Stalybridge Celtic

Stalybridge Celtic FC are a non league football club from the former textile town to the east of Manchester. Celtic were formed in 1909, although another club of the same name were formed in 1906. The club moved into Bower Fold on Mottram Road on formation.

After two seasons in the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur League, the club turned professional and joined the Lancashire Combination. After a spell in the Central League, Celtic attempted to progress by joining the Southern League before returning for the 1919-20 season. In 1921 Stalybridge became founder members of Football League Division Three North.

After just two seasons Celtic resigned from the League as they could not attract the attendances to justify such a status. Instead they returned to the Cheshire League, where they replaced their reserve team. The club remained in the league for the following sixty years, with just one title win in 1980 as its reward.

In 1982 the league merged with the Lancashire Combination, with Celtic becoming founder members of the North West Counties League. They were crowned champions in 1984 and then again in 1987, which led to promotion to the Northern Premier League. In 1988 a further promotion to the Premier Division was achieved.

After finishing runners up in 1990-91, they went one better the next season by lifting the title and winning promotion to the Football Conference. After a spell of five seasons the club were relegated back to the Northern Premier League. In 2000-01 they were champions once again which led to a return to the Conference. Unfortunately on that occassion their spell lasted just one season.

In 2004-05 Stalybridge Celtic were made founder members of Conference North under the managership of John Reed. In May 2007 he was replaced by Steve Burr, who took the side to the play offs in the 2007-08 where they lost out to Barrow in the final. The highly regarded Jim Harvey was appointed as team manager in February 2010.

Stalybridge Celtic FC will compete in the Conference North in the 2013-14 season.


My visit

Stalybridge Celtic 2 Scarborough 2 (Tuesday 22nd August 2006) Conference North (att: 401)

Scarborough were in a desperate state, with a signing embargo in place and having to start off off the season with minus ten points, owing to continual financial irregularities. I was off work for a couple of days, so I decided to head north to offer my support.

I took the train to Manchester Piccadilly around lunchtime and booked into The Gardens, an ageing hotel with a creaky lift. I had plans to fill up the afternoon before the match and headed off on foot to Sports City and the City of Manchester Stadium, where I went on an enjoyable stadium and museum tour. A bus took me back to the city centre for my train to Stalybridge.

On arrival I tried a pint at the legendary Buffet Bar on the platform of the station as I sat outside taking in the scene and listening to the latest updates from the fallout of the controversial England v Pakistan Test Match at The Oval. I decided to walk to the ground. On the way I met Matt Lawson, AKA Malton Seadog for the first time and his Stevenage supporting pal.

I left them to walk the last few yards as I had a beer in the Hare & Hounds before going into Bower Fold and enjoying some pre match refreshment and Boro chat in the clubhouse. Several years previously Boro had played at Stalybridge in a FA Trophy tie on a day marred by crowd trouble mainly caused by off duty Man Utd fans, but the welcome was fine on this occasion.

The ground itself was a real beauty. The Main Stand with changing rooms was down the Mottram Road side. Opposite was the Lord Pendry Stand with a raised seating deck. The Mottram End and Joe Jackson Stand at the Town End both had roofs over terracing. The rest of the ground consisted of open terracing.

Boro's team were still getting to know each other properly and went two down before half time, purely through errors that led from what looked liked poor communication. Several of us agreed over half time pint that the team had not played too badly.

The second half prooved the point as they fought back in tremendous fashion, drawing level and very nearly winning with goals from Chris Thompson and Lee Whittington; much to approval of the hundred or so hopeful Seadogs in attendance. I had a good chat with Alty Seadog about what had gone on with the finances and what exactly was happening at the club.

At full time Simon from Batley kindly went out of his way to drop me at the station so that I could catch a train back to Manchester. I sent texts to my fellow supporting mates, and although they were happy with the result, their faith had long gone. I was still hopeful that things could be resolved, but I've always been an optimist.

I enjoyed my after match beers in Wetherspoons on Piccadilly before hitting the sack, having a heavy sleep and then going out for another cracking day in a quality city.

Shrivenham

Shrivenham FC are a non league football club from the large village in Oxfordshire of the same name, a few miles north east of Swindon. The club were formed in 1900 and spent the first one hundred and one years  playing local league competition.

After winning the North Berks League for the second time in the 2000-01 season, they were promoted to the Hellenic League. In 2004-05 'Shrivy' were crowned champions of Division One West and were promoted to the Premier Division.

Shrivenham FC will compete in the Hellenic League Premier Division for the 2013-14 season.


My visit

Shrivenham 6 Kindlington 3 (Wednesday 15th August 2012) FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay (att: 75)



I was enjoying the second of my days off after night shift after visiting Devon the day before for the Exeter City v Crystal Palace League Cup tie. I had made my way to Swindon after visiting three non league grounds on route. After a failed attempt to get inside The County Ground and then a successful look at the home of Swindon Supermarine, I took the Gold Bus to the village of Shrivenham.

I was off to a good start as the driver was satisfied with my day pass for local bus routes. I alighted at Shrivenham Green and then took the five minute walk up Highworth Road, just behind the visiting players who were parking up opposite the grounds entrance. I paid my £5, which included a programme, to the welcoming man in the hatch at the end of the clubhouse and went inside.

The Recreation Ground was very neat and tidy and obviously a venue that had recently staged a decent standard of local football. The clubhouse stood back behind the goal, with a raised level in front of it with a couple of row of old bucket seats and some covered standing. The grass bank then slopes down to the hard standing path that runs around the pitch. To the left was a small modern seated stand and then open grass and large dug outs, including disused ones on the half way line, which would have made an ideal stand for under fives! The far end was bordered by trees and the final touchline had a perimeter fence behind the flat hard standing.

There was a large advert for the local Arkells beers, but sadly none were on sale in the clubhouse. I had to make do with a cold bottle of Wadsworths 6X, while I had a semi conversation with some older blokes who seemingly went to other games in the Swindon area. I purchased an excellent bacon roll and mug of tea for £3 from the food counter which divided the bar and changing rooms.

I took my place down the side opposite the benches as the teams came out and readied for kick off. I was looking forward to an entertaining game as the first match had ended in a 2-2 draw the previous Saturday.

I was very quickly entertained. Shrivenham were one up after about fifteen seconds after a weak shot had somehow got past the Kidlington keeper. It was so bad I was laughing. as was a bloke up the touchline. I heard he had a north eastern accent so I walked up for a chat. Pete turned out to be a fan of Horden, Sunderland and Durham CCC. He was also down for a couple of days break and had been to the Oxford United v AFC Bournemouth game the previous evening.

We got chatting throughout the evening on a variety of subjects. It turned out he knew a fair bit about Scarborough and Northern League football and knew former Boro hero Harry 'A' Dunn. The near linesman who was also trying to suppress his amusement at the goal was joining in with us. On two minutes it was two nil as a home forward ran through and slotted home. "This is going to be a hammering", mused my new pal and looked hard to argue.

However, how little we knew! Kiddy got it back level as they didn't let their heads drop. Then the visiting keeper had another howler as he was knocked over in a challenge going for a challenge from a through ball and the Shrivy player tapped into an empty net as there were screams for a foul. We thought he should have followed the advice of one of his colleagues and cleared the lot up.

All night we agreed that the officials had good games despite the whining from the players. Both linesmen were decent blokes too, which always gains sympathy for any slight error in my book. The experienced ref showed admirable common sense when booking the Kiddy full back for a clumsy but not malicious tackle, when many of his younger colleagues could well of got all excited and shown a red card.

We retired to the clubhouse at half time to see that England had just equalised in their friendly with Italy and were showing signs of playing some excellent football.

I went on a lap of the ground to get my photos and as I was nearing completion Shrivy extended their lead with a cracking goal, although the keeper was again suspect. Kiddy never stopped trying, and at times they outplayed their more senior opponents. Once again they reduced the arrears and had a little spell where I thought of extra time. This would have been a problem for me as I had to catch the 9.40 bus to Swindon so that I could connect with my pre booked train to London.

I was not to worry, as Kiddy's porous defence leaked twice more in the closing stages. It had been an excellent game throughout although some of the moaning and foul language from the players was disappointing; especially when there was a full page advert in the programme expressing that the Hellenic League observed zero tolerance towards such behaviour. It begged the question as to how they acted before the stricter regime?

I said my goodbyes to Pete, who had been excellent company and a real bonus to the evening out, as I jogged down to the green to await my bus. The driver allowed my to only pay to the local bus boundary in lieu, which was once again most appreciated.

There was still time for me to sample a pint of Arkells, which was taken in the Great Western and turned out to be average on all counts. I wandered over to the station for my ride back to Paddington to end a fabulous couple of days away from the capital.

Shrivenham had been a lovely night out, but it was galling to think the match was in the same round of the FA Cup that my club Scarborough Athletic had been knocked out to Spennymoor Town. If only we'd have drawn teams of the abilities of those on show in Oxfordshire!

Exeter City

Exeter City FC, from the county town of Devon in the south west of England, were formed in 1904 as the predecessor of two clubs; Exeter United and St Sidwell's United. 

Exeter United were formed from players of a cricket club of the same name in 1890 and played their matches at St James Park. St Sidwell's, who had also been known as St Sidwell's Wesleyans and St Sidwell's Old Boys were formed from regulars as the Foresters Inn in Sidwell Street. After the two sides met in a game in 1904 it was decided to merge the clubs.

Sid Thomas scored City's winning goal in their first ever game and went on to serve the club for another seventy years in various capacities. In 1908 the club turned professional, built a wooden stand and joined the Southern League to replace Tottenham Hotspur. Two years later 'The Grecians' adopted red and white stripes as club colours to replace green and white. 

In 1914 City embarked on a historic tour of South America, playing eight games in Argentina and Brazil, where it is believed their national side played their first ever game against the club. In 1920 Exeter became founder members of the Football League Division Three South. In 1931 City reached the sixth round of the FA Cup defeating Newcastle United and Leicester City along the way before going out to Sunderland in front of a record St James Park crowd of 20,984. 

Two years later City finished runners up in their division, but unfortunately only one team were promoted. Following League re-organisation in 1958 the club were placed in Division Four. Promotion was gained at the end of the 1963-64 season, but City returned a couple of years later. Their next promotion came in 1976-77 after finishing Division our runners up.

The team at that time were considered one of the best in the clubs history, with stars such as Tony Kellow, John Delve and John Pullar. They once again reached the FA Cup sixth round in the 1980-81 season where they lost out to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur in the White Hart Lane tie after an unforgettable evening in the previous rounds replay when Newcastle United were hammered 4-0.

To see action from that momentous evening, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5tOe0gbLsc

Two images of St James Park. One taken from a fanzine and the other taken at a Scarborough away game by Dave 'Bunner' Hunter.

In 1984 City were relegated once again before going on to win their first title at the end of the 1989-90 season as they lifted the Division Four crown with Terry Cooper as boss and players like Richard Dryden, Shaun Taylor, Brian McDermott and Clive Whitehead helping. Unfortunately Cooper departed the following season and after Alan Ball had a spell the returning Cooper could not save City from relegation in 1994.

City began to struggle with chairman Ivor Doble unable to prevent the club from entering into administration. St James Park was sold to Beazer Homes for just £650,000, although fortunately the local council took over and allowed City to remain there. They came out of administration in August 1996, but their problems were far from over. St James Park was upgraded by the building of a new Big Bank Stand in 2000 and the Ivor Doble Stand to replace the old terraced Cowshed the year after.

Doble decided to sell the club to John Russell, who was the former chairman of Scarborough where he had overseen a financial crisis and relegation from the League. His wife Gillian was employed and controversial former Swansea City chairman Mike Lewis joined them. Russell rode into town claiming he had assets which could be used as personal guarantees against the clubs debts. Uri Geller was made vice-chairman and Michael Jackson made an honorary director of the club as bad results were not assisted by the lack of finances.

The Grecians were relegated to the Conference in 2003 with the Exeter City Supporters Trust took over from the departed directors with the club £4.5m in debt, as Russell and Lewis blamed the previous regime for the club's position. Forty two donations of £1,000 each initially kept the club in business and then after a season of uncertainty with the Inland Revenue and the football authorities wanting explanations, Exeter managed to arrange a CVA. 

The club launched a 'Red or Dead' scheme in which fans paid in £500 sums to pay off the CVA. The club celebrated their centenary in May 2004 with a match at St James Park against a Brazilian masters team including Dunga and Careca. They had some real luck when they took Manchester United to two games in the FA Cup in January 2005 as City gradually fought to get back on an equal financial footing as the fans dug deep.

In May 2007 Russell was jailed for 21 months and Lewis served 200 hours of community work when found guilty of fraud. The court heard how they moved money from accounts to buy themselves time, cheques were bounced and money earmarked for the club's academy was illegally transferred as well as paying themselves generous consultancy fees. It was believed that it had been Geller who reported them to the police!  If only someone had of done the same at Scarborough?

The Grecians won back their league place through a play-off victory at Wembley in 2008 after losing out at the same stage the previous season after defeating Cambridge United at Wembley under the managership of Paul Tisdale. The good run continued with a second successive promotion to the League's third tier after a runners up finish. City survived their first season but tragedy struck the club on the 10th August 2010 when striker Adam Stansfield died of cancer at the tender age of thirty one.

City just missed out on the play offs, but were relegated at the end of the 2011-12. 

Exeter City FC will play in Football League Two in the 2013-14 season.

My visit

Exeter City 1 Crystal Palace 2 (Tuesday 14th August 2012) Football League Cup Round One (att: 3,650)

I had wanted to visit St James Park for some time. Because of work, or lack of it, I'd never got round to visiting with Scarborough. My opportunity knocked when I had finished my quota of night shifts and I had the following couple of days off.

After an hour on the bed I headed to Victoria Coach Station to take the 9am Megabus down to the West Country. Fortunately I caught up with some much needed shut eye along the way, arriving in Exeter around 2pm. A short bus ride from the drop off took me to St Davids station where I was staying at the Great Western Hotel.

I am generally frugal when it comes to booking hotels so that I can afford to get to more matches, but on this occasion I was forced into spending a bit more than I prefer. The hotel was more tired than me, and a bit of a disappointment if truth be told, but I was determined to have a  good time. The post match attraction of the hotel bar with its seven hand pumps of local beers promised to more than make up for the surroundings.

After a very pleasant train ride down to the lovely seaside town of Exmouth and another rest I returned back to the station for the service to St James Park, directly behind the Old Grandstand. On arrival I sought out the advice of the friendly programme seller who advised me of the best place for a pre match drink. I headed to the rear of the Ivor Doble Stand where the old St James' School had been adapted into a bar and offices. My only gripe was that the lads behind the bar were somewhat lacking energy. There was also an outside bar where opposing fans mingled in good spirits.

Young fans came round with collection buckets for the Adam Stansfield Foundation, which went towards providing struggling youngsters and clubs starting out in the game in the three counties that Adam spent his career; Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire. Many fans wore number nine shirts with his name on the back. Later the fans sang his name on the terraces. It was good to see someone clearly loved and missed was still remembered. It summed up the thoroughly decent people I met during my short stay.

I was enjoying my Tribute bitter as I got talking to the security guy on the players door while taking a photo of the board paying homage to the forty two whose contributions kept the club going in its darkest hour. We compared stories about John Russell and his deeds in crippling both our clubs. Some of what he told me didn't shock me, but it still hurt. It sounded all too familiar. 

The tribute to the twenty four whose money saved City

I left to go and stand on The Big Bank with the home fans for £17, where I got a tremendous view. It was a large roofed terrace to replace its open predecessor. To the left was the all seated Ivor Doble Stand. Opposite was the Old Grandstand, which was for family use. It ran two thirds of the pitch clinging onto the edge of the railway embankment and showing its age. The St James Road Terrace was a small open end for visiting supporters.

The youths on the terrace made a decent noise, with the Palace youths reciprocating at the far end in some kind of ultra culture including the lighting of flares. The teams came out to a good ovation, and the volume was turned up after a couple of minutes when John O'Flynn put The Grecians ahead. The home side were playing some lovely football against an average Palace side. I particularly liked the play of Spanish forward Guillem Bauza for City, while Glen Murray looked the star man for the visitors.

However, the game changed when one of the linesmen flagged for a penalty when no-one else spotted the supposed hand ball in the City area. Jermaine Easter stepped up to equalise from the spot, which led to inconsistent refereeing and players and fans alike screaming for handball every time the ball hit the body.

I had to laugh at the chant from the home fans of "you dirty northern bastards" when a visiting player made a bad challenge. Just before half time Palace took the lead with a scruffy goal as the ball looped over the unconvincing City keeper Artur Krysiak by Kagisho Dikgacoi. 

At the break I joined the queue for a pasty ("not Cornish" said the friendly lady behind the counter) and a cup of tea and saw a very risqué line in catering!

City pressed in the second half and with the additions of Alan Gow and Jamie Cureton they could well have levelled and taken the game to extra time. It wasn't to be and even though their side weren't fantastic on the evening, the impressive turn out of 859 Eagles fans went away happy enough. In fairness their time had been the more incisive and most likely to add to the scoreline.

At full time I decided to walk back to my hotel. I was going to stop on the way for a beer, but those beer taps needed some investigation. I eventually found my way back and the beer delivered all it promised, with helpful staff and friendly locals. Gradually more fans came back from the game, including some Palace fans who were to catch the 1am train back to London. I got chatting to an older fan who'd been to the FA Cup tie at Scarborough in 1976 as we got stuck into the beer and discussing all manners of football at all levels.

It was a brilliant end to a superb evening. I really enjoyed my time in Exeter and would recommend it to anyone. Perhaps even with pre match beers in Exmouth and a direct train to the match?

To view the Palace equaliser taken on the video on my IPhone, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9OJw35jiyY&list=UUuIHNmGQ2lRbtwwp7tLYDDQ&index=1&feature=plcp

Tiverton Town

Tiverton Town FC are a non league club from the town that stands on the confluence of the Rivers Exe and Lowman in Mid Devon in the south west of England. The club were initially formed as Tiverton Athletic in 1913 playing games at the Athletic Ground.

For their first sixty years 'Tivvy' played in local competition; North Devon League, East Devon League and the Exeter & District League winning several honours along the way. In 1921 the club moved to Elm Field and then Ladysmead in Bolham Road in 1946 after their previous ground was virtually destroyed in World War Two.

In 1973 the club entered the Western League. The team were relegated to Division One in 1981, but after they regained their Premier Division place in 1989, the club began a period of huge success.

The 1992-93 season saw the team end as runners-up in the league and also reach Wembley in the FA Vase Final, where they were defeated by Bridlington Town, a season after reaching the FA Cup First Round for the first time. The following 1993-94 saw Tivvy crowned Western League champions, a title they went on to the retain at the end of the next campaign.

After a season of runners up, the club went on to win the league for the following two seasons as well winning the 1998 FA Vase Final against Tow Low Town. Tivvy returned to Wembley the year after to once again lift the Vase after defeating Bedlington Terriers. Tiverton also finished as runners up in the league, gaining promotion in the process to the Southern League.

Promotion to the Premier Division was achieved in the 2000-01 season, where Tivvy remained for ten years until being relegated. In April 2012 Matthew Conridge, a twenty seven year old internet entrepreneur became club chairman vowing not to spend more than the club could afford while trying to progress further up the pyramid.

Tiverton Town FC will play in the Southern League Division One South & West in the 2013-14 season.


My visit

Wednesday 15th August 2012

I making my way back from Exeter having been to their League Cup tie the previous evening, while determined to visit some clubs in the area on the way. 

The weather was terrible with heavy rain and I was soaked walking towards Tiverton town centre after visiting Tivvy's cross town rivals; Elmore AFC. I sheltered for a while under shop overhangs to look at the map app on my IPhone as my printed map had been reduced to mush. As is often the case the size of the town I was visiting was deceiving to my initial estimations.

Locals scurried about trying and failing to keep dry, whereas I was so wet I just got on with it. I walked up Castle Street and found what I'm sure was a very pretty Peoples Park, at least on a sunny summers day. Fortunately the path took me to the top of the steps offering a view of Ladysmead and a way down to the grounds entrance.

Fortunately the gate by the clubhouse was opened so I walked in and had a look around and got my bearings in the dry. Ladysmead looked just about the perfect non league ground to my eyes. There was a long seated stand along the far touchline. Both ends had covers and a few rows of terracing, which continued to the final side where a roof continued in front of the clubhouse. It was a decent size and all four sides offered covered accommodation.

I walked back towards the town centre in search of the bus station, past the castle and the fine St Peters church. I was most impressed with the tidiness of the town and the amount of maps on display. They obviously cared that people found their way around and appreciated the town. It looked the sort of place I could really enjoy over the course of a pleasant afternoon.

I had a twenty minutes wait for the bus to Taunton, which turned out to be a plush coach. This met very much with my approval as I relaxed near the back in a reclining seat and had a doze. It hadn't met with the same enthusiasm with the elderly residents as they struggled up the steps, and there was no bell to ring when they neared their stop. Fortunately the driver was a kind man with a sense of humour and this soon won the hearts of his passengers.

Despite the awful weather I really liked Tiverton, the area around it and the friendly people. I really should make an effort to return.