Ground number 376 (377 if you include Motspur Park from outside) 142nd ground that has staged League football
Date of First Visit: 27th October 2025
Gander Green Lane, West Sutton, London
Crystal Palace U21s 0
Newcastle United U21s 2 ( Munda, Brayson)
Premier League 2
Attendance: 700 (estimated)
“GANNIN FOR A GANDER!”
To avoid an owerneet stay in London , it woz decided to travel in ‘Blondie Alan the Morris Dancers’ ‘jam jar’ to Donny (Doncaster) and get a train to King’s Cross and then onward on another train to West Sutton, where the game woz bein played at Sutton United FC
The reason to take a car to Donny, woz because the 11.31pm train back from King’s Cross terminated at Donny! thus avoiding a hotel stay by taking a car doon to drive back!
Anyway! In total the jorney time doon took ower 6 hours in total and we arrived at wor destination 2 hours before the ‘7.00pm bells 🔔 kick off time! (Left at ‘10.30am 🔔s’)
We (me and Blondie Alan) heeded for the nearest boozer which woz caalled The Gander Inn where we met fellow ‘mad-sad groundhopper’ Alex of St George (Middleton St George near Teesside Airport)
I needed a ‘gypsies kiss’ in ‘the toolshed’, but the gents sign on the door said ‘Toilet out of order’! I asked the barman where there woz another toolshed and he just told me just to use the one that woz out of order? “So why’s the sign on the door if it iz OK to use?” I asked him!
“The toilet’s in use now, but we just keep the sign up!”, he replied! (Make sense of that IF you can?🤔)
It woz soon time to heed for the floodlights which were glowin in the dark in the distance and in the clubhoose there were more Toonhoppers in the shape of ‘Glennn from Ashington’, ‘Biffa the Beer’ and Toon fan caalled Dale who lives in Fulham in west London!
The game kicked off and there woz the usual 500-700 in attendance that you get at these games!—(Selhurst Park iz some 8 miles north of here!)
The Toon were on the front foot from the start az we attacked the right hand goal from where we were at the front of the old lookin main stand! The rest of the groond had smaall covered stands and it looked like a typical smaall club setup!
We had quite a few chances, before taking the lead in the 20th minute when Anthony Munda opened the scorin with a fine heeder from a Alex Murphy cross! That’s the way it stayed til the break!
Seung-soo Park had came close before that with a fine shot that woz saved by Lee in the Palace goal!
At half time aa heeded back to the clubhoose for some more ‘liquid lubrications’ and a Toon fan who I’d never met, enquired “Are you the famous Glenn?” ((Glennn from Ashington) Quick az a flash, I replied, “NO, I’m the famous Fink!” (Or should that read infamous Fink?)
Anyway! I foond Glennn and introduced them! He lived not far away in Carshultan and woz soon ‘christened’ ‘Carshultan Mick’ by me!
The second half woz well underway and like the forst half wor U21s ran the show!
Wor U21s doubled wor lead through Joe Brayson (son of ex Toon player Paul Brayson) who hit a fine shot into the corner of the net from a Neave pass!
That’s woz the final goal of the match and then we faced the complicated retorn jorney, eventually arriving back yem at ‘3.00am bells’ where motorway closures near Selby on the A1M added to wor travel sickness!
Another groond off the list and mee 25th in London!
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