v Enfield Town

[GlenSTFC]

Yes agree that at the end of the day they have a home ground in the town and it’s good enough to play step 2 football. 

[Robsven]

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at your viewing experience this evening. The elevated main stand affords an excellent view, and the covered terracing behind each goal leaves you closer to the pitch than most stadiums in the league. You can literally touch the goal nets from behind the goal. Even the terracing at the side of the pitch behind the dugouts is a decent view, but it’s uncovered and therefore not ideal when it’s raining. 

As has been commented already, even Enfield Town fans were skeptical about moving to a stadium with a running track. But only having 6 lanes makes a huge difference, along with obviously the covered stands behind each goal being inside the running track. 

The club are preparing to spend approximately £120k on a new 400 seated stand, additional turnstiles and gates/fences to segregate supporters when required. We’ll also be taking our old seated stand, removing the seats, splitting it in half, and adding them equally to the terraces behind the goals as they are the same dimensions. 

The majority of this has been covered, but the final £35k portion has to be raised by ourselves as we are a purely fans owned club. We’ve hit £16k after about ten days. 

We are also very aware that our clubhouse can only comfortably cater to about 50-80 people at any one time with a somewhat awkwardly located bar. The building itself is beautiful, but it’s also listed and therefore we can’t touch it without someone in a suit watching what we do and invariably rejecting our plans. 

A good example of this is the word CAFE written on the outside part of the building which encapsulates our spiral staircase. We wanted to repaint this to ETFC and the idea was quickly rejected. We also wanted to upgrade the windows to double glazed ones and that was rejected too - we have to retain the original style single paned ones that aren’t really suitable in this day and age and increase the heating costs. 

You’ll have a nice view from the standing balcony outside the spiral staircase by the way. 

We should have a second small bar outside to keep everyone beer happy, and our food vendor, whilst struggling to keep up with demand at half-time like most clubs do, have had pretty good reviews. 

We have early plans for a new large clubhouse/offices and classrooms, but again we have to find the money ourselves through grants, loans, and donations. It’ll take quite some time, but it’s achievable. Every season we do something new off the pitch, and that success has helped us be promoted three times since 2001. Slow and steady wins the race, and we’ve done it all by ourselves with no single person actually owning the club. 

Enjoy your evening and please don’t judge us too harshly - we’re aware of any issues you could possibly bring up. It’ll be a pleasure to have a decent amount of away fans, and good to see you all again - I think I last saw an Enfield team play Slough back in the 1990’s at Wexham Park!

Leave us the 3 points please 🙂

Edited August 20 by Robsven

[Reading Rebel]

7 minutes ago, Robsven said:

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at your viewing experience this evening. The elevated main stand affords an excellent view, and the covered terracing behind each goal leaves you closer to the pitch than most stadiums in the league. You can literally touch the goal nets from behind the goal. Even the terracing at the side of the pitch behind the dugouts is a decent view, but it’s uncovered and therefore not ideal when it’s raining. 

As has been commented already, even Enfield Town fans were skeptical about moving to a stadium with a running track. But only having 6 lanes makes a huge difference, along with obviously the covered stands behind each goal being inside the running track. 

The club are preparing to spend approximately £120k on a new 400 seated stand, additional turnstiles and gates/fences to segregate supporters when required. The majority of this has been covered, but the final £35k portion has to be raised by ourselves as we are a purely fans owned club. We’ve hit £16k after about ten days. 

We are also very aware that our clubhouse can only comfortably cater to about 50-80 people at any one time with a somewhat awkward located bar. The building itself is beautiful, but it’s also listed and therefore we can’t touch it without someone in a suit watching what we do and invariably telling us off or rejecting our plans. A good example of this is the word CAFE written on the outside part of the building which encapsulates our spiral staircase. We wanted to repaint this to ETFC and the idea was quickly rejected. We also wanted to upgrade the windows to double glazed ones and that was rejected too - we have to retain the original style single paned ones that aren’t really suitable in this day and age and increases heating costs. 

You’ll have a nice view from the standing balcony outside the spiral staircase by the way. 

We should have a second small bar running outside to keep everyone beer happy, and our food vendor, whilst struggling to keep up with demand at half-time like most clubs do, have had pretty good reviews. 

We have early plans for a new large clubhouse/offices and classrooms, but again we have to find the money ourselves through grants, loans, and donations. It’ll take quite some time, but it’s achievable. Every single season we do something new and our off the pitch success has seen us promoted three times since 2001. Slow and steady wins the race, and we’ve done it all by ourselves as supporters with no single person actually owning the club. 

Enjoy your evening, please don’t judge us too harshly - we’re aware of any issues you could possibly bring up. It’ll be a pleasure to have a decent amount of away fans, and good to see you all again - I think I last saw an Enfield team play Slough back in the 1990’s at Wexham Park!

Leave us the 3 points please 🙂

Hello Robsven, thanks for the info.

Looking forward to visiting your ground tonight.

Out of curiosity how many supporters does the elevated main stand comfortably hold to watch the game?

[Robsven]

9 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Hello Robsven, thanks for the info.

Looking forward to visiting your ground tonight.

Out of curiosity how many supporters does the elevated main stand comfortably hold to watch the game?

I recall it’s somewhere in the region of 100 seats, but there’s also a less enjoyable seated stand on the opposite side of the pitch which holds another 120 or so. Hence the reasons for us needing a brand new 400 seated stand to compliment the current main stand. 

[Reading Rebel]

46 minutes ago, Robsven said:

I recall it’s somewhere in the region of 100 seats, but there’s also a less enjoyable seated stand on the opposite side of the pitch which holds another 120 or so. Hence the reasons for us needing a brand new 400 seated stand to compliment the current main stand. 

So the standing options to view the match are only behind the goals?

Edited August 20 by Reading Rebel

[The Crowing Cockerel]

13 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

So the standing options to view the match are behind the goals only?

You can stand behind the goals or along the sides (apart from an area in front of the current seated stand on the far side). There are also raised terraces on the near side behind the dug-outs. Rest-assured you will have an excellent selection of vantage points to choose from!

[Robsven]

14 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

So the standing options to view the match are only behind the goals?

There’s covered stepped terracing behind each goal which accommodates about 150-200 supporters each. Plus there’s three sections of uncovered stepped terracing on the side of the pitch behind the dugouts for about another 200 people.

You can also stand all around the perimeter fencing too but that will of course be on flat concrete.

For a pleasant view near the clubhouse bar, we have a balcony you can watch the game from, just outside the spiralled staircase, although this tends to be most busy. 

Then finally there are two seated stands at each side of the pitch, one is elevated and one is pitch level. 

These photos will perhaps provide some perspective.

[GlenSTFC]

Where to start?! Great start, quick goal and on top. When they equalised I thought we could be in for a tough night. But a flurry of goals towards the end of the first half put the game beyond doubt. 2 further goals in the second completed the rout and on another day may have scored another 2 or 3. Some excellent individual performances but also as a team we were hungry and were really up for it. Perfect response to Saturday and we’re snuggly placed in top 7, please stay there!

Edited August 20 by GlenSTFC

[GlenSTFC]

Come on! Where are you? No comments after such a great performance? You people…

[3spirit]

What a great result.Totally unexpected.Almost a freak result. I had it down as a 1-1 draw, as Gavin McPherson's teams are usually hard to beat. I don't believe the return fixture will be as easy.

However, last nights scoring exploits can only strengthen Slough's confidence going forward into the next few fixtures which can only be a good thing. Certainly a good time to be going into the two match Bank Holiday weekend.

 

[Holyport Rebel]

I have to admit to feeling a little bit 'smug' this morning. 
Just before kick-off yesterday 'Reading Rebel' asked me what I thought about the team this early in the season.
( Reading Rebel hadn't been able to go to Salisbury on Saturday.
 Funnily enough Reading Rebel had gone to Reading to see Reading play instead ).
I told him that I thought we had 'pace and physicality'.
By the end of yesterday's match I think we had destroyed Enfield with those very qualities.
Enfield couldn't cope with us in that second half, and if we had scored more than the six goals we did, they wouldn't really have been able to complain too much.
The successful era we had under 'Bakes' and Unders' was I think based on a 'safety first' mentality.
No criticism intended at all, that's just how it appeared to me.
Scott has a different mindset.
This was shown so noticeably I thought against Salisbury, when despite being down to 10 men he kept two attackers on the halfway line when we were defending corners.
Salisbury by comparison brought every man back when they were defending ours.
I couldn't believe that. 
A man advantage and you don't have any of your players outside your penalty area ?
We had a great start yesterday, with that early goal.
I hoped we'd start to dominate the game after that, but Enfield grew more into the game, and when they equalised  I really thought we were going to be in a battle for the rest of the match.
Those three rapid goals just before half-time changed the game completely, and the second half was one which we could all enjoy in a relatively relaxed manner !
I felt a bit sorry for Enfield's no. 2.
When pacy Kweku was substituted, we brought on the equally pacy John Ufuah for him to try to mark.
How nice is it to replace a speedy player with another one ?
We look a big, strong,pacy, physical team.
I feel its been a long time since we've been able to say that.
Quite often when  teams have lined up against us we've been noticeably 'smaller'.
Not any more.
Being bigger doesn't obviously mean better, but alongside Scott's mantra of effort and workrate it does add an asset I don't think we've had for a long time.
It was a great team performance yesterday.
The forwards were pretty awesome, and I have to say I like the way John Gilbert closes down on the goalkeeper when the ball is played back to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if he scores a goal this season when the ball rebounds off of him into the net when the goalie has kicked a clearance against him.
He wasn't far from doing so against Chelmsford and he was again pretty close to blocking one of Ryhs Forster's clearances yesterday !
It was very pleasing to see a team called Enfield back at this level.
Some of us fans of a certain vintage can remember all too easily that Enfield were a' giant' in non-league circles back in the 70's and 80's.
I guess their fans are feeling this morning as we did this time last season. 
Our third game last season saw us beaten 4-1 at home by Worthing.
God, that was dire.
At least the Enfield fans haven't seen their team lose their first three league matches like we did !
I hope Enfield find their feet and stay up this season.
It's nice to have them back.
So a great start to the season for us and we're in 5th place !
(Not that it means too much this early in the season.)
How well (or not), are we going to do ?
I honestly obviously don't know, but I feel in my bones that we are going to win more games than we lose, and that is not a bad base on which to build a season.
It was a fantastic night yesterday.
Wouldn't it be something to have  more performances like that in the months ahead !    
  

[Reading Rebel]

At 1-1 this performance and result looked a million miles away.

It wasn't a good game and resembled a game of ping pong with the ball in the air most of the time.

Cue a 5/10 minute spell at the end of the half where we hit a purple patch, producing some great attacking football taking Enfield apart.

4-1 at half time was quite an unbelievable turn around from the tedious stuff dished up in the previous 35 minutes. 

The theme continued in the second half, ending up 6-1 winners having produced a scintillating attacking performance on the night. 

[Reading Rebel]

30 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

I have to admit to feeling a little bit 'smug' this morning. 
Just before kick-off yesterday 'Reading Rebel' asked me what I thought about the team this early in the season.
( Reading Rebel hadn't been able to go to Salisbury on Saturday.
 Funnily enough Reading Rebel had gone to Reading to see Reading play instead ).
I told him that I thought we had 'pace and physicality'.
By the end of yesterday's match I think we had destroyed Enfield with those very qualities.
Enfield couldn't cope with us in that second half, and if we had scored more than the six goals we did, they wouldn't really have been able to complain too much.
The successful era we had under 'Bakes' and Unders' was I think based on a 'safety first' mentality.
No criticism intended at all, that's just how it appeared to me.
Scott has a different mindset.
This was shown so noticeably I thought against Salisbury, when despite being down to 10 men he kept two attackers on the halfway line when we were defending corners.
Salisbury by comparison brought every man back when they were defending ours.
I couldn't believe that. 
A man advantage and you don't have any of your players outside your penalty area ?
We had a great start yesterday, with that early goal.
I hoped we'd start to dominate the game after that, but Enfield grew more into the game, and when they equalised  I really thought we were going to be in a battle for the rest of the match.
Those three rapid goals just before half-time changed the game completely, and the second half was one which we could all enjoy in a relatively relaxed manner !
I felt a bit sorry for Enfield's no. 2.
When pacy Kweku was substituted, we brought on the equally pacy John Ufuah for him to try to mark.
How nice is it to replace a speedy player with another one ?
We look a big, strong,pacy, physical team.
I feel its been a long time since we've been able to say that.
Quite often when  teams have lined up against us we've been noticeably 'smaller'.
Not any more.
Being bigger doesn't obviously mean better, but alongside Scott's mantra of effort and workrate it does add an asset I don't think we've had for a long time.
It was a great team performance yesterday.
The forwards were pretty awesome, and I have to say I like the way John Gilbert closes down on the goalkeeper when the ball is played back to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if he scores a goal this season when the ball rebounds off of him into the net when the goalie has kicked a clearance against him.
He wasn't far from doing so against Chelmsford and he was again pretty close to blocking one of Ryhs Forster's clearances yesterday !
It was very pleasing to see a team called Enfield back at this level.
Some of us fans of a certain vintage can remember all too easily that Enfield were a' giant' in non-league circles back in the 70's and 80's.
I guess their fans are feeling this morning as we did this time last season. 
Our third game last season saw us beaten 4-1 at home by Worthing.
God, that was dire.
At least the Enfield fans haven't seen their team lose their first three league matches like we did !
I hope Enfield find their feet and stay up this season.
It's nice to have them back.
So a great start to the season for us and we're in 5th place !
(Not that it means too much this early in the season.)
How well (or not), are we going to do ?
I honestly obviously don't know, but I feel in my bones that we are going to win more games than we lose, and that is not a bad base on which to build a season.
It was a fantastic night yesterday.
Wouldn't it be something to have  more performances like that in the months ahead !    
  

I think you're right HR.

We're are a team that when it all clicks we'll take some teams apart with our pace and physicality.

But being a relatively new side there will be a number of games when it just won't happen which is to be expected from a team predominantly set up to be an attacking one. 

Either way it should be an exciting roller coaster ride of a season and one we can all look forward to.

Edited August 21 by Reading Rebel

[Bernie Gogan]

Echoing what Holyport Rebel says, it is good to have Enfield back at our level. A friendly club, fan owned and everything that they have has been paid for by themselves. They have some challenges upgrading the ground to suit Step 2 whilst maintaining a side capable of playing at the new level. I'm not a big fan of running tracks between spectators and pitch, however it is what it is and if our club had that alternative whilst homeless I would have taken it.

Regarding the performance last night we were indeed too quick and physical for them. Dan Roth gets a special mention on his first start with a confident and assured display. We've got a special squad for sure with players able to play in different roles and a plethora of attacking options. Keep this up and bigger clubs will be circling, especially for our young lads. 

Between 150- 200 Rebels in the crowd tonight with a rousing Park Life at the end led by Yella!

[Father Jack]

The highest compliment that I can pay Slough is that they seemed more like a full time outfit than Torquay did the other week. We were simply unable to handle the physicality,  sharpness and pace , and gave up any hope of getting anything out of the game with a collective outbreak of naivety just before half time. 

Anyway, well done once again; with a bit of luck we'll be better equipped when we visit you. We are still a work in progress, and learned an awful lot about ourselves last night

 

All the best for the season 

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

2 hours ago, Bernie Gogan said:

Echoing what Holyport Rebel says, it is good to have Enfield back at our level. A friendly club, fan owned and everything that they have has been paid for by themselves. They have some challenges upgrading the ground to suit Step 2 whilst maintaining a side capable of playing at the new level. I'm not a big fan of running tracks between spectators and pitch, however it is what it is and if our club had that alternative whilst homeless I would have taken it.

Regarding the performance last night we were indeed too quick and physical for them. Dan Roth gets a special mention on his first start with a confident and assured display. We've got a special squad for sure with players able to play in different roles and a plethora of attacking options. Keep this up and bigger clubs will be circling, especially for our young lads. 

Between 150- 200 Rebels in the crowd tonight with a rousing Park Life at the end led by Yella!

Concur with Keith's sentiments about Enfield. Quite a few connections, to say the least, between the two clubs back in the day. A tonking at Southbury Road in the Amateur Cup, a smash and grab raid by us in the Trophy after being under the cosh for most of the game, and then getting back into the Conference at their expense. And I used to be quite fond of a  long-lost ground which had a track (for four rather than two legged beings) between the spectators and the pitch but nevertheless managed still to be quite intimidating to away teams and their fans. 

[Russ_Rebel]

What a fantastic result away from home , was not expecting such a big win , fair play to each and everyone on and off the pitch, loving this attacking side and the pace we have,  these new players are geling very well it seems, early days but I'm hoping maybe we can have a good season , feeling more optimistic after having a better start than last season, hats off to the recruitment team. Onwards and upwards 

[SloughFlyer]

Wasn't able to make last night as had to stay local, but following on Twitter it was great to see those tweets come in. 

Very positive start made by Slavi specifically on the goal scoring front, 4 goals in 3 games plus a couple of assists as well and seemingly a decent new partnership developing between him and Lucan. With Sam Evans still to come back and Jack Timberlake looking decent and scoring as well, seems like a good striker set up we have thus far early season.

Bring on Hornchurch.

[GlenSTFC]

I bet had Enfield thrashed us 6-1 their match highlights and manager interview would have been uploaded by now! 😏

[Reading Rebel]

14 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

I bet had Enfield thrashed us 6-1 their match highlights and manager interview would have been uploaded by now! 😏

There are a few lines from their manager on their web site but I've seen nothing else yet.

I suppose we'll have to allow them a bit of time to get over the shock.