As part of the Everything Orient series ‘Away Days’, @QuaneRoman reviews his adventures at football grounds across the country and takes a look at everything from the best ground, the best food and most importantly, the best pubs. First up, East Thurrock United.
Rockery Hill (The Future Fuel Stadium)Â Capacity: 3,500 (seats 554)Â
Occupant: East Thurrock United - Romford F.CÂ
Town/City: Corringham, Essex (Thurrock)Â
On Tuesday night, I made the 27 mile trip to Rockery Hill in Corringham, Thurrock as Orient took on an East Thurrock United side in a midweek pre-season clash under the floodlights. Here is my recount of that evening.Â
1. The Journey - 7/10
For me, the journey to the ground was quite easy and straight forward as I live not to far from Rockery Hill in Thurrock. So instead of going for the train, we decided to drive because it only took 15 minutes and Stanford le Hope station is about a 45 minute walk to the ground which is located in the neighbouring town of Corringham, in South Essex.Â
On approach to the ground, the stadium was well advertised and we parked with ease on the road outside the ground, however, parking in the ground was very limited. Midweek or not, I personally recommend driving or getting a coach to East Thurrock, due to its distance from public transport and also arrive early for easier and more variety for parking options.Â
2. The Area - 4/10Â
I knew this was fixture was going to be one of those away days were I turned up, watched the game and left (unlike most games I do) but we still had a loom around and there wasn't much within walking distance of the ground. The Future Fuel Stadium is surrounded by woodland, green spaces and a motorway leading down to the London Gateway ports, seen in the distance from the stadium turn off.Â
3. The Pubs 7/10Â
There weren't many pubs in the vicinity of the ground but East Thurrock United has a nice little clubhouse next to the turnstiles which had a nice beer garden set up next to it at the end of the approach road to the stadium. The clubhouse was a great way to kill time having arrived at Rockery Hill an hour before kick off and the nice weather was a bonus.
4. The Ground - 6/10Â
After walking through the old fashioned, rusty turnstiles, non-league football hit me like the wind in my face with the sight of flickering floodlights, the smell of greasy bacon burgers and a small, tight, compact seating area both sides of the centre circle. Those were my first impressions on entry but to be fair to East Thurrock it is a very nice ground with a lot of character resting in the sunset, a nice place to play a early pre-season friendly.Â
5. The Food and Drink - 4/10Â
We waited about 10 minutes for our burgers, they looked okay, what you'd expect from a non-league cheeseburger but the quality wasn't too good to be honest, plus it didn't really fill me up. Bought two drinks later on as well, which cost £2 (£1 each per can of drink).Â
6. The View - 8/10Â
I switched ends at half time and from both goals I got a very good view, as I was around a foot away from the players. Before the second half, me and my mates talked to the East Thurrock goalkeeper, who used to play for Orient, he told us about his time at the club and how its hard being a goalkeeper, being behind Jamie Jones at the O's and being released and not working out for him at a few non-league clubs. This came 20 minutes after we took the mick out of him at the other end, the beauty of pre-season friendlies.Â
7. The Programmes 0/10
No programmes were on sale for the game, I feel they would've earned a lot on programmes as many people I know wanted to buy one. All they had was a team sheet.
8. The Atmosphere - 5/10Â
This game had quite a relaxed atmosphere, a nice feel, however, despite the masses of Orient fans at Rockery Hill, songs failed to break out even in the second half when most Orient supporters were at the side (in seats) and standing behind the East Thurrock goal.
9. Away Support - 7/10
There was many of the O's faithful at East Thurrock that evening, taking up most of the attendance, a sea of red tops and the odd checkered shirt. Hopefully we can take even more to Concord on Saturday, a nice walk along the majestic Canvey wall to look forward to. We had a nice chat with the legend Kent Teague about the fun him and Justin Edinburgh got up to in the Algrave. Â
10. The Performance - 8/10
Orient coasted past the Rocks 4-0 in a game which caught alight in the second half, having been 1-0 up before the break. A very good performance from the players who had a run out at Rockery Hill, a fantastic result to follow beating a side one division below us by such a large margin.Â