North Street

North Street does not announce itself with the kind of swooping rooflines that catch the eye; it sits tight against the road. What stands out first is the stand — a block that runs along one side of the pitch, its colour a stark contrast to the green of the grass and the grey of the sky.

There is no grand entrance gate; you walk through a simple turnstile and find yourself three feet closer to the action than you might expect. The pitch itself is natural grass, cut short and kept in a condition that has won praise from those who travel to smaller grounds looking for authenticity. A goal net frames the view in the foreground, and beyond it, a player in a blue tracksuit walks across the turf, the stadium quiet and unpretentious.

This is not a venue built for spectacle, but for proximity. The capacity is modest, with 3,600 places in total, though only half of those are seated. It has been the home of Alfreton Town F.C. since 1959, a period that has seen the ground survive through name changes — once known as the Impact Arena — and through the passing of seasons when the club's fortunes shifted up and down the leagues. Today, it carries the name Solana Stadium for sponsorship reasons, but most who come here still call it North Street.

The surroundings are as unremarkable as the stand itself: residential houses visible beyond the perimeter, trees bare in the late autumn, and the occasional car parked along the street. It is the kind of place where the boundary between the town and the ground feels thin, where the sound of a kick echoes slightly further than it should. There is no attempt to hide the age of the structure; the paint is peeling in places, the metalwork rusted in patches, and yet the place retains a warmth that newer, shinier venues often lack.