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
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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
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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
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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)

My Matchday - 192 Ewen Fields

Hyde United 2v5 Gateshead
Conference North
1st November 2008

Hyde is a town in Greater Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, the town was built on the success of the cotton mills during the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early part of the 19th century. The name derives from the word “hide” meaning a measure of land of approximately 120 acres, which was used for taxation purposes.
The town’s first club; Hyde FC, were formed in 1885 and are forever confined to the record books, losing 26-0 to Preston North End in the FA Cup in 1887, a record score for a competitive match in England. Aside from that blimp, the club were successful, winning four league titles in five seasons within three different leagues between 1897 and 1902, with more silverware in various local cup competitions. The club first played at Ewen Fields when merging with Hyde St. Georges in 1906, but were eventually forced to fold during the war, playing their last game in February 1917.
Hyde United were formed in 1919, making their competitive bow in the Manchester League the following year, winning the title five times and the Gylcryst Cup twice over the next decade. In 1930 they joined the Cheshire League, after the war United enjoyed a successful period, winning the Cheshire Cup and then in 1954-55, they won the Cheshire League and cup double and also retained the title the following season.
In 1968 they were founder members of the Northern Premier League, but rejoined the Cheshire League after only two years, but eventually returning via promotion after winning their third league title in 1981-82. The Tigers finished the 1980’s close to major honours, twice finishing runners-up in the league and just missing out on a trip to Wembley, losing to Telford United in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 1989, a feat which they repeated in 1996, this time Northwich Victoria denied them a trip to the old twin towers.
In 2001-02 the club escaped relegation due to other clubs failure to require necessary ground grading, however this proved to be a reprieve, as they finishing bottom the following season. The club rebuilt a new side and won back to back promotions over the following two seasons, taking there place in the Conference North in 2005-06, where so far they’ve made steady progress finishing 11th, 8th and last season 9th.

Ewen Fields is a fine looking ground, covered on all four sides, decked out in blood red with an unique looking stand. The turnstiles are found at the far end of the car park. where the Pennine Stand and the a covered paddock terrace called ‘The Scratching Sheds’ are found on entering. The clubhouse is in the corner which also has the club shop in a separate room inside.
The Pennine Stand has a capacity of 550 red seats, at the back there’s a press box and sponsors lounge, the floodlight pylons tower on top and it’s an extra £2 to have the privilege of sitting in the stand, hence under 40 people amongst the 300 crowd took up the option, the refreshment bar is situated at the back of the stand opposite the turnstiles.
The Scratching Sheds is the more popular standing area for the Hyde supporters, the shed is split with a floodlight pylon running through it. There’s a covered terrace at the far side, where the dugouts are also located, behind each goal there’s more covered terracing, with the congregated iron roof s having evident dints, due to wayward shots smacking off its frontage.

An opening fifteen minute blitz from recent signing Lee Novak set Gateshead on their way to an impressive victory over their Tameside hosts. The hat trick came in the space of four minutes(surely some kind of record) the first arrived on 11 minutes, good work from Phillips set up Armstrong, whose shot was saved, but Novak followed up to net the rebound. Minutes later it was two, this time it was Harwood who did the donkey work allowing the striker a simple tap in, the treble was complete in the 15th minute, Armstrong was fouled on the edge of the box and Novak made no mistake from the spot.
Hyde got back into the game midway through the first half, a low cross was deflected in by Simm, the linesman judged the ball had crossed the line, much to the annoyance of the Gateshead defence, which resulted in a couple of yellow cards. The MC at the ground then announced the goalscorer and added “The comeback is on” how wrong he was, as Novak score his and the Heed’s fourth five minutes before the interval, with a point blank header after a great cross from Francis.
Gateshead added to their tally in the 54th minute, this time Novak was the provider, after staying onside he ran on before laying the ball into the path of Harwood, who was left with the easy task of sliding the ball into an open goal. Hyde had more possession during the last half an hour, with the game over Gateshead eased off, so the Tigers grabbed a consolation through Cartwright, poking the ball into the net after a scramble in the box from an initial corner kick. Overall a great away day performance from Gateshead and especially Lee Novak, the front partnership with Graeme Armstrong looks promising and the signs are good for the second half of the season

The original planned coach trip was cancelled due to lack of numbers, meaning a replacement mini-bus and a couple of car excursions. I had the option of either, but plumped for a lift off ‘The Olympic Torch’ which meant I had more chance of a kip on the way home, much needed after being at work earlier and the effects of a good pre-match bevy.
We left at 10.15am, the other car spaces with ‘Torchy Travel’ taking up by Kav, Hewey and Bible Mike, amongst the many non-football topics discussed during our journey were;
A) The X-Factor debate -‘Who would you go with between Cheryl and Danni?
B) Girls Aloud - Who would you most like to do in 1-5 order?
We briefly stop off at services on the M62, meeting up with the rest of the Heed Army and also had a chat with a few ex-Gateshead players who had arrived with Durham City FC, who were playing away at Marine in the FA Trophy.
We arrived in Hyde before 1.30pm, I headed straight into the town centre, where I was disappointed to find that the JD Wetherspoons pub ‘The Cotton Bale’ only had three ales on offer in their International Real Ale Festival, I tried all three then headed off to the ‘Sportsman’ on Moltram Road, which is a very friendly pub and can recommended a visit. They serve a fine selection of Pennine Ales from the local Rossendale Brewery, when I entered the pub they gave me a free thirst-quencher of ‘Floral Dance’ and very nice it was too.
After checking out the football results and a pint in the clubhouse, we headed off home with the ‘Torchymobile’ having us back by 7.45pm. I again enjoyed visiting this part of the north-west, Ewen Fields is a very good ground to visit, the town centre is only a short 5-10 minute walk away, with plenty of pubs close by, however the day was that bit more extra special, seeing a 5-2 away win and the Heed giving Hyde a bloody good hyde-ing!
For the record;
A) Definitely Cheryl.
B) 1.Kimberley 2.Cheryl 3.Nadine 4.Sarah 5.Nicola


Matchday stats
Tigers 2(Simm 26,Cartwright 65)
Heed 5(Novak, 12,13,15,40 Harwood 55
Attendance 301
Admission £10
Programme £1.60

Ground no.192 Ewen Fields - Matchday Web album(17 pictures)

My Matchday - 191 Bloomfield Road

Blackpool 2v2 Crystal Palace

Championship

25th October 2008

Blackpool is a world famous seaside resort in Lancashire, off the Irish Sea coast. The town became a major holiday destination during the first half of the 20th century, when factory workers and families from the north of England and Scotland took their annual holidays there. Even though the number of visitors has declined over the years, it is still the UK’s favourite coastal resort with over 10 million visitors a year, although nowadays it’s a more favoured destination for stag nights and hen parties.
Blackpool FC were formed in 1897, they previously play at Raikes Hall Gardens and then the Athletics Grounds on the racecourse at Stanley Park. In 1899 they moved to land owned by a local farmer at Gamble’s Field, which was then used by Lancashire League side South Shore, the two clubs agreed to merge, keeping the Blackpool FC name and renamed the ground Bloomfield Road.
The ground had a single 300 seated wooden stand, which was destroyed by fire and replaced with a new West Stand in 1917, a small wooden stand was also added at the north end; named the Motor Stand with additional terracing to the south and along the east paddock, which at the time made Bloomfield Road one of few grounds in the country with stands at all four sides.
The two tier South Stand was built in 1925, included changing rooms, offices and refreshment bars, bringing the total capacity to over 20,000, more improvements followed after the clubs promotion to the First Division in 1930, The Motor Stand moved into the north west corner to make standing room for 12,000, the north terrace Spion Kop took the capacity to over 30,000.
The ground reached it’s peak in the 1950’s, the East Stand was extended in 1954, raising the capacity to over 38,000, giving the club it’s biggest ever gate of 38,098 against Wolverhampton Wanderers the following year, floodlights were installed in ‘57, the Kop finally had shelter and additional seats were added to the West Stand.
The ground structurally remained unchanged over the next 50 years, but was gradually striped down and it’s capacity reduced, the roof on the Spion Kop was taking down, as the council viewed it as too dangerous and expensive to repair, resulting in the removal of the East Stand’s seats to compensate, maintaining covered standing in the ground. Safety measures saw the ground capacity dramatically fall, the old North-West Stand was pulled down, half the kop was closed and segregation in the East Stand meant the capacity was down to 9,000 by the 1990’s, the floodlights pylons didn’t escape either, 20 feet chopped off the top due to rust.
After surviving all those decades, the Spion Kop was knocked down in 1999 followed by the West Stand two years later, their replacements make up the first phase of the reconstruction of Bloomfield Road. I opted to sit in the far corner of the former Kop, or as it’s now known the ‘Stan Mortenson North Stand’ where a statue of the legend can be found outside, opposite the club shop and ticket office. The drummer at the back of the stand generates a great atmosphere, I must say that the Blackpool support was superb, with the drummer boy not allowing the backing to stop, resulting in constant singing, although by the end of the game the “di di di di di doe” song was beginning to get on my nerves a bit. The stand has a single tier with tangerine flip seats with BFC picked out in white.
The North West Stand links up the Sir Stanley Matthews West Stand, this also has a main single tier with the word ‘Seasiders‘ stretched across in white seats, there’s also an added small shelf with three rows of seating in front of the executive boxes
The East Stand is the away end, an open temporary stand with a capacity of just under 2,000, so those poor Palace fans got a right drenching, the stand is set a fair way back from the pitch with the turnstiles found off Bloomfield Road, there’s also a sad looking temporary pylon at the south side with the only original surviving floodlight in the north-east corner.
The South Stand survived until 2003, which is due to be replaced with a new stand with a capacity of 3,500. There’s been constant promises over the last few years of ‘work due to start soon’ however when I called at the ground earlier in the day the bulldozers and JCB’s were busy grafting, so it looks like work is commencing. There’s a clear view into the ground from the works entrance gate, where a few tried their best to watch the game, while a half a dozen blokes stood on a step next to the Travelodge across the road, where they got a slightly better free view.

The match got off to a slow start, conditions didn’t help, with both teams taking turns to venture up field before running out of ideas in the final third. The first shot on target in the opening half produced a goal, Palace back wearing their ‘Team of the Eighties’ strip took the lead through Ifill, shooting home from inside the box after playing a neat one-two.
The second period was more entertaining, Pool equalised after three minutes, with a tremendous volley by Ben Burgess from the edge of the box, which was greeted with a blast of The Dave Clark 5 hit ‘Glad All Over’ however the joy was short lived as Palace regained the advantage minutes later, Craig Beattie producing a fine finish from a Palace counter attack. Blackpool went all out for an equaliser, which arrived on 65 minutes, a free kick was floated into the box and nodded home by Ian Evatt, his first goal for the club. The Tangerines looked likely to grab a winner with Palace happy to soak up the pressure and capitalise on the break, they continued to play some neat football, which was typified by the best chance to win the game ten minutes from time, a neat exchange of passes saw Adam Hammill clean through on goal with only the keeper to beat, but his shot went agonisingly past the post, meaning a share of the points when maybe the team in tangerine just shaded it.

We're going down Blackpool, alright?

We're going down Blackpool, for a pint

We're going down Blackpool, alright!
To see the lights!

©1983 The Macc Lads ‘Blackpool’ from the album ‘Beer & Sex & Chips n Gravy’

It’s been over 14 years since I had just cause to sing that song, my last visit to the ‘Golden Mile’ was a typical boozy weekend away with the works football team, that I was playing for back then. That trip was memorable for my appearance at the breakfast table on the Sunday morning, when I experienced my worst case of ‘DT’s’ ever, and the weekend was also more memorable for the unforgettable ‘ashtray incident’ the night before. (but that’s another story!)
It’s not that I dislike Blackpool, it’s just I’m not a big fan, but I thought it would be a nice weekend away with the family, the kids love the amusements (James is determined to finish ’House Of The Dead 4‘) we pre-booked our tickets for the Pleasure Beach for Sunday, the breadknife had the shops and the boozers, while I was happy to go the match and also visit some of the local hostelries. The weekend also gave me the perfect getaway from “The game I hate the most” and at long last I could finally ‘tick’ off Bloomfield Road.
I had the opportunity to visit Blackpool’s home in 1987, Newcastle drew them in the 2nd Round of the League Cup (Littlewoods Cup then methinks..Ed) which in those days were two-legged affairs. I was a couple of weeks into a new job at the time and I couldn’t really take liberties and wag a day off, so I had to miss out. That turned out to be a big regret, as I would have loved to have seen the ground in full bloom, before it gradually diminished.
The constant heavy rain didn’t put too much of a dampener on our weekend, every time I’ve headed west over the last few months we’ve encountered relentless rainfall, so it’s something we’ve grown accustomed to. We had a good weekend break, the kids enjoyed themselves(unfortunately James didn’t finish ‘House of the Dead 4‘) I saw a canny game and me and the breadknife enjoyed a good drink and night out on Saturday.
Bloomfield Road is a great ground to visit, handily placed in the town centre, with plenty of choice for pre and post match eating and drinking, not short of a hotel or B&B, an ideal destination and not one of those out of town, stuck in the middle of an industrial estate types, that have emerged over the last few years. I’ll maybe do a revisit to Bloomfield, I’ll look forward to returning to the ‘Golden Mile’ and checking out the new 16,000 stadium, that’s when it’s finally complete of course, so with the current work rate that’ll probably be another 14 years

Matchday stats
BFC 2(Burgess 48, Evatt 65 )Palace 2(Ifill 28, Beattie 50)
Att.7597
Admission £28
Programme £3.50
Match Report

Ground no.191 Bloomfield Road – Matchday Web album(15 pictures)

My Matchday - 190 Butchers Arms

Droylsden 3v2 Gateshead
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
11th October 2008


Droylsden is a former cotton mill town, east of Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside.
The club was formed in 1892, when Joseph Cropper, landlord of the Butchers Arms, wanted a football team to play on a field that had been originally used as a fairground behind his pub. Their formative years were spent playing in local leagues and friendlies, with the club folding, reforming and renamed several times.
After the First World War, as the only surviving club in the town they joined the Manchester League, in 1923 after raising the necessary finance, the first work on the ground saw the pitch railed off, with additional duck boards and banking and a small stand added.
‘The Bloods’ were champions twice in the early thirties, thanks mainly to the goalscoring exploits of Ernest ‘Gilly’ Gillibrand, who notched 275 goals in four seasons. It was during this era that the ground was fully operative, by 1933 there was stands on three sides, and sunken baths installed in the dressing rooms, the capacity was up to 8,000 which included 2,500 covered.
The club joined the Lancashire League in 1936, new offices, turnstiles, lengthening the pitch and cover for 1,000 was added as part of their application, then after the war joined the Cheshire League until 1950. A year later they were forced to leave the Butchers Arms after rival club BelleVue FC(renamed Droylsden United) took up the lease, meaning relocating to nearby Moorside Trotting Stadium. Thankfully the local council bought the ground, it wasn’t viable to have two clubs within the town, so a merge was negotiated and the ground was renovated in 1952, including the rotation of the pitch and the ground totally rebuilt with only the changing rooms remaining.
The reformed Droylsden FC played in the Lancashire Combination until returning to the Cheshire League in 1968, however by the 1980’s the club made rapid progress, they became founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982, becoming Division Two champions in 1986-87 and stepped into the newly formed Northern Premier League Division One the following season.
In 1989-90 they won promotion, although a 7 points deduction deprived them of the title, after six seasons they were relegated, but returned in 1998-99 as champions, this time a strange twist of fate saw them benefiting from a points deduction of three points to Hucknall Town.
After finished runners-up in 2003-04 they joined the newly formed Conference North, losing out on promotion in their opening two seasons via the play-offs, however it was third time lucky in 2006-07 winning the title by five points ahead of Kettering, unfortunately they struggled to make the step into the top league of the pyramid, relegated after finishing bottom last season.

The Butchers Arms has been virtually rebuild again due to recent investment. The new William Pace Stand sits on the half way line, it has a capacity of 500 red seats, with access gained via stairs at the front of the stand behind the dugouts, with the changing rooms underneath, the clubhouse is in a separate building next to the stand beside the turnstiles and the toilets. To the left of the stand is a new looking covered terrace, with a bank of around a dozen steps and red crash barriers. At the far side there’s a covered rickety looking stand, sitting either side of the half way line, with the rest of the ground including the far goal, open hard standing bringing the overall capacity to 3,000.

Droylsden’s best performance in the FA Cup was in 78-79 reaching the 2nd Round Proper going out to Altrincham after beating Rochdale 1-0 at Spotland in the first round. Now they’re just one qualifying round away from again reaching the First Round after an injury time goal from Carl Lamb settled a thrilling cup tie at the Butchers Arms. The home side took a 20th minute lead, a cross from the right was met by Townson, who found plenty of room to direct his diving header into the corner of the net. Gateshead equalised midway through the half, when a free-kick from the edge of the D, was fired in from Alex Francis with the help of a slight deflection. Just prior to the break Droylsden regained the lead, poor defending from a corner kick resulted in the ball eventually falling to Byron who was fortunate to see his shot cannon in off a defender, giving Musselwhite no chance.
The Tynesiders started the second half well in search of an equaliser, this arrived after eight minutes when a great through ball from Southern set Harwood through on goal, he stayed onside before outpaced the two defenders, then kept his head to coolly place his shot to the goalkeepers right. The tie was finely poised with both teams going all out for a winner, however it was Droylsden who finished much stronger in the final ten minutes, just as it looked like Gateshead had held on for a replay, a deep cross from the right saw Lamb rise above the defence, his header hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing into the net, sending the home supporters into paroxysms of delight and the away following deep into despair, hope of a money spinning tie against a league club gone for another season.
Although I was disappointed to see Gateshead lose, on reflection I had witnessed an excellent FA Cup tie, both teams playing football in the correct manner, in great spirit and I cannot recall one dirty tackle throughout the whole game, testimony to both clubs for an entertaining ninety minutes (well 93 actually, if it was 90 then it would have been a draw) both teams a credit and a great advert for Non-League football.

The trip to Droylsden wasn’t too bad, our coach left around 10.15am and after a half hour stop-off arrived in Droylsden for 1.30pm. The ground is located right smack in the town centre, with plenty of choice for a pre-match drink. Our first pub of call was ‘The Kings Head’ which is a Joseph Holts pub, where I tried a couple of pints of their bitter which has an acquired taste, there I had a chat with a couple of the local bar flies hanging around the bar, one of them a Geordie exile from Walker (like the saying goes “Everywhere you go…”)
I couldn’t go to the Butchers Arms ground without visiting the pub it’s named after, so I called in for a quicky, enjoying a top quality pint of John Smiths, before heading into the ground. The clubhouse is called the Phoenix Social Club, where I walked straight in with no sign of Max and Paddy patrolling the door and no sign of Brian Potter either. The club is very spacious, with a big TV screen and plenty of seats, even though there was none to be had as the club gets very busy on matchday.
I returned to the Phoenix at half time and before setting off home at 5.30pm, arriving back on Tyneside by 8.30pm. Obviously, apart from the result, I had an enjoyable day, I can recommend a trip to Droylsden as it’s a smashing little ground with a quality clubhouse, with plenty of places to eat and drink nearby and only a short distance from Manchester city centre.



Matchday stats
Bloods 3(Townson 20, Byron 44, Lamb 90+1, ) Heed 2(Francis 23, Harwood 53)
Attendance 370
Admission £10
Programme £2



Ground no.190 Butchers Arms - Matchday Web album(14 pictures)
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