Heights

Chirk AAA  1  Conwy Borough  0

Cymru League – League Cup

I’m scared of heights.

So much so, back in September 2010 I had this great idea about how I would conquer my fear.

It was to work a bit like this, I would head to a village just South of Wrexham, where I’d read about an aqueduct that was 38 metres high, and carried the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee. It’s apparently the highest aqueduct in the World, and, if you wanted to, you could walk across it.

Welcome to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Froncysyllte, a World Heritage Site, where canal boats happily float along, with nothing but a sheer drop to one side, while foot passengers navigate a narrow path that is flanked by the said canal and a railing!

Druids were playing Rhydymwyn in a Cymru Alliance League Cup tie at their new home, which was a hop skip and a jump away in Cefn Mawr, so in my wisdom I was going to head over a bit earlier than planned and have a little wander.

I’m not going to lie to you, I almost shat myself.

It’s deceptive, you pull up into the car park, all is calm, the ground is flat, no sheer drops or anything, and then you locate the canal basin, and it’s exactly the same, almost serene, but then as you meander down the towpath, the landscape changes, quite literally.

The enormity of the drop hits you like a sledgehammer across the knees, and that’s exactly how my knees felt, they almost went from under me. On one side you have the barrier that you cling on to for dear life, and on the other side is a channel of water, with water lapping over the opposite edge and dropping the 38 metres to the floor below.

It looks a bloody long way across when you start as well, which, if you take your time, and hold on like I did, then you can do it. But, then you get someone coming the other way, and guess what, they want to hold onto the railing, and they aren’t letting go, oh, and they have a fricking dog!  Now you are close to the water’s edge and closer to the sheer drop, sweet Mother of Jesus and the Donkey’s!

Anyway, I made it, then I made it back, I felt relieved, but far from conquered.

A few years later, I had this absolute batshit idea of doing it all again, this time with Mrs H and Master H in tow. Nearby Penycae (a nice rhyming couplet that!) were playing Mold Alexandra in March 2015, so off we went, but, this time, I was forced to pose for photos on a windy and rainy day. I’ve blocked that one out of my mind, only a psychiatrist could resurrect those memories in full!

It’s now August 2022, Welsh Football has had a rum few years, Covid hit hard in Wales and thanks to Mr Drakeford restrictions were longer and more robust than in England, but, they completed a full campaign last time out, and with a nice neat restructure taking place, we have a proper pyramid!

Essentially, the Cymru Alliance which was a Tier Two competition in Wales, has remained exactly that, but has been renamed the Cymru North and comes under the same jurisdiction as the Cymru Premier, where TNS typically win it and get into the Champions League!

This season, I found I had a new club to visit in the shape of Chirk Amateur Athletic Association (AAA for short), a club very much on the border, just South of Wrexham, and handily close to quite a famous aqueduct!

The fixtures fell very kindly, a home game in the League Cup conveniently moved to a Sunday in July, the only slight issue being that I needed to drop Mrs H in Derby at 9am due to her attendance being required at a First Aid course. When I say slight issue, what I mean is, drive to Derby, to drive home, to then head off a couple of hours later again to pass the same place on my way to Wales.

Nah, let’s make a day of it, let’s get down to the general Chirk area mid-morning and find something to do, something like a very large aqueduct that resides less than three miles away…….

I do enjoy the journey to this part of Wales, out to Stoke, cross country to Market Drayton and then Whitchurch, before heading over the border and round the back lanes to the outskirts of Cefn Mawr. Before long you are seeing the brown road signs and soon pulling into the car park, questioning your sanity and then realising it costs three quid for the privilege at the same time.

It was a drizzly morning, but determined to make it a hat-trick of return trips, off I went, but this time it seemed busier than previous visits. Families stopping for photo opportunities, people hopping on and off barges to admire the views, my journey across was punctuated, but some things never change, the heart races quicker, the legs feel considerably weaker and irrational thoughts of gusts of winds and trips taking me plummeting over the edge abounded. No, this does not cure a fear of heights, in fact all it did was gave me the opportunity to take a photo of the former home of Acrefair Youth FC that is now overgrown and unused. I didn’t hang about, relieved to make the return journey and reach a place where imminent death wasn’t a distinct possibility.

I was now considerably early for the game at Chirk!

The road from Cefn Mawr to Chirk was closed, so I had to take a detour via the main A5, which did waste a period of time, and thankfully upon arriving in Chirk, feeling the need for sustenance, I found a Co-Op and killed a bit of time working my way through a welcome meal deal.

The beauty of arriving early meant I was able to park in the main club car park (I probably shouldn’t have done, so apologies Chirk!), and watch the World go by for a little while before retiring to the social club for a pint. One or two familiar faces from the English side of Offa’s Dyke had also had the same idea as me, I had a couple of brief chats, but opted to keep myself to myself as the game got underway.

It strikes you, while wandering round the clubhouse, that this is very much a community club, a club that the locals have taken a keen interest in following their successes last season and what is now a venture into a brave new World. A larger than normal crowd was expected, and the club, who I have to say use social media very well, had built this is up, and, were well prepared for the day. The club itself is one of the oldest in Wales, formed in 1876, and has an illustrious history, albeit without ever threatening to trouble those that sit on the top table of what is now called the Cymru Premier.

It’s interesting to read in the club programme that legendary Welsh footballer Billy Meredith was born in the village and played for the club, before eventually making his name with both Manchester City and United. He won a total of 48 Welsh caps. It was also interesting to read that Chirk competed twice in the FA Cup in the late 1880’s, losing one season to Derby County. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Chirk for not jumping on the bandwagon of joining the list of clubs who wanted compensation from Derby due to them having cheated their way to winning football matches over the past 150 or so years! I’m not sure what FFP looked like in 1887, but Derby probably broke the rules….

The ground is shared with the cricket club, with the football part of it being furthest away from the main road in the village. Three sides are railed with the cricket side being roped, while a quirky seated stand sits almost on the corner flag adjacent to the tea bar and changing rooms. I can’t say as I am overly familiar with ground grading regulations in the principality but floodlights will be needed and probably some kind of turnstile / entrance facility also. It’s a nice venue, but with limited cover and lashing rain pretty much all game, if you were without an umbrella then you were getting very wet! The pitch was in very good condition it has to be said, the rain didn’t cause a problem, and clearly it’s a labour of love for someone.

It's nice to get back to competitive football again, and after a bit of a slow start when visitors Conwy Borough were on top, Chirk gradually found their way into the game and as we moved into the second period they were well on top. It did look to be going the distance and to penalties until the closing minutes when Jack Orbell found space and rifled a low shot past the Conwy goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.

So that was it, the exodus from the ground began, with many happy knowing that the new venture into a higher grade of football had started successfully. It won’t be easy, some big clubs, some with big money, loiter in the Cymru North, but Chirk are capable of competing and holding their own.

Nothing is guaranteed in football of course, but one thing I can guarantee, is that I won’t be having any more visits to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, ever!

50 Years Later

Wombourne Allstars  1  Boldmere St Michaels Reserves  4

Friendly

History was made on the night of 8^th May 1972, a date etched into the minds of Derby County supporters. It was a date that saw it’s 50^th anniversary celebrated a little over two months ago, against the backdrop of a club in crisis, a club who might not even be around to see in the new season.

On that May night, the Derby County players, and the Manager Brian Clough were having an end of season break in Majorca, knowing that the destiny of the First Division Championship was out of their hands.

It hinged on two games, Liverpool had to go to Arsenal and win, and Leeds, the favourites, just needed at point at Wolverhampton Wanderers. It was to be a night of drama, celebration, and repercussions.

Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw at Highbury, but all eyes were on Molineux. Wolves were tenth in the league and also UEFA Cup finalists. Leeds, who had won the FA Cup a couple of days earlier, were desperate to win the double.

My Dad, who I’m sure wasn’t alone that night in the crowd as a Rams season ticket holder, decided to head to Wolverhampton to watch the game. More in hope than expectation I guess, but with his mate George (who famously wore size 13 shoes!), off they went, with no idea just how the night would pan out.

We have spoken about it a couple of times in the past, and we did so again only last year when I acquired the programme from the game and sent him a picture to see if it stirred up any memories, and of course, it certainly did that.

“I’ve never been so packed into a terrace in my life, we stood on the Kop, we were crushed, it was that bad George had to leave part way through the game, he couldn’t take it. I think the official crowd was around 54,000, but there were more than that inside”

Anecdotal reports suggested the crowd could have been anything ranging from 65,000 to 70,000, I suspect no one really knows, many would no doubt have found a way in without paying. But what happened next was remarkable.

In front of an electric Molineux atmosphere, Leeds were denied a blatant first half penalty, only for Frank Munro to give the hosts the lead. Derek Dougan made it 2-0 in the 67^th minute only for Billy Bremner to pull a goal back. Leeds pushed but Wolves hung on, the championship was Derby County’s.

Controversy abounded after the game and for years to come with suggestions that Don Revie and the Leeds players had tried to bribe the Wolves players to throw the game, nothing was ever proven, but this was Revie’s Leeds, no smoke without fire in my humble opinion.

So why, when I’m writing a blog about a visit to Wombourne Allstars, do I devote such a large proportion to the part Wolves played in creating history that night?

The journey to the village on the Western outskirts of Wolverhampton took me towards the City Centre and right up alongside the now rebuilt Molineux stadium. It was while I was sat for an age at a set of traffic lights that I could see the roof of the South Stand (Kop) to my right, and it set me off thinking about what it must have been like that night, for my Dad, to be stood watching the drama unfold. But we’ll revisit that night a bit later.

Wombourne Allstars are a thriving junior club who have branched into senior adult football this season, by joining the West Midlands Regional League. I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of them but thanks to social media I was able to track them down and find out where they were going to be based. A new 4G facility at the Leisure Centre was to be home, and, earlier in the week I’d spotted that they were scheduled to play their first ever home game the following Saturday.

With Steve also suitably drawn to the fixture against Boldmere St Michaels Reserves (apparently!), off we trotted, me going via the City Centre, Steve going via the Black Country Route and having what sounded like a much more straightforward journey.

The Mount Pleasant pub over the road provided pre-match liquid refreshment, a nice boozer, in what has to be said is a very nice village. It has a rural feel to it, probably because it is separated from the edges Wolverhampton by a couple of miles, sitting outside of the City boundary.

Wombourne was the home to Nigel Pearson, a man who Steve and in particular his wife Julie knew very well through his media and promotional work for Speedway. Nigel tragically passed away very recently at a young age, he was also well known for his media work with Darts and indeed West Bromwich Albion. He had connections to Wombourne Allstars and indeed at the clubs end of season awards presentation, a number of accolades were named in his honour.

The facility is a tidy one, quite typical of modern 4G arenas, with the added benefit of a spectator viewing area the full length of one side of the pitch. The club have tried to make it their own by putting up banners and advertising, and by doing so it does give the place a sense of identity.

As for the game, the visitors came away with a 4-1 victory, but, this is the bit we couldn’t work out. On the day of the game, the opponents were still being advertised as Boldmere St Michaels Reserves, but the team on the pitch played in a Walsall Phoenix kit! So who it was exactly, I don’t know, social media is not proving overly helpful!

It was a decent afternoon’s entertainment though, and with a much better run home than the journey down, I was trundling along the A5 between Cannock and Lichfield when my mind returned to the conversation I’d had with my Dad.

“We managed to get away from Wolverhampton and decided to call for a pint at the pub on Muckley Corner, they had the television on and as we were sat having a drink, Brian Clough came on, he was being interviewed in Majorca, talking about becoming champions.”

The pub on Muckley Corner is no more, it’s now flats, just like the Kop at Molineux, which is now a shiny new all seater stand. Derby County just recently also came far too close to being no more, just as those people old enough to remember that night, were remembering that night, 50 years later.

 

        

 

Sunshine On Malawi

Blantyre Victoria  4  Pollok  1

Friendly

It seemed like a really good idea at the time.

With journeys North of the border for work purposes back on again after a period of abstinence, the task of trying to find fixtures that linked in with the trips was back on the agenda. To complicate matters a bit though, thanks to a serious error of judgement from the gaffer, meetings are now scheduled for a Tuesday, which means the travel and football day has reverted to the Monday. Previously it was a day later, in which case the Central Belt of Scotland was your oyster, now though, not quite so easy…..

In a funny kind of way though, it’s easier to find games on a Monday in pre-season, when they are typically scheduled for all random days throughout the week, so with 18^th July having been on the radar for a number of weeks now, the list of options had grown to a modest number.

By the previous weekend, I’d got a choice of games at Yoker Athletic, Petershill, Johnstone Burgh and Blantyre Victoria. The kick off times ranged from 6.20pm to 8pm, but, the first spanner in the works came in the shape of a Scottish Bank Holiday Monday, and with it, a reduced train timetable that basically finished earlier than usual. Yoker was do-able but a bus would be required back, Johnstone was tight, Petershill was the easiest and Plan A, whereas Blantyre was also do-able.

The next spanner of course was the weather, the Red Warnings for extreme heat over the two days we were due to be in Scotland caused travel chaos. I wasn’t 100% sure we would even make it to Glasgow, let alone get to a game!

This is going to sound a bit like a travel log now, but anyway, it went something like this. The 9.45 from Derby to Edinburgh was fine, except it ceased at York, so we had to then wait for what was about an hour for a delayed connection which was a Kings Cross to Aberdeen train. Once on board, all was lovely, until it broke down just outside Thirsk with a brake issue. That got resolved, we got as far as the outskirts of Durham only for the same to happen again, this time with an even longer delay. Then of course a 60 mph speed restriction was placed on the Berwick to Edinburgh line, getting to Petershill was looking doubtful.

Once in Edinburgh, the change to the slow train to Glasgow (the fast ones had all been cancelled) was quite quick and finally, at around 5.15pm we arrived at our destination, two hours after planned. Petershill was not happening, we still had to get from Queen Street to Central where the hotel was, check in, and then get back out again.

Blantyre was now the obvious option, 25 minutes on the train from the lower level of Central Station, and then a ten minute walk once in Blantyre to the ground. I worked out I would make it with five minutes to spare before the 7pm kick off.

I didn’t realise that the following night West Ham United were playing Rangers at Ibrox in a friendly, so as I was wandering around the locality, it was noticeable that the Hammers fans had already started to arrive in town. The heat wasn’t too bad on the Monday evening, the forecast for Scotland suggested it would be a fair few degrees cooler than in parts of England, but even so, I took the risk and decided to leave my coat in the hotel!

The town sits on the Northern outskirts of Hamilton, and by train you travel East past Celtic Park, out through Rutherglen and Cambuslang, before arriving in Blantyre. Not to be confused with Blantrye in Malawi (which apparently is the commercial hub of the Country), the South Lanarkshire town is home to around 17,000 people, with its most famous son being the explorer David Livingstone, who went on to have a new town named after him between Glasgow and Edinburgh, but they spelt it wrong (Livingston), so people don’t often make the connection.

I made that last bit up by the way.

So, you come out of the station, walk down a road, cross a park and come out opposite Asda. You then carry on to your left and then take another left just past the leisure centre and right in front of you is the large turnstile block that welcomes you to Castle Park.

Blantyre Victoria are a famous old name in Scottish Junior Football, having won the prestigious Junior Cup back in 1982. Nowadays they compete in the West of Scotland League First Division, which is the second tier of that particular competition. To put it into perspective, they are two promotions from the Lowland League, which to be fair, is probably one promotion too many as far as many of the traditional Western Junior clubs are concerned.

I did read recently that one or two sides might fancy having a crack at the Scottish Football League, but the thought of having to play in and indeed win the Lowland League is not an appealing prospect. Three SPL reserve sides, a couple of student teams, some recently made up teams and one called Open Goal Broomhill is not quite the same as a ding dong Ayrshire Derby between the likes of Kilbirnie, Beith, Auchinleck and Cumnock.

The principal of the pyramid might be a good idea, but putting it into practice in Scotland is another story.

So, Castle Park is a cracker. The impressive turnstile arrangement greets you and once through, at the South East corner of the ground, to your left are two areas of covered standing typical of Junior football grounds, one of them complete with cinder and railway sleeper terracing. Carrying on round in a clockwise direction you’ve got an out of bounds area behind the goal that is a gently banked grassed area, while moving round to the North side of the ground you meet a bit more terracing and some relatively new seats that are uncovered, set in front of the dressing room area.

The large (unopened) clubhouse sat adjacent to the dressing rooms and then continuing the journey round to the East end of the ground, at either ends of more terracing are two small seated stands of an Atcost variety. Next to one of the stands is the tea bar, and on a night where pies and Bovril were not really required, it was soft drinks and ice cream that were on offer!

The game was an excellent one. Pollok, from a league above, took the lead in the 22^nd minute through Gary McCann, but within ten minutes of going behind Scott Jarvie made it 1-1 from distance. Pearse McGarvey took it to 2-1 just after the hour mark, and then as the game moved into the final twenty minutes Kieran Irwin made it 3-1.

Sam Mackenzie scored a fourth for Blantyre with a great finish, to round off a superb evening for the hosts, and a very impressive performance that bodes well for the upcoming league campaign.

The 9pm train was made with a few minutes to spare and soon it was back into Glasgow and a nice air conditioned hotel room. However, the story hadn’t quite finished.

As our meeting progressed the following day, it became apparent that any hope of getting a train back to England was rapidly diminishing. Upon arrival at Glasgow Central we were basically told we had no chance, and with one of our lads due to fly to Spain the following day, another overnight stay was not something he could gamble on. Personally, I would have been more than happy to stay, I mean, Rangers v West Ham was bubbling up nicely in the local pubs, Aberdeen were at Stirling Albion which would have been an easy run, while Airdrie United were also at home just across the way. Having tried in vain to get a hire car I was all set for a bit more football action, but then a car suddenly became available in Hamilton.

The gaffer drove us down the M74 to the depot, we picked up the car, and then the epic journey back started. Calling at Newcastle for the first drop, Darlington for the next drop, before I finally arrived in Belper at 10.45pm.

Like I said, it seemed a really good idea at the time.....

Everything's Premier

FC Premier  0  Leamington Hibernians  1

Friendly

It seemed a brilliant idea at the time.

The first Saturday in July, we were all systems go for Studley, I was just doing my final checks on Twitter, Steve was already well on his way from Chesterfield, the new season was almost underway.

But then I spotted a tweet from FC Premier, one of the new boys in the West Midlands Regional League. It appeared they were playing a friendly at their Ray Hall Lane home in Great Barr. A phone call to Steve followed, it was time for a quick change of plan, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, it meant we could save the floodlit home of Studley for another time.

Now then, anyone who has re-engaged with my relaunched blog might now be wondering what I’m talking about, only you would be correct in thinking that on Saturday 2^nd of July, we did in fact end up at Studley, not FC Premier. I’d better explain….

I was making my way through Streetly, along the edges of Sutton Park, admiring the kind of houses only criminal proceeds could fund, when Steve phoned me…

“I’ve got here, but the gates are locked.”

To be fair, it was getting on for two hours before kick off, I suggested to Steve that he hung on a bit because no one turns up for a pre-season friendly this early. It was only as I was taking a wrong turn onto a housing estate adjacent to the ground that Steve phoned me again…

“The away team have tweeted, some problem with a pitch mower, they’ve moved it to a 4G in Tipton.”

And that dear reader, is how we ended up in Studley.

Not to be deterred, another fixture appeared on the radar at Ray Hall Lane a couple of weeks later, so this time to make sure I contacted the Twitter person who indeed confirmed all was ok for the game against my old mates from Leamington Hibernians. On the day of the game the only slight worry was the heat and whether the game would be called off, or possibly the kick off time adjusted, but all was indeed well.

The West Midlands Regional League is always a bit of a guessing game in pre-season, in the sense that while they are pretty quick to get the constitutions out, finding out where clubs are actually playing is something of a lottery. Where a club played last season doesn’t always mean they will be in the same place following election to the league. Waiting for the directory or even the fixtures on Full Time is often the first indication of what might actually be happening. Pre-season venues mean nothing either, I’ve made that mistake before as well, but to be fair of all of the new teams this season FC Premier filled me with confidence, because Ray Hall Lane is the long standing home of the club (a Sunday side historically), so unless something bizarre happens, I’d like to think we’ve called this one right.

Steve was first to arrive, and he did indeed confirm that he’d seen players arriving, so filled with confidence it was a gentle walk up the road to the Malt Shovel for a snifter. The ground itself is located to the rear of the Birmingham County FA Ground and sits almost underneath the slip road that links the M6 to the M5. I’d got it into my head that they played on the pitch that runs parallel to the FA Ground on the North side, but I was wrong, it sits behind the West side of the ground and runs North / South as opposed to East / West.

Let’s not beat about the bush, it was roasting, and as we arrived at pitch side the grass was almost brown in colour so dry and parched it was. A rope barrier runs down one side, while the opposite side is tightly hemmed in by the adjacent railway line. The players changed in the nearby bowls club pavilion, otherwise in terms of structure and furniture, you had the permanent dug outs as the only barrier from the sun.

The game was played at a decent pace, interspersed with water breaks, and was ultimately decided by a penalty in the first half for the visitors, although to be fair it could have been 2-0 had it not have been for the referee disallowing an effort from the half way line that bounced up off the cross bar, only for the goalkeeper to then somehow manage to allow it to bounce off of him and into the net!

Fair play to the two sides though for putting on a display in the heat, and of course, FC Premier for getting that mower sorted out!

 

Sherwood

Eastwood & Kimberley  2  Legion  3

Friendly

I’m not a big television watcher, in fact if Mrs H said we were getting rid of it I genuinely don’t think my life would be any worse for it. Yes, occasionally we might have Sky Sports News, or indeed just plain Sky News on but that’s more in the background when pottering abut in the kitchen, however, once in a while……..

Sherwood – absolutely brilliant, and especially so given the local interest. I always think the mark of any good TV drama (especially one based on a real life event) is that it makes you want to delve more into the subject matter, and that’s precisely what Sherwood has done. The Miners Strike of 1984 is now my most searched internet topic, after that picture of the squirrel with the disproportionately large testicles of course

I was eleven when the Miners Strike started, not long at secondary school, and my memories were of TV pictures of pickets and coppers with riot shields, most notably the infamous Battle of Orgreave. I also remember it from a football perspective, because at the time Belper Town were in the Northern Counties East League, and it became apparent that issues were arising when Nottinghamshire sides played South Yorkshire sides. As a Derbyshire club we didn’t have any problems that I can recall, but the likes of Blidworth Welfare and Sutton Town did, in fact some games remained un-played as sides either refused to travel or it was felt unsafe to participate.

What you don’t really understand though at that age is just how the depth of feeling would still be so prevalent and indeed raw, nearly forty years later. Sherwood encapsulates that brilliantly as it references places like Clipstone, Annesley, Newstead and Ashfield, places that still proudly describe themselves as former mining towns / villages.

Jacksdle, a Nottinghamshire village close to the Derbyshire border was a pit village. The Pye Hill Colliery closed in 1985, around the time of the Miners Strike coming to an end. The coalfields in that area used to be thriving with Selston, Underwood and Bagthorpe all in close proximity having pits and communities based around them. But that’s all gone, the spoil heaps have been landscaped, the heads demolished. All that remains are plaques, statues, memorials and memories, and of course, in many cases, an enormous sense of unforgiving.

I’ve not been to Jacksdale since I was in the Sixth Form, we used to have parties at what I seem to recall is the Social Club in the centre of the village. Memories are vague, and old, we are talking the 1989-1991 period, I’ve been in a lot of social clubs since then!

Fast forward. It appears a team called Eastwood & Kimberley have been elected into the Nottinghamshire Senior League this season. I have heard of them before, they appeared on the scene a few years ago now when the old Eastwood Town went belly up, and at one stage there was talk that they might be a successor. It wasn’t so, Eastwood Community rose from the ashes of Town and the newly formed E&K plied their trade in Sunday football.

Now boasting a Saturday, Sunday and a Charity side, they have set up home at the Dale Club (the old Miners Welfare) on Main Road in Jacksdale, and with a Sunday morning game advertised against Hucknall based Legion, it was time to go and have a look, especially with it being so close to home.

First things first, it might have been less than ten miles away from where we live, but I didn’t actually know how to get to Jacksdale! I could kind of describe it’s whereabouts, but it was a sat-nav job to get me there going via Leabrooks, Riddings and round the edges of Ironville, before you finally arrive. But when you do arrive (assuming people do take on board my recommendations), you will be pleasantly surprised by what you’ll find.

Parking is behind the goal in what is the Community Centre car park, and then right on the corner next to the entrance is the Community Centre itself which houses the changing rooms. The Dale Club (ex Miners Welfare) sits next door, and from what we could see, it opens around Noon on a Sunday judging by the time beverages were arriving at pitch side.

Two sides of the pitch are adorned with a tidy wooden fence, complete with advertising boards, while on the same two sides cover from the beating sun could be had from the trees and bushes that were maturing on the banking. The Main Road side is complete with outdoor pub style seating and a children’s play area. All in all, a very tidy, well maintained and more than capable venue for hosting a good level of football, as I say, I have to admit I was not expecting what I found.

Met up with Steve again at the game, and also great to catch up with Nottinghamshire Non-League Royalty in the shape of Malc Storer, a man who provides without doubt the finest online service to local football with his blog / fixtures and results guide. Don’t be trawling websites on a Saturday night for results and the following weeks fixtures, just go straight to Malc and it’s all there, an absolutely indispensable service and long may it continue. Oh, and he does it all for charity, so if you don’t follow him on Twitter, then sort it, now….@ontheroadblog

So, the game. Well it was a pretty competitive affair, Legion looked the better side in the early part of the game, but then E&K came back into it as their confidence grew. However, it was the away side who came away with a 3-2 victory. It’s hard to really comment on standards and such like with it being a pre-season friendly, but what I do know is that E&K finished bottom of the second tier of the Notts Sunday League last season, while Legion were mid table in the fourth tier.

Eastwood & Kimberley Football Club look like they have an awful lot to look forward to, and interestingly in the final episode of Sherwood as emotions were running high, one of the lead characters (the wife of a former striking miner) talked about the areas obsession with the past and how much it continues to define everyone’s future.

Moving on though, it seems, is very hard to do. But on a more cheerful note, here's my favourite picture of a squirrel.....

Northern Gains

Consett  8  Birtley Town  0

Friendly

I might have said it before, but I bloody love the Northern League.

It’s a combination of factors that draw me to it, the quality of the football for a start, just take a look at the FA Vase winners over the years that the league has provided, historically, a stronger Step 5 competition you will have struggled to find.

Excellent grounds as well, some real classics, unchanged by gradings and regulations, and coupled with that the crowds that some of the clubs attract would be the envy of outfits from two levels higher up the food chain.

That said, there was a reason for the strength of the league, because for a good number of years very few clubs chose to make the move to the Northern Premier League, or going back further, there was a spell when the league sat outside of the pyramid and if you wanted to go up you needed to move into the Northern Counties East League for an escape route. North Shields and Spennymoor United being examples of this.

As a result you had some big fish, attracting big crowds and allegedly paying big money to attract the best talent the North East could supply. Could the top sides have competed at a higher level, absolutely no doubt, but it was of course their prerogative to stay where they were, citing, quite reasonably, that travel costs into a league that was largely centred around the M62 corridor and below were a burden too far.

Plus, it was a cracking competition to be a part of, local derbies, a better than above average chance of getting to Wembley. Home games against your neighbour were a lot more appealing than a midweek trip to Frickley Athletic.

But it started to change, the FA of course got involved, and by the 2012-13 season the floodgates started to open. First came Darlington (they were never going to turn it down), a re-born Spennymoor Town followed, before the juggernaut that was / is South Shields made the leap a couple of years later down the line. By the start of the 2017-18 season the Northern Premier League had become an East / West set up so more favourable for the North East clubs due to the A1 and A19 taking them straight into the heartlands. Two went up that season, Morpeth Town and Marske United.

Dunston, Shildon, Stockton and Hebburn Town soon followed, and suddenly as the 2021-22 season came around, the North East was very well represented. Consequently, after the Northern League had a spell of providing eight out of nine consecutive FA Vase winners, they have only produced the winner once since 2017.

From a personal point of view, I set myself a goal of getting to all of the grounds in the Northern Premier League, therefore the clubs vying for promotion from the Northern League are of interest to me. Last season for a period my money was on Consett to make the leap, but, over the final couple of months, North Shields went on a blistering run and Consett had a couple of slip ups. As it got to April, I’d got a choice of who to visit, I gambled on Shields, and got it right.

But, Consett had secured enough points per game to get into the Inter League Play Off and overcame an away tie at Histon to join North Shields in Step 4, they were back on the radar for me again.

Consett moved to their Belle View Stadium in 2013, having previously played at Belle Vue Park. I never went to Belle Vue Park but my mate Mark from Alfreton did, for a Vase game many years ago, he missed the bus back after the game and had to find alternative means of getting back to Derbyshire!

Belle View is located on the South East side of Consett, a short walk from the town centre, and after suffering badly with pitch problems at the old ground, an artificial surface was installed. Honours wise they had been a bit of a yo-yo club in the earlier Noughties in the Northern League but they have had the privilege of a trip to Wembley where they lost to Hebburn Town in the pandemic delayed Vase Final, which came during a period when the club were consistently one of the leading lights of the top flight.

Journey wise it was a pretty easy run up the A1 to the A68 / West Auckland turn off, before a very scenic cross country route via Tow Law, eventually coming into Consett on the road where the ground is located. I arrived an hour and a half before kick off and got a parking space, but with the crowds that they typically get for league games, especially toward the end of the season, of around the 450 mark, I should imagine getting a space is not that easy.

A modern single story building with the club crest adorned on the side greets you, and then once through the turnstiles you can see it’s a roomy expanse with a couple of similar Atcost style stands dropped in on either side of the pitch, the one on the South side more towards the Eastern corner flag due to the building and dugouts being in the central areas.

The two stands aside, it’s flat standing all around the pitch, with one slightly unusual feature being the safety netting behind both goals which sits directly in front of the pitch side rail. I can only assume it’s designed for the when the pitch is being used by other parties, to stop stray balls flying out of the arena.

On a blistering hot day, a pints of Denmark’s finest was taken in the large clubhouse, before the crowd of 201 settled down to watch a very energetic and efficient Consett side put the plucky visitors to the sword. Having followed the club on Twitter over recent weeks it’s been noticeable that some new additions have been made to what was clearly an already impressive squad, and by half time they were comfortably leading 3-0.

Two goals immediately after the break left Birtley in a damage limitation situation, but to the credit of the Northern League side, they never gave up and displayed an absolutely spot on attitude despite the pummelling. When the final whistle did blow, Consett had found the net a further three times to record an emphatic 8-0 victory.

The route back was slightly different, I went directly East to the City of Durham and navigated my way through the centre and out to the A1. I did visit Durham in the early Nineties with a mate who lived in the vicinity but I have no memory of it, however it was a busy day for the City because the annual Durham Miners Gala was taking place, a celebration of an industry that is no longer part of the communities. Of course, the coalfields of Durham would have provided the fuel that would have powered the famous old steelworks at Consett, which again, no longer remains, closing in 1980.

So what of Consett this season? Well if we let history guide us, last season was a bit of a year for the former Northern League clubs. Markse United won the NPL East play off, beating Stockton in the final, while Shildon made it three of the four play off contenders coming from the region. Dunston finished one place outside the play off’s, while somewhat surprisingly, Hebburn Town finished only thirteenth. Consett, without jinxing them, should do well, but the geography is interesting again, the quirks of the English pyramid, motorways and general shape of the Country means the Eastern Division no longer ends in South Yorkshire, now it also includes Long Eaton United and Carlton Town. But with five neighbouring North East clubs (which was effectively the idea) in the league, that should soften the blow!

I’ll have one eye on the Northern League again though to see who the contenders might be, any excuse to get back up the A1.  

 

By Popular Demand

Studley  2  GNG Oadby Town  0

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Ey-up, I’m back, have I missed much?

By popular demand you know, when the blog ceased back in January 2021, I got countless requests to bring it back, well, being honest, when I say countless, that’s a lie, I did actually count them. I got one from my wife (she thought it would keep me from under her feet), one from my Dad who I think saw it as a means of keeping track of where I was going in case my Mum ever asked, one from my mate in Holland who after all these years still can’t get his head around the concept of groundhopping, and one from a local referee called Steve who I name checked once and has remained loyal ever since…..

So why did I stop it? Initially because I was a bit naughty, I didn’t play completely by the rules, you see in my view, I thought travelling from one Tier Three location to another Tier Three location to watch a football game was simply a work event and as no party took place it was perfectly acceptable.

Trouble is, I’m not Boris, and it wasn’t allowed, so I did the decent thing and kept my head down, not wishing to drop any clubs in any bother for no fault of their own, because of course the responsibility to check the names, addresses and purpose of people visiting public parks fell very much at the door of the clubs, and making their cause any harder than it already was didn’t sit well with me.

But when we were finally liberated, I’d got myself a little side line. I’d entered into a business partnership with a fella from Liverpool called Gary who I met on the Internet, it involved meeting at motorway services, moving goods from one car to another. Goods he had sourced, which I then traded, and we split the profits. It was a pretty good gig, but it took time and an awful lot of envelopes and sellotape. Time was indeed money, and sadly as the profits from the blog were still sat in the same anti-money laundering process that Chris Kirchner the wanabee Derby County owner fell foul of (ie they didn’t exist!). Gary’s stash was the winner!

I did toy with bringing it back on a few occasions, even to the point of taking photo’s at games with every intention of posting, but, it didn’t happen, on top of all of the above, I’d fallen out of the habit. It was a shame in some ways, shall I tell you what you missed out on?

Well when we came back in the April after the three month lockdown where no parties took place, I had an onslaught on the Hope Valley League and it was simply wonderful. Venues like Buxworth, Youlgrave, Hathersage and Tansley were a real joy, so close to home but venues I’d never touched, not even considered in the past, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.

I did see my biggest ever victory when Cannock United lost 17-0 at home to Shifnal Town in a very ill thought out League Cup concept (so much so they quit after just one game of returning), and I managed to get to the new York City stadium on a Saturday in June 2021, watching two games in the process.

Moving onto 2021-22, we had some sense of normality, I got to 138 games. If I could pick out highlights I would say re-completing the 92 with Brentford and AFC Wimbledon was great to do, as was the return to Scotland and the majestic Cliftonhill home of Albion Rovers. The season ended by the way at a Play-Off Final between St Johnstone and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the most Northerly ground I’ve ever visited.

The non-league game of course served me well, I saw Belper Town get promoted in the play offs at Chasetown, that was a day and a half! But the ventures further afield were great days out. Merthyr Town was probably my favourite non-league venue visited, but Corinthian Casuals, East Thurrock United, Hebburn, Weston super Mare and Paulton Rovers were also memorable in different ways.

Holidays to the South West were great as always, and the highlights were probably Bridgwater United, Plymouth Parkway and the most Southerly footballing point in the UK at Lizard Argyle. It was also nice in the month of April to visit two venues I’d not been to since the mid-Eighties, one being Exmouth Town and the other being the iconic Hampden Road at Mexborough.

But what was a real bonus, last season especially, was getting out and meeting my old mates at games again. Steve, Dave, Pete and Malc to name but a few, being normal again was the new normal! Midweeks at Selston, Staveley and Borrowash were social events as opposed to football matches.

So, it’s the first Saturday in July and after spending the last few weeks piecing together who’s in what league and who’s playing where, a plan had come together, and by that it was going to be a trip into Worcestershire to the ‘new’ home of Studley.

When I say the new home, what I actually mean is that they’ve moved what is effectively the width of a pitch from their old ground onto a new 4g variant within the same complex. Look, I make these rules up as I go along, so in this instance it’s new, ok?

I was due to meet Steve, but the day took a slightly unusual twist, of my own doing I have to say.

Myself and Mrs H went to the Amber Valley Beer Festival the night before so I was a bit late rising and didn’t really spend much of my Saturday morning double checking and researching. I was just flicking through Twitter when I saw that FC Premier (new to the West Midlands League) had a game at their Birmingham County FA base on Ray Hall Lane. It’s a grass pitch and doesn’t have lights so I thought it would be a good move to get to that and save Studley for more inclement weather or indeed for a midweek.

I managed to contact Steve who was already on his way to Studley and convinced him my new plan was indeed an excellent plan, well, it was an excellent plan until Steve arrived only to establish that the game had been moved to another venue at short notice due to a faulty lawn mower issue….

By the time he phoned me to tell of this turn of events I was within a few hundred yards of Ray Hall Lane myself, albeit my navigation equipment had taken me to a housing estate as opposed to the ground, so it was a quick change of plan and back to the original destination, Studley!

West Bromwich was negotiated, the M5 accessed and before long I was cruising along the edges of Redditch thinking about the fact that this was the second season on the bounce where I’d set off for my first game of the season only to end up somewhere completely different! Last season I was going to Burscough via a meeting at a service station to collect some more of Gary’s merchandise, only to end up in Northwich and the home of Winnington Avenue.

I did go to Studley back in the 2003-4 season, it was a midweek game in the Birmingham Senior Cup against Redditch United incidentally. Some of it I recognised upon arrival, but much of it had changed. The old clubhouse has been refurbished and what was the stand now looks like it’s been converted into some office type buildings. The venue is also used by Solihull Moors as their training ground, and it’s been divided into two grassed areas (one of which was the old pitch) and a 4g surface that Studley use.

Heading up a walkway from the clubhouse you enter into the 4g arena and from a furniture point of view they have an Atcost style stand on the half way line, otherwise it’s hard standing all the way around. I’ll be honest, I was expecting more of a cage type venue, but it pleasantly surprised me, it actually felt and looked like a proper football ground.

Studley BKL as they were once known, joined the Midland Combination in 1987, working their way through the divisions until 2001 when they became members of the Midland Alliance. They remained in the Alliance until 2013 when they were relegated back to the Combination, which of course was renamed the Midland League the following year where the club played in Division One up until the start of last season when they were laterally shifted to the Hellenic League First Division.

The league was won and they now find themselves back in the top flight of the Midland League, at Step Five. It was during last season that the club made the move to the 4g pitch.

I won’t dwell on the game, it was a pre-season friendly and a goal in each half won the game comfortably for the hosts. The second goal to be fair was excellently worked and finished well. It’s really hard at this point to second guess how teams might fare in the new season, but I would suggest Oadby, who play at the same level but in the United Counties League, might struggle on the evidence available.

It was great to catch up with Steve, and after a break of forty days it was good to be back in the saddle again.

It’s also good, to be writing about it again once more, popular demand finally got the better of me…