impsTALK.co.uk | 2008/2009 Rough Guide

Boston United play their home matches of Association Football at a ground called 'York Street'. The ground is called 'York Street' because it is located on 'York Street'. Attempts to rename the ground after a corporate sponsor shall not be dignified here, nor are we about to rewind the clocks and refer to the place as 'Shoddys Lane' which is, apparently, what some elderly fans still call it. Not to worry: these dinosaurs will be dead soon anyway.

York Street certainly has what might be best described as a rustic charm. Although it was rebuilt in the early 1980s and was for many years considered the finest non-league ground in the county, the stadium feels much older and is now starting to look a little tired and frayed around the edges. That said, it's still a wonderful place to watch non-league ground.

The York Street Stand

There's plenty of seating, plenty of terracing and all four stands are covered (except the two 'wings' on the Town End). It's also compact - the narrow stands are close to the pitch and afford excellent opportunities for the average supporter to hurl abuse right into the linesman’s ear. The food is agreeably greasy and hasn’t killed anyone yet, or at least no-one important enough to be missed. The best bit, though, is the location. The stadium itself is situated just minutes away from the town centre, which, if you’ve ever been to Hinckley, you’ll appreciate. You don’t need a car to get to the game, in other words. What more, really, could one possibly want?

Sadly, unless some kind of massive deal is reached, United have just a decade left at York Street before the landlords, the Malkinsons, turf them out onto the streets and redevelop the land into a Lidl or a block of supremely ugly flats or a car park or an outlet of Dominos Pizza or any of the loathsome slabs of grimly utilitarian architecture that tend to get tossed up in towns like Boston.

Boston United do enforce segregation which does, at times, seem absurd given the fact that many NPL teams bring about minus seven away fans. But it makes a little more sense when you consider that Boston have a ground-grading to protect. Away fans are housed in the lower section of the York Street Stand (pictured at the very top of the page), but when fans of proper clubs like Cambridge visit, they are allocated the Town End, pictured below.

Away fans are always welcome in the Sports Bar before the game. This is a squat brick bunker situated in the car park. You can't miss it - just follow the smell of cigarette smoke. It doesn't serve any proper ales, but it does normally screen the midday kick-off.

The Town End: it's special! Special! Ooooh, speeecial!

Spayne Road: where the walking dead hurl abuse at teenage substitutes with their last, dying breath