Mrs H's Sat Nav

Punjab United  1  Pelsall Villa Colts  6

West Midlands Regional League – Division Two

Admission / Programme – Free / No

I was under strict orders to stay local, you see my car is going back shortly and to make sure I don’t get hit with any meaty charges, I’d employed the skills of my brother in law who was going to repair the kerbed alloys, polish out any scratches and scuffs, and if possible, remove the minor dints caused when colliding with animals…

Mrs H was lending me her car, and she needed it until lunchtime so restrictions were in place, but that wasn’t an issue, I’d got a couple of games in the Staffordshire area on the radar, one of which being the game at Codsall High School where West Midlands Regional League outfit Punjab United were now playing.

When Punjab first came into the league they played at a ground in Penkridge that had been used by Penkridge Town, but my understanding was that they were developing the facilities at Penn Cricket Club with all intentions of making that their home. I have to say then it did come as something of a surprise to see that they were now at Codsall.

The trouble is with driving cars other than your own is not the actual driving of them, that’s dead easy, it’s the operation of the sat nav that’s the issue. 95% of the time I can pretty much predict the route the say nav in my car is going to take me to a place. So for Codsall, it would have down to the M6 Cannock junction, straight over to the M54, then up a junction, then towards Wolverhampton before turning right at the roundabout for Bilbrook and Pendeford.

Mrs H’s car was having none of that, it wanted me to go along the A5 at Cannock and then down some back roads, it was clearly deluded, thick even, why on earth would I do that? Not a chance was I following it’s misguided guidance, I was going the way I know, and the way any normal person would go.

The thing is, Mrs H’s sat nav is obviously quite clever, only it had worked out that Wolves were at home to Forest, and therefore the main routes into the City would probably be quite busy, as I found to my cost as I queued for a considerable length of time before getting to the M54….oh well, at least I’m honest about it, it’s not just sat nav’s that make mistakes you know.

Once off the main drag into Wolverhampton it was on past the home of Bilbrook FC (I assume they still exist?) before quickly arriving in Codsall and finding the venue with ease. Like many institutions nowadays, the school and the leisure centre share the same site, with the 4G pitch being used by Punjab being located to the rear. It’s always something of a relief when you spot players in two different coloured kits ambling around the area, which was the case when I landed, but just to be sure I had a wander up to the check things out.

I ended up chatting to the referee who confirmed all was good, and indeed the game was a 3pm kick off, which gave me time to try and figure out Mrs H’s sat nav, which to be fair was a bit of a waste of time as her car is going back shortly as well. With that sorted I had Five Live for company until kick off, with the featured game being of course Forest at Wolves, a must win for both clubs it seemed, even at this stage of proceedings.

Prior to proceedings, Punjab were in the lower reaches of the table, whereas Pelsall Villa Colts, who last season played in the Staffordshire County Senior League, were at the other end of the table, and to be brutally honest, once the game got underway it showed.

Punjab, with a bare eleven on the pitch and no subs, were outplayed in the first half and went in four goals down, but it could have been more. In fairness, at that stage I was predicting a cricket score, but I have to say Punjab did show a bit more in the second period, were certainly a bit better organised and scored a cracking free kick.

That said, Pelsall found the net twice more and finished up with a comfortable 6-1 victory. The Pelsall goals came from Liam Matthews, Will Osborne, Alex Porter, Bobby Speed, Jordan Spragg and Nathan Baker. The Worldie free kick from Punjab was courtesy of Sebastian Haldron, take a bow son!

I appreciate I haven’t described the facilities yet, well, I don’t really need to as you will know by now exactly what they look like. A cage, with a viewing area two third of the length of one side, and that’s kind of it. It hammered it down with rain for a period so a bit of cover would have been handy, but not to worry, I had my umbrella in the boot, the boot of the car that was being carefully tidied up back in Belper…….

So, that was it, Forest lost 1-0 at Wolves and I decided to follow the sat nav back. It wanted to take me exactly the route back it had wanted to bring me on, so I trusted it. Tight country lanes, single lane tracks, junctions that appeared out of nowhere and then finally back on the A5.  

When does my new car arrive?

The Rosey Posey

Bonnyrigg Rose  2  Annan Athletic  0

Scottish Football League – Second Division

Admission / Programme – £12 / None

“I need to ask a massive favour” said the boss.

“I need you up in Scotland, some time in the next two weeks, when can you do it?” he went on.

Now, you can’t just make snap decisions like that, because if I’m spending a combined 13 hours on trains heading North of the border, I’m making sure I’ve got some football to go with it.

“Yeah, I can do that, let me just check the fixtu….sorry, my diary.”

Anyway, it was sorted, travel on a Tuesday, stay overnight, do what I’ve got to do on the Wednesday and then make my way home again, happy days!

Football wise I had a choice of three, Dundee United were ay home to Hibs and that could have been done on the train from Edinburgh, but getting back was a bit tight. Kelty Hearts v Queen of the South was tempting but given it’s not that far from either Edinburgh or Glasgow, it’s a bit of a pain to get back from, but the one that ticked the boxes was Bonnyrigg Rose v Annan Athletic, an easy Number 31 bus route away from Edinburgh city centre.

My mate Steve had been to Bonnyrigg right at the start of the season. Steve has been to all of the Scottish Football League grounds, but as anyone who knows about Scottish football will tell you, Bonnyrigg won the Lowland League last season and then beat Cowdenbeath in a play off to make it to the promised land. As a result all of the Scottish completeists have been making pilgrimages to New Dundas Park this season to get it ticked off, so I had the good fortune of having had a briefing from Steve before heading off.

It was all very simple to be fair, I got the train to Edinburgh which wasn't too crowded and ran on time, had some snap at a suitably located Spoons, checked into a little venue down the Leith Road and then made my way back up over Royal Mile to the bus stop. The 31 bus runs into Bonnyrigg, which is great, apart from the fact it stops about every 200 yards on the way, which at tea-time is great fun, eight miles felt like eight days! Anyway, the crowds thinned out, we went under the Edinburgh Ring Road and before you know it we’ve climbed the hill and we’re in Bonnyrigg, or Boomtown as it’s known locally. I did try and find out why that was, but so far no luck, and before anyone says anything, the Boomtown Rats are from Dublin......

Now then, ordinarily I do a fair bit of research before going to games, especially games at higher levels, usually to check on the situation around tickets, pubs, food etc, but as far as Bonnyrigg went, I’d relied on Steve. The day Steve went, he was running a bit late, consequently he never had chance to check out the pubs, but not to worry, I’d seen a pub called the Calderwood right outside the ground, that looked ideal in every sense……..

It was only after a very swift pint and I’d left the venue that I did a bit of research, that research pretty much told me that under no circumstances should I go in the Calderwood, and in hindsight I could see why. Put it this way, I’d been to the bar once, and I had no intentions of going back again!

The Anvil further up the road was a much better venue, I got chatting to a couple of older lads, of course they wanted to know who I was, where I was from and why I was in town, then of course the conversation naturally leads to Brian Clough as it always does when you mention the name Derby to anyone over 60 years old! They weren’t going to the game by the way, one was a Hibs fan and the other Celtic, welcome to a small town in Scotland…..

Bonnyrigg is a small town, South of Edinburgh and home to around 16,000 inhabitants. Having been a former mining town, it was also famous for carpet making but that factory closed in 1994. Recently it’s seen an expansion of housing and is now something of a commuter location for the big city just up the road.

The football club of course is on the up. Confusingly also known as Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic (they know how to confuse you in Bonnyrigg), they were a strong force in the Eastern Juniors, winning the title a record four times before deciding to become members of the East of Scotland Football League along with many others who felt the desire to form part of the Scottish pyramid. In 2019 they won promotion to the Lowland League which they went on to win last season, and here we are now, the ‘Rosey Posey’ as they are nicknamed, have reached the promised land.

Eyebrows were raised it has to be said when the club were allowed to use New Dundas Park to host games in the new World. I know an awful lot of work has been done over the close season to meet standards, which is a huge credit to the club, but I suspect more work is required.

You enter in one corner and on the side directly in front of you are two areas of covered terracing before you reach what looks like some new office buildings and the changing rooms. In front of these buildings is a small area of uncovered seating which looks to be a very recent addition. Moving around you’ve got a small area of open terracing behind the far goal, but then on the other side of the ground opposite the terracing it’s just grass banking, albeit at one end crush barriers are dotted around. The end where you enter has a small area of cover in one corner immediately to the right, while the pitch has a slight side to side slope on it.

It’s very much a traditional juniors set up that has been modernised for the professional game, but, it has a charm and an atmosphere, and with almost 600 supporters in the ground for the game, it’s a great place to watch football under the floodlights. Talking of crowds, 2400 turned up for the opening cup tie against Hibs, 1100 were at the opening league game against Forfar (including Steve), the next two home games were around the same level but the game prior to the Annan game saw 730 through the stiles. They had a good start on the pitch but have slipped a bit in recent weeks, so a good result against the team from the border was essential.

They played well, no doubt about it. George Hunter scored with a lovely header in the 24^th minute, and that was how it remained until half time. It was twenty minutes into the second half before the hosts got a deserved second when Kieran Mitchell went one on one with the visitors goalkeeper and neatly finished. They had more chances to score as the game wore on but Annan managed to keep them at bay.

So a happy crowd left New Dundas Park, safe in the knowledge that three points had been earned and they sat safely in a mid-table position, albeit very early days. I’m not sure what the ambition of the club is, but I guess going too far too quickly is risky so maybe they are just looking to stabilise at this stage in their new surroundings.

I was joined on the bus back by a group of German football enthusiasts who had been to the game, it’s not the first time I’ve seen this in Scotland to be fair, I suspect they didn’t make the same mistake as me and go in the Calderwood!

Edinburgh was buzzing as I got back, but it was straight to the room for me, after all, let’s get our priorities in order, I was only up there on business wasn’t I……………

Welders

Harland & Wolff Welders  0  Newington  1

Irish Football League – Championship

Admission / Programme – £8 / None

I can remember vividly the turn of events that saw me pay my visit to the old Tillysburn Park home of Harland & Wolff Welders.

It was back in October 2013 and I’d got my usual Autumn weekend planned, Derry City v Limerick on the Friday night, and then Bangor v Coagh United on the Saturday. I can’t remember exactly why I did this, but I engaged in an online conversation with the then Bangor FC Chairman Trevor Best, probably to find out what time they opened the bar on match day or something, but anyway, we got chatting in the couple of weeks building up to the game.

Then, news broke in the week leading up to the game that the Bangor Manager Garth Scates had lost his wife in a tragic car accident near Comber, and as a result the game the following Saturday had been quite rightly postponed as a mark of respect. I found out early about it because Trevor contacted me to tell me.

I had a re-think and decided to stay on the East side of Belfast and head to the derby game between the Welders and local rivals Dundela, but, given the fact Trevor had been hugely helpful in the build up, I asked him if he fancied joining me at the game so I could buy him a pint. To cut a long story short, he got back to me and said he would, and on a wet day as I walked from the bus stop into the car park, Trevor and his fellow director of Bangor, Mo, jumped out of a van and introduced themselves. I know what you are thinking, two blokes jumping out of a van in a car park in Belfast to introduce themselves…….I’m still here to tell the story!

It was a belting game, it finished 6-3 to Dundela, probably the best game I’ve seen on the island, and Trevor was great company. He blagged me in for nowt (I would have paid but he insisted), introduced me to a few people, we had a couple of beers, and of course we stood in silence to pay respect to Lesley Scates.

Myself and Mrs H did get to meet Trevor again, ironically at the end of the same season when they needed a win in the final game at home to seal the league title, they only drew, and the opponents that day, of course, the Welders!

So lets fast forward, even back then the Welders were talking about moving to a new ground, and even then that new ground was next door to Tillysburn Park, at Blanchflower Park, a location that sits between the Hollywood Road and the main dual carriageway that takes you East to Bangor and past George Best City Airport.

They’ve now moved in, finally, playing their first game at the new home last season, Blanchflower Park was now open for business.

Before we go on to talk about the club and the events of the day, can I just say, Harland & Wolff Welders FC, what a quite superb name for a football club. I mean, just to be named after probably the most famous ocean liner builders of the World is one thing, but to be named after a department that joins metal together at ridiculously high temperatures is another thing altogether. Just out of curiosity, back in the day, did you have to be a welder to play for them?

Having left Wilgar Park just before 1pm I was far too early for knocking on the doors at Blanchflower, so I thought I would head along Holywood Road and see what drinking establishments I could take residence in for a period of time. I have to say though, it didn’t look great, and as we got to twenty past one I was within a gnats chuff of the turnstiles and not an establishment was in sight, but then I had a vision.

To my left was a football ground, the home of Shorts FC, a club based around the aeroplane makers of the same name. But, they had a Social Club, and according to the signs it was an all day opening venue, so I decided to take a look, and yes, it was like finding an oasis in the Sahara, just when all hope was gone and all that!

Lager and Dry Roasted Peanuts later I was a happy lad, and wandering up to the turnstiles at Blanchflower Park, I have to say, what a superb job they have done in creating a ground that they tell me is fit for European football.

All of the fun and games is behind the North goal, they’ve built a large seated stand bedecked in yellow and black seats, with offices and dressing rooms underneath, but with a bar and hospitality area at the top. To the East is a steep but narrow bank of terracing on the half way line, while behind the South goal and on the West side of the ground are two seated stands of the variety that arrive on the back of a low-loader and need a crane to put them in place. It’s very good indeed, the club should be proud, it would grace the top flight should they ever make it, but it appears they want to be able to host European games for clubs who might qualify but don’t have the facilities themselves.

I went straight for the bar, and I’d not been sat down long when a club official came over to me, and quite out of the blue he immediately asked me if we’d met before. Now, that is quite possible, only he said he recognised me, so, maybe that day when Trevor did his best to introduce me to people, I left an impression.

A modest crowd rocked up for the game, the bulk of which were behind the goal, while visiting Newington who are a Belfast based club themselves, were largely without any kind of following. I don’t know an awful lot about Newington other than they joined the league a few years ago and shared at Crusaders, but I think they are now at Cliftonville, either way it’s North Belfast and the club are very much youth orientated.

To be brutally honest, as much as I was happy as a pig in the proverbial, high up in the stand with an al-fresco Carlsberg in hand, it wasn’t the greatest game you will ever see. A cracking first half goal from the visitors Michael Morgan, who curled in a shot from the edge of the box was the only strike of the encounter. The Welders battled hard throughout the game but lacked the cutting edge required to break down the resolute side in green.

So, the football for the weekend was over, it was now time to take a walk through East Belfast and find my accommodation on the Newtownards Road, which proved trickier than I thought but when you miss a vital turn that’s what happens! Anyhow, the rest of the night was mine, and as always on the Saturday night of a trip to North, it’s a time to reflect on the past couple of days, and of course, start to think about the next one.

This time around, I’m not planning on leaving it so long…..

Jobby & The Duns

Dundela Reserves  1  Harland & Wolff Welders U21  1

Irish Football League – Championship / PIL Development League Section A

Admission / Programme – Free / None

It was very long overdue indeed.

I’d not set foot on Irish soil since the July of 2019, a weekend that took in Belper Town’s ground breaking friendly at Portadown, and Shamrock Rovers comprehensive 7-0 victory over UCD.

Those that know me will know that trips across the water, both North and South happened at least twice, if not thrice in a year, but of course, Covid put paid to that. To be truthful though, I could have gone back earlier than I did, but in hindsight I found reasons not to go, as opposed to reason to go.

The issues with flights was a concern, would they be cancelled at short notice, and then of course we had the issues with games themselves being cancelled at short notice due to the virus. When I go to Ireland I like to look forward to it, not be filled with doubt and apprehension about what could go wrong, so I chose to park it for a little while more than was probably needed.

I took the plunge though, booked the flights, the accommodation, and all that went with it. My only concern was the game I had plumped for on the Friday night, Derry City v Finn Harps, would it be moved? I’ve been to Derry countless times, and I so wanted to head back to the Maiden City, meet up with old friends, have a few pints and head off down the Brandywell for a first ever experience of a North West Derby fixture. If that had not been on the Friday night the whole trip would have lost it’s edge, I was set to arrive Friday morning, head up to Derry, spend the night, head back to Belfast on Saturday, watch another game and then make my way home on the Sunday.

Thankfully, all went to plan, the game was on the Friday night, Simon sorted me a ticket for the game that was to ultimately be a sell out, and only at that stage could I truly start to look forward to it.

The trip started with a 3am alarm clock, a drive to Birmingham, off site parking and a 7am flight to Belfast City. Once in Belfast it was a short bus ride to the City Centre, the 212 bus and a two hour journey up to Derry.

I can’t describe the feeling I get as the bus comes up the hill from Drumahoe and gets to the Altnagelvin Roundabout, it’s a mixture of excitement, sentimentality and emotion. You know you are about to disembark, and immerse yourself in a City that has no compare.

I started with the Walls, and did a full circuit, just to survey the scenery, and then it was a walk down William Street and Rossville Street onto the Bogside. The murals were as vibrant and poignant as ever, it’s fifty years since Bloody Sunday and being and Englishman in what is a very Irish part of Derry was very much on my mind, but tourism is a big part of the West Bank of Derry, this is not an area to be afraid of at all. Politics, religion, anger, frustration, torment, suffering, injustice, all words that scream at you as you walk down Rossville Street, it never fails to get to you. I first came here in 2005, and the feelings I get remain exactly the same.

The afternoon was spent with my old pal Hugh Kelly (The Derry Raconteur), he struggles now and getting around is difficult, be he was absolutely insistent that he took me to meet someone. We drove up to the Collon, and parked outside a sports shop, a shop owned by John ‘Jobby’ Crossan.

Now this man is a legend. He started his football career at Derry City in the Fifties, moved to Coleraine and then went across the water to Bristol City. He then moved to Sparta Rotterdam before playing for Standard Liege where he lost a European Cup Semi-Final against Real Madrid, having beaten Rangers in the previous round.

He came back to England, scoring 39 goals in 82 games for Sunderland, before joining Manchester City and scoring 24 goals in 94 games. After that he moved to Middlesbrough before finishing his playing career back in Belgium at KSK Tongeren. Oh, and he played 24 games for Northern Ireland scoring 10 goals!

We chatted for a while, we talked about his friendship with Brian Clough who he played with at Sunderland, and his experience playing against Di Stefano and Puskas in a European Cup Semi Final. I also asked him about George Best…

“When I was at City, he was at United, so we shared a place together being Northern Irish lads, such a shy boy, it was a shame how things went wrong for him…”

I left Jobby’s shop with a sense of exhilaration, such an unassuming man leading such a humble life, yet so many memories of such great footballers who he came into contact with, and, let’s not forget, he was more than just a player himself. In fact he has a book written about him, it wasn’t always straightforward for Jobby, but I’ll let you do your own research into the man…….

Derry, who are having an excellent season won the game 3-0, it was straightforward enough, but they really need Shamrock Rovers to slip up if they are going to have a tilt at the title. I had a great night with great people, finishing in the Derby Bar, but it was time for bed, and an early start, because in the few days before my visit, my plans took a bit of a change.

I’d hooked up with second tier Harland & Wolff Welders who were to be my Saturday afternoon game on Twitter, and on the Wednesday I spotted a tweet suggesting they were playing away at Dundela on the Saturday morning at 11am. That was a bit weird, so I did my research and it turned out they had a side in the Development League who were an Under 21 outfit, and they were playing their local East Belfast rivals.

Now, I had Dundela, who are also a second tier Northern Irish League side, on the agenda for my last planned trip to the North back in 2020, but that got cancelled 24 hours before I went due to the onset of the virus. So, we now had a situation whereby as long as I got myself out of bed early enough, got a bus back to Belfast in time, and made my way on another bus East, I could get in the 11am game at Dundela, and then walk the twenty minutes to the afternoon game at the Welders. It was a plan that I hadn’t even considered a few days earlier, but now it was a chance to get to two of the three remaining grounds in the Championship I’d not visited, in one day.

7am alarm, 8am bus, 10am in Belfast, quick Greggs coffee and bacon sandwich, 3b bus to Strand Cinema on Hollywood Road, and before you knew it, I was walking into Wilgar Park a good fifteen minutes before the scheduled kick off! In fact just after I arrived the bus to transport the first team the relatively long journey to Dergview was pulling up outside the ground, they set off to the Donegal border mid-way through the first half.

It was a beautiful day, and what a cracking ground to be visiting. Wilgar Park is as urban as it gets, nestled in the heart of East Belfast in the Strandtown area which sits North of the Unionist Newtonwards Road. It has an absolutely superb social club which dominates one side of the ground, although to the West side of it is an area of covered terracing. It’s open behind the West goal and then as you move round to the South side you get two seated stands that are both modern and identical, either side of the dugouts. The goal to the East is inaccessible. The ground is very traditional but has clear indications of modernisation, notably the stands and the floodlights which are now a pre-requisite in the second tier, albeit a relatively recent requirement.

Yes, it’s a belter, one of the grounds that is as photogenic as it gets with it’s mixture of old, new and unusual. The club itself has spent many a year nestled in the second tier in Northern Ireland without ever threatening to make it to the top flight, and in fairness, that may well be the peak of the clubs ambitions, with the giants of Glentoran being a stone’s throw away and three other clubs in Belfast being dominant over the years.

This was a different kind of game though, and to be fair a decent crowd of over 100 rocked up to watch it. It was 0-0 at half time, but then in the second period the Welders took the lead with a well taken lob from an angle that eluded the Dundela goalkeeper.

The Duns did eventually come back into it and earned a point late in the game when a ball from the left was prodded home from close range.

On the final whistle, I made my way to the exit, I had one more game to get to, and it was only a short walk away……..  

Hosiery

Mansfield Hosiery Mills  8  Nottingham  1

Central Midlands League – Premier Division South

Admission / Programme - £3 / £1

One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a football pitch happened back in July 2003 at a pre-season friendly between Sutton Town and Tamworth.

No, it wasn’t the 5-0 demolition of the Snipes that was the laughing matter, it was at the final whistle when the three match officials were leaving the pitch only for one of them to be accosted by an angry woman.

I can’t recall the exact words that were used, but the general gist was that said match official had told his wife / partner that he was going to be working late and couldn’t look after the kids, only for said wife / partner to discover that he was in actual fact out enjoying himself officiating a football match.

It was all a bit awkward, the remaining two match officials left the pitch hurriedly with smirks on their faces, while the one in the line of fire tried valiantly to defuse the situation, but he was failing dismally…..the spectators cheered as forefingers were poked into chests and verbal volleys were thrown unchallenged, he was being owned and I suspect any hopes of a post-match pint had probably pretty much gone!

It was my first ever visit to the Fieldings home of Sutton Town, a club who I’d not seen play a home game from 1988 up until that point. My last visit was for a Northern Premier League game played on a Sunday against Accrington Stanley at the old Lowmoor Road ground, but a combination of factors had seen a fifteen year gap between visits. In the interim the club had obviously moved grounds from Kirkby in Ashfield to Huthwaite where the Fieldings lies.

I did venture over a couple of times in subsequent years, both ironically on Boxing Day mornings against Buxton and Mickleover Sports respectively, and then for a period Sutton Town as a football club became something of a car crash, folding and re-forming, going from one league to another, in fact my last ever visit was in March 2008 for a Friday night game against Welbeck Welfare. The ground by now was falling apart, and at some point after that (the exact date I cannot recall and can’t really be that arsed to research), the club went tits up and that was it as far as Sutton Town went.

But, a new club has emerged in recent seasons, Mansfield Hosiery Mills, and they have set up home at the Fieldings, however, despite the locality and ease of a trip just over the M1, I’ve never been back to have a look at them. Part of that was due to the fact that my memories of the Fieldings were of a ramshackle set up that did little to please the eye, the other part was simply timing, it never fell right in midweek for me.

So, it’s a Wednesday night, they are at home to Nottingham, it was time to bite the bullet and take a trip down. A couple of people had told me that it had changed a fair bit over recent seasons, so I was intrigued to see what it looked like nowadays.

Located just off the Huthwaite to Sutton in Ashfield road, the ground is at the end of a new build residential street called The Fieldings, funnily enough…..and once down the drive which runs alongside the ground, with the Hosiery Mills cricket field on the opposite side, you come to the social club which is a very nice facility. It was open when I arrived so of course, I took the opportunity to enjoy the facilities.

With time moving on, it was time to take a look and yes, it was definitely much better than I remembered. The rickety old cover on the cricket field side has been replaced by a smart changing room and office building, which also incorporates within it a tea bar that you can perch inside of on a cold night (which it was). A section of seating remains behind one of the goals while the rest of the ground is hard standing. It looked far more tidier and cared for than on previous visits, so a thumbs up to the football club if it was of course them that have gone to the effort and the expense of making the improvements.

So what about the game then? Oh dear, the young Nottingham side started well and played some nice passing football at a high tempo, but then it started to go horribly wrong. As the game wore on, goal after goal found it’s way into the Nottingham net, and with it they lost both their discipline and their desire, it was only going to finish one way.

A hat-trick from Daniel Keenan, two from Daniel Harper and efforts from Jack Hutchinson, Tyrone Macaskill and Charlie Wood were more than enough to seal a comprehensive 8-1 victory. It could have been more, but I think in the cold light of day, eight was probably about enough!

While it might not have been quite as funny as that night back in 2003, it was entertaining all the same, and I think having taken the plunge, I’m much more inclined now to pop back a little more frequently.

A Very Nice Man

MA Sherwood  3  Poets Young Boys  1

Nottinghamshire Sunday Cup - Group Stage

Admission / Programme – Free / None

Simple things can often prove to be somewhat problematic.

I mean, you find out a side in the Nottinghamshire Senior League (FC Mansfield in this instance) are plying their craft this season at the Queensway Recreation Ground in Forest Town, and then when you do your homework you find out not one, but two Sunday teams play at the same venue. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel, it could not be easier, in fact it’s almost so easy, why not simply leave it and don’t bother because the sense of underachievement when you finally arrive will be so palpable that you’ll wish you’d stopped at home and watched paint dry.

No disrespect to FC Mansfield, Sherwood Colliery or MA Sherwood, but this had a sense of ‘meh’ about it, motivation was non-existent to begin with, I could pretty much go on any alternate Saturday or any given Sunday. But at the same time, get it done, get it over with, go home, put a tick in the book and forget about it. Besides, clubs in the NSL are typically nomadic anyway so by the end of the season FC Mansfield will probably be moving somewhere else anyway!

Right then, this is where karma bites you on the backside. This was absolutely going to be a Sunday visit, no way was it going to be a Saturday, so I’d got it all lined up, and then guess what, the morning before I was stood on Belper Railway Station waiting for my train to Wake Green Amateur when I spotted it was off, not to worry, we can go the week after, two teams play at the venue, one of them will be at home…..

Nope, inexplicably no one was at home, and then having made plans for the following Sunday to do something completely different, it meant a further delay, but not to worry, the following week was looking good!

I say looking good, it was looking very good until I got to the A38 / M1 junction and heard a strange noise coming from my front wheel. The strange noise continued, but I had an idea that the problem might well be that something had got entangled in my wheel, so I decided to pull off the main road about a mile and a half from the ground and take a look. Nothing could be seen, but then when I tried to reverse to turn the car round, nothing happened, it was stuck! I managed to pull forward, and this time the noise sounded like someone had wedged a file between the brake pad and disc, this wasn’t good at all!

Feeling like traveling any further might do more damage (albeit to a car that isn’t mine), or I might end up stopping and not being able to move again, I had to call the breakdown hotline. To cut a long story short, I never did make it to Queensway, but the nice man from the RAC (or was he a very nice man – have I got my adverts mixed up here?) managed to remove the wheel, loosen the brake mechanism and remove a lump of metal that had got wedged behind the disc and was tearing lumps away from it! Being very nice, he followed me home and suggested I get it in to Kwik Fit for repair..

So, we had a further opportunity, and now I was beginning to think that my arrogant complacency was to blame for the footballing Gods deciding to take revenge on me, was I destined to never get to this place?

MA Sherwood v Poets Young Boys in the Notts Sunday Cup, I had a restless night prior, thoughts of minor disasters were implanted on my brain, I even did a routine inspection of my car before setting off and I don’t even do that when we go on holiday to Cornwall! The phrase ‘more in hope than in expectation’ has never been more at the forefront of my mind….this was now a personal battle.

When I finally did arrive and grabbed a parking space on Queensway itself, part one was complete, part two was to establish if we actually had a game. The nets were being put up and players from both sides were milling about, all looked to be good, I went back to my car and excitedly phoned Mrs H…she was somewhat less excited than I was, making some comment about having to cook the Sunday dinner.

Anyway, what’s it like? Well to be honest it’s your typical local authority parks pitch, with grass banks down one side and behind one goal, while behind the other goal is a changing room block. For those not familiar with locality in Mansfield, Queensway is only a couple of hundred yards further on than Forest Town Welfare which is the home of AFC Mansfield. With the sun coming out and a nice day on the cards, the grass bank looked the ideal viewing platform, but what of the game?

It pitched a Mansfield Sunday League side with what I think is a Nottingham Sunday League side who originate from the Meadows area of Nottingham. There used to be a team called Poets Corner some years ago in Nottingham and they were a very good Sunday side, I saw them play in a Midland Sunday Cup Final at Belper Town once, and one or two players on show that day (they were all well known names in local football), shared the same surnames to those playing today, so maybe the Poets Young Boys are indeed the offspring and / or younger relatives of some of that said side!

I don’t know what the MA prefix of Sherwood stands for, maybe a sponsorship arrangement, but anyway, also with some familiar faces playing, they looked a good outfit, and midway through the second period they found themselves 2-0 up, but a goal from the visitors put the game on something of a knife edge as we moved into the closing stages, although in the end Sherwood got a third and gained a win in what is the group stages of the competition. The standard was good, the result was about right, and the game was managed by three officials which is something you very rarely see in Sunday football.

It didn’t take long to get home, and this time, it was without the help of a very nice man….plus, maybe in future I won’t be quite so disparaging about a venue, you never know quite what will bite you on the arse next!

By Surprise

Walshaw Sports  3  Rochdale Sacred Heart  1

Manchester League - Premier Division

Admission / Programme – Free / None

Yeah, I’ll be honest, I really didn’t see this one coming.

I mean, Walshaw Sports, playing at Walshaw Sports Club, why on earth would they suddenly up sticks and move to a new home? They had a pitch and a clubhouse in the village, albeit shared with cricket, but it was very nice, I went one Friday evening early in a season, it would have been a few years ago now, and I remember thinking what a great place to play football, and of course socialise.

So, why might they consider moving? Cricket maybe, but let’s be honest, plenty of clubs share with cricket and it doesn’t force them to move elsewhere? I know they had a few issues with waterlogging, but again, welcome to non-league football in the twenty first century, it’s an occupational hazard. Could it be to get promoted, they will need floodlights, so that could be a reason, or, have they simply fell out with someone and chosen / been forced to move away?

Anyway, the answer is, I didn’t know, and a week after having been, I still don’t know, but the fact of the matter is, they’ve moved to the 3G at Elton High School, and it caught myself and others off guard.

The journey round from Rushford Park was pretty straightforward, up through Longsight into Levenshulme, and then down Hyde Road to the M60. You have to then navigate your way round Bury town centre which on a Saturday lunchtime is quite a task, before heading up the hill past Elton Vale and out towards Walshaw itself, where the school is located on the left hand side. Noticing that plenty of cars were parked and a game looked to be well and truly on, I decided to head into Walshaw itself and find a pub, which I did. I’m good at finding pubs, after football grounds and the cheapest petrol stations, they are next on the radar.

I’d picked up from Twitter that both clubs were bigging up the game, it was a top of the table clash, with Walshaw having only lost once but won their other five games, while Sacred Heart had played five and won five, something had to give, unless of course it finished as a goalless draw in which case everyone would probably have left feeling a little flat. 

The 4G pitch is located at the rear of the school, up a slope, with the changing block to one side. You can only get access down one side and with a decent sized crowd in attendance it was quite tight, but it created a decent atmosphere. I bumped into Alan Oliver as I walked up to pitch side, a man who I met many years ago for the first time at an abandoned game at Newcastle Blue Star on a Good Friday afternoon. But, it wasn’t your straightforward common or garden abandonment due to water or ice, this was pretty spectacular as the corrugated sheeting from the stand roof at Kingston Park took off in the high winds and clattered onto the pitch. The game lasted twelve minutes, Alan and I retired to the bar, after which I went for a few beers in Newcastle before my train home, Alan blagged a lift home on the visiting Curzon Ashton team bus!

Anyway, Alan is a great lad who I see from time to time, he travels by public transport, loves his music, and if I see him, I always give him a lift to the nearest train or bus station. He’s an authority on non-league football in the Manchester area, and guess what, despite that, he didn’t know why Walshaw had moved either.

It turned out to be a good game, in fact it was a fast paced and very competitive encounter in which both benches had plenty to say to each other, the officials, players and any supporters who cared to engage in a spot of banter / sledging! All good fun it was, but with an edge, not a nasty edge, but an edge all the same, which is what you would expect when two local rivals are battling away at the top of the league.

Sacred Heart took the lead through Owen Whitehead, but second half goals from Jack Law and a brace from Elliot Collinson saw Walshaw get the victory that on the balance of the game they probably deserved.

The Manchester League top flight is a competitive animal, especially nowadays with clubs starting to see the promotion pathway to the North West Counties League as a viable option. We’ve seen Stockport Georgians, Wythenshawe Amateur, Avro  and Prestwich Heys make the move over recent seasons and certainly not struggle, so in my humble opinion I don’t think either Walshaw Sports or Rochdale Sacred Heart would have any problems adapting if that was a route they chose to go down.

All will be revealed at the end of December when the deadline for applications to Step Six passes, maybe then we’ll work out if that was the reason why Walshaw Sports took us all a little bit by surprise at the start of the season!

A Complex Beast

Hazel Grove  8  Beechfield United  2

Manchester Saturday Morning League – Division One

Admission / Programme – Free / None

The Manchester League is a complex beast.

With numerous divisions, plenty of new teams are welcomed each season, while the present incumbents are not unknown to move home at regular intervals. In short, if you want to stay on top of it you need to have your wits about you, and it helps to have a bit of local knowledge as well.

My mate Steve has been to all of the grounds in the league, he has a certificate and badge to prove it, but even he gets caught out. Moorside Rangers, now he missed that one when they moved to Agecroft Farm last season, I refrained from telling the Police but he is dutifully obliged to be stripped of his regalia until he’s been, but it matters not, because this season we’ve worked out he has eight new venues to visit, it could take a while……

I only bother with the top division, and to be fair I happily went into the current season feeling completely confident that I only had two to visit, one being Atherton Town (which readers will recall from pre-season), and the other being the infamous Moorside Rangers. I was wrong, it seems Walshaw Sports had moved to a school 4G in Elton Vale, while another one coming out of leftfield was Manchester Gregorians, one of the more nomadic clubs, who had moved to Rushford Park in the Levenshulme area of the City.

Using the guidance of he who should be stripped of his titles, he did advise me that Rushford Park is one that could be visited on a Saturday morning in the erstwhile Manchester Saturday Morning League (it kind of says it on the tin doesn’t it?). That in turn meant it could be combined with one in the afternoon, and guess what, it all fell nicely into place!

Hazel Grove are the dominant side in the MSML, and they had a home game against Beechfield United, a Salford based side who I also saw play on a Saturday morning at Salford Sports Village last season. Just on that, I had a plan that day, Beechfield in the morning and then Heyside in the afternoon, but it went completely pear shaped. Heavy overnight snow did for the North East side of Manchester where Heyside were based, and I only found out midway through the game at Beechfield, not to worry though, Wilmslow Albion put a tweet out to say it was game on down in the stockbroker belt.

Not so, I arrived just after the game was called off, so ended up hot footing it to Northwich for the game at Witton Albion between Northwich Victoria and Macclesfield. To be fair it was a belting game with a great atmosphere so no complaints from me on that one.  

I digress, so, Hazel Grove in the morning followed by the plastic pitch round in the Bury area in the afternoon for Walshaw Sports, one kicked off at 10.15am, the other at 2pm, so by my reckoning I could manage a quick pint in between and still be in good time for kick off.

Slight curve ball though. Brother in law has bought a new car, and he needed to be taken to collect it, now this is a job I’ve happily done a couple of times before. Firstly to Cardiff (when it was a Six Nations day), followed by a run over the Severn Bridge down to the edges of Southampton to watch Eastleigh. The second time came at the end of last season when an early morning run to Oxford meant I could get home just in time to walk to Duffield for an Inter Belper game, I won’t dwell on that one, an eight mile round trip walk after a long drive triggered a health issue that saw me undertake various tests over the coming weeks and months….all is ok by the way, I only walk to the fridge now!

Stone, now that wasn’t too bad, if we left at 8am, we could be in Stone for just before 9am, and then assuming the M6 and the M56 behaved themselves I worked out I could be at Rushford Park with fifteen minutes to spare. I was right, I pulled into the car park with fifteen minutes to spare, and with games like this, it comes with a huge sense of relief that you see two teams warming up on the pitch.

I have to say, I was impressed by what I saw in terms of Rushford Park, the San Siro it isn’t, but what we do have is a partially railed pitch, hard standing, and a dressing room block with a refreshment area, where a cup of coffee was most welcome after the morning drive.

The ground is tightly hemmed in though, it has a series of 3G pitches in cages down one side while behind them is the railway line that links Manchester and Stockport, but we had a train strike on didn’t we so no train spotting at this one. There is also another railway line that splits from the main line and runs over a bridge behind the North goal, which I seem to think heads down into leafy Cheshire and Macclesfield, but as we had a train strike on there was also no train spotting on this line either.

My old mate Dave rocked up just before kick off, somewhat unexpectedly it has to be said, only I knew he was going to a Saturday Morning League game elsewhere in the City, but it turned out nothing was happening when he arrived, so he decided to join me.

I tell you what though, Hazel Grove are a bloody good side and you can see why they have various league titles under their belts. They won the game 8-2 and probably could have got more. They are obviously a side that have played together now for a few years and as a result the players know each other’s game inside out. I genuinely think they would be more than capable of playing at a decent level on a Saturday afternoon, but the whole point of the MSML is to allow players to do other things on a Saturday afternoon, like go and watch football!!

One down, and at the final whistle it was time to punch in the post code and head towards Bury, the Holy Grail of the Manchester League top flight was getting ever closer!  

Atletico

Leicester Atletico Reds  0  Houghton Rangers  6

Leicestershire County League – Premier Division

Anstey Nomads Reserves  0  Leicester Atletico  2

Leicestershire Senior League – Division Two

Admission / Programme – Free / None

Sometimes you head off to a game on a Saturday afternoon, not being too sure what you are going to watch, and indeed where you are going to watch it!

I’d seen that Leicester Atletico, a team built from within the Somali community in the City, had been accepted into the Leicestershire Senior League this season, and in terms of where they were going to be playing, it was to be Beaumont Park, a facility owned by De Montfort University, which is in the Beaumont Leys estate on the North side of Leicester.

I

t also came to light that Anstey Nomads Reserves were going to be using the same facility, so using my logical head, I though a good game to watch would be the one where the two sides played each other. All good so far? Yes, what could possibly get in the way of that one….

A look on Google though suggested that the facility had a 4G pitch, which had spectator facilities by way of a small covered terracing area, but, next to it was a grass pitch that had had both a seated stand and some covered terracing. Both pitches were also floodlit.

I noticed on the morning of the game that Atletico put out a tweet stating that the clubs Reserves (Reds) were also playing at home in the Leicestershire County League, at Beaumont Park, but kicking off an hour earlier than the first team. This was suddenly a bit intriguing, where were these games going to be played?

The journey to this part of Leicester is a well trodden path, and for those not familiar with the area, Beaumont Leys is effectively a large housing estate that sits just off the A46 Northern bypass. Beaumont Park is a large expanse right in the middle of the estate and sits just behind the Speedway Stadium, and upon arrival the first source of entertainment was trying to get parked. The car park was not the biggest and it was rammed, so I ended up dumping the motor on a grass verge over the road, I wasn’t alone in employing this tactic.

It was a busy place, but seeing what looked like an Atletico club official, I decided to make enquiries as to who was playing where. It turns out that both Atletico and Anstey normally use the 4G pitch for homes games, but today the game between the two sides was kicking off at 3pm but on the floodlit grass pitch. The 4G was hosting Atletico Reds, and that was kicking off at 2pm, so having checked out the landscape I was going to do a repeat of a stunt that I’ve pulled on three previous occasions.

I did it at Thorncliffe in Sheffield, I did it at Stone, and I’ve done it at Beeston in Nottingham, and by that I mean watching two games simultaneously! I worked out that if I stood in a specific area of the 4G cage, I could watch the second half of the Reds game and the first half of the Anstey game. I’d have to have my wits about me, but it could be done and both pitches could be seen in full from the same location.

So, firstly, let me describe the setting. You enter through a gate at the top of the car park and immediately to your right is the smart changing room block complete with a cafeteria serving warm drinks and a selection of hot snacks that are endorsed by the local student population! In front of you running widthways is the 4G pitch, set inside a cage.  On one side towards the corner flag is a small area of covered terracing, and spectator access is only possible on this side and the end behind the goal where you enter.

Looking to your right running at ninety degrees to the 4G is the first grass pitch (where game two was being played). A fixed barrier runs round this but extends beyond to a another pitch which runs side by side, hence making the side where the dug outs are out of bounds for spectators. The seated stand and terraced stand sit alongside each other opposite the dugouts.

Further away over a grassy bank is another floodlit surface but to be honest I couldn’t be overly arsed to wander over to it to check out what it was made of or what it was used for!

It’s very nice, but what about the action on the pitch? Let’s start with the first game on the 4G. Visiting Houghton Rangers gave Atletico Reds a bit of a pounding to be honest, with the experienced Ryan Amoo in their line up, they took an early lead from the penalty spot and from that point onwards it was one way traffic.

A second goal was scored from six yards, the third was driven in from the edge of the box and then another penalty made it 4-0. By half time it was 5-0 when a player went through on goal and finished well.

It was during the first half of this game that I got chatting to an official of Atletico who talked enthusiastically about the club, it’s heritage, it’s importance within the community, and the fact it was very proud of it’s exploits in the Somali Cup. Last season they reached the Final of the national competition, while the start of this seasons campaign, which is played in a Champions League format, is imminent.

The second half of the first game of course coincided with the first half of the game on the grass, and I’m pleased to say that both were highly uneventful, which helped me considerably. Only one more goal came in the Atletico Reds game (it went to Houghton as you would expect), while I don’t recall anything of note happening in the first team game.

So, with the tricky two game bit negotiated, it was time to head closer to the action on the grass, and fortunately the second half was a better spectacle than the first. That said, it wasn’t until late in the game before Atletico scored from close range and then got the decisive second goal thanks to a close range header.

It was significantly quieter around the complex as the second game came to a close, so much so you actually would have had a fighting chance of getting into the car park if you’d arrived at that point…..although it still would have been tight!

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I liked the venue, and as regards Leicester Atletico, I liked what they were about, I liked their positive attitude and their friendly welcome. I was actually invited back by the club official to watch one of the Somali Cup games, which takes place on a Sunday, and you know what, I’m sorely tempted to do that.

Some people though, will absolutely not like the idea of watching two games simultaneously though, because that of course, breaks all of the rules…#groundhoppingpolice

Green Flash

Coventry Dunlop  2  AFC Coventry Rangers  2 (1-4 pens)

Coventry Telegraph Challenge Cup – First Round

Admission / Programme – Free / None

Those of us of a certain age will hear the name Dunlop and think of any number of things…..

We might think about the cheap and cheerful trainers, and football boots, that used to be readily available from budget shoe shops (like Bacons in Belper) – Dunlop Green Flash trainers were guaranteed to lead to humiliation and ridicule from the more fashion conscious school mates.

Yep, I had Dunlop, before I convinced my Mum to let me move onto New Balance trainers and Patrick football boots, that move got me out of the firing line, however, nowadays, a pair of Dunlop Green Flash is quite an iconic brand, I seem to think in some cases they are the celebrity trainers of choice (Jarvis Cocker is a big advocate). So, right product, just the wrong time, I therefore now only need to wait for the Gola Tracksuit to come into fashion and I’m made!

Dunlop were probably more famous for tyres, with the iconic Fort Dunlop in the Erdington area of Birmingham being a familiar sight for those travelling via the train and the A38 into the City. The company were probably the biggest name in tyre manufacturing, but nowadays they are owned by the Goodyear group, and in terms of status, while not being any kind of expert, I suspect Michelin and Bridgestone lead the way (if Formula One is anything to go by!)

You’ve also got the Dunlop family from Northern Ireland who are famous, but tragic, motorcycle racers. Joey, the most famous, was killed in a crash in Estonia in 2000, while his brother Robert was also killed in 2008 during the North West 200 which takes place near Coleraine. It gets worse, Robert’s son William was killed in 2018 at the Skerries 100, while Robert’s other son, Michael, continues to race (carefully you would hope).

So, the name Dunlop is not an insignificant one, but what I didn’t know is that the name has links with the City of Coventry, or at least I didn’t know until the start of this season when I discovered a team of that name had been admitted to the Midland League.

It turns out that when the Dunlop company chose to move from their first home in Dublin, they chose Coventry as a UK base. Not a bad choice by any means, it’s pretty central, it has good motorway, airport and rail links (albeit at the time they moved that wasn’t all strictly in place!), and of course a plentiful supply of labour combined with a love of two-tone music (I’m being a bit daft now, sorry!)

So there we have it. Dunlop exist in Coventry, and of course, like any big employer, they simply have to create a sports and social club, which of course brings us right up to the present day, because that is precisely where the football team is based.

So, Dunlop FC (or Coventry Dunlop FC as they appear to be called now), were once a Coventry Alliance side, and now they are a Midland League side. They play on the North side of Coventry, not far South of the Ricoh Arena which of course is a car crash of a facility that the Sky Blues of Coventry City have had a somewhat chequered relationship with, or at least a chequered relationship with it’s owners. I’ve also visited a ground just over the way from Dunlop in recent years and that was the Holbrooks Park home of Coventrians FC before they moved to the outskirts of the City, but otherwise it was just a case of set the Sat Nav and away you go.

I’ll be honest, I’d originally planned to go on August Bank Holiday Monday but they game got cancelled, I suspect because it became apparent that the facilities, which are shared with cricket, would not be available. So, we are in the middle of September, and the game against AFC Coventry Rangers is in actual fact the clubs first home game of the season.

The journey down was relatively straightforward, although despite the fact I’d checked to see if the Sky Blues were away, I’d forgotten to check to see if the (London) Wasps were at home in the Rugby. They were, Bristol were the visitors to “London” but it didn’t cause any significant problems making my way past the Ricoh despite the fact it did look pretty busy.

In fact the biggest hold up was in the final hundred yards to the ground where a set of three way traffic lights upset me greatly, especially given I’d heard from my mate Dave, who was already at the ground, that the bar was open and they sold Dry Roasted Peanuts.

Anyway, that minor issue was soon bypassed and into the ground we arrived. It’s a large expanse, with the excellent football pitch being at the very North East side of the facility, comprising of dressing rooms in the corner at an angle while the side where the dugouts are located has a rail in place. Otherwise it was open standing on the other three sides, two of which looked to encroach on what is the cricket outfield.

The bar was behind the goal, and that was impressive, but it did look to be very rugby orientated. I can only assume Dunlop have a thriving arm in this area, but readers of my last blog will be well aware, me and Rugby Union are not exactly in sync with each other. No further comment on rugby at this juncture if you don’t mind……

So, Rangers, it was a local derby. It was the Coventry Telegraph Cup, a competition where the final is played at the Ricoh, and, it transpires that these two sides met in the final last year with Rangers winning 3-2. Was revenge on the cards?

It turned out to be a very good game. Konnor Frankum gave the fired up hosts, who play a division below Rangers, an early lead but on the stroke of half time Fola Fagbemi equalised for the visitors. It was Fagbemi who gave Rangers the lead just after the hour mark as they went on to dominate the game, but it wasn’t to be over.

Substitute Jarro Scott got a late equaliser for Dunlop and on the final whistle we moved straight to a penalty shoot out. To be frank, Dunlop had a mare from the spot, missing their first two efforts, while Rangers put away their first three. It finished 1-4 and Kev Kingham’s side move into the next round.

The crowd were still locked inside the Ricoh as I went back past it so no issues on that front, and I did think about calling at Sports Direct on the way home, surely they would have a selection of Dunlop footwear for me to select from, only I do need something to go with my Gola Tracksuit!