Isle of Man
Floodlights
Games are staged in the summer.
Over in the west and south-west are the
towns of Peel and Castletown, both of
which boast spectator-friendly football
grounds. Peel FC, on the road in from
Douglas, is a ground which would not
look out of place in Eastern Counties or
Western League football. A smallish
seated brick-built stand with a clubhouse and a ricketty training area is on
one side with a smaller and wooden
standing area opposite, but with no sign
once again of a pitch side barrier which
gives the ground a strangely halffinished look. Situated overlooked by
high rolling hills the whole scene brings
comparisons with Porthmadog FC in
north Wales. The club moved to Douglas Road between the wars and are the
most successful club on the island and
having returned to the top division, they
took the title last year, coached by Rick
Holden, former Oldham Athletic and
Watford winger.
The two stands at Peel
Castletown’s home is another which
dates to the late 50’s, and is reached through impressive Memorial gates. The current seated
area and small clubhouse and changing rooms block is soon to be swept away and replaced by a
grander version, although again the playing area is naked of any permanent structures. Castletown FC appear to be another well-run
club
whose
ground in the
past has been
used for the
Int er n at io na l
Tournament.
Castletown’s main stand
Groundtastic
page 23
Elsewhere
within
the
league, a number of clubs
play on semiIssue 23