Last Game Before Travels - Croydon vs. Epsom And Ewell

Sign at clubhouse entrance

I travel to The States on Saturday and so Wednesday was my last chance to see a game for a couple of weeks. I travelled to The Arena for the Combined Counties match between Croydon agaisnt Epsom and Ewell. Both sides were having mixed starts to their seasons and were both in mid table. In the first half their was a penalty for either side and both were converted. Epsom sealed the win early in the second half despite Croydon having a lot of the ball. There wont be any posts for a couple of weeks while I'm away but in the mean time keep on exploring!

View through the brambles from the back of the clubhouse.

CCL / FA Cup Flashback - Croydon vs. Whitehawk

The stand at The Arena

At the very start of the 2008-09 season, I made the journey on the Croydon Tramlink down to The Arena for the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round replay between Croydon and Whitehawk. The first game was a hard fought nil nil draw at The Enclosed Ground. Croydon had made an explosive start to the league season, winning 5-2 at home to Lordswood in the Kent League. This would be Croydon's final season in the Kent League before moving over to the Combined Counties League.

The view from the back of the stand

Unfortunately I don't remember many specific details about the game. Having said that, it was one of the most thrilling games I've seen during my time in London. The game finished 4-3 in normal time and I believe that Croydon were 3-1 down at one point.

Pitch side view.

The quickest way to reach the Arena from central London is to get a train to either West or East Croydon and then get the tram to Arena. The entire journey will take around forty five minutes. The ground is then a five minute walk from the stop. The clubhouse is pretty decent, but you can't enter it from the ground and you'll walk past it on the walk from the tram stop. I don't remember there being any pubs near the ground but there quite a few in Croydon itself.

The Arena pitch under lights.