Tamworth

Ground: The Lamb

Visits: 1

Date: 18th April 2014

Match: Tamworth - Hereford 1-0 (Conference Premier)

Attendance: 1 154

Once fixtures for Good Friday were confirmed I realised there was an opportunity of a double-header. The match at Proact Stadium in Chesterfield ended 16.50. After having something to eat at a Chinese restaurant we then left Chesterfield at 18.10 and 35 minutes later we were in Tamworth. Tamworth vs Hereford in the Conference Premier was to be our second match of the day. With Tamworth already being relegated this match was much more important for the visitors from Hereford than for the home team. Hereford are fighting to stay up and brought a healthy away following to Tamworth this Friday evening. We arrived at the ground shortly after 19.00 and the first impression of The Lamb, the home of Tamworth, was that this is a very basic football ground. The club shop was housed in a shed and tickets were sold at the turnstiles only. Anyway, we bought terrace tickets and once inside our first impression was correct. This is indeed a basic ground. The Lamb has a capacity of around 4 000 and three of the stands are terraces. The only seated stand is in the north side of the ground. Away supporters are in the East Stand. As Jocke was taking a few pictures of the stands, before the match, a steward came running and shouted "Pictures are not allowed". When I later met up with some German groundhoppers they told me they had been told several times not to take pictures as well. Somehow the angry stewards never spotted me! As long as you don´t have a professional camera you are allowed to take pictures, that is the general rule at most grounds. At Tamworth they seem to have other rules though.

As I said earlier this was an important match for Hereford and the Bulls brought 400 or so fans to Tamworth. In total 1 154 was at The Lamb and that was much more than I expected. Tamworth won the match 1-0 and sent Hereford into even more trouble. During the match I chatted with German groundhoppers Stephan and Christoph who I have met a couple of times in Germany. They were in company with Patrick, who I met at four matches in Iceland last summer. A small world I guess. Staying in Manchester I was not back at my hotel untill 00.20. One more match for me on this tour, tomorrow at Burton.

the lamb, outside