My Matchday - 146 Causeway Lane

Matlock Town 1v1 Gateshead

Unibond Premier Division

22nd September 2007

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Causeway Lane or giving its new handle The Geoquip Stadium is a ground I’ve been looking forward to visiting, so I was pleased to finally get the opportunity the make the trip to the Gladiators home, in the company of the Heed Army for this top of the table clash (yes, top not bottom)
Football was first played in the Derbyshire town of Matlock as long ago as the late 1870’s, before making their competitive bow in 1892 as founder members of the Midland Alliance League. After the Second World War the club reformed as Matlock Town and later rejoined the newly reformed Midland League after twice finishing champions of the Central Alliance at the turn of the 1960’s, after an initial period post war in the Chesterfield & District League.
The Gladiators were champions in their first season back in the Midland League and ended the decade with a second title, for the 1969-70 season the club joined the Northern Premier League where they have played ever since, with their highest finish achieved in 1983-84 as runners-up to Barrow
The club have won many honours in cup competitions, especially in the Derbyshire Senior Cup winning seven out of eleven finals as well as success’s in the NPL cups, but their biggest triumph was lifting the FA Trophy in 1975, as the underdogs hammering favourites Scarborough 4-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
The club were relegated to Division One in 1996, but returned in 2004 and have made steady progress since, last season saw them lose out to Witton Albion in the play-offs after a credible 5th place finish, and this season they’ve started well, again sitting 5th with a 100% record at home, but today they were up against a team with a 100% record not only at home, but also on the road, so something had to give as the Heed Army marched into Causeway Lane to do battle with the Gladiators.
The ground itself is one of the most picturesque I’ve visited, situated at the southern eastern edge of the Peak District, right in the heart of the town centre which is great for pre-match drinking, with the turnstiles and entrance on the main street. When entering the turnstiles, to your right is the club shop and the Causeway Lane end of the ground, which looks like two separate stands bonded together, with one half having blue flip seats and the other half bench style seats with adequate standing room in front of the stand, on close inspection there’s a sign on the back wall with ‘The Cyril Harrison Stand’ scripted, as well as the name of the grounds hosts in large blue letters adoring the length of the stand.
The opposite side is the Main Stand which also has rows of blue seating and houses the players changing rooms, so the players enter the field down the middle steps from the top of the stand, while the away players enter via a separate entrance, next to a new building in the process of being constructed(new changing rooms maybe)the newly improved club house is next to the stand, with very hospitable bar staff, there was even a sign on the wall behind the bar to make us most welcome. (See web album pic ‘A warm welcome’)
The local cricket club resides next door behind the far goal and there’s just been a new fence rebuilt, this part of the ground was cordoned off but only has a standing lawn area, while the opposite goal has a covered terrace which runs parrallel from the goal post to the bog in the corner, with the terrace running up to an angle, getting steeper as you approach the toilets, this end gives a fabulous view of Riber Castle in the distance high up on the hill.
With both teams going well this season and the threat of (one way or the other) a winning sequence being broken, then the draw was the obvious result on the pools coupon, so that’s how it finished, a 1-1 draw which on reflection was a fair outcome. Matlock took the lead straight from the kick off when a lack of concentration in the Gateshead defence allowed Simon Barraclough to head home from a Webster cross giving the Gladiators a dream start. Gateshead had to reshuffle the pack making two substitutions after injuries to key players Gate and Bowey but finished the first half well and grabbed an equaliser when fine play by Hughes and Harwood set up Ian Robson to make it all square at the break.
The second half saw a goal line clearance and the help of the woodwork deny The Tynesiders the lead; however Matlock always looked dangerous on the break and it was from one of those raids forward that lead to a penalty on 70 minutes after a challenge from make shift centre-half Paul Thompson on Barraclough, the same man was then denied the winner from the spot after Heed keeper Peter Keen saved well, diving to his right and assuring Gateshead remain unbeaten this season.

It was a very pleasant day out in Matlock with the local residence and club officials very friendly, I was knackered by the end of the day, after being on the go from 4.20am, going into work and racing around to make the coach pick up at 10.00am, any chance of a bit shut eye on the way home was impossible with the volume turned up to 11 on the coach CD player (Cheers TC!)
Gateshead had a great travelling support, as well as the usual roll call of the Heed Army regulars, there’s also a lot of new fans, as well as the return of Private Goody or should that be ‘Low Fell Elvis’ who managed to turn a few heads as we walked through Matlock town centre on the way to the pub, there were a few ‘Suspicious Minds’ from the locals and a few seemed ‘All Shook Up’ by his appearance, but really Goody is just a Teddy Bear (or should that be Hound Dog)
So overall an enjoyable day out, with Gateshead coming away with a well earned point, plus a visit to a smashing little ground.
(‘Low Fell Elvis’ picture courtesy of General Gaddess)

LINKS -
Matlock report
Gateshead match report
Heed Army Blog report

Football Bog Blog no.9
Previous 100FGC Members ticks -
Simple Pieman (April 2006)
Tims 92 (January 2007)

Ground no.146 – Causeway Lane Matchday web album(19 pictures)

When I got through the turnstiles at Causeway Lane I was greeted by Matlock supporter and ground MC John Lawton, the newest member of the 100 Football Grounds Club, squad no.69 (ooh matron!)
We swapped souvenirs as I awarded him with his 100FGC pin badge while he gave me a copy of his fabulous book ‘Gladiators On Tour and other footballing stories’ which tells of one mans passion for football as well as his pursuit of football mugs. John attended 105 games in 2006/07 as well as visiting 50 new grounds; the book chronicles his season and is put together with pictures from his travels and is all done with some great crack.
The book is priced at £6.00 with all proceeds from the book going to MTFC Supporters Club as well as 20% of the profits going to John’s favourite charity WaterAid.
Full details can be found here

The Football Bog Blog

Great Stadia toilets, No.8 in a series of........
The ones at Hyde United with the interior "schimmel growth"

This latest football bog picture was taking by Dutch 100FGC member Joris van de Wier (Squad no.50) on one of his regular groundhopping trips to England, one of the matches he attended took place at Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde United.

This bog is another example of the brick*hit house brand, Joris described it as quite smelly with something growing in the urinal;what the Dutch call 'schimmel', so anyone visiting Ewen Fields can not only see 'The Tigers' in action but also check the progress of whatevers growing inside this football bog.

My Matchday - 145 Grange Lane

North Ferriby United 1v4 Gateshead
Unibond Premier League
11th September 2007
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I’ve been wanted to see Gateshead a lot more away from home this season, as there’s plenty of grounds I’m yet to discover in the other three corners of the Unibond Premier League and naturally I want to give the team my support amongst the fellow soldiers of the Heed Army. The way this seasons fixtures have worked are when Newcastle are at home Gateshead are away, and vice-versa, which is great in one respect, as it means there’s no fixture clashes on Tyneside, which puts a few extra punters through the turnstiles at the International Stadium on a Saturday afternoon, but from a more selfish point of view, this limits my trips to pastures new.
Gateshead have started the season with 5 wins out of 5 and clocked up a tally of 20 goals in the process, the tremendous start is hung-over from the great finish to last season, with the team unbeaten in 17 games stretching back to last March when the Bogieman took over the job after the dismissal of Tony Lee.
A trip to Humberside and a visit to Grange Lane, the home of North Ferriby United, a club which is now playing at the highest level in their history, currently in their third campaign in the Unibond Premier League. Originally formed in 1934 playing in a local league, the club reformed after the Second World War and were admitted to the East Riding Amateur League, until ambition saw them join the Yorkshire League Division Two in 1969, which they successfully won in their second season.
Throughout the following decade the club enjoyed success in winning the East Riding Cup four times as well as the Yorkshire Cup, until the club became one of the founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982, which they won in 1985-86.
The biggest day in the clubs history was an appearance at Wembley in the 1996 FA Vase Final, losing out to Whitby Town 3-0 after a great nine game cup run to reach the final, progression was made throughout the ‘90’s and the dawn of the new millennium saw them achieve Unibond League status after becoming NCE Premier Champions and making sufficient ground improvements, the club celebrated their 70th anniversary by winning the Unibond League First Division Championship in 2004-05.
North Ferriby is a civil parish hidden 8 miles west of Hull on the north bank of the Humber, according to the 2001 census the parish has a population of 3,819 and the Grange Lane ground can be found at the bottom of the village off Church Road. The turnstile entrance is in the corner of the ground, with all the facilities, toilets, refreshments, changing rooms and clubhouse all on the nearside. The main spectator’s area is on the opposite side and is a paddock type covered stand which stretches pitch length; this has a central seated area with red flip seats incorporating a small press box flanked by standing areas to each side. Behind each goal are two open hard standing terraces, the mighty Humber Bridge can be seen at one end of the ground while to the other there’s a plot of allotments where I spotted some smashing pumpkins growing through the gap in the fence. The pitch is in imaculate condition with £15,000 being spent to give it that carpet look, all thanks to Hull City who play their reserve matches at Grange Lane.
The first half of the game was one of frustration, the referee is always an easy target if your side is losing, but this ref was diabolical (and I’m being polite) After Gateshead started brightly forcing some good saves from Ferriby keeper Pecora, the home side took a controversial lead on the half hour after centre-half James Curtis was hacked down on the half way line, the referee waved play on and from the consequential attack the home side scored through Andy Hayward netting the rebound after Keen’s initial save.
The home side went in at the break with that slender lead but the half time whistle was greeted with jeers from the travelling support as well as some harsh words from the players and Gateshead manager Ian Bogie, especially after another dodgy decision when the ref failed to give a penalty when Armstrong was clearly tripped in the box as he shaped to shoot.
It could have been one of those nights, when you feel after all your good effort your going to come away empty handed, but I felt if Gateshead were to get an equaliser then they’d win easily, and that’s just what happened, the first meaningful attack of the 2nd half saw Southern burst through the Ferriby defence before being haled down on the edge of the box, while the Heed Army were still trying to get over the shock of winning a free-kick, “Di Di Di Di Di Davy Southern” stepped up to slam in the equaliser. This opened the floodgates and within 5 minutes ‘The Tynesiders’ took the lead when Southern cleverly beat the offside trap before laying the ball on a plate for Hughes to slide home, a bullet header from Steve Salvin made it three and another marvellous performance was rounded off when substitute Ian Robson scored his first goal from the club, showing a great turn of pace before firing in from the edge of the box. So the Heed Army go marching on, now six out of six another four goals to maintain the four goals a game average, the long suffering but humerous Gateshead fans have jokingly sang the same song for years “Grange Hill, it’s just like watching Grange Hill” but if the team keeps on playing the way they are at the moment, it won’t be Grange Hill we’re watching but more like Brazil.

Ground No.145 – Grange Lane Matchday web album
(15 pictures)

Links-
North Ferriby United report
Gateshead Match report
Heed Army blog

Seadogs on Tour
An accident on the A1 meant our trip to Humberside took longer than expected, Myself, Big Ian and Captain Morgan Stevie finally arrived at the ground at 7.25, the same time as the team coach with the players already kitted out ready for action, but there was also a mini bus of Scarborough supporters also kitted out in matching black t-shirts.
I spoke to several of the ‘Seadogs on Tour’ gang and asked what they were about, they told me that they’re still going to go to the matches together but groundhop to different games every week, they tried going to watch Scarborough Athletic but couldn’t get into it, especially having to travel down to Bridlington, so there love of football will continue but sadly without a team of their own to support.
They have a list of fixture mapped out of games they’ll be attending and I’m looking forward to meeting up with the Seadogs again when they visit Matlock Town for the game against Gateshead.
Details can be found here on their website;
http://www.seadogsfans.co.uk/X6SeadogsOnTour.htm

My Matchday-144 South Kesteven Sports Stadium

Grantham Town 2v0 Nantwich Town
8th September 2007
Unibond League Division One (South)
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I’ve become a regular visitor to the Lincolnshire market town of Grantham over the last ten years or so, not only is it the birthplace of former prime sinister Margaret Thatcher (hiss, boo!!!) but also the place of birth of ‘the breadknifes’ Uncle Malcolm (hurray!!!) who many moons ago fell in love and married Geordie lass Ann, living happily ever after in the Lincolnshire countryside. They are frequently visited by their favourite niece and nephew-in-law in search of solace and in the case of the said nephew-type, visiting football grounds within the local vicinity.
The main occasion for our stopover this weekend was a family get together in celebration of Ann’s recent 50th birthday, but with the merriment not due to get under way until 6pm; this gave me a free afternoon to finally check out the local football team; Grantham Town aka The Gingerbreads. [Happy Birthday Ann! x.]
Originally founded in 1874 ‘The Gingerbreads’ began playing at a competitive level from 1925 spanning almost 50 years in the Midland League, the club won their third league title in 1971-72 and decided to try their luck in the Southern League where they enjoyed instant success, winning their third championship title on the spin in the Southern League Division 1 North, winning promotion to the Premier League.
The following season the club just missed out on winning a fourth consecutive title, finishing runners-up to Dartford, their highest finish within the pyramid, that same season was also their best performance in the FA Cup, reaching the majestic third round stage after knocking out Rochdale in the 2nd round, their reward was a home tie against Jack Charlton’s Middlesbrough, giraffe necks team avoid any giant killing however, winning 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 6573 at London Road.
Grantham’s geographical location makes them one of ‘the inbetweenees’ of Non-League football, an apparent target in re-shuffling between northern and southern based leagues, when the club suffered relegation in 1978 they won the league the following season, but due to the formation of the Alliance (Football Conference) the club were placed in the Northern Premier League.
By the mid-1980’s the club were back playing in the Southern League, during this era there were many changes afoot, after the club almost went out of business a new board took over, the club added Town to their name in 1987, and by the end of the decade a new football ground, after initial interest shown in redeveloping London Road, a stadium was built to share with the local athletics club on the Meres playing field, in 1989-90 Grantham Town took residence at the brand new South Kesterven Sports Stadium.
Known locally as “the Mairrres” the stadium has a capacity of 7500, the main East Stand is an attractive looking two tier structure in cream and blue, there’s seats at pitch level as well as a splendid view from the top tier, even though the running track usually takes you further away from the pitch, you still feel your close to the action, the club bar is built into the back of the stand and access can be gained in between the two tiers of blue seats. There are two banks of terracing either side of the stand, with one terrace oddly having eight pairs of seats through the middle, behind each goal are open grass banks which are too far away from the pitch and the west side of the ground there’s a covered terrace which houses the hardcore Gingerbread support.
Grantham last season were truly dreadful, after being re-juggled again into the Northern Premier League, they finished tailed off at the bottom, and relegation has found them part of the restructured Unibond League where they’ve been placed “back darn sarf “in the newly formed Unibond League Division One South, so this meant a first meeting at the Maires between themselves and their opponents from Cheshire Nantwich Town.
The game was an even contest with Grantham just shading it, they took a half time lead with a moochers goal from centre forward Sam Wilkinson and even though Nantwich tried there best to find an equaliser in the second half, the Gingerbreads bully boy tactics saw them take the three points, this was rubber stamped with an injury time goal from Sam Mullarkey to give the home side a 2-0 victory.
Grantham match report

I found it hard to concentrate on the game as I was receiving constant text messages from Captain Morgan Stevie (he likes his rum) on the latest news from the International Stadium;Gateshead v Hednesford, my phone was constantly going off and a final score of a 6-2 win to the Heed had me in the mood to do some serious drinking at the evening barbeque, along with a good performance from England, visiting a new ground with a win for the home side in addition of a great night in the company of the breadknifes family, I staggered into my pit at 1.30am content and intoxicated.

Previous 100FGC members ground tick –
Simple Pieman (April 2004)

Ground no.144 – South Kesteven Sports Stadium Web album(18 pictures)

Ground Image Of The Month

This month’s ground image was taking by Nathan Davies, and was featured on his fine football blog ‘Tartan Red On Tour’ when he visited Fir Park the home of Motherwell FC for their SPL clash with Inverness CT in April 2006, the ground is also the temporary home of SPL newcomers Gretna for this season.
The picture shows the East Stand with the words “Keep Cigarettes Away From The Match” embossed in capital letters across the top of the stand, it just one of many anti-smoking signs on view within the stadium, you can read Tartan Red’s impression of the ground along with more pictures here.