My Matchday - 184 Woodhorn Lane

Ashington 2v1 Ossett Albion
FA Cup Preliminary Round
30th August 2008

After attending the last match at Portland Park, I was pleased to be present at the very first game to Ashington’s new home at Woodhorn Lane. It’s been six months since that memorable Friday night in February and in that time a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to make the move a successful one.
Woodhorn Lane is a complete contrast from Portland Park, for starters the ground's penned in with a spanking new picket fence, compare that to the woodwork enclosure at the old ground, which had more obvious gaps than Shane McGowen’s teeth. Seating comes way of a basic standard stand, decked out in black and white flip seats, which sits either side of the half way line, at Portland, Ashington Barmy Army had the acclaimed paddock terrace to congregate in and get behind their team (and bang that bliddy drum) but there’s a disappointing small standing shelter here, which is set back in-between the dugouts on the far side, the Ashington vocal support now assemble behind the goal that the Colliers are attacking.
All the amenities are found in one block on the nearside, there’s two separate bars, the function suite which has a large TV screen, with plenty of seating room and the aroma of newness about it, there's a smaller bar next door which leads into a hospitality area, you'll also find the refreshment bar, toilets and changing rooms, as well as a few picnic tables outside at the rear of the hard standing area.
There’s only one Ashington fan who is a member of the 100FGC, Trevor Johnson(squad#89) is a Colliers exile living in Dundee, he travelled south for this special occasion, I met up with him prior to kick off, I also spoke to Harry Watson(squad#54) as well, but there didn’t seem to be that many ground hoppers in attendance or Ossett Albion fans either.
The magic of the FA Cup was a fitting first game for the new ground, the Colliers opponents were Yorkshire Unibond Division One North club Ossett Albion, the game obviously attracted a bit of media interest, ITV.com broadcasted the game live and Radio Newcastle were also providing live commentary, unfortunately they were unable to get a signal so they hastily nicked off in search of another game.
The game had a scrappy opening period, Ashington looked the team more likely to score as they tried to expose Albion’s offside trap, they were rewarded for their endeavour on 35 minutes with good wing play from McAndrew, supplying a fine ball into the path of Bainbridge, to give the hosts the lead at half time.
Ossett started the 2nd half strongly, carving out four good chances in the opening ten minutes, including hitting the woodwork twice, they were made to rue their wasted opportunities as Ashington doubled their lead in the 63rd minute, substitute Scott provided a great cross from the right which was met with a thunderous header from fellow sub Hogg, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes.
Albion got a consolation 20 minutes from time, after a clumsy challenge in the box the ref had no hesitation in rewarded a penalty, Kelsey sent the keeper the wrong way but the Colliers held on to record a winning start in their new home.
Woodhorn Lane is more than just a football ground, it’s a vital part of the community, the club have assembled a new executive board and management structure, under the umbrella Ashington Community Football Club, along with Wansbeck Council and support from their sponsors, the club are ambitious and heading in the right direction, the new ground just the beginning of a brand new era.

Matchday stats
ACFC 2(Bainbridge 35, Hogg 63) OAFC 1(Kelsey 69)
Att. 341
Admission £5
Programme £1

Ground no.184 Woodhorn Lane - Matchday Web album(13 pictures)

My Matchday - 183 Ricoh Arena

Coventry City 2v3 Newcastle United(aet)
Carling Cup 2nd Round
26th August 2008
It finally happened, at long last, Newcastle got an away tie in one of the cups at a ground I hadn’t been to, every season I always hope we get drawn away in the early rounds at a previously unexplored venue, but it’s a rarity, almost as rare as a goal from Alan Smith, this is of course before the ‘big lads’ come into the competition and we then get knocked out by Arsenal/Chelsea (delete where appropriate)
The Ricoh Arena is located in the Rowley Green district of the city, on the site of the former Foleshill gasworks, as well as the stadium there’s a 6,000 square-metre exhibition hall used for staging gigs, hotel, casino, leisure club and a retail park. The Arena is jointly owned by the Higgs Charity and Coventry City council, it was constructed at a cost of £113M, the naming rights are owned by the camera and photocopier manufacturers Ricoh, after agreeing a 10 year sponsorship deal
The Sky Blues moved into their new home after 106 years at Highfield Road, my last visit to Covvy was exactly 23 years to the day, so I’ve had a very long ’covvy break’. On that night it was two late goals from Rambo Reilly and Irish winger Ian Stewart clinched a 2-1 victory for United, but the image of Highfield Road that always sticks in my memory though, apart from Ian Wallace’s big bubble of ginger hair, was the sky blue Reliant Robins that were parked behind the goal, many years before the ground became the first all seated stadium in the Football League.
The match was live on Sky Sports; neutrals viewing were treated to 120 minutes of pulsating cup-tie football, when the game as a contest should have been over after 45.
Newcastle played some good passing football in the first half, creating several chances. I’ve been impressed with the two new Argentinean lads, they’ve settled in well, with James Milner looking very lively (please don’t go!) having a hand in both goals as United took a two goal lead. For the first, he stayed onside after exchanging passes with Jonas, getting to the by-line and squaring the ball to N’Zogbia, whose effort was knocked in off the defender, then on 38 minutes his cross shot caught out the keeper, going wide to Marshall’s left post .It looked game over at this point, but Clinton Morrison gave City hope in injury time, with a fine finish, curling his shot over Given from the edge of the box.
The second half continued in the same vain, Newcastle had chances to finish the game off, but as long as there was only one goal in it, then City remained a threat. Then in the 4th minute of injury time, after the referee had indicated only 2, a long throw in from Gunnarsson (his run was so far back, he starting off in the stand sitting on someone’s knee) was rifled into the box and met by Scott Dann, who headed low into the bottom corner of the net. What a sickener! “Two up and you balls it up!” sang the City fans, they were right of course, Newcastle always have to do things the hard way.
I was more concerned about what time I was going to get home (1.40am as it turned out) than the match itself, I was confident we would still go through, but was pissed off with the extra half an hour that was needed in doing so. My confidence was confirmed when in the 7th minute of extra time, the Toon’s new ‘supersub’ Michael Owen latched on to a great ball from Enrique, before side footing the ball past Marshall to eventually, at long last, book United’s spot in the 3rd Round.

We departed at 1.30pm, again I travelled with the Patrick’s (Squad no.2 & 79) plus the addition of Tom H, back in the fold travelling to away games with us, after being a regular petrol sharer throughout the 1990’s. I picked out a £4 parking spot at the JK English Pub on Foleshill Road, Ian’s comedy sat-nav got us there without any problems, arriving at 5.15pm. After a couple of drinks we set off to the stadium, which was only a short 15 minute walk, basically around the corner and through the biggest Tesco Extra on the planet. The retail park which neighbours the stadium is very good, with plenty of places to eat or shop if you prefer, there is the option to shop at Tesco’s and leave your car in their car park, that’s as long as you spend £25 in the store, after a visit to the club shop, purchasing my usual pin-badge, we entered the ground.
Prior to kick-off I literally bumped into my cousin Sam, who I haven’t clapped eyes on for a good 14 years, it was great to see him as we’ve been out of touch since he moved ‘sarf ‘ to Croydon, it’s always nice to see someone who you haven’t seen in a long while, as they always seem to mention that I haven’t changed and don’t look my age.(not that I’m vain or owt, like!)
As well as it being the 23 years since my last visit to Covvy, today was also my 13th wedding anniversary, unfortunately my breadknife and were apart and we were unable to celebrate the happiest day of our lives together, however she was happy that I was able to celebrate a Toon victory instead, on the road to Wembley, or should that be the road to knocked-out against Arsenal/Chelsea.

This post was written in chocolate brown in honour of the first ever ugly strip in the history of British football.

Matchday statsCity 2(Morrison 45+1, Dann 90+4) NUFC 3( Dann o.g.21,Milner 38, Owen 97) (a.e.t. 2-2 90 minutes) att.19,249.
Admission £20
Programme £3

Links -CCFC match report Aerial view

Simple Pieman’s visit(Sept '05) Tims 92 (Jan ‘06)

Ground no.183 Ricoh Arena - Matchday Web album(13 pictures)

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Football Bog Blog

Great stadia toilets no.12 in a series of......a few!
The ones at Seaton Delaval with the street sign.

This bog is found at Wheatridge Park, the home ground of Seaton Delaval Amateurs. This is yet another toilet which goes into the concrete cube category, but doesn’t look too bad, thanks to a lick of white paint, even though it’s in need of a fresh coat.
However the thing that catches the eye is the toilet sign, it looks suspiciously like a pedestrian sign for a public toilet, which you’d usually find within a town centre, so it would be interesting to know where the sign originated from.

My Matchday - 181 Valley Stadium

Redditch United 0v2 Gateshead
Conference North
9th August 2008
Redditch is a town south of Brum in Worcestershire, an early 8.30am departure for Gateshead’s longest journey of the season, a 450 mile round trip for the opening day fixture of the Conference North season.
Redditch United, founded as Redditch Town in 1891, are one of the oldest established clubs in the Midlands. The majority of the Reds formative years were played in the Birmingham Combination, winning the first of four titles in 1914, success was also gained in the Birmingham Senior Cup and the Worcestershire Cup during this era. At the turn of the 1970’s they became ‘United’ and joined the Southern League, winning the North section in 1975/76.
In 1979 the Reds became founder members of the Alliance(Conference) but finished bottom and hence returning to the Southern League, the restructuring of the pyramid in 2004/05 saw the club join the Conference North, when they finished 9th, their highest finish so far.
The ground is a couple of miles off the M42 motorway, hidden off Bromsgrove Road, a long narrow lane leads you down into the valley (an appropriate pre-match song by The Skids) there was just enough room for our coach to squeeze past the parked cars on the side of the bank.
I overheard a suit from the club saying that it’s been constantly raining, but not to worry because the game is definitely on. The pitch looked very poor, especially considering it’s August, with the goalmouths patched up and the grass looking uneven and lumpy, maybe the problem is due to the valley location of the stadium, where drainage problems are more likely the occur.
The ground entrance gates and turnstile block is in the corner, we heading straight into the ground, avoiding walking back up the bank in search of a pub and located the clubhouse. On entering to the immediate left are the toilets, supporters club shop and programme stall which share the same building, the clubhouse is inside the main stand up a flight of stairs. The stand has dark red supporting frames and white back walls, with 5 rows of sky blue seats at pitch level, there’s an upper section of seats reserved for club officials, where access is gained from inside the clubhouse, a large window views into the ground from the bar, but is blocked and partitioned off on matchdays.
There’s standing terraces behind the nearside goal and over the far side, separated by a narrow pathway in-between, they both have red crash barriers and partial cover at the back of the terrace. The dugouts are situated at the far side, along with the floodlights, with the grounds name and club crest on the terrace roof, behind the far goal is a work in progress, a stand which looks more of a temporary structure is stuck in the middle of a building site, which is cordoned off.

A pleasing opening day performance from Gateshead, especially in the first half, when the contest could have been over, mainly due to a solid performance from midfield, creating good chances for Southern and Armstrong, who both linked up to give the visitors the lead, a well worked free kick from Turnbull, sliding the ball into the path of Southern, who sent in a far post cross which was headed home by his strike partner.
Redditch had more possession in the 2nd half, putting the Heed defence on the back foot, until the pivotal moment of the game on 70 minutes. A free kick from 20 yards out, sailed over the defensive wall and rattled the underside of the crossbar, bouncing on the line in a Geoff Hurst 66 kinda style, before being booted clear. Then within a minute Gate broke clear, staying onside with only the keeper to beat, but saw his shot agonisingly rebound back off the post, so within seconds the game could have been level or virtually over.
Gateshead capped a solid display with the clincher 3 minutes from time, Steve Turnbull was tripped in the box, the referee had no hesitation in giving a spot-kick which was despatched home by John Brackstone, making no mistake on his league debut for the Tynesiders, just reward for the Heed Army, after our long trip south.
After returning to the clubhouse after the game, where I had a pint of cider (shock!! I had a couple of pints of Banks Bitter pre-match and I wasn’t too chewed on it and ended up drinking larger) we departed for home at 5.30pm, doing at pit-stop at the local offy, for some celebration booze, before heading up the M1 and a good drunken singsong (not me though, I had a kip) rounding off an enjoyable day out, hopefully the first of more similar away winning Heed days, over the subsequent 10 months.

Matchday stats.
Reds 0 Heed 2(Armstrong 27, Brackstone 87pen)
Admission £10
Programme £2
Att. 392

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Ground no.181 Valley Stadium - Matchday Web album(16 pictures)

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My Matchday - 180 Barrfields Park

Largs Thistle 3v1 Kilwinning Rangers
Ardagh Glass League Cup - Section One
6th August 2008

This years family holiday involved us travelling to previously unexplored areas of the west coast of Britain, this week we were north of the border, staying in Weymss Bay in Inverclyde.
There were several ground bagging options available this week, the Scottish season got under way last weekend, so this midweek it was the opening round of the CIS Cup, but I really fancied a visit to one of those fabulous Scottish Junior Grounds, that I’d viddied on Jamie Wire's excellent website; Non League Scotland. After checking the fixtures, I found that Largs Thistle were playing their opening home game of the season, in the Ardagh Glass League Cup, it was only a short 15 minute drive from our digs, with a convenient early evening kick-off time of 7pm.
Largs is a town in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde, the original name translates as ‘the slopes’ in Scottish Gaelic. The town has historic connections with the Vikings, the Battle of Largs in 1263 saw the Scots attack Norwegians bidding to salvage ships from the army fleet of King Magnus III. There’s also an annual Viking festival held in the town, with the award winning Vikingar Centre in Barrfields, not far from the football ground.
The club nicknamed ‘Theestle’ formed in 1890, currently play in the Scottish Football Junior West Division One(Stagecoach Superleague Division One)the second tier of the west region, after winning the Ayrshire District League in 2004/05 and are previous winners of the Scottish Junior Cup, beating Glenafton Athletic 1-0 at Ibrox in 1994.
Barrfield Park is off the main Brisbane Road, from where you can see inside through the aluminium fence. The ground has an oval appearance with terracing curling around three sides, with the main stand on the far side. The stand runs full length of the pitch with 5 rows of wooden bench seats, housed inside a barrel shaped roof, entrance is gained through a door around the back and the stand is where the local lads gather to give Thistle their support, as well the opposition some stick. Next to the entrance gate is the refreshment bar and changing rooms for the away team and match officials, with the home team having a separate building to change in, next to a couple of portakabins used for storage and match hospitality.
After 24 hours of constant rain, I feared the game may have been off, but I arrived to find the players on the pitch doing their pre-match warm ups and the pitch in excellent condition. Largs dominated the first half, creating several chances in the opening stages, until Kilwinning’s task was made much harder with the dismissal of Gavin Orr for an off the ball incident, which was spotted by the linesman. A few minutes later Largs took the lead, a pinpoint cross from the right was firmly headed home by James Marks, then just prior to half time, another header, this time direct from a corner kick from the biggest lad on the field, Neil Shearer (never thought I’d see another Shearer goal again) who celebrated by yelling “girrrin!” before being mobbed by his team mates.
Kilwinning slightly improved after half time, I walked past a few of their fans, who were giving the ref and linesman some serious abuse, obviously upset at the dismissal and every decision made thereafter. The weather deteriorated, with the swirling wind and rain somewhat spoiling the game, however Rangers did get back into it with a penalty from McGregor on 83 minutes, but this was merely a consolation, as 3 minutes later Marks got his second of the night, a fine run and cross from Craig Black was finished off with a neat flick at the near post, which capped off a really enjoyable game considering the poor weather.
I contacted the club prior to heading north, to confirm that the game was on and the whereabouts of the ground. On arrival I was greeted by club secretary Donald Reid, who made me welcome and invited me into the hospitality cabin for a cup of tea at half time, where as well as a cuppa and a biscuit, I was giving a club pennant as a souvenir of my visit. Many thanks for the warm reception and the best of luck for the new season, I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on Theestles progress.

Matchday stats
LTFC 3(Marks 33,86. Shearer 43) KRFC 1(McGregor 83pen)
Admission £5
Programme £1
Att. 160.est

Ground no.180 Barrfields Park - Matchday Web album(15 pictures)

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Wearside League Wanderings - part one

The Wearside Football League is a single division which sits at step 7 of the Non-League pyramid system, with clubs based in the North-East and Cumbria. The league is a feeder to the Northern League and is fed by the Teesside Football League and the Durham Alliance..
The league also operates three cup competitions: the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup and the Shipowners' Charity Cup have been contested since the 1890s, and the League Challenge Cup, from the 1930s.
My previous visit’s the Wearside League grounds have been in attendance for the aforementioned cup finals, played at Teesside Athletic and Wolviston.
Here is the first instalment of my wanderings around the Wearside League.

171. Derwent Park
Annfield Plain 3v1 Hartlepool FC
Wearside League
10th May 2008

Annfield Plain is a village in the Derwentside district of County Durham, between Stanley and Consett. The club began competitive football in 1925, in the North Eastern League. At the turn of the 1960’s they became founder members of the Northern Counties League, but for only two seasons before returning to the NE League, again for only two years, before finding their true home in the Wearside League from the 1964/65 season, twice winning the league in 1986/8 and 1997/98.
The ground was difficult to find, tucked inside a housing estate, I knew I was in the right vicinity, but didn’t know the street’s end turned to a dirt track, which led into the grounds car park, entrance is through an old brick turnstile block. The first thing I noticed inside the ground was the goalposts, old fashioned square wooden frames like the ones from my junior school days, they looked as if a good ferocious volley would cause the posts to snap.
The main stand is a covered terrace, with seating accommodation via 14 plastic chairs at the back, most favoured by the villages old folk support, next to this is another concrete terrace, with the changing rooms sandwiched in between. The other sides of the ground are made of grass banks, which was ideal on a rare warm day like day, lying on the lawn, enjoying the sunshine and the football. The ground is sealed off by a corrugated iron fence, bend over forwards at the top, acting as extra shelter against the elements.
Annfield Plain were well worth their two goal lead at half time, thanks to a goal from centre forward Kirkbridge and a good move finished off by Henderson five minutes before the interval. Hartlepool vastly improved in the second half, after an early goal from Chapman, it seemed just a matter of time before the equaliser arrived, but after squandering several good chances, they were hit on the break and Annfield regained their two goal lead and thus assuring the 3 points.
The Hartlepool players became frustrated, firstly the no.9 was sent off, receiving a second yellow card for diving, yes diving! I couldn’t believe it, a Ronaldo-type in the Wearside League? Surely Not! This was followed by another receiving his marching orders for swearing, even though the lad was a good 30 yards from the ref, the offender couldn’t believe he was actually heard. I spoke to the Hartlepool dugout and they couldn’t believe the decisions, it was the last game of the season, nothing to play for and now the two young lads have to fork out and pay fines.
During the first half there was a couple of young’uns, about 10 years old, one wearing a Toon top and the other sporting a makem shirt, they stopped and spoke to me, asking me loads of questions, stuff like “Is it possible for Annfield to go all the way to the Premiership and then play in the Champions League?” “Why have the players not got their names on the back of the shirts?” and “How much do they get paid?” I answered their questions, they then came to the conclusion that if the players aren’t getting loads of money, then they’re wasting their time,. After the game I saw the lad in the sunderland top on the way out of the ground “That’s much better than that Premiership rubbish isn’t it?” I said, “Aye, it was alreet.. better than Newcastle anyway!”


Matchday stats
APFC 3(Kirkbridge 6, Henderson 40, McGhee 70) HFC 1(Chapman 47)
Att. 33 (HC)
Admission £2
Programme 30p

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176. Perth Green Community Centre
Jarrow FC 3v2 Washington
Pre-Season Friendly
19th July 2008

Jarrow FC are based at the Perth Green Community Centre, situated on the Scotch Estate with the Community Association on the site of a former school. The pitch is nicely hemmed in, within earshot of the traffic from the A194 and within sight of the Metro line with trains constantly whizzing by. The dugouts are face to face, with the near side of the ground having a grass bank for a more elevated view, there’s also an unintentional covered viewpoint, courtesy of a Perspex archway with connects both buildings of the community centre.
In damp conditions, due to a now typical July day, both teams produced a decent lively game, although a fussy referee tried his best to spoil it. After an even first half and a goal a piece, Jarrow improved after the break, taking the lead when a great cross was turned into his own net from the hapless defender, then a parry from the Washington keeper fell graciously to the Jarrow substitute to extend the lead. A second goal from Washington new signing Joe Betts, with a cracking 20 odd yard shot, was nothing but a late consolation, with Jarrow full value for the win.
The referee had earlier sent off a Washington player for constant swearing, although he allowed him to be subbed considering it was just a friendly, he later sent off an angry Washington manager. After a clumsy tackle in the box, he shouted his disbelief with the aid of a four-letter-word, although it was the challenge that upset him and not the actual non-penalty decision, the ref packed him off to the changing rooms. If this is only a friendly then it’ll be interesting to see how this ref performs when the real league action starts, I’ll hopefully get the chance to see for myself, or maybe hopefully not!
The club are very hospitable, we were all grateful to get out of the rain and go into the community centre at half time, where the offer of free tea or coffee was politely appreciated, they even went to the trouble to seek out a supplementary packet of coconut ring biscuits, nice one Jarra!

Matchday Stats
JFC 3(Barclay 20e, OG 52, Todd 83) Wash 2(Betts 25e,86)
Att. 30 (HC)
Admission and programme; none

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179. Boldon Colliery Welfare
Boldon CA 1v2 South Shields
Sam Bartram Trophy Match
2nd August 2008

Boldon Colliery is a former mining village situated in South Tyneside next to Jarrow, the club was a founder member of the Wearside League in 1892, when they were then known as Boldon Swifts.
The club have had a few name changes over the years, they became Boldon Villa in the early 20th Century, then as the local coal mine began to prosper became Boldon Colliery Welfare in 1933.
The clubs connection to the local Community Association on New Road gave them their current name, although to local folk are affectionally known as Boldon Villa, this is reflected in the match programme, with all links to the team printed as Boldon Villa.
Those of you who have visited Jarrow Roofing will know of Boldon CA, as they both share the same car park along with the Welfare Cricket ground, they must be two of the closest football grounds in the country. On entering the gate, to your immediate left is a covered tea bar and standing shelter, the dugouts face one another and the changing rooms are a separate building in the near corner, painted brick red, it has a distinctive wood panel box on the roof, resting against the chimney, with the words Boldon CA FC (The VILLA) looking outside and The Villa in bold capital letters facing inwards in white paint.
The Villa have won the Wearside League title on four occasions, the last of those in 1996/97 and became first winners of the Sam Bartram Trophy, back in February this year, beating Cleadon on penalties after a thrilling 4-4 draw.
Sam Bartram was a goalkeeper, born in South Shields, who grew up in Boldon. He was a centre forward for Villa, but due to an injury to Villa’s regular keeper, he went in goal for a game, a scout from Charlton Athletic was at this match and noticed his talents, recommending his signing, even though he was playing out of position. He went on to play in goal for Athletic for 22 years and is the Addicks all time appearance holder, playing 623 games. A bronze statue of Sam stands proudly outside The Valley, funded by donations made by Charlton’s fans, the game with South Shields marked the second Sam Bartram Trophy Match.
Hail stones the size of liggies greeted kick off time, after the players adapted to the damp conditions, Boldon created some good chances but were hit by a two goal burst after a quarter of an hour from Shields, a left wing cross saw Johnson rise highest to nod home, then within a minute Scroggins ran from deep in midfield, before finishing with a well placed shot from the edge of the box. It looked as if we were in for a high scoring game, when four minutes later Meek met a deep left wing cross with a firm header to the goalies right, to get Villa back into the game.
Unfortunately the second half failed to produce more goals, although the sky continued to provide spells of heavy rain, between bright warm sunshine. Shields had chances to kill the game off, but some poor finishing as well as some plucky Boldon defending kept the game alive. Both teams provided an entertaining game and a healthy crowd of over 100 saw South Shields become second winners of the Sam Bartram Trophy. All that was left was the presentation of the medals to the players and officials and the trophy to the winning captain, and then right on cue just as the trophy was getting handed over, the heavens opened up once more.

Matchday stats
BCA 1(Meek 19) Shields 2(Johnson 14, Scroggins 15)
Att. 110 (HC)
Admission £2
Programme; Free with admission.

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The Latest crack!

Rotherham United v Luton Town
Don Valley Stadium
Saturday 20th September 2008
Football League 2

Many of you may already be aware that I’ll be attending this game, if any of the 100FGC squad or regular readers of the website would like to meet up in Sheffield for a pre-match drink, then you’ll be made most welcome.
Please leave a comment in this post and add your name to the list, I hopefully look forward to meeting a few members of the squad on my matchday.

(Did anyone get the mugshot link?)

'Gladiators on Tour and other footballing stories', written by Causeway Lane’s ground MC John Lawton (Squad No. 69) has now sold 450 copies, raising £1000 for Matlock Town Supporters’ Club in the process. There are now only 50 copies left and the profits from all the remaining books will be donated to John’s favourite charity WaterAid. The charity has already acknowledged a first donation of £100 and John is hoping to double this if all the remaining copies sell. The 128-page book, with photographs from Matlock Town's Andy Duffin and Jan and Jereon Vrins of the Delft Gladiators Fan Club in Holland, is available from Matlock Town Club Shop and the Gladiators Social Club. The book can also be purchased securely online using PayPal via http://www.freewebs.com/matlockfc/gladiatorsontour.htm John would like to thank everyone who has bought a book to date.

My Matchday - 178 Bastion Road

Prestatyn Town 3v1 Tranmere Rovers
Pre-Season Friendly
30th July 2008 I took advantage of a family holiday in north Wales, to nip along the coast from our base 6 miles away in Abergele, to visit new Welsh Premier League club Prestatyn Town.
Prestatyn is a seaside resort in Denbighshire, the most easterly point of the North Wales Path and the northern point of the Offa’s Dyke Path, a long distance footpath between the Welsh and English border. The town is also believed to be one of the oldest populated places in north Wales, tools were discovered in a nearby village in the caves of Craig Fawr, which disclosed the existence of cavemen in the area.
Football in the town originates back to the early 1890’s but the present club began in 1930 and became officially formed in 1946. After an initial period in the Dyserth Area League, progression was made, joining the Welsh League(North) in the late 1950’s until the club ran into financial problems in 1971. This meant having to take one step back, before moving forward again, eventually becoming founder members of the Clwyd League in 1974/75, taking the title in their first season and enjoying a successful era winning more honours in league and cup.
The Seasiders progressed up the pyramid, joining the Welsh Alliance in 1993/94, until a fantastic title winning season in 2005/06, unbeaten and scoring 114 goals saw promotion to the Cymru Alliance. A third place finish was followed up by winning the title last season, and so the club find themselves at the top tier of Welsh football for the first time.
Judging by their performance against Tranmere Rovers, the Seasiders shouldn’t have any problems adapting to a higher level, although Rovers fielded a youthful side, you can only beat what’s put front of you, and Town played some great passing football, taking a three goal lead by half time.
The first goal arrived after quarter of an hour, a strong run forward from striker Hoult, who outpaced the defence before getting to the bye-line and cleverly knocking the ball off a defenders leg into the goal. This was followed by a header from Bowes, a simple nod into an empty net after an initial effort hit the bar, and a third just prior to the whistle, full back Davies made room for himself in the penalty area, holding off a defender before toe-poking the ball into the far corner.
Tranmere improved in the second half, with a few worthy efforts at goal, but could only muster up a consolation from Dave Taylor, who took advantage after a collision between the keeper and striker to leave a simple chance to score, the game got more physical as the game wore on, with the odd dodgy tackle, but the Seasiders looked comfortable throughout and were justly winners on the night.
Prestatyn Town have played here since 1969, it’s situated off Bastion Road, in a residential street at the foot of Bastion Gardens, the ground is next to house number 59, who neighbours a small car park and turnstiles. All the amenities are next to the entrance behind the goal, including the clubhouse and changing rooms. The seats are all situated pitch length down the far side, a mixture of dark and light blue flip seats, there’s a few padded seats and a small press box, with the middle third section covered, all the major ground improvements were made in their successful application to join the Welsh Premier League, floodlights, installing more seats, turnstile block and treatment room.
The local residents have a prime spot of watching games from the upstairs back bedroom, I noticed one or two taking advantage of this, although there were objections to the ground upgrading and plans to install floodlights. During the game the ball continued to be booted into the residents gardens, I overheard one of the committee commenting on this, saying “oh no, not that house again” I asked him why and he told me they don’t give the balls back, I had images of some irate bloke warning that if the ball goes into his garden again he’ll put a knife through it. So what‘s their problem?,Why moan at such a trivial thing? Having a football ground in your street, where you can watch the game from the comfort and warm of your own home and it costs nowt! Now that ‘s what I call a dream home, these people don’t know how lucky they are!
Matchday stats
PTFC 3(OG 16,Bowes 32, Davies 44) TRFC 1(Taylor)
Att. Approx 200
Admission £5
Programme- No issue due to the programme editor being on holiday, but they did dig out an old copy as a souvenir.

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Ground no.178 - Bastion Road - Matchday Web album (11 pictures)

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