it's difficult to call them both grounds. Everyone was incredibly friendly, there was a good atmosphere with a small crowd and if I'd not had to cycle there from Reigate I'd be seriously considering going more regularly. There was even a rare "double programme" which covered both the game against Bridon and the one a couple of days later against Tooting Bec.

I got minute 86 in the Goalden Goal, so was delighted when Croydon hit the post with a penalty on about 43 minutes. They also hit the bar twice, and were the better team (although Bridon did look dangerous on the break). When asked if I was going to the Monday game I said no, but was told that I might like it so much I could perhaps change my plans...to be fair, if it wasn't for the ULEZ charge and the fact that it took me an hour to bike in from Reigate, I may well have done.

Location

It's a ground set back from some residential streets, which is nicely "old school". Parking seemed good, and the ground is seemingly an odd combo of Athletics club ground (Croydon Harriers), the football ground, and a gym. All this meant that as I'd biked there, there were plenty of bike racks to choose from. But the lovely people at the stadium let me take my bike in and shackle it there, so I didn't spend the next ninety minutes thinking, "did I lock it?" "did I take my bag in?" "where are my keys?" and similar.

View

As the guy said when I came in (I think "the guy", by the way, is on this site, as we briefly compared numbers of grounds visited) the best views are from the main stand. Essentially it's main stand (with seats) or actually standing somewhere else around the perimeter of the pitch, and as there's also a sports track going round the pitch there is - in my view - zero point sitting anywhere else, except perhaps on the benches up at the clubhouse, which is elevated behind the goal and quite possibly offers another good view. The issue with the main stand is that with supporting pillars, running track light pylons and sundry other things, you've got to pick your seat carefully, but this is quite easy as the stand is large and the crowd presumably small.

Facilities

There was a clubhouse (didn't visit), two tea bars (one a Mencap charity concession), a Goalden Goal competition, a food stand offering delicious-smelling concoctions of lamb, beef, halloumi and the like (didn't try), and the toilets, which smelt like the disinfectant used at my primary school in the 1980s, and was comforting in a weird way.

Food & Drink

Service at Tea Stand 1, where I bought tea, was good - they literally boiled the water for me, rather than having a heater, and even offered to bring the tea to my seat (I declined as I had no idea where I'd be sitting) but I did think £2 for a tea was a little high. They didn't do Bovril, unfortunately. Service at Tea Stand 2 (the Mencap one) was very good, and for another £2 I had the choice of homemade banana cake, chocolate cake or carrot cake. I took that carrot cake to pretend I was being healthy. It was delicious, along with the tea from Tea Stand 1. I can't give more stars because there was no Bovril and anything without Bovril can't get half or higher ratings! But if I wasn't Bovril obsessed, I'd probably increase the score.

Police & Stewards

Neither police nor stewards were present.

Atmosphere

Players were clapped on and off, substitutes likewise, "oohs" and "grrs" were heard at various points in the match; there was even a couple of "Come on Croydon!" shouts. And everyone loved the protracted game of head tennis that seemed to last about 18 minutes in the first half. During the game, away and home fans chatted to each other and I detected no malice at all. Before the game I'd had a reasonably long chat with the people on tickets about groundhopping, and the same guy from before saw me getting my bike ready after the game - "next stop Reigate", he said, which was a nice touch.

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