Gedling Southbank

You must have come in a taxi

From Nottingham City Centre - Follow Carlton Road (Signed A612 Southwell) out of Nottingham, passing the Nottingham Ice Arena, for 2.1 miles. The Ground is on the RHS shortly after the Carlton Hill shops, and has a car park.

From the East - Where the A46 & A52 meet, take the 2nd exit at the roundabout for A6097 (Doncaster). Follow A6097 west for 3.7 miles. At roundabout, turn left for Nottm onto A612 for 4 miles. Turn right at the 2nd set of traffic lights after the bridge onto Burton Road, continue straight on for 1 mile, and the Ground is on your LHS, opposite the local Conservative Party headquarters.

From North/West - Leave M1 at Jnc. 26 and follow A610 towards Nottingham to reach Ring Road. Turn left on to Ring Road for A60 - Mansfield. Follow signposts for A60 towards Mansfield for about 4 miles passing over two roundabouts then turn left at the traffic lights. Turn next right at Vale Hotel pub on to Thackerays Lane. Proceed to roundabout and take second left on to Arno Vale Road. Proceed through lights, passing the Arrow pub on your LHS, to top of hill. Continue straight on through next set of lights on to Arnold Lane. Proceed, past Gedling Church on your LHS, straight over mini-roundabout. Continue as the road curves round to the right until reaching junction with A612. Turn right towards Nottingham, then right again onto Burton Road, continue straight on for 1 mile, and the Ground is on your LHS, opposite the local Conservative Party headquarters.

Nottingham City Transport no.s 25 & 27 from Kings Street run past the Ground. Pathfinder Southwell Sprinter 100 (Nottm - Southwell) also passes the Ground.

Carlton - 1 mile. Walk up Station Road for 0.5 miles to Carlton Square, then up Carlton Hill. The ground is on your LHS.

For a map of the location, Click here.

My garden shed is bigger than this

Upon locating Carlton Hill Recreational Ground, you will find that there is no evidence that this is the home of Gedling Southbank at all. To take you further off the scent, on entering Ground's main gates you are greeted by a plaque on the changing rooms welcoming you to "Carlton Westdale Football Club", one of many football teams to have graced the Carlton Hill turf over the years, Carlton Athletic, Carlton Catholic Club & Carlton Diamond being just three which spring to mind. Southbank could therefore be forgiven for not mounting their own name plate as in all likelyhood, the brick wall holding the plaque would probably fall down were any extra holes to be drilled into it.

Despite the lack of fanfare announcing their existence, and the modest facilities presently on offer, this should not lead one to underestimate the potential of this football club. In 2005, not only did they appear as finalists in the NSL Senior Cup, but they also went on to win the Notts Intermediate Challenge Cup for the first time in their history.

The Club was formed in 1972, as Southbank Football Club, changing it's name to Arnold Southbank Football Club at the beginning of the 2003/04 season. The Club runs a number of teams at different levels, and in 2005 set up a feeder club to nurture young talent for the future in the form of Gedling AFC, who dropped the AFC in 2005 to become Gedling Southbank. Likewise, in June 2006, Arnold Southbank followed suit, dropping the 'Arnold' prefix for 'Gedling'.

The Senior team play all of their fixtures at Carlton Hill, though other matches are shared between Carlton Hill and Haywood School Playing Fields in Sherwood and William Lea. All of these venues are within the Borough of Gedling, and thus the new name fits perfectly.

Carlton Hill Recreation Ground is in a unique position in that it is in a valley overlooked by a main route in and out of Nottingham. On a personal note, this is the nearest ground to my child hood home. As a schoolboy, I used to dream that if I won the pools I'd turn Carlton Athletic, residents of the Recreation Ground in the mid 1980's, into a force to be reckoned with. My intention was to build magnificent stands worthy of the team playing within. Sadly, this was clearly illogical thinking on my part, as it would prove incredibly difficult to develop the area at all for present tenants Southbank. In any case, there would be no need to pay to get in, one could just view a game from the top of the Carlton Hill.

Whilst the location holds a special place in my heart, there are very few features at the Recreational Ground of note to divulge. Temporary ropes mounted on wooden stakes are used to surround the pitch on match days only, with the general public able to use the pitch at all other times. Standing on the hill to the south-west of the ground, one can afford glorious views of the Belvoir Valley (pronounced Beaver), and one can possibly make out Leicestershire's Belvoir Castle on a clear day.

To the east of the pitch is a huge curved metal fence, erected to prevent footballs being kicked into the gardens of the neighboring houses. It is on this side of the ground upon which the coaching parties of both teams are usually sited.

On the Carlton Hill side, at the top of the mount is located the car park, and also a wooden bench for a privileged few to enjoy the game. The most prominent feature of the ground can be found on this side in the Club's changing rooms. There is nothing particularly special about the facilities on offer, but interestingly these premises double as polling stations during local and national elections.

Future Plans

The Club effectively consider themselves homeless. With all of their team's fixture's spread over three pitches, miles away from one another, they are desperate to find a permanent place in the Borough of Gelding which they can call their own. By the commencement of the 2006/07 season, another pitch at Lambley Lane in Gedling will be brought into the fold. Unlike the other locations, this is one possible location which could be developed further, with several pitches available, and a Clubhouse. Southbank are currently talking to Gedling Borough about this potential development opportunity, but it's going to take time as it's tied in with plans for a new road, a new housing development and a new school, all in the near vicinity.