Joeys

Rocester  4  NKF Burbage  0

Midland Football League – Division One

I don’t suppose when Joseph Bamford founded his company in 1945, did he expect that his product would go on to inspire a song?

Ok, so he was Luke, he was five and his Dad was Bruce Lee, and he drove around in a JCB, holding up the bypass (the A38 between Ripley and the M1 typically). Nizlopi released the JCB song in 2004, by which time, the company formed by Mr Bamford, and now in the hands of Sir Anthony, employed over 11,000 people and had a £3 billion turnover.

Located between Ashbourne and Uttoxeter, the vast site where the JCB factory sits is on the edges of the village of Rocester, a village, who’s history and economy is so interwoven with ‘Joeys’.

Right on the edges of the opposite end of the village, on the Staffordshire / Derbyshire border is the home of Rocester Football Club, a club with a rich and long history, but in terms of senior football, relatively young at the same time.

Plying their trade in local football for donkey’s years, they became founder members of the Staffordshire Senior League in 1984, where after much success in a three year spell, they moved into the West Midlands Regional League, which saw a rise in the clubs profile.

They proved to be a relatively successful club in the WMRL before being invited to become founder members of the Midland Football Alliance in 1994, and within five years they had been crowned champions and with it came a promotion to the heady heights of the Southern League.

They had four seasons in the Southern before relegation back to the MFA, but they bounced back immediately as champions and became members of the Northern Premier League. Their one and only season in the NPL was an unmitigated disaster, they finished bottom without winning a single game.

Since that season in 2005-05, they’ve competed back in the MFA, which then re-branded as the Midland Football League following a merger with the Midland Combination, although by the start of last season they’d been relegated to the First Division, where they remain.

The national competitions show a best FA Cup of the 3^rd Qualifying Round, while the Vase has a best run of the 5^th Round in the 1986-87, the clubs first in the competition. That campaign was unique in the sense that of the six games they played, five were at home, but none of them were actually played at the Mill Lane ground. Four were hosted by Leek Town, and two by Eastwood Hanley. I can only assume ground grading was an issue.

I first went to Rocester in the 1994-95 season and saw them lose 4-0 at home to a strong Leek Town side in the FA Cup. I’ve seen Belper play a couple of friendlies at the ground while I also saw them play Yate Town in one of their early Southern League games.

Since then, I’ve had some interesting experiences with trips to Rocester. Firstly, the day after my daughter was born I made the popular decision to go and watch a Bank Holiday Monday game against Hinckley United that the visitors won 9-1. I also went to watch an end of season game against Oldbury United, only for the game to be postponed an hour before kick off as the visitors were unable to make it to the ground. Nothing remarkable about that, apart from the fact that they’d boarded a coach only to be well on their way when it came to light that the driver was drunk! The journey was quickly aborted!

My last visit came back in 2011 when I was courting the present Mrs H, being the old romantic that I am, I chose to take her on a cold and wet Tuesday night to watch them play Heath Hayes. The restaurant was fully booked up that night, and as she was driving, I felt we had very little alternative options…..

The ground at Mill Lane doesn’t change very much, but it is very well kept and is a tidy and well equipped venue. A relatively new car park has been built, with an entrance road along the edges of the JCB Academy, an educational establishment that occupies a vast old mill (hence Mill Lane). The clubhouse welcomes you, while to the side of the clubhouse and dressing rooms is a seated stand that was built by the club but incorporates seats that were rescued from Walsall's old Fellows Park.

Both ends are open, while on the opposite side of the pitch is some low cover straddling the half way line (also from Walsall). The pitch was in superb condition, while the four cornered floodlight pylons offer a very good level of illumination (check my next blog for an example of a ground where it’s quite the opposite).

Of course, dotted around the ground are various advertising hoardings supplied by Joeys, it’s good to see that despite their size and vast multi-national operations, they are still very much in touch with the local community, and of course their roots.

Rocester have had a modest season so far, and were up against Barwell based NKF Burbage who’ve had some indifferent results of late since the loss of their manager.

Luke Smith gave the Romans a very early lead, but after that the visitors had their best spell of the game without being able to take advantage. Jordan Dodd then made it 2-0 just before half time and that was the goal that seemed to knock the stuffing out of Burbage.

Elisio Francisco then scored a quick fire double just before the hour mark to make the game more than safe, and in the end the impressive hosts could have gone on to net more.

A good night for Rocester, and enjoyable one for me, with a very quick and easy journey back over the border. I went the back way, avoiding the bypass, only, given where we were, I had visions of being held up by a JCB………….