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)