Roses

Albrighton  0  Wyrley United Development  1

Staffordshire County Senior League – Division Two South

Admission / Programme – No / No

You can normally rely on at least one late entrant every season into a league, one that catches you unawares, and has seemingly gone unreported in the usual places.

It was while I was messing around looking for fixtures at Hednesford Fives in the run up to the abandonment debacle (yes, I’m still sore about that) that I spotted a team called Albrighton in the Staffordshire County Senior League. That was a new one, they weren’t listed in the constitutions or placed in the initial directory at the start of the season?

Further investigation indeed proved that they were an eleventh hour entrant to the competition, and furthermore looked to be a new club filling the long void in the village of senior football since Albrighton United had a spell in the West Midlands Regional League in the late seventies and early eighties.

Being a research enthusiast, I had a look back through some old programmes and it seems I have one from Albrighton United, and back in the day they played on Newport Road in the village. These days though they played at the back of a housing area on Loak Road, so, it was back to the general vicinity of Wolverhampton again on a sunny November Saturday to see what it was all about.

Albrighton is not a million miles West of Codsall where I recently went to watch Punjab United. The route this time took me along the M54 before turning off at the Cosford exit, going straight past the entrance to the RAF base before throwing a right turn into the middle of the village.

Located right next door to the huge David Austin Nursery (he of expensive rose fame of which Mrs H has a prized one in our garden), is the Loak Road home of the football club, and as I arrived it was indeed a hive of activity.

It seemed some kids were having a training session on the pitch so the car park at the top of the bank behind the goal was full to brimming, so I had to make do with a space on the road outside until the grommits had vacated and some spaces were made available. Spaces did of course become available and I was soon parked up with a fantastic view of the pitch, without the need to leave my car. It also transpired that the game was kicking off half an hour earlier than advertised which duly might a quicker arrival home and a happier Mrs H to boot!

It’s a very nice little facility it has to be said. The end behind the goal where the car park is has a rail at pitch side, and this extends all the way round one side of the ground as the grass bank gradually tapers away. Two sides are open, but another point to note about the ground are the views, of the said nursery to the left and the air base in front, with the odd plane flying about for good measure. Yes, it was a happy place to be, and with the changing room forming part of what looked like a community centre behind the goal, it had everything you needed for a decent level of Saturday football.

Wyrley United Development had not travelled far to be fair, and having had a solid start to the season they were just above the hosts in the league table, although on balance of play there wasn’t much in the game if I’m honest. The only goal came from Chad Smith in the second period as he fired home for the visitors.

It wasn’t the greatest spectacle, but sometimes the games themselves don’t always match the surroundings.

I spent the first half at pitch side and then spent the second period somewhat lazily in the car with the radio on, it was lovely and warm to be fair, and looking across the car park, I wasn’t the same one with that idea.

Like I said at the start, this one was a bit of a surprise one for me, but sometimes the surprises can be pleasant ones. Certainly a much nicer surprise than a half time abandonment at Hednesford Fives, have I mentioned that to anyone yet…………

Mythbusting

Pontypridd United  0  Connahs Quay Nomads  5

Cymru Premier League

Admission / Programme - £7 / £3

It has to be said there was a little bit of kerfuffle at the end of last season when it came to the Cymru South League.

The league title was won by Llantwit Major, but, the hazardous process of licencing bit them on the bottom and they failed to be awarded the coveted Tier 1 Licence, probably due to filling the form in using the wrong colour pen or something. As a result, the runners up, who were Pontypridd Town, who did use the correct colour pen, were given a licence and were duly promoted.

Much sympathy came Llantwit’s way, but what I struggled to understand was why so much bitterness was being aimed at Pontypridd. I mean, they were the next best placed side, and they couldn’t be blamed for Llantwit’s failings, so what exactly had they done wrong?

Ok, so I had a dig around and it seems one or two people were getting a bit emotional about the clubs journey and the way they had managed to work their way to the top table. Story wise, the club were formed in 1992 following a merger between Pontypridd Sports & Social Club and another local club, Ynysbwl (don’t ask me, I wouldn’t know where to start pronouncing that one).

The club nearly went belly up in 2008, but the intervention of a businessman saw them saved, and over the years they worked their way through what at the time was the Welsh Football League. With eyes on the top division in the South (Step 2), it was clear the clubs ground at Ynysangharad Park (nope, not that one either) wasn’t up to scratch.

A deal was struck with the University of South Wales to play at a shiny new facility on the Treforest Industrial Estate, but at the point where they finished in a promotion place, the Step 2 facility that they were planning to move to at Treforest wasn’t ready, so they had to find somewhere else to play which they did down the road at Cardiff Athletics Stadium, but after half a season the pitch was shot so they ended up going to Aberdare Town.

They became founder members of the Cymru South when Wales was restructured, eventually moving into the Step 1 standard facility at Treforest, and of course, got promoted, renaming themselves Pontypridd United.

So why the bitterness? I think there was a sense that people thought the club were no longer a local football club for local people, but an entity that was doing whatever it took to make it to the Cymru Premier, even if that meant moving out of town. All this in a town that is absolutely not a football town, we are talking Rugby Union first and always when it comes to Pontypridd. I did read some extreme comments about it having shades of a heavily backed franchise, but I’m not sure just how justified those comments might be.

Anyroad up, as we say in these parts, as they were now top tier they were on the hit list for myself and Steve, so with a convenient Sunday afternoon opportunity on the radar, I decided to take the wheel and make the trip over the border to our World Cup counterparts.

The journey down was a steady one, and I do enjoy the trip down via Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. Eventually we joined the M4 at Newport and carried on to the West of Cardiff before the short journey North to the edges of Pontypridd. The ground is as you would imagine, at the back of a huge industrial estate, located within the grounds of the University sports park.

Once parked up near the entrance you head up the hill and immediately on the left is the bar and cafeteria complex. I have to say, it was at this point that your first impressions of the club are nothing other than positive. Everyone bedecked in club colours (noting our early arrival) was nothing other than friendly and helpful. At least three club officials came over to introduce themselves and enquire about our journey, and no one could do enough for you in terms of help and information.

Things like this go a long way, and given what I’d read about the club at the start of the season, it completely dispelled any myths that this was anything other than a very welcoming, well run and family orientated club, with a plethora of teams under it’s umbrella. In fact straight after the game finished, the ladies team were due to kick off against Cardiff City.

The football ground itself is a short walk from the bar, and having purchased a ticket at a desk, you head up into what is effectively a cage. The players change in the Uni buildings and walk up a path to the pitch, while to the side of where the players enter are two Atcost style seated stands. A further larger version with a tarpaulin roof sits behind the South goal, while the remainder of the ground is hard standing.

It has a 4g pitch, and it was a good job because the rain came down and it was incessant for the entirety of the game. The crowd of around 250 were treated to a disappointing performance by the home side as high flying Connahs Quay Nomads were comfortably the better team in all departments.

The first half was a defensive disaster as far as Pomtypridd were concerned. The opening goal came after fifteen minutes thanks to John Disney, then within five minutes the experienced Mike Wilde made it 2-0. Mikes Hayes scored a further two more to leave the score 4-0 at half time, and in truth it was more than a fair reflection of the first forty five minutes.

The second half wasn’t quite the disaster the first half was for Pontypridd but a fifth goal came in the 75^th minute from Callum Morris. In the end though, it had been a comprehensive drubbing, and a relatively straightforward afternoon for the boys from North Wales who had travelled down the night before.

You did feel for Pontypridd somewhat as they endeavour to find their feet in the top flight, it has been a bit of a struggle so far, but the learning curve is indeed a steep one, and one that sides from the South of the Country seem to find that bit tougher than those from the North.

As the rain continued to pour we elected to travel back via Merthyr Tydfil and Abergavenny, and on reflection, this was definitely a case of don’t believe everything that you read. I would absolutely recommend a visit to Pontypridd United to anyone, this is a club that seems to be doing so much to get football on the map in the town, what has gone before to get to this point might be a debating point, but it’s all about looking forward, not back.

90 Minutes In Wyke

Wyke Wanderers  2  Leeds University  1

West Riding Challenge Cup – First Round

Admission / Programme - No / No

In a recent blog I talked about games I’d witnessed where they'd been abandoned, and some of the more bizarre reasons for the early termination of the said games.

One of those games was in the West Yorkshire village of Wyke, it was the run up the Christmas 2015 and a team called TVR United were playing Lower Hopton Reserves at the Appleton Academy 4G. I can remember it well in one respect because it was an incredibly windy day and a number of games fell by the wayside anyway due to the conditions. However, on the 75^th minute the referee bought the game to a sudden halt and simply walked off the pitch stating that it had been abandoned.

It was nothing to do with the weather, it seemed someone on the touchline had made a comment to the referee and rather than deal with it via the usual means and either have a chat or produce a card, he just decided he wasn’t having it and walked off.

Now you might think it was a culmination of incidents and this happened to be the final straw, but it wasn’t, in fact the whole game as far as I could see was not in the slightest bit contentious and everyone had behaved very nicely. Both teams pleaded with him to continue, but he wasn’t for changing his mind, and that was it, twenty two somewhat baffled players were left standing on the pitch.

That wasn’t my first visit to Wyke for a football match though, I went earlier the same year in the May to watch Wyke Wanderers play Whitkirk Wanderers at their Whitechapel Road ground. I am lying a bit though because Whitechapel Road isn’t in Wyke, it’s in neighbouring Scholes, and the ground itself was almost on top of the M62. But for purposes of the story, bear with me….

It came to my attention over the course of the recent Summer that Wyke Wanderers had upped sticks and were on the move, to a brand new sports hub (called Wyke Community Sports Village) which was being built at an old school site on Wilson Road in the centre of the village.

It has taken a wee while this season for the club to start playing home games, and to be fair they’ve played a good number more away from home than they have in Wyke, but on a wet day in West Yorkshire, I decided I mostly liked the look of a cup tie between what is effectively a Step 8 side in West Yorkshire League Wanderers and a Step 7 team from the ‘other’ league in the area, Leeds University, who compete in the Yorkshire Amateur League.

It’s a funny old state of affairs in West Yorkshire at this level. At one point you had the West Riding County Amateur League and the West Yorkshire League, both effectively covering the same footprint, fighting for clubs, and getting the occasional defection from one league to the other. When I say defections, it got to a stage over a few years where the West Riding variant was getting significantly weakened as clubs jumped ship, so it ended up merging with the Yorkshire Amateur League and effectively it’s top flight gained Step 7 status. But, the same issue exists, two leagues, same levels, same footprints. I wonder if they send each other Christmas cards?

Anyway, politics aside, what is the new home of Wyke Wanderers like?

You enter via a long drive and out in front of you is a car park to die for, a proper big lad, easily big enough to host a Def Leppard concert if you wanted, and possibly even capable of hosting Gardeners World Live, so getting parked was a doddle.

At the end of the magnificent car park is the building, a two story affair containing rooms and stuff, with the players getting changed on the ground floor. Directly in front is the 4G caged pitch where the game was to take place, while behind the 4G are a couple more grass pitches, one of which was hosting Wanderers reserve game against Robin Hood Athletic. To the left of the pitches is a cycle track, easily big enough to host a cycle race if you wanted to.

On a clear day you can get great views out towards Bradford, but today wasn’t a clear day, the views were rubbish. So where is Wyke you might ask? Basically get off the M62 at the M606 roundabout, and rather than shoot up to Bradford you take the Halifax road and then throw a right, where Wyke will appear in front of you.

I arrived nice and early and retired to a local establishment for a swift one, £2.60 a pint, how good is that? I might let Mrs H put the heating on an hour earlier with that saving…..

So, the game, it was a very decent one to be fair. Wyke took an early lead with a thundercracker of a shot, but the visiting students equalised just before half time with a somewhat dubious penalty award. At that stage the University were looking the side with the momentum but as we moved into the second period, the hosts changed things around and got back on top, scoring the vital winner, again from a well taken shot. Wyke also hit the woodwork a couple of times in the second period and as a result move into the Second Round of the West Riding Challenge Cup, where they will play Tadcaster Magnets.

It was nice to get ninety minutes in this time as well!

Citeh

Manchester City  3  Sevilla  1

UEFA Champions League – Group Stages

Admission / Programme - £12 / £5

Manchester City weren’t very good once.

Speak to any City fan of a certain age and they will happily regale you with some delightful tales of FA Cup defeats at Halifax Town, Second Division struggles against fierce local rivals Bury and Stockport County, and of course the memorable season of 1998-99 when they entered the third tier of the game and had a local derby with Macclesfield Town to look forward to.

Yes, it wasn’t all glory, in fact it was quite the opposite, and again, ask a City fan who was around in that era and they will wax lyrical about the clubs ability to turn triumph into adversity, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, generally, be crap!

Of course, it changed, the club moved from Maine Road to the former Commonwealth Games arena on the East side of the City, worked their way back up to the top flight, became competitive, and then with the arrival of the Sheikh and his entourage, became the dominant force in not only English football, but arguably the World.

They can’t seem to win a Champions League though, but more on that later.

My first visit to a City home game came in April 1990, it was the last game of the season against Derby, and it also happened to be the last game where the old Kippax Terrace was to be used, so it was something of a carnival atmosphere around the place, not aided though I might add by the fact Derby won 1-0.

Many years then passed, Good Friday 2007, as I was embarking on the 92, it was a home game with Charlton Athletic. City were under the stewardship of Stuart Pearce at the time and had a fundamental problem, they didn’t score goals, in fact the betting odds before the game had a goalless draw as the favourite outcome, they were right, it was turgid.

By now I was mates with Steve, a lifelong City fan, and a reasonably depressed one at that, you see he lived and breathed the shite period, but it was a kind of accepted shite, the sort of shite that you would probably miss when it went. There was something deeply satisfying about losing to York City, a kind of affirmation that you were indeed shite, gratifying almost.

I can remember speaking to Steve after Sheikh Mansour took over the club, it was quite exciting in one sense, but tinged with the sceptical view that City fans now beheld. Had City been taken over by the only penniless shake in Abu Dhabi, was it a front to take the club down, was the club about to be saddled with squillions of pounds of debt in a Glazer fashion, or was it the real deal?

We know of course it was the real deal, and for people like Steve who probably never thought they would see City win a trophy again in their lifetimes, let alone a number of Premier League titles, it was something very special indeed, but, even when you were 4-0 up against the likes of Real Madrid going into injury time, the City fan in you always feared a 5-4 defeat.

Steve took me to the Etihad (as it became) back in 2016 for a Champions League game against Barcelona, complete with Lionel Messi, a game City won 3-1 and were superb in. I went again last season to see the 4-1 demolition of Club Brugges, while it transpired I had another opportunity, a spare ticket was going for the Sevilla game.

Getting to and from the Etihad isn’t as challenging as you might think, coming from the Sheffield end it can get a bit sticky on Hyde Road pre-match but knowing a back route I was soon parked up next to Steve just off Ashton New Road, a short ten minute walk from the ground.

The Etihad is a marvellous arena, and whatever you might think, what has been done to the locality is fantastic. Named the Etihad Campus, you have another smaller sized stadium used by the women and the academy sides a few minutes away from the main stadium, while various other sporting and educational institutions are located all around the area. It’s as much about community and legacy as it is success for Sheikh Mansour and the hierarchy.

Sitting high up in the East Stand, you’ve got a fantastic view of the action, and on a Champions League night, while the atmosphere might not be what it is for a Premier League game, the pre-match build up is pretty impressive with the light and lazer shows.

So, City and the Champions League, now this is a strange one.

City and UEFA are not great bedfellows, in fact along with PSG, it seems UEFA have got a real issue with clubs that are owned, or are seemingly funded by states. We’ve all seen over the years the lengths UEFA have gone to try and nail City, but City and their vast resources have been able to employ lawyers who were one step ahead of those UEFA could muster up. Many City fans are of the view that while the club might have been a bit creative with the finances and might have got a slightly different interpretation to FFP, they certainly were no worse than the likes of Barca or Real who’ve been up to all kinds of financial shenanigans over the years.

But also, the Champions League falls into two camps if you are a City fan, and it all comes down to age. The younger breed of City fan sees the Premier League as a bit of a given, and the Champions League as the holy grail, whereas people like Steve have the Premier League as the single most important thing to aim for, and the Champions League is a kind of novelty that it would be nice to win, but if they don’t, who really cares?

Pep Guardiola and Sheikh Mansour do care though, and I think until City do finally nail that crown, there will always be a slight question mark as to whether they are the best team in the World. Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool have all won it, it would be a travesty if City cannot join that elite group (let’s not forget Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa either but apparently that wasn’t proper football….).

So, with the Champions League anthem suitably booed and another fine coming City’s way, it was time for the game that effectively meant nothing. City were through, Sevilla were out and we got what was tantamount to a pre-season friendly.

City won 3-1, despite Sevilla taking a first half lead from what was one of only two foray’s into the City half of the pitch. Goals from Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and debutant Rico Lewis sealed a more than comfortable home win and top spot in the group. Sevilla go into the Europa League, a competition they have got history in, usually by winning it at regular intervals, but that said, this isn’t the Sevilla side of old, I can’t see them lifting any silverware if I’m honest.

So that was it then, a routine win against Sevilla, top spot in the group, all without the best striker in the World on the pitch. The Premier League looks a two horse race that City will probably inevitably win, and the big question mark is will the draw fall kindly and can they finally be crowned Champions of Europe?

It certainly beats losing to Stockport County and failing to be crowned Champions of South Manchester.

Preparing For The Tractors

Bracknell Town  3  North Leigh  2

FA Challenge Trophy – First Round Proper

Admission / Programme - £10 / No

Bracknell Town have just played the biggest game in their history.

On Monday 7^th November, Ipswich Town were the visitors to Bottom Meadow in Sandhurst for an FA Cup First Round Proper tie. The tie was live on terrestrial television, and almost 2,000 spectators packed into the ground to watch the Tractor Boys win 3-0 on a night that will live long in the memory.

But, let’s be honest, it’s not the FA Cup where the glamour really lies is it, it’s the FA Trophy, a competition where the final is also played at Wembley Stadium, and, for a club like Bracknell, one they have a chance of getting to the latter stages of. Not only that, if they do get to the final, no one would have a problem getting a ticket!

Yeah, Steve and I weren’t that fussed about a Monday night in Sandhurst where we would have probably had to park in a neighbouring county, but not only that, with 2,000 folk in the ground, the chances of getting a pint were going to be slim, and lets be right, they’d probably put the prices up as well! No, we had a different idea.

A Sunday afternoon against North Leigh, in the FA Trophy, with Steve at the wheel, it would be like Beckenham all over again.

So, I suspect the first question on my regular audience of 14 readers lips will obviously be, why don’t Bracknell play in Bracknell? Well, they did, up until the start of last season, in fact if you go back in my blog archives to February 2020 and look up an article called ‘Spectrum’ it will tell you more about the clubs history, the old ground at Larges Lane and why I’ve probably got autism……

It's all changed though, they got very good on the pitch and won their Step 4 Isthmian One Central Division last season, having left Larges Lane and moved into the ground used by Sandhurst Town. They are now in the Southern League Premier South, and are more than holding their own, the club seems to be on an upward trajectory with new owners, investment and a pretty decent side on the pitch.

The move to Sandhurst did raise some eyebrows, but it appears it’s not designed to be a permanent move, because ultimately Larges Lane is meant to be going through a significant programme of re-development and ultimately they’ll move back. That said, how long that is going to take is open to debate, so for now, it’s Sandhurst and if you ain’t got a car, it’s the half hourly 194 bus which drops you off a five minute walk from Bottom Meadow!

We’ve got a car though and with Steve in command it was a nice early start from Belperville, down the M42 and M40, before edging down past Maidenhead and over to Bracknell via Holyport. Sandhurst is around seven miles from Bracknell, and to be fair, on reflection the whole journey was a pretty smooth one which took under three hours.

We parked in the Memorial Park Car Park, and both of us immediately worked out, having surveyed the area, that parking when Ipswich come to town was going to be a whole World of pain. You have to walk across a large grassy expanse to get to the football ground which isn’t instantly visible as it’s surrounded on all four sides by large trees. But that said, we found it, and having fathomed out how to use our pre-purchased tickets in the scanning machines, we were in.

Right, I’ll describe the ground, but I suspect quite a few of the readership of 14 will kind of already have an idea what it looks like as you’ll have seen it on the telly the other night, but anyway…..

You come in at the corner of the ground, with the smart but small-ish clubhouse immediately to your right, we did spend a considerable amount of time in here having secured a prime spot, but I guess you’ll want to know about the rest of the ground? The players tunnel sits between the clubhouse and an area of terracing with the tea bar positioned at the back of it. This structure runs pretty much the rest of the width of the pitch, but then moving round anticlockwise, flush up to the corner flag at the side of the pitch is a seated stand, with the newly erected TV gantry and Lee Dixon co-commentary position alongside straddling the half way line.

The rest of the side of the ground is flat standing, as it also was behind the far goal, although I did see against Ipswich a temporary bar was erected at this end for the away fans. On the side opposite the stand and the TV gantry is an area of covered terracing, but it looks like the kind of terracing you see where grounds have been converted to safe standing, with every fan having a designated space behind a barrier.

Overall, two things stood out, it was very smart and clean, but also, it was very black, which I suspect is related to the livery and colours of the educational company that is owned by the man who now runs the football club (the football club and the educational organisation work together as you would expect).

First impressions were positive, yeah, the beer wasn’t cheap but this was Sandhurst not Shirebrook, let’s be fair. Once all pre-match sustination had been taken, it was about time to go out and have a look what was happening on the superb playing surface.

The game was a pretty eventful one. North Leigh, who compete in the same division but are struggling somewhat, gave the hosts a bit of a shock by taking the lead in the eighth minute via an own goal, and then on the 25 minute made it 2-0 thanks to a cracking strike from Aaron McCreadie.

Bracknell reduced the arrears on the stroke of half time thanks to a penalty which was converted by Jordan Esprit, at which point we made a hasty beeline back to the clubhouse only a rumour was circulating that the Moretti was about to run dry….

With the Moretti secured, yet barely finished, Esprit scored the equaliser almost straight from the kick off and from that point you sensed there would only be one winner. That winner came pretty quickly in the 52^nd minute when Kamaron English smashed the ball home from a tight angle.

We left Sandhurst pretty promptly and probably dropped our only clanger of the day by electing to go back by the M25 and M1, which on s Sunday tea time is never a good move. Not to worry though, by 8pm I was back at Casa Hatt, Steve was on his way to Chez Vegas and Mrs H could relax knowing I’d been returned safely (not that she doesn’t trust the pair of us on a day out, honestly!)

But for Bracknell Town, it was now all about preparing for Ipswich Town, and considering that has now been and gone, it’s now about making it to the National League and Step 2. I wouldn’t want to bet against that happening.

Housery

Cresswell Wanderers  0  Newcastle Town Reserves  5 (abandoned 45 minutes)

Staffordshire County Senior League – Division One

Admission / Programme - No / No

I’ve been checking back through my records of games attended, specifically to have a look at reasons why matches have been abandoned.

Predominantly they have been weather related, but I have had a few floodlight failures, some serious injuries and even a stand roof blowing off. I’ve had one abandoned for fighting, and another when a referee decided he’d had enough of the players giving him grief, so he just called it a day.

I’ve had a couple of odd ones as well, I saw a Derbyshire Senior Cup tie abandoned at 90 minutes, when it should have gone to extra time, but I think that was a referee balls up if I’m honest, and of course the infamous game at St Helen’s Town when the floodlights were on a timer and they went off as a player ran up to take a last minute penalty!

What I’ve never had before though is a case whereby a team decided they simply didn’t want to play any more……..when I say never had before, that was before I went to watch Cresswell Wanderers!

Hednesford Fives is a 4G venue, in Hednesford, that’s in use for Saturday football for what appears to be the first time this season. Not one but two sides use it, namely the aforementioned Cresswell, and Cannock United, who I thought had decided to call it a day a couple of years ago when I saw them ship seventeen against Shifnal Town, but it appears they’ve decided to resume hostilities again!

So, a game every weekend basically at the venue as both sides pay in the Staffordshire County Senior, albeit it different divisions, and with no other viable options on the agenda, I decided I liked the look of the First Division clash between the aforementioned and high flying Newcastle Town Reserves.

It’s an easy run, in fact I went via Alrewas, Kings Bromley and Rugeley, given the side of Hednesford the ground is on, and upon arrival the scenery was largely unsurprising.

A large car park behind the goal, with a good sized building which it seems contains a tea bar and a booze bar, but that obviously only opens during the week when countless numbers of five a sides and kids events are taking place. You’ve got a raised viewing area behind part of the goal, while access inside can be had about two thirds of the length of one side. The rest is caged, secured, painted green etc, etc.

Cresswell Wanderers, I’m not overly familiar with the history, but back when I first started out on this anoraky journey in the mid noughties they had a side in the West Midlands Regional League, where they had a four season spell before departing. Back then I seem to recall they played at the Four Ashes ground just off the main road that links the A5 and the M54, not far from where Wolves Casuals play. I did go to it but I think it was for a Wolverhampton Development home game on an August Bank Holiday. Digression aside, they have now resurfaced again.

So, what actually happened then?

It became clear from the word go that Newcastle Town Reserves were a class above, they were a young, fit and athletic side, probably a division too low for their ability, and the outcome had a certain inevitability about. As the first half progressed, the goals started to go in, but credit to Cresswell, they didn’t give up, and they didn’t result to petulance or become disinterested.

In fact, and this is what I think sparked the issue, in the closing stages of the first half, albeit five nil down at this stage, they pressed and were perhaps harshly dealt with when they should have won some big decisions, but the referee, who I thought had been fine up to that point, elected to wave away their appeals.

As the half time whistle went, the players trudged off and I decided to head to my car to listen to the radio, but time went on, and on, and on. There were no signs of any players coming back onto the pitch, so I thought I’d go and investigate.

I spoke to a visiting official who promptly told me the game had been abandoned. Apparently, the Cresswell manager had been sent off for something he said while on the way to the dressing room, and upon that he declared that because he was the only ‘qualified’ person at the ground who could sit on the bench, they weren’t able to complete the game without a coach / manager present.

Now, I’m no expert in the finer points of management and coaching requirements at what is effectively Step 8, but I didn’t realise it was an essential requirement to have a qualified manager or coach on the bench at all times. In fact, with respect, is it mandatory to have a qualification to manage an adult team at that level of football? Are we saying if a manager is suspended or ill, the game has to be postponed?

Either way, I have my thoughts and the overriding one is that at 5-0 down, and having been shown a red card, he decided he was going to have the final say. I understand the Newcastle management team did plead with the referee to rescind the red card to allow the game to finish, but it wasn’t happening.

So that was it, game over, it will either have to be replayed or the result might be allowed to stand, which would be the fair thing to do in Newcastle’s case, but that’s a decision for the league to take.

Upon that we all went home.

Tony

Hadley  0  Ware  2

Southern League – Division One Central

Admission / Programme - £10 / £2

Steve and I play this game, which typically starts in March.

We look at the league tables across the Country and try to work out who we think is best placed for promotion to the leagues that we tend to keep on top of. We are predominantly talking about Step 5 clubs moving to Step 4, largely because the criteria and process is pretty transparent. The variable is whether they will finish in the requisite league placing, but some clubs by March are inevitably better placed than others.

Steve has got a shocking record for taking calculated risks and falling flat on his face. He’s seen clubs with seemingly unassailable leads in a Devon Loch style, have disasters, Reading Town and North Leigh being examples in recent years. He even went to a club who had won the league (Haywards Heath Town) only to see them suffer a post season points deduction. We’ve had ground grading failures, clubs folding, the lot, so much so, Steve is that much of a Jonah now he doesn’t bother looking anymore! Conversely he markets himself as someone who can be guaranteed to balls up a clubs season at the drop of a hat, just by turning up……..

I’m not so bad if I’m honest, I couldn’t ever recall having any disasters, in fact last season I picked on a couple and got them spot on, namely Walthamstow and North Shields, but at the same time I got one properly wrong, and it was all because of technicalities!

Risborough Rangers were nailed on, along with New Salamis to get the two promotions spots in the Spartan South Midlands League, so off I went on a delightful Spring Saturday morning for a game against Crawley Green and all was good in the World. I must admit that when I turned up and took a look at the ground, it did occur to me that they might have some work to do to get the required grading, but given that clubs have time to do that, I never gave it much of a second thought.

They were a friendly club, the game wasn’t great though, it finished 0-0, but it mattered not, a promotion place was duly sealed, until the bombshell….

Turns out that the ground had actually failed the grading for the level they were at (Step 5) so the FA decreed that not only would they be denied promotion, they would be forcibly relegated to Step 6 instead! Wowzers, anyway, they appealed on a technicality, something to do with planning permission and funding delays due to Covid and the very slow local authority that governed them, but all that did was allow them to remain at their current level, promotion was a no go.

The benefactors of that were Hadley, a club based in Arkley which is just outside of Barnet, and I’d never been.

So, Hadley, what’s that all about then? Formed in 1882, they spent the bulk of their history in the local leagues until 2008 when they were admitted to the Second Division of the Spartan South Midlands League. They won promotion at the first attempt, and did the same the following season, making it to the Premier Division and Step 5. They had a brief flirtation with the Essex Senior League for a season but were quickly moved back, until last season when the third place finish saw them get the nod.

The Brickfield Lane ground was only used from 1992, and for a period they moved away while development work took place, finally moving back in after floodlight and a stand were installed in 2016. Clearly though, unlike Risborough, it was deemed good enough, and with a few days off work, I decided to give it a blast midweek.

There is something truly delightful about the M25 at tea time, even though I was only on it briefly, making the short journey from the M1 to the A1 exit at Borehamwood. It was somewhat clogged, but turned out the issue was someone trying to go round it on a pushbike which created a major health and safety issue, yes you read that correctly, a pushbike….

Coming home was another matter altogether, but more on that later.

You leave the A1 at the second exit for Borehamwood, and it’s only a very short drive East to the village of Arkley which is both very rural and indeed pleasant. I don’t think cost of living crisis is a phrase overly used in Arkley if I’m taking a guess.

The ground is a bit of a bugger to find, you go through a set of lights and have to turn a tight left up a track to access the ground, and the ground itself is well hidden by the greenery so spotting any football related structures is nigh on impossible. So after a u-turn on a private road, I was soon in place in the club car park, in good time to devour the food items that Mrs H had lovingly prepared for me.

Brickfield Lane is one of those grounds where the clubhouse is in effect a community building that sits outside of the confines of the ground itself. I had a little wander in and partook of some cold cannage that was on offer, it wasn’t the biggest of venues but with sport on the telly even at an early hour it was attracting a decent sized crowd.

You enter the ground itself from behind the goal, and you are immediately underneath an area of cover that is both narrow and shallow, but handy on a wet and windy day. Round to the right is another area of cover that has been neatly embedded into a length of carefully trimmed foliage that provides a very aesthetically pleasing natural enclosure to that side of the facilities.

The goal at the far end is just open standing while on the side nearest the main road you have the standard section of seating and a tea bar to the side of it. The dressing rooms are outside of the ground and sit adjacent to the clubhouse.

The pitch was in good nick, and the game was to pit Hadley against a Ware side that has started the season strongly and even at this early stage were one of the sides you would think may well be in the shake up at the end of the season.

To be honest, in terms of the balance of play, the game itself was pretty even, but like anything, it comes down to who takes the chances when they come along, and that is exactly what Ware did.

Hadley shaded the first half in terms of chances but didn’t put them away, however when Ware’s Liam Dulson was played in by the experienced Renee Howe, he made no mistake.

Ware were more composed in the second period, but Hadley still managed to create opportunities without having the killer touch they needed, but as they chased the game, with ten minutes to go Dulson popped up to score his second and secure the three points for the visitors.

That was how it ended, and having made a hasty retreat from the car park I was hopeful of making it home before the witching hour where Mrs H had promised to wait up for me so we could have a disco and go for a kebab……

All was good in the World until the overhead signs advised that the M1 was closed between two junctions in the Northampton area. I won’t bore you with the gory details but what initially said 11.45pm on the sat nav finished up being a final arrival home at 1.20am. Mrs H was in bed and the kebab shop was closed.

As I drove the final couple of miles, I vowed that never again would I drive to a midweek match that involved the motorway network and a long distance, it was just too painful.

That said……

People's Republic

Harrogate Town  2  Morercambe  1

Papa Johns Trophy – Group Stages

Admission / Programme – £10 / £1

When the Northern Counties East League was formed in 1982, much was said about the varying strength of the two leagues that were coming together to create it.

On the one hand you had the traditionally strong Midland Counties League, with clubs predominantly from the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and the East Riding, while on the other hand you had the Yorkshire League, which was, well, made up of clubs from Yorkshire!

The first Premier Division was weighted in favour of the Midland Counties League, with only Emley, Guiseley, Thackley, Winterton Rangers and Bentley VW making the top flight, just 25% of the make up. Guiseley were the best performer finishing fifth. Above them were champions Shepshed Charterhouse, Eastwood Town, Belper Town and Spalding United.

We are now forty years on from the formation of the NCEL, so, if we look back, who can we say has gone on to do great things?

If we take the clubs that were traditional MCL clubs, the major success story has been Alfreton Town who had a three season spell in the National League top flight, otherwise, other than a couple of flirtations from neighbouring basket cases, Ilkeston and Eastwood, who made it to National North, it’s been pretty grim.

But then when you look at the Yorkshire League clubs, Guiseley made it to the non-league top table, as did Farsley Celtic, and so did North Ferriby United, who also won the FA Trophy beating Wrexham in the Final at Wembley. Let’s not forget Emley either who got to within a whisker of making it, but on top of that had some superb FA Cup runs during a golden era. You could argue all four did suffer as a result of their efforts and to an extent, overachieving, but then we have another club in the shape of Harrogate Town, who not only made it to the top table, but they now sit proudly in the Football League.

Let’s not kid ourselves though, we know the backing of Strata Homes and Irving Weaver have played a huge financial part in the clubs success, but it’s alright having money, you need to know how to spend it!

I first went to Harrogate Town back in 1987, they had been promoted to the top flight of the Northern Counties East League, and Belper were the visitors. Harrogate won that day 2-0 and it was to be a number of years before I went again because the Wetherby Roaders made it back to back promotions as they became founder members of the newly formed Northern Premier League First Division.

October 1999 was the next visit to an improved Wetherby Road (they had built a new stand) and it was a 2-2 draw, before my last visit in January 2001 for a midweek game when Belper lost 3-1. Harrogate were promoted at the end of the following season and the game they won to secure that promotion happened to be at Belper. At the time I was Press Officer for Belper and I was approached by BBC Radio Leeds to provide updates throughout the game from a Harrogate perspective. At the time, the Chairman was ex-Leeds United supremo Bill Fotherby, so local media interest at the time was high.

A fifth placed finish in 2003-04 season saw the club high enough up the table to make the cut for the newly formed Conference North, where they remained until the Weaver / Strata era and then in 2017-18 a second placed finish saw them promoted through the play offs thanks to a 3-0 victory over Brackley Town.

The 2019-20 season which was curtailed by Covid saw them placed second in the top flight after 37 games, so they made the revised play offs and thanks to a victory over Notts County at Wembley they had made it to the Football League for the first time in their history. Add in an FA Trophy win at Wembley against Concord Rangers and it made for a highly successful, albeit unusual, season!

The Football League experience has had it’s ups and downs as the club tries to establish itself, and last season the average crowd was a modest 2,074, although let’s remember Harrogate is perhaps not somewhere you would consider as a football town, with a very middle class demographic you would be forgiven for thinking it might be more of an oval ball kind of place, but credit where it’s due.

So, how did I end up at Harrogate Town on a Tuesday night for Papa Johns Trophy game?

Work again, two days in North Yorkshire meant an overnight staff, which of course constituted a look at the fixtures before accommodation was booked. Bingo……and to be fair I’d been thinking of re-visiting for a while, so it was an opportunity to tick one off.

It’s a decent walk out of the centre of Harrogate, going across the large expanse that is The Stray, before getting onto Wetherby Road. The ground is on the left just after the hospital, and upon approach, I was really curious as to how much had changed since my last visit over twenty years earlier.

A covered terrace has been built behind the North goal, it was open standing when I last went, while on the East side the old stand has been replaced with a larger version, while next to it is another area of covered terracing. Shallow terracing for away fans sits behind the South goal and this has replaced an older area of cover and seats that used to back onto the old clubhouse, while on the Wetherby Road West side of the ground the old cover has gone to be replaced by new terracing and a smaller area for seats that's used by away fans.

It's smart, it’s tidy, it’s aesthetically pleasing, and given the space they have, which isn’t an awful lot, they’ve probably done the best job they could do. Of course you may remember as well that to gain access to the Football League they had to rip up the recently laid plastic pitch and replace it with grass, which was something of an expensive annoyance for the club.

The food bars were very good, but, and get this, no booze!! They did have an hospitality area where beer pumps could be seen through the window, but I wasn’t getting in. It seems any time soon the booze situation will be changing for the better, but for me, it was a dry game, and I wasn’t driving!

Other than that, I was happy in my surroundings and along with a crowd of 717 (it was a tenner to get in), we got treated to a pretty good spectacle for a Mickey Mouse cup tie. Morecambe set off playing like Brazil, taking the lead through Adam Mayor who capitalised on a defensive mistake.

The League One visitors had chances to make it two, but they were to ultimately pay for that when Finn O’Boyle fired home a powerful effort to equalise.

It looked like the game was going to go to penalty kicks (you get an extra point after a draw if you win on penalties….), but then in the sixth minute of added time Miles Welch-Hayes prodded the ball home from a corner. It mattered not though, in the final shake up it was still Morecambe who progressed to the knock out stages.

It was really interesting to see the progress of the club though, and what’s been achieved in a short period of time. Yes, maybe mirrors of Salford City without the media circus, and yes, progress has been blighted by jealousy and cynicism in other quarters, but as I said, it’s ok having cash, but you need to know how to spend it!

Going back full circle though, maybe now us old Midland League advocates fully appreciate that the old Yorkshire League was a better league than many gave it credit for. Although at the time no one would have predicted any of the clubs, not least Harrogate, would have made it as far as they did, so I suppose the next question would be, who is next in Yorkshire to step up and exceed all expectations.

I’m really struggling to answer that one, on behalf of the People’s Republic…….