My Matchday - 200 Edgeley Park

Stockport County 4v1 Hereford United
League One
31st January 2009

Stockport is a large town six miles south-east of the City of Manchester and lies on the River Mersey, meaning County are the nearest League club to the famous old river (and you thought it was some Premier League club!)
The town is traditionally know for its manufacturing of hemp and rope, it also produced one of the first mechanised silk factories in the UK, in the 18th century. By the following century the towns main industry was cotton and the country’s capital of hat making, exporting over 6 million hats a year. 1997 saw the end of the hatting industry, but the towns heritage is still maintained at the ‘Hat Works - The Museum of Hatting’ which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to visit, due to being unable to get out of the pubs!
Stockport County were originally formed as Heaton Norris Rovers in 1883, playing at the Recreation Ground in the Combination and then the Lancashire League. The club lead a nomad existence playing the following season at Heaton Norris Wanderers Cricket Ground, before moving onto Chorltons Farm, when they merged with local rivals Heaton Norris. They then relocated, relocated, relocated to Ash Inn Ground, Wilkesfield, until moving to their first enclosed ground at the Nursery Inn on Green Lane, where the players built a 4000 strong wooden stand and changed their name to Stockport County.
The Hatters became a Football League club in 1900, two years later they moved to their seventh ground -Edgeley Park, which had been in existence since 1891, being home to Stockport Rugby Club.
The following year the rugby club folded, the same year as the grounds first development; a roof added to the Popular Side with a capacity of 1400. This side of the ground was well named, as it once housed 16,000 for a 5th Round FA Cup against Liverpool, when the ground witnessed it’s record gate of 27,833 in 1950, the same decade floodlights were installed and opened with a friendly in 1956 against Fortuna 54 Geleen. In 1954 the roof was extended forwards, then renamed the Barlow Stand in honour of club chairman Ernest Barlow. By 1978 the capacity was halved, then in 1994 became all seated, now with a capacity 2,411 of a single tier split into five sections, with one section designated to away supporters.
The Main Stand was built in 1936, a year after the original timber structure (erected in 1913) was destroyed by fire, along with the club records and a dozen houses on the other side of Harcastle Road.
The stand has a classic look, with it’s sharp triangle roof covering 2,000, which includes executive and sponsors seats, it sits on the half way line with the end filled in with separate buildings to either side, including entrance to the conference and banqueting suite.
The Railway End was always an uncovered terrace with a 6,000 capacity up until 1985, when the terrace was cut down by a third. In 2001 the addition of seats completed Edgeley Park as an all-seated ground, it’s used by the away fans, so naturally it’s the only part of the ground without cover, there’s also an electric scoreboard situated at the back of the stand.
The original Cheadle End was a small timber stand with cover for 3,000, when first built in 1923. Seats were added in 1967, but as a result of the Bradford Fire it was demolished, unsafe due to its tarred and felted roof and replaced by a concrete terrace. The new Cheadle End stand was opened in 1995, and is a steep two tier stand with a capacity of over 5,000, like to rest of the ground it has blue flip seats, with the bottom tier having SCFC picked out in white.
We chose to sit in the Cheadle End, underneath the stand is a spacious concourse, decked out with a blue carpet and club colours and the Connor Bar named after County legend Jack Connor. There is a few TV’s in this area, but it seems no remote control, as there was a member of staff walking round with a broom handle switching channels. My only disappointment about the stand was that there was no bookies, as I really fancied backing County to win 3-1, thankfully they scored that fourth goal.
The ground (as it was in the beginning) is shared with rugby, the home of Guinness Premiership club Sale Sharks and is owned by the Stockport County Supporters Trust, which was formed in 2002.
County overcame what’s been a difficult week with a convincing win over Hereford United, two defeats and increasing press speculation regarding the club’s current financial situation were forgotten for the time being as The Hatters got off to a dream star with a goal straight from the kick off. Dominic Blizzard capitalised on a defensive error, then coolly slotting the ball past the keeper with only 13 seconds on the clock.
Hereford drew level midway through the first half with a goal from ManU loanee Sam Hewson, finishing off a good move, but County regained the lead before half time, McNeil with a simple diving header in the six yard box from a corner kick.
Stockport made their dominance count in the second half, a good finish by Mainwaring on 52 minutes, and then McSweeney, shooting through a crowded penalty area capped off a good performance.

Edgeley Park is a ground I’ve been wanting to tick for quite a while now, it’s in a perfect town centre location, not too far from the railway station, which means I don’t have to hotfoot a couple of eight minute miles to catch my train.
I departed Newcastle at 9am, on my five quid single fare train to Doncaster. I arrived by 1030 and caught my connection to Stockport, arriving just before noon. After grabbing a late breakfast at a café which overlooks the market place, I needed something to wash it down, so I naturally visited a couple of the local hostelries. There was plenty to choose from, but I selected ’The Calvert Court’ and ‘The Pack Horse’ before again meeting up with 100FGC squad#93 Dan Gooch, his girlfriend Sam(visiting her 37th ground of the season) and squad#109 Paul Hodkinson at the Grade II listed ‘Arden Arms’ (details on Bevvy Almanac)
We headed over to Edgeley Park at around 2pm, we were all impressed by the ground and enjoyed an entertaining game with a praiseworthy performance from our hosts.
My train home wasn’t due until 17.28, so I had time for a swift pint on my way to the station, we noticed plenty of bars on Castle Street which is in between the ground and rail station. I don’t know how it came about, maybe it was because it looked quite quaint from the outside, but we selected ‘The Pineapple’ as our post match alehouse of choice. How would I describe this pub? Let’s just say the words -Avoid, as F**k, Rough, come to mind. I left The Pineapple at 1720, saying my farewell to my ground hopping friends and wishing them the best of luck in getting out of the pub alive.
The return train journey home went smoothly, I made a short detour to ‘The Leopard’ pub, next to the train station in Donny, before arriving home at 9pm. I received several txt messages from Dan, informing me that their safety was assured and they’d visited more pubs in Castle Street before catching a later train.
Edgeley Park turned out to be my 200th ground, I’ve been stuck in the 190’s for what seems an eternity, a bit like a cricketer at the crease on the verge of his double century, but then growing frustrated as the clouds darkened and the covers come out, unable to hit the few remaining winning runs. Compared to others who share this groundbagging hobby, this isn’t much of a milestone, however I’m pleased a classic ground like Edgeley Park, turned out to be the venue which finally completed my second ton.

Bevvy Almanac - Port of Crawl

Matchday stats
SCFC 4(Blizzard 1, McNeil 33, Mainwaring 52, McSweeney 76) HUFC 1(Hewson 26)
Att. 5586
Admission £16
Programme £2.50
Match report

Ground no.200 Edgeley Park - Matchday Web album(21 pictures)

My Matchday - 199 Purvis Park

Percy Main Amateurs 2v2 Gosforth Bohemians Garnet

Northern Alliance Division One

24th January 2009

I hadn’t planned another Alliance ground this season, my usual ’Around the Alliance’ articles finished for this term, however a 11am Saturday morning kick-off was too good to miss out on, tailor made for groundhoppers to bag a welcome double.
Many groundhoppers took advantage of this early start, travelling from far flung parts of the country, then heading off to a Northern League game and some further north to Scotland. The reason the match kicked off early was the Gosforth lads were off to York for a stag-do, with one of their players about to 'tie the knot', and Percy Main being the helpful club they are, agreed to an early start.
This year Percy Main Amateurs celebrate their 90th birthday, having been formed by ex-servicemen returning from the First World War. They began life playing in the Northern Amateur League, becoming champions in their first season before adding four consecutive titles during the 1920’s. The club’s proud history includes a quarter-final appearance in the FA Amateur Cup in 1929-30, losing out to eventual winners Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic after knocking out Cleethorpes Town, Rawmarsh Welfare and Yorkshire Amateurs. The club joined the Tyneside Amateur League in 1931, before returned to the Northern Amateur League after the Second World War.
The Villagers joined the Northern Alliance in 1968, adding cup honours in the Northumberland Amateur Cup, Northern Alliance League Cup and the Northumberland Senior Bowl, before becoming title winners in consecutive years in ‘81 and ‘82 and runners up in 82-83, the same season they reached the 5th round of the FA Vase, going out to Brandon United.
The club suffered relegation in 1991 to Division One, but won promotion by the end of the decade, adding the League Cup in their first season back in the Premier, The Villagers are currently back in Alliance One after relegation in 2004-05.

Percy Main is a village in North Tyneside, on the outskirts of North Shields. Purvis Park takes its name in honour of the late Ian Purvis, who served the club as a player, secretary and chairman over 50 years. The ground was originally called Middle Row Park until 1996 and neighbours with the local cricket club, entrance is gained through the pavilion building, which incorporates the changing rooms and tea bar, which serves delicious hot soup at 60p a cup. Access pitch side is gained through the back of the building, which has an extended roof, giving spectators valuable cover.
Those travellers who set off early, (which including the first arrival from Hampshire who had departed at 4.30am) were treated to an entertaining game, the early kick-off didn’t cause a lethargic display, as both teams looked up for it.

Bohs took the lead half way through the first half, a point blank save from the keeper was tipped on to the bar, but Atkin was alert to force the ball over the line with an acrobatic-type-kick. Percy pushed for an equaliser, missing several good opportunities, then in first half injury time Gosforth doubled their lead, Atkin again netting another rebound after another good save, this time from a tight angle.
Percy Main must have got a good rollicking at half time, scoring with their first attack of the half, Betts with a cracking shot from 20yds which gave the keeper no chance. This gave the team a lift and it was just a matter of time before they equalised, this duly arrived on 70 minutes, Percy Mains very own miniature version of Rory Delap; Pierre-Luc Coiffait fired in another bullet throw which eventually fell to McEnany who fired home with his right foot. The teams fought out the final twenty minutes in search of a winner, but after over 100 minutes(51 minutes each way!) of football the draw was a fair result in the end.
The early kick-off was definitely a success for Percy Main, mainly thanks to club secretary Norman De Bruin who made Groundhoppers aware via the internet, on Tony Kempster’s forum and Non League Zone. Hopefully other clubs in the region will take note and follow Percy Main’s example, to give the country’s groundhoppers an excuse and opportunity to visit, where without doubt... is the best region of the country.

Matchday Stats
PMA 2(Betts 47, McEnany 70) GBG(Atkin 22,45+4)
Att. 65 (HC)
Admission £1
Programme 50p

My Matchday - 198 Christie Park

Morecambe 0v1 Gillingham
League Two
17th January 2009

Morecambe is a Lancashire seaside resort off the Irish Sea within the City of Lancaster. In 1889 the villages of Bare, Poulton-le-Sands and Torrisholme became communally known as Morecambe, with the three villages still maintaining their own identity and original names.

Morecambe FC formed in 1920, playing their first season in the Lancashire Combination League whilst sharing the towns cricket ground at Woodhill Lane. The club moved to their own ground the following year, thanks to the financial backing of retired businessman and supporters club president Joseph Barnes Christie, who acquired land to rent on Lancaster Road.
The ground was then know as Roseberry Park, originally having a 700 capacity wooden stand, dressing rooms and a covered end known as the ‘Scratching Shed’ with the ground’s first league action played in August 1921, against coastal neighbours Fleetwood, in front of a healthy crowd of 3,500, with similar sized crowds maintained during their first season.

The ground was renamed Christie Park in January 1928, honouring Mr Christie who was now the club president, he formed the club into a limited company with a share capital of £1,000. He purchased the ground and gave it to the Corporation of Morecambe on the condition that it could be only used by Morecambe FC, and should the club ever disband it should become a children’s playground, sadly the clubs great supporter and benefactor died the following year.

The grounds steady progress began with cinder banking added to the Lancaster Road end with a covered concrete stand at the town end in the late 1950’s costing £2,000. Another £4,000 was spent on installing floodlights at the turn of the next decade. The Main Stand was built in 1962, at a cost of £20,000 as part of major ground improvements totalling £35,000, the same year as the ground witnessed it’s record gate, 9,383 for a 3rd Round FA Cup tie against Weymouth, then in 1968 the old fans favourite the ‘scratching shed’ was demolished to make way for a new covered terrace at the Christie Avenue end.

In 1967-68 they were Lancashire Combination champions for a fifth time, and the following season became original members of the Northern Premier League. The Shrimps made little impact in the new division, but glory came in the FA Trophy, the biggest day in their Non-League history saw a 2-1 victory over Dartford in the 1974 final at Wembley.
The clubs ambition to rise up the pyramid began with more ground improvements during the 1990’s which included new floodlights and grass banking replaced by concrete terracing, their desire was fulfilled when in 1994-95 they joined the Conference after finishing runners-up to Marine in the Northern Premier League.

In 1997 a new £560,000 stand was built at the town end with major improvements made to the South Stand bringing Christie Park up to Football League standards. League football was eventually accomplished, following play-off semi finals defeats in 2002-03 to Dagenham & Redbridge, then three years later to Hereford, it was third time lucky in 2006-07, after disposing of York City in the semis they went on to beat Exeter City 2-1 in the first Conference Final to be played at the new Wembley.

Last season the club comfortably maintained their newly found league status, finishing in 11th position with sixty points, season highlights including League Cup victories away at Preston North End and Wolves.

Christie Park has a capacity of 6,400, the Main Stand has a traditional old fashioned look to it, sitting perched on the half way line with 1200 red flip seats, with a wee small standing section at the front. The dugouts are situated centrally in front of the stand with the players tunnel further along towards the south side, with a small stand to cater for disabled supporters towards the north end.
The North Stand terrace looks brand new, spick-and-span with bright red crash barriers, opposite is the away end, a smaller terrace with a police control box situated centrally, the back walls are painted battleship grey, covering the wording of the previous sponsors name. The Car Wash Terrace is the only uncovered part of the ground, a shallow terrace which is broken up by the scaffold assembled TV gantry and four thin floodlight pylons.

Eric & Ernie’s rendition of ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ greeted the two teams, but the match didn’t produce many bright spots, with Gillingham taking all three points courtesy of a first half strike from Curtis Weston. The Gills started the better side and almost took the lead when a Mulligan shot hit the post, then on 19 minutes the same player was again denied by the woodwork, but this time Weston was on hand to net the rebound. The Shrimps pushed for an equaliser in the second half, but overall lacked that extra spark in front of goal, with the best effort coming from Stanley, which produced a brilliant save from Royce. Gillingham looked to grab a second goal on the break and defended well as the conditions worsened, holding on to claim victory.

I travelled to Morecambe by car, chauffeured by Alan Price(100FGC squad#26) along with his wife Karen(squad#126) and Dave Edwards(squad#52) setting off at 9am.

We stopped off in Lancaster city, taking a look at the home of the Dolly Blues (My Matchday planned for 10th April) then arrived in Morecambe at around 11.30am, heading straight to the ground. We purchased some goods from the club shop, then luckily found that the ground gates were open, meaning we could have a pre-match preview of Christie Park, taking a leisurely walk around the stadium and take some decent photographs.
We then headed into the town centre to see the statue of the towns favourite son Eric Morecambe, before heading off for something to eat. Alan had already researched where the towns best chippy was, the honour going to Atkinsons, found in a side street off Marine Road West (they’ve also got a chippy next to the ground) after enjoying the delicious haddock & chips on the seafront, I was thirsty for some decent ale, so I headed off on a pub crawl and arranged to meet back up later on.
The first pub I visited was named after the great man himself, Eric Bartholomew (JD Wetherspoons), followed by the towns oldest pub the ‘Smugglers Den’ and finally the York Hotel on Lancaster Road, the closest pub to the ground. (Full details on Bevvy Almanac)
I prefer to stand at the match, so with it being a dry day I opted for the Car Wash Terrace, standing on the half way line close to the action just like being at a Non-League match, I later regretted not choosing the North Stand, as it lashed down in the last twenty minutes, so I got a right drenching!

I enjoyed visiting Morecambe and look forward to returning, the club have announced plans to move to a new purpose built stadium in the Westgate area of the town. The new ground will have a capacity of 6,800(2,100 seats), the project also includes training facilities, hotel, drive-through-restaurant and car park facilities, which should be up and running by the start of 2010-11 season.
We made good time heading back home, arriving back at 7.30pm, with Mr. Price’s rendition of ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ an added bonus (well maybe not!) to our journey back north, overall a brilliant day out or as the legend Mr Morecambe would have wisely put it "Wah-hey! "

LINKS
Match Report
100FGC visits- Tims 92 (Sept’07) The Groundhog (Dec’08)
Bevvy Almanac - ‘Revisiting Eric’

Matchday stats
MFC 0 GFC 1(Weston 19)
Att. 2027
Admission £12 (standing)
Programme £3

Ground no.198 Christie Park - Matchday Web album

Around the Alliance - part four

The fourth part of the football clubs and grounds of the Northern Football Alliance Premier League, featuring two clubs which won promotion last season.


182 Wheatridge Park
Seaton Delaval Amateurs 3v1 Heddon
Northern Alliance Premier League
16th August 2008
Seaton Delaval is a village in the Blyth Valley district, five miles north-west of Whitley Bay in south-east Northumberland.
Seaton Delaval Amateurs joined the Northern Alliance in 1983-84 and have won the championship twice; in 1989-90 and 1992-93. In 1994 the club merged with Seaton Delaval Seaton Terrace, who had been originally formed as High Pit Social in 1981, before changing their name the following year.
The ground is off the A192, and was a bit difficult to find, hidden behind a plot of allotments with no signpost on the main road. I managed to catch a glimpse of a crossbar, so doubled back into a small lane which leads to the ground, where a man standing next to a small hut was waiting to take your quid admission.
Car park spaces are providing behind the nearside goal to the entrance, where you park up facing towards the pitch, meaning you don’t need to leave your vehicle to watch the game, making it another one of those drive-in football venues.
There’s a wooden enclosed terrace, the blue painted roof overhanging from the changing rooms out parallel with the dugouts. There’s terraced steps running towards the near corner flag, and towards the opposite flank is the outside toilet block which was feature in The Football Bog Blog #12. There is uncovered hard standing all around, with a old dugout on the far side used by spectators for extra shelter with a grass bank running pitch length, giving a better elevated view.
Delaval ran out worthy winners, with the game being over as a contest after 50 minutes when Howes made it 3-0, after earlier efforts from firstly Arnos, who caught out the keeper with a well placed lob and then Baird adding to the scoring with a nice half volley, capping a fine first half performance from the home side.
The last half hour was all Heddon, but all they could muster was a solitary reply from John Dunn who capitalised on a defensive error, finishing with a well taking effort, the win took Seaton Deleval top for the first time this season and they’ve remained in contention for the title since.
Overall Wheatridge Park is a tidy little ground, the only main fault being no signposts and no identity inside, as in a ‘welcome’ sign of some sort. However I would recommend it’s worth a visit during the winter months, so you can enjoy the game from the shelter and warm of your car

Matchday Stats
SDA 3(Arnos 26, Baird 31, Howes 51) HTC 1(Dunn 62)
Att. 45 (HC)
Admission £1
Programme;none
.

195. Wark Sports Club
Wark 3v0 Amble
Longhorn Hardware Stan Seymour League Cup
20th December 2008

Wark is a small village and civil parish located twelve miles north-west of Hexham in Tynedale, west Northumberland, on the west bank of the River North Tyne
The club became members of the Northern Alliance in 1988, two successive relegation in 1995 and 1996 saw them hit the bottom division, they won promotion to Division One in 1998-99 and then last season won promotion back to the Alliance Premier, winning the league with 25 wins out of 30 and scoring 125 goals. Further research on the club was difficult to find, Google results constantly took me to the career of former Ipswich and Liverpool goal scoring Scottish midfielder John Wark.
On arrival you drive through the village, along Main Street which brings you to a single lane weak road bridge, where the Wark Sports Club is at the other side of the river. The ground is situated in the most tranquil of settings, where the only noises to be heard is the baa of sheep in the next field, the calming sound of the river flowing by and the odd tractor going to and from the neighbouring farm.
The Sports Club entrance has a spacious car park, where there’s an entrance to the clubhouse and changing facilities which share the same building block with also access at pitch side and is situated to
the right corner of the pitch. On the left side is a children’s park, a netball court and what must be a football ground first; a skateboard park, which runs parallel to the goal and the corner flag. There’s a pair of brick dugouts at one side and a white perimeter fence, with one side roped off to open up the cricket pitch.
I arrived at the ground at 1pm, with the Amble team still to arrive, then a quarter of an hour later a convoy of five cars crossed the aforementioned bridge, with players spilling out of the vehicles, with just enough time to get changed and warm up.
Wark controlled this League Cup tie from the kick off, missing an array of chance, as if they were determined NOT to score, when the goal finally did arrive on 42 minutes, it was worth the wait, a long clearance found Nixon, who struck a sweet shot on the turn from 20 yards out.
Wark continued to dominate the game after the interval, with further goals from Telfer and a second for Nixon, this time from the penalty spot after he was dragged down in the box, making a final score of 3-0, however Amble can count themselves lucky it wasn’t a heavier defeat.
During the game there was a few bad tackles, with one in the opening minute of the game setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon, ten minutes from time a bad tackle caught one of the Wark lads, everyone knew it was a broken leg straight away, the game was halted and an ambulance had to be called, best wishes to the lad and I hope he’s on the mend soon.
I can highly recommend a visit to Wark, I travelled over after finishing work (meaning I went from work to Wark) and with it being an early kick off I was a bit strapped for time, meaning I couldn‘t stop for a pint and a visit to the GBG listed Battlesteads Hotel at the entrance to the village, which looked a convivial spot and another good reason to make Wark a laudable ‘tick’
Matchday Stats
Wark 3(Nixon 42,62pen Telfer 54)Amble 0
Att.14 (HC)
Admission and programme; none
.

196. Recreation Park
Murton 4v1 Peterlee Town
Northern Alliance Premier League
27th December 2008
Murton is a former mining village in County Durham, located six miles east of Durham and seven miles south of sunderland, and forms part of the local government District of Easington.
The club was formed as Murton Colliery Welfare in 1912, becoming Wearside League members the following year, winning the championship twice in 1928-29 and 1936-37. In 1946 they joined the re-formed North Eastern League but returned to the Wearside League five years later, adding another title in 1959-60. In 1988 they joined the Northern League and also dropped the CW suffix from their name, winning the Division Two title in only their second season. Their best performance was finishing second in 1991-92, but after relegation in ‘98 the clubs fortunes nosedived, finally losing their Northern League status, joining the Northern Alliance in 2004-05. Further relegation followed but last season they regained there place in the Alliance Premier after finishing runners-up to Wark.
Recreation Park has cover behind the dugouts and behind the left hand goal, both stands are of similar stature, made from congregated iron and both looking on their last legs, as if a strong gust of wind will see them collapse like a pack of cards. Both stands have a white wall at the front with the stand behind the goal set back from the pitch on top of a slope. Next to the main stand there’s a building block which incorporates the changing rooms and refreshment area.
The ground is surrounded by a cricket pitch, the welfare park and another football pitch where I saw a cracking second goal by local side Hylton in their 3-0 win over Seaham, during the half time interval.
The match was a local derby between the only two Northern Alliance Premier clubs based in County Durham this season. Peterlee took an early lead through Pyle, but were reduced to ten men when the second scuffle in the space of five minutes saw their number 10 sent off, which was a bit more than ‘handbags’ with raised hands and threatening behaviour, this gave Murton the edge and they grabbed an equaliser before half time with a goal from Summerbell.
There was a slight delay early in the second half, in the first minute a wayward pass struck the referee on the leg and he went down needing treatment, the ball wasn’t exactly blasted off him, but he acted as if it was something serious, after a few minutes he finally got on his feet and restarted the game, the whole episode making him look nothing more than a prize soft shite!
Murton made the extra man count in the second half, with a second goal by Summerbell and further goals by Garside with a fine individual effort, and a last minute goal from substitute Walton completed the rout.
Recreation Park could do with a bit work, as it seems to have been left to wreck and ruin, the surrounding Welfare Park and cricket ground seem nice enough but the football ground looks neglected and dishevelled. After being a victim of repeated vandalism and arson throughout the years I suppose it’s like urinating against the wind as far as ground improvements are concerned, which is a shame considering it’s less than five years ago that they were a Northern League club.
Matchday stats
MAFC 4(Summerbell 37, 53 Garside 66, Walton 89) PTFC 1(Pyle 10e)
Att. 47 (HC)
Admission and programme; none
.

My Matchday - Revisiting Durham City

Durham City 2v0 Harrogate Town

FA Trophy 1st Round

13th December 2008
I’ve being wanting to do a revisit to Durham City this season, now they’ve broken away from the motherly apron strings of the Northern League and showed some real ambition by stepping up into the Unibond League. The current side has a few ex Heed players, namely Harra, Lawsey, Magic and Speedy, so with another football Saturday decimated by the weather, meaning no new ground prospects, this was the ideal opportunity to pay a visit, for what looked an attractive FA Trophy 1st Round clash with Harrogate Town.
The Citizens were last seasons Northern League champions and after a bit of uncertainty of will they or won’t they and questions over the ground’s criteria, they finally joined the ‘Great Unibond Juggernaut’ (an expression used by the Northern League hierarchy) where they’ve made an encouraging start, unbeaten in their first eleven league games in Northern Premier League Division One North.
Durham City were once a Football League club, admitted to Division 3 North in 1921, three years after their formation, after originally playing a season in the Victory League and a further two in the North Eastern League. In 1928 they failed to gain re-election, returning to the North Eastern League until the club went out of business in 1938 due to financial troubles. During this era the club played at three different grounds, their first season was played on Garden House Park then four seasons at Kepier Heughs, until moving to Haliday Park (which was named after the former mayor) until the club disbanded.
They reformed in 1950, moving to Ferens Park, named after the clubs benefactor and club president; Alderman H.C. Ferens. After two seasons in the Wearside League they joined the Northern League, then in 1957 the ground staged it’s record attendance, 7,000 for an FA Cup tie with Tranmere Rovers, which resulted in a 3-0 victory to the visitors.
City won the Northern League Division One for the first time in 1993-94, then applied to join the Northern Premier League, but were unable to gain promotion due to the incompletion of their new ground, so the club had to ground share with Chester-le-Street Town for a season, until work was finished in 1995.
The stadium is on the Belmont Industrial Estate, just a mile off the A1 on the A690, on the outskirts of Durham, a city which is famous for it’s cathedral and Norman castle and is one of the most picturesque views on the east coast train line when approaching Durham station.
When I originally visited this ground it was called New Ferens Park, then later renamed Archibald Stadium, but now there’s a new sponsored brand name; the Arnott Stadium. The ground has one main stand with a seating capacity of 300 blue flip seats, where access is found up a flight of stairs as you emerge through the turnstile, the refreshment bar is at the side of the stand, with a hospitality bar and a tannoy booth situated at the back. The stands extended roof allowing cover for a further 600 spectators, with further hard standing on the other three sides, there’s also a shelter to accommodate disabled supports on the nearside. The clubhouse is outside next to the main entrance, which neighbours a children’s nursery and the big blue building behind the far goal is Soccarena, an indoor football complex.
Durham’s opponents were Harrogate Town, two league levels higher, currently sitting in a play-off spot in the Conference North. On paper this looked a tough one, but football isn’t played on paper it’s played on grass, but in Durham City’s case, on plastic, as the Arnott Stadium has a 3G all weather pitch, which proved to be a great leveller as City ran out comfortable winners by two unanswered goals.
Durham looked more lively than their opponents from North Yorkshire, with the City front two of Richardson and Johnston keeping the Town defence on their toes all afternoon, as they applied a high defensive line, happy playing the offside trap at every opportunity. The opening goal arrived in first half stoppage time, a corner from the left was met by ex-Gateshead (and my ex-work colleague) Mickey Laws, with a fine header, finding the net via the angle of post and bar.
In the second half the light persistent showers turned into a heavy downpour, Harrogate improved slightly, however the match was settled on 70 minutes, from another corner kick the referee spotted a handball in the box, resulting in Adam Johnston making no mistake from the spot.
A great performance from Durham City, they’ve assembled a very good side, and have now knocked out two Conference North sides in the FA Trophy, as they remain the only North-East club left in the competition. They also look a good bet for promotion, which I’d really love to see them achieve, proving the doubters wrong and getting their just rewards for showing some ambition.

(Revisiting Ground no.79, first visit 2/8/01-Durham City 0v5 Newcastle United, Pre-season friendly)

Matchday stats
DCFC 2 (Laws 45+1, Johnston 70pen) HTFC 0
Att.232
Admission £8
Programme £1.50

Arnott Stadium - My Matchday Web album

My Matchday - 194 Glanford Park

Scunthorpe United 1v2 Leicester City
League One
22nd November 2008
Scunthorpe is an industrial town in North Lincolnshire, known as the ‘Industrial Garden Town’ which specialising in steel and ironworks, after the discovery of the Frodingham Ore fields in 1851. The town takes it’s name from the hamlet Escumtorp, meaning the farmstead which belonged to a man called Skuma, which is mentioned in the Doomsday book.
In August 1988 Scunthorpe United became the first club to relocate grounds since Southend United in 1955, when they vacated the Old Show Ground, their home for almost 90 years. At the time such a thing was unheard of, but nowadays it’s became the norm, with another 25 League clubs (so far) taking the decision to move on to pastures new.
The old ground was sold to supermarket chain Sainsbury’s for £2.5m,which financed the project and paid off some of the clubs debts. The ground was built near the village of Gunness, just over the edge of the towns boundary in the Glanford Borough, by Humberside based construction company Peter Birse.
The original capacity when constructed was 11,226, but nowadays is down to 9,183, the ground has a compact intimate look to it, nothing special, but somewhat homely in appearance. All four sides are of equal proportion, three ends are all seated with one side terracing. For the purpose of this ground description I’ll use original named points of the compass for each end, as there was a bit confusion about who sponsor which end, as they seem to change from season to season.
The main stand is to the west, which incorporates a hospitality block in the middle section and a family enclosure at one side, opposite the East Stand has a larger section of seats, decked out in sections of claret and blue with SUFC lettering picked out in the middle section, with a front fascia with the sponsors name.
The South Stand is the away end, which has a capacity of 1,650 blue seats, the railway line runs past this end, where passengers get a clear - but brief view inside the ground, it’s a shame there isn’t a railway station here, instead of having to navigate the two mile trek from the main station in the town centre.
The four corners are covered by advertising boards, with the toilets and refreshment facilities underneath, above the four corners are the tall thin floodlights pylons, shining in from their position, standing outside the ground.
We chose to watch the game with the main Iron support in the covered terrace at the North End, I cannot knock the Scunny supporters for their passion, as it was generally a good atmosphere, but where were the songs and the usual banter? nothing about their lack of love for Hull City or Grimsby Town and how they’re “ Gonna win the league” not even a “United” (clap, clap, clap)
There’s plans afoot to build a new three tiered stand at this end of the ground, taking the capacity back over 11,000, the plans also include conference and leisure facilities. The possibility of moving to a new stadium has also been discussed, which would see the first club of the modern era to relocate, to again.. relocate. I don’t really think this option is necessary, the ground is ideal for a club like Scunthorpe United, however a brand new stand would be a much better and viable move and would give Glanford Park a big boost.

A late goal from Andy King ten minutes from time, leapfrogged City over United at the top of League One. Leicester City had the better of the opening exchanges, taking the lead after 22 minutes when a good through ball found Lloyd Dyer, who finished well, side footing the ball home into the far corner of the net from the just inside the box. The Iron drew level ten minutes later with a cracking strike from Paul Hayes, after receiving a chipped through ball from Sparrow, Hayes hit a ferocious effort with his right foot from a tight angle. City should have been ahead by half-time, but two great saves from Murphy kept Scunny level after an entertaining first 45 minutes.
United had more possession in the second half, but City looked more threatening on the break, looking more likely to grab a winner ,which duly arrived on 81 minutes, King eluded the defender before bringing the ball under control on the edge of the box, looking up to pick his spot and shooting on the half volley, giving the keeper no chance. Scunthorpe pushed for an equaliser, but Leicester held on to take the valuable three points and on the balance of play, probably just shaded it.
My Matchday trip to Scunthorpe was brief, but nevertheless a very enjoyable day. I caught the 1129 National Express train from Newcastle to Doncaster , where I caught my connection train to Scunthorpe. The journey to Scunthorpe was in a single carriage rattler, which must have been the most non-scenic train journey I’ve experienced (so far)with the highlight being a rare site of fully working colliery; the one at Hatfield, and a rather attractive looking lass sitting in the next seat.
I arrived in Scunthorpe just before 1.45pm, I was greeted by two female police officers at the station, asking if I was going to the match, I told them I was; but was meeting someone first, reason being so they could escort me on to the shuttle bus, which transfers you straight to the ground.
I called in for a quick pint in the Honest Lawyer pub on Oswald Road, as I had a little bit time before meeting a couple of the 100FGC squad at 2pm in the Wetherspoons ‘Blue Bell’ pub, situated on the same street.
I met up with squad #93 Dan Gooch, his girlfriend (and future squad member) Sam and squad #109 Paul Hodkinson who travelled by car from Tamworth. We departed the pub at 2.30 and just had enough time to park up and take a couple of photographs before the big top of the table clash got underway.
During the first half I was bursting for the toilet, then at long last I finally took advantage of a break in play to visit the bog. The toilet is situated in the far corner, so on the long walk back I took the opportunity to take some pictures from another angle from my chosen viewpoint. Suddenly two stewards appeared , being very irate and telling me to stop taking pictures, I told them I was only taking photos of the ground and supporters and not the match action. They tried to escort me away and told me to “Come with us” but I showed them my 100FGC badge, telling them it was for the website. They both looked at me stunned, not really knowing what to say, so before I gave them the chance I scuttled off back into the crowd before I got lifted.
We really enjoyed the game and the crack was good, but with the train station being over 2 miles away, I had to exit the game early, leaving with just over five minutes remaining. My train was due at 1710, but there was another due at 1718 as my back up plan, I ran back and made it with five minutes to spare (What an athlete!) I stopped off in Doncaster and called into the Wetherspoons ‘Red Lion’ before boarding my train and arriving back in Newcastle for 8pm.
I had a another great day bagging another of ‘The 92’. My ground total in this department is pretty poor, so if the opportunity arises then I’ll be boarding the train again to improve on my tally. I don’t mind travelling alone, in fact I quite enjoy it, but it’s always a pleasure to meet up with some of the 100FGC squad on arrival, so hopefully I can meet up with Paul, Dan and Sam again this season.

Matchday stats
Irons 1(Hayes 32) City 2 (Dyer 22 King 81)
Att.7967
Admission £16 (+ £1 booking fee)
Programme £3
Match Report

Ground no.194 Glanford Park - Matchday Web album(15 pictures)

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Wearside League Wanderings - part two

The second part of my trips around the Wearside League, where I visited a new club, the return of a former Wearside League side and one of the leagues longest established clubs. The three games provided plenty of entertainment and produced 15 goals.

189. Shotton Park
East Durham United 3v4 Teesside Athletic
Wearside League
1st October 2008

East Durham United are a newly formed club, admitted into the Wearside League last season, finishing 17th,when they ground shared with Northern Alliance club Murton. This season they've relocated 6 miles east to the Shotton Recreation Ground, home of defunct Northern League club Shotton Comrades, in the County Durham village of Shotton Colliery.
Now known as Shotton Park, the ground is found on Station Road, where the car park is at the entrance to Shotton Community Park, which you have to walk through to gain access to the ground at the top of the hill.
The changing rooms are found in a separate building opposite the ground entrance, so the players use the same gate as the supporters as access into the ground from behind the goal, once inside there’s the refreshment bar and toilets to your left and a small section of built up terracing to the right and hard standing on all four sides. There’s a covered terrace at the park side, which originally had benched seats when the Comrades played here, while opposite the dugouts look quite unique. There’s just one large block which is share between home and away teams, when the match was on it looked chocablock, the dark orange roof is the same style as the stand. The ground looks well maintained and is well lit with six tall twin lamp pylons.
I had a choice of staying at home watching Champions League on the box or venturing out on a chilly early autumn evening, to bag a new ground and watch some local non-league action, there’s no doubt, I had made the right choice. Teesside Athletic brought a few of their regular followers and the teenagers who I had earlier passed hanging around the park, doing their usual adolescent stuff, looking bored, playing with their mobiles, while the ones who were coupled up did a spot of ‘necking on’, swelled the attendance by coming into the ground for kick-off time.
Teesside took an early lead on eight minutes when Bell volleyed the ball into an empty net from outside the box after a poor clearance from the keeper, then just after the half hour, the game looked to be heading Athletics’ way, when Thompson had an easy tap-in after a good cross from the right flank.
Then a crazy six minutes leading up to half time, a lifeline for United when a corner kick was sliced into his own net by Wood and minutes later it was level, Kane getting on the end of a free kick wide from the edge of the box. East Durham’s joy was short lived as Teesside regained the advantage, Hunter nodding home virtually on the goal line from an initial corner kick, but the half ended all square, when a foul on Kane allowed Wells to make no mistake from the penalty spot.
After a well earned breather for the players and spectators, I was greedy for more goals after witnessing six in the first half, but I had to settle for one solitary goal in the second half, this went to the visitors on the hour mark, when a fine run and cross fell to Kensington, who got in front of the defender to slide the ball home. Both teams continued to create chances, but Teesside held the advantage, adding to United’s frustrations by booting the ball out of the ground at every opportunity and comfortably holding on to take the three points.
It’s good to see Shotton Park getting used again, two good teams produced a great game so I was pleased to be in attendance, so much better than staying at home watching that inferior Champions League rubbish methinks.

Matchday stats.
EDU 3(Wood OG 39, Hunter 42, Wells 45pen )TAFC 4(Bell 8, Thompson 33, Hunter 44, Kensington 60)
admission and programme; none
Attendance 39(H.C.)

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190. Shildon Sunnydale Stadium 2000
Newton Aycliffe 2v3 Kirbymoorside
Monkwearmouth Charity Cup 1st Round
4th October 2008
Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham within the Sedgefield constituency, which was founded in 1947 and is the oldest ‘new town’ in England. The towns football club have returned to the Wearside League this season after a 15 year absence, stepping up from the Durham Alliance, the club originally played in the league for ten years until they resigned mid season in 1993-94.
Newton Aycliffe’s temporary home is the Sunnydale Leisure Centre in Shildon, while developing work continues at their Moor Lane ground, this fact made this ‘tick’ a priority while I still had the chance to visit before the club moved back home.
The Leisure Centre is just outside Shildon on Middridge Lane, with the 2000 stadium found on the opposite side of the road. The ground has an eight lane running track and a decent stand, with blue frames and supports and six rows of red flip seats, with ‘2000’ picked out in blue, its capacity is approximately 300, with a small standing section at the front. The perimeter of the pitch is roped off, giving you a closer view, so your not too far from the action, which is usually the case at athletics stadiums. The changing rooms are in the pavilion building, which is to the far left of the stand parallel to the corner flag, there’s no refreshments available, apart from a hot drinks machine across the road in the Leisure Centre.
In damp windy conditions, the match saw the Wearside League’s two newest clubs met in the opening round of the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup, the weather had a hand in the opening goal, a wide free kick from 30 yards out, by Kirby’s Damon Cox, missed everyone and bounced high into the net with an assist from the swirling wind. Minutes later the home team equalised, McMullen played a one-two, before side footing the ball into the corner with his right foot. Aycliffe dominated the rest of the first half, missing several good chances and were unlucky not to have a handsome lead.
After 15 minutes the game came to a standstill, the officials held lengthy discussions with the dugouts, apparently one of the linesman had pulled a calf muscle and couldn’t continue, so unless someone stepped in the match would be abandoned, thankfully a lad from the Newton Aycliffe bench reluctantly took the flag, meaning the game could continue and I wouldn’t lose out on getting a new ground to my list.
Kirbymoorside took the lead against the run of play on 67 minutes, a scramble in the box eventually fell to Sarjo Cham, who slid in to score. The game swung to and fro with both teams missing sitters, but NA became more dominant and finally equalised on 82 minutes, left back Campbell ventured forward and his cross come shot found the far right corner.
The game looked to be heading for extra time, something I wasn’t pleased about, the game had kicked off at 2pm, I had an appointment in Newcastle at 4.30pm, so this meant the disappointment of having to miss out on the extra 30 minutes, things personally got worse when a serious tackle and a bad injury meant a lot of added on time.
During the game a lad on the Kirbymoorside bench, was constantly warming up, hoping to get on and show what he could do, the lad was; to put it politely..a bit of ‘a poseur’ he had some sort of hairdo going on, the likes of I’ve never seen before and was the only player on show wearing gloves. He got on after about 70 minutes and didn’t make much of an impact, apart from the inconvenience of getting his sparkling all-white strip dirty. It was approaching 3.55pm, so I unfortunately had to get going, so I began to exit the stand., just then the Kirby right winger was making a strong run forward and managed to get a decent cross into the box, then appearing from nowhere was said player, with a fantastic diving header; Uyi Ehima. What a player! What a goal! Brilliant! The referee blew the whistle as soon as the game restarted, so I was happy I saw the whole game, all thanks to a tremendous goal from the lad with the hair and gloves!
Matchday Stats
NAFC 2(McMullen 11, Campbell 82) Kirby 3(Cox 8, Sarjo Cham 67, Uyi Ehima 90+5)
Admission £2
Programme: none
Att. 54 (H.C.)

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193. Ryhope Recreation Ground
Ryhope 2v1 Kirbymoorside
Wearside League
12th November 2008

Ryhope is a coastal village 3 miles south of Sunderland town centre, on the southern tip of the town borough. The word Ryhope originates from Old English speak; reof hoppas which translates as “rough valley”
Ryhope CW rejoined the Wearside League in the 1950’s, their most successful period coming the following decade when they won the league on three occasions and added another four trophies within the league’s cups competitions. In 1988 they merged with Sporting Club Vaux, renamed as Vaux Ryhope until reverting back to their original name in 1992.
When approaching on the main B1286 road which runs through the village, the ground was easy to spot, eight tall pylons lit up the night sky making it clearly visible, I then just had to work out how to get there, as it’s tucked within a housing estate. I noticed a few cars parked off the main road, so followed suit and found the entrance to the park within a side street.
A short walk through the recreation park, past the tennis courts and around the Ryhope Cricket Club’s pitch, led to the football ground. The clubhouse is outside the entrance gate, which is more like a café, with an array of tables and chairs, serving hot food and a proper cup of tea - out of a pot and in a mug, you can also view the game from the window inside, but you have to move the net curtains first.
Inside the ground , on the nearside there’s a changing room block to the left, with a hard standing terrace and dugouts to the right, these are basically a large aluminium cupboard, which can be closed and locked up when not in use. The other three sides are grassed standing, with the only cover coming via an old Perspex dugout on the far side.
After an even but goalless first half, Ryhope started the second period looking more positive, taking the lead after only five minutes, when the Kirby keeper’s trailing leg tripped up the striker. After arguing with the referee and receiving a yellow card for dissent, he had no chance with the spot kick converted by Hill. The lead was brief, two minutes later a long ball from the right back to the far post was met by Alexandra** with a towering header which gave the keeper no chance, he jumped so high that it looked(from my angle) that he jumped higher than the crossbar, so it wasn’t a surprise that the forward received an injury from his long fall back to earth. The match winning arrived on 74 minutes, a great run and cross from the right winger, picking out a perfect pass to the in coming McMahon, who had the simple task of shooting past the goalie from 15 yards out. Kirby had a golden opportunity to earn a draw in injury time, but the offending player shot over the bar from 5 yards out, when it looked easier to score, much to the annoyance of the away section of the dugout.
Ryhope Community Park looks like it receives a lot of tender loving care, the pitch and the perimeter of the ground is spotless, there’s plenty of scope for improvements if need be, but the club seem happy enough at this level, the Wearside League having been their stamping ground for over 50 years.
Matchday Stats
RCW 2(Hill 50pen, McMahon 74) Kirby 1(Alexandra 52)
Admission £2
Programme: none
Att. 51(HC)