Away Days - Chorley
First Impressions -- Around the ground -- Facilities -- The Stand -- Overall -- Pictures
Fixture: Chorley
V Preston North End
Competition: Pre-season Friendly
Ground: Victory Park
Date: Saturday 9 July 2005
Kick off: 3.00pm
Final Result: 0-3 Nugent (2), Agyemang
I didn't get a glimpse of Victory Park until I was right next to the ground. It was neatly nestled in between streets of terraced houses and some kind of 'park' area behind the main stand.
My first 'proper look' came when I approached the turnstiles. It wasn't the best way to enter a ground because there was a small, stoney car park directly in front so I had to dodge the cars. First thoughts was that this area could do with a bit of cleaning up and repainting.
The social club on the left looked rather run down with a few smashed/boarded up windows which ruined the overall appearance somewhat. Even more so with a scruffy portakabin next to it.
It wasn't possible to walk round the outside of the ground due to the surrounding houses so the only possible way to walk round was inside. This is one of the factors I love about non-league grounds - you can wander round the ground freely and see the game from any side or end you want.
I opted to stand on the grass bank before kick off so I could take some photos and take a panoramic shot of the ground. The grass bank was ideal for a day like this since it was sunny and quite frankly, bloody roasting!
One end was a small covered terrace which only stretched the length of just beyond the goal. This end also had a grass bank on both sides of it. I thought it was a great little terrace and added to the charm of the ground overall. In fact the grass banks in the ground gave it a rather picturesque feel to it, along with the trees behind the Main Stand.
Opposite the grass bank down the side was the Main Stand. This was a nice, old traditional-type stand that straddled the half-way line. What seemed a bit odd though was at one side were seats and the other benches - ruined the look slightly.
The other end was another terraced stand although this was much shallow and didn't have any crush barriers apart from one long one at the bottom. That was the only downside to the stand as I opted to stand further up to get out of the blazing heat of the sun.
I didn't need the toilet during the afternoon so I obviously had no need to use them. But from what I saw there was a relatively new building housing the toilets so imagine they would've been of a high standard.
At half-time I opted to get a burger and a coffee from the snack bar to the right of the Duke Street End where I had been standing for the first half. It was quite odd inside as there were a couple of old chairs and an old settee! Still it did have charm and I received an excellent service.
The burger and coffee tasted far better than some i've had at a few league grounds.
For the first half I opted to stand in the Duke Street End. As said above this stand was quite shallow but still had a decent view from where I was stood. I opted not to stand further up the stand due to the amount of pillars supporting the roof.
In the second half I moved round to the opposite end - the Pilling Lane End. This was like a traditional end terraced stand but just on a small scale. This end was much steeper than the Duke Street End and a lot less pillars too. From here I had a good view of the action and I felt more 'comfortable' here - greatly helped by the better positioned crush barriers.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of visiting my 3rd non-league ground. The game itself was not too bad - two different sides in each half. The 3 goals scored in the first half were enough for us to retain the Jack Kirkland Trophy.
I would say its a very nice little ground but in need of maintenance in places - particularly the social club and portakabin.
Ratings
Appearance: 7/10
Facilities: 7/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Fans: 8/10
Duke Street End: 7/10
Pilling Lane End: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
