Kingfield - Woking FC
Woking 2-1 Cambridge United
09/10/12 - Blue Square Premier
Att: 1,420
Kingfield Road End
Main Stand
Leslie Gosden Stand
Two days after visiting White Hart Lane I found myself with another Tuesday off work and an opportunity to visit another ground. With the Football League clubs all involved in JPT action I opted to watch a non-league game instead of attending a match at a half closed stadium in a competition that no one cares about until they reach the semi-final. Looking through the fixtures Woking was the obvious choice, just 12 miles up the road.
It was a simple train journey and within 10 minutes I was over the boarder into Surrey and I made the twenty minute walk to the ground which was very well sign posted from the station. It's a pleasant enough walk, through quiet roads and a park. I arrived at the ground at around 7pm but with nothing to really do or see from the outside I opted to go in, joining the Cambridge supporters on the away terrace.
As I entered the ground I bought a programme, where the guy selling them proudly informed me that they're "50p cheaper than yours" - I had no idea what he was on about, so I politely smiled and agreed, before purchasing some chips and taking a few pictures.
I'd visited Kingfield numerous times in the past and the ground was exactly as I remembered it. August 2012 marked the 90th anniversary of Woking's time at this venue, having settled at the ground after previously using five different locations before settling down in 1922. A crowd of 3,000 saw the first competitive match at the ground as Woking drew 1-1 with Tufnell Park in the Isthmian League. Crowds continued to grow and in 1928 a new 350 seat stand was erected to cope with demand.
In 1958 Woking won the FA Amateur Cup, beating Ilford 3-0 in front of a crowd of 71,000 at Wembley in the last Amateur Cup final to be televised live. The money raised from this success paid for further ground developments, with the improvement of the dressing room facilities and a covered stand down the side. In 1964 floodlights were installed at the ground, with Chelsea playing a friendly at Kingfield to mark the occasion. During the 60's the club bar "The Cardinal Club" was also opened and played host to The Jam in 1975. Paul Weller, originally from the town, also filmed the video for "Solid Bond in Your Heart" at the football club with Style Council in 1983.
The ground as it stands today really came into being during the 1970's with the building of concrete terracing and further improvements were made as the club progressed in the early 90's, which included a famous cup run in the 1990/91 season which saw Woking make national headlines when they defeated West Brom 4-2 at The Hawthorns before going out to a single goal at Goodison Park in the next round in front of over 34,000 people.
The following season Woking were promoted to the Conference and finished a very respectable 8th place in their debut season at that level. The 1990's proved to be a very successful period for Woking as they secured the FA Trophy in 1994 with victory over Runcorn and a year later they repeated the feat beating Kidderminster Harriers. With a successful team and rising crowds a four-phase plan to increase the capacity to 10,000 and develop the ground to be fit for the Football League was announced. Phase one was complete in 1995 when the 2,016 capacity Leslie Gosden Stand was built. In 1994/95 and 1995/96 The Cards finished as runners up in the Conference and a year later Woking were back at Wembley and won the FA Trophy for a third time, this time Dagenham & Redbridge were defeated in the final.
After that Wembley win manager Geoff Chapple departed for Kingstonian and it began a steady decline in the club's fortunes. Following several scares and years of mid-table mediocrity Woking were relegated in 2008/09 after sixteen seasons in non-league's top flight. In their first season in the Blue Square South Woking finished 5th but were defeated by Bath City in the play off final. A year later Woking recovered from an awful start to finish 5th again, but missed out in the play offs once again as they were beaten by Farnborough in the semi-final. Last season they finally won promotion as they stormed the league with 97 points, finishing 9 points clear of Dartford who went on to win the play offs.
Going into this match both teams were in mid-table, with one team being very pleased with their start and the other being far from impressed. Woking's solid start has been built upon strong home form, with four wins from the five matches played at Kingfield. An eight match winless run lead to Cambridge United making a managerial change as former Walsall manager Richard Money took over, with The U's beating Mansfield Town 4-1 in his first match in charge.
There was a good turnout by the Cambridge supporters with around 200 gathered on the away terrace, which runs down the side of the pitch and is open to the elements. Facilities are basic but the view is okay and thankfully the rain held off so we didn't get wet. Opposite us the Main Stand, which consists of two small seated structures that have stood almost as long as the ground has been open. Behind the goal to our right was the Kingfield Road End, which is a small covered terrace where the more vocal Woking supporters were gathered and produced a good atmosphere for most of the match. Behind the other goal is the Leslie Gosden stand which towers above the rest and is by far the best stand at the ground. Large, steep and very modern it wouldn't look out of place a much higher level. Overall the capacity of the ground is around 6,000.
As the game got underway Cambridge started the brighter of the two teams and enjoyed a lot of possession, although they struggled to create any clear cut opportunities. Having failed to capitalise on their early pressure Woking grew into the game and began to build up a head of steam which lead to the opening goal on 19 minutes when a cross into the box was met at the back post by the head of Bradley Bubb. Minutes later it should have been 2-0, but with the goal at his mercy Bubb's mis-kick allowed for the ball to be cleared by the Cambridge defence.
At the start of the second half it was the home side that started the strongest and it was no real surprise when Kevin Betsy, who originally joined the club in 1997, doubled the home side's advantage with a cool finish from inside the box. It looked like it would have killed the game off, but Cambridge hit back just moments later when a corner was headed home by Robbie Willmott. That goal gave the visitors a new lease of life and they bombarded the Woking goal as they went in search of an equaliser. A succession of corners lead to many near misses and the home side's anxiety was worsened by the addition of six minutes following a long delay due to an injury. Somehow The Cards held out to claim all three points from what was an entertaining game.
Getting back to the station after the match was simple enough and I was soon on the train home after an enjoyable evening of football. Kingfield is a pleasant enough venue and Woking are a club with a great tradition within the non-league game. The locals are friendly and it's a ground well worth visiting.
Outside the ground
Kick off
Panoramic view of Kingfield
