"Aberbargoed Buds FC - Aberbargoed Youth Centre, Bedwellty Road"

OK, so this is non-league football in the raw. I visited here for a spot of friday night football to watch the Buds take on Aberdare Town in the Welsh Football League Division 2. Aberbargoed is a small village about 15 miles up the valley from Caerphilly. The village itself sits, not on the valley floor, but looking out towards Bargoed on the other side.It was an extremely chilly evening with a frost settled on the pitch long before kickoff !

Location

Bedwellty Road itself runs from the village centre uphill with the Youth Centre being at the top. My satnav said that I was 780 feet above sea level, so oxygen might have been welcome. There is a car park adjacent to the pitch which held about 100 cars, others seemed to find no problem parking in the road itself. The nearest station is Bargoed (on the Rhymney line out of Cardiff) which is about a mile across the valley as the crow flies. I wouldn't suggest walking it as it would mean walking downhill, across the dual carriage way and then back uphill. It would take me best part of an hour (or more probably I would end up in a cardiac unit!). Aberbargoed itself is not a big place, it has a couple of take aways and one pub (in Bedwellty Road)

View

Err, what can I tell you? There is one "stand"...which is actually one of the 'portable' bus shelter type things with 4 steps up but no seats. At a squeeze about 100 people could fit underneath and, well that's it. There isn't even a concrete path around the whole pitch. It runs behind the goal and up to the home dugout, beyond the stand.
As is common in Welsh 'non-league' football, the ground is surrounded by a metal fence which does not prevent people outside the ground watching the action without paying admission.
The ground is unusual in he home and away dugouts are on opposite sides of the pitch adjacent to the halfway line. The only ground I have visited which had more basic facilities was Ammanford.

Facilities

The toilets are inside the changing room block and the gents consisted of one cubicle (out of order) and one urinal. Shared with the players too.

Clubshops don't exist at this level and no merchandise was sold

Food & Drink

There is a tea bar inside the changing room block selling hot drinks, chocolate and chips. This got very packed at a very cold half time, such that the players struggled to get back out to the pitch

Atmosphere

The crowd was around 90-100 which was impressive given the temperature. There was a fair amount of encouragement, more so from the travelling supporters who saw their boys pick up their first win of the season

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