Princes Park

Princes Park in Dartford sits quietly between residential streets. It opened in the autumn of 2006. Chemist Warehouse and Optus appear regularly in photographs from the ground, their branding bright against the grey sky. A portrait of Ross Faulkner hangs in the upper section of the stand, a reminder of a local legend from another era and another sport, perhaps, though the crowd here is always focused on the ninety minutes below.

The capacity is listed at 4,100, but on most nights the crowd does not fill the lower bench. The atmosphere is not deafening, but it is steady. The players are often heard shouting instructions because the sound does not travel far over the roof. In the evening, the floodlights cast long shadows across the natural grass, which is kept in good condition despite the occasional heavy downpour that soaks the ground. The only other club to use the park as a home ground was Greenwich Borough, before they moved to a different site. The ground has never been renamed; it has always been Princes Park, the same name that belongs to a much larger and older stadium in Melbourne, a coincidence that is often pointed out to visitors.

When the final whistle blows, the players walk off onto the touchline and wave to the few hundred people who remain. The turnstiles click shut, and the stadium returns to its quiet state, waiting for the next fixture.