| Adoring
the walls in the home changing rooms are two inspiring mottos spelled out
in the Club's yellow and black - "A quitter never wins and a winner
never quits" & "Winning is all that matters".
Both have clearly worked wonders on Town's players over the years given the
miraculous rise and rise of this
football club. Indeed it would not be unfair to state that Hucknall are well on the way to becoming the 21st Century
Wimbledon F.C. The Club was formed as
a pit side following the end of the Second World War named Hucknall
Colliery Welfare. Other than playing at the wonderfully named Wigwam Park
first the first decade of their existence, their impact on the local scene
was minimal. All this was to change in 1963, when the Club captured their
first piece
of silverware, the Notts Junior Cup, though few could have
believed just what this success would spur the Club on to do. The
zero's to heroes snowball commenced with a 'double double' in the Bulwell and District League
between 1963-65. Following a spell in the Noptts Spartan League, they were
promoted to the Notts Alliance in 1970, where they would reside for the
next 19 years. In their first season they won the N.A. Second Division,
along with the N.A. League Cup. During their time in the Notts Allaince,
they would also capture the First Division and Senior Division title on
many occasions, as well as adding another N.A. League Cup victory, a last
eight place in the F.A. Vase and their first Notts Senior Cup.
In October 1986, 121 years of mining
history came to an end at Hucknall Colliery and this signified a name
change for the Club to Hucknall Town. The success story continued unabated
with the reserves capturing their first Notts Intermiediate Cup in 1988,
and the first team promoted to the Central Midlands League in 1989. With
so much success, it would be understandable if the 90's proved to be a consolidation
period. Not a chance. In their first season in the CML, they completed a
League & Cup double, a feat they would repeat the a year later, along
with adding the Notts Senior cup for a second time. Promoted to the
Northern Counties East League Divsion One in 1992, the Club gained instant
promotion to the NCEL Premier Division. A year later they won the NCEL
Cup, and by 1998 they'd completed a double & were promoted as
champions to the Northern Premier League Division One. In the same year,
they became the only side ever to capture both the Notts Senior and
Intermediate Cup's through their first team and reserves
respectively.
In 1999 they won the NPL Division One and
the Club spent the summer completing the necessary ground improvements to ensure entry
into the NPL Premier Division. The Club celebrated the beginning of a new millennium
with further success in the Notts Senior Cup, and amazingly repeating
their Senior & Intermediate double of 1998. By 2004 the Club had remarkably won the Premier Division by nine
points and were all set for the Conference. However, they were cruelly
denied the opportunity to test themselves a league away from the 'big
boys' due to tough ground grading regulations and had to be content in
with a place in the new Conference North. The pinnacle of the Club's
success story arose a year later, when they stunned the non-league world
by reaching the final of the F.A. Trophy, only to go down narrowly on
sudden-death penalties to Kent side, Grays Athletic.
In the 15 years it took the Club to rise
from the depths of the Notts Alliance to the Conference North, Watnall
Road has been transformed beyond recognition. The Club now have a stadium which
the whole community can be proud.
On the entrance path to the Ground the
first thing you notice is that everything is decked out in yellow, there
is no escape whichever direction you turn at Watnall Road. Once you've stuck
your shades on, you notice that the old shed of a Social Club has been
replaced by a spanking new facility, aptly named 'The Talk of the
Town'.
This is much
more than a place just for a half time cup of tea, offering drinks, food
and entertainment throughout the week. It also has extensive catering
facilities for those wishing to hire out the splendid Byron Suite, named
after Hucknall's famous son, Lord Byron. Favourite features include the
numerous oppositions pendants hanging above the bar and the trophy
cabinet, which now houses an F.A. Trophy Runners-Up Plaque, along with
other various pieces of memorabilia.
Six tall and modern floodlights tower over
the ground, each high standard holding three clusters each. all appear to
have avoided a splattering of custard yellow at the time of going to
press.
The traditional home end,
the Doff Portland Stand, is a corrugated
terrace occupying the majority of the Social Club end of the ground. The
stand is set back a couple of meters from the pitchside barrier, enabling
more room for level standing leading back to a three step terrace. The
Stand is fully covered and held aloft by black nine steel beams, which can hamper the
view a little on busier days. In recent years, an extra, slightly higher
section has been added onto the end. The new section matches more closely
he height of the Main Stand. to the rear of the added section are two
large flag poles, one of which is guaranteed to be proudly flagging a
yellow flag on matchdays. Refreshments can be sort next to this part
of the stand, from a burger van if The Talk of the Town is a bit
busy.
At the opposite end of the ground is a
simple four step open terraced area with a line of yellow crash barriers
installed. Behind the steps is a 14-foot sloped graveled area, ripe for
development. This end backs onto a housing estate, an ideal location
for Town supporters to set up home one would think. A high netting
structure, held aloft by yellow posts, has been placed behind the stand to
try and prevent any wayward shots
landing in these 'free view' premises. A burger van is also available for
refreshments if the trek over the other side of the ground is a little too
much.
To the south of the ground is the Main
Stand, the only area to offer seated accommodation. Fully covered,
the stand running the length of the pitch. Two thirds (running from
left-to-right) now house approximately 480 seats bolted onto the old four
step terrace. There are four different blocks of coloured plastic seats,
black, red, yellow, then red again. All have been added in stages, though
it is clear that the yellow seats on the half way line are for the
V.I.P.'s due to their colour and location. If at all possible, avoid the
back row, as the view is slightly restricted. The remaining terraced area to
the right of the stand is the traditional away supporters section, and can
be segregated if needs be.
Very little has changed in recent years for
spectators on the north side of the ground, in that the area offers open
level standing to the backdrop of a tall wooden fence. Thankfully this
means that the old dug outs are still neatly incorporated into the
pitchside barrier which stands at four foot high, making it the least
ideal spot for smaller children, unless they've brought a crate with them.
The dug outs are tall enough to stand up in, and the home & away dug
outs are divided by the customary yellow painted pitchside barrier. In
the north east corner is the Club's impressive souvenir shop and changing
rooms, covered in, you've guessed it, yellow paint.
If the truth be told, not many of
Nottinghamshire's Club's grounds featured on this website offer estimated
ground capacities, as they have never had their estimates tested. Watnall
Road is an exception. Some analysts have put the capacity as anything up
to 5000. This is not the case. When they sold out for their F.A. Trophy
Semi-Final in 2005, the ground capacity was set at 1900 by Safety
Officials. The fact this left plenty of standing room in the ground demonstrates
that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
|
From
M1 J27 - Follow the signs
for the A611 (Hucknall) off the sliproad. Go straight over two roundabouts
(keeping to the right hand lane after the second roundabout) following the
lane markings for A611 Hucknall. After 1.2 miles veer right, going through
the traffic lights on to the dual carriageway, after 2 miles turn right at
the next roundabout. Go straight over the next roundabout, and after 0.6
miles, turn right at the next roundabout onto Watnall Road. Entrance to
the ground is 100 yards on the right.
TrentBarton Hucknall
Connect - a circular route from Hucknall train station around Hucknall town
passes the ground.
Hucknall - There is a rail link
between Nottingham and Mansfield called the 'Robin Hood Line'. The ground
is about a 20 minute to walk from the station. Leave the station and walk
up Station Road to the traffic lights (cinema/bingo club on far corner),
turn right to the next lights, turn left and this is Watnall Road. Keep
walking straight on over the roundabout.