"Haverhill Rovers FC - New Croft"

Friday night football…can’t beat it and the Thurlow Nunn League is always good for it at some point during the season. Friday 9th February was a tasty local derby between Haverhill Rovers and Saffron Walden Town at the New Croft. Despite the rain and falling temperatures, Rovers had tweeted that the game would definitely be on - if the main pitch wasn’t playable the match would switch to the 3G surface next door (Haverhill Borough's pitch). So what do you need to know about the New Croft?
All in all – although the ground itself is nothing special, the town is good and the atmosphere, if you pick the right game, is fantastic

Location

The ground is in a sports complex (not Leisure Centre!) about half a mile from Haverhill town centre (its uphill all the way). The good news is that Haverhill has plenty of places to eat, with a Frankie and Benny’s, Prezzo and KFC all next to each other, whilst the nearest pub to the ground is probably the Rose and Crown. There is no railway station in the town- the nearest one is Audley End (Saffron Walden) which is 6 miles away, however the town is on the bus routes from Cambridge, Saffron Walden, Bury St Edmunds etc. The ground itself has a large car park (although due to the size of the crowd this was full long before kickoff!) and there is road parking as it is located in a housing estate.

View

Haverhill has two teams – Rovers and Borough – both currently in the Thurlow Nunn Premier and both sharing New Croft with Borough using the 3G pitch. Entrance to the ground is via the turnstiles on the right hand side of the clubhouse. The gates to the left hand side lead to the 3G pitch (although there is a series of gates – wide open – that lead into the main stadium……I wonder how much money the club lose that way!
The ground itself has one main stand – the Terry McGerty Stand (named after the club president) which is located approximately on the halfway line. This contains plastic tip up seats for about 100 people. Unfortunately its one of the new metal ‘arena’ type contructions so has no character, but I don’t suppose that matters to the regulars. The only other cover is a small cover behind the goal at the turnstile end. The rest of the ground is open, with a concrete path surrounding the pitch.

Facilities

Toilets are located inside the clubhouse, which is only a few years old and very nice. and, although there is no ‘clubshop’ they sell a few bits from behind the bar. Honourable mention for the programme which contained a lot of information and not too many adverts and was well worth the £1 they charge. I frequently pay double for a vastly inferior effort.

Food & Drink

The bar is spacious (needed to be…it was so cold, many people were takin refuge inside). The refreshment kiosk is a window located on the pitch side of the club house and it sells the normal football fayre (the portions of chips were immense).

Atmosphere

Friendly club and, for this game, a whopping gate of 320 (for a step 5 match!). OK, it was a local derby, but there was more atmosphere for this game than matches played 3-4 steps up. Real blood and thunder action on the pitch, resulting in a 4-4 draw and both groups of supporters really getting behind their respective teams.

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