Football Stadium

Hertford's football stadium is the sort of place that matters enormously if you support the local side, and rather less if you don't. It's a working ground with genuine passion on match days - the kind of venue where you actually see the whites of the players' eyes rather than watching them through binoculars from the back of some vast concrete bowl.

The stadium itself is functional rather than flashy. It has the DNA of non-league football running through it: modest stands, a pitch that's been fought over, and a crowd that knows the team's weakness better than any pundit ever will. On match day there's real atmosphere, particularly if you catch a local derby. On any other day it's just a football pitch, which is fine if you're genuinely interested in the sport, less so if you're just looking for something to fill an hour.

Best suited to proper football fans, really - especially anyone following the team or interested in grassroots sport. Match day visits work well if you're camped nearby at Hertford Camping and Caravanning Club Site or Toad Abode, both barely three miles away. You could combine it with a walk around Hertford itself, which has enough riverside charm to justify the trip.

Check ahead for fixtures and admission prices. Go on a Saturday afternoon if you want the full experience - there's something about a football ground on match day that nowhere else quite replicates, even if it's only a few hundred people creating the noise.