Wall Park, Home Of Brixham AFC

[Dave]

Wall Park, Home Of Brixham AFC

After visiting Wall Park yesterday I'm not sure if I have ever watched a game at this ground before. I had seen pictures of the ground so had an idea of what it looked like, but they were old photos and many changes have taken place since they were taken and more are in the pipeline.

Its easy to drive along Wall Park Road and be unaware there is a football ground in that road due to the fact you have to go up a small lane to get to the ground. The lane is very close to the entrance of the old Pontins Holiday Park that was closed down in 2008. It’s sad to see that entrance all fenced off and the park when it closed must have made a huge difference to the Brixham economy. Plans to build housing on the site have been turned down once, but I believe new revised plans have been submitted.

As you walk up the lane to the football ground the first building you come across is the club house that houses the changing rooms and the club house. This building had a new extension added to it that now has an outdoor covered seating area where you can watch a game in the complete dry should it be raining.

If you walk through this area you come across a small out door seating area and behind that is an old shed like building that has been used for storage in the past. It’s this area that will be improved next and I understand the old shed will be taken down and a new seating area created. Torquay United fans will be interested to know that the seats that will be put there come from the old main grandstand at Plainmoor that was taken down and replaced by Bristow’s Bench.

Back to the clubhouse that has a bar, large screen TV and a pool table along with seating areas and all this is housed in the extension that was added to the old building. Next to the bar area you will find a very nice lady who runs the food outlet where I bought a sausage roll and a drink with a top on the bottle after my recent experience at Homers Heath with some nasty little wasps.

The doorway next to the food outlet takes you into the dressing rooms area and they are very clean and have a row of showers along the back wall. There is also a much smaller room that is used by the match officials.

Coming back out side and looking across the pitch the other side of the ground the first thing you notice is the two old and rather quaint grandstands are no longer there. One fell down all on its own and the club took down the other one, the dug outs have been placed where one of the grandstands stood. For me it was sad to see those stands gone, they sure added character to the ground, but one hopes if the club can for fill its ambitions and move up the football ladder, the day will come when that side of the ground gets redeveloped.

The pitch has a good covering of grass on it and like so many other local pitches is crying out for some rain to fall on it. It’s not completely flat but that was not noticeable during the match and while not the best pitch I have seen locally, it’s a far better playing surface that can be found at most local clubs.

Wall Park is a friendly and very welcoming ground and as the team currently play in the South Devon League, free to enter. If and when the club move up the football ladder that will change, but I would willing be more than happy to pay to watch Brixham AFC play at Walls Park.

Brixham AFC a club that is going places and is being run very well, I hope in time more Brixham people will get along and give their full support to this fine club.

[Dave]

At most grounds I have my favourite spot where I like to stand and take my pictures and watch the game. The sun if is out is one deciding factor, the other is the linesman. There is nothing worse then getting home and checking out your photos only to discover the ones where you thought you had captured that magic goal has not happened as the lineman crossed in front of the lens while it was firing in burst mode.

At Wall Park in Brixham I have always stood on the allotment side of the ground between the corner flag and the dugouts. The linesmen on that side are always on the other side of the dugouts at the Pontins end of the ground.

At the moment behind the goal at that end of the ground is a very high pile of rubble etc from the bulldozed former holiday park. This will be removed at some point as that area will become the gardens of the houses that will be built on that site.

The high poles and netting behind the goal has been moved back and I was told this will allow people to be able to watch the game from there and also gain access to area between the dugouts and the corner flag. It was this area where I ended up having to watch the game from yesterday and yes I had to keep my eye on the position of the linesman and try and plan my shots better.

The reason for having to move to this location was the fact that the club have been busy moving other poles and netting and as a result has made one part of the ground where people did stand, almost unusable.

If the ball did clear the netting on the dugout side at the Pontins end, it ended up in the allotment and was easy to retrieve. I’m not sure what is behind the ground from the dugouts to the corner flag on what I will call the town side of the pitch. But when balls have cleared the netting there I believe trying to find them and retrieve was a whole different ball game.

Is that the reason the netting has been moved? Before it was on the edge of the ground there, now the poles have been moved pitch side of the fence people stand behind. The result is it is all most impossible to watch the game from there now as you have to look through the net to do so.

With the netting now being just a yard or so from the edge of the pitch it might well help prevent any balls going out of the ground on that strip, but standing there just for a few seconds, took me back to the time when football fans were contained behind fences and that was not a good feeling.

The first picture shows the poles moved onto the pitch side of the fence.