Kettering's Main Stand - the jewel in what is by now a pretty tatty crown

The Poppies eh? What about them then? For most Yeovil fans I suspect that Kettering are one of those teams that we always seem to meet year after year (except when either they or us have been relegated) and don't feel too much about one way or another. They're too far away from us for any real rivalry to have developed over the years and like income tax or fish on Friday's, they're always there, but they never really impinge on our conciousness too much unless we're actually playing them - and our record against them has been pretty good in the fairly recent past as can be seen in the table below. They're one of the biggest club's in the non-league game, have enjoyed moderate success over the years including two trips to the Trophy Final, losing on both occasions and - like Yeovil - have tended to underachieve in the top flight of the non-league game when - like Yeovil - a club of their size and undoubted potential really should have found a way into the Third Division by now. Mind you, Kettering have always got one thing going for them which will forever ensure their popularity amongst most Conference fans - they're Not Ru$hden, and quite right too.

Kettering, back in the bad old days used to have one of the best grounds in the league. Now, many other clubs have passed them by and their ground is now decidedly average on the scale of things, and is a bit on the tatty side. It's not that it has fallen into ruin over the past 10 - 15 years and is perfectly acceptable for League football, just that whereas other Conference clubs like Woking, Stevenage, Morecambe have all gone on ambitious expansion programmes, Kettering haven't done anything noticeable. Rockingham Road looks and feels the same as it did when we first started going there in the Conference.

Thus, you end up parking in a pokey little gravel car park in a corner of the ground, you end up going into a rather awful looking pokey club bar (of which more later), and to make matters worse they segregate when neither the design of their ground, nor the nature of the home fans, seems to warrant this. Cynics might suggest this is simply to make it easier to rip-off away fans, because they had (and maybe still have, we'll soon find out) a discriminatory pricing policy for visiting fans on concessions. Be prepared for a row at the turnstiles: our experience is that sometimes making a huge fuss works, sometimes it doesn't, dependent on the level of "Jobsworth" you're facing. The away terrace is pretty much a mound, open to the elements. Think the old Bucks Head, add in a few more years of concrete cancer, and you've got Rocky Road. It all gives the away fan a slightly unpleasant trip.

Back to the footie anyway: Four season's ago The Poppies were challenging for promotion to Division Three only to be pipped at the post by Cheltenham. A season of mid-table mediocrity followed with relegation to the DML Premier coming at the end of the 2000-01 season - a particularly bad year for Kettering fans as this was the year that nouveau-rich kids on the block and local rivals Ru$hden finally bought their way into the League. The Poppies surprised this writer, and one suspects themselves and their fans, by bouncing straight back up to the Conference however, winning promotion on the last day of last season with a 2-1 win at Tiverton.

At the time of writing it's been a difficult pre-season for the Poppies. From last season's title winning squad experienced striker Darren Collins has left for Cambridge City, while highly influential midfielder Peter Fear has unexpectedly signed for DML Premier promotion hopefuls Crawley. In has come, er, no-one at the moment, though there are rumours going around currently that former Premiership star Scott Sellars is set to sign. Veteran striker Dale Watkins is still scoring, but Manager Carl Shutt has a lot of of work to do at present to fashion a competitive Conference squad. Kettering's finances preclude them from going full-time in the immediate future at least.

Prediction Corner : Sorry Kettering fans, but in our humble opinion the Poppies are probably the weakest of the 3 teams promoted last season. Unless they can add real quality to their squad fairly quickly and in numbers then Ciderspace predicts a long hard season for the Poppies culminating in a fight against relegation at the end. The good news is that there will be worse teams around and we expect them to survive in the Conference.... just! Final position: 18th!

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RECENT RESULTS

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name

LGE

FAC

FAT

LGC

CC

Total

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 2240, vs Oxford United, 11/08/2009
Lowest League Attendance: 2240, vs Oxford United, 11/08/2009
Average League Attendance: 2240

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	1		Games Without A Home Win:	1
Games Without An Away Win:	0		Games Without Defeat:	1
Games Without A Home Defeat:	1		Games Without An Away Defeat:	0
Games Without A Draw:	0		Games Without A Score Draw:	0
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	1		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	0		Home Results Sequence:	D
Away Results Sequence:			Overall Results Sequence:	D

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From M1 (North)
Exit the M1 at junction 19, and follow the A14. Exit the A14 at junction 7 (ground signposted) and follow A43 for about a mile, turning right at the first roundabout onto the A6003. Continue towards the town centre along Rockingham Road for approx 1/2 mile and the ground is on your left.

Local Pubs :

The Cherry Tree - was a good pub, not now!

With Kettering getting relegated most opinions on pubs are several years old and establishments and their landlords may have changed. There are quite a few in and around the town centre. One highlight was The Cherry Tree, which is about five minutes walk north-east of the railway station, but it had gone completely down the pan the last time we were there. A couple of doors up from the Cherry Tree, heading north on the main road, you'll find The Old Market Inn. It was good for real ale, but the staff were as unfriendly and unwelcoming as they come. No children is their prerogative, but they were as rude as possible about it, with the clear indication they didn't want any football fans either. We were quite pleased to see they've subsequently been dropped from the Good Beer Guide. There's a great barn of a place another couple of hundred yards further on (through the shopping precinct) the name of which escapes us. No food, moderate beer, few customers, an inoffensive but pretty morose landlord - but it did have a big screen to watch the lunch-time (without any lunch) game.

The Old Market Tavern - 100 yards further up from the Cherry Tree

The pub to aim for if you can, which we came across towards the end of last season when in Kettering for the Engand v Scotland game, is well out from the town centre, and therefore more suitable for people travelling by car. Down close to Wicksted Park is The Piper - south east of Kettering town centre and one mile from the Railway Station. There you'll find good quality and very reasonably priced food available all day, a separate games room with pool table, and around six real ales usually on tap.

The Piper - it was a gloomy day, but the Piper was cheering.

Definitely one for drivers is The Parkhouse Milestone, one mile south of Kettering town centre and on the main A14. This is clearly aimed at convenience drinking, as the pub is just off the edge of a Tesco's and Cinema complex, although don't let that put you off. It is very typical of the large out of town "family" styled pubs with a huge layout and multiple rooms and bars. Upstairs there is a restaurant area, and the pub claims to be fully disabled friendly.

The Cherry Tree, Sheep St, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN16 0AN
Tel: 01536 514706

The Old Market Inn, 17, Market Place, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN16 0AJ

The Piper, Windmill Avenue, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN15 6PS
Tel: 01536 513870

The Parkhouse Milestone Restaurant, Holdenby, Kettering Venture Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN15 6XE

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Quite high. Especially when you slip into conversation that you’re not too keen on Ru$hden & Diamonds, at which point you will enjoy a degree of hospitality unseen since the Allies liberated Northern Europe.

Top-Tip :

If you go to the Kettering bar, order double rounds of drinks to save queuing. You'll thank me for it later!