Little Ireland

Cleator Moor Celtic  4  AFC Blackpool  1

North West Counties League – Division One North

Believe me, it’s a bloody long way to Cleator Moor.

For historical reasons, the Cumbrian town was once known as ‘Little Ireland’, but trust me, I got to ‘Big Ireland’ quicker once despite having to change airports after a flight cancellation and then hang around waiting for a crew to be found!

Yes, after three and three quarter hours on the road, we finally pulled into the car park at the home of the club that is certainly an outpost as far as the North West Counties League is concerned.

Once it became clear that the former Wearside League club had been admitted to Step 6, it fell firmly onto my radar, and also my mate Pete’s as well. We agreed to travel in tandem to it, you need two to play I-Spy as it gets a bit tedious with just one of you!

Scenery

We pondered which way to go, firstly do you go M6, or do you go A1 and A66? In the end we opted for the M6, but then we were torn between getting off at South Lakes and following the Barrow road, or, go up to Penrith and go via Keswick and Cockermouth. We chose the Penrith option.

Cleator Moor is located around four miles East of Whitehaven, not far from the Sellafield Nuclear Plant. It’s a small town that was originally built around the iron industry, and it saw an influx of Irish coming over the water to take advantage of the employment, hence the Little Ireland nickname.

The iron industry went by the wayside, as did the Kangol (leisurewear) factory in 2009, so now Sellafield is the main employer in the area, with over 50% of the working population on the payroll. Despite that, unemployment remains comparatively high.

Structures

Interestingly though, when you read about the history of the town, one thing that jumps out are the instances of sectarian trouble in the nineteenth century. Violence was not uncommon as the Irish Catholic and Protestant communities warred with each other.

Sporting wise, it’s a pretty well known fact that Cleator Moor is also the home to one of the biggest names in Amateur Rugby League, Wath Brow Hornets. The Hornets won the National Cup in both 2004 and 2005, while the National Conference was won in 2012.

Cleator Moor Celtic were formed in 1909 and have played at McGrath Park ever since. They reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in 1950 losing 5-0 to Tranmere Rovers in a game played at Workington’s Borough Park. The club joined the Wearside League in 1988 which in itself involved some significant travelling, where they remained until 1995 before leaving. They re-joined again in 2004 until the end of last season whereby they finished runner-up and gained promotion.

Looking West

Interestingly enough as well, in terms of famous players, Scott Carson, the current goalkeeper at Derby County, played for Celtic from junior level right through to the first team before signing for Leeds United. He has of course gained international honours for England during his long career.

The scenery, not only as you head into Cumbria along the M6, but also as you head down towards Keswick, alongside Bassenthwaite Lake, and then into Cleator Moor itself with Dent Fell as the backdrop is quite breath taking. Once parked up and having had a chat with the friendly and helpful fella on the gate, we made our way to a nearby café (Scoffs) for some lunch. Cleator Moor is a small town and the centre is effectively the Ennerdale Road, upon which the bulk of the shops, eateries and drinkeries are located. Post food it was time for a quick pint in the packed Moffats, and it seems a 

Saturday lunchtime beverage is very much a popular pastime in the town!

The Shadows Lengthen

The ground is only a couple of minutes walk from the centre of the town, and once through the gate you’ve got a large two story building to your right with the dressing rooms on the ground floor and an impressive clubhouse on the top floor. The walls are bedecked in club memorabilia, but also, as you might expect, lots of memorabilia for the Glaswegian club that share a similar name, and indeed a kit of green and white hoops.

To the right of the building is a small area of covered terracing of the Atcost variety, while the remainder of the ground is hard standing, with of course floodlights. The views across to the hills is of course spectacular, and even more so as twilight befell McGrath Park.

The game was a belter. It started off almost instantly with a moment of controversy. The hosts kicked off and played a ball diagonally to the touchline, and it was all set to run out of play for a throw in to AFC Blackpool, until it struck the linesman and remained in play. A Cleator Moor player was quickest to react, he moved the ball towards the danger area and then of course Leigh Dunn was on hand to give them the lead inside something like thirty seconds.

More Scenery

Blackpool went nuts, but what could the referee do? He consulted with the linesman, who I’m sure he thanked for putting him in such a nightmarish position no sooner had the game started, but the goal had to stand, Blackpool were not happy at all.

Still seething, it got worse when Dunn then made it 2-0 moments later, before Stuart Shaw made it 3-0. A rout looked on, but then things took another twist just before the break.

A handbags situation between Shaw and Stephen Betteridge saw the hosts player get a straight red compared to the visitors yellow, and you almost felt it was the opportunity the referee needed to try and even things up a little.

As the game moved into the second period, Cleator Moor visibly tired as Blackpool took advantage of the extra man. A goal came in the 70^th minute through Jack Taylor, and you felt that if a second goal could be found, we would have one hell of a finish. It wasn’t to be though, as minutes from the end Liam Johnson got a fourth for the Celts to well and truly make the game safe.

The vociferous home crowd went home happy, while the visitors will feel very frustrated about the way the game panned out. That said, you couldn’t argue with the fact that the points went to the right team in the end.

People & Stuff

It felt like a long way when we set off in the morning, it felt an even longer way as we got back into the car and contemplated the journey back. But, you have to give huge credit to Cleator Moor Celtic, because other than derbies against Holker Old Boys and Carlisle City, they have got to spend some serious hours on the road this season. At Step 6, a journey to Shelley for example is a good three and a half hours, and while visitors to McGrath Park only have to do the epic journey once a season, Celtic have to do it almost every other week.

For that, they’ve got my utmost respect.