Reynard's Hunting Grounds

Congratulations to Grimsby Borough

2012-01-31T22:24:00.002Z

Terrific result for Boro tonight as they swept to a deserved victory over Albion Sports in the NCEL Wilkinson Sword Trophy Semi Final. The 5-2 scoreline mean that they will play either Shirebrook Town or Louth Town in the final. An excellent game and a great victory. Well done Boro!

NCEL Easter Groundhop 2012

2012-01-25T19:39:00.000Z

As you may have realised, I am a big fan of the Northern Counties East League and felt I had to let you know about the Easter Ground Hop in April. There are nine games scheduled over three days and the details are below together with a link to the organiser's booking form Hope some of you will be able to attend some part of it.

THURSDAY 5th APRIL, 2012
7.45pm - D1 - Yorkshire Amateur v Hemsworth Miners Welfare

FRIDAY 6th APRIL, 2012
10.45am - D1 - Eccleshill United v Dinnington Town
1.45pm - Prem - Thackley v Long Eaton United
4.45pm - Prem - Liversedge v Arnold Town
7.45pm - Prem - Brighouse Town v Barton Town Old Boys

SATURDAY 7th APRIL, 2012
10.30am - Prem - Maltby Main v Parkgate
1.30pm - Prem - Staveley Miners Welfare v Pickering Town
4.45pm - D1 - Hallam v Teversal
7.45pm - D1 - Worsbrough Bridge Athletic v Rossington Main

For more information about the Ground Hop, click here to download further details and a booking form.

The Ground Hop is being organised by GroundhopUK. You can follow them on twitter @groundhopUK or you can email them at groundhopuk@yahoo.com.

Shirebrook Town v Grimsby Borough Saturday 21st January 2012 NCEL Division One

2012-01-24T18:15:00.025Z

Langwith Road, home of Shirebrook Town is my destination today, but it is a trip with a difference for me. I'm travelling with Gary and Sarah, two fellow Boro fans and it's my first trip to a game for quite a while with someone other than Mrs Reynard or Helen.

Lovely skies over Shirebrook

The old navigational skills kick in and we pull into the car park to be greeted by rain and a blustery wind, not exactly the conditions for a good game of football. I head to the turnstiles to go in the ground to take my photos whilst Gary & Sarah go into the Clubhouse for a drink.

Shirebrook's turnstiles

The turnstiles bring you into the ground in the corner with the changing rooms and other facilities. I quickly realise that there is no-one else in the ground as I start to make my way around, which is unusual even at this early time, and there are no players warming up either. I head to my left along the side of the ground.

View down the side of the ground

There is a wide single level hard standing running down the side and part of the way down there are the hospitality lounge and the tea hut. Just after this there is a small covered stand with another step at the back.

Covered terrace

This eventually runs down to the far end of the ground which has a narrow strip of hard standing with a well looked after grass bank running up to the perimeter fencing.

Behind the far goal

Once past this end you have the two seated stands that sit either side of the dugouts. There is hard standing running along the length of the ground with a large grass bank running up to the fencing. The two stands are set back into the banking and give you an elevated view of the pitch.

View of the two stands

The first stand you come to has steps in the centre to gain access to the seats. Two rows run the whole length of the stand but there is a third row for some of it's length. I loved the corrugated roof which I think gave it a bit of character.

First seated stand

There is a gap between the two stands and the dugouts sit in this area and the wall comes further into the hard standing at this point.

Dugout and floodlight

The second stand has a name and is picked out on it, "The Sid Pepper Stand". It has the same steps arrangement to access it and has three rows of seats running it's length. The blue plastic seats look good and I'm impressed with the stands.

The Sid Pepper Stand

This has brought me back to the end that faced me as I entered the ground. There is the continuing hard standing with a wide grassy bank, once again running up to the fencing. The toilets and changing rooms can be seen in the distance.

View of the end of the ground

As I reach the dressing rooms I notice a plaque on the wall and I go for a closer look. The plaque is to commemorate the opening of the changing rooms and tells me they were opened by Ray Wilson, a member of the 1966 World Cup Winning England team. I actually saw Ray play at Blundell Park in the latter days of his career when I was very young, playing for Oldham I think.

Ray Wilson plaque

I notice again that there is still no-one else in the ground and there are no players warming up either. As I go back outside to get a drink in the Clubhouse I see that the players are warming up outside on the grassy areas next to the ground. It was nice to get out of the wind and rain for a while and warm up.
We head back into the ground just before kick off. The rain has stopped but the wind seems even stronger and it was to make it difficult for both teams to play. Boro are attacking down the very visible slope that runs from one end to the other and also have the wind at their backs. The Blue Army position themselves in the Sid Pepper Stand as I make my way behind the goal.

Blue Army

Shirebrook have the first chance of the game but Damian Steer in the Boro goal had the shot covered on his return to the Boro team. Pottsy then forced a good save from the Shirebrook keeper who turned it round the post. Both sides had chances but either the finishing was wayward or the respective keepers made the important save.

Boro's Andy Taylor on the ball

The best chance of the half fell to Shirebrook striker Stubley after a great cross from Slawson found him unmarked in the box, but somehow he hit the crossbar when it seemed he had to score. Half time arrived with no score.

Boro's Nathan Emson stopped by a good challenge

The good performance of the first half gave us all optimism that Boro may be able to get something out of the game but it was not to be. Most of the action was in the Boro box and we struggled to create any chances ourselves.

Aerial battle

It all went wrong for Boro on 70 minutes. Mitch Slawson latched onto a good through ball and unleashed a shot that flew past Steer in the Boro goal. Minutes later Steer was able to push another good shot round the post to keep the difference at one. Boro started to look for an equaliser but did not really get the run of the ball in the difficult conditions. Time was running out for Boro and the game finally went out of reach two minutes from time. A good run from Topliss down the right saw him reach the byline and put in a good cross for Slawson who thumped it past Steer for his and Shirebrook's second goal. The final whistle saw Boro fall to a 2-0 defeat.
A decent ground but a disappointing result but it was a good day out following the Boro and many thanks to Gary for driving me there and back.

More pictures of Langwith Road here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Shirebrook Town 2-0 Grimsby Borough
Att: 79
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.00

Seasons greetings to everyone

2011-12-23T17:08:00.003Z

Happy holidays to everyone who looks in. I will hopefully be at the two games in the side bar, say hello if you see me. I hope you all have a good holiday break and if you are travelling over the festive period, take care,

Brigg Town v Ilkeston Saturday 17th December 2011 Evo-Stik Division One South

2011-12-20T14:05:00.029Z

Grimsby Borough do not have a game today and although the Reserves are at home (although it was cancelled late on) I decide to take a look at how the newly formed Ilkeston are doing on their visit to Brigg Town. The Hawthorns is only a 22 mile drive for me and I arrive in plenty of time to get some decent pictures in the daylight.

The Brigg Town badge

Outside the ground is already busy as there are a fair number of Ilkeston fans here and they all seem to be heading into the Clubhouse, encouraged by the Brigg officials who tell them to drink plenty as "we need the money". I take a few photos outside the ground and head inside.

Turnstiles

Once through the turnstiles you find yourself in the corner of the ground. To your right is the building block containing the toilets and the dressing rooms for the teams and officials. There is also a bit of overhang from the roof to give some cover.

Dressing rooms and facilities

Directly in front of you is the portacabin which is used for hospitality and beyond this a single level terracing runs down to the corner of the ground where there is a tea hut.

Hospitality hut and terrace

After the hospitality hut the ground opens out and there is a grassy area behind the hard standing which leads to the fence which has a net to stop balls going into the gardens of the houses behind the ground.

Hard standing behind the goal

This brings you to the far side of the ground which has a seating stand which runs down a good part of the ground. There are three rows of red seats, which I have to say are probably some of the most uncomfortable seats I have sat in.

Seating Stand

At either end of the stand there is a small area of covered terracing although they were not many takers today as the weather, although cold, did not give us any rain.

Covered terracing at the end of the stand

The hard standing narrows up after the stand as the floodlight here has a fencing around it but it opens up again after this to the corner. The end here is wide and open with a single level of hard standing which runs the entire end of the ground.

View behind the goal

This leads you back to the side of the ground that I came in. The first stand you reach is a small covered terrace of three steps with a roof that comes out to the edge of the wall in front of the pitch.

The narrow terraced stand

The weather has changed now and the sun has gone and there are some menacing looking clouds overhead, as you can see in this shot of the seated stand across the pitch.

View across the pitch

After the small terraced stand there is a small open area before you reach the very narrow seated stand on this side of the ground. There are only two rows of seats and there is a very narrow walkway past these as you can see below.

The small seating stand

After this there is another open area before the buildings which house the dressing rooms with an exit which allows you access to the Clubhouse outside the ground.

View of the two stands on the entrance side of the ground

Ii has taken me longer than normal to make my circuit of the ground today as I've been involved in several discussions with both Brigg and Ilkeston fans on my way round and it is very close to kick off. There are not many Ilkeston fans inside yet, but almost as soon as I've thought this they start to appear and soon make themselves heard.

Pre-match handshakes

The Ilson fans quickly make their way to the end their team will be attacking in the first half and an array of flags are put up.

Ilson fans and their flags

The game kicked off and both teams were playing some nice football early on but without creating any clear cut goal opportunities. It was end to end stuff with both sides struggling to find that edge to beat the others keeper. Probably the best chance of the half fell to Ilson's Gary Ricketts but his shot flew well over the bar. An entertaining half came to a close without any score.

Ilson cross the ball

Ilkeston took over the game in the second half and it was mostly one way traffic towards the Brigg goal. The problem for Ilkeston was a combination of some poor finishing and resolute Brigg defending meant they were unable to open the scoring. Brigg went forward when they could but the final ball was always disappointing and they too struggle in front of goal. There were Ilson claims for a penalty when Maguire burst into the box and went down under a challenge from a Brigg defender. However the referee felt that he had dived and dished out a booking. I have to say that I thought it was a clear penalty especially as he was clear to have a shot and could not see why he would go down in that situation.

Ilson fans behind the goal

As in so many games like this, it was the team under the cosh who scored the opening goal. Brigg's Liam Davis raced down the right hand touchline, beat his man and placed an inviting ball into the path of Ryan Paczkowski who hit his shot into the back of the net from about 10 yards out. The Ilson fans around me seemed stunned and could not believe they had gone behind. Ilkeston went straight back onto the attack and four minutes later they were level. A neat move saw the ball come out to the left wing from where it was played inside to Jack Watts who drilled his shot into the net. The game ebbed and flowed for the remaining time but neither team could find the decisive blow and the full time whistle went with the final score at 1-1.
This was a thoroughly entertaining game and I was glad I made the choice to come here.

Programme cover

More pictures of The Hawthorns here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Brigg Town 1-1 Ilkeston
Att: 143
Admission: £7
Programme: £1.50

Market Rasen Town v Grimsby Borough Reserves Saturday 26th November 2011 Lincolnshire Premier Division

2011-12-03T12:26:00.026Z

I decided to stay fairly local today and decided upon Boro's reserve game away at Market Rasen, about 20 miles away. This is Rasen's first season in this League and I'd heard that they had a stand which had had some work carried out on it, but as with many grounds at this level that was the only stand. Mrs Reynard came with me as we intended to go to Willingham Woods for a walk and something to eat before the game.
However, I decided to pop to the ground before we went to the woods to get my photos. It was fairly easy to find thanks to Google Maps, with the narrow entrance and lane fairly well concealed if you did not know it was there.

Sign to the ground

We parked up and the ground was already a hive of activity with a training session for local youngsters just about to start and in the distance, there were Club officials setting up the supports for the rope barrier to mark off the pitch. The only stand was on the far side of the pitch which in turn was past the cricket pitch.

View across Rase Park to the Stand

There is no hard standing here and you have to walk across the grass to get the pitch and the stand, which is not a problem today even though there has been a heavy overnight dew and it is fairly damp and misty today, but in the depths of winter it would be advisable to wear some good sturdy footwear. We reach the stand and you can see that there has been some recent work done on it.

Approaching the Stand

There are no seats as such, but the concrete has been laid to provide a continuous raised seating area although it might be a bit cold on the bottom on colder days. The dugouts are part of the stand although when we are at the game the reserves seem to use the concrete seats behind them. With no barriers and no game on yet I'm able to nip onto the pitch and take some photos of the stand face on.

Welcome to Rase Park

The only other facility is the Clubhouse which contains the bar and tea hut together with the dressing rooms for the teams and officials which is situated where the car park is.

Clubhouse

Photos finished we head off to the woods. Three hours later we return for the game which kicks off at 2pm as there are no floodlights here and so the game has to be completed in daylight.

Rase Park Sign

The game kicks off in bright sunshine with the shadows of the trees beside Brimmer Beck that runs behind the Stand. Boro start brightly and have the best of the early stages without really creating anything to trouble the Rasen keeper. We even have time to have a bit of banter with Rasen's keeper Dale Christie as Rasen get into the game and put Boro on the backfoot, but again do not really trouble the Boro goal. Christie is then called into action, pulling off two superb saves, especially one from John Toyne which he tipped over the bar.

Rasen defender heads clear

The first half ends with no score and we head over to the Clubhouse for a cup of coffee and a sit down. After a couple of minutes we are joined by Rasen keeper Christie who proceeds to light up a cigarette! I don't suppose you would see this at any Premier League games, but at least he had an energy drink too.

Rasen keeper Dale Christie

Rasen start the second half with renewed hope of a victory and start to dominate play with Boro struggling to get their own game going. Some determined defending by Boro kept Rasen at bay and their better chances were wasted by their struggling forward line. Boro started to find a bit of space as Rasen continued to attack and were able to exploit the space and make some attacks of their own. On about 70 minutes Boro won a corner and the ball was played into the heart of the box where John Toyne beat Christie to nod the ball home.

Boro's John Toyne heads in the winner

The game became even more of a midfield battle with Rasen creating the better chances but with no end result. Several balls had ended up in the during the afternoon and towards the end of the game several balls had gone missing and Rasen's keeper shouted to the bench "Get these balls sorted out!" only to be met by the reply "We can't mate, they are all in the water".

Boro on the attack

The Boro defence hold Rasen at bay and with no further score they head home with all three points. There is not a lot to see at Rase Park in terms of stands but it is a nice ground and well worth the visit, although I think I would save it for spring or summer day.

More pictures of Rase Park here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Market Rasen Town 0-1 Grimsby Borough Reserves
Att: 47 (Head Count)
Admission: None
Programme: None

Teversal v Grimsby Borough Saturday 5th November 2011 NCEL Division One

2011-11-12T11:09:00.024Z

I leave Cleethorpes on an overcast day, but with no rain, not too bad for a football trip. The weather soon changes and I endure very heavy rain on the M18 and M1 and it is still raining when I reach the Teversal Grange Sports & Social Centre, Carnarvon Street, home to Teversal FC.

Sign announcing the next game

It is still raining as I wander about the car park for some pictures. The ground is situated next to the The Teversal Trails Visitors Centre. The trails follow the track beds of the former colliery railways which, together with the local footpaths, provide a network of varied and enchanting walks through countryside that is abundant with wildlife. Much of the network has now been designated a Local Nature Reserve due to its valuable and fascinating flora, fauna and geology. A Coal Garden, incorporating a variety of artifacts from the local colliery, including Pit Wheels, marks the entrance to the trails themselves.

Pit wheel at the park entrance

The entrance to the turnstiles is fronted by a new set or iron gates with the Club name picked out in the middle and they look very impressive. I'm even asked if I would like to buy a pair of gates!

The new gates

You go through the gates and the turnstiles are to the right and bring you into the corner of the ground. To the right are the dressing rooms, Clubhouse and hospitality room. Thankfully the rain has stopped and so I set off to make sure I get my photos before it starts again. I head to the left of where I came in, behind the goal.

View behind the goal

As you can see, there is a white railing running the whole length of the end with a one level hard standing area and a further area behind this. This end also gives you a good view of the Main Stand on the far side.

Main Stand

As you reach the corner the railing and hard standing continues to the stand. There is a barrier either side of the seating stand pointing out that there is no standing allowed in front of the stand.

View to the Main Stand

After the main are of the stand there is another small section of seating with a single row of seats and a bench behind these. There were not many takers for these as I am pretty sure that the dugouts would block your view of the pitch.

Additional seating

After the stand there is the white railing and hard standing again with a grassy area running up to the perimeter fence.

Area after the Main Stand

This leads you to the opposite end where we came in. This has the hard standing running along it's length and there are two covered areas either side of the goal.

View of the far end

These two covered areas have an unusual cover, something which I had heard about before I came here and was usually in a derogatory way. As you can see they have used Tesco Trolley Park shelters. Personally I think they are brilliant and would give you reasonable cover on a rainy day.

Tesco Trolley End

The next side of the ground has the same format of white railing and hard standing leading down to the dressing rooms area at the end.

View down the side of the ground

At the far end of this side of the ground, as I have said, are the dressing rooms and in the corner after this there is a very smart Clubhouse with a bar showing Sky Sports and the "tea hut" is also in here with a good choice on offer.

Home dressing room

I go inside and watch the last 10 minutes or so of the Sky game with two fellow Boro fans who have made the journey before heading out for kick off. Boro set off attacking the Trolley end and begin confidently. Six minutes in and Lee Stephenson puts Boro 1-0 up following up a spilled George Newby shot.

Boro players celebrate the opening goal

Minutes later it could have been two when Andy Taylor just fires wide. Its all Boro in the early stages and the chances keep coming but poor finishing keeps the score at 1-0. On 25minutes George Newby fires in a shot which takes a deflection which beats the keeper only for the ball to hit the crossbar and go out for the corner. Boro really should be further ahead and I start to wonder if we will rue these missed opportunities. Teversal start to get back into the game and on 35 minutes they find their equaliser. A good passage of play results in the ball being played to Greg Tobin on the edge of the box and he places his shot just inside the post and beyond Leigh Cook in the Boro goal. 1-1.

Boro's Lee Stephenson tussles for the ball

This seemed to stun Boro and it is Teversal who have the better of the game up to half time.
The second half starts with Teversal beginning much better than in the first half. A change of tactics cuts out the space that Boro exploited in the first half and makes it difficult for Boro to play with the same fluency that they showed in the first half. The Teversal players are really up for the game and are playing some decent football. The early pressure pays off on 53 minutes when Greg Tobin scores his second with accurate angled shot after good approach play. This stirs Boro up and they start to play better but with no end result. Both teams have chances but it is Teversal who score the fourth and best goal of the match. On 78 minutes Ryan Atkins gets the ball on the left of the box and fires in a terrific shot which arrows into the top corner of the net to make it 3-1 to Teversal.

Boro's Nathan Emson stretches for the ball.

This effectively finished the game although Teversal were reduced to 10 men when Danny Pearson picked up a second yellow. To be fair, the game had been played in a good spirit and in my eyes it was a genuine challenge that did not warrant a booking but there was an assessor present and I think this was why he picked up the second booking. Despite this Teversal were able to see the game out and win 3-1.

A disappointing result for Boro but it was an enjoyable day. Everyone I met was friendly and I had some good chats with the locals, which is what it is all about.

Programme cover

More pictures of Carnarvon Street here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Teversal 3-1 Grimsby Borough
Att: 45
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.00

Dinnington Town v Grimsby Borough Saturday 24th September 2011 FA Vase Second Qualifying Round

2011-10-12T19:08:00.017+01:00

It's Cup day and Grimsby Borough travel to Phoenix Park which lies somewhere between Worksop, Rotherham and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. I locate the ground very easily and after taking a few shots outside I head for the turnstiles.

Phoenix Park turnstiles

The turnstile operator seems surprised to see someone this early (its only just 2pm) and when I am inside I'm the only spectator to be seen. Excellent, no one to block my pictures. The turnstiles bring you in on one side of the ground more or less on the half way line. I head to my right. After a few yards there is gate which separates spectators from the players as they enter the pitch. Immediately after this there is a small covered seating stand with benches in it.

Covered seating stand

After the stand the hard standing runs down to the corner with a grassy area behind it with a white railing separating you from the pitch.

Looking back to the seated stand

There is the same arrangement from this corner running down to another seated stand behind the goal with a high fence separating the ground from the bowls club situated behind the ground.

View behind the goal

There was a bench situated in front of the goal at this stage and I wondered what it was there for as the players totally ignored it when they came out for the warm up and were all over the goalmouth. Later on it became clear why it was there as a team photo was taken using it.

The seated stand at this end is set to the right of the goal to give you a better view of the pitch as there is not much distance between the stand and the pitch. It has three rows of plastic seats with a capacity of 50 odd.

Seated stand behind the goal

The far side of the ground consists of a one level hard standing with some dodgy plastic flooring after that and plenty of weeds. The white railing continues along this side. There are three floodlights down this side and the dugouts are here too.

Far side of the ground complete with weeds

The far end of the ground is a narrow strip of hard standing bordered by a breeze block fence to separate the ground from outside and more breeze blocks also form the fencing between the pitch and standing too.

View behind the other goal

This brings me back to the side of the ground I came in. The wide area on this side of the ground is split between a single level of hard standing and a grassy area. It leads to another covered stand and the tea hut.

View of the side of the ground

The stand is a simple but effective affair and gives plenty of cover although we did not need it today as the weather was glorious. The tea hut is a brick building and offered the usual fayre.

View across the pitch of the stand

By now the Blue Army had assembled in the ground and an impromptu pitch invasion enabled a picture of the band of supporters to appear on the website with yours truly on it.
The game kicked off in bright sunshine and the first few minutes saw both teams testing each other out with Dinnington having the slightly better of it.

Boro's Scott Raworth on the ball

Boro then started to create some good chances with both Nathan Emson and Matty Hall seeing efforts come back off the cross bar.

Beats the keeper but hits the bar

Luke Hands in the Dinnington goal also did well to turn another shot round the post and Boro hit the post in another attack. The game then saw few chances running up to half time but there was no doubt that Boro had had the better of the first half.

A Boro attack broken up

But all that hard work was undone at the beginning of the second half. A good move down the left hand side by Hoyland and Pearce saw the ball arrive at Reet's feet and he fired home with a good finish. This put Boro on the back foot and it was all Dinnington. After 72 minutes a defensive mix up left debut boy Dachi Khutsishvili clear on goal and he finished coolly to put Dinnington 2-0 up. Boro did rally late in the game but were unable to carve out many chances and there were no Cup dreams left at full time.

Programme cover

More pictures of Phoenix Park here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Dinnington Town 2-0 Grimsby Borough
Att: 38
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.00

Eccleshill United v Grimsby Borough Saturday 10th September 2011 NCEL Division One

2011-09-17T10:55:00.029+01:00

I decide to follow Boro to Eccleshill United for my game today and head to Bradford and the Rapid Solicitors Stadium, home of The Eagles. We find the ground fairly easily and park up with a view of the ground which prompts me to take a couple of pictures over the fence above the ground. I use the fence to steady my camera. Mistake! The top of the fence is covered in anti-vandal paint and I'm covered in wet black paint on my arms. Mrs Reynard helps to clean me up before we enter the ground, another lesson learnt!

Turnstiles

We head to our left and through the covered area and are immediately greeted by a very friendly Eccleshill official.

Covered Terrace

After the stand you come to the Clubhouse where the facilities for the spectators are situated. Straight after this are the dressing rooms and the players enter the pitch from the corner of the ground.

Clubhouse

This side of the ground has a white railing running down the length and there are houses behind the perimeter fence which is painted in the blue of Eccleshill.

View down the side of the ground

The dugouts are also situated down this side of the ground too, one either side of the half way line.

Dugouts

There is hard standing all the way down the side varying in width with a couple of grassy area either side of the dugouts with a netting fence above the blue fencing.

View past the dugouts

This brings you to the corner and the end opposite where we came in. This also has a single level of hard standing running along it's length with a grassy area behind up to the fence. There is a field behind this with the usual gate to allow the retrieval of balls lost to wayward shots.

Far end behind the goal

In the far corner there is the "(in)famous" toilet block, which I have to say does not look that bad on the sunny day we are having, but might not be as welcoming on a dark winters night.

Toilet Block

This brings us to the side where the Main Stand is situated. Once again there is the white railing and hard standing running the length of the side of the ground. Before and after the Stand there is a bare soil bank which goes up to the perimeter fence where I had my mishap earlier.

Bank leading to the Main Stand

The Main Stand sits astride the halfway line and is very impressive.

Main Stand

The Stand is divided between blue seats and white seats, presumably bought at different times as they are two totally contrasting styles. There is a section in between them for Club officials and the stand is smartly painted throughout.

The blue seats

Just after the stand there is a steep set of steps which lead to another gate for the recovery of wayward balls and the banking continues with the fence at the top used for advertising boards and another Club sign.

Looking back to the Main Stand

This brings us back to the end where we came in.

Entrance and covered terrace.

I take up a position at this end of the ground as Boro are attacking this end in the first half. I'm standing with Brian, a loyal member of the Blue Army. I'm soon leaving him as all the action is at the Boro end and I'm just not getting any action pictures. How Eccleshill did not score in the first twenty minutes of the game I do not know. The Boro defence are riding their luck and they simply have trouble making any worthwhile attacks themselves. The best two chances for Eccleshill both follow some slick passing. The first chance comes as the ball is played across the goal and the shot somehow is fired over the bar from six yards.

George Newby on the ball for Boro

The next one came after work down the right and the cross was met in the centre of the goal but the Eccleshill striker could not keep his header down and the ball just went over the bar. Boro were still finding it hard to get in the opposition half but as the clock ticked on they started to find their feet and started to make some headway against a resolute Eccleshill team.

Aerial challenge for the ball

Then on 41 minutes (no, not 9 minutes reported everywhere else!) a through ball found Ricky Forrest on the edge of the box. He controlled the ball and fired in a fierce shot which the keeper could only push up into the air and the ever alert Andy Taylor launched himself at the ball and headed home. 1-0 to the Boro! The joy was not to last long however. Poor decisions by Boro players led to two goals in two minutes on 43 and 44 minutes from Andy Howland and Adam Bower. Both goals came from lapses of concentration from Boro and the clinical finishes from both players left Miles Fenty in the Boro goal no chance. The half time whistle goes with Boro down 2-1.

Just before half time another Eccleshill official asked me if I had any good photos and then asked if I was here to follow Boro. After my reply in the affirmative I was then invited to join him at half time for a tea or coffee and sandwiches. As the half time whistle went I was then approached by the Eccleshill official who had spoken to us as we came into the ground and the same offer was made. We went into the Clubhouse and were then treated to tea or coffee, sandwiches, cakes and biscuits. This was totally unexpected and I have to make my appreciation of the gesture public. Just as an aside, the carpet in the Clubhouse had the Club badge woven into it and looked very smart. Pity I forgot to take a photo!
The second half carried on as the first half ended with Eccleshill on top. They had the ball in the back of the net with a clever chip over the advancing keeper but it was disallowed for offside. It must have been close though. The attacks came thick and fast but a combination of some great saves from Miles Fenty, determined defending and poor finishing kept the score at 2-1.

Eccleshill's Marcus Edwards

Boro also started to have their chances too as the half went on. Both Ricky Creer and Andy Taylor had great chances only to fire their shots narrowly wide of the upright. The majority of the chances were going Eccleshill's way and I lost count of the number of times Marcus Edwards picked up the ball in acres of space to start another Eagles attack.

In acres of space. Again.

This eventually led to Eccleshill's third goal on 82 minutes. Another Boro attack broke down and some good passing found Edwards free again and this time he made no mistake, slotting the ball past Fenty to seal the win.

Edwards scores the Eagles third

There was no further score and a dejected Boro team left the pitch with another away defeat. Despite this, we had a great day out at Eccleshill, the friendly welcome and the banter with two Eagles fans throughout the second half was really appreciated. The ground is a good 'un too, so get yourselves down there, I'm sure you will not regret it.

More pictures of The Rapid Solicitors Stadium here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.
Eccleshill United 3-1 Grimsby Borough
Att: 33
Admission: £5
Programme: £1

Grimsby Borough v Handsworth Saturday 3rd September 2011 NCEL Division One

2011-09-04T14:16:00.013+01:00

Okay, you may have noticed the lack of updates recently, but this has been down to personal circumstances, and I've only been to some local games at grounds I've already covered since my visit to Ossett Albion, hence the lack of posts.
Yesterday was National Non League Day and I was at my local ground for the visit of Handsworth. The new boys from Sheffield had a very good first season in the NCEL last season finishing fourth and were only two points behind Barton who secured the second promotion spot on the last day of the season. They have started off well this season, although strangely all their games before today have been at home. Their record is four wins and their one loss coming against Worksop Parramore who currently lead the league on goal difference.
The game starts in glorious sunshine and there are a good number of visiting fans here. The game goes wrong from the start for Boro' with a controversial sending off after 10 minutes. Handsworth's Lee Hill made a strong run after a through ball, seemingly handling the ball to control it to those of us at this end and along the side, and was then brought down by Pearson. To everyone's astonishment the referee produced a red card, taking no notice of the fact that two Boro' defenders were coming across to cover. Obviously I saw this through Boro tinted glasses but it seemed a harsh decision.

Handsworth took full advantage of their one man advantage and all the action was in the Boro half. The young winger Carter Mpwaya, making his first team debut, was beginning to cause Boro's defence problems and he was to have an impressive game. After creating a number of chances the breakthrough came after 23 minutes for Handsworth when a 20 yard screamer from Lee Hill found the Boro net.

Handsworth were now fully in control of the game with Boro finding it difficult to make any headway going forward and the visitors continued to create chances. The inevitable second goal came from the penalty spot on 32 minutes after Bates was fouled in the box. A cool finish by Cockerhill saw Fenty in the Boro goal go the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Miles Fenty goes the wrong way for the penalty

Boro's attack could still not find a way through the Handsworth defence who were more than comfortable at this point. The waves of attacks on the Boro goal continued forcing several good save from Fenty. The officials were not endearing themselves to either side with some of their decisions and this was summed up when a blatant handball by a Boro defender stopped a Handsworth effort in the box and the only people in the ground who did not see it were the three who counted. Half time came with no further score and Handsworth headed into the dressing room with a two goal advantage.

The second half saw Boro playing much better and Nathan Emson forced Handsworth keeper Herriott to make a good save from his effort. It looked like Boro may pull one back as they continued to make chances. This good work was undone on 60 minutes when Cockerhill latched onto a clearance from his keeper, shrugged off the Boro defenders and calmly slotted the ball past Fenty to make it 3-0.

Three minutes later the impressive Mpwaya was subbed and got a well deserve round of applause from both sets of fans for his performance. If Boro thought that that was the end of a Handsworth youngster causing them problems then they were mistaken. Alex Torr was his replacement and he was to score the best goal of the game. A Handsworth cross evaded everyone, but Torr picked up the ball out wide on the right. Showing great skill he got himself turned so that he was facing the defender, cut inside and then unleashed a curling shot that finished in the top left hand corner of the goal.

To be fair the scoreline could have been greater as the post was hit on at least two occasions and Miles Fenty pulled off several good saves. The final whistle sounded and Handsworth celebrated a good win. It was a very good performance from Handsworth, they look a good bet to improve on last season and I wish them all the best- apart from the return game of course!

There are more pictures of the action and the fans here.

Grimsby Borough 0-4 Handsworth
Att: 80
Admission: £4
Programme: £1

Ossett Albion v Bishop Auckland Saturday 30th July 2011 Pre-Season Friendly

2011-08-01T19:10:00.020+01:00

I finally decide to head to Ossett Albion for my football fayre today. It was a fairly straight forward journey, although the satnav threw a wobbler, telling me of major hold ups ahead and that a "quicker alternative route" was available. I duly use the re-route facility only to be told two minutes later a "quicker alternative route" was available. So I use the re-route facility again and as you have probably already guessed, I was back to the original route. I saw no hold ups and have no idea what the problem was if indeed there ever was one. I arrived in Ossett fairly early, which gave me time to nip to Ossett Town's ground. I came here a few years ago for a pre-season friendly against Stalybridge Celtic, but I did not have a digital camera then, so I decide to go and see if I could get in for a few shots. The old heart gladdens as I see the hoppers "Holy Grail", an open gate.
I amble around for a few shots which you can find here. Here is the Main Stand behind the goal.

I then head to the Warehouse Systems Stadium, home of Ossett Albion AFC. There is a large car park, but I stay up the top end after I see a cricket ball hurtle into the space I was considering using. I park next to the Bowls Club which is situated at the top of the car park. There is a cricket pitch beyond which leads down to the ground.

There is a cricket match on and a couple of wickets fall as I am making my round the boundary towards the turnstiles. I stop to take a shot of the signs for the ground.

There are a set of turnstiles just after the signs, but there is a note on the Evo-Stik sign asking you to use the other turnstile. I'm curious as to why, so I have a gander at the turnstile which is resolutely shut and see the reason why.

I make my around the cricket scoreboard but head past the turnstiles as half way down the outside wall there looks to be an old entrance to the ground that is no longer used.

This picture was taken at great risk to my personal safety as I had to edge onto the cricket pitch to take it, mainly from the glares from the cricketers who spotted me encroaching.
I made my way into the ground and you enter more or less level to the eighteen yard line of one of the goals. I head clockwise and the tea hut is just after the closed turnstile, with the dressing rooms directly in front of you. After this is the bar with a terraced area with picnic style benches and the brand new toilet block which saw guided tours being given whilst I was using the facilities. Very off putting! After this there is a covered terrace with crush barriers, with a large uncovered area in front of it.

Beyond this there is another building, not quite sure what it is, but it does have what appears to be a serving hatch, so I'm not sure if it is another tea hut or an old one. There are a couple of steps in front of it and the wide standing area continues to the corner.

From the corner there is a two step terrace running down to the stand that contains the seat. There are also several more crush barriers set on the top step.

This brings you to the covered seating stand. An interesting feature is the passageway at the rear of the stand to allow you go past the area without blocking the view of the fans in the seats. It also allows access to the seats half way down it.

The seats are not the most comfortable I've ever sat in but they do the job. This is the view of the stand from the end of the ground. There is a very small press box on the left hand side of the stand.

After the stand the ground opens up again and you have a step up to a single level standing area which runs to the corner.

I'm now at the opposite end to where I came in and there is another small covered terrace at this end and as I take the shot of it I realise how much of a slope there is from the cricket side down to where I am stood.

I make my way along the end and reach the cricket side of the ground again. There is a three step terrace running all the way to the dugouts which are situated on this side, where the terrace narrows up and then opens up again after them.

This brings me back to where I came in and a visit to the tea hut is in order to buy a very cold can of drink, as the temperature has steadily increased since I left home. The game kicks off in glorious sunshine, which during the course of the afternoon sees a good number of fans seek the shade of the stands. The game is an absolute cracker.

There is plenty of action at both ends of the pitch and considering the the the players play at a decent tempo, although the ref calls a halt to proceeding half way through the first half for players to take on drinks. A thoroughly entertaining half sees the score level at 2-2.

Ossett take the lead again in the second half but Bishop level it up at 3-3, only to fall behind again following poor marking. I thinking at this point that that will be that, but an attack by Bishop results in a penalty award which is clinically put away to make it 4-4.

That is how it finishes and I'm sure both managers came away from the game with mixed emotions on the performances of their teams but for a neutral it was cracking entertainment and even the locals seemed to have enjoyed their game.

More pictures of the Warehouse Solutions Stadium here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Ossett Albion 4-4 Bishop Auckland
Att: 85
Admission: £4
Programme: £0.50

Colne v Salford City Saturday 16th July 2011 Pre-Season Friendly

2011-07-23T15:41:00.026+01:00

The plan for today was to meet up with The Onion Bag after several failed attempts last season.The phone call came and we decided upon the Colne game against Salford City as the ground looked interesting and with a good backdrop too.
I set off with the rain falling steadily, which makes the journey fairly tedious. I eventually drive out of the rain clouds and take a comfort break at Birch Services on the M62. As on several occasions last season, I run into a pink cowboy attired hen party apparently on their way to Blackpool. Their language was as colourful as their hats.
I leave them behind at Birch and a few miles onto the M6 the heavens open and visibility is pretty poor. I suddenly start to have concerns about the game being on and I panic as I realise I have no back up plans. Whoops!
It is still raining as I make my up Harrison Drive to the XLCR Stadium, home of Colne.

There is no sign of TOB, so I make my way into the ground through an open gate. There are two guys going about the job of getting the ground ready for the game. I ask them if the game will be on. I get a funny look and an assurance that there will no problem with the game going ahead. I ring TOB to see where he is and to tell him the good news. He is not far away he tells me, so I have a little wander in the covered end while I wait. Five minutes TOB has arrived and we meet at long last. I'll not tell you too much about him in case his head gets too big, but I thoroughly enjoy my afternoon with him and I hope we will hook up again in the future.
We decide to explore the ground before going to find something to eat. It is still raining but the pitch looks good and there are only a couple of spots at the edges that are waterlogged. You enter the ground in the corner of the ground with a covered four step terrace in front of you.

In the corner there is a tea hut which is not open today and this leads to the far side. There is a short four step terrace with a bench on the top step and the toilets behind.

Just after this there is a small covered stand which as you can see from the picture afforded no protection from the weather at this moment.

There is some hard standing leading you towards the dugouts which are sited on this side of the ground.

After the dugouts the hard standing widens considerably and this runs all the way to the corner.

The end opposite where we came in is a one level hard standing and from here you can see the camber of the pitch which runs down to the far corner.

This brings you the side of the ground with the Main Stand situated astride the halfway line with the bar/tea hut and dressing rooms. There is a small terraced area here but it is blocked off at both ends.

The Main Stand is a gem. Quirky and with plenty of character. This picture shows how the pitch drops away. The height of the front of the stand increases as it heads towards the corner.

The seats are a mix of benches and plastic seats, with the benches having backs to them, fairly unusual to what I have previously seen.

This brings us back to where we started, a lot wetter than when we set out! We spend a while chatting to the Club officials and are blamed for the weather as to quote "you are the tourists". We head outside to go and get some food and discover that TOB both have the same model of car. After an abortive visit to a pub we decide to head to Sainsbury's and get a sandwich and head back to the ground to eat it. As we leave the supermarket the rain has relented and there is even some blue skies.
As we arrive at the ground, both teams are outside the ground warming up on the grassy area that sites below the ground.

The game kicks off and before anyone has settled down Salford score. Jack Redshaw opened the scoring with a shot the keeper can only parry but the ball loops upwards and bounces into the net. Shorly after they have scored Salford have a great opportunity to make it 2 but miss the chance. I have a chuckle as one of the Salford coaches shouts to the wayward forward, "You should be hitting the onion bag from there". Now, I knew he is famous, but I did not realise he was that well known! Salford continued to swarm forward I feared for Colne, but to their credit they fought back and after 15 minutes Maduka was brought down in the area and Colne were awarded a penalty. Neil Stansfield stepped up and levelled the score.

Five minutes later Colne were ahead after Matt Tindall cut his way past several defenders with a strong run into the box before slotting home from the tightest of angles. The picture below is the start of his run.

This was a good competitive game with both sides dominating at times. On 25 minutes Salford were level. Danny Heffernan headed powerfully home from a corner giving the keeper no chance.

Salford were now on top and retook the lead on 37 minutes when Redshaw got clear, made his way into the box and curled a great shot past the keeper.

Salford went into the break 3-2 up after a thoroughly entertaining half of football.
The second half saw the customary wholesale change of players and whilst the game was still interesting, the number of chances fell and there was only one more goal. This went to Salford when Gary Salmon picked himself after being fouled to send the Colne keeper the wrong way and make it 4-2.

A very entertaining game and the ground is a gem, well worth the visit. TOB and I parted outside the ground with every intention of hooking up again in the near future.
Only one drama on the way home as I had to take evasive action on the M62 to avoid several settee cushions strewn across the lanes!

More pictures of the XLCR Stadium here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Colne 2-4 Salford City
Att: 50 (Onion Bag head count)
Admission: £2(Bargain!)
Programme: None issued

2010 - 2011 Season Review

2011-07-10T15:09:00.006+01:00

So that was that. I ended up going to 62 games plus 1 abandoned at half time.I saw 211 goals which averages out at 3.40 goals per game and saw three 0-0s, which included the worst game of the season, Barton v Pontefract. That game also saw the end of a 46 match run without seeing a 0-0!

I visited a total of 44 different grounds, with 29 of those being new grounds, and also saw games in Sweden for the first time. My favourite ground of the season was Rossendale United's Dark Lane and I only hope that the ground will still be used in the future.

Best game of the season was Grimsby Borough v Louth Town which Boro' won 6-3 to win a place in the Lincolnshire Senior Trophy Final. Good game, some great goals and action to the last minute.

Finally a big thank you to everyone who has made the effort to read my ramblings and many thanks to those of you who have left me comments.

Yorkshire Main v Easington United Saturday 14th May 2011 Black Dragon Premier Division

2011-07-10T13:18:00.027+01:00

There was only one place to go today, Edlington Lane, home of Yorkshire Main. Having already won the Floodlit Cup, the Doncaster Challenge Cup and the League Cup, Main were looking to secure the League title to their haul. A win against the Villagers would ensure the title was theirs. To add a bit of spice to the game, Easington were one of only two teams to beat Main this season.
There is a sense of deja vu when I arrive at the ground. As at last weeks game there is a Pithead wheel at the entrance to the car park.

This carries on as I meet up with two Scarborough Athletic fans who were at the Thorne game last week, and to add to the "this is like last week" feel, there is a cricket pitch with a game going on in front of the ground.

At the entrance there is a list of matches from the 23rd April to 18th May which sees Main play a massive 14 games in 25 days, the consequence of a successful season.

The entrance brings you into the ground in the corner with the pitch to the left and all the facilities, tea hut, changing rooms etc. to your right. There is a mesh fence separating you from the pitch at his point and you have to make your way past the dressing rooms to access the ground itself. This brings you the nearside touchline and into a covered stand with the dugouts either side of it.

I make my way through this stand and it brings out into the open and after this there is a simple railing separating you from the pitch.

I carry on into the corner and this is the view looking back to where I came from.

There is a fence at this end of the ground and one or two balls were lost over during the per game warm up. This is the shot from the other corner and you can see the Easington players warming up.

The side opposite the entrance side has a large covered stand with a small open terrace after the stand. There are several crush barriers and three floodlights along this side too.

I carry on down this side to the covered stand. In this shot you can see the cricket pitch sight screens in the background.

This is the view of the stand from the far side.

The next shot shows the terracing after the stand and as you can see it only runs a short way before the grassy area starts that runs to the corner of the ground.

I carry on the corner and this is the shot taken showing behind the goal at the entrance end. I have no idea what the large post is and they are dotted around the ground. We came to the conclusion that were probably where the previous boundary of the ground fencing was.

This is the view back to the covered stand from the same corner.

As expected, Main started the game on the attack but after weathering the early pressure Easington took the lead on 19 minutes when a great ball to Gavin Thurkettle saw him fire the ball past the Main keeper. But this only urged Main on and after 5 minutes they were level when Steffan Cairns cut inside and put it past Holden in the Easington goal.

Main took the lead in first half stoppage time when Holden dropped a cross allowing Adam Watson to slot the ball home.

The half time went soon after and Main were halfway to sealing the Championship. There was good news at half time as for the second time this season I won the half time raffle.
The second half started well and it was clear Easington believed that the game was far from over and made several attacks early on. However, from one of those attacks Main went on the counter attack and Watson beat the keeper to the ball and calmly lobbed it over him into the back of the net to make it 3-1.

For a while it was all one way traffic as Main looked to increase their lead. Holden made several excellent saves and some determined defending was keeping Main at bay.

Easington never gave up and did put Main under pressure towards the end of the game but were unable to find the breakthrough to set up a grandstand finale.

The final whistle went and the Main players and staff celebrated the League championship with some bottles of champagne.

There was just time to have a quick chat to Easington's Mr Lusmore, the man behind the superb "A Game In Four Quarters" blog, where you can read all about the day to day trials and tribulations of the Villagers.
This was a really enjoyable game to watch and the friendly welcome and good company made it a great end to the season.

More pictures of Edlington Lane here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Yorkshire Main 3-1 Easington United
Att: 55
Admission: £2
Programme: £0.50

Thorne Colliery v Whatton United Saturday 7th May 2011 Black Dragon Premier League

2011-06-14T18:21:00.030+01:00

I'd wanted to go to the Moorends Welfare Ground, home of Thorne Colliery for several years and I finally got the opportunity for the visit of Whatton United. The weather was superb and as I approached the ground there was a cricket match being played on the pitch that was behind the Main Stand.
As I parked up I met up with Neil and Bill, two of the Scarborough Athletic fans that I'd met on the CML Hop at Easington United last season. We made our way past the impressive stand to the "turnstiles". This basically was a gate with a friendly Club official coming over to take our money and show us where the programmes where.

The entrance brings you into the corner of the ground with the only stand to your left.

There is a wide grassy area behind the goal at this end.

The tea hut is also located at this end, painted in the Club colours of blue.

I head towards the only stand in the ground and I have to say how impressive it is. There are benches instead of plastic seats and they run more or less the whole length of the stand, with the criss cross of the steelwork supporting the roof above it.

The brick built dugouts are positioned in front of the stand.

I actually nipped onto the pitch to take a shot of the stand from the centre circle.

After the stand there is a large grassy area leading to the far end of the ground and this is the view looking back to the Main Stand, with the tea hut to the left of the picture and the dressing rooms situated in the brick building in the right of the picture.

The end opposite to the entrance is just a wide grassy area with trees marking the boundary of the ground and a fence separating it from the pitch.

I carry on to the other corner flag and this is the view from there.

The side of the ground opposite the Main Stand consists of the same fencing as the rest of the ground, but the trees are closer to the fence here than at any other point in the ground.

I make my way along this side and meet one of the home officials in the undergrowth searching for a couple of balls, something he tells me is a regular occurrence when the ball goes out on this side of the ground. This brings me back to the end I came in and I notice that on the other container that seems to store the groundsman's equipment there is a Club crest.

The crowd has been swelled by more Scarborough fans before kick off and there is a bit of a scramble for programmes but the very friendly Thorne officials hunt out some spares to make sure that everyone who wanted one has one.
The game starts and considering it is an end of season fixture it is very competitive, no one is on the beach just yet.

Whatton were soon on the attack and had a couple of early chances which went narrowly wide while Thorne had to rely on the counter attack to go forward. It was one of these counter attacks that brought the first goal. The ball was played forward and a mix up between the Whatton keeper and one of his defenders (pictured below) resulted in the ball falling to Thorne's Scott Holmes who put the ball into the back of the net.

This is the shot going into the goal, as you can see no defenders in sight.

I'd become the ball boy at this point as there were no other spectators at this end and I ended up having several chats with the visiting keeper who thanked me every time I retrieved the ball except one. This was because he was flattened by a Thorne player and was down for several minutes with a head injury. To his credit, he got up and carried on without whinging about the challenge. I could not see that happening in the professional game.
Half time arrived with no further score, but it had been a fairly entertaining game.

The second half started with Thorne in the ascendancy and to be honest they dominated the second half for long spells and Whatton had very few chances, which were matched by Thorne substitute keeper Greg Atkinson. Thorne in contrast wasted chance after chance, some of them seemed harder to miss than score.

The second goal eventually arrived with 10 minutes to go. A deep corner was met at the far post by Glen Rafferty who headed home to make it 2-0 to Thorne.

The final whistle went and the win saw Thorne move to 7th in the table, but a whopping 30 points behind champions Yorkshire Main, who Thorne had beaten 4-2 in their previous game.
I have to say that this was a really enjoyable day out and although there was not much to the ground, that Main Stand is one of my favourites and the warm welcome from the Club officials just added to the day.

More pictures of the Moorlands Welfare Ground here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Thorne Colliery 2-0Whatton United
Att: ?
Admission: £2
Programme: £1

Clitheroe v Leigh Genesis Friday 29th April 2011 Evo-Stik Division One North

2011-05-19T13:36:00.026+01:00

Watch the Royal Wedding or go to Shawbridge, home of Clitheroe FC? As you may have guessed, the decision was quickly made and the plan to journey to Lancashire snowballed as Mrs Reynard and Helen are quickly added to the list of travellers. We set off fairly early with the idea of spending a little time at Clitheroe Castle before the game. The views from the Castle are stunning as it towers above the local area with Pendle Hill and the Football ground clearly visible on a lovely sunny day.

After spending a very pleasant time at the Castle we made the short journey to the ground. Now I'd had a look at Google Maps to see the layout around the ground and although there seemed to be a car park at the ground there seemed no obvious way to get to it. On arrival at the ground it was no clearer but there was plenty of street parking available so we parked on the main road nearby. We could make out the entrance to the ground through the trees.

There was a board on the path further down the road advertising the game today.

As we made our way to the turnstiles it became clear why I could not see the road to the car park. There is not one! What there is, is a 8' between the houses and shops which leads to a small cobbled track and onto a small car park which is basically for players and officials. I would advise you to forget about parking here as it was full when we walked up at 2pm and there was not even space for a Leigh director who pulled up as we arrived.

The turnstiles bring you into the ground behind the goal with signs directing you to the various facilities on the wall facing you.

Mrs Reynard and Helen head off to the seats whilst I head anti clockwise to take my tour around the ground. To the right the terrace is a single level running to the corner past the bar.

To the left there is a single step up from the hard standing with some seats and benches dotted about the rear of the stand.

From the corner the standing narrows up before opening up again where the covered terraced stand begins.

There are separate areas of cover along this side although they are fairly closely sited together.It has a five step terrace running the length of the covered section.

Where the cover ends it becomes an open four step terrace running to the corner of the ground.

This brings you to the opposite end of the ground to where we came in. This consists of a covered stand that sits behind the goal and uncovered terracing either side of this. As you can see from the photo below there is a considerable slope on the pitch too, running from the terraced side down to the main stand side.

The stand itself has a four step terrace with some thin blue supports.

The ground narrows down as you approach the corner of the end.

The Main Stand is now in front of you with a wide hard standing area leading to it.

The stand has lovely old fashioned blue seats.

The stand itself has four rows of seats with those nearer the tunnel reserved for officials of both Clubs.

After the stand there is the tunnel which runs between the two dugouts that are situated on this side of the ground. Beyond this is the Blues Grub Tub, a quirky little stand with some bench style seats in it and then the Club Shop, Hospitality Suites and toilets.

Back on this side of the ground you are able to see the Club name and other information on the stand opposite.

Clitheroe were already out of the play offs and Leigh had already been relegated before today's game so I did not know what to expect from the game. However Clitheroe were obviously out to finish the season on a high and we were given a good game to watch.

The game was pretty even early on with Clitheroe probably having the better chances overall. The opening goal came on 27 minutes when Ashley Parillon was brought down by a Leigh defender in the box and Jack Higgins stepped up to put Clitheroe ahead.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 after a superb chip by Eddie Stanford from the edge of the box beat the Leigh keeper. Leigh had a good chance themselves after Steve Ferrigan saw his shot saved and the rebound was put wide by Neil Smith. The half time score was 2-0 to Clitheroe.
There was consternation in the seat next to me at half time when Mrs Reynard realised that the raffle winning numbers were hers! Bottle of red wine and chocolates were the prizes, very nice thank you.

Clitheroe put the pressure on at the start of the second half but it took then until the 68th minute to extend their lead. Chris Smally headed the ball back across the goal where it was met by Jack Higgins to score his second.

Two minutes later it was 4-0 when Ashley Parillon nipped in between hesitant defenders and stabbed the ball home. Another two minutes saw the score go to 5-0 when Rob Turner ran onto a good through ball and was able to lob the advancing keeper.

The rout was completed on 85 minutes with the best goal of the afternoon. Darren Green picked up the ball, went forward and unleashed a superb 25 yard strike that flew past the keeper.

There was no further score and Clitheroe ran out 6-0 winners. An enjoyable game with some good skills on show.
I would definitely recommend a trip to Shawbridge, but take the time to check out the Town itself, with a visit to the Castle well worth the visit.

More pictures of Shawbridge here.

There are more pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Clitheroe 6-0 Leigh Genesis
Att: 264
Admission: £7
Programme: £1.50

Gainsborough Trinity v Alfreton Town Monday 25th April 2011 Blue Square Bet North

2011-04-30T23:59:00.021+01:00

I wanted to stay fairly local over the Bank Holiday weekend, so on Saturday I had gone to Barton where it was nice to meet up with John, a hopper from York who I had first met at Brodsworth a couple of seasons back. I decided on a return visit to Gainsborough Trinity for today's game, a venue I've been to several times over the years but I'd never taken any pictures of. Today's visitors were Alfreton who had sealed the Championship on Saturday.
I am able to park up within sight of Northolme and had a very short walk to the ground.

I make my way around the outside of the ground and there are a good number of visiting fans about. There is a very smart sign advertising today's game at the corner of the ground at the apex of the roads there.

There are no turnstiles open at this side of the ground and so I carry on around the outside until I reach the far corner where I eventually find the turnstiles open.

The entrance brings you into the ground in the corner with a long covered terrace directly in front of you with another covered terrace to your left which is behind the goal. There is a tea hut in this corner too but I head off to my left to go on my journey around the ground. The covered terrace has smart blue crush barriers running the whole length and gives you a good view of the action.

As you reach the corner there is the Club shop and some open terracing to the corner. As you turn onto the side of the ground there are a couple of buildings, one of which is another bar, but is not open today, and another seems to be a hospitality unit. This then leads to the Main Stand which has two levels of seating and is an impressive looking stand.

The dugouts are situated either side of the stand and the ground opens out after it with a toilet block and another turnstile block.

There is a small terraced area before you reach the corner of this side of the ground with more blue crush barriers. The opposite end to where I came in is a large uncovered terrace which I always think looks really impressive and reminds me of how grounds looked when I first started going to games.

I really like this terrace and I do not apologise for putting a second picture of it on here.

This brings me back to the opposite end of the covered terrace that faced me as I entered the ground. It has a wide walkway along the bottom, with the ubiquitous blue barrier running it's length with a five step covered terrace beyond this. Once again it gives a good view of the action and is most impressive.

The back of the Supporter's Club bar, toilets and as I've already mentioned, the tea hut are found at the end of this stand. It also gives you a good view of the Main Stand across the pitch. There are four floodlight pylons in each corner with two more situated on either side of the half way line on both sides of the ground. Proper floodlights, not seen so often at modern grounds!

The game kicks off in glorious sunshine with Alfreton making eight changes from the side that won on Saturday, but there are still a few well known faces amongst their team, including Daryl Clare. Trinity start the game well but are unable to create many clear cut chances.

Alfreton break the deadlock on 26 minutes when Anthony Wilson scores with a spectacular overhead kick which I nearly caught in the photo below. Pity the ball is not in the shot!

Trinity huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser but found the Alfreton defence hard to beat. Wilson scored his second goal on 42 minutes with a good header from a corner by Ian Ross.
This was the half time score and to be honest it was game over for me as Trinity did not look they would get a goal. They began the second half in similar fashion to the first but again could not find a way past the resolute Alfreton defence.

Jake Moult added a third for Alfreton on 65 minutes to seal the victory, again following good play from a corner. The game saw more chances for both teams but there was no further score and Alfreton ran out comfortable winners of the game.
Northolme is a lovely ground to watch football at and if you have the chance, go, but I cannot guarantee the same glorious weather that I enjoyed.

There was a sad postscript to the game. I'd been talking to an Alfreton fan during the first half and he expalined why the travelling support was a bit muted,something which I'd noted, especially as they had just won the title. An Alfreton fan had collapsed before the game in a local pub and was well known amongst their support and so there was an air of concern for him. Sadly I later read on the Alfreton site, that supporter Graham Jones died. Sincere condolences are sent to all Graham's family and friends. RIP.

More pictures of Northolme here.

There are pictures of the ground, action and the fans her e.

Gainsborough Trinity 0-3 Alfreton Town
Att: 474
Admission: £10
Programme: £2

Ryton v Billingham Synthonia Saturday 9th April 2011 Northern League Division One

2011-04-12T10:22:00.024+01:00

I arrive at Ryton's Kingsley Park ground in plenty of time for kick off although I miss my second entrance to a ground today. At least I'm consistent!

There is a Clubhouse in front of you as you head towards the turnstile and behind this there is an impressive Astroturf Pitch which the Club hires out. The turnstiles bring you into the ground nearly level with the half way line. The first thing you notice is that you are above the level of the pitch. To your right is a terraced area of the Clubhouse which is already in good use with supporters of Billingham. All the facilities are in the Clubhouse building.

To the right of the entrance on this side are the "bus Shelters". There are five of these painted in the Club colours of black and blue and vary in size.

Just past the shelters is the tea hut from which I later have a superb burger and which also runs out of food before half time! After this there is a tarmacked slope down to the end of the ground which houses the seated stand. There is also a single row of seats before this stand, very unusual.

At this corner you can see the different levels of the ground and below the shelter level there is a hard standing area with a rail running along the length of the pitch only interrupted by the dugouts. There is a wall which also runs the length of the pitch and this area looks really smart.

As I said, this end has the seated stand situated there directly behind the goal. There is a covered section which looks like the seats have been added to with an unusual steel framework. There is also a net in front of the whole seating section to stop wayward balls.

The hard standing and railing continues after the stand down to the corner and one thing that is noticeable as I make my around the ground is how tidy and well kept the ground is. All the grass areas have been cut and it makes the ground look really good. The far side of the ground has two covered standing areas, with the larger one sited more or less level with the penalty box of the goal at this end and the other astride the half way line.

There is a strip of hard standing running the whole length of the pitch together with the white railing. There are three floodlight pylons at intervals along this side too.

I carry on to the other end of the ground where the hard standing, white rail combo is in place.

This returns you to the Club house side of the ground with a narrow path and wall back towards the dugouts and Clubhouse steps.

So to the game. Ryton have only won once this season, way back in August and have only picked up two points at home this season. Their problems arose when promised sponsorship money failed to arrive and after the management were dismissed all but one of the players left. So I have to be honest and admit that I was expecting a Billingham win. However, that script was soon torn up when Ryton's Chris McCabe fired home after 12 minutes.

The Synners had a couple of attacks before they equalised on 25 minutes when a good cross from the right was met by James Macgowan who put his header back across the goal and into the corner of the net. Both teams continued to have chances and this was developing into an evenly contested game with plenty of chances.

The start to the second half was simply sensational with Ryton coming out with real determination. On 49 minutes they retook the lead when Robert Frame scored at the second attempt. Two minutes later it was 3-1. Chris McCabe collected the ball, cut inside and finished well. Ryton were now on top and playing with confidence. On 63 minutes a shot from Liam Hudson was saved by the Synners keeper but the loose ball ran to Chris McCabe who shot and scored to complete his hat trick. Billingham tried to get back into the game and had several chances but Ryton's defence kept them at bay with a combination of resolute defending and some luck.

Amazingly it was Ryton who scored the next goal on 79 minutes when young striker Dan Wilson found himself in space inside the box and calmly slotted the ball past the keeper. 5-1! This was not what I had expected. But the game was not finished yet. Billingham, to their credit, went forward again eventually reducing the deficit on 87 minutes when James Macgowan who put his header past the Ryton keeper. Incredibly, a minute later it was 5-3 as Macgowan completed his hat trick with yet another header. Ryton were under the cosh for the remaining time but were able to hold out for a fantastic win which was met with a terrific cheer when the final whistle was blown.

Ryton is a nice ground and combined with seeing their first home win of the season made it a great visit.

More pictures of Kingsley Park here.

Ryton 5-3 Billingham Synthonia
Att: 103
Admission: £5
Programme: £1

Whickham v Washington Saturday 9th April 2011 Northern League Division Two

2011-04-11T19:34:00.021+01:00

It's Northern League Day and so I head off up the A1 to to the frozen wastes of the north east. Except it's sunny and the whole day is blessed with sunshine! The first game of the day is at The Glebe Sports Ground, home to Whickham, winners of the FA Vase in 1981. The satnav takes me to the ground with no fuss, except I miss the turn into the car park! A quick u-turn and I'm parked up. It's just a little walk from here to the turnstile.

Going into the ground you have the Social Club to your left, the only stand and other facilities to your right and the pitch's touchline length ways in front of you with the cricket pitch to the left of this. I turn to my right to take a look at the stand.

The Club name is picked out on the front of it in big bold letters. The "seats" in the stand are actually benches and they look absolutely brilliant. Highly varnished with the numbers of the seat picked out in white paint on them.

I have a quick chat to a Whitley Bay fan who is here before going on to their game later on. Just after the stand there is a hospitality building and further on is the tea hut with it's own sign.

This brings you to the corner of the ground and there is a thin strip of hard standing behind the railings with a further area of grass running to the boundary fence. The dugouts are also situated on this side of the ground.

There are four very tall floodlight pylons, one in each corner and it was one of these that I got my first view when approaching the ground.

I reach the end opposite the end I came in and when you get here you can see the slope.

From the top corner you can see the hospitality room and the cafe.

As I mentioned, this side of the ground is next to the cricket club pitch and there is only a railing running the full length of the pitch but no hard standing as this would interfere with the cricket pitch. It is also on this side of the ground that the majority of the crowd stand for the game with the sun at their backs.

The game kicks off in glorious sunshine and I'm not sure if this has an influence on the game but it is pretty dour. Whickham waste a couple of early chances with Washington on the back foot early on. A little way into the game a locals asks me if I'm with the groundhoppers and we get talking. Jim is his name and he turns out to be an absolute gentleman. We spend the half happily chatting about all things football as we watch the game.

The only goal of the half comes when a Washington bundles the ball into his own net under pressure from a Whickham forward. Half time arrives with no further score and I head off to the Corner Flag Cafe for a coffee. Jim then buys me my coffee which was very kind of him. He tells a few of his mates in there I've come up from Cleethorpes and there are also 5 hoppers from Nottingham in there too and we all have a good chat about the day.

To be honest the second half is not much better than the first but the time flies past in the company of Jim. Chances are few and far between and Whickham do not build upon their lead. To be fair, Washington do play better this half but also struggle to create too many chances.

Washington equalised when they attacked down the right and when the ball was played across the entire Whickham defence had disappeared leaving Brett Turner to turn the ball home unchallenged. The game petered out and it never looked likely that the score would change. Indeed, 1-1 was the final score. I bid farewell to Jim, a pleasure to meet you. Unlike my previous double at Northwich/Witton there is no desperate rush to get to Ryton and so I'm able to take my time leaving.
This has been a good start to the day and whilst the game may not have been the best, it's a smashing ground and the welcome as always in the Northern League, was very friendly.

More picture of the Glebe Sports Ground here.

Whickham 1-1 Washington
Att: 106
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.00

Northern League Day 9th April 2011

2011-04-04T11:22:00.002+01:00

Ok, I've mentioned it before, but I'd just like to remind you that this event is this coming Saturday. The guys behind the day have persuaded two teams to get up early on Saturday morning and so Whickham v Washington is an 11.30am kick off, giving you the opportunity of a double on the day. I've replicated the idea behind the day below, so I hope some of you might be able to support the day. See you there.

"Inspired by the nationwide success of last September’s Non-League Day, the first ever Northern League Day will take place at the traditional kick-off time of 3 o’clock on Saturday 9th April 2011.

With Middlesbrough at Sheffield United and Newcastle United playing in the lunchtime televised fixture away at Aston Villa the following day, we hope as many fans as possible will turn out to support their local non-league football teams.

WHERE?

We’ll be at Ryton (bottom of Division One at the time of writing with three points from thirty games and a goal difference of minus one hundred and three). After promised sponsorship money failed to materialise in the summer, Ryton had to sack their management team and every single player except one followed them out of the club. £5 of your money here would go a very long way. They play Billingham Synthonia, where Brian Clough started his career and perhaps the only club in world football to be named after an agricultural fertiliser. The nearest train station to Ryton is Wylam (15 minutes from Central Station), home of the famous Boathouse Inn. Remember when you could enjoy a Saturday afternoon out with your mates, watch a game of football and have a couple of beers for a tenner? You still can."

There is more information at the website set up for the day here.

Witton Albion v Skelmersdale United Saturday 26th March 2011 Evo-Stik Division One North

2011-03-28T19:19:00.018+01:00

So as you saw from the Northwich entry, the game had already started when I arrived back at Wincham Park, but fortunately I’d only missed a minute or so of the action and no goals. As I’d anticipated that it would be tight to get back to Witton’s ground and take my photos I’d decided that I would head there in the morning to see if I could get in and take them before I headed to Northwich’s ground.
As I enter the car park I spot the sight that brings joy to all ground hoppers hearts, an open gate! There is a car parked outside so I’m fairly sure that I’ll find someone inside to ask if it’s ok to take some photos. In fact there are several people inside and I’m told that if I’m coming to the game later that I am more than welcome to wander round the ground. One of them turns out to be the groundsman and I have a nice chat to him about the Club, the ground and the pitch. He heads off to carry on with his work and I start to make my way around the ground. I entered the ground where the main stand is situated, which is to my left.
I head to my right and make my way anti clockwise around the ground. Behind the goal to the right there is a six step terrace with a covered area behind the goal.
There is a sign at the back of the stand which announces that this is the “John Yarwood Terrace”, dedicated to a former Director and benefactor of the Club.

As you reach the corner there is a toilet block and a snack bar (although it was not open today).

There is also a turnstile block in this corner. The grounds man also told me that he had opened the gate to the practice pitch and that I could have a look at it. I went outside to have a look and the pitches are very impressive. They certainly have more grass on them than Championship side Scunthorpe’s Glanford Park!

I go back into the ground and carry on my journey. There is another six step terrace running the whole length of the ground. There is an identical covered section to the one behind the goal and is situated astride the half way line.

Two thirds of the way down there is fencing across the terrace with a gate that can be shut in case segregation is required.

This brings you to the end terrace which is basically identical to the opposite end.

In this corner there is another toilet block and just after the turnstiles, another tea hut, which I find open on my return to the ground. One nice touch all around the ground is the use of the Club badge on all the signs including the toilets.

This brings you back to the impressive main stand which is all seated.

In the centre of this stand are the press box, medical centre and Stadium Control Room. There is also an entrance into the Social Club here too. I notice the grounds man looking for me and I guess I may have outstayed my welcome. I head towards him expecting to be kicked out so he can get on with his job only to be told that he is going to take me into the dressing rooms and Boardroom! Great stuff. I’m introduced to the kit man who politely informs me that I will not be taking his photo. I’m shown into the home dressing room where all the kit is already hung up for the game.

We then move onto the Boardroom which had memorabilia hanging on the walls. Then onto the impressive Social Club. After this we are outside where I am shown the shortcut over the river to Northwich’s ground. I decide to leave the car here and I’m shown to a parking space near the turnstiles I will exit. This has been a great experience and I’m really grateful to the volunteer staff of Witton Albion for allowing me the access to the ground.

I have to say that this game was a vast improvement on the first game of the day. Witton had the early chances with one chance wasted as the ball flew over the bar. Their best chance came on 20 minutes when a shot from Ennis hit the foot of the post and ran along the goal line before being cleared. After this Skelmersdale gradually took control of the game and started to create the better chances. The only goal of the game came on 44 minutes when Shaun Tuck was played in and after beating the defender calmly placed the ball past the keeper.

At half time I made my way to the Club Shop/Museum in the corner of the ground. This is well worth a visit with plenty of memorabilia on display charting the history of Witton Albion.

In the second half Witton found it hard to break down the Skelmersdale defence and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score.

The only dampener for Skelmersdale came very late on in the game. A ball was played through the Witton defence and after a tangle of legs Karl Donnelly was left on the ground. O’Donnell immediately gestured for assistance, keeping his leg firmly placed on the ground. There was a lengthy delay while he was attended to and unfortunately I found out later he had a broken fibia. I hope he speedy recovery and I wish him all the best for the future.

I have to say that I liked Witton’s ground more than Northwich which is too new to have the character of Wincham Park. A long day, but the welcome from Witton made it worthwhile.

More pictures of Wincham Park here.

Witton Albion 0-1 Skelmersdale United

Att: 343

Admission: £8.50

Programme: £2

Northwich Victoria v Ossett Town Saturday 26th March 2011 Evo-Stik Premier Division

2011-03-28T15:40:00.024+01:00

I decided on a double header for today taking in both Northwich Victoria and Witton Albion, whose grounds are very close together. As you will see from my report on Witton later, I'd already been to Wincham Park to take my photos of the ground. Leaving Witton's ground I made use of the path pointed out to me which leads you to a small wooden bridge over the water that seperates the two grounds and which is the shortest route between the two grounds. I would not neccessarily recommend this path for a night game or if the weather was extremely wet but in todays conditions I had no problems. The Victoria Stadium is just to the right as you come over the bridge.

This route takes you past the bar area, the main entrance and the Club shop (which was not open as I went past it, only an hour before kick off). I wander past this large stand and head towards the car entrance to take a few shots.

As I head back to the ground I go to the ticket office as everyone has to buy a ticket before you enter the ground.

I head to the right of the ticket office to find an open entrance to the ground. There are not many people about and not many turnstiles are open either. I end up at the far end of the ground and enter the ground through the Dane Bank Stand entrance.

This brings me into the ground in the corner with the huge Dane Bank terrace to my right and a large one level standing area behind the goal in front of me.

Here is the vast Dane Bank terrace.

I carry on to the standing area behind the goal and at the far end there are toilet facilities but not much else other than crush barriers at the front of the standing area. As you reach the corner there is nothing to stop you heading towards the seated Victoria Stand.

The stand has 1,180 seats and the Clubs initials are picked out in the green seats.

Parked up against the side of the stand was the Official Supporters Tour Bus!

Looking back from this corner you can see that the ground is situated on an industrial estate, with old industry as can be seen behind the stand and newer, modern industrial units near the entrance/exit to the ground.

I head back to the Dane Stand, the huge terrace which was brought from the Vics old ground, Drill Field. I walk up the steps to take a few shots.

I walk along the terrace to the other end which is basically a carbon copy of the end I came in, an uncovered flat terrace. This is used for the away fans with the Dane Stand also available for them too, as it can be segregated when necessary. There was no segregation today, I think there were only a few Ossett fans here, although they did use the uncovered terrace in the second half.

Now, normally I would give you a bit of a match summary at this point. But I have to be honest and tell you that this game was garbage. I got the impression that neither team had met their teamates before today, as the passes by both teams seemed to miss their intended target so many times! Northwich had the majority of possession but did not really threaten the Ossett goal often enough.

Ossett created the better chances on the day but some poor finishing kept the game goalless. It looked like being a 0-0 for most of the game. But on 84 minutes an Ossett free kick was only parried by the Vics keeper Spencer and substitute David Boardman pounced on the loose ball to fire home.

With no further score Ossett secured the three points and the Vics fans were very unhappy with their teams performance.
I just have one final comment to make about this game. It kicked off 2 or 3 minutes late which made my journey back to Witton a little bit tight, especially after the ref found 5 minutes additional time to add on at the end of the second half for one short injury and four substitutions. To compound matters, the official at the Witton game either kicked off dead on three or earlier as when I look at my watch inside Wincham Lane it is one minute past three and the game has started. Nothing like consistency is there!

More pictures of The Victoria Ground here.

There are pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Northwich Victoria 0-1 Ossett Town
Att: 277
Admission: £10
Programme: £2

Rossendale United v Formby Saturday 19th March 2011 Vodkat League Premier Division

2011-03-21T10:12:00.026Z

I recently totted up how many grounds I had been to and was surprised to find that I was closing in on the 200 mark. Now I know this is small fry in the world of hopping, but I wanted to make ground number 200 a decent one, not a new build. So looking for a ground with a bit of character, I decided on Dark Lane, home of Rossendale United.

This was also a new League for me too after my aborted trip to Holker last year. The ground is fairly easy to find and although the car park is limited in spaces we have no trouble in parking up. The ground has a ramshackle appearance on the outside, just as I like them, plenty of character and I'm confident I've made the right choice of ground for today.

The turnstiles are situated in the corner of the car park and they bring you into the ground in the corner with a covered terraced stand in front of you with the main stand to the left.

The setting for the ground is stunning with some beautiful countryside beyond the limits of the perimeter fencing. There is a table selling raffle tickets and another selling programmes as you enter where I am mistaken for a Manchester City fan before apologies are offered when they realise I am not. We spend a few minutes talking about the ground and they inform me that it can be pretty cold in the winter with the ground being very open to the elements. Fortunately for us the weather today is pretty good and not very cold. We carry on to make our way anti clockwise around the ground.
The terraced stand has three steps with the top step a wide one to the back of the stand. There is a crush barrier running along the first step in the first section which runs to half way behind the goal.

There is a small dividing wall half way along with a gap at the top to enter the second section of the stand. This becomes a four step terrace with no crush barrier.

Once past this terraced section the ground narrows as you go towards the corner and a very smart blue fence runs from this stand right down to the other corner on this side. You can see the views from this picture too.

The far side of the ground has hard standing running down it's length with a well tended grassy area behind it running to the fence.

There are two large dugouts situated on this side too and this picture gives you sneak preview of the main stand.

This brings you to the opposite end to where we came in . There is hard standing running the entire length with a basic cover which also runs the entire end. The blue fencing ends a little way along and there is then a variety of fencing, trees and bushes.

This is a more general view of the end from the side of the ground.

Leaving this end brings to the side of the ground with the impressive looking main stand.

The ground widens up again on this side with hard standing running to the stand and a grassy area up to the fence.

There is access to the seats on the end of the stand and there is a terraced area in front of the seats with the entrance to the dressing rooms half way down the stand.

We go up the steps to take a look at the seated area. The "seats" are in fact long benches with the seat numbers painted on with a line separating each seat. Very old school and fantastic to see.

At this point we meet a Club official who is due to man the tannoy system. He asks us why we are here and where we've travelled from. We explain what we are doing here and he goes on tell us the Club are having problems at the moment financially but how they are hoping to get through them. A really nice guy and very friendly.
There is another section of seating in the centre of the stand for Directors and officials with another section of benches after this.

After the stand there is some uncovered terracing with a couple of portacabins at the back of it.

Neither of today's two teams are doing too well in the Vodkat Premier with Rossendale in 21st and Formby in 20th in a league of 22 teams, so this was the cliche six pointer. The game began fairly scrappy with both teams struggling to hang onto the ball. Formby had plenty of possession but it was Rossendale who were creating the best chances.

On 19 minutes the ball broke to Rossendale's Stephen Burke who found himself one on one with the keeper and calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the net. Formby lost their way briefly and began arguing over every decision which did no help their cause. Rossendale used this to their advantage and looked likely to score more but some good defensive work by Formby kept them at bay. Formby gradually worked their way back into the game and got their reward on 37 minutes when good interplay between Robinson and Stancombe resulted in a low shot that beat the Rossendale keeper from Stancombe. Formby also hit the woodwork before half time but there was no further score and so we went in level at the break.

Early in the second half Formby's King was shown the red card after a reckless challenge leaving Rossendale with the advantage. However Formby galvanised themselves and looked very solid at the back and were even pressing forward making light of their disadvantage. Formby were awarded a free kick just outside the Rossendale box and when it was cleared the danger looked over. But Jack Sinnott picked it up 25 yards out and hit a superb half volley which dipped over the keeper and into the net. Formby still went forward and Rossendale were finding it hard to create anything. But on 74 minutes they had their equaliser. Rossendale exploited their man advantage and some good passing play resulted in Burke being found unmarked on the edge of the box and he found the back of the net for the second time.

They were not level for long though. Formby immediately went on the attack from kick off and Robinson surged into the box only to be brought down by the keeper and the penalty was awarded. Phil Stafford stepped up and put away a good penalty to restore Formby's lead. Formby's players continued to work hard and this made it very hard for Rossendale to get any sort of game going. Formby saw out the 4 minutes additional time to secure a vital win in the relegation battle and deal a blow to Rossendale's own hopes of survival.

An enjoyable game and a superb ground made for a good day out and I would recommend you to make a visit to Dark Lane in the near future.

More pictures of Dark Lane here.

There are pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Rossendale United 2-3 Formby
Att: 84
Admission: £5
Programme: £0.50

Northern League Day 9th April 2011

2011-03-16T11:49:00.003Z

I'd just like to bring your attention to Northern League Day which has been scheduled for Saturday 9th April 2011. Here are the idea and reasons behind the day:

"Inspired by the nationwide success of last September’s Non-League Day, the first ever Northern League Day will take place at the traditional kick-off time of 3 o’clock on Saturday 9th April 2011.

WHERE?

There is more information at the website set up for the day here.

This is a great idea and I hope that some of you may be able to make the day, you never know, you might even get to meet me, but don't let that put you off!

There are other games to go to on the day if you do not fancy Ryton and you can check these out the Northern League Day website or the official Northern League website.

See you there!

Parkgate v Thackley Saturday 12th March 2011 NCEL Premier

2011-03-14T19:07:00.023Z

The weather had put paid to a couple of visits to new grounds, so my football fix came via following Grimsby Borough at home to Emley and away to Louth Town. So this Saturday the weather was good and so the world was my oyster. After a bit of consideration I decided upon Parkgate's home game to Thackley, a top of the table clash, 3rd versus 7th in the table. Now today saw me have a pang of pain missing going to see the Foxes as I saw the supporters buses turning off the M180 heading to Glanford Park as I headed on towards Rotherham. Ah well, just have to settle for the updates from Mrs who would be attending the game with our daughter.

Parkgate's ground was not too hard to find but I did miss the turn off despite seeing the sign for the golf club that is next to it. A quick double back and I headed down the lane leading to the ground. There is a large car park but it was fairly full due to the golfers who were taking advantage of the decent weather. As you enter the car park the golf course is to the left and the ground is reached by walking a little way uphill to the right.

This takes you past the Roundwood Pavillion which houses the changing rooms, bar and other facilities, and it is here you have come back to if you want the toilet as there are none in the ground. The path continues past the Pavillion and onto the turnstile.

You enter the ground at one end more or less level with the left hand edge of the 18 yard box. I head to the left as I enter, but as you can see, it is not possible to go all round the ground today.

The hedge runs all the way down the side of the pitch and there is a drop towards the bottom of it and on the other side of it it drops away more steeply to another pitch outside of the ground. One thing that struck me was how good the pitch looked, a fact pointed out to me by the Parkgate manager as he made his way onto the pitch. Apparently Rotherham United also use the pitch and their groundsman spends some time here looking after it. Immediately behind where I took the picture above is the entrance to the ground from the dressing rooms and this gives you an idea of the elevated position of the ground.

This is the view from the same position looking back to where I came in, you can see the blue turnstile door and the hard standing does not go all the way to the corner.

Heading back to where I came in brings you the only cover in the ground. The first area is a terraced section with a couple of benches at the back three crush barriers on the top step.

There is then a brick tea hut with protective fencing in front of it to stop wayward shots knocking your tea out of your hand. This in turn leads to the seated area where the first few seats are not covered but the rest have a roof in place after this.

The hard standing continues after this and takes you to the side of the ground that has a two step terrace running most of it's length but with another broad step near the dugouts.

This is a view looking back at the end where you enter from the terracing.

Here's a picture of the three step terracing. As you can see, the houses behind cause the hard standing to narrow up, but you can access the end behind the goal.

Behind the goal there is a narrow strip of hard standing that runs the length of the end with a breeze block wall separating it from the pitch. There is a wide grassy area behind the hard standing.

This is the view from the end of the ground looking back at the terraced side with the dugouts in front.

And so to the game. Parkgate get off to a flying start and are 1-0 up after only three minutes. Chris Wood was alert as the ball bounced around and put his header over Bower in the Thackley goal. At this stage it was all Parkgate with Thackley struggling to keep them at bay. Thackley's first real chance came after 25 minutes when a fierce shot from Josh McLean just failed to find the target. I thought they were going to equalise on 30 minutes when a superb shot from Ross Daly was heading for the top corner only for James Jenkinson to pull off a great save to deny him.

The game was now literally end to end with chances for both sides but there was no further scoring before the end of the half.

Thackley started the second half as brightly as Parkgate had the first but it took them 6 minutes to get their equaliser. Nickey Mathews' shot found it's way past a crowd of players to level the game. Parity did not last long. A ball into the box found Ashley Worsfold unmarked and a clever header found the net. Thackley responded straight away and a header from Rob Morgan from a corner only just went past the post. Parkgate went straight up the other end and a good cross from Tom Jowitt was met by Woods who headed over the advancing keeper to make it 3-1 after 62 minutes.

Six minutes later it was 4-1. After good work by sub Grant Allott, whose lob beat the keeper but came back off the underside of the bar, another shot from Allott was parried by the keeper and after a scramble Wood completed his hat-trick by putting away the loose ball. This looked like it was all over for Thackley but to their credit they continued to go forward and were rewarded on 80 minutes when Higmaan ran in at the far post to lash the ball home. Five minutes later Thackley had the ball in the net again but this one was ruled out for offside and with it went their chance to get something from the game. A really entertaining match.
The Green Lane ground is a pretty basic venue but the welcome was very warm and the entertainment good and I would recommend it for a visit.

More pictures of Roundwood Pavillion here.

There are pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Parkgate 4-2 Thackley
Att: 83
Admission: £5
Programme: £1.20

Boston Town v Raunds Town Saturday 26th February 2010 UCL Premier Division

2011-02-28T10:31:00.032Z

After having kept an eye on the fixtures all morning, my chosen game had a pitch inspection at 11am which was duly passed and so I headed down to Tattershall Road on the A16 through the Lincolnshire countryside.

I arrived at the ground in a very heavy downpour and the car park was full of very large puddles which started me worrying about the game even starting. After 10 minutes or so the downpour abated and I headed into the ground.

The entrance brings you into the ground with the pitch mainly to the right of the entrance. I decide to head to my right, which consists of a wide hard standing are with the Clubhouse and other facilities at the back of it.

Having reached the corner I stepped onto the pitch to take a photo of the corner flag, which has the Club name and the year they were established on it. A very nice touch.

The far side of the ground has a fair bit of development going on and is not yet finished. There is a strip of hard standing running the entire length of this side together with a railing. The first structure you come to is a roofed section supported by wooden beams which give it a unique look. The hard standing under it is rough and ready and some of it is taped off but most importantly it is dry!

Beyond this is a raised set of seating with the roof supports in place but no roof as of yet. Believe it or not, there were no takers for these seats today.

As I reach the corner I meet Pete, who tells me about the new stand being built by the Club members themselves. Pete also tells me about the history of the Club, the pitches either side of the ground, the current problems with the lease and about his lovely wife Pam, (who I will meet later), who seems to run the place. These are the people who enable people like myself attend games and we should be grateful to them all. Here is Pete:

The pitch behind this side of the ground was hosting a Lincolnshire league game Pete informed me, but I failed to get a photo as the officials came over and were talking to Pete and I forgot to take the shot!
I carry on to the end opposite where you enter the ground which has a new section if seats in an older stand which gives a great contrast and a bit of character.

There is hard standing leading to the stand and the trees which can be seen behind this stand and indeed all around this side of the ground belong to the Witham Way Country Park, the entrance to which is next to the ground.

Here is a close up view of the seats.

The next side of the ground has a large covered terrace running most of it's length and the dug outs are situated in front of the stand.

This consists of hard standing, then a wide step up and a final step, at which level the finish is wood, very unusual.

Behind this stand there is another pitch and it was here that the two teams warmed up before the game, saving the pitch from unnecessary wear and tear.

This brings you back to the corner near to where we came in and the dressing rooms are situated here.

I see Pete heading towards me and he introduces his companion as Simon Ashberry whose book on the history of Boston, "Come and sit with us", I'd asked him about. I arranged with Simon for him to send one to me and had a chat about his other team Bradford City (where he is based). I shall look forward to reading the book.
So to the game. By kick off the wind and rain had returned as you can see from the picture below.

The weather worsened within seconds of the picture above and now there was hail mixed in with the rain. The dugouts emptied into the stand and even at the very back we were still getting wet as the strong wind blew it under the cover. After two minutes the referee signalled for the players to leave the pitch. Almost as quick as it blew up, the weather calmed off. This enabled the game to resume but although the pitch was playable it was very muddy. Both sides made a good effort considering to try and play passing football and this made for an entertaining game. Boston were on top and had some good chances but Raunds looked capable of scoring on the break.

Boston started to take a real grip on the game and looked more and more likely to score. However some good saves from the Raunds keeper kept the game scoreless. But there was nothing he could do on 35 minutes when a good cross from Parker was met by Borbely who headed home.

Raunds struggled to contain Boston for the next five minutes but withstood the onslaught to actually go forward themselves but with no real end result.

The half time whistle blew with Boston leading 1-0 and I headed off for a cuppa. When I get there Pete is there and introduces me to Pam who modestly denies she runs everything. Pete very kindly bought me my hot drink, which was extremely kind of him and I'd just like to thank him for the gesture again. Here's Pam:

The sun was actually shining at this point and I decided to take my drink to the seats at the other end of the ground. As I went to sit down the heavens opened again and the Raunds subs who had been warming up in the goal quickly joined us in the stand. It can only be described as a squall as the wind picked up again and hale and rain battered Tattershall Road. A couple of the subs made a dash to the side stand and you can see the conditions for yourselves.

The start to the second half was delayed to wait for the squall to blow over which it eventually did. Boston came out first and their keeper was not impressed with what he found in the goal that I was sat behind.

The referee came out to inspect the pitch but it seemed pretty certain that I would see no more football today. After five minutes and plenty of discussion the match was abandoned. I made my way towards the exit taking a couple of more shots of the pitch and technical areas.

So, a disappointing end to my visit to Tattershall Road, but it was still one of my most enjoyable days out this season. A smashing ground, very quirky and individual. A really friendly greeting from the Club from the gate to the groundsman. A very big thank you to Pete especially who made the day special and also to Pam and Simon, both of whom were a pleasure to meet. I think I'll be back for the re-arranged game.

More pictures of Tattershall Road here.

There are pictures of the ground, action and the fans here.

Boston Town A-A Raunds Town
(1-0 to Boston; abandoned at half time)
Admission: £5
Programme: £1

Hemsworth Miners Welfare v Barton Town Old Boys Saturday 12th February 2011 NCEL Division One

2011-02-14T11:11:00.024Z

A late change of venue for today saw me heading for the Fitzwilliam Stadium for the clash between Hemsworth, nicknamed the Wells, and Barton. The ground is situated well off the main road through Fitzwilliam but Google maps came to my rescue again and as I had a good idea of the layout of the area I had no difficulty finding it.

There is a cricket pitch before you reach the ground and a car park is situated behind the Clubhouse of the football club. The entrance to the ground is situated to the right end of the car park.

The entrance brings you into the ground about a third of the way down from the right hand goal. The Clubhouse containing the dressing rooms, bar, tea bar is to the left. To the right there is a portacabin which is used for hospitality and also has a hatch at the entrance end selling programmes.

I head off to the right to make my way around the ground. This is the view of that end from just past the half way line.

Behind the goal there is a narrow strip of hard standing with a well maintained grassy area and hedge behind that with a white railing running the length of the end.

The other side of the ground to where you come in has a wider strip of hard standing with a breeze block wall and a netting system to keep the ball in the ground.

On this side you will also find the impressive dug outs.

You have to go round the back of this structure to carry on round the ground and this then brings you to the seated stand.

There are three floodlight pylons down this side and after the seating stand there is more hard standing and grassy area to the corner. This is the view looking back from the corner.

This end has hard standing and a larger grassy area with a panel fencing behind this.

This is another view of the seated stand and dugouts side of the ground from this end.

This then brings you back to the Clubhouse side of the ground and this is the view from the corner looking towards the bar end of the Clubhouse.

So to the game. Now, I have a confession to make. I arrived a lot later than I normally do for a game and my picture taking distracted me from the teams warming up. I positioned myself for some action photos as the game kicked off. So this is my excuse for totally mixing the two teams up for the first few minutes of the game. It was only after I'd taken a few shots, and I looked at the "Barton" defence I realised I did not recognise anyone. A quick look round soon established who was who. Whoops!

Barton dominated the opening spell of the game and had several chances to take the lead. After about 15 minutes Wells started to find their feet on the heavy pitch and created a couple of chances themselves which were wasted. On 22 minutes the Gareth Barlow show started. He picked the ball up on the left edge of the box and curled a great shot into the right hand corner of the goal. 1-0 to Barton, which on the balance of play they deserved.

Wells almost equalised when a good cross from Eastwood was met by Lee Dawson who put his header straight at the keeper. The pitch was proving difficult to play on and the game was fairly scrappy for the rest of the half with no further goals.

The second half started with Wells having a better start than the first half and they had a shot which hit the post. Barton's second goal came on 66 minutes. Mark Griffin played in Barlow who took one touch before firing home. On 73 minutes Walstow could only parry Northen's shot and Barlow pounced on the loose ball to fire in from close range and complete his hat trick.

Wells pulled back a goal from the penalty spot on 85 minutes after Hayward was fouled and John Impey scored an excellent penalty. The Wells players and coaches had been unhappy with the officials all afternoon and this eventually flared up. One of the Barton coaches stopped a Wells player from taking a throw in and in the melee that followed Wells' Haywood receiving a second yellow. However it was Barlow who was to the final say. In the 90th minute Phil Jackman picked out the unmarked Barlow who scored at the second attempt to take his tally to four for the afternoon.
A decent game despite the heavy pitch and on the day Barton thoroughly deserved the win.

More pictures of The Fitzwilliam Stadium here.

Hemsworth Miners Welfare 1-4 Barton Town Old Boys
Att: 70
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.50

Goole AFC V Sheffield Saturday 5th February 2011 Evo-Stik Division One South

2011-02-06T14:57:00.024Z

I've been to The Victoria Pleasure Ground before for a pre-season friendly and before I had a digital camera, so I've wanted to revisit to get some better photos. The weather was a lot greyer than the hot summers day of my previous visit and it was to get worse as the day progressed.

There is plenty of street parking around the ground and I am able to park virtually outside the turnstiles, which was especially handy after the game in the heavy rain that was falling.

The turnstiles bring you into the ground with the tea hut, Club shop and toilets to your left. In front of you the main stand with a terraced area and seats is in front of you. The pitch is to the right with another covered terrace opposite the main stand and a running track all the way around the ground.

I decide to go clockwise around the ground and so I head towards the main stand which is made up of a fairly large covered terrace and two lots of seating situated either side of the tunnel. The terraced area is arrived at first and is a good size with crush barriers situated at the front and halfway up.

After this is the first lot of seating with two rows of plastic tip up seats and three rows of bench type seats.

This is separated from the other seating by what looked like the board room or hospitality lounge and a metal cage for the players tunnel which has a removable section to allow you access around the ground.

There were also some interesting seats at the front of the stand which as I looked at them, made me wonder if they were used when the action on the pitch was just too awful to watch!

There was the next block of seating after this with a press box at the rear of it.

This was the end of the main stand but just after this was a small four step terrace with a crush barrier on the first level.

There was also an old section of terracing just after this which had obviously been replaced by the new section in the photo above.

The hard standing runs a lot further than the pitch in order to go around the running track and there is only a thin strip of hard standing running around the curve of this end.

I take another shot back to where I have come from.

At this point I decide to change my lens but as I have my hands full my mobile starts to ring, but I'm unable to get to it in time before it rings off. I check to see who it was and realise it is Uwdi from the brilliant "Where's The Tea Hut" blog who I saw was going to come here today and so I contacted him to see if he wanted to meet up after our near miss at Stockbridge. However it was to be a bit longer before we actually meet as his phone kept going straight to his voice mail; in the tea hut I reckoned!
I carry on to the side opposite the main stand where there is a decent sized five step covered terrace with a small bench situated at the back of one section. I venture onto the running track to get a picture of the welcome sign I used earlier in the blog. This is the picture from the running track of the stand.

I eventually get hold of Uwdi and head off to meet him in the main stand terracing. Just time for a shot looking back at this stand.

I take another shot from behind the goal of the main stand terracing and you can actually see Uwdi and Frugal Glenn on the terracing.

I finally reached Uwdi and Glenn and I have to say it was a pleasure to meet them and spend the match with them. I also ran into Chris, a Grimsby fan I'd met at Rossington last season and it was nice to see him again too.

So to the game. What a strange match it was too. The rain was coming down hard by kick off and I'm not sure if this was the reason for the poor start by both teams, but after 40 minutes it did not look promising for any goals.

But this all changed on 43 minutes and we went into the half time break with Goole leading 2-1. Goals from Allott and Harrison put TheVikings 2-0 up and Sheffield looked dead and buried even at this stage having lost their keeper and having to put outfield player Roney in goal as they had no keeper on the bench. However they were given a lifeline when Ruddiforth skillfully controlled the ball on the six yard line before back heeling it into the net.

On 49 minutes it was 2-2. Sheffield's Banks let fly from over 30 yards out and the ball hit the top corner. Incredibly, Sheffield took the lead on 77 minutes from the penalty spot by Cusworth after Purkiss was brought down in the box.

Goole did not test the stand-in keeper until late in the game and he proved equal to the free kick, tipping it round the post at full stretch. Sheffield scored a fourth on 88 minutes when Purkiss slipped the ball to Gregory who fired past Walker in the Goole goal. But they were not finished yet and a great run down the left by Gregory enabled him to put a deep cross to the far post where it was met by Cusworth who put a great header back across the goal into the net to make it 5-2. A remarkable comeback by Sheffield and a very disappointing result for Goole.

You can read "Where's The Tea Hut"'s report here.

More pictures of The Victoria Pleasure Ground here.

Goole AFC 2-5 Sheffield
Att: 189
Admission: £7

Grimsby Borough v Staveley Miners Welfare Saturday 15th January 2011 NCEL Division One

2011-01-28T14:23:00.026Z

This was actually my second visit to Grimsby Borough's brand new home, The Bradley Football Development Centre or The Grimsby Community Stadium or The Bradley Community Stadium. I'm not sure to be honest what the correct name is, but after several years of playing home games at Brigg and Barton I don't think Borough care what the name is. Situated on the outskirts of the town at Bradley, there is a decent car park and I do not have too much trouble finding the ground. Well, I do live here!

I'd been earlier in the week for the visit of one of my favourites Brodsworth ( a 7-0 defeat for Broddy, ouch!), but had saved the pictures for today so I could take advantage of the daylight. The visitors on Tuesday night are bottom of the league, but today's opponents are sitting on top of the pile in Division One and I expect a much stiffer test for Boro' today.
As I arrive, Boro's reserve team are playing a home game on the 3G floodlit pitch next to the ground.

There are a good number of people watching the game before entering the ground but I have pictures to take and after a few minutes watching the game I make my way to the turnstile. On my the short journey I rub into Borogaz who posts on the Non League Matters board. I don't get a chance to introduce myself as he instantly says "you are Reynard The Fox". My Leicester fleece had given me away! We have a brief chat until he is called away to carry out one of his many duties on a match day, but we are to meet up later in the stand where I learn he is one of those "paper chasers" (only kidding Gary). But don't worry readers, he's a thoroughly nice bloke despite this and it was lovely to meet him at last after several near misses over the last year or so.
You enter the ground in the corner, with all the facilities down the left hand side of the touchline.

I decide to head anti clockwise around the ground. The area behind the goal at this end consists of single level hard standing that runs the length of the end with a railing that runs round the whole ground. The wooden fence is topped off with mesh fencing to keep the ball in the ground.

This brings you the side of the ground where the seated stand is situated, sitting astride the half way line. There are four sets of floodlights along this side.

There are about 180 seats in the stand and as you can see from the picture, it is an "off the shelf" stand you can at numerous grounds at this level, but it does the job and it was a comfy place to watch the game.

I carry on past the stand and onto the end opposite where I came in. It is the same as that but has a covered stand behind the goal.

As with the seated stand, this is another "off the shelf" job.

The side of the ground where all the facilities are, has at this end, a narrow strip of hard standing with a floodlight pylon standing in it.

This then opens up to a large paved area and the dressing rooms, toilets and Clubhouse are situated to the right as you look.

The dugouts are situated on this side of the ground and are transparent allowing a view to the pitch and look very smart.

I head back to a seat in the stand and wait for the game to start.

Boro were on the attack from the kick off but the ball ran through to Staveley's keeper who launched the ball down the pitch. The extremely windy conditions caught out the centre of the Boro defence and the ball was latched onto by Ryan Damms who collected the ball and put it past Steer in the Boro goal. Less than a minute on the clock and Boro found themselves behind to the leaders. To their credit, the Boro players did not allow this setback to dent their confidence and they went on to have the majority of the possession and dealt with the blustery conditions well. However, Staveley are top for a reason. They are highly organised and the defence mopped up most of what Boro threw at them and clear cut chances were difficult to come by.

As half time approached, Boro gave away a soft free kick on the edge of the box. Tahar stepped and placed his shot into the bottom corner to put Staveley 2-0 up at half time, a little harsh on Boro in my opinion.

Staveley came out to defend their lead in the second half and try to hit Boro on the counter attack. This once again gave Boro plenty of possession but clear cut chances were few and far between. They did pull a goal back on 65 minutes when Nathan Emson cut inside his defender and finish with a good rising shot that beat the keeper.

Unfortunately for Boro, this was as good as it got and the comeback did not materialise. The result was probably fair overall as Staveley were very strong in defence and took their opportunities up at the other end of the field well. Hopefully this will be a lesson Boro will learn themselves and continue their remarkable progress.

If you make the effort to visit Boro at their new ground you are guaranteed a very warm welcome, something that has been commented on by various hoppers and if you are really lucky, you may meet Borogaz!

More pictures of The Bradley Community Stadium here.

Grimsby Borough 1-2 Staveley Miners Welfare
Att: 153
Admission: £4
Programme: £1

Grantham Town v Spalding United Monday 3rd January 2011 Evo-Stik Division One South

2011-01-12T20:37:00.025Z

After keeping a close eye on the various sites which would alert me to the postponement of my intended game, confirmation that the game was on came fairly early in the morning and meant I did not have to spend any time looking for another game.

The problem was, having arrived at the ground, I honestly don't believe that Grantham thought that the game would be on. The turnstiles were firmly shut and although someone with the programmes arrived in front of them, the turnstiles remained closed until about 2.20pm. They were not exactly helpful in telling you that they were open either. I'd wandered off to take some more photos outside and as I got back to the point of entry another fan asked if they were open now, having been stood outside for 20 minutes, back came the reply of "yes, course they are". Well thanks for telling us!

Once inside I overhear an old guy asking if the toilets were open. "They are just looking for the key" was the reply. Well of course, you've only had all day to open them. Shambolic.
Anyway, you enter the ground to the left of the half way line with a large covered stand opposite you and the large seated stand to your right.

I head to my left and towards the Club Shop where I buy one of the six badges they have left having suffered a break-in and the loss of most of their stock. Before the shop there is an area of terracing with three rows of crush barriers, something I was not expecting to see.

There is a running track between the stands and the pitch and at the ends of the ground the distance is at it's maximum.

There is a four step terrace at either end of the pitch, but they are fairly exposed and a long way away from the pitch and I did not see anyone using them today. My biggest surprise of the day is the large covered terracing which was opposite where I came in. I had seen photos of the main stand but I'd never seen this terracing before.

As you can see from the photo, it is very large and there were a number of people stood here for the game. A very pleasant surprise.

I carry on back towards the second end of the ground which is basically a replica of the other and the large main stand looms large again.

I reach the side I came in and there is another area of terracing, the same as where I came in. This section though has some seats bolted to it, not really sure why though.

After this, you are back at the main stand. The seating is divided into two levels with a fairly large lower level giving you a pitch level view of the game.

Here's another view of this stand.

The game was not the best to be fair and you can see why Spalding have scored 21 goals in 23 games. To be fair though they had two great chances early in the game but were unable to find the breakthrough. Grantham hauled themselves back into the game and started to take control. Their best chance came just before half time when the Spalding keeper Brassingham clawed a ball that had gone past him to prevent a goal.

The second half began the same as the first with Spalding starting well, but Grantham got into their stride more quickly this half and soon had a couple of chances on goal. On 60 minutes Grantham had Gary Sucharewycz sent off for a second yellow, deserved in my opinion the whining of the home fans. He had been lucky in my opinion not to be sent off in the first half when the referee only booked him for an elbow. Spalding could not take advantage of their extra man despite carving out several chances. In fact towards the end Grantham could have snatched the win but were not able to take their chances. Spalding also had a player sent off 5 minutes from time, again for a second yellow.
Another goalless draw and another game that will quickly fade from the memory.

The ground was a lot better than I was expecting to be honest. I'm not a big fan of grounds with running tracks around them but this was a better example of this type of ground. The atmosphere was pretty good too and the view from the upper seating was good and you did not feel too far from the action.

More pictures of the South Kesteven Sports Centre here.

Grantham Town 0-0 Spalding United
Att: 177
Admission: £8
Programme: £2
Badge: £2.50

Stocksbridge Park Steel v Hucknall Town Saturday 1st January 2011 Evo-Stik Premier Division

2011-01-02T20:16:00.020Z

A thank you and an apology to start this report. Inside the ground I nipped to the toilet before carrying on with my photos and put my camera on top of the drier while I used the facilities. Fortunately for me Dan from Nottingham came in and stopped it sliding onto the floor, so that's the thanks dealt with. The apology also goes to Dan and his lovely girlfriend, whose name I did not find out, many apologies for that. But the real apology is for talking them both to death, I hope it did not spoil your enjoyment of the day too much!

I've also found out that Uwdi from the brilliant "Where's The Tea Hu t" blog was also here, but he obviously knew I was about and kept himself out of my way. Anyway, his report on his visit can be found here, and it's better than mine as he has a picture of the Lady Mayoress, how can I compete with that!
Anyway, back to the report. The turnstile brings you in the ground in the corner and elevated above the pitch.

The facilities are all at this level including a smart Clubhouse, dressing rooms, tea room and Club shop.

I take the steps down to pitch level and as you turn to the left there is a decent sized covered standing area behind the goal at this end.

Past this is some hard standing which leads to the other side of the ground which is not accessible.

The fencing along this side is, as far as I am aware, temporary, as there is a cricket pitch beyond this is used during the summer.

I head back the way I came and come to a section of terracing which is not in use any more and it has white railing to prevent anyone using it.

After the steps there is yet another section of terracing which you can use but on this wet and cold day there were not many takers. This in turn leads you onto the impressive seating stand decorated out in the Club colours of blue and yellow.

After the stand there is hard standing with a large grass bank rising up to the car park behind the stand.

The end opposite where I came in has a strip of hard standing with another grassy bank behind it which the Club has used to position a number of advertising boards on.

After this I made my way back to the covered seating stand where I watched the whole game sheltering from the incessant rain. The seats are apparently from Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground and are good old fashioned slatted tip up seats, lovely.

The game kicked off in driving rain and considering the conditions and the fact that neither team had seen much action in the past month turned out to be a decent game. There were plenty of chances for both sides and Stocksbridge were twice denied a goal by the offside flag, which to be honest one was definitely onside if not both. The locals were not slow in letting the lino what they thought of his decisions. The only goal of the half and indeed the game, came on 34 minutes when a mishit shot found Stocksbridge's Colin Marrison on his own in the box and he calmly slotted home.

1-0 at half time. Hucknall came out for the second half with the intent of keeping the ball down and this paid dividends for them. The only problem was Stocksbridge's keeper, Ben Scott. I honestly lost count of the number of brilliant saves he made in the second half and the victory was assured by his fantastic performance. The final whistle went with Stocksbridge picking up three hard won points and I think on another day Hucknall would have won but the man of the match performance by Scott denied them.

All in all a really good day out. Nice ground, decent game, friendly Club, met some very nice people (thanks to Dan & his girlfriend), could only have been improved by actually meeting Uwdi and getting a picture of the Mayoress!

More pictures of the Look Local Stadium here.

Stocksbridge Park Steel 1-0 Hucknall Town
Att: 160
Admission: £7
Programme: £1.50
Badge: £3

Wisbech Town

2010-12-31T13:37:00.014Z

This a report on a visit to Fenland Park, home of Wisbech Town from 1947 to 2008. My visit was made for a pre-season friendly against Dunstable Town in August 2007 after I had found out that this was likely to be their last season there. I'd heard so many good things about he ground it was one I was determined to see before it disappeared.

The turnstiles bring into the ground in the corner of one of the ends. I go straight ahead, clockwise, and on this side of the ground there is a decent sized covered seating stand.

After the stand there is two step terrace with a barrier at the back with an overgrown area behind this.

This leads onto the opposite end to where you come in and there is a covered terrace running nearly the whole length of the end.

This then brings you to the real reason why everyone loved this ground, The Fenman Stand.

The "stand" is in fact a large Dutch Barn and the story is that a director bought two of them for his farm but only needed one and so it found it's way to the football ground. It really was a magnificent site and I make no apologies for posting several pictures of it.

As you can see from the next picture, the elevated section at the back of the stand was closed when I visited. You can also see the roof structure really well and the barrel shape of the roof is also visible.

There are two floodlights rising up through the roof, which can be seen more clearly on the next picture.

I know have reached the end where I came in. There is an almost identical covered stand as at the other end. As you look at it from the Fenman Stand there is a Clubhouse in the left hand corner and in the opposite corner there is a Board Room and the Club Shop.

To be honest I didn't really care how good the game was now as I was in hopping heaven with this fantastic ground full of character. However I was also in for a treat in this respect too. Wisbech took the lead against their opponents but were then blown away by the pacy Dunstable team who went on to score five unanswered goals. A really enjoyable game on a fantastic ground.

More pictures of Fenland Park here.

Wisbech Town 1-5 Dunstable Town
Att: 150
Admission: £3

Glasshoughton Welfare

2010-12-30T16:00:00.022Z

I've had a bit of a disaster and I've only gone and lost the photos off my computer somehow of the three new grounds I've recently visited. So unfortunately there will be no pictures of Darlington Railway, Nettleham or Marske United. So this report is about a visit I made to the Glasshoughton Centre, home of Glasshoughton Welfare, in August 2008, when they entertained Yorkshire Amateurs in NCEL Division One.
Now I actually had a problem finding the ground due to my own stupidity. I convinced myself that the ground was on my left as I drove along Leeds Road where it is situated. On my sixth cruise down the road I was getting rather frustrated at not finding the ground! Something made me look on the opposite side of the road to where I was looking and this actually enabled me to spot the ground. I'd only driven past it five times! I quickly parked the car and walked towards the turnstiles trying to look like I knew where I was going and hoped no one would ask me why I had been driving up and down the road outside.
The turnstiles are situated at the corner of the ground and the Glasshoughton Centre, which houses the dressing rooms, bar and toilets is to the right, sitting along the half way line.

Immediately in front of me is one end of the pitch and I make my way clockwise around the ground. This end has a railing running along it and this actually runs round the edge of the whole ground. There is hard standing and a grassy area behind it.

There is a small covered stand directly behind the goal.

This brings you to the side of the ground opposite the Centre, and the hard standing continues with a covered seated stand with benches on the half way line.

There is a fairly large grassy area behind all this with several mature trees standing within the ground itself.

The opposite end to where I came in has more hard standing but is pretty narrow with houses backing up to the fence.

The next picture gives you a better overview of this end of the ground.

This now brings you back to the side of the ground where all the facilities are.

The Glasshoughton Centre is "for healthy living, learning and leisure" and holds fitness and yoga classes for the local people. Inside today, a Bank holiday, there are only a few football fans in search of something to eat and drink and so you will be pleased to hear I took the healthy option of a cool fruit juice. Oh and a Mars Bar. Well I did walk round the ground!

I don't remember too much about the game, but the hot weather made it tough going for both teams. Glasshoughton scored from the penalty spot to level the scores and that was the final goal of the day. I did enjoy the trip despite my problem of finding the ground and everyone I met were friendly although I did get one or two odd looks as I made my way around the ground taking my photos.

More pictures of The Glasshoughton Centre here. (Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, this was before I had my current camera.)

Glasshoughton Welfare 1-1 Yorkshire Amateur
Att: 81
Admission: £4

Merry Christmas To Everyone

2010-12-21T19:13:00.003Z

I'm not sure I'll get anything else written up before Christmas, so I'd like to take the opportunity of wishing everyone a very happy festive holiday. Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to visit the blog, it's nice to know someone reads it!

I'm hoping the weather relents and I'm able to get some games in over the holiday period, and if you are planning any trips yourselves, take care.

Finally I'll leave you with a photo of sunny Cleethorpes from a couple of weeks ago.

Appleby Frodingham v Brodsworth Welfare Saturday 16th October 2010 NCEL Division One

2010-12-16T15:18:00.010Z

After a few weekends of revisits, including a great win for Leicester against Scunthorpe, a new ground beckoned in the shape of The Brumby Hall Sports Ground, home of Appleby Frodingham.

It also gave me another chance to see one of favourites in the NCEL, Brodsworth.
The ground is situated not far from Scunthorpe town centre and only a few minutes walk from the station. I parked up and after taking a few photos outside made my way into the ground.

There was no one taking admission and the only people around seemed to be players or coaches so I carried on to take my photos inside.
You enter and find yourself about a third of the way along one side with all the facilities contained in the Sports Centre building to the right. I front of the building there is a hard standing area with the rear of this covered by the overhang of the building. There is a tea hut at one end of this area with the changing rooms and toilets running along the rest of the building.

I head anti clockwise and head towards the far end. This has hard standing running along the whole length with a fence separating the ground from the road that leads to it.

The far side of the ground has further hard standing along it’s length with a combination of fencing and a hedge enclosing the ground.

Behind this side of the ground you can see the new leisure centre that is being built, at a cost of £21 million.

The end where the car park is sited has a green temporary fencing which is taken down when the cricket season is under way, with the cricket square behind it.

Back to where I came in I go past the entrance and there is a new seated stand which as I understand has only been here since the beginning of the season.

I now go and get a hot drink and ask about paying my entrance, getting a programme and a badge. I’m informed that the guy that does this has not arrived yet and not to worry, he’ll find me!
I’m asked by one of the Appleby coaches if I’ve got all the photos I want, and I have a chat with him for a few minutes. I then get talking to one of the Brodsworth coaches and he gives me the low down on their current situation and how he seems the game today. He is fairly optimistic they can win especially with the return of one of their experienced strikers.

The guy with the badges and who collects the entrance money turns up and the reason he is late is because he has been to the early kick off at Glanford Park where Scunthorpe hosted Doncaster. As I take a seat in the stand I meet two other ground hoppers who have also been to the Scunthorpe game, I think they came from Norfolk for their double.

The game saw a late replacement in goal for Frod when regular keeper Lee Crookes failed a fitness test and ex-outfield player and current committee member 42 year old Darren Fogg stepped in between the sticks!
He need not have worried though. Broddy have only scored seven goals in thirteen matches this season and to be honest they did not create many chances today to add to their tally, and to be fair the Frod defence did an excellent job of protecting their debut keeper.
It only took 4 minutes for Frod to breach the Broddy defence and it was Dale Leathley fired past the keeper from just inside the box. After 10 minutes I was fearing the worst for Broddy but their opponents finishing was poor at times and some great saves from their keeper kept the score at 1-0 at half time.

The second half saw the pattern of the game stay the same with Frod missing an awful lot of good chance. Broody came back into the game gradually and indeed could have had an equaliser themselves if they had finished better. It took Frod until the 82nd minute to make the game safe with the second goal of the game. James Hare played a neat one-two with Tom Finnigan before slotting home inside the near post.

The win put Frod five points clear of Broddy who remain rock bottom with just one point with a minus 39 goal difference.
A really enjoyable game and a very friendly welcome from the officials of Appleby Frodingham which is very appreciated.

More pictures of The Brumby Hall Sports Ground here.

Appleby Frodingham 2-0 Brodsworth Welfare
Att: 41
Admission: £4
Programme: £1
Badge: £3

Winterton Rangers v Nostell Miners Welfare & Barton Town Old Boys Saturday 25th September 2010 NCEL Double Header

2010-12-16T12:11:00.006Z

Winterton changed their kick off time for today's game to 12 noon because the Clubhouse was hosting a wedding reception later in the day. This made a double possible with several games within striking distance of West Street and even as I travelled to Winterton it was a toss up between Barton and Brigg for the second game.
I arrived in glorious sunshine but there were not many cars in the car park and it looked like the early start had put off some regulars.

I made my way into the ground and was immediately greeted with “another City fan” in response to my Leicester fleece. This was from Rob, the author of the excellent “All Roads Lead Somewhere” blog who I had seen on the Non League Matters forum was attending today. We had a chat and then went to get a coffee from the temporary “tea hut” set up in the bar. Rob was going on to Nettleham after this game and so I added to my knowledge of the non league as I knew a little bit about Nettleham but Rob filled me in on the their ground.
I made my way into the stand and left Rob to take more photos of the game, joining me in the stand after half time.

The game was not the best I’ve ever seen, the early kick off seemed to affect the players. The winner came on 79 minutes from Nostell’s Lee Maturine. Rob has written a good report here.

Winterton Ranger 0-1 Nostell Miners Welfare
Att: 60
Admission: £5
Programme: £1

So I bid farewell to Rob and although I’d said I was definitely going to Barton, as I approached the roundabout where I could still go to either of my choices, I was wrestling with which game to go to. In the end I stuck with my original choice and turned off to Barton.

I arrived in plenty of time allowing me to grab something to eat and read the programme. I wandered round the ground to take my seat and listened to my Ipod whilst waiting for the game to start. Once again the crowd looked well down on the average attendance, obviously not a day to inspire local fans.
How this game ended up 0-0 I will never know. After only four minutes Ponty had missed two glorious chances and this set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. I don’t like to criticise official but I have to say that this was not one of the best performances I’ve seen from a set of officials. A disallowed goal just before half time despite the fact that a Ponty defender played the ball last denied Barton was typical of the decisions made all afternoon.

Despite Barton being reduced to 10 men on 65 minutes Ponty could not take advantage and the game ended 0-0. This ended a run of 46 games without a scoreless game. The result at Brigg? 3-3. Enough said.

Barton Town Old Boys 0-0 Pontefract Collieries
Att: 74
Admission: £4
Programme: £1

Frickley v Burscough Saturday 18th September 2010 Evo-Stik Premier League

2010-11-17T20:35:00.012Z

Westfield Lane, Frickley was a ground I’d had on my radar for quite a while. I took the opportunity to take in the game against Burscough and so I found myself in South Elmsall! This identity crisis is due to the fact that the football club is actually named after the local Colliery which shut in 1993. The identity crisis continues all day as the ground is now called the Tech 5 Stadium, although on some signs there is no stadium name.

As for the Club, well the identity crisis continues as they appear to be renamed Frickley AFC, but everywhere you look, the old name of Frickley Athletic dominates.

As I take my photos outside I get some really odd looks from the two ladies who are collecting for the Salvation Army; I don’t think they understand why I would want to take any photos here!

The turnstiles bring you into the side of the ground that has the large covered seated stand which is to your right as you come in. But I head left and there is the “Big Fellas Social Club” in the corner with the Club Shop just past this. This end has a wide three step terracing with a fence running the whole length behind which is a grassy bank with a further fence at the back of this.

At the start of this end there is also a disabled enclosure that is covered.

This leads you to the far side of the ground which has a four step terrace running along it’s length. About a third of the way down the terrace is covered and bears the legend “The Frank Hill Stand”. There is a conglomeration of pillars and floodlights but the view is still pretty good.

The cover ends and there is more open terracing leading you to the end of the ground.
This has a narrow two step terrace with a fence at the back and again, like the opposite end, a grassy area with another fence at the back of it.

There is then an area of terracing with that brown fence again and some good old fashioned crush barriers.

The terracing opens up as you approach the large DMJ Stand. Towards the back there are some more turnstiles which look like they are fairly new as the wooden area are untreated.

There is also a tea hut before you reach the stand and although I did not have anything to eat the rush to the hatch when they opened and the food I saw being served gets the thumbs up from me and the supporters who did. Here is the menu (this is for Uwdi of the excellent blog “Where’s The Tea Hut”).

The large stand is quite simply brilliant. It reminds of stands from years gone by and whilst not quite as large as the Main Stand at Filbert Street, it does remind me of it. The combination of a standing area in front of the seats was a common sight at football grounds when I first was taken to games by my dad but I have not seen many as big as this in my travels on the non-league scene.

I make my way up to the seats which are basically benches painted in blue and marked out in white numbers.

This also gives you a good view of the colliery spoil heap behind the ground that has been converted into a country park.

So to the game. I’m afraid this will not be one that stays in the memory for long. The only goal of the game came on 31 minutes when Burscough’s Darren Byers burst clear and thumped his shot against the post and then reacted well to put the rebound in off the post. Burscough had a couple of good chances to extend their lead but good saves from the home keeper kept the score at 1-0 at half time.

The second half saw a few chances for both sides but the finishing today was dreadful and there was no further score.
This really is a great ground to visit, I hope you pick a better game than me though.

More pictures of the Tech5 Stadium here.

Frickley AFC 0-1 Burscough
Att: 183
Admission: £8
Programme: £1.50
Badge: £3.50

Whitby Town v Ossett Town Wednesday 8th September 2010 Evo-Stik Premier League

2010-10-21T20:23:00.012+01:00

As we made our way to the Turnbull Ground the mist was swirling around and the temperature was dropping, great football weather! I take a few photos outside and fall into conversation the guy in charge of the car park.

After an interesting 10 minute chat we head into the ground. The entrance brings you out into the ground virtually in the corner with the impressive stand that was under construction last time I was here. It won the 2006 Best New Stand award from Groundtastic magazine and deservedly so. But we will get there when we have completed the walk round the ground.

We head anti-clockwise and pass the dressing rooms which are situated in the corner of the ground. This leads you behind the goal and this end has a two step terrace running the whole length of the end.

There is also evidence of an old turnstile half way down end but it does not look like it has been used for a while. There are also some old disused turnstiles too. I’d love to have some in my garden!

The side stand is a combination of terracing and seats which are also new since I was last here.
I’m not sure that the view would be that good as the dugouts appear to block the view from them. The terracing continues behind the seats and all of this area is covered.

After the covered area the terrace is just as wide but there are fewer steps and a floodlight pylon is positioned here too.

Behind the goal there is a one level hard standing running it’s entire length with a high netting to protect the houses behind.

We reach the side of the ground we entered and the first part has a six step terrace.

This then brings you back to the impressive new cantilevered stand which has seating for 500 and cost £370,000. There is a elevated covered area in front of the stand for disabled fans.

There are two sets of stairs to access the stand and the view is superb and totally unobstructed.

On top of the stand there is a gantry which houses the floodlights and I have to say this looked really impressive on the night we were there.

The seats are in the Club colours and were both comfortable and roomy.

Despite their indifferent start to the season, Whitby start the game well and went ahead after 10 minutes after Andy Campbell (former Middlesbrough and Leicester striker) put the ball into the box for Jamie Owens to score. Whitby continued to go forward and were dominating the game. But on 22 minutes Ossett were level. A ball forward caught out the Whitby defence and David Boardman side footed home the equaliser. Whitby continued to have the better of it and came the closet to scoring again when a well hit free kick from Jimmy Beadle was superbly saved by Ossett keeper Liam Sutcliffe. Half time arrived with no further score.

As with the first half Whitby had the first chance but although the shot beat the keeper it also went the wrong side of the post for The Seasiders. Minutes later a shot from Tony Hackworth rebounded back off the keepers legs and fell to Owens who saw his header come back off the cross bar. Ossett started to play better themselves and on 68 minutes Daniel Sherrife had a superb 25 yard shot matched by a superb save from Whitby stand-in keeper David Campbell. Five minutes later, Whitby regained the lead. A cross from Leon Cross on the left evaded everyone but Jimmy Beadle who stuck out a leg to divert the ball into the Ossett net. The two teams were trading chances but Whitby were just edging it and they increased their lead on 83 minutes. Sutcliffe made a good save from Beadle but the ball ran to Tony Hackworth who rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home. This was the final goal of the night and Whitby ran out 3-1 winners.

A good win for Whitby and a good game to watch. The Turnbull Ground is one of my favourites and I really would recommend you take time to visit. Combine it with a visit to Sandsend and I’ll guarantee you a great day out.

More pictures of the Turnbull Ground here.

Whitby Town 3-1 Ossett Town
Att: 231
Admission: £7.50
Programme: £1.50
Badge: £3.50

Chasetown v Kendal Town Saturday 4th September 2010 Evo-Stik Premier League

2010-10-21T10:31:00.011+01:00

Having enjoyed my first experience of seeing Chasetown on Monday, I decided to head to the Scholars Ground for my game on what was designated National Non-League Day. We meet up with Helen in the car park and make our way into the ground.

You enter the ground where all the facilities are situated. This encompasses the Club Shop, Clubhouse, changing rooms and seated stand. I set off clockwise around the ground leaving Mrs Reynard and Helen to find a seat.

The area behind the end to the left as you come in is vast with only a small covered stand sitting behind the goal. There is hard standing running the whole way around the ground but I do not think I have seen such a large area behind an end before, and I have to add it was perfectly kept.

The far side of the ground has a wide three step terrace running it’s length and the dugouts are situated in front of this terracing and there are four floodlight pylons situated on the bottom step of the terracing.

Just a note about the dugouts. There is an additional one between the home and away dugouts which I assume is for the fourth official to use. Something else I do not think I’ve seen before!

Being on this side of the ground also gives you a good view of the covered stand and facilities opposite.

I carry on to the other end of the ground which has the flags I saw at Ferriby on Monday already is position on the fence behind the goal.

There is a thin strip of hard standing at this end and again there is a fairly large grassy area behind the goal, again in immaculate condition. Both ends have a catering wagon in position too, very handy for anyone who is hungry.

This brings me back to the side of the ground I entered. As with the rest of the ground there is a wide terraced area leading to the buildings on this side.

The first building you come to is a lovely press box in the blue of Chasetown.

This leads to the dressing rooms and then the seated stand, behind which is the Clubhouse and toilets.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine and there were several League club shirts on view on Non-League Football Day which was nice to see. The football was just as bright and it was clear from the outset that both teams were looking for a win. A good end to end game unfolded with both teams creating chance but failing to find the back of the net.

Kendal began the second half better than their opponents and it was they that made the breakthrough on 52 minutes. Danny Wisdom got the ball wide, cut inside and beat a couple of defenders before passing it to Danny McGahon who put his shot past Price in the Chasetown goal. Both teams continued to press for more goals but Kendal’s cause was not helped by numerous injuries and they finished the game with several walking wounded. This all resulted in a whopping eight minutes additional time but no further goals saw Kendal run out winners.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable day out. Superb weather, nice ground with some lovely quirky parts, friendly natives and a decent game.

More pictures of The Scholars Ground here.

Chasetown 0-1 Kendal Town
Att: 414
Admission: £8
Programme: £2

North Ferriby United v Chasetown Monday 30th August 2010 Evo-Stik Premier League

2010-10-16T11:51:00.012+01:00

Having been to three games in three days I was not looking for another game on Bank Holiday Monday but Helen said she fancied a game but did not want to travel far. This left us with a few options but we decided on a visit to North Ferriby to see them take on Chasetown. Now I have done a report on a previous visit to North Ferriby but my camera died on me on that night so this gave me an opportunity to take some better pictures.

We arrive quite early but the Chasetown fans are already putting their vast number of flags up, even borrowing one of the Chasetown youth team players to put up their huge flag behind the goal.

We make our way towards the seated stand on the opposite side of the ground where I leave Helen to carry on and take my photos.
There is a two stepped terrace behind the goal where you come in which leads to the far side of the ground where the seated stand is.

This side of the ground is a nice combination of terracing and seat, all covered. You first reach a terraced area followed by two sets of seats either side of an area reserved for Directors of the Club and their visitors.

There is then another terraced area which leads you to the end opposite to where you come in. It is on this covered terracing where the Chasetown flags are massed (you can see all of the flags on the link for more pictures below).

There is an identical two step terrace behind this goal as there is at the opposite end.
This brings you to where all the other facilities are. This includes a Clubhouse, Club Shop, dressing rooms, toilets and tea hut.

One interesting thing that I did not notice last time is that some of the floodlights are sponsored, something I do not believe I have seen anywhere else on my travels.
I wander back to where Helen is sat with a couple of coffees and wait for the game to start.
The first half sees chances for both teams but the wayward finishing ensures the half is goalless. It is a tight affair and even early in the game you get the feeling that one gaol will be sufficient to secure a victory.

The second half gets underway with a bang as a penalty is awarded to North Ferriby after the referee judges that the handball by a Chasetown defender was deliberate. Bradshaw stepped up to take the spot kick only to see his shot superbly saved by keeper Price diving to his right.

This seemed to gee both teams up and we know had a flowing game from one end to the other with both teams having chances.
The only goal of the game on 61 minutes when a forward ball was played to Grant Ryan who beat the last defender and placed his shot in the bottom corner to put Chasetown ahead. There were more chances for both teams in a very lively game but no more goals saw Chasetown secure their second victory in three days. It was an enjoyable game and I cannot recommend you enough to visit North Ferriby. A nice neat ground and always a warm welcome. What more could you ask for?

More photos of the Rapid Solicitors Stadium here.

North Ferriby United 0-1 Chasetown
Att: 221
Admission: £8
Programme: £2

AFC Emley v Northallerton Town Sunday 29th August 2010 F.A. Cup Preliminary Round

2010-09-28T20:47:00.008+01:00

The Welfare Ground, home of AFC Emley was my destination today, another ground that has been on my hit list for a while. I found the ground very easily and after parking up I entered the ground. You find yourself in the corner of the ground with the main stand directly in front of you and the end to my right has three distinct covered stands, with the middle of the three having a higher roof than the other two.

It is fairly busy already, so I head down to the far end of the ground to start taking some photos of the main stand. You go past the dressing rooms first, then the stand itself and there is then an area of hard standing with two steps at the rear of it.

This then brings you to the opposite end to where you come in and this has hard standing which only runs just the goal, where a fence is situated to stop you going any further.

The side of the ground opposite the main stand is totally open as there is a cricket pitch, pavilion and other buildings beyond this. From this end you have a good view of the Emley TV mast behind the opposite end.

As I start to head back to the stand I run into a Leicester fan who seems totally non-plussed that there is another City fan here. I recognise Nick as a friend of another City fan I know and as we talk Alan, who I always see with Nick, turns up. They then work out how they know me and we discuss all things Leicester for a while and then head back to the main stand for the game.

Although it is bright it is pretty blustery and was making it difficult for both teams. It was fairly end to end in the first half but chances were at a premium with Northallerton having a goal disallowed for offside the nearest we got to a goal in the first half.

The second half was more of the same but still no real clear cut scoring opportunities. It was looking like one goal would settle the tie and the goal duly came on 67 minutes. The ball was put into the box from the right and the Emley keeper only pushed it out to Martin Butterworth who placed a fine volley into the top corner of the net. After this Northallerton had a couple of good chances but were thwarted by good keeping. Emley did have a succession of corners at the very end of the game but were unable to find an equaliser. The final whistle was met with cheers from the Northallerton officials and fans.
I said my farewells to Alan and Nick headed back to my car. Lovely ground and well worth the visit, but if you plan to come in the winter months, wrap up well!

More pictures of the Welfare Ground here.

AFC Emley 0-1 Northallerton Town
Att: 141
Admission: £4
Programme: £1.20
Badge: £3.75

Brodsworth Welfare v Louth Town Saturday 28th August 2010 NCEL Division One

2010-09-20T21:20:00.006+01:00

With it being Bank Holiday weekend I’d decided a while ago to revisit Brodsworth which is situated on the outskirts of Doncaster. I’ve been to the Welfare Ground before in 2008 but I like it there and so was happy to go back. I parked up outside behind the Louth team bus and made my way to the turnstiles. Only thing being that they were not open, entry being through the car park this time. Programmes had already sold out, which was not a total surprise as Broddy have a reputation with their programmes!
By entering the ground here you find yourself behind one of the goals.

This end has hard standing running its total length and a breeze block wall separates you from the pitch.
I make my way anti-clockwise around the ground and the side of the ground is the same again, hard standing along the length of it. The floodlights are set back and there is a large area of grass running to the boundary of the ground.

The end opposite the one I came in has a three step covered stand behind the goal and the Louth fans have already set up their flags in here.

The next side of the ground has a seated stand sat astride the half way line with the dug outs set either side of it. There are two floodlight pylons on this side and a building towards the end of the ground, which I presume is a storage area. The seated stand has several rows of benching in it and some white boarding in a couple of places, for what purpose I’m not too sure.

As you reach the end you arrive at the dressing rooms, toilets and some further buildings, one of which is the tea hut. I head inside, buy a coffee and head back to the seated stand and wait the game.
Broddy were the whipping boys of the NCEL Premier for a couple of years and they have already concede 19 goals in four league games before today and with league new boys Louth having won all three of their games so far I was expecting only one result.
Louth were quickly into their stride and had their first chance after 4minutes but the striker blazed over the bar. Wes Thompson made the first of his many saves a minute or so later from a header by Fairburn. Broddy nearly scored themselves after a quarter of an hour when Wherry saved Davison’s embarrassment when he nearly put through his own goal. The windy conditions were making it difficult for good football to be played and both sides had difficulty at times with their passing. Thompson in the Broddy goal continued to pull off some good saves but he was beaten at last after 25 minutes. Broddy defender Sharp kicked Crossley of the visitors in revenge for an incident a moment or two before. The referee spotted the infringement, awarded a penalty to Louth and booked Sharp. Sam Smith placed his shot low and hard into the corner of the net, giving Thompson no chance. Louth extended their lead on 33 minutes when a free kick was played low into the box and Danny Stevens fire home. Only a great save from Thompson on the stroke of half time kept the scoreline at 2-0.

Broddy nearly had a scoring chance from the kick off in the second half when Sharp burst through on goal but brave keeping by Wherry kept him out. At the other end Thompson continued his good form and kept Louth at bay almost single handedly. The conditions continued to make it hard for both teams and we even had some rain just to make life a bit more difficult. Louth continued to have chances and they had a big shout for a penalty when a Broddy defender appeared to punch the ball away from a corner but the men who matter did not see it and so no penalty. No further score saw Louth run out 2-0 winners, a deserved victory on the day, but Broddy put in a gritty display and had a lot to thank man of the match Thompson for.

More pictures of the Welfare Ground here.

Brodsworth Welfare 0-2 Louth Town
Att: 54
Admission: £5
Programme: £1.50 (I think)

England U17 v Australia U17 Friday 27th August 2010 F.A. International U17 Tournament

2010-09-05T15:53:00.005+01:00

The England U17s team were competing in a 4 team tournament with Australia, Portugal (the holders) and Turkey with the games being played at Blundell Park Grimsby, Sincil Bank Lincoln and Glanford Park Scunthorpe. We decided to take advantage of the fact that Blundell Park is only a five minute drive to go and see England take on Australia. Blundell Park is the home of Grimsby Town and is experiencing Blue Square Premier football after the relegation from the League last season. I have not been here for a number of years despite it being on my doorstep and there are not many changes since I was last here. When we bought our tickets earlier in the day they were only available for the Upper Findus Stand but the Pontoon is also open when we arrive. To the left is the Osmond Stand, normally the home of the away fans but today empty except for some ball boys and various UEFA banners.

Opposite is the Main Stand with views of the River Humber beyond.

To the left of us is the Pontoon Stand and as with all the stands here it is an all seater stand. The corners at the end of the Pontoon are open with the floodlights standing here.

The Findus Stand is built on two levels with the lower level giving you a close view of the action. The Upper level gives you an elevated view of the action and as I’ve already said great views of the Humber estuary although it also means the winds whipping onto shore can make it a cold place to watch your football.

The crowd steadily builds approaching kick off and when the teams come out it looks a decent attendance. We have the national anthems and the game starts with England attacking the Osmond end. It is soon clear that England are technically superior to their opponents but we will have to wait to see if they take advantage of this. England create a number of chances but are unable to make any of them count until on 33 minutes Matthias Fannimo (West Ham) picks the ball up wide on the right, cuts back inside his man and fires into the bottom corner of the goal. Two minutes later England are awarded a free kick on the right hand edge of the box. The ball is played in and the keeper only pushes it to Courtney Meppen Walter (Manchester City) who shoots into the net. The Aussie keeper has looked shaky all game and will not be pleased with his punch here either. Although England continue to create chance there is no further score and so it is 2-0 at half time.

The game continues in the same vein with England on the attack and creating more chances, hitting the bar after just one minute of the second half. Two minutes later though an Australian player is robbed of the ball just inside the England half and the ball is played through to Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) who bursts into the box and puts a great shot past the keeper to make it 3-0. Sterling’s pace causes Australia all sorts of problems and the chances keep on coming but the chances are all wasted until 80 minutes. England are awarded a free kick just to the left of the ‘D’ and Nick Powell steps up to place the ball into the right hand bottom corner of the net for a final score of 4-0.

England played extremely well and could have won by a bigger margin with better finishing but overall they can be proud of their performance. Also well done to the public of Cleethorpes and Grimsby for backing the team tonight. The attendance of 2,040 was excellent.

More pictures of Blundell Park here.

England U17 4-0 Australia U17
Att: 2,040
Admission: £3
Programme: £2