A Brief Encounter

Carnforth Rangers  0  Lytham Town  4

West Lancashire League – Division One

Admission / Programme – No / 50p

The Lake District, that’s right, my voting rights had been removed and it seemed I was going on an extended family holiday to the Lake District, for a week, in August.

Don’t worry, was the mantra, you’ll find some football, was the assumption. They have football in Lake District don’t they, was the question?

Ok, so the base was Ambleside, on the very Northern tip of the pond that is Windermere, with beautiful mountains flanking it, rammed with tourists and pubs selling overpriced beer, but what of the football?

I’ll admit, when it comes to the North of England, I like to think I know my football and I know my geography, but, when it comes to Cumbria and the vicinity, I’m not that well versed. I worked out we were about half an hour from Kendal who were at home, but I’ve been there and done that a few times, we also had Barrow at home, where again, been and done it, and not only that, a pain in the backside to get to. Workington were at home as well, I refer you to my answer about Barrow.

The ones I quite fancied were Penrith and Whitehaven Amateurs, but as is often the case, the fixture Gods were not on my side, so I had to delve a bit deeper, and by that it meant a conversation with my mate Dave who it appears is something of an expert in the area.

The top end of the West Lancashire League was an option (by top end I mean geographical), more locally you had the Westmoreland League, and you also had the Furness League but that wasn’t due to start during our stay.

So, I started with the West Lancashire League, largely because many observers reckon it to be the best Step 7 competition in the Country in terms of it’s standards and it’s facilities. The next problem was, I’d look at some of the teams and have to refer to a map to work out exactly where they played, and, if they were accessible on a Saturday afternoon, bearing in mind I had to be back for 6pm as we had a table booked.

The top division  offered nothing that would work, so I had a look down at the lower divisions and came up with a shortlist.

Carnforth Rangers, Crookland Casuals, Kendal County, Millom, Kendal United and Walney island were the choices, but which of those would be the preferred option, I had no idea so I asked Dave for some advice. He instantly told me Carnforth, it was 45 minutes from my base, it was a nice ground, with cover if it rains, they had a good pitch and they were good with social media so I could keep updated.

That was it then, Carnforth Rangers, which entailed a journey that took me back through Windermere, along the bypass that runs past Kendal, onto the M6 and down one junction from Cumbria into Lancashire, then just a very short journey from the motorway.

I'll be honest, my only previous experiences of Carnforth were effectively seeing the sign on the motorway exit, and, travelling through it on the train when either one the way to, or on the way back from Scotland. The town, while not blessed with a huge population, being resident to around 6,000 people, it is a notable railway town. Once having a depot, it was one of the remaining places to house steam locomotives, and indeed today some remain as part of the tourist attraction that is West Coast Railways. Interesting fact time, Carnforth Railway Station was the filming location for some of the scenes in David Lean's 'Brief Encounter', in fact the refreshment room at the station commemorates this.  

Prior to visiting, I’d been warned about the potholed lane that winds it’s way to the ground. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, it was just Dave being hyper-sensitive again, so once that had been traversed, and a parking spot secured, it was time to have a look at what all the fuss was about.

What a super little ground, with a rail on three sides, it has the dressing rooms, storage buildings and a small bar / tea bar behind the goal, while down one side is a tidy seated stand that is cut into the steep banking that flanks the perimeter. The initials CRFC are painted in red along the bank wall of the stand, while the seats are of the red plastic variety.

The club had communicated via Twitter (it will always be Twitter for me) about the game in the morning and my messaged enquiry about the weather conditions and the pitch was answered promptly. However, when I saw the pitch I needn’t have had any concerns, it was in superb condition and resembled a bowling green.

Carnforth Rangers are a well established club who play, as I said, in Division One, but having spoken to club officials before the game they are keen to make it into the Premier Division. In fact, it’s important to point out at this stage that the people I spoke to at the club were nothing other than very friendly and welcoming, and they clearly take pride in the fact that neutrals want to visit them.

I’ll be honest though, if they want to get promotion this season, then they will have to play better than they did against the Fylde coast visitors Lytham Town, who had the edge all over the pitch and cruised home relatively comfortably with a 4-0 victory.

It was pointed out before the game though that the hosts did have a few key players unavailable, so once they are back into the fold it may well be a very different story moving forward, or at least you would hope.

So, on a day that started with heavy rain and finished with bright sunshine, the choice to go to Carnforth Rangers, in my opinion, had been a very good one. A great little club with excellent facilities, and a very warm welcome. Dave had called it spot on, even if his pot hole concerns had been a little over the top.

What more could you ask for?