The Playing Fields
Shepton Mallet, United Kingdom
The Playing Fields presents a low profile against the Somerset skyline, dominated by the red running track that curves around the central grass pitch.
Shepton Mallet Football Club call this patch of land home, though the exact year they arrived is not recorded. The club was founded in 1986, and the move to Old Wells Road happened sometime in the following years. The ground holds 2,500 people, though only 120 of those have proper seats under the covered terrace. Most come to watch from the banked grass alongside the track.
The surface is natural grass, which means the conditions change with the Somerset weather.
There is nothing particularly grand about this ground. It does not have floodlights towering over it or a stand that dominates the street. What it has is a community around it, people sitting on the grass or leaning against the railings, watching whatever is being played on the day.