Long Eaton United are from the town of Long Eaton in Derbyshire and were formed in 1956. The club have been based at Grange Park since their formation and have appeared in the Central Alliance, Midland Counties, Central Midlands and Northern Counties East Leagues.
The club have faced problems over the years owing to ground grading but those snags were resolved with the installation of floodlights in 1988 along with other ground developments and the introduction of women's and youth football at the club.
"The Blues" most famous former player was Gary Birtles who was spotted by Nottingham Forest and went on to a glorious career after paying just £2,000 for his services!
Long Eaton United FC will play in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division in season 2014-15.
My visits
Long Eaton United 1 Scarborough 0 (Tuesday 15th September 2009) NECL Presidents Cup Round One (att: 91)
After an afternoon looking at grounds and a few beers in excellent boozers thanks to Nottingham based Boro fan, Pete Moss, who did the driving, we arrived at an impressive Grange Park. We had picked up Simon and Paul who were neutrals but decided to come along as they worked with Pete.
Long Eaton have a very well regarded youth set up and they were finishing training on the practice pitch when we arrived. Grange Park is open behind both goals with a couple of steps of terracing. The far side has a small seated stand which has blocks on either end that used to be the changing rooms. The fourth side has a decent sized main stand called The Big Jim Stand after the clubs founder. To the right stands a small covering while on the other side there is open terracing. The whole ground was in decent condition and well cared for. My only fault was it seemed very open to the wind.
Boro had won at Grange Park the previous Saturday in the league and as a consequence there was only around 30-40 away fans for the cup game. The home side took the lead in the first half and after the Seadogs had a lot of pressure for fifteen minutes, "The Blues" were never really troubled. They probably could have won by more. I was personally not too worried about the result as the league was certainly Athletic's priority. The manager lambasted his charges in the local paper the following evening, which I thought was a bit unfair.
Two days later Long Eaton admitted to fielding an unregistered player and will face some penalty from the NCEL committee.
I had been in Dublin for a few days rest and groundhopping before taking a flight to East Midlands Airport early on Saturday morning. The plane was packed with fellow football fans from the Irish capital with many attending that afternoons match at Old Trafford. So many try to get to Man Utd matches that all seats are booked to Manchester. Instead supporters have to go the midlands where a bus awaits to take them the rest of the way. There was even two Blyth Spartans fans aboard who were going to their fixture at Eastwood Town.
I was extremely weary owing to the excellent hospitality I'd encountered at the Bohemians match the previous evening. By the time I'd got the bus to Nottingham it was still only 10.30am. Under normal circumstances I'd have been tempted to 'get back on the horse' with a livener, but I was to carry out co-commentator duties at the game for the Seadogs Live internet broadcast.
I had a wander around and got some food before meeting with Nottingham Seadog, Pete Moss. We were the first spectators to arrive at Grange Park. The club official let us in the clubhouse and came to collect our cash later. We were sat chatting when Pete's phone went off. It was Ken on the team/supporters coach. It was soon evident that not all was going to plan.
The coach driver had decided to take the A1 south for reasons best known to himself, when the M1 was only a few miles from the ground. They were on the far side of Nottingham with not much time to spare.
Matt Lawson, my commentary colleague turned up as did our IT guru Steve Smith along with plenty of travelling Seadogs, yet there was still no sign of the team. The Boro club officials were not impressed. I was getting a little concerned as I was on a pre booked train to Liverpool at 5.45 from Nottingham to continue my grounds trek.
Eventually the team arrived and the game was put back ten minutes. Long Eaton really do set a good example with their community projects, but the Grange Park pitch took a hammering as a consequence. It was extrmely bumpy and it made any passing football difficult at best. Boro went in at half time one nil up. My half time summary said that they should increase their lead as the game continued as long as they defended sensibly.
The team were having a bad run at the time with caretaker boss Paul Olsson trying his best while Brian France was recuperating from a serious head injury. In the second half the home side scored twice without playing particularly well. Boro simply capitualted, with the team set up not looking right. It was extremely awkward for me whilst commentating. I always try to be rational and unbiased and not go for extremes. Matt was most upset with what he was seeing and told our audience as much. I tried desperately to remain balanced but it really was poor fare from the Seadogs.
Pete gave me a lift back to the station with plenty of time for me to meet my train. He also cheered me by remaining unaffected by the result. It is only a game afterall! I sat aboard the packed train to Liverpool for a great few days. On the way plenty of Man Utd fans got on in a really bad mood because their side couldn't beat West Brom. What a shame!
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