The venue for our latest Proper Football away day was Hadley Football Club thanks to an invite from one of our followers Tom Hammond who is not only a big fan of The Bricks but also a volunteer at the club and one of the many unsung heroes you find around the country who are the heart and soul of non-league football.
On arrival at Brickfield Lane, the home of Hadley FC, which is situated in North London near Barnet, the fog had descended, and the weather looked like something from the 1980s Horror film of the same name! Thankfully, the game turned out to be anything like a horror show; in fact, it was an enthralling, action-packed thriller!
We received a very warm welcome from Tom along with one of the club directors, Oliver Deed in the cosy clubhouse, who both gave us an overview and a bit of history about the club who are currently playing at its highest-ever level in Step 4 in the Southern League Division One Central.
After a quick pint in the clubhouse, we headed into the ground with Tom and he told us about how he started supporting the club and how the Bricks have gone from strength to strength on and off the pitch since they returned to a refurbished Brickfield Lane in 2016-17 following over £500,000 worth of improvements including the installation of floodlights, fencing and a new stand after eight years of ground sharing with Potters Bar Town.
With kick-off fast approaching, fans were starting to filter through the turnstile and the fog! taking up their positions around the ground which has a capacity of 2,000 with a covered seating area and covered terraced areas on all the other sides of the ground.
Have to say the Hadley fans were in great voice from the start with a repertoire of original and humorous songs, but it didn't stop the away side from dominating the play in the first 25 minutes with Hertford Town playing some lovely one-touch football resulting in them taking a deserved lead in the 22nd minute.
The goal seemed to spark the home side into action, and with what looked like a couple of tactical tweaks, The Bricks started to win the midfield battle, and at the break, it was fair to say it was a game of two first-halfs!
Now it was time for the much anticipated half-time tennis ball challenge!
Also, during the interval, we had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Nash, a Hadley FC fan and vice president at the club who took The Bricks out to play a side in San Marino last year to complete his mission of visiting all 55 European UEFA Nations to watch a game of football!
Into the second half, with the fog now dispersed, it was end-to-end action from the off, with Hertford Town looking to extend their lead and Hadley trying to get the equaliser, and the home side did just that with the goal coming for The Bricks in the 53rd minute! Unfortunately, I was en route to get some food and, in typical fashion, was in the toilet when the goal went in! 🙈 thankfully, Gary caught it on camera, which you can see at the end of the article.
Time to grab a bit of food and it didn't disappoint, I was going to go for a burger but unfortunately, they were sold out, no doubt due to an excellent attendance of 251 so I opted for the chilli with rice + soured cream and nachos which went down a treat whilst watching what was an enthralling 2nd half with both teams going at it hammer and tongs with both keepers making great saves and neither side happy to settle for a point.
The referee brought an exciting game to an end and a point a piece was a fair result for the two sides which sees Hadley move into the play-off positions in 5th place and Hertford Town consolidate in 15th which I must say looks like a false position with how they performed on the day and the fact the improving Blues are now 6 games unbeaten.
Before we left Brickfield Lane, we caught up with Oliver Deed, one of the directors, to tell us about the plans for the club going forward.
We can't thank Tom enough for getting in touch with us and inviting us to come down, he is a credit to non-league football along with all the other club officials and staff we met on the day, also it was great to speak with many of the supporters who took time to talk us at what is a super friendly club and a club who are doing things the right way!
Here's some of the footage we took of the game, and if you would like us to come down to your non-league club, feel free to get in touch. 👍🏻⚽️
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