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My Matchday - 382 New Countess Park

March 2, 2014, 4:19 am
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Dunbar United 4v1 Tranent Juniors
East Region Juniors - McBookie.com South Division
Saturday 1st March 2014

 New Countess Park is the football ground I've seen the most without stopping to watch a game. The East Coast line runs by the home of Dunbar United, so I’ve past it many times on train journeys to a from Edinburgh. To rectify this misdemeanor I added The Seasiders to my list of  “T'do grounds” for this season and just to be awkward I didn't let the train take the strain, instead giving my new car Simon a run up the A1.

Dunbar is a town on the East Lothian coast, situated exactly at the halfway point between Edinburgh and the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed, being 28 miles each way. The former Royal Burgh takes its name from Brythonic roots; Dynn Barr and means 'summit-fort', which gives an indication to its origins and its history involving the castle situated over the harbour.
Scotland and England often contended for possession of the castle, which withstood many sieges, until the structure was slighted in 1568. The second Battle of Dunbar in 1650 was fought during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms between a Scottish Covenanter army and Cromwell’s English Parliamentarians. The Scots were routed, leading to the overthrow of the monarchy and the occupation of Scotland.
The town later flourished as an agricultural centre and fishing port despite turbulent times in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Dunbar gained a reputation as a holiday destination in the 19th century, as a seaside and golfing resort -  The 'bright and breezy burgh' famous for its 'bracing air'. Dunbar is also the birthplace of naturalist author John Muir and the home of the Belhaven Brewery since 1719.
Dunbar United formed in 1925, winning their first honours in the Edinburgh & District League in 1927-28 and the East Lothian Cup the following season. The club also won the title again in 1961-62 and added more trophies in the East of Scotland Junior Cup in 1961 and 1964 and the Brown Cup in 1963.

The Seasiders greatest achievement came in 1961 when they won the top prize in Scottish Junior Football beating Cambuslang Rangers in the final of the Scottish Junior Cup at Hampden Park, but after the successful era of the 1960's the club had a lean spell without honours. In 1990 they lifted their third East of Scotland Junior Cup and won three East Region Division Two titles, the last of which in 1997-98. The last piece of silverware came in the Brown Cup in 1999-00 and the club currently play in East Region South Division.
United moved to New Countess Park in 2001 which is a sports complex within Hallhill Healthy Living Centre. The ground is quite tidy, having a diminutive perimeter wall which separates the football from the rugby, with both sports sharing the large clubhouse found within the Living Centre.

There's room for about 2,500 spectators which is open on all sides apart from an overhanging roof at the main end, along from the changing rooms and refreshment bar. The paying entrance block is at the railway end, with perspex dugouts at the far side and eight floodlight pylons.
 Dunbar were up against their neighbours from further west along the A1 (and a future tick) - Tranent Juniors The visitors withstood some early pressure before grabbing the lead, when a long ball found Bob Berry who produced a neat finish to chip the advancing keeper in the tenth minute. The Seasiders turned it around before half time, when a hard low cross was met by defender Richard Fairnie whose diving header flew past his own 'keeper, then Sam Young was on hand to give his team a well deserved lead.

The hosts had further chances to extend their one goal advantage but left it late to assure the three points. With a quarter of an hour remaining substitute Keith Tait finished off a good passing move to fire home a right foot shot into the corner of the net and with three minutes left Ross Colquhoun fouled Sam Young in the box, who stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards to seal a convincing victory. 


The journey up to Dunbar took an hour and three quarters (You were right Stevie Charla...Eddy) Those of you who might have read about my trip to Stamfordat the end of January will remember “Wor Al” - that mackem tosser of a car I had, let me down big style, which resulted in a 40 mile tow home and me heavily out of pocket. Since then we’ve welcomed a new four wheeled member to the family, a bonny little Hyundai i20 named Simon. Today’s road trip was our ground bagging debut, which is hopefully the first of many enjoyable days out together of the coming years, including seeking more matches and new grounds just north of the border.


Matchday Stats
DUJFC 4(Fairnie 22OG Young 38 87pen Tait 75) TJFC 1(Berry 10)
Att.100apx
Admission £4
Programme:no issue
Ground no.382 New Countess Park - Matchday Web album 
(22 pictures)



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My Matchday - 384 The Hive

March 9, 2014, 5:12 am
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Barnet 0v1 Gateshead
Skrill Premier Division
Saturday 8th March 2014
After the disappointment of being unable to tick off Welling United because of the weather last month, I was again back in the smoke for a Gateshead away game, this time visiting Barnet’s new gaff in ‘Arrrow, the aptly named The Hive Stadium.
Since my visit to Underhill on the eve of the 2010-11 season, The Bees survived by the skin of their teeth to avoid the drop, finishing 22nd in two consecutive seasons before falling through the Football League trapdoor last term,  so they find themselves back in non-league football for the first time since 2005.

Google searchers looking for information on the club’s history and their former home can read about this on my previous post - My Matchday - 255 Underhill However one thing I forgot to mention in that report was the first time I ever became aware of  Barnet and wondered where it was.  In 1979  I bought a unique piece of 7 inch vinyl by Toyah.  SheepFarming In Barnet  has 6 tracks squeezed onto a single playing at 33rpm, which record label Safari described as an “Alternative Play Record” The title refers to a peculiar incident when sheep were bizarrely seen in a field in Finchley just off Regent's Park Road. An LP version with an additional five tracks became the band’s debut album in February 1980.


Barnet FC officially announced their intention to leave Underhill, their home for 106 years in December 2011 after they were unable to renew its lease. The stadium construction at the Prince Edward Playing Fields in Canons Park, originally started back in 2003 as a new home for Wealdstone F.C, but within twelve month work ceased on the project when the club's investor's went into liquidation. In 2006 Harrow London Borough Council put the site up for tender and after a failed bid to relocate to Barnet Copthall, the club focused their intentions to move 6 miles south-west to The Hive, in readiness for the 2013-14 season. 

The Hive is a ten minute walk from Cannons Park station, located through Barnet’s training ground in Camrose Avenue. The amenities, including club offices, changing rooms, clubshop and The Hive Bar are found within the East Stand. As for the stand itself, it holds 750 divided into ten rows of black seats including press area and the team dugouts, with cover coming from an overhanging roof from the main building. There isn't a tunnel as the players emerge from the north-east corner of the ground.
The West Stand has a capacity of 2,700 decked out in amber with two strips of horizontal black seats. and an electronic scoreboard. The stand is a single tier block with a cantilever roof and no supporting pillars, with the Jubilee Line running behind the stand, so you get a good view of the stadium as you arrive on the tube.
Behind each goal are two identical covered terraces which are prominently silvery grey with ten steps of terracing, crash barriers and the roof without any other flashes of colour. 

The club successfully kicked off this season within their new surroundings with the first match played against Ipswich Town in a pre-season friendly on the 20th July, but there's a sting in the tale as The Bees were issued an enforcement notice from Harrow Borough Council. The issue over the stadium is regarding the floodlights and the West Stand being built outside specifications in the original agreement. The notice means the club have six months to demolish the stand and three months to remove the lights or risk facing prosecution, however the club maintain the any remedial work shouldn’t be a problem. 


Backed by tremendous support from the Heed Army, Gateshead boosted their chances of finishing amongst the play-off pack with a crucial three points at The Hive. Over a hundred Heed fans had made the long trip to north London and were gladly rewarded with a second half winner from Jamie Chandler.
Decent goal scoring chances were minimal throughout the game, especially in the first half as both teams struggled to adapt to the bright sunshine and the sudden rise in the temperature. 
The match improved in the second half with Oster wasting a good opportunity for the visitors, while Charlie Adams looked Barnet’s best bet for a goal, with one effort producing a fine save from Bartlett at the near post.
Just as a goalless draw was looking the most likely outcome the decisive goal arrived in the 71st minute, when Oster chipped a through ball into the path of Chandler who timed his run to perfection and his looping header found the top corner of the net.
This win has The Tynesiders still in with a good shout at the top ,while Barnet move down to fourth as the play-off positions at top of the Conference table changes weekly and its all to play for as the season heads into the final straight.

I set off on the 0722 from Newcastle to Kings Cross feeling quite dapper and in good spirits. There was a touch of spring in the air and I felt like a new man having on matchday eve removed my 5 month old beard.(From incredibly hairy man to bonny lad within 10 minutes...Eddy) 
My pre-match plan was to tick off a few more JDWetherspoon pubs, starting off at the Sir John Oldcastle in Farrington for breakfast, before calling points on the Jubilee Line. I stopped off at Finchley Road, Kilburn and Kingsbury, meeting up with Squad#111 Steve Mann on route, who had traveled up from Hastings. As well as Steve, it was again good to see Squad#108 John Robinson from Somerset and #196 Keith Arthur from York, plus it was nice to have a bit crack with some of the Heed Army who I've never seen in a while.
The only disappointment on my part was running out of time for what would have been my fifth new 'Spoons of the day in Stanmore, but nothing could spoil a fab day in which at long last, I saw a Gateshead win in London for the first time. WA GATESHEAD!



Matchday Stats
BFC 0 GFC 1(Chandler 71)
Att.1,361
Admission:Press (£17 on terrace)
Programme £3

Ground no.384 The Hive - Matchday Web album (30 pictures)
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My Matchday - 385 Raymond McEnhill Stadium

March 17, 2014, 1:32 pm
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Salisbury City 0v0 Gateshead
Skrill Premier
Saturday 15th March 2014
Salisbury City v Gateshead is the longest journey in the Conference this season, a mere 327 miles between the two grounds, so obviously an early start for your author in preparation for a hectic weekend of football, beer, but most of all - plenty of travelling.
The first part of my journey was courtesy of Roy Best aka “Ginger Heed” who along  with Kitman Mark, Vicky Hutch and One-legged Geoff, chauffeured us on the long road trip to Wiltshire. Once Roy picked us up and fuelled up we finally hit the A1 at quarter to eight and after a couple of refreshment breaks, we made good time to arrive at the ground before 2pm. Before the match I was over the moon that Squad#169 Geoff Jackson had arrived from Carlisle as we were meeting up the next day in Newport as part of our weekend double.
Salisbury is the only city in the county of Wiltshire, which has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original settlement site north of the city at Old Sarum. Salisbury sits at the confluence of five rivers: the Nadder, Ebble, Wylye and Bourne are tributary to the Avon, which flows to the south coast and into the sea at Christchurch in Dorset. 
The city of New Sarum was founded in 1220 on a great meadow called 'Myrifield'. The building of the new cathedral was begun by Bishop Richard Poore at the same time, which took 38 years to complete and is a masterpiece of Early English architecture. The 404 foot tall spire was built later and is the tallest spire in the UK. The cathedral also contains the best preserved of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta and the oldest surviving mechanical clock, installed in 1386.

Salisbury F.C. was founded in 1947, having no relation to a former club of the same name who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. The club entered the Western League and won the Second Division title in their debut season. The club plied their trade in the same league until 1968, winning the championship in 1957–58 and 1960–61, before being elected to the Southern League.
In 1993 Salisbury became City and won their first title with the new name in 1994–95 in the Southern League Southern Division.  The Whites switched to the Isthmian League for a solitary season in 2004-05 season, but on returning to the Southern League Premier were champions. The club progressed further in the Conference South, finishing second and winning the play-offs to reach the summit of non-league for the first time in 2007-08.
City good work on the pitch was squandered when in the summer of 2009 the club faced bankruptcy and were formally placed in administration in September with debts of £200,000. Although the club survived, they’d missed the deadline to pay back a creditor and after a failed appeal, The Whites were demoted two divisions from the Conference to the Southern League Premier Division for the 2010–11 season. However two promotions in three seasons including a play-off triumph over Dover Athletic sees the club return to the Conference this season.
Last seasons play off victory saw a new record attendance at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium with 3,408 spectators witnessing promotion and since moving into their new home in 1997, Salisbury have hosted some big FA Cup ties. In 1998 they reached the first round when a record gate of 2,570 saw a 2-0 defeat to Hull City. That stat was broken twice in 2006, with a first round victory over Fleetwood, then 3,100 fans including viewers on BBC1 saw City hold Nottingham Forest to a 1-1 draw.

Salisbury City moved from their previous Victoria Park home to a new purpose built 4,000 capacity stadium at Old Sarum  named after the then chairman, Raymond McEnhill. 
The main stand is similar to what they have at Barnet, with the reception, club offices, changing rooms, Chalkies Bar and club shop all housed in the one building, with seats attached at pitch side with an overhanging roof for cover. The green building has four rows of black and white seats with additional balcony seating upstairs and the team dugouts in front.  Opposite there’s two meccanno type stands, filled with black flip seats and separated by an advertisement board which includes a small electric scoreboard. There’s an additional £2 charge to sit at the Hop Back Side, but on a lovely sunny day not many took up the offer with just one solitary spectator in one of the stands. 
As you enter the Ray Mac at the car park turnstiles you notice the pitch is sunken, with the covered terrace at a higher level, which bends around to meet the main stand. The cover at the side has a disabled area and refreshment bar. The rest of the ground has open terraces with another electric scoreboard behind the away end.
As Salisbury have one of the best home records in the Conference, coupled with Gateshead’s  good away form, my pre-match prediction of a draw was spot on, but one thing I didn’t expect was a bore draw.
The match was similar to the one at Barnet last week with an uneventful first half and Gateshead improving after the break, but this time there was no killer goal to clinch the three points. Throughout the 90 minutes Heed keeper Adam Bartlett wasn’t seriously tested, while James Brown wasted a good opportunity for Gateshead, his weak header failing to trouble Puddy. The best chance of the game came in the 87th minute, when a cross from Walker found substitute Jack Lester who slid in from just three yards out, but he was unable to get a strong enough purchase on his shot and the ‘keeper managed to gather the ball to safety. The point apiece still gives but teams a slim play-off chance, but that late miss could be a crucial two points dropped for the Heed.
After the match I took the long walk from the stadium to my guest house just on the edge of the city centre. After a spot of relaxation and doing “The three S’s” I was out and ready for a night on the lash in Salisbury. I started off in the Anchor & Hope, Rai D’Or then Cloisters before meeting up with Torchy(Squad#51)Simon Grobari(Squad#185) Salisbury Dave and Bible Mike. Young Michael now lives in Manchester so I haven’t seen him for a while, but he’s still as daft as a brush and now has a remarkable resemblance to Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. 
We met up in Deacons, before our ace host Dave lead us around the town, calling at Slug & Lettuce, Kings Head, Haunch of Venison, Ox Row and we finished the night in Yo-Yo. I  successfully managed to  navigate my way back to my digs afterwards, staggering back through the town after an  excellent night in great company. When I arrived in my room there was a pint glass and a bottle of ale waiting for me courtesy of the lady who works at the guest house. For discreet purposes I won’t say what action I performed to make her so grateful, all  I’ll  say is I was happy to be of assistance.(Nudge-nudge, wink,wink, so no more…Eddy) 
My alarm woke me up at 830 the next morning and although I felt as rough as a badgers, I tackled breakfast before heading off to the rail station,  having a last look through this lovely medieval cathedral city before catching the 1026 train to south Wales for my second matchday of the weekend in Newport.



Matchday Stats
SCFC 0 GFC 0
Att.1.045
Admission £14
Programme £2.50

Ground no.385 Raymond McEnhill Stadium - Matchday Web album(31 pictures)
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My Matchday - 386 Rodney Parade

March 18, 2014, 11:46 am
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Newport County 1v1 Exeter City
League Two
Sunday 16th March 2014
After several bad luck stories over the last few seasons in my pursuit of seeing a match in Newport, I finally made it to my Shangri-la at the fourth attempt, thanks largely to Squad#169 Geoff Jackson, together with international egg chasing and a trip to Salisbury the previous day.
I departed Wiltshire on the very busy 1026 First Great Western service to Cardiff Central, which was running 15 minutes late, but I still had sufficient time to call at the four Wetherspoons pubs before the match.

Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is a cathedral and university city in south east Wales, located on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn estuary. Newport as a settlement was first mentioned as “novo burgus” established by Robert, Earl of Gloucester in 1126. The name derived from the original Latin meaning new borough or town.
Newport is renowned for its port, going back to medieval times when a castle was built by the Normans. The port grew significantly in the 19th century with the export of coal from the eastern coalfields of South Wales, becoming the largest Welsh exporter of coal until the emergence of Cardiff in the 1850s.The docks declined during the 20th century, however Newport remained an important manufacturing and engineering centre. The town was granted city status in 2002 and is largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent.
The Newport & Monmouth County Association Football Club formed in 1912, playing in the Southern League and were originally nicknamed "The Ironsides" in recognition of the Orb steel works. Newport County reformed in 1919 and were elected to the Football League as founder members of Division Three South the following year. They were not re-elected after the 1930–31 season but rejoined for 1932–33, winning promotion to the Second Division as champions in 1939, the highest level the club played in during their Football League career.

The rise and fall of Newport County came in an eventful era during the 1980s. The decade began with promotion from the Fourth Division and finally winning the Welsh Cup which gained entry to the 1980-81 European Cup-Winners-Cup. The Euro adventure saw County progress past Crusaders (Northern Ireland) Sk Haugar (Norway) before a quarter final clash with East German side Carl Zeiss Jena. After drawing 2-2 in the away leg, County lost out by a narrow single goal defeat in front of 18,000 at Somerton Park, which denied them a semi-final clash with Benfica.

After such  a high the decade ended with the club going out of business under the ownership of American Jerry Sherman. The decline began with relegated from the Third Division in 1986-87, before dropping out of the Football League the following year after 60 seasons. They failed to complete their first season fixtures  in the Conference, as their record was expunged before finally going out of business on the 27th February 1989 with debts of £330,000.  

Newport AFC reformed in June 1989 by 400 supporters including David Hando as Chairman and who was later appointed the club president.The road back to ‘The 92’ began with election to the Hellenic League playing home games in the Gloucestershire town of Moreton-in-Marsh, which gave them the nickname "The Exiles" as Newport Council refused permission to use Somerton Park on the grounds of unpaid rent by the former hierarchy.
In their debut season the club won the title and progressed through the Southern League, on route playing matches at Gloucester City’s Meadow Park ground and regaining the Newport County name in 1999. The club were Conference South champions in 2010 and after almost a quarter of a century returned to the Football League in their centenary season, winning last year’s Conference play-off final against Wrexham at Wembley.
The Exiles returned to Newport for the 1994–95 season at the newly built Newport Stadium. In May 2012 the club announced an agreement to share with the city’s Rugby club Newport Gwent Dragons at  Rodney Parade, with the lease extended to a 10 year deal from February 2013.
Rodney Parade sits on the east bank of the River Esk and dates back to the 1877, following the formation of  Newport Athletic Club, which formed two years earlier and purchased use of the land from Lord Tredegar for their cricket, tennis, rugby and athletics teams. The cricket ground on the site was also used by Monmouthshire County Cricket Club between 1901 and 1934 and later Newport Cricket Club, until the land was sold and the new Maindee primary school was built.

The stadium has two new stands on the west and east sides of the ground. The Bisley Stand (east) was built in 2011 and is a pitch length single tier structure, neatly decked out in random yellow, black and red flip seats. The stand has a 2,526 capacity with 13 hospitality boxes and houses the TV gantry.
Opposite is the Hazell Stand which has more of a traditional look to it, with an upper tier of 1,996 red seats and a standing paddock at the front. There are 4 floodlight poles popping out of the peaked roof, with windshields on both sides.
I stood on the North Terrace which is uncovered with the standing area extended around to the west stand. Behind the south goal is some newly installed green flip seats in front of an office building and an electric scoreboard. The changing rooms are found in a separate building in the south-east corner, plus the ticket offices, club shop and a cracking portakabin programme shop are found at the north entrance.
The League Two clash with Exeter City was switched to a Sunday kick off because of the Six Nations Rugby International between Wales and Scotland in Cardiff the previous day, which suited my plans perfectly for this weekend. 
After a no score draw the previous afternoon and an uneventful first half at Rodney Parade it was looking as if I wouldn’t see the ball hit the onion bag all weekend, but like the proverbial double-decker bus, two came along together.
The visitors took the lead on 51 minutes when a long ball over the top found Tom Nichols free down the right, his left footed cross was intercepted by defender Harry Worley, who glanced his headed clearance into his own net past the shocked ‘keeper.
From the restart it was all square when a deep cross from Willmott found Zebroski who nodded the ball into the path of Minshull, to poke home the equaliser from six yards.
The best chance of a winner came late on when a jinky run and shot from Zeboski forced a good save from Krysiak, but on the overall balance of play, a share of the spoils was the fairest outcome.
Before the match I met up with Squad#169 Geoff Jackson, who along with his son Daniel(who is well on his way to 100 grounds)had travelled down from Carlisle to Salisbury the previous day, but stayed overnight in Newbury, before driving along to Newport for the game. Geoff was good enough to assist me in this weekend double by avoiding the A66 exit off the A1 to Cumbria, instead carrying on up the motorway to drop me off back in Gateshead. The five and a half hour journey back north wasn’t too bad, as Geoff was great company and didn’t button his lip for the 300 mile trip from Gwent to Tyneside. 
I finally arrived at Gallowgate View at 11pm, tired but delighted to have not just re-completed The 92, but also achieved a more mightier landmark. I mentioned at the top of this post that I did a pre-match ‘Spoons pub crawl and the second of those four boozers; the Queens Head was the 200th Wetherspoons pub that I’ve had a bevvy in, which is further proof that there’s still no getting away for my OCD - JDW problem.


Matchday Stats
NCAFC 1(Minshull 52)ECFC 1(Worley 51OG)
Att.3,159
Admission £17
Programme £3.50

Ground no.386 Rodney Parade - Matchday Web album (25 pictures)
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My Matchday - 387 Forthbank Stadium

March 22, 2014, 4:36 pm
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Stirling Albion 2v2 Montrose
Scottish League Two
Saturday 22nd March 2014
 Forthbank Stadium was another ground needed in my pursuit of the Scottish 42 as I begin to run out of destinations which can be achieved in a day. Stirling is the easiest one of the thirteen left on my list, just a straightforward train hop at Edinburgh.

Stirling is the largest city in Central Scotland, known as the "Gateway to the Highlands" due to its geographical position at the Highland Boundary Fault described as the brooch which clasps the Highlands and the Lowlands together. The former Scottish capital was created as a Royal burgh by King David I in 1130, remaining so until 1975, when the county of Stirlingshire was formed. The town was granted city status in 2002 as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

Stirling is found off the River Forth, so it became a target for Viking invaders. Legend has it that a wolf known as “The beast of Stirling” howled out a warning of a Viking attack, alerting the townsfolk to save the town. It is also claimed that the last wolf in Scotland was killed in Stirling.
At the top of Castle Hill surrounded by three sides of cliffs is the historic and architectural wonder of Stirling Castle, one of the largest castles in the country. Within the grounds is The Great Hall, Renaissance Palace and most of the principal buildings which date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, mainly during the Wars of Scottish Independence, the last assault came when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle in 1746.Scottish royalty have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary Queen of Scots in the castle in 1542 and King James VI in 1567 in the medieval Church of the Holy Rude.
King's Park FC formed in 1875 and later played in the Scottish Football League with the reintroduction of the Second Division in 1921–22 season. Prior to World War II the club had stopped playing competitively but continued playing friendly matches. The fortunes of the club was severely hit in 1941 when a Luftwaffe Heinkel III dropped a single Hermann bomb on their Forthbank ground, one of only two bombs to hit the town during the conflict. Due to a lack of a ground because of the damage, the club didn’t play again and were officially wound up in 1953 when the War Office finally settled their damage claim.

Stirling Albion was founded after the war by local coal magnate Thomas Fergusson, who purchased the Annfield estate to build a new stadium. The football term “yo-yo club” is believed to have originated from Albion, as a club not good enough for the top flight but too strong for the Second Division, having been promoted and relegated eight times between 1952 and '65. The club's unwanted nickname of The Yo-Yos became a Scottish saying that something or somebody was "going up and down like Stirling Albion" Thankfully the club now have a more solicitous nickname - “The Binos" which is just basically an anagram of Albion but without the Al.

The Binos have won ten league titles between the second to fourth tiers of the Scottish League and hold the record for the biggest victory in the Scottish Cup during the 20th century, beating Selkirk 20-0 in 1984. 
In 2002 Albion became the first senior club in the UK to be 100% owned by a fans trust. A group of die-hard fans set up a trust to provide financial support to the club when needed, after concerns over the club's rising debt. The group launched the 'Buy Stirling Albion’ campaign in May 2009 with the Trust leading fundraising efforts and raised enough funds to purchase the club in June 2010.
The club moved from Annfield to a new purpose built stadium constructed by Stirling Council in 1993. Forthbank is found on the outskirts of the town and is named after the old home of Kings Park; the first football ground in Stirling.
The 3,808 capacity stadium has two seated stands at the sides and open terraces behind the goals. The main stand is on the west side having a single tier block of red seats with SAFC picked out in white with the club offices, hospitality suites at the back and team dugouts in front. The East Stand is of similar style but smaller in length which brings the overall seating capacity to 2,508. The east side also has a Police Control Room, TV gantry and press box. The terraces are identical with room for 300 at each end with the North Terrace allocated to away supporters, although neither are used unless there's a big game with a decent crowd expected. The ground is completed with four very tall and skinny floodlights, but the best feature is the picturesque backdrop to the north, which includes the Wallace Monument at the summit of Abbey Craig.
 Albion were up against Montrose in League 2, with both sides dishing up the worst opening 45 minutes of play I've seen this season. The match had nowts each written all over it, but to our surprise the second half was quite entertaining. The Binos took the lead five minutes after the restart when Craig Comrie fired home from six yards, but the visitors drew level when a 20 yard free kick from Paul Watson perfectly found the bottom left corner of the net.
Stirling looked to have clinched maximum points when David McClune smacked the ball home off the post on 83 minutes, but a clumsy foul by O'Byrne in the box allowed Gary Wood to fire home the spot kick in the final minute for a share of the points.
On my arrival in Edinburgh I called at a couple of my regular haunts. Starting off with a walk across South Bridge for breakfast at Babylon Cafe then down to the bottom of the Royal Mile for some vinyl digging at Unknown Pleasures. I then met up with Squad#155 James Little at Waverley for our 50 minute journey on the 1203 Dunblane service to Stirling. 
We arrived just before 1pm which allowed plenty of time for drinks at No.2 Baker Street, Portcullis and the auldest pub in Stirling - the Settle Inn. The ground is a good 20-25 minute walk from the station, but we managed to hotfoot it back after the match (with seconds to spare) to catch the 1707 to Edinburgh. Once back in the capital we had time for another bevvy, so James took me to previously uncharted boozer; The Bow Inn which has a large choice of ale and worldwide bottled beers. So that's another of the Scottish 42 successfully ticked off and an enjoyable day out, which was accurately summarized by James when he remarked that "The beer was better than the football!"


Matchday Stats
SAFC 2(Comrie 51 McClune 83) MFC 2(Watson 79 Wood 90pen)
Att.529
Admission £10
Programme £3

Ground no.387 Forthbank Stadium - Matchday Web album(22 pictures)


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Pic of the Week Cup - Round 1

March 26, 2014, 5:50 am
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Squad#151 Jon Blake - Belford Terrace - Billingham Town v Crook Town (15th Feb')
100FgC FB Member Gareth Cloutt - Worcester City derelict (March) 
100FgC FB Member Jim McAlwane - Canal Street - St Andrews v Newcastle Benfield (8th March)
100FgC-A33 Mark Wilkins - Tinto Park - Benburb v  Neilson (15th March)
100Fgc-A8 Simon Langton - Barton Stadium - Winsford United v Silsden
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Toon Academy

March 30, 2014, 8:48 am
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388.Little Benton

Newcastle United U-18 5v3 Leicester City U-18
Barclays U18 Premier League (North Group)
Saturday 29th March 2014
The Newcastle United Academy was opened in 2003 in Little Benton, a small suburb in the east end of the town, which along with the Toon Academy also holds two modern housing estates at Church Green and Haydon Grange. 
The Academy forms part of the large square area of football grounds. Whitley Park(Blue Flames) the home of West Allotment Celtic, Northumberland FA and NUFC Reserves, Team Northumbria’s Coach Lane Sports Ground and the Newcastle United Training Centre at Darsley Park.
The complex is found off Coach Road, along a winding road at the beginning of Greenlee Drive. There’s several pitches including a 3G and full size fields at the other side of the main reception and changing room building, where the U-16s were also in action against Leicester City. The main pitch is fully fenced off, with perspex dugouts, floodlights and hard standing behind the near goal and dolomite standing along the near side.

Regular readers will be shocked to learn that this is my first match at Little Benton. The simple reason for this is because matches are usually played on a Saturday morning while I’m still at work, and when I’m not grafting I’m usually on my travels elsewhere. 
Today’s U-18 Premier League match with Leicester City was a 1230pm kick off this week allowed me plenty of time to get to the game and do a double with Gateshead’s Skrill Premier clash with Braintree Town at 3pm.
This entertaining encounter saw United take the lead after nine minutes when Greg Olley cut inside and unleashed a low hard shot from 25 yards which skidding along the wet surface and under the ‘keepers body. The Foxes hit back after 13 minutes when Dylan Casey ran through on the overlap and his deflected shot flew past Woolston in the United goal, then the other City full back Cedric Kipre was on hand to fire home at the far post from a corner kick.
Newcastle regained their advantage on the hour with a brace from Tom Heardman. The big number nine got on the end of a left wing cross from Kerridge in the 53rd minute then he took advantage of some poor City defending to fire home from close range seven minutes later.

United’s domination saw a great interchange of passing rounded off by Jonathyn Quinn to add the fourth after 68 minutes, before a lovely finish by Dan Barlaser, firing in at the near post from a tight angle with three minutes remaining.
City finished the game strongly and had plenty of decent chances to reduce the arrears,  but it wasn’t until deep into injury time when after a succession of corner kicks, the ball was deflected over the line via a United leg. The goal was controversially giving by the linesman, who flagged the ball had crossed the line, although the United camp are adamant this wasn’t the case. A cracking game for my long awaited first attended match at Little Benton, which was United’s fourth consecutive league victory as Dave Watson’s side continue to finish the season on a high note.



Matchday Stats
NUFCU-18 5(Olley 13 Heardman 52,60 Quinn 68 Barlaser 87)
LCFCU-18 3(Casey 13 Kipre 23 OG 90+2)
Att.46(HC)
Admission:none
Programme:Team Sheet
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2nd Precision Notts Senior League Bonanza

April 14, 2014, 2:57 pm
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After enjoying the first Notts Football Bonanza last year I returned for the next batch of grounds, but this time I brought the breadknife along for a birthday treat of a weekend stay in Nottingham.
We left Newcastle on the 1335 train to Sheffield to catch our connecting train, which was over 20 minutes late due to some bulls knacker wandering the train line. After taking solace in the Sheffield Tap we boarded the next available service so we finally arrived in Nottingham at 5.30pm. 
The five game ticket cost £15 which included programmes for all 5 matches and a further £15 for coach travel for Saturday's games.As this weekend marked the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, there was a minutes silence before each game as a mark of respect for the 96.

Friday 11th April 2014

389.The Woodview Ground 
Cotgrave 4v2 Burton Joyce
NSL Senior Division
7.45pm.ko

The first game of the hop was a Friday night fixture in Cotgrave, a town and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe, located about 5 miles south-east of Nottingham city centre. After a couple of swift bevvys in the Roebuck Inn, we caught the Cotgrave Connection bus for the half an hour journey from the Friars Lane bus stop to Woodview.
The village sits at the edge of the South Nottinghamshire wolds and lies on the Grantham Canal. The town came to prominence when coal was discovered in the 1950s and the emergence of Cotgrave Colliery. The pit was established in the early 60’s and included a number of relocated miners, especially a lot of Geordies and mackems who still live in the town. The colliery survived ten years after the UK miners strike, closing in 1993/94
Cotgrave FC formed in 1946 and played in the South Notts Realm League and the Notts & District League. After the colliery opened the club eventually merged with the Welfare team in 1983, becoming Cotgrave United. Over the proceeding years Cotgrave played in a few different leagues under different guises and became Cotgrave Welfare FC, winning the Notts Senior League title in 2006-07. In 2011 Cotgrave Welfare merged with Cotgrave PFC ladies and Cotgrave Colts football club so that all the towns teams now play under the one banner of Cotgrave FC.
"Oi Mister - get your hands off me breadknife!"
The Woodview Ground is found behind the Cotgrave Welfare Club, where we had a quick pint before kick-off. The changing rooms, snack bar and cafe are at the rear of the Welfare, with the pitch having a pair of white wooden dugouts, four lamp corner pylons and temporary perimeter fencing.

On arriving we met up with hop organiser Rob Hornby to say hello and pick up our 5 game programme pack. Rob greeted us with the news that the breadknife was to make a presentation to the club’s new chairman at half time. The honour was done in her usual manner of confidence personified, although I wasn’t too happy with Rob introducing her as Mrs Smith, when it should have really been Mrs 100 grounds club, or better still Mrs Handsome Groundhopper!
The match was played to the soundtrack of church bells, so there was either a rush of evening weddings or the bell ringers were roped in for extra practise. As for the match itself, it looked like we were in for a disappointing start, as there wasn’t much to report in the opening period. Just as we were settling for a scoreless first half, the visitors took the lead five minutes before the break, when centre-half Roman Easom got on the end of a corner kick to head home from 10 yards.
The hosts must have received a bollocking at half time because they looked a completely different outfit in the second forty-five. On 54 minutes Lewis Dobbins nodded in a well worked corner kick to nod in at the near post, then a minute later Kyle Waddell rifled home from the edge of the box.
Cotgrave extended their lead further when a cross from Jamie Kirkby sailed over the ‘keeper and hit the back of the net at the far post, with the scorer milking the applause as if he really meant this as a shot. 
Burton reduced the arrears when Easom again came forward for a corner-kick and bundled the ball in from six yards, but Cotgrave struck in injury time when Kirkby completed his brace with a 20 yards daisy cutter clinching the points.

So a fine start to the hop and an eventful, enjoyable night at Cotgrave. We managed to cadge a lift off Paul Brockett back the the city, so we had more time to enjoy our Friday night, ticking off a few pubs and looking forward to a busy Saturday ahead. 


Saturday 12th April 2014

390.Wollaton Sports Association
Wollaton 3v0 Beeston Town
NSL - Senior Division
10.10am ko
Saturday morning started at 8.50 with the coach leaving the rendezvous point outside Nottingham rail station for the three and a half mile trip to the picturesque village of Wollaton, which is a former parish in the west of the city. The suburb is home to Wollaton Hall and museum(which appeared in the last Batman movie), deer park, golf course, lake and walks.  Wollaton Colliery opened in 1873 until closing in 1966 and is the land is now the home of the Torville & Dean estate. The road and streets on the estate are named in honour of the Nottingham born Olympic gold medallists, such as Torvill Drive, Jayne Close and Bolero Close.
Wollaton FC formed in 1954 and share the Wollaton Sports Association Ground with the village cricket club. The club joined the Notts Alliance from the Midland Amateur Alliance in 1990, going on the win the Senior Division in 1999-2000 and the Notts Senior Cup the following season. In 2004 they became founder members of the Notts Senior League and were league champions in the competitions first two seasons, and have also added League Cup honours in 2005 and 2009.
The classic looking pavilion is found at near corner of the ground with the cricket pitch at the front and the football pitch at the side. The pitch is quite tight in the corners with the neighbouring houses close by, so we had the unwelcome sight of a big flabby bloke sitting in his undercrackers eating his breakfast. The pitch perimeter has white posts tied with rope with the best feature being the posh dugouts, which each have seven leather seats with cup holders within its perspex frame.
Out of the ten teams on show this weekend I was most impressed with Wollaton. They dominated the opening period and if it wasn’t for Beeston ‘keeper Luke Gibbons they could have been at least five goals up by half time. However they did open the scoring in the 24th minute when Jordan Alls picked up a square ball to fire home from the edge of the box and doubled their lead just 16 seconds after the restart, when Tony Atkins nodded in a right wing cross. 
The hosts hit the third on 53 minutes when a corner-kick fell nicely to Alls to welly in his second goal of the morning. The striker had chances to bag his hat-trick and his team mates had further opportunity to increase their tally, but in the end they had to settle for just the three plus a clean sheet in an entertaining encounter.

391.Elms Park
Ruddington Village 0v1 Boots Athletic
NSL - Senior Division
12.50pm ko

The second game of the day was onwards six miles south over the Trent down the A60 ring road to the village of Ruddington, situated five miles south of the city centre in the Borough of Rushcliffe. Ruddington is home to Rushcliffe Country Park and is notable for being the home of three museums; Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre, Ruddington Village Museum and the Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum.



Ruddington Village FC formed in 1986, initially as a junior club before a senior side was set up a decade ago. The club played in the Notts Amateur Alliance and began their NSL career in 2008, winning the Division One title in 2010-11 season after suffering relegation the previous year. The club also runs a reserve team playing within the Notts Senior League set up.
Elms Park is a typical neat village ground. The main pitch is roped off with portable perspex dugouts at the far side, which have the club crest embossed and are clearly marked as home and away. There’s also a pathway at this side which runs through the park and doubles as hard standing, making this the popular end of the ground.
The clubhouse serves hot drinks and snacks and also for the groundhop occasion outside they served hot potatoes with a choice of fillings, which was favoured by most of us in attendance.
At a groundhop there has to be a stinker of a game and unfortunately this was it. However I’m willing to take responsibility for this, as Debra bought us some bonny looking Ruddington Village shirts which were used when the club won Division One three seasons ago. The breadknife purchased a light blue and black polka-dotted keepers jersey and bought me a bright yellow number seven shirt at a giveaway one quid each. Therefore Rudd became our adopted team of the hop, so its my fault they lost as this is largely the case with teams I follow.
The match was made up of wasted chances and wayward shots with both teams struggling to hit the target. The decisive goal arrived just before the hour mark when The Chemists big beefy centre forward Anton Bonnick blasted the ball into the net from inside the box and celebrated with a mouthful of verbal abused aimed at himself for his previous misdemeanors in front of goal.

I enjoyed my visit to Ruddington Village FC, the hosts were very friendly and the baked potato with chilli filling was a treat. Plus lets not forget my bargain quid football top, which I promise to wear with pride around the streets of Tyneside, where I’m bound  to get some funny looks as the shirt is so bright you’ll see me coming a mile away


392.Platt Lane
Keyworth United 3v2 Sandhurst
NSL - Senior Division
3.40pm ko
The next hopstop was situated five miles away in the village and civil parish of Keyworth which sits on a small, broad hilltop about 200 feet above sea level in the south of Nottingham. Keyworth is mentioned in the Domesday Book and recent archaeological finds have discovered Roman artifacts around the parish which suggests human inhabitants as far back as 800 AD. Keyworth originally developed as an agricultural community of mostly farmers and field labourers, before frame-knitting gave rise to local employment and expansion in the 1880s.
Keyworth has hosted football since 1876, with competitive football played in the village for the first time in 1899 when Keyworth FC joined the Notts Amateur League. The club have seen a variety of name changes during their long history, but the first time the United suffix appeared was in the Spartan League, when football was re-introduced after the First World War. Another name change to Normanton & Keyworth United came in 1936 with the club becoming United again from 1947 in the Notts Realm League. Keyworth were league champions three years running and won a fourth consecutive title in the Notts Spartan Division One in 1950-51. The club didn’t win the league again until 1973-74 and after switching to the Notts Alliance in 1978, they lifted the Senior Division title in 1984-85. Keyworth United Community FC as they are now known became founder members of the NSL in 2004 and have played in its Senior Division since.
The club have played at Platt Lane since 1978, although the pitch position has changed as well as a new clubhouse built in 2009 when the club was awarded £514,460 from the Football Foundation. The new building has six changing rooms with toilets and showers and two changing rooms for officials as well as a large club room, bar and kitchen.
My better half spent most of the game in the clubhouse, watching bits of the game while listening to the football on the radio, concentrating on our football bets and NUFC’s latest beaten to nil.
The football pitch is quite elevated sitting parallel to the main road and away from the cricket and other football pitches. The ground has a pair of brick dugouts painted in the club colours of green, black and white, a fully perimeter fence and three floodlights pylons on each side which have just been recently installed.
As we arrived at the ground our host Mr Hornby promised us plenty of goals in this game as both defences are so poor, he was proved right as two Clarkes’ scored in the opening eight minutes, firstly Ben for the hosts in the 4th minute quickly followed by Cliff for the visitors, both players scoring from close range.
Keyworth regained the lead on 35 minutes when John Crawley knocked in a left wing cross and Sandhurst’s task got that much harder when Dan Abbott received a second yellow card two minutes later.
The ten men grabbed an equaliser early in the second half after a powerful run and good finish from Adam Bradford, but the parity lasted only two minutes as Ben Clarke did well to ride a few tackles before making room for the shot and fire home. Surprisingly the goalscoring came to a halt as Clarke’s 52nd minute strike proved to be the winner in an evenly contested game.

392.Regatta Way
West Bridgford 2v1 Bingham Town
NSL - Division One
6.30pm ko
Our final match took us 5 miles north back towards the city to West Bridgford, a town in the Rushcliffe borough immediately to the south of the River Trent. Most of the main roads in central West Bridgford are named after wealthy families which dominated its early history, however there are no ‘Streets’ as the Victorian planners regarded the term too urban, so the likes of Musters Street was renamed Musters Road. The Musters family owned much of the land including the Trent Bridge Inn and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground which they sold after the First World War.
The town has no formal ties with Nottingham and is often called the "Bread and Lard Island" in the belief that its residents spend most of their cash on big houses and fur coats so they could only afford to eat bread and lard behind closed doors. 
West Bridgford Colts was formed in 1990 as one of the first multiple junior clubs in the area with the senior team formed as recently as 2011. The senior team won promotion from the NSL Division Two in their debut season and went into this, their final match of the season, with a chance of another promotion.
The club moved to Regatta Way from their former Coronation Ground in 2008, signing at 25 year lease at their new home base. The football pitch is at one side of the clubhouse away from the cricket field and other football pitches around the opposite side. The pitch is fully fenced off with brick dugouts installed with plastic chairs and six tall light pylons.
The final match of the hop turned out to be the most important in terms of the Division One title race. West Bridgford needed a two goal victory in this their final game of the season to win the title, while opponents Bingham Town needed maximum points from the final three fixtures to pip the hosts to promotion, however any other result would see Kirton Brickworks crowned champions. The match attracted the biggest attendance of the weekend of 448 and the highest gate in the NSL history. The club staff did well to cope with the extra numbers and kept on top of the conveyor belt the hot pies, chips and mushy peas.
The game was competitive and keenly fought as there was so much at stake. West Bridgford drew first blood taking the lead after only nine minutes through Jurgen Charlesworth (a player whose name sounds like a cross between a top German international and someone who played for Royal Engineers in the 19th century) who ran onto a through ball before nicely tucking the ball into the far corner. Bingham hit back ten minutes later as Nicholas Gammon  neatly rounded the ‘keeper to level the score and set up a tense second half.
Bridgford needed two goals for the championship but could only manage one, as Charlesworth hit home a free-kick from the edge of the box, when the referee should have really awarded a penalty as the infringement was clearly in the box. The final whistle was greeted with a huge cheer from the watching contingent from Kirton, who had won Division One by just a single goal in a thrilling finale to the season and a great game to finish off the groundhop.
Just like last year’s Notts Bonanza, another excellent, well organised weekend of football brilliantly orchestrated by Rob Hornby. I’m sure I speak on everyone’s behalf on a job well done and it’s pleasing to see Rob’s hard work in organising the event was rewarded with a good turn out at all five games. As always it was good to meet up with like minded friends from the rest of the country, some of which I’ve got to know really well and look forward to sharing their company and also some of you I met for the first time. There’s too many names to mention but you know who you are, all top blokes and not akin to the rude minority of pedantic groundhoppers who I had the misfortune to share the air with over the weekend.
On a personal level we had an ace couple of nights in Nottingham, visiting some smashing pubs like the Canalhouse, Olde Trip To Jerusalem (apparently the oldest pub in the UK) and our favourite The Salutation, where we spent a lot of time, as this was next door to the Travelodge and where I staggered from at 1.30am on Sunday morning after a heavy sesh. There were lots of other sights and pubs we wanted to visit but we just didn’t have enough time, so this means one thing, we’ll just have to come back again next year for the 3rd Precision Notts Senior League Bonanza.


Matchday Stats
1.CFC 4(Dobbins 54 Waddell 55 Kirkby 63,90+2) BJFC(Easom 40,75)Att.311
(Bloke of the Match - Lewis Dobbins,Cotgrave) Programme
2.WFC 3(Alls 24,54 Atkins 46) BTFC 0 Att.282
(Bloke of the Match - Chris Atkins,Wollaton) Programme
3.RVFC 0 BAFC 1(Bonnick 51) att.319
(Bloke of the Match - Alex Bowles,Boots Athletic) Programme
4.KUCFC 3(Clarke 4,51 Crawley 35) SFC 2(Clarke 8 Bradford 49) Att.372
(Bloke of the Match - Ben Clarke,Keyworth United) Programme
5.WBFC 2(Charlesworth 10,76) BTFC(Gammon 19) Att.448
(Bloke of the Match - Jurgen Charlesworth,West Bridgford) Programme

Foetoes
Matchday Web Album (97 pictures from 5 grounds)


Our local whilst in Nottingham - Salutation Inn
Bevvy Almanac
Pubs visited(4 new JD'Spoons - Total 206)
Roebuck Inn (JDW) St James Street
Joseph Elsie (JDW) South Parade
Lloyds no1 (JDW) Carlton Street
Ye Olde Salutation Inn Maid Marion Way
Royal ChildrenMaid Marion Way
Olde Trip To Jerusalem Brewhouse Yard
Company Inn (JDW) Canal Street
Canalhouse Canal Street
Top 5 Supped
Falstaff 'Good,Bad & the Drunk(6.2%)**** (Lloyds)
Full Mash 'Nevermore'(4.6%)****(Salutation)
Castle Rock 'Harvest Pale'(3.8%)re-sup****(Royal Children)
Crux 'Nectar'(4.5%)***(Canalhouse)
Magpie 'Thieving Rogue'(4.5%)***(Jerusalem)

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My Matchday - 394 Somerset Park

April 21, 2014, 10:11 am
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Ayr United 1v1 Dunfermline Athletic
Scottish League One
Saturday 19th April 2014 

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Iain Wallace Tower!
Ayr is a former Royal Burgh and the county town of Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland. Historically, the first Parliament of Scotland was held in 1315 by Robert The Bruce at St.John's Tower, a medieval parish church dedicated to St John the Baptist. During Cromwellian times the church and tower was used as a garrison, with a huge wall built around certain areas of the town, which are still visible today. The skyline in the town centre is dominated by the Wallace Tower, the 113 foot Gothic monument in the High Street, which replaced the original structure in 1834.
The town flourished as shipbuilding on the River Ayr saw the economy rise, with the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company peaking at the end of the eighteenth century and continued building and repair work until relocating to Troon in 1960. Ayr Harbour was used to export fish from the rivers Ayr and Doon, with the north side of the harbour still operating as a commercial port. Due to its long sandy beach, Ayr became a popular holiday resort after the rail link from Glasgow was built in 1840.

The town’s history is dominated by Scotland’s National Bard Robert Burns, who was born in nearby Alloway. This is also the birthplace of another poet of sorts, Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer and songwriter from Belle and Sebastian, who according to my ears, are one of the greatest independent bands to hail from north of the border.


Plantpot History
Ayr United were founded in 1910 after the merger of two existing league clubs - Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr FC. The club have won six second tier championships and two titles in the third tier of the Scottish League, but no success in domestic cup competitions, although they did win the Ayrshire Cup on 26 occasions.
The club are nicknamed 'The Honest Men' which is a line taken from the Burns poem "Tam o' Shanter" which was first published in 1791, which describes an Ayr farmer who often got lashed with his friends in the pub  - Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses, For honest men and bonnie lasses.

United’s most successful manager was Ally MacLeod, who was team gaffer on three separate occasions spanning fifteen years, recorded a record 214 wins and winning two league titles. In 1973 he was voted as Ayr's Citizen of the Year. He famously went on to manage the Scottish national side to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, had a hit record bearing his name and was Scotland’s most optimistic or maybe the most diluted manager in their history. Alistair declared Scotland  would win the World Cup and I believed him too, as the Andy Cameron’s hit ‘Allys Tartan Army’ peaked at number 6 in the Hit Parade.
Ground visit no.394 Somerset Park
Scottish League no.31/42
Scottish overall total 50

Ayr FC moved from Beresford Park to Somerset Park in 1888 taking the ground’s clubhouse and grandstand with them. Ayr United bought Somerset Park for £2,500 in 1920 and four years later switched the pitch around and built the existing Main Stand.The structure has remained intact and was extended in 1989, which took the seating capacity to over 1,500. The stand is raised above pitch level with a small standing terrace and team dugouts at the front. You can obviously spot the new section due to the roof, brickwork and more modern red seats.
Opposite is the open North Terrace which is split between home and away supporters with a hospitality block at the rear named after Ally MacLeod, with each suite bearing the name of a club legend. The terracing extends to meet the covered terracing behind both goals. The Railway End opened in September 1933, which at the time was split into male and female sections following a £230 donation from the supporters club and £120 from the ladies supporters club. In 2012 the cover was replaced with a new peaked roof which is painted in black and white stripes, and is now the designated away section. The Somerset Road end is similar in design. The roof which was installed in 1971 at a cost of £12,000, was later replaced after storm damage in 2011.

The record attendance at Somerset Park is 25,225 against Rangers in September 1969 and floodlight pylons were first installed the following year. The floodlights cost £18,000 with the supporters raising £12,201 towards the cost, officially switched on for a friendly match against Newcastle United. In 2011 the original lights were replaced with thin beanpole lights, but are still the good old fashioned corner lights which are visible as you approach the ground.The Ayr United club shop is found in the car park opposite the main reception where a free team sheet is handed out.
Somerset Park remains a classic because it still has the look of an old fashioned ground from our younger days, when a stadium was dominated by the popular terraces and seats were nothing more than a minority option.

Spondoolicks
Admission £15 (North Terrace)
Pin badge £2.50
Mince pie £1.50
Coffee £1
Team sheet - free

Programme £2
Picture cover
24 pages(10 articles 4 pictures 10 adverts)
Para-shout! -  We are at such a crucial stage now and there's four teams fighting for two places. Whether we win games by sheer hard work, excellent quality or even by being just plain lucky we'll take it. (From The Top With Mark Roberts)
The Match
Ayr were up against Dunfermline Athletic with The Pars having already booked their play-off spot, with United hoping to join them in extending the season beyond the first Saturday in May. 
The first half was a total non-event with a too much huff but not another puff, but thankfully the match sprang into life after the restart. After five minutes Dunfermline took the lead when Ryan Thomson was on hand to nod in the rebound after an initial effort was cleared off the line, but Ayr responded well and were soon level.
In the 55th minute a back header from Craig Malcolm came back off the crossbar, but fell nicely to Alan Forrest to smash in the rebound. The hosts pushed hard for a winner but never really creating a golden chance to take maximum points, but they still hold onto fourth spot in the play-off hunt. 
Something that you don’t see in modern football is a team not making a substitution during ninety minutes. Ayr kept the same eleven that started throughout, without calling on the seven options on the bench, even that big lummix Kevin Kyle didn’t have to bother getting into the shower at ten to five.

Matchday Stats
AUFC 1(Forrest 55) DAFC 1(Thomson 50)
Att.1,272
Bloke of the Match - Alan Forrest
My Matchday
West Kirk




This trip wasn’t just a matchday but a whole weekend in Ayr. I took the Smudger family to the superb Craig Tara caravan park just south of the town, where we enjoyed an ace Easter weekend. We arrived early Friday evening and spent all of Saturday afternoon in Ayr, where we checked out some good ale houses before I toddled off to the match. After the game we met up in the West Kirk, which is one of the most unique ‘Spoons pubs I’ve visited. The pub is a conversion of a former church which retains its original features, such as the pictured windows and access to the toilets is via the pulpit. Plus as an added bonus, it was only £1.49 a pint for the selection of six available guest ales. 
We completed our weekend by taking the rattler up to Glasgow on Sunday where I did some vinyl record shopping. I was delighted to pick up some real bargains including buying a copy of a record which is shown at the top of this post and also bagging an import of The New Mendicants LP from Monorail. We travelled back home on Bank Holiday Monday having had a great time with the sun remained on constant shine during the whole weekend.

Foetoes 
36 pictures from Somerset Park and team sheet.

Bevvy Almanac
Twa Dugs (Killoch Place) - Ayr 'Towzie Tyke' (4.6%)***
Tam o' Shanter Inn (High Street) Tetley 'Tam o' Shanter Ale' (3.7%)****
Geordies Byrne (Main Street) Fyne 'Vital Spark' (4.4%)***
The West Kirk (Sandgate) Inveralmond 'Marzenfest' (4.5%)****


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Pic of the Week Cup - Round 2

April 30, 2014, 1:50 pm
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100FgC A10 David Bauckham - Luton Town v Chester, Kenilworth Road

100FgC A17 Peter Miles - Old Bradwell United v Kent Athletic - Abbey Road

100FgC FB Stephen Carpenter C.Palace U-21 v Brentford U-21 @Tooting & Mitcham - Imperial Fields

100FgC Squad#155 James Little Bayer Leverkusen v Hertha Berlin - Bay Arena

100FgC FB Shaun Cooper - Willington Hall Lane



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Around The Alliance - part ten

May 10, 2014, 11:11 am
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I dipped into Division One for the last ‘Around The Alliance’ feature of the current season at matches with effectual matters at both ends of the table, as I visited two lots of saints.

395. Rising Sun Sports Ground
Willington Quay Saints 1v3 Gosforth Bohemians
Northern Alliance Division One
Saturday 3rd May 2014
 Willington Quay is an area in the borough of North Tyneside, originally in the parish of Wallsend. The Rising Sun Sports Ground is not actually in Willington Quay, but found on the north side of the Coast Road at the top of Kings Road North, beside the Rising Sun Country Park. The ground is also known as the Barking Dog with the main pitch close to the entrance, opposite the car park. The clubhouse and changing room block is in the centre of the sports ground with another full size pitch and a floodlit five a side pitch at the back.
 Willington Quay Saints formed in 2000 out of the local social club known to its regular customers as “The Morgue” as it was frequently visited by the local undertakers.  The team began in the South East Northumberland league in the 2000-01 season and played there for two seasons, winning the League Challenge Cup in their debut year. When the league merged in 2002 to become the Tyneside Amateur League Division 2  they won the league and gained promotion. In 2007-08 the Saints stepped up to the Northern Alliance Division Two and after a 7th place finish in 2011-12 were granted promotion due to clubs leaving the Alliance set up. The team struggled in the higher division last season but avoided relegation due to a strong finish to the campaign and the demise of other club’s folding
 The Saints went into the last home game of the season against Gosforth Bohemians needing a point from their remaining two matches to condemn Heddon to the wooden spoon and avoid relegation to Division Two. The home team emerged from the changing rooms hand in hand, singing a chorus of ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ I don’t know if this is their usual ritual or it was just a one off, so in retrospect, I regret not asking what the crack is.
 Both sides made an offensive start to the game but it was Bohs who were more clinical, with a three goal burst in a fifteen minute spell before half time. The home defense were constantly caught out by the long ball over the top, with Daniel Ure taking advantage in the 28th minute, finding himself with plenty of time and space to round the ‘keeper and tuck the ball into the empty net. Minutes later Gosforth doubled their lead through Andrew Renton, playing a neat one-two before producing a tidy finish. The visitors rounded off a fine first half display when left back Tavis Couling made an overlapping run and smashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner from the edge of the box.
 Willington improved in the second half in an effort to get back into the game but all they could muster was an injury time penalty, easily dispatched by Glen Johnson after a shove in the box. This result followed by a midweek defeat at Gateshead Redheugh 1957 means the club are relegated back to Division Two, although there’s enough spirit and some decent players in the side to hopefully see the lads in THE MORG green shirts bounce back next season.

Matchday Stats
WQSFC 1(Johnson 90+1pen) GBFC 3(Ure 28 Renton 32 Couling 43)
Att.16(HC)
Bloke of the Match - Andrew Renton(Gosforth Bohemians)
Admission and programme:none





396.Birtley Welfare Ground
Birtley St Josephs 7v2 Ponteland United
Northern Alliance Division One
Wednesday 7th May 2014
Birtley is a town situated south of the  Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, on the county borderline of Tyne and Wear and County Durham. Birtley St Josephs FC play at the Welfare Ground which is situated just off Durham Road behind the fire station. The welfare is also home to a bowling green and playground with the football pitch at the top end. The pitch is fully railed off with a section of terracing at the side of the changing rooms. The ground has a bit of history, as it was once the home of the original Birtley FC who were founder members of the Northern League, who later went on to play in the Northern Alliance.
 Birtley St Josephs joined the Northern Alliance Division Two just last season, finishing runners-up to North Shields Athletic and amassing 119 goals in their 30 league fixtures.
This season they’ve continued to progress, finishing in fifth place just behind the promotion chasing pack. The club also run a ladies team and there are plans afoot to have a development side playing from next season, which will strengthening the squad and help develop youth players
 The hosts produced a fabulous display on a wet miserable night to finish off their home campaign in style against Ponteland United. St Josephs opened the scoring with a Tony Smith spot kick in the 11th minute and doubled their advantage ten minutes later, when a smart crossfield ball found Shaun Todhunter, who fired home from close range. It was soon three when Lee Cuthbertson took advantage on a defensive mix up, but Ponteland got back into the game when they were awarded a penalty five minutes before the break, which was converted by Andrew Davidson. However the unlikely comeback was soon dashed as a minute later Cuthbertson played a nice one-two before blasting the ball into the roof of the net to make it 4-1 at half-time
 Birtley continued where the onslaught in the second half, missing a host of chances each side of a lovely Arsenalesque interchange of passing in the 51st minute which was finished off by Dan Irving. Ponteland were awarded a second penalty in the 70th minute after a handball was spotted by the linesman. I have to admire the commitment to the cause by the Birtley players, as two players were shown yellow cards for disputing the decision, even though in terms of the scoreline, it didn’t really matter. Johnson converted the spot kick but another two goals from Cuthbertson put the gloss on the performance. With ten minutes remaining a clearance from the United ‘keeper found the number nine who hit a 20 yard chip shot straight into the net, before taking his goal tally to four producing a lovely curling effort from the edge of the box to make the final score 7-2.
As Birtley Welfare is only a ten minute drive away I’ll more than likely make the odd revisit, especially if they play as good as they did tonight, when even getting soaked through and a flatulent old bloke standing next to me won't put me off returning for a good game of Alliance football next season.


Matchday Stats
BSJFC 7(Smith 17pen Todhunter 27 Cuthbertson 29,42,79,84 Irving 51) PUFC 2 (Davison 41pen 70pen) 
Att.20(HC)
Bloke of the Match - James Bowman (Birtley St Josephs)
Admission and programme:none 

397.John Spence Community Sports College 3G
North Shields Athletic 4v2 Birtley St Josephs
   Northern Alliance Division One
   Saturday 10th May 2014
 North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, located eight miles east of Newcastle. The Shields name derives from Middle English schele meaning 'temporary sheds or huts’ which were used by fishermen. The area is historically renowned for fishing and still has associated trades with seafaring.
 North Shields Athletic formed in 1996 with initially three junior teams, but can now boasts over 40 mens and ladies teams at all age levels. The senior side began in the Northern Alliance Division Two in 2006-07 and won promotion to the First Division as champions last season. The club’s progression has rolled onto this campaign as they clinched the league title on Wednesday night with a 5-1 win at New Fordley. 
The club are based at John Spence Community Sports College, found just off Beach Road at the south side of the A192. The club use the football pitch within the complex but today I scored for a footy ground bonus, as they used the brand new 3G pitch for the first time. The pitch is only a few months old and is fully caged with floodlights and hard standing between the changing rooms and the pitch. Athletic usually use the field adjacent to the 3G and they'll be looking for grants and working with the sports college to get the ground up to the required standard for the Alliance Premier next season.
 I was anticipating an exciting match as title winners North Shields Athletic hosted Birtley St Josephs who I witnessed bagging seven goals earlier this week. The visitors continued where they left off from Wednesday night, taking a fourth minute lead, when James Bowman latched onto a through ball before firing in a right foot shot. The champs were soon level when Scott Jasper judged the bounce of the ball on the all weather pitch to nod the ball past the advancing keeper in the 11th minute. It was all square at the break but Athletic took command in the second half with a left foot drive from Sean Millington followed by Lee Crammond(whose faftha I stood and watched the match with) nodded in a left wing cross to make it 3-1 with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Just as the game looked over as a contest, Bowman added his second of the game in the 80th minute only for Shields to wrap up the victory in the dying minutes, when John Wyres rifled in a right foot shot to round of a successful season in style.
 I’ll be returning to the John Spence complex next season to see the club in the top league and play on their proper pitch, plus I’ll be interested to see what progress has been made to their ground.  The club will be a welcome addition to the Alliance Premier next season and any club that gives me a free pin badge is OK in my book.

Matchday Stats
NSAFC 4(Jasper 11  Millington 51  Crammond 75  Wyres 88) BSJFC 2(Bowman 4,80)
Att.48(HC)
Bloke of the Match - Lee Crammond (North Shields Athletic)
Admission and programme:none
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Obituary

May 14, 2014, 6:08 am
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Its with great sadness that I have to report on the passing of one of our members. James Rennie was a well known face amongst the ground hopping community and although we never met face to face, I got to know MK James fairly well through our mutual hoppy, as we were frequently in contact via email and  Facebook. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this present time.  Jimmy Jazz RIP
43. James Rennie
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My Matchday - 398 Carmuirs Park

May 19, 2014, 1:42 pm
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Camelon Juniors 2v3 Bonnyrigg Rose
McBookie.com East Superleague
Saturday 17th May 2014
Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Camelon is a large settlement in the Forth Valley, found just over a mile west of Falkirk town centre, linked by the A803, which is the main road which runs through the village. According to the 2001 census Camelon had a population of 4,508 and was previously the site of a flight of locks which joined the Union Canal with the Forth and Clyde Canal, before being replaced by the Falkirk Wheel in 2002.
Just under a mile north is the site of the Roman fortifications on the Antonine Wall. The first fort built here was between AD80 to AD83 during the campaigns of governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola. The fort was excavated in 1900 and also between 1975 - 1979, when a variety of bronze artefacts dating back to AD86 were discovered.
Plantpot History
Camelon Juniors was founded in 1920 and were members of the Stirlingshire, Intermediate and Lothian Leagues before reorganisation, when they became members of the East Region of the SJFA. The Mariners reached their first of three Scottish Junior Cup finals in 1952, when they were beaten 1-0 by Kilbirnie Ladeside, before eventually taking honours in the Fife & Lothians Cup in 1971, the Browns Cup in 1977 and were East Region Division One winners in 1979-80.
Camelon enjoyed their most triumphant spell in the mid 1990s, winning the Scottish Junior Cup in 1995 with a 2-0 win over Whitburn and reached the final the following year, but lost out in extra-time to Tayport. During this era their trophy haul included adding two further league titles, the East of Scotland Junior Cup and the Skol League Cup.
In 2005-06 they won they won a second Lothian District League Division One title in three years and completed a double in the Fife & Lothians Cup. The Mariners reached their highest ever position in the Scottish Junior set up in 2008-09 when finishing runners-up to Bonnyrigg Rose in the East Region Superleague.


Ground no.398 Carmuirs Park
Scottish Junior grounds visited 9
Scottish overall 51

Camelon Juniors played their early days without a home of their own, having to play prestigious Scottish Cup “home” games at the likes of Bo’ness and Stirling. The club committee approached George Strang, a local farmer who had extensive land on the north side of the canal. The landowner was swayed into an agreement when he heard that two of the Camelon players had served in the army, giving the club use of a field on Carmuirs farm. 

Carmuirs Park is a typical classic Scottish Juniors ground dominated by terracing. The North Enclosure at the entrance side covers two-thirds of the pitch, while on the canal side there’s a smaller enclosure, with the changing room block, team dugouts and a refreshment bar. Both stands are decked out in red with CJFC and the team crest on the facade. There’s further terracing behind the goal and at the far end there’s grass banking in front of the houses, where one bloke stood on a shed roof watching the watch with a gigantic umbrella. I dunno if he was part of the staff or just a some tight get watching the match for nowt.
The Match
On the first weekend of glorious hot weather this year, trust me to head to the only part of the UK where it was lashing down. The match kicked off in a heavy downpour, but the home side starting off brightly and deservedly took a 16th minute lead, when the Rose defense failed to clear a Callum Scott cross and the ball fell nicely to Colin Allison to fire home from close range. The visitors levelled twenty minutes later when a lovely cross from McLeish was met by a superb header from Dean Whitson and they finished the half strongly, taking an injury time lead when a clearance from a corner kick was recycled back into the box for Chris Renton to score. 
The Mariners levelled just after the hour mark when a lovely passage of build up play was finished off by Stephenson, but they were outdone by a replica goal by Whitson, who again combined with McLeish with a firm header on 77 minutes. Camelon pushed for an equaliser but Bonnyrigg held firm to take the three points in an enjoyable game to finish of my Scottish trips this season.

Matchday Stats
CJFC 2(Allison 16 Stephenson 61) BRFC 3(Whitson 36,77 Renton 45+3)
att.190.est
Bloke of the Match - Dean Whitson (Bonnyrigg Rose)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme:none
Coffee £1
Pie £1.40
(but didn’t get one because by the time I got hunger pangs early in the second half it was shut)
The Rant!
When I head north it seems every time I board the train at Newcastle there's always some daft 'ucker already occupying my pre-booked seat, even though the carriage is half empty and there's plenty of spares. When the train pulled in at Central Station this morning I fully expect some random bloke to be sitting having a picnic and making a mess in a seat I booked three months ago, and of course I was right. I don't have this problem when I'm heading south though, maybe because the Scots and Northumbrians know the correct seating etiquette. Here's a basic tip for any of those ignorant 'ankers who may be reading this, just simply refer to the reservation card on the back of the seat, it really is that simple. 
My Matchday
My regular dozen readers will be aware of my normal morning routine once I arrive at Edinburgh Waverley, so I won’t go all Dave channel on you(another repeat) After arriving at 920 I had plenty of time before meeting up with James Little in the Standing Order at noon. We caught the 1303 Dunblane Service to Camelon which is a train line I've got to know pretty well, as this is the fifth different station I've alighted for a game. The journey takes around 35 minutes so we had time for a swift one in the Canal Inn before the 2.30pm kick off. At the game it was good to meet 100FgC AF38 Chris Sanderson who was covering the game for The Scottish Sun. Chris hails from Ashington but now lives in Paisley, reporting on matches in the Scottish Juniors as well as the Scottish League.
As me and James are fine athletes we ran back to the station in the allotted 7 minutes and caught the 1628 back to Edinburgh, so we had extra time in The Guildford, as this is one of my favourite bars in the city and I’ve never been there for a while. It was a good choice as they had a mini festival of ales from the Big Wolf Brewery as well as a great selection of other beers.
Afterwards I caught the 7pm train and slept all the way home, meaning I didn’t get to write my report on Saturday, and with a trip to Wembley on Sunday, this blog article comes in as an unprofessional Monday night edition.
So overall an excellent day, with a cracking ground, a decent game and a good drink and even a gift. My companion for the day gave me his brand new football jersey from the Scotland Supporters Club in recognition of my armchair support to his home nation during five consecutive World Cup campaigns from 1974. I’ll certainly wear the shirt with pride but I think I’ll wait until after this summers tournament.


Foetoes  (30 pictures from Carmuirs Park)

Bevvy Almanac
The Standing Order (George St, Edinburgh)
Harviestoun ‘Broken Dial’ (4.5%)***+
Kelburn ‘Red Smiddy’ (4.1%)***+
Knops ‘California Common’ (4.6%)****
Canal Inn(Canal Street, Camelon)
Youngers Tartan Ale (3.7%)
The Guildford (West Register St, Edinburgh)
Big Wolf ‘Big Red’ (3.8%)***+
Big Wolf ‘Tundra’(4.8%)****
Scottish Border ‘Game Bird’(4%)****
Steward ‘Pentland IPA’ (3.9%)****+ (Pint of the day)
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Another Saturday & Sweet FA

May 21, 2014, 11:50 am
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Last Saturday 100FgC Squad #187 Alan Oliver attended the cup final at Wembley which was the end of a personal FA Cup journey which started way back in August. His travelling companion Calvin Wade has written a book on their season long pursuit which is now available on Kindle priced at only £1.98. This adventure wasn't just about the football, it was also in aid of the Christie Charity and 50p of each book sold will be donated to this worthy cause. 

You can purchase the book via THIS link.

Amazon Book Blurb
In the summer of 2013, Calvin Wade, a man with football in his blood and very little in his wallet, decided to embark upon an F.A Cup adventure that he and his father had discussed for over thirty years. The idea was to head to a game in the Extra Preliminary Round of the F.A Cup and then follow the winners of each game, up and down the country, through every round, until eventually reaching the bright lights of Wembley and the F.A Cup Final. 
This is not only an autobiographical account of a nine month journey through the 2013-14 footballing season, especially the F.A Cup, but it is also a story about family, friendship, financial struggle and a footballing past. It is about tales new and old with English Peles, a man known as 'The Casual Hopper' and football fans of all ages throughout the British Isles. 
With a foreword by former F.A Cup winning manager, Joe Royle, 'Another Saturday & Sweet F.A' seeks to show that Bill Shankly was right after all and sometimes football can be more important than life and death. 
* Fifty pence from the sale of the paperback and Kindle versions of this book will be donated to The Christie Charity. The charity raises money to fund projects at The Christie Hospital, Manchester, which are outside the scope of the NHS.
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From Belmont to Wembley

May 21, 2014, 11:50 am
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A football season that started in the bright summer sunshine in Durham came to a close last Sunday at Wembley Stadium. My season kicked off with a friendly back in July (on the day of Stevie Clifton's Stag-do) with Gateshead beaten Partick Thistle 2-1 and ended in the same glorious weather, but unfortunately not the same result. A gallant effort from the Heed wasn't quite good enough to beat a very good Cambridge United side, but the experience of seeing my home town team playing at the national stadium is a memory I'll always treasure.
It's probably been one of my most enjoyable seasons, not just because of the exploits at Gateshead FC, but mainly because of my varied travels this season,...oh..and also I never had to endure the pain and suffering of watching NUFC much this season. I only saw seven first team matches at St James Park(and 10 overall) which is my lowest total since the 1976-77 season.

My overall stats for the season are as follows...

Matches Attended 102 
(in 24 different leagues, 12 different cup competitions and 11 friendlies)
Goals 373 (average 3.65)
New Grounds Visited 47
New Wetherspoons over season 50

Enjoy the summer, the World Cup and I'll be back again in July. 
Cheers you loyal beautiful readers! x.
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Pic of the Week Cup 2014 - Round 3

June 15, 2014, 6:55 am
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Paul Paxton - Corfe Castle
Jim McAlwane - Chesham United
100FgC #196 Yuri Paretski - SK - 747 Stadium, Pskov
100FgC A17 Peter Miles - Craven Cottage
Neil Edgar - Bo'ness United
Vote for your favourite on our facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/100FgC/ on leave a comment below.



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My Matchday - 399 Bedquilts Recreation Ground

July 20, 2014, 7:36 am
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Leeds City 3v3 Springhead
Pre-season Friendly
Saturday 19th July 2014
Pre-Season update
After a slow start to the new campaign, I’ve at last recorded my first new ground of the season in Leeds, as part of my birthday day out on the lash with the lads. I started 2014-15 to everyone's surprise (ie fellow Heed fans) at Croft Park for a friendly with Whitley Bay as part of the Blyth Spartans Beer Festival. This was followed by a week away with the breadknife in Turkey to recharge the batteries in readiness for a busy ten months of footy ahead. Since my return I’ve caught up with the latest at Gateshead FC this week, watching games at Whitley Bay, Birtley and on Friday night I attended the James Curtis testimonial match, seeing Heed beat Toon for the first time at the fourteenth attempt.
My eagerness to get back to watching live football has been somewhat tamed by an entertaining(well apart from the ITV pundits...Eddy)World Cup in Brazil. Anyone who knows me well enough is aware that I’ve wised up to the bi-annual over hyped drivel regarding the national team, so the less said about their performance the better, although my pre-tournament prediction that England wouldn’t win a game never mind get out of their group was ridiculed by some who seem to think they know more about football than I do!?!


My Matchday - preview
I booked trains for the five of us on the 0910 from Newcastle to Leeds back in May, without any clue which club would have the honour of our presence during our bevvy break. As the list of friendlies began to take shape during late May and June there wasn’t any matches listed at previously uncharted grounds around the Leeds area, so it was beginning to look like a fully day on the lash and no football. The bevvy break is a crucial part of the day, not just because I’m a Groundhopper, but a few hours off the drink to watch a game with a pie and a cuppa guarantees that I’ll have the stamina to stay out on the hoy until the last 56 bus home at ten to midnight.
Before I flew out to Turkey I was determined to find a game and came across the Leeds City Facebook group, so after sending the admin a message it was confirmed they were indeed at home, so all that the was left to do was plot a pub crawl of the alehouses of Leeds.
Plantpot History
The name of Leeds City FC was first used back in 1904 and were elected to the Football League the following year, moving to the vacated Elland Road after the demise of Holbeck Rugby Club. City played in the Second Division throughout their league career, finished a highest placed fourth in 1913-14 season, however during the First World War the club were involved in a series of financial irregularities, including breaking the ban on paying players during the war years. The Football League expelled the club eight games into the 1919–20 season, the strong handed approach from the league mainly due to the behaviour of the club's directors, who refused to co-operate with the FA  by handing over the club's financial records. The following year the city of Leeds had a new club as Leeds United were formed and entered the Football League, with the Leeds City name briefly reappeared in 1924 as an amateur club in the Yorkshire Football League for just three seasons. 

The new Leeds City FC was formed in 2006 from the merger of Adel FC, Abbey Grange and Leeds City Vixens. The club joined the West Yorkshire League, with the management and players from Horsforth St Margaret arriving to give the senior side a strong start, finishing 2nd in the  West Yorkshire League Second Division in their debut season. This was followed by a First Division runners-up spot in 2007-08, and since being in the Premier Division they’ve twice finished league runners-up in 2008-09 and 2012-13.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Adel is a suburb in the north side of Leeds in West Yorkshire, situated between Cookridge, Holt Park, Weetwood and Alwoodley. The villages of Arthington and Bramhope and the market town of Otley and also in this vicinity.
Adel is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Adele. Another spelling used until 1816 is Addle, the name believed to derive from the Old English adela ‘dirty, muddy place’
The Roman name for the area was Burgodunum, the suburb situated near the site of a Roman fort with the ancient road from Tadcaster to Ilkley passing nearby. 

Ground No.399 Adel War Memorial Association/Bedquilts Recreation Ground
The Adel Memorial Hall and sports ground was opened on the 14th November 1928 in memory to those killed in the First World War. The grounds hosts a large variety of sports, the facilities includes a hockey pitch, tennis courts and is home to Adel Cricket Club. Because of the cricket Leeds City couldn’t use their regular home pitch, so the pre-season friendly match was played just on the other side of the fence on their training pitch at Bedquilts Recreation Ground. The football pitch is on the edge of a huge plot of land which is mostly used by dog walkers and has more football and rugby pitches at the far side.
The Match
Leeds City faced Oldham based Springhead AFC who play in the Manchester Football League. I took shelter under a tree from the heavy downpour and witnessed an entertaining game. The visitors took the lead after a quarter of an hour when Fagan was on hand to fire in a right wing cross from 12 yards, but City replied twenty minutes later when trialist Johnny Wilson netted the rebound after the ‘keeper parried a long range effort. On the stroke of half time Springhead regained the advantage when Leighton Stephenson managed to stay onside before firing home a first time strike from twenty yards. 
The lead was extended on 55 minutes after a free kick rattled the crossbar but fell nicely  into the patch of Nuttall for an easy tap in. Springhead looked likely to add to their goal tally but once the rain finally stopped Leeds stepped up their game, scoring two goals in a minute through a neat shot from Joe Dixon and an equally great strike from Academy player Ash Walker on 85 minutes. A minute later a chorus of “happy birthday to you” filled the air as four straddlers finally left the warmth and comfort of the pub to watch the match with me. The lads were disappointed to hear that they missed out on watching a really good game with six goals to boot.

Matchday Stats
LCFC 3(Wilson 36 Dixon 84 Walker 85) 
SAFC (Fagan 16 Stephenson 45 Nuttall 55)
Admission and programme:none
Att.13(HC)

My Matchday
This year it was the well established strong line-up for my birthday bash, spending a cracking day and having such a great laugh with Zippy, Jimmy Jimmy, Plymouth Pete and Honest Paul. It was great to have Paul back out drinking with us again, because he was diagnosed with cancer in April, but luckily it was confined to just his kidney and hadn’t spread elsewhere. Last month he went under the knife to have his kidney removed and is now well on the mend, so today wasn’t just about my pending birthday, but also Paul’s first day back with the lads after his recuperation.
I picked out 17 pubs to visit in Leeds, hoping to visit at least a dozen on the list. We arrived at 11am and obviously started in the Beckett Bank Wetherspoons for coffee, breakfast and the first pint of the day. We had time to squeeze in three more pubs before heading off to Adel at 1.30pm, asking the taxi driver to drop us off at the Lawnswood Arms, the only pub in the village. I headed off alone to the match just before the two o'clock kick off expecting the lads to follow on, but thankfully they didn’t and I was pleased they didn’t bother, as it was pissing down and I was the only one sensible enough to be wearing a jacket.  
After the match we got a taxi back to the city centre from the Lawnswood, for a ‘Spoons tea, calling to see Mr William Hill, plus ticking off another five pubs on the list before catching the 2043 train back to Newcastle. Throughout the day we visited some fabulous pubs and I can highly recommend them all, apart from Whitelocks First City where it was £4.50 a pint. They said is was expensive because of the Tour de France, which isn’t much of an excuse for extortion, but I wasn’t too bothered because luckily it wasn’t my round. 
I mentioned earlier in this report about the importance of the ‘bevvy break’ and as I was the only one in our group to actually go to the match, this meant that I was the most sober amongst our drinking quintet. The most blotto was Zippy, who was so legless on the train that he fell over and accidentally nutted a woman with a laptop in the first class carriage. At the end of the night myself and Jimmy Jimmy were the only survivors from the original five, so as predicted I ended up in the Union Rooms and lasted until the last bus home. 
Overall a terrific day with the only regret being we ran out of time to do 12 Leeds pubs, falling two short and missing out on a few next to the rail station that I was looking forward to. This regret can only mean one thing, we’ll just have to come back to Leeds and give it another go with a lads day out on the lash.

Foetoes - Pictures of our Leeds pub crawl

Bevvy Almanac (Leeds)


1.Becketts Bank (Park Row) Stancill ‘No.7’ (4.3%)***+
2.Mr Foleys Cask Ale House (The Headrow) Yorkshire ‘Operation Overload’ (3.8%)****
3.Town Hall Tavern (Westgate) Timothy Taylor ‘Boltmaker’ (4%)****
4.Victoria Family & Commercial (Great George Street) Leeds ‘Midnight Bell’ (4.8%)***+
5.Lawnswood Arms (Otley Road,Adel) Saltaire ‘Pride’ (3.9%)***** 
Saltaire ‘Raspberry Blonde’ (4%)****+
6.Hedley Verity (Woodhouse Lane) Adnams ‘Enraptured’ (5.5%)****+
7.Stick or Twist (The Podium) Naylors ‘Velvet’ (4%0***+
8.Templar (Templar Street) Kirkstall ‘Three Swords@ (4.5%0****
9.Whitelocks First City (Turks Head Yard,Briggate) Ilkey  ‘Marie Jaune’ (4.5%)***+
10.Brewer’s Tap (Bishopgate) Collingham ‘Arti Sans Choice’ (4.4%)****
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My Matchday - 400 Murrayfield

July 24, 2014, 6:35 am
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Celtic 4v0 KR Reykjavik
UEFA Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round
(2nd leg)
Tuesday 22nd July 2014

Due to Glasgow hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which includes the use of Celtic Park for the event, Celtic relocated east to Edinburgh for three possible UEFA Champions League qualifying ties, switching to a stadium that is home to the egg shaped ball.
Murrayfield is the home of the Scottish Rugby Union, located in the west end of Edinburgh. Scotland played internationals in Inverleith until the SRU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield, which was opened on the 21st March 1925. During the Second World War the ground was taken over by the Royal Army Service Corps and used as a supply depot, however  the armed forces sports authorities arranged two internationals between Scotland and England services each year, on a home-and-away basis. 
In 1994 the stadium was renovated as a cost of £50m which included installing floodlights for the first time.Murrayfield also has the largest permanent big screens in the country, which reduced the capacity from 67,800 to 67,144, though it remains the largest in Scotland and the sixth biggest capacity stadium in the UK.
The main stand is on the west side, being the largest end, with a much bigger bottom tier which is set further back centrally. The west stand is also further away from the pitch with a large grass area between the dugouts and the touch line. The stand also has a disabled area known as the  ‘Wooden Spoon Wheelchair Terrace’ All four ends are split into two tiers with the North Stand dipping down into the corner to meet the smaller East Stand. The seats are dominantly decked out in navy blue with SRU picked out in white in the bottom tiers behind each goal. 

Murrayfield has also hosted rugby league, gridiron, as well as quite a few football matches in recent years. Due to Tynecastle not meeting UEFA criteria, Hearts played three UEFA Cup ties during the 2004-05 season. Both Hearts and Hibs hosted Barcelona in pre-season friendlies in 2007 with 57,857 attending the Hearts game which was the biggest crowd in Edinburgh for 51 years.
Murrayfield has also became a major concert venue over the years with gigs by the likes of the Rolling Stones, U2, Oasis, Madonna, James Brown and earlier this year those shitee arsed ‘uckers One Direction performed to over 64,000 bairns as part of their Where We Are Stadium Tour.
The Match
I’m not a great fan of Celtic. How can I be when my Scottish football allegiance belongs to the other great Glasgow club. I am of course referring to...the Super Jags...Partick Thistle. 
This Champions League qualifying tie with KR Reykjavik was really over last week, with the Hoops leaving the Icelandic capital with a one goal advantage. I couldn’t imagine the part timers having two shots on target, never mind scoring twice and this proved the case, as Fraser Forster was virtually a spectator for the evening.

Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk helped himself to two goals in the opening twenty minutes, the first after an error from ‘keeper Stefan Magnusson allowing Mulgrew to head back across goal into his path to stab the ball home on 13 minutes. The Icelandic stopper was again at faulty seven minutes later, miss timing his punch to allow Lustig to tee up the big Dutchman for a simple header.
Just before the half hour mark good wing play by Callum McGregor set up Teemu Pukki to fire home and it was Pukki who wrapped up victory with twenty minutes remaining, rounding the ‘keeper and blasting the ball into the top left hand corner. Pukki was subbed immediately after bagging his brace which didn’t go down too well with the home fans, although the backing and vocal support from the green and white army in the south-east corner was tremendous throughout. 
Celtic was now face Legia Warsaw in the third qualifying round, so another chance for their supporters and like minded groundhoppers to see the Hoops at Murrayfield.

Matchday Stats
CFC 4(van Dijk 13,20 Pukki 27,71)KRR 0
Att.40,000 est. (no official figure announced...yet)
Top bloke - Virgil van Dijk (Celtic)
Spondoolicks
Admission £20 (West Stand)
Programme £2.50
52 pages(9 advertisements) 
Best line
KR Reykjavik may have a starting line up compiled of part-time footballers but their squad still boasts talents that Celtic must be wary of. (Tonight's Opponents)

 Foetoes (25 pictures from Murrayfield and match ticket)


My Matchday
I travelled on the 1454 to Edinburgh Waverley to meet Squad#155 James Little for a pub crawl route to Murrayfield, starting off with a couple of pints in the Blue Blazer. We then headed to Bennets Bar for 5.30 to meet James' pal John who had sorted out our match tickets and Squad#81 Jamie McQueen. The four of us also called to the Golden Rule and had a few pints in Diggers, where for the first time, I enjoyed the pastry delicacy of a macaroni pie.
After the game the four of us did the same route but in reverse, finally leaving Bennets at quarter to one to stagger back to James' flat, where I was staying for the night. An excellent night in Edinburgh, with special thanks to James for giving me a bed for the night, John for supplying the ticket and it was great to see Jamie, who I hadn’t seen since this beloved Liverpool beat the Toon 6-0 the season before last. Apart from the beer I enjoyed the novelty factor of watching football at Murrayfield, which is a terrific stadium and a good’un to notch up number 400.


Bennets Bar

Bevvy Almanac
Blue Blazer (Spittal Street)
An Teallach Ale Co. 'Kildonan' (4.4%)****
Cairngorm 'Trade Winds' ****
Bennets Bar (Leven Street)
Barneys Beer 'Extra Pale' (4%)***+
Harviestoun ‘Bitter & Twisted’ (3.8%)***** (Re-sup)
Golden Rule (Yeoman Place)
Alechemy 'Bad Day At The Office' (4.5%)***+
Saltaire 'Le IPA' (5.6%)***+
Diggers (Admillan Terrace)
Steward Diggers 80 shilling (4.4%)****
Caledonian 'XPA' (4.3%)***+
Joseph Holts Two Hoots (4.2%)***+ (Re-sup)



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My Matchday - 401 Brinkburn

July 27, 2014, 4:29 am
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Hartlepool 2v2 Stockton West End
Pre-season friendly
Saturday 26th July 2014
I watched a game at a rugby ground for the second time this week, but Brinkburn isn’t exactly the international arena like which I experienced at Murrayfield on Tuesday night.
Over recent seasons Hartlepool FC have played their pre-season friendlies on various pitches in the town, including this venue on Catcote Road, which is the home of West Hartlepool RFC.
Major building work is currently taking place at Brinkburn with a new £900k state of the art clubhouse and dressing room block, which is due to be completed in February 2015.
The ground itself is fully railed off with a 76 seated stand, but the match took place at the adjacent pitch at the bottom end of the complex. with goals placed in front of the rugby posts.
Hartlepool faced Stockton West End, their Teesside League opponents taking the field wearing navy and sky blue quarters, so there was a bit of a colour clash with the home sides traditional blue and white stripes.
The match got off to a lively start with Tony Coleman getting on the end of a left wing cross to fire home from 12 yards in the 8th minute, but the lead was short lived, as young’un Ross Kidson made an overlapping run on the right hand side before shooting hard and low into the far corner. 
After this I was expecting a goal glut and although there were plenty of decent chances in the game the goals didn’t arrive until the latter stages. In the 73rd minute the visitors regained the lead when some nice approach work was finished off by Mark Hall, who toe poked the ball home despite the defender’s desperate attempted goal line clearance.
With ten minutes remaining there was a pre-season rarity as Hartlepool had a player sent off. The lad in the number 10 shirt had gone through the game constantly whinging and after a rash tackle the referee had no hesitation in producing a red card. The challenge was certainly a free kick and it’s debatable if it could have been a yellow card or not, but it certainly wasn’t a sending off offence. Maybe the referee was looking for an excuse to get rid of him because he was fed up of the constant whining in his ear.
After the incident the hosts produced a late spell of pressure and got their reward two minutes from time when Alan Bird picked up a right wing pass and produced a tidy finish to round the ‘keeper and make the final score two’s each.
As the match reached the later stages I asked the management of both clubs who scored the goals. The Stockton manager initially thought I was from another Wearside League club and when I inquired the name of the second goal scorer he said “I dunno, we just call him Sparky” Apparently the lad was just on trial so if this game was played north of the border he would be known as A.Trialist, though I did find out his name by running on the pitch and asking him on the full time whistle.
The Hartlepool side were more suspicious of my presence. The manager wouldn't let on the name of the first goalscorer, telling me it’s one of the academy lads and pretending he didn’t know his name. Another bloke from the home side was more helpful though, after initially greeting me with “Who are you scouting for then?” but he was friendly enough to tell me the names of both the goalscorers. 

So overall I enjoyed a nice run out to Hartlepool, where I saw a decent game with an added bonus of topping up my suntan in the glorious July sunshine.

Hartlepool FC were originally featured in Wearside League Wanderings - part four. link here

Matchday Stats
HFC 2(Kidson 11, Bird 88) SWEFC 2(Coleman 8 Hall 73)
Att.15(HC)
Top Bloke: Ross Kidson(Hartlepool)
Admission and programme:none
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My Matchday - 402 Low Hall Park

July 31, 2014, 9:57 am
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Stocksfield 0v2 Wallington
Clayton Cup Final
Wednesday 30th July 2014

Haydon Bridge is a village in western Northumberland found on the A69 Newcastle to Carlisle road, with a population of about 2000. The village takes its name from the picturesque bridge which crosses the River South Tyne, which divides the modern side from the old village of Haydon. The village is the gateway to Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage site and Roman Forts, plus the Northumberland National Park, which are both just a few miles away.



Haydon Bridge United played on and off in the Northern Alliance between 1999 and 2008. During this period they won the Division Two title in 2001-02, after resigning from the league the season before due to the foot and mouth outbreak. They again resigned from the Alliance during the 2007-08 season, then after being accepted back they called it a day on the eve of the new campaign.
Nowadays the club runs eight youth development teams from under 8s to under 16s, seven of which play competitively and hold Charter Standard Status from the Northumberland FA. The senior side reformed in 2010 playing in the Hexham & District Sunday League.
Low Hall Park is found at the entrance to the village and is a lovely setting for football. The ground has two smaller pitches for the junior teams and the main pitch which is fully railed off with a pair of brick dugouts painted green. The club headquarters and changing rooms are at the main entrance where access is found at the start of the village,along a residential street. The whole complex is well maintained with the pitch in top condition.



The Clayton Cup was founded way back in 1903 and revived in 2010 after being brought out of storage, apparently being kept in a loft for ten years. The competition is a knockout tournament usually played between clubs based in Tynedale and in the south-west of Northumberland. Haydon Bridge themselves won this trophy five times during the 1970’s but are now regular hosts of the event.


This year’s final was between Northern Alliance Premier League clubs Wallington, who received a bye to the semi final where they beat Ponteland United, facing Stocksfield, who disposed of Ryton & Crawcrook and Haltwhistle on route to the final.  
After an even start it was Wallington who took the lead after 18 minutes when right back Jake Walton robbed the defender on the edge of the box before unleashing a first time looping shot which flew into the top of the net. Both teams created half chances but as the match progressed it was looking as if that early goal was going to decide it. With just over five minutes remaining Wallington rubber stamped victory when dangerman John Paxton ran on to a through ball in the right hand channel to volley the ball past the ‘keeper to clinch the Clayton Cup for the men from Scots’ Gap.

LINKS - 
Around The Alliance - part six featured Stocksfield
Around The Alliance - part eight featured Wallington 
Matchday Stats
SFC 0 WFC 2(Walton 18 Paxton 84)
Att.44(HC)
Top Bloke:John Paxton(Wallington)
Admission & programme:none
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