Hanwell Town

Hanwell Town are a non league football club based in Perivale, West London. The club were formed in 1920 by a group of natives of Newcastle upon Tyne who moved to the capital for work, hence the clubs black and white kit.


Town started off playing in the London League but moved to more local football after the Second World War. The club played their home games at the Ealing Central Sports Ground from the beginning on the 60s. In 1970 they progressed to the Middlesex League and then the Spartan League by the early 80s as Town moved into their new Reynolds Field home. By 1989 they had installed floodlights. When the Spartan League amalgamated in 1998, 'The Geordies' became founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League.


When non league football was re-organised in 2006, Town were placed in the new Southern League Division One South and West. Their spell lasted just one season before they returned back to the SSML.

Hanwell Town FC will compete in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division for the 2013-14 season.




My visits


Friday 20th October 2006


I had a day off from work so I decided to head to West London and visit some new grounds. I had been to AFC Hayes and took a bus and then tube to Perivale station. Within a few minutes I was outside the gates of Reynolds Field.

 










The ground was looking at its best for Southern League football, having had several recent upgrades. The entrance was by a corner flag. Behind the nearest goals was a long cover with a few steps. Opposite me was a fine looking clubhouse and changing room block on two stories. Alongside it was a seated stand. The rest of the ground consisted of open grass and hard standing. Practice pitches were between the far side stands and the nearby Western Avenue.


I wandered off and went to next destination, North Greenford United.

Hanwell Town 0 Haringey Borough 3 (Tuesday 30th August 2011) Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division (att: 52)

My brother Nick was down to stay for a couple of nights as he had work in London, so I thought it was about time he saw a game at this level. After looking through the fixtures and considering facilities and travelling times, a visit to Reynolds Field seemed to be the best option.

We had tea and then headed off. The first snag was a hold up on the tube. We eventually got to Wembley Park and before long we were on board the 297 bus. Unfortunately this hit heavy traffic around Wembley High Road and then Alperton, although it did offer siome potential future eating places. We jumped out at Perivale station and cut across the fields to the A40 only to see our bus go down the road by the side of the ground. At least it would make the homeward journey convenient.

My first impression was that someone was working hard at the the club selling advertising, as plenty of the high fencing enclosing the ground was offering various services. We walked around the ground to find the entrance at the far side of the car park by the clubhouse.  Admission was £6 which included a decent programme, which represented good value.

 









How looks can deceive. The clubhouse was functional but it didn't live up to its distant appearance. The stock behind the bar was limited owing to them missing their delivery because of the Bank Holiday. We settled for a can of Fosters each at a very reasonable price and sat to read the programme. There appeared to be several other groundhoppers about. The SSML used their common sense by placing all their games midweek instead of on Monday like most other leagues.

The match itself saw a good performance from the visitors. It was pretty even for first half hour until a visitors full back scored a stunning volley. I got into the action with a header after a ball was cleared near us. It bloody hurt! Hanwell weren't bad but they were missing a cutting edge and indeed a sitter later in the half. The defence concentrated a bit much on moaning at the linesman instead of playing to the whistle. The second came when a player came through and finished to the bottom corner despite complaints he was offside.

We had a bottle of Bud at halftime (I said that the stock was limited!) and it was nice to see MP Stephen Pound there supporting his local club and mixing with the fans. There looked to be a decent tea/snack bar inside the clubhouse.

 




 






Hanwell tried to get back into it in the second half but Haringey always looked more threatening on the break. There was some good  football from both sides and it was so nice to see most of it on the deck. The home side got a lifeline when the referee gradually lost control and started to give decisions to whoever shouted loudest gave a penalty, but the keeper pulled off a brilliant save. The third goal came from a powerful solo run and a great finish. That somed up Boro's performance. They were more incisive and generally quicker going forward.

We left a few minutes before full time, and not to beat the crowds as Nick joked. The bus stop allowed a view of the far end of the pitch and we saw the ref signal the end of the game just as our bus arrived. We were inside Wetherspoons at Kingsbury having a nightcap by 10.20. Nick enjoyed the evening, which I took as a reasonable gauge, as I know I have a high level of tolerance of the standard of football I sometimes see.

As a footnote, the SSML committee deserve some credit. There were some excellent crowds around the league on the evening.