Ground
In 1989 the club moved to the Portway Stadium, situated in the Portway Industrial Estate on the western outskirts of the town. Built at a cost of £850,000, the ground has a main stand of brick and concrete construction with bench seating for around 250 people. This stand is set on a bank running along the entire south side of the ground, giving spectators on that side an elevated view of the pitch. The managers' benches are set into this banking in front of the stand at pitch level. The banking slopes down behind each goal until it reaches the same level as the pitch along the north side. There is hard standing around the entire perimeter of pitch, along with a turnstile block and a gate opening out onto the stadium car park for ambulance access.
The stadium's clubhouse (named the Portway Suite) is also situated on this elevated side, just inside the turnstiles. The clubhouse houses a function suite and bar at first-floor level, and changing rooms, physio room, public announcement equipment, toilets and a tea bar at ground-floor level.
In addition to hosting the club's first, reserve and youth team fixtures, the Portway Stadium has also played host to a number of local and regional cup matches. They include Hampshire Senior Cup semi-finals, Hampshire Floodlit Youth Cup finals, and the South West Counties Women's Championship playoff final.
Previously, the club played at the Walled Meadow, near to the town centre. The ground had a main wooden stand along one side (which incorporated the changing rooms), and a bank of covered terracing on the opposite side. The ground was mainly accessed via the car park off London Road, with turnstiles also situated on Eastfield Road behind the main stand. Since the club left the Walled Meadow in 1989, the ground has been demolished and the site is now used for a housing development of the same name.
Read more about this topic: Andover F.C.
Famous quotes containing the word ground:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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