Match 1 - Biggleswade United v Swaffham Town

The 1st game is always exciting, this time more so, heading off to Bedfordshire on a long journey for the opening game, that excitement may still be going, judging by the length of this post. It was supposedly a two hour journey to Biggleswade , which would have meant leaving about 12.30, smack bang on JJ's lunch time (not an easy process) so decided on an 11am departure, which turned into 11.15 by the time lunches were made and the car loaded.

50 mins in we made a pit stop for lunch at Beaconsfield services, they are huge so thought there would be space to hide out with JJ if he started screeching (one of the things he is very prone to do in busy areas - we have always thought because of sensory overload). JJ has meds to take 30 mins before lunch so the pitstops are normally an hour min. JJ was unusually well behaved and devoured his lunch with the minimum of fuss.

Once completed we had our first really positive experience when we headed to the toilets for a pad change. whilst not signposted in the main area, these services had a huge changing places. Very clean and in great condition. That helped to speed up our stop and was also a really great surprise and noted for future journeys.

Back in the car we were scheduled for a 2.30 arrival, perfect. As we pulled into their grass covered car park ( may of been an issue if it was December and not August), the waiting stewards were really helpful as soon as I mentioned we needed rear access to the car for the wheelchair, pointing out a space where we wouldn't get blocked at the rear.

Once we unloaded we headed to the clubhouse for a quick bathroom break, once again the stewards were great in opening doors and showing the way pointing us in the direction of the disabled toilet, our whole visit was fantastic but calling this a disabled toilet was a bit of stretch, no rails etc to assist and no lock on the door (this is really my only negative of the day so not really complaining) there was more than adequate space for a floor change given I can still lift JJ.

We headed out pitch side. £10 for the two of us so very reasonable, again the same stewards explained the layout and the best place to locate ourselves, one of the stands had a seating and standing area and a cut back space for wheelchairs and buggys.

I'll be honest the game itself was not great, no disrespect to either side but the high winds seemed to really impact on the quality of the football, so a very scrappy encounter ensued, with very little in the way of goalmouth action during the 1st half. At half time we headed back into the clubhouse where we found the food hatch (also did tea and coffee) not much choice but plumped for a hot dog at £1.50 and one of the 4 midriffs I could see handed me said dog seconds later. JJ loved the Ketchup, which meant I got the rest, Yay for me. There was also an extensive bar priced below £4 a pint (shame I had the car and child responsibilities).

We headed back out for the second half, a half which got a little more stretched and therefore offered a bit more entertainment. In the end the game was settled by a single goal. One of the few moments of quality in the game saw the Bigglesfield No9 Lorrel Smith outpace his centre half down the left channel before opening out his body to slot right footed across the keeper and into the far corner. Whilst the game continued in the same vain of limited quality the Swaffham captain Vincent deserves an honourable mention for always looking dangerous and possessing a lovely left foot, he always looked capable of creating something out of nothing.

That was that, we headed for the exit's and home. A final stop at Sainsburys in the town identified no disabled toilet facilities on the ground floor, there was a café upstairs which may have housed the disabled facilities. I at least managed to give JJ some dinner before we made for the road, there had been a hot rod show on close by so we got the added benefit of seeing some amazing cars and they were noisy, JJ is a huge fan of vehicles and the noisier they are the better.

All in all we had a great day together and in two weeks we will be back to Bedfordshire for the next round where Biggleswade will take on Soham Town Rangers who are based near Ely, close to our holiday location (I'm sure my wife can't wait to leave super early for holiday just so JJ and I can make the game). Looking forward to it already.