The Worst Team In England

Tunstall Town  5  HDFC  1

Staffordshire County Senior League - Division Two North

"Tunstall Town finally end 171 game run without a win" screamed the headline on the BBC website in January 2014.

Recognised unofficially as the 'Worst Team In England', they had found their fifteen minutes of fame, but what preceded it was tantamount to a whole World of pain for the football club from the Potteries. Six and half years of pain to be precise, but why was that, and also, why bother?

Well you certainly couldn't criticise the persistence and indeed the resolve to simply keep going, but defeats into double figures on a regular basis, and goal differences upwards of -200 suggested a serious underlying problem, and it will come as no shock when the diagnosis suggests it had something to do with the players!

Not just any players though, because Tunstall Town were effectively a veterans team, it was reported in some games that the average age of the back four was 50, so the playing field was clearly not a level one in a competition packed with fit, young whippersnappers.

The were wooden spoon winners season after season, but gradually things started to change, the average age of the team for a start. 143 consecutive defeats then finally came to an end with the victory over Whittington in January 2014. They were dancing in the streets of Tunstall, well, Knypersley where they were actually domiciled.

In The Shadow Of Sir Stanley

Then, at the start of this season came revolution. They decamped to the Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy in Blurton which had both grass and artificial pitches, and furthermore they went about signing players who had been there and done it, notably Matt Haddrell, the striker who had scored goals a plenty in the Evo-Stik League. Rumours abounded that players were being paid, but I say only rumours.

So how has it gone? 19 wins and 1 draw from 20 league games tells it's own story. Division Two North will be won at a canter although Foley Meir Reserves gave it a good shot. The County Challenge Cup has also been won but the Division Two Cup was narrowly lost on penalties to Brereton Social.

It's a far cry from the bad old days, in fact these are heady days indeed, and it was time to pay them a visit.

The Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy is a smart educational facility sat right at the top of the Blurton estate and backs onto the Longton Rugby ground that is ironically also the home of tonight's visitors HDFC (Hardman Development as was). Stoke City's stadium can be seen in the distance, and the ground is reached from the A50 via Sir Stanley Matthews Way.

The pitch used tonight was set on a plateau, but from time to time this season when the weather has dictated they have used the artificial pitch that is adjacent. The pitch had been freshly cut, but the grass cuttings had been left on the field which gave it an untidy appearance. A smattering of spectators turned out for the game, including a handful of curious neutrals like myself.

The Vast Expanses Of The OSSMA

Tunstall looked a confident and indeed competent side, although give credit to HDFC who were far from outclassed, certainly in the first period. Tunstall went in 1-0 up at half time, but the visitors equalised 18 seconds into the second half.

This galvanised Tunstall who then went on to move into another gear to retake the lead, before a quick fire barrage saw them produce neat finishes to take the game away from HDFC.

When you have quality and you also have momentum, you take some stopping, and to be frank, they won't be stopped. How will they fare in Division One? Hard to say because I was lead to believe that a few key players were missing tonight, but I suspect they will strengthen where they feel they need to and make a push to take the club to Step 7.

Sir Stanley will have looked on, in the shadow of the academy they named in his honour, and smiled, he would be delighted that no longer does a team from his beloved Stoke-on-Trent have the tag of being the worst team in England......

Getting Dark Now Liner....