Raggy Arse Rovers

Stocksbridge Park Steels Development  2  Intake Old Boys   3

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I’m really not sure about this.

Twenty four hours before my next scheduled foray into this new and uncertain season, the FA lobbed in another grenade by saying that the guidelines around spectators not attending games included clubs at effectively what was Step 7. We aren’t just talking games at Step 7 grounds, we are talking games that simply include teams from that level.

To put that into perspective, five minutes down the road from my house is Whitemoor Recreation Ground, the home of Raggy Arse Rovers. If Rovers were to play the reserves of local side Holbrook St Michaels, then that would be fine for me to amble along, in a public space, and watch. However, if they were to play the first team of St Michaels, then I couldn’t go along because they are Step 7, in fact if I simply had a dog, walked past with it, stopped for five minutes to watch, I could be asked to move on, in theory.

Of course, that is never going to happen, Raggy Arse Rovers don’t exist, but you see my point. I get the FA have to draw a line, but the line has been drawn far too low down. You can watch cricket, in fact you can watch cricket at ground where you can’t watch football, you can even crowd into your local football clubs social club and spread disease all you like, but step outside to watch a game, oh no, very naughty, wrist slapped by the authorities.

Anyway, the problem currently is that you have to be very cautious about where you go, I’ve even seen clubs who don’t need to ban spectators, saying they are banned, then, on the other hand, I saw clubs ban spectators at the weekend when they didn’t need to, but in midweek when the rules have tightened, they are now welcome!

Stocksbridge Park Steels Development put a tweet out earlier in the day to say spectators would be welcomed at Bracken Moor, and to be fair, when what is effectively a Step 9 side playing a Sunday League side, you would reasonably expect that to be the case. Hang on, you are thinking, but Bracken Moor is a Step 4 ground, surely that’s not allowed?

The game was being played on the academy pitches over the road from the main stadium at ‘Stocky’ and therefore the rule about venues (I forgot to mention that one) did not apply, so it was very much game on.

SPS Development are new to the Sheffield County Senior League this season, and having never ventured onto the hallowed turf ‘over the road’, it seemed to be a relatively straightforward option on a night when to be honest, it was the only option!

It was also an opportunity to have a socially distanced catch up with my old mate Steve (hereafter known as Socially Distanced Steve – SDS), who I’d not seen at a game since early February when we ventured to Parkgate to see them take on the boys from the Dronx (Dronfield Town).

Getting to the ground at Stocksbridge is a bit easier than it used to be. You now carry on along the bypass to the new roundabout and head down through the Fox Valley Retail Park, which brings you almost opposite Nanny Hill, the infamous steep road up to Bracken Moor. It was as I chugged along Nanny Hill that I cast my mind back to my last visit to see a Steels side play. It was September 2011 and an FA Cup tie against Armthorpe Welfare, I got in on a freebie courtesy of then Steels gaffer Gary Marrow.

Arriving around 45 minutes prior to kick off, it was a shame to see the Bracken Moor Social Club currently closed, so it was a simple wait in the car park until the players were changed and ready to go. The Academy pitches at Bracken Moor are literally across the road from the main stadium, they have a large car park, while the pitches themselves are secured with a sturdy looking green fence. The game was taking place on the pitch at the top end of the complex, which has a large grass bank running down one side.

On an evening where we went from sunshine, to rain, to strong winds (what do you expect at Stocksbridge!), the views across the valley out towards Penistone were stunning as ever, this really is a spectacular setting for a football arena, and whatever the weather, you can’t tire of it.

The visitors Intake Old Boys, who play in the Sheffield Sunday League, had one or two familiar faces, notably Maltby Main gaffer Louis Axcell and former Belper Town midfielder Johnno Williams who has played for a few clubs in the Northern Premier League. SPS on the other hand were a young outfit, as you would expect, it was going to be interesting to see how the game panned out.   

The hosts started brightly and took the lead but once Intake got into their stride their purposeful and organised approach bore fruit as they turned a deficit into a lead, 3-1 at one stage.

SPS pulled a goal back just after the break, while Intake also managed to place a penalty into a neighbouring back garden!

It was a feisty affair as well, nothing overly friendly about it, we had plenty of banter between the SPS bench and the Intake players, while the referee was on the receiving end of one or two fierce conversations, one from an aggrieved Williams after being the recipient of a naughty challenge saw him enter the book.

It all boiled over in the last couple of minutes when an appalling challenge from the confrontational SPS captain, right in front of the visitors subs and management team, saw him receive a deserved straight red. And had it not been for the swift actions of his teammates to get him away from the scene, he would have received a straight right hander from the Intake gaffer who was determined to get to him. The manager too received his marching orders, when the referee finally got to him!  

The referee had clearly had enough at this stage, and promptly blew the final whistle, and while myself and SDS hung around to see if we were going to have any afters, it seemed tempers had calmed and all was relatively good again in the World.

A cracking nights entertainment, watched by a decent, but well distanced crowd, and right now every game is a bonus, how long this will continue is anyone’s guess. Might have to get a dog you know.........