LeamingtonFC.co.uk

Leamington are back at home tomorrow, and here's how you can get to Your Co-op Community Stadium for our fixture against Darlington!

BY CAR - ON SITE PARKING:
- You can drive to Your Co-op Community Stadium, which has a paid car park. They can either be bought on our online ticketing portal for £3 or by cash and card on the gate for £5.

- 10 spaces are available adjacent to the home turnstiles are held for disabled parking, where access can be gained to all areas of the stadium. Disabled access via gate next to main turnstiles at clubhouse end of the ground. See match stewards for any assistance required. Application for these spaces should be made via email to info@leamingtonfc.co.uk

BY CAR - PARK AND RIDE:
- Alternatively, we are running a FREE Park & Ride from a location in the South of Leamington within a five minute journey time from the ground as part of our free shuttle bus (see section below for timings). The location for parking is:

Ashbourne Drive, Leamington Spa, CV31 3SS (On-Street Car Parking) - 5 minute drive from stadium

There are no parking restrictions in this new commercial/industrial complex with access off Tachbrook Road, 50 metres from the Windmill Pub on the opposite side of the roadway next to where the new Wickes store is located. There is capacity for a minimum of 150 vehicles on Ashbourne Drive and accompanying side roads. Please do not cause congestion or blockages by parking on both sides of the roadway. We ask that you park on the left-hand side of each road to enable delivery and commercial vehicles to enter and leave the complex unhindered.

What3Words Location: noisy.armed.duck

BY FREE SHUTTLE DOUBLE DECKER:
- A FREE double-decker bus will operate from Leamington Spa Railway Station, via our Park & Ride site, to the Stadium as scheduled below:

Leamington Railway Station	1350	1420
Windmill Inn, Tachbrook Road	1354	1424
Your Co-op Community Stadium	1405	1435

The double-decker bus will depart at 17:00 and 17:30 at the end of the game, with the latter service giving supporters a chance to spend some time in the bar with players and staff.

Leamington Spa Railway Station is less than a five minute walk to the town centre, which for any visiting fans is a must-visit with plenty of pubs and eateries.

Please note that the collection point at the railway station is on the main road at the front of the station whilst at the Windmill Inn it is adjacent to the pub car park entrance.

What3Words stop locations:
Railway Station: market.faced.shows
Windmill Inn: cook.dishes.using

BY PUBLIC BUS:
- The 665 Stagecoach bus runs from the town to the ground. The outbound route leaves Upper Parade Stand K at 14:10 and reaches Your Co-op Community Stadium at 14:25. The inbound route leaves opposite Your Co-op Community Stadium at 17:17 and reaches Upper Parade at 17:34. Single tickets are capped at £2.
- For information on other stops around town, including close to the train station and Parish Church, click here to find the timetable and select "All Stops".

BY TAXI:
- Local taxis, Uber and Bolt cover the ground. Prices of taxis depend on company/time and demand.

The ever-impressive Paul Edwards gives us a run through of Brakes results on 16 January...

On This Day - January 16th...

...1937 - GEC were our opponents in an away fixture in the Coventry Works League Division 1. The home side were 3-2 victors; Tallis and Saywell scoring the Leamington goals.

Team: Heath, Bayliss, Thacker, G Smith, Blackburn, Loos, Ledwith, A Saywell, Tallis, Griffin, N Saywell.

...1954 - Brakes were soundly beaten 5-0 at Burton Albion in the Birmingham Senior Cup Semi Final in front of a crowd of 3,094.

Team: Branston, Aldridge, Sneddon, Jennings, Hawker, Bury, Dawson, Draper, Grimwood, F Gardner, M French.

...1964 - Goole Town were beaten 4-1 in a home fixture in the Midland Counties League, but the game was not played at The Windmill Ground as it failed an inspection, so was switched to the Lower Sports Ground on the Lockheed factory site.

Team: Crosby, Coleman, Hancocks, Davis, Connolley, Knox, Ward, Shorthose, Holmes, Marriott, Hall.

...1971 - A trip to Derbyshire to take on Heanor Town in the Midland Counties League Cup saw a goalless draw.

Team: Lightfoot, Bowden, Lawton, Shrimpton, Pattison, Vale, Matthews, Sweenie, Whitehead, Hall, J Brady, Flannagan.

...1979 - We travelled to The Oval to take on, Bedworth United, in a Midland Floodlit Cup tie, going down 3-2.

...1988 - An away day in the Birmingham suburbs saw Brakes take on Highgate United in the Midland Combination Premier Division. The home side won 3-0.

Team: Overton, Clutton, Watkins, Gow, Singleton, Sykes, Myton, Hathaway, Hughes (Jawandha), Harris, Graham. Sub: Dixon.

...2016 - An 89th minute equaliser from Ben Mackey took our FA Trophy 1st Round replay with Altrincham into extra time, in which the visitors snatched a winner to send plucky Brakes out of the competition.

Team: Breeden, George (Fry), Gudger (Oulton), Magunda, Hood, Tank, L Moore (Ogleby), Taundry, Mackey, Edwards, Chilton. Subs: Caviezel-Cox, Green.

Darlington make their first trip to Leamington since 2023 with Brakes looking to bounce back from their heavy midweek defeat.

This game will NOT be segregated.

Tickets

You can purchase tickets online and on the gate. We recommend using our online ticketing portal to purchase your tickets in order to minimise queues at the turnstiles. On the day one turnstile will be signed for online tickets so you can easily scan your ticket and gain entry and another turnstile will be accepting card and cash payments.

Adult: £15
Over 60: £11
Student (with NUS Card): £8
Under 18: £5
Under 12: £0

Car Parking

Car parking costs £3 when bought in advance and £5 when bought in cash or card on the day. We ask all supporters to either car-share or make use of our free shuttle double decker service.

Season ticket holders get free parking when their ticket is shown at the gate, and blue badge holders must email info@leamingtonfc.co.uk to reserve a free space, as these are limited.

FREE Double Decker Bus Shuttle

A free double decker bus shuttle will run from Leamington Station, to our park & ride location at the Windmill Inn, to the ground.

Bus Stops	Shuttle 1	Shuttle 2
Leamington Spa Station	13:50	14:20
Windmill Inn	13:54	14:24
Your Co-op Community Stadium	14:05	14:35

Park & Ride parking is opposite the pub all along Ashbourne Drive, which is free on-road parking for a minimum of 200 cars next to the new Wickes store.

Post-match, the service will leave for the station at 5pm, with another journey back scheduled at 5:30pm.

Facilities

Your Co-op Community Stadium has facilities to please everyone! There is a burger van in the tunnel corner of the ground, serving hot food and drinks with cash & card accepted.

If you don’t feel like hot food but want something to snack on, then Debbie’s Sweet Shop is the place to go. Hot drinks and cold snacks (including a wide selection of sweets) are all available from the sweet shop which you can find at the Harbury Lane End side of the ground, but please note this is cash only.

Alcohol can be consumed on the terraces at our ground, and you can purchase it from our clubhouse which is situated in between the Harbury Lane End stand and Debbie’s Sweet Shop.

The ground is covered on three of the four sides, as you walk in up from the turnstiles the covered Harbury Lane End behind the goal will be on your right. Straight ahead of you is the joint Main Stand and Car Park Terrace on the west side of the ground, on the Sheepside side of the ground sits the Mick Brady Stand, in honour of our Life President who passed away in 2020 and the North Bank behind the goal is the uncovered side.

Clubhouse

The clubhouse can be used by both sets of fans and boasts a wide range of drinks, including local Warwickshire Church Farm Brewery products. Our bar has live sports, and the players will be present after the game to mix with fans in the bar and our post match presentations.

Both Leamington and Darlington fans are welcome in the bar.

Bus Travel

As well as our free shuttle, the 665 Stagecoach bus runs from the town to the ground. The outbound route leaves Upper Parade Stand K at 14:10 and reaches Your Co-op Community Stadium at 14:25. The inbound route leaves opposite Your Co-op Community Stadium at 17:17 and reaches Upper Parade at 17:34.

The closest stop to Royal Leamington Spa Railway Station to the ground is Crown Hotel, which what3wordsare dairy.legend.pops and the bus leaves at 14:14. Inbound, the closest stop is Charlotte Street (what3wordsmarch.hurt.loved) and the bus arrives there at 17:25. Both stops are within a 5 minute walk to Leamington Station. For other stops, visit the timetable.

Matchday Magazine

Our official matchday magazine ‘New Windmill Wonderland will be available to purchase for £3 just as you enter the turnstiles, with it being a limited edition issue to celebrate Jack Edwards’ time at the club. Read the thoughts of the chairman, manager and captain, learn everything you need to about Darlington and much more in our bumper programme.

Turnstiles Opening Time

Turnstiles and all facilities inside the ground including the clubhouse open at 1pm, two hours before kick off.

Live Coverage

Match updates can be found on our X, Bluesky, Threads, Instagram and Facebook pages and there will be live commentary on BrakesLiveFM. Coverage will start approximately ten minutes from kick off.

Extended highlights and reaction will be available on Leamington FCTV the day after the game.

Bucket Collection

A bucket collection has been arranged for the Dan Neal fund – raising money for a 37 year old father struck by the falling cedar tree while walking along Portland Place West with his partner and baby daughter during Storm Darragh on Saturday December 7. Buckets will be located just past the turnstiles.

Mega New Year Raffle

After a couple of postponements, the Darlington game will be your final chance to enter the Brakes Mega New Year Raffle. With a variety of prizes, for £2 a ticket it’s a no brainer!

50/50 Draw

Donna and Yvonne will be making their way around the ground in the first half selling 50/50 tickets. These cost £1 each with half of the takings going to the club and the other half going to the winner. The draw will be made and announced at half time.

We hope everyone enjoys their time at Your Co-op Community Stadium.

We are proud to reveal that Cally Stewart has signed for League One side Shrewsbury Town for an undisclosed fee.

The Leamington fan signed for the Brakes from Coventry Sphinx in the summer of 2023, and has since gone on to score 37 goals in 74 appearances and is currently the top scorer in the Vanarama National League North.

He will join up with Gareth Ainsworth's side, that includes another Leamington-born player in former Coventry City man Jordan Shipley.

Cally joins a number of players who have moved into the Football League after playing for the Brakes, and manager Paul Holleran spoke to club media on his departure.

"There’s mixed emotions in losing Cally," Holleran said. "We’re sad to be losing such a wonderful young man, a great character. We’ve been on a bit of his journey with him - developing with us over the last 18 months from when he joined to where he is now.

"With him being a Leamington supporter, he’s got that affinity with everyone. As much as we’re disappointed to lose him, it’s been weighed out with the happiness for him and his family and the work that he’s put in, starting at step 6 or 7, being rejected by more clubs than probably any other player has, to keep going at step 6 and 5 and scoring plenty of goals, getting better and better is an amazing achievement. Both ourselves and Coventry Sphinx will be immensely proud, when he gets that scarf above his head at a L1 club it’s going to be a special moment and just another step on his journey.

"It’ll be great to see where he goes, looking at his last 18 months with us and how he performed before then - he’s a hungry player and with the right management and full time training, it’s genuinely exciting for his future.

"Whilst I understand some around the club might be naturally disappointed, when you get EFL clubs coming in for young players it’s very hard to stand in their way after everything he’s worked for here. With Micky Moore and Gareth Ainsworth, he’s in good hands at a great club. I speak on behalf of everyone at the club in wishing Cally and his family all the best, as they know - they’ll always be welcome at the club, and we can’t wait to see what’s next."

With a proven record of scoring goals, Stewart is raring to give League One a go. His Shrewsbury Town team play Wrexham tomorrow night, live on Sky Sports.

"A massive thank you to the fans, players, the gaffer and everyone at the club. Without the gaffer I wouldn’t have been able to develop in the way I have and sign for a League One club. I’ve made so many special memories made at the club in the 18 months I’ve been here. Hearing my chant from the terraces sung every week has been brilliant, and they are memories I’ll always take with me.

"It’s been a privilege as a local lad and a fan to be given the chance represent the club and even captain Leamington. I was a Brakes fan before I joined and I’ll carry on being a fan forever. It’ll be the first result I check every week, and I definitely won’t be a stranger.

"Wishing everyone at the club all the best for the future, and a massive thank you for the special memories made. I’ll see you all very soon.

"Once a Brake, always a Brake."

As part of the deal, Shrewsbury Town have agreed to visit Leamington in Pre Season 2025. We are looking forward to welcoming Cally back then, as well as the rest of the Shrewsbury team, staff and supporters.

Go well, Cally.

Leamington FC can confirm that we have accepted an offer from an EFL side for Cally Stewart.

The Leamington-born striker, who is top scorer in the Vanarama National League North, has now entered into discussion with that club. When further updates happen, we will make that available to our supporters through our website, app and social media channels.

Following much discussion and consideration the Board of Directors have made the decision to charge for on-site car parking on match days.

Clearly having provided free parking (with exception of recent matches v Scunthorpe and Hereford) since the return of football in 2000 to Harbury Lane it is not one that we have taken lightly and has involved much debate.

The main factors are the cost of reparation work each year to the car park and training pitch plus additionally the damage to the training pitch when it has to be utilised for overflow car parking.

Depending upon weather conditions when used for such a purpose there is the additional matter that this sometimes makes the training pitch unusable for short periods for both the Ladies and Mens First Teams and interferes with the match preparation of both teams.

Through increased car sharing and provision of a Free Match Day Bus Service on Saturdays we hope to reduce the instances when the training pitch has to be utilised for car parking. The recent games versus Scunthorpe and Hereford showed that car sharing had a considerable impact in reducing the number of vehicles accessing the site. We fully understand that car sharing and use of the free bus service is not practicable for everyone and have thus reduced the price of car parking from the two recent games of £5 to £3 provided tickets are purchased in advance. For those who do not purchase tickets in advance, the charge on match day will be £5 with payment by card or cash accepted. The charges will be introduced commencing the forthcoming game versus Chester FC on Tuesday.

As this is being introduced during the course of the season, season ticket holders (includes VP’s) will on production of their cards be allowed free car parking for the remainder of this season.

We are in the process of determining what will be the best process for fans who wish to car share with individuals from their own respective location but in the meantime would suggest you liaise through the Brakes Trust and LFC Volunteer supporters groups. If that does not work for you please email info@leamingtonfc.co.uk stating name and location and we will put you in touch with any likeminded individuals who contact us. We will additionally run a ‘help desk’ pre-match in the grey unit next to the turnstiles for the next three matches (Chester, Darlington and Marine) to aid any fans wishing to get in touch with each other re possible car sharing.

Additionally, we hope that by having the Saturday free bus service from town that this will also attract additional supporters to games plus increased use of the clubhouse and bar facilities. Certain identified high profile mid-week fixtures may have a free bus service if required, and if we see increased demand or interest we would like in an ideal world to run the free service for most mid-week games.

The free bus service will depart from Leamington Railway Station at 1.50pm and 2.20pm on Saturdays, stopping outside the Windmill Pub on Tachbrook Road, thus providing the opportunity for any fans who wish to park their cars in Ashbourne Drive (unrestricted parking and next to Wickes almost opposite the pub) to utilise the service. Post match the service will leave for the Railway Station at 5pm with a further journey at 5.30pm.

There will be an end of season review and engagement with supporters with regard to the introduction of car parking charges plus provision of the free bus services.

Board of Directors

Leamington Football Club