"Bournemouth FC - Victoria Park"

Bournemouth FC are older than their professional namesakes and are the original tenants at Dean Court. They have played at Victoria Park since 1890 and style themselves as Bournemouth Poppies to avoid confusion with the “Cherries”.

This is very much a club overshadowed by it's bigger neighbours and nearby teams in higher leagues such as Poole Town, Weymouth and Salisbury

Location

Victoria Park is located in the Winton area of Town, about 2 miles northwest of the centre and station. The latter is a 50 minute walk from the ground which is set in a residential area. Although listed on many websites as in Bounday Road, the ground is not accessible from that street and can only be reached by a narrow alley at the end of Namu Road. Nearest places to eat and drink are in the Wimborne Road which has a number of fast food outlets (KFC, Pizza Hut) whilst the nearest pub appeared to be the Hop and Kilderkin.

View

Admission fees are payable on the entrance to the car park. The ground contains room for about 100 cars next to and behind the stand. This was built in the early 1970s to replace a much older construction that burnt down. The stand itself actually looks much older and the seats are all wooden benches, giving it the air of something that wouldn’t look out of place on Bournemouth seafront. Some seats at the back have been rendered completely unusable due to the fact that a flock of white doves roost in the rafters and below is what is best described as their toilet. However, as there is capacity for 200 spectators and crowds don’t reach that level, this is not really a problem.
The stand itself straddles the halfwayline, however the righthand end of this is the clubhouse, with windows facing out over the pitch. Changing rooms are round behind the stand. There is no other cover in the ground and the rest of the pitch is surrounded by a concrete path.

Facilities

Toilets are inside the clubhouse although I didn’t see them myself. There is no club shop (in common with most grounds at this level) and the bartender didn’t have any badges or merchandise on sale, although I got the impression that they have had in the past. The programme was a rather disappointing effort compared to others in this league (notably tonights opponents, Hamworthy) and other Step 5 teams

Food & Drink

Obviously alcoholic drinks are available from the bar, whilst hot drinks, pasties and sausage rolls are available from a different counter - but that's it. No burgers, chips etc

Atmosphere

The crowd for the game numbered 53 which was slightly disappointing considering it was a local derby and the only game for about 50 miles. There was not much noise although the Hamworthy fans were more vocal as their team ran out winners.

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