Heed Hopper

Chorley 3v2 Hyde
Vanarama Conference North
Saturday 22nd November 2014

This season I’ve mainly focused on finishing off the Conference, doing a few groundhops and going to grounds I’ve been longing to visit, one of which is Victory Park - the home of Chorley FC.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire located in between Preston and Blackburn to the north and Wigan and Bolton in the south. The name Chorley comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, Ceorl and ley. Ceorl refers to a person of status similar to a freeman or a yeoman and Ley means a woodland clearing so it translates as "the peasants' clearing".
Like most of Lancashire it gained its wealth from the industrial revolution as a vital cotton town with many mills dominating the Chorley skyline. Most of the mills were demolished in the late twentieth century or made into modern conversions, with Lawrences being the last mill to stop producing textiles in 2009. Chorley was also vital in coal mining due to its location on the edge of Lancashire Coalfield, with several pits in the area, the last of which was the Ellerbeck Colliery which closed in 1987.

Chorley along with Preston and Leyland was designated as part of Central Lancashire new town in the 1970s. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although the plug was pulled on the scheme, the town benefited from the urban renewal, with a new bypass and the Market Walk shopping centre. The town is also home to the Chorley cake and Chorley FM, the fictional radio station in the Peter Kay hit TV sitcom Phoenix Nights, which became a real life station broadcasting as a community outlet in 2001.

Plantpot History

Chorley Football Club formed in 1883 after switching to football from being a rugby club for seven years. The club joined the Lancashire Junior League in 1889, and the following year became a member of the Lancashire Alliance, which they won in 1892–93. In 1894 Chorley joined the Lancashire League, becoming champions twice before the end of the nineteenth century.
In 1903-04 they were founder members of the new second division of the Lancashire Combination. The Magpies went on to win the Lancashire Combination for the first time in 1919-20 and were champions a total of ten times, the last of which came in season 1963-64.
Chorley were one of the founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, but left at the end of the inaugural season, before rejoined in 1970 and leaving again two years later to join the Cheshire League. The club finished league runners-up on three occasions before rejoined the Northern Premier League in 1982–83, becoming champions in 1987–88 and promotion to the Conference. Chorley spent two seasons in the Non-League top flight before being relegated back to the Northern Premier League in 1990 and stayed within its divisions until winning the title last season, to make their debut in Conference North this term.

Ground no.427 Victory Park
(Non-League Grounds 209, Current Conference North 12/22)

Chorley originally played at Dole Lane which is now the Coronation recreation ground, before a short stay at Rangletts Recreation Ground from September 1901 until they were evicted and relocated just next door to St George’s Park in September 1905. Victory Park was built just yards from their previous two grounds, the former rubbish tip was cleared in 1919 and opened the following year, named to commemorate the end of World War I.
The original grandstand was gutted by fire in November 1945, just hours after an FA Cup tie against Accrington Stanley. This was replaced with the current stand built in May 1947 at a cost of £5,500, which runs two-thirds pitch length. The stand is a classic of its type with a bulk of ironwork holding up its roof, which has two protruding floodlight pylons with the raised seating above the terracing and team dugouts at the front. The stand has a capacity of 900 and is flanked by food outlets with the Magpies’ Nest and the Victory Snack Bar at each side.
The first terracing was built in 1929 at the Pilling Lane End, but this too suffered an unfortunate fate when the roof was tore off after gale force winds caused £800 worth of damage. Nowadays the terrace is covered directly behind the goal with a high pitched roof with grass banking at the sides which is out of bounds. The banking continues to the side where there is still a few remaining crash barriers, back when this was the popular side of the ground. This end has flat hard standing which runs back towards the car park, turnstile entrance and the social club with four three-lamped pylons embedded in the banking. This classic Non-League ground is finished off with a covered terrace behind the nearside goal which runs the full width of the pitch.
The current capacity of Victory Park stands at 4,100 with a record attendance of 9,679 for a FA Cup tie between Chorley and Darwen on the 15th November 1932.

The Match
The knocking bet for a home win in the Conference North this week was for the Magpies, firmly embedded amongst the play-off spots to overcome bottom of the table Hyde, who are in danger of tailing off at the foot of the league if they don’t manage to scrape together a couple of wins soon. That much needed victory looked on the cards as they raced into a two goal lead with a brace from Tom Bentham in the opening ten minutes. The big striker latched onto a lovely through ball down the left flank to fire in a first time shot into the far corner in the third minute, before nodded in at the near post from a corner kick minutes later.
After the initial shock of going two behind Chorley began to dominate, and after a Jake Cottrell shot smacked the crossbar they halved the deficit a minute later when Chris Doyle was on hand to fire home a left wing cross on 35 minutes. It was then all square at half time when a goalmouth scramble was finished off by Chris Simms who netted the rebound after the ‘keeper had pulled off a fine save.
I expected the hosts to go on and comfortably claim victory at Victory Park, but they didn’t have it all there own way before eventually grabbing the winner in the 73rd minute. Darren Stephenson ran onto a through ball to finish with a tidy side foot volley to the delight of the home support amongst an impressive attendance of 1,125.

Matchday Stats
CFC 3(Doyle 35 Simm 37 Stephenson 73) HFC 2(Bentham 3,10)
Att.1,125
Top Bloke - Jake Cottrell (Chorley)

Spondoolicks
Admission £10
Programme £2.50
(64 pages with 24 adverts)
Pin badge £3
Mince pie £1.80
Coffee £1
Tea £1

Foetoes (36 pictures from Victory Park)

My Matchday
When I woke up on Saturday morning I wasn't in the best of moods to travel to Chorley. My train route from Newcastle was via Carlisle to Preston, and after my recent experience in the north-west I was expecting a hazardous trip. My pessimistic visage changed once the first leg of the journey was complete, as the damp weather made way for bright sunshine once I arrived in Cumbria, so I began to finally look forward to my onward journey to Lancashire.
I arrive without any travel hiccups in Chorley at 1240, with a list of half a dozen pubs to visit. I managed to have a pint in five of them as the GBG listed Maltin Hops was closed, so by the time I headed off to the game I was pie eyed in much need of the quality bait available at the ground, which dominated the post match discussion on the 100FgC Facebook page.
There was a big queue outside the Magpies Nest so I waited until 20 minutes into the game to get something to eat. This turned out to be massive mistake on my part, as the much sought after butter pie had sold out and to rub salt into my wounds, the cake on sale at the Victory Snack Bar wasn't even the local delicacy, so a devastating bait faux pas on my part in both savoury and sweet categories.

As expected the reverse journey didn't run smoothly with massive delays between Manchester and Blackpool. The first train I saw arrive on the northbound platform was over 50 minutes late, with my 1721 train way back in the distance and in a queue, so I jumped on the 1702 which was 25 minutes late. The upshot was I arrived in Preston a few minutes after my Virgin train to Carlisle was due to depart, but luckily this was also five minutes late so I caught it with seconds to spare.
Overall I had an ace time in Chorley, enjoying the pubs, beer and best of all Victory Park which now ranks as one of my favourite Non-League grounds. As you'd expect I always love to see a win for the Magpies, topped off with ticking off another ground on my must do list and to think earlier in the day I just couldn't be chewed with it. Maybe I’m getting a bit tired of tearing around on public transport on my todd or could be in need of a fresh challenge, whatever it may be I’ll have to have a good think about this in the summer when this fully booked action packed season comes to an end.

Bevvy Almanac
Railway (Steeley Lane) Wychwood 'The Dogs Bollocks' (5.2%)***+
White Bull (Market St) Marston's 'White Bully' (3.6%)****
Rose & Crown (St Thomas Rd) Brains ' Atomic Blonde' (4%)****+
Sir Henry Tate(JDW) (New Market St) Three B's 'Pinch Noggin'(4.6%)****
Potters Arms (Brooke St) Three B's 'Doff Cocker'(4.5%)***+

Tranent Juniors 4v2 Harthill Royal

McBookie.com East Region Juniors - South Division

Saturday 29th November 2014

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts

Tranent is a town in East Lothian, about 11 miles east of Edinburgh, found on the south side of the A1 with a population of around 11,000. The town name derives from the ancient celtic language of Brittonic, made up of Tre and Nant, meaning “town of the stream”.
One of the oldest towns in Haddingtonshire was once a chief mining district, with the first pits opened back in the 12th century, but nowadays Tranent is more a commuter town serving East
Lothian and the Scottish capital.
The Massacre of Tranent took place in 1797, when local people were killed by soldiers after protesting against conscription into the British Militia. One of the 12 victims Jackie Crookston is depicted on the memorial that commemorates those who lost their lives, found in the town’s Civic Square.

Plantpot History

Tranent Juniors F.C. formed in 1911 and are another Scottish Juniors club I’ve visited who are previous winners of the prestigious Scottish Junior Cup.(This could a new challenge to try and visit them all) The club reached the final for the first time in 1933, losing out to York Athletic after a replay, however two years later they went one better by hammering Petershill 6-1 in front of 22,000 at Ibrox Park. This scoreline remains the biggest winning margin in a final and was matched by Bonnyrigg Rose in 1966. Tranent are nicknamed The Belters and current play in the South Division of the McBookie.com Scottish Junior East Region

Ground no.428 Foresters Park
(Total Scottish Grounds visited 53 Scottish Juniors 10)

Foresters Park is found just off the main street which runs through Tranent, through a back lane on Haddington Road. The ground has a standing enclosure on one side covering the middle third of the pitch, which has seven large terrace steps with supporting pillars at the front embedded into the perimeter fence. The team dugouts are opposite with the changing rooms which were opened in 2007 at the back next to the main car park, where there's also another admission gate in the corner. The rest of the 2,300 capacity ground is made up of grass banking but unfortunately there’s no clubhouse or refreshment facilities. At the other side of the changing rooms are some 5-a-side pitches and a full size 3G pitch where the Tranent U-21s were in action at the same time as the senior side.

The Match
Both Tranent Juniors and Harthill Royal went into this South Division fixture in a dreadful run of form, so I was expecting an open game with plenty of goals. We didn’t have long to wait for the opener when after six minutes a left wing cross was met with a lovely diving header from the Tranent number nine. The Tranent centre-forward could have had a hat-trick after wasting two good chances but he was on hand to fire home for six yards and double his tally on the half hour.
Harthill didn’t create much but with their first meaningful attack they halved the deficit on 36 minutes when Alex Cummings struck home from the edge of the box, only for the hosts to restore the two goal cushion minutes later, when the number six fired his 20 yard free kick into the wall but smashed home the rebound.
Tranent made it 4-1 in the 50th minute when some neat build up play was rounded off by the number six for his second of the afternoon. The visiting goalkeeper pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the score down and his team mates made the score look a bit more respectable when Alex Wade pulled a goal back in the final minute. So a good game and it turned out to be a good choice as the other matches on our short list didn’t produce as many goals.

Matchday Stats & Spondoolicks
TJFC 4(#9 6,29 #6 39,50)HRFC(Cummings 36 Wade 90)
Att.44(HC)
Admission £4
Programme and refreshments:none
Top Bloke - number six(Tranent)
(I had the team sheets on my camera so I’ll edit match report if I receive the player info from Tranent)

My Matchday
What a splendid Matchday, well it was until I got back home and discovered I had lost my camera. I arrive in Edinburgh Waverley at 12.10 where I was quickly joined by 100FgC AF#33 Mark Wilkins who had travelled up from London Kings Cross. My ground total is currently in the four hundred and twenties but this total is bobbins in comparison to Mark as he’s now in the two thousands and eighties!
We heading to the bus stop on Waterloo Place to catch the 104 bus service to Tranent which was cheaply priced at only £3.50 return. The bus journey took around half an hour so on arrival we headed straight to the ground, being the first to enter Foresters Park for the 1.45 kick off. Gradually the crowd grew with a larger presence from south of the border with a Geordie and a Londoner being joined by a car full of 'hoppers from Liverpool.
After watching an entertaining game we had plenty of time for a couple of pints in the town followed by further bevvys in Edinburgh before Mark caught the 1730 and I jumped on the 1830 back to Toon. So a cracking day overall in a friendly place, watching an entertaining game in good company.

At the top of this post I stated that Tranent was another club I've visited, who had won the Holy Grail of Scottish Junior football. This lead me to do a bit of research which shows that since the Scottish Junior Cup started in 1886-87 there's been 66 teams who have lifted the top prize. Out of those winners 14 clubs no longer exist and I've been to 8 of the remaining teams so that makes it 44 former cup winners to visit. This wouldn't be a problem if I'd retired from work and shacked up with Edinburgh based Squad#155 James Little for a couple of years, so I really need to narrow the odds down a bit. In my lifetime (which hits half a century next year) there’s been 28 Junior Cup winners, with only one club no longer around and five I've already ticked, which leaves a doable total of 22. This is a challenge I'm willing to except , I don't know how long it will take but I'm looking forward to it already and made it official by added the relevant information onto my T’Do List.

Bevvy Almanac
A couple of pints of Belhaven Best in two very good pubs in Tranent;
The New Plough Inn (High St)
Keepers Arms(Bridge St)
Edinburgh
The Guildford (W Register St.)
Fallen Brewing Just The Ticket(4%)****+
Great Heck ‘Nelson Simcoe’ (4.5%)***+
The Standing Order (George St)
Old Worthy ‘Scottish Pale Ale’ (5%)***

Foetoes
(some cracking pictures of Foresters Park and the Tranent v Harthill Royal match which was on the camera which now belongs to some lucky bugger in Scotland)
Special thanks to Mark Wilkins for the blog pictures.

Linlithgow Rose - Squad#155 James Little

HNK Rejeka - 100FgC A17 Peter Miles

Dorking - 100FgC FB Paul Paxton

United Services Portsmouth - 100FgC FB Paul Paxton

Harlech - 100FgC A11 Laurence Reade

Please vote by leaving a comment or on our Facebbok group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/100FgC/

429. John Spence Community High School

North Shields Athletic 4v2 Hebburn Reyrolle

Northern Alliance Premier Division

Saturday 6th December 2014

I visited North Shields Athletic at the John Spence Community High School at the end of last season when the club had just won the Division One title. I scored for an extra tick on that afternoon as they used the all weather surface instead of their normal home pitch, as the school had the field marked out for athletics.

The ground has a pair of temporary tent style dugouts and is roped off, and the 4G pitch was again in use as the club’s reserve side were playing(lost 2-1 to Stobswood Welfare) at the same time as the senior side faced Hebburn Reyrolle in the Northern Alliance Premier Division

Athletic struck first when a daisy-cutter free kick by Stephen Ardley gave them a twentieth minute lead, only for Dan Solomon to equalise when he nipped in at the near post when a long throw evaded the home defence. In between the two goals the Newcastle v Chelsea match took preference over what was happening on the pitch, with both dugouts conferring with each other over the latest score with both managers delighted that the Toon’s 10 men held on to their 2-1 lead.

Just before half time the home side retook the lead when a free kick from the left was saved but parried into the path of Scott Jasper to fire in the rebound. Athletic had to wait until the last fifteen minutes to seal the win when Craig Boyle rifled home from the edge of the box, but a Liam Connolly penalty for Reyrolle on 82 minutes set up an interesting finale. In the last minute of the scheduled ninety a free kick from Ryan Bailey sneaked in at the near post to finally put the result beyond doubt to make it 4-2 to Shields on the final whistle.

Matchday Stats
NSAFC 4(Ardley 21 Jasper 41 Boyle 75 Bailey 90) HRFC 2(Solomon 33 Connolly 82)
Att.12(HC)
Top Bloke - Scott Jasper(North Shields Athletic)
Admission and programme:none

430. Jack Clark Park

Whitburn Athletic 1v3 Percy Main Amateurs (AET)

Bluefin Sport Bill Gardner Cup

Saturday 13th December

Whitburn is a village on the South Tyneside coast in between South Shields and Sunderland. Whitburn Athletic formed in 2010 playing in the Wearside Combination until entering the Northern Alliance set up last season, comfortably finishing mid-table in Division Two. This season they’ve made a change, moving from Whitburn Academy up the Coast Road to Jack Clark Park in South Shields.
The ground is home to Marsden Cricket Club with the football pitch at the outer boundary, with a pair of white brick dugouts and railed off at the far side, with the near side taped off from the cricket green. Changing room facilities are in the cricket pavilion which is at the main entrance.

Whitburn Athletic faced Division One leaders Percy Main Amateurs in the quarter-final of the Bill Gardner Cup. After an uneventful first half when neither ‘keeper was troubled the game livened up after the interval with both sides going all out for a winner. That winning goal looked to have finally arrived twenty minutes from time when a corner kick was met by a bullet header from Dan Sneap, but the hosts were soon back in it when a free kick from the right was swung in, and another good header, this time by Bradley Skinner put Athletic level. In the dying stages of normal time the hosts could have won it with the very last kick from Adam Bravey who shot just wide of the far post which would have put his team through yo the next round.

Percy Main took control of the tie in extra-time regaining the lead after just two minutes with another goal from a corner-kick, as Joe Betts fired in through a crowded penalty area, then five minutes later a goal kick was knocked on to Sneap who ran on before shooting in at the near post, to book a cup semi-final tie away to either Hexham or Lindisfarne Custom Plant.

This match was played in good spirit and I must mention the Whitburn players and management who played the game with smiles on their faces and in a sporting manner which was nice to see.

Matchday Stats
WAFC 1(Skinner 76) PMAFC 3(Sneap 70.97 Betts 92)
Att.14(HC)
Top Bloke - Dan Sneap(Percy Main Amateurs)
Admission & programme:none

431. John Willie Sams Centre

New Fordley 3v2 Wallsend Boys Club

Northern Alliance Division One

Saturday 20th December 2014

New Fordley are based in Dudley near Cramlington at the John Willie Sams Centre. Formed as a junior club in 2005, the senior set up joined the Northern Alliance in 2011, winning promotion to Division One in 2012-13 after a third place finish.
The centre is primarily the North Tyneside Council Primary Care Trust, and also has a fitness suite with the football pitch at the back, found over the bridge on the other side of the Seaton Burn stream. The pitch is fully railed and is another ground I've been to which borders the East Coast rail line.

New Fordley came from behind to pick up a valuable win against Wallsend Boys Club in this Division One fixture. The visitors struck first in the 13th minute when Dan Hindmarsh latched onto a neat through ball before a tidy finish 'round the 'keeper, but they failed to take some decent chances to extend their advantage.
The home side grabbed an equaliser through Matty Middleton's right foot shot on 36 minutes, but Wallsend went into the interval having regained the lead with a freak goal. A left wing cross from Jordan Robertson eluded everyone and sailed into the net, with the Fordley defence claiming the ball had gone through the side netting. The referee was having none of it, but courteously agreed to check the nets before confirming it was a goal.

New Fordley improved in the second half, once they replaced the ineffective thug of a striker which meant Danny Young was able to lead the forward line. He made it all square on the hour mark, firing in from a right wing cross, before another good cross, this time from the left wing, found him unmarked to head home the winner.
I got the impression that Wallsend BC thought they were in for an easy afternoon, but New Fordley are a better side than their league position suggests and these valuable three points takes them out of the bottom three.

Matchday Stats
NFFC 3(Middleton 36 Young 60,69) WBCFC 2(Hindmarsh 13 Robertson 44)
Att.27(HC)
Top Bloke - Danny Young(New Fordley)
Admission and programme: none

The inaugural winner of the Facebook Pic of the Week Cup is 100FgC A9 John McClure for his photograph of Blaenau Amateur, beating Lee Stewart's picture of the main stand at Horden CW in the final.

Winners in each round were;

Round 1 - Billingham Town (Jon Blake)
Round 2 - Old Bradwell United (Peter Miles)
Round 3 - Corfe Castle (Paul Paxton)
Round 4 - Bury Town (Jack Warner)
Round 5 - Blaenau Amateur (John McClure)
(Most voted runner-up) Horden Colliery Welfare(Lee Stewart)
Round 6 - Clydebank (Joris van der Wier)
Round 7 - Harlech (Laurence Reade)

Quarter-finals
Horden CW beat Corfe Castle
Blaenau Amateur beat Old Bradwell United
Clydebank beat Billingham Town
Harlech beat Bury Town

Semi Finals
Blaenau Amateur beat Clydebank
Horden beat Harlech

John wins an exclusive 100FgC cup, and if you would also like to own one of these fabulous pieces of crockery then please drop me an email or get in contact via our Facebook page.

(Shaun's best bits of the year..aka The New Year's Honours List)

*Best Match Attended*

25th October East of Scotland League Division One- Eyemouth United 5v4 Hawick Royal Albert

3-1, 3-4, 5-4 Full details in My Matchday report - link

*Goal of the Year*

James Marwood(Gateshead) v Grimsby - Conference play-off semi final(2nd leg)

A moment of brilliance from James Marwood settled the tie as veteran playmaker John Oster picked him out on the corner of the box and the 23-year-old cut onto his left foot to bend a beautiful strike into the far top corner to send the Heed Army to Wembley.

*Favourite Previously Uncharted Senior Ground*

Ayr United - Somerset Park

My Matchday - 394 Somerset Park

*Best Previously Uncharted Non-League Ground*

Chorley - Victory Park

My Matchday - 427 Victory Park

*Best My Matchday*

A great day and a splendid night out in Salisbury before heading across to Newport the following morning. My Matchday - 385 Raymond McEnhill Stadium

*Best Pre-Match Bevvy*

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem - Nottingham

A favourite of mine during my weekend stay in Nottingham for the Notts Senior Hop.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem occupies the brewhouse site within the caves at the base of Nottingham castle and claims to be the oldest pub in England, dating back to 1189.

*Silver 'Spoons Award*

The Wallaw - Blyth

The Grade II-listed Wallaw cinema in Blyth, which had stood empty for six years is considered the best surviving work of the firm Percy Lindsay Browne, which designed many cinemas in the North East. The Wallaw opened in 1937 and is named after its owner Walter Lawson. JDW have maintained the cinemas original features and is a must visit for 'Spoons enthusiasts.

*Scabby-eye of the Year*

Chicken shish kebab at Netherton United

For the first time the award for the best pre-match bait goes to a non pastry based product as the tasty shish-kebab at The Grange was the grub highlight of the Peterborough Groundhop. My Matchday - UCL and Peterborough & District Football League - The Opening Weekend Hop! (part one)

Last year's winners

Boroughbridge 1v2 Bardsey

West Riding County Challenge Cup 4th Round

Saturday 3rd January 2015

The most hectic and stressful time is over for another year at work, and its now a period of calm after navigating through the December storm. This means a few decent Saturday finishes at the beginning of the new year so I can jump in the car after my shift and hopefully tick off a couple of West Yorkshire League grounds, the first of which is Boroughbridge, who faced Bardsey in the West Riding County Cup.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts

Boroughbridge is a small town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, situated 13 miles north-west of York. The origin of the town name derives from its location next to Aldborough, the principal settlement during the Roman period and known as Isurium Brigandom. After the Norman Conquest a new town grew as the roman road was diverted north of Aldborough where it crosses the River Ure. The Old Town became known as the "Ald-Borough with the new settlement became "New Borough on t'Brigg" (Bridge), which became "Borough on t'Brigg" and finally Boroughbridge.

Between the two town are the Devil’s Arrows, which are a row of three large stones said to date back to the Bronze Age. The name comes from an 18th century legend, which states the Devil threw the stones, aiming at the next town of Aldborough, but the stones fell short and landed near Boroughbridge instead.

Plantpot History

History books show the first mentions of a Boroughbridge AFC at the turn of the 20th century, with the first known honours in 1921-22 as Harrogate Amateur League Division Two champions. After the second World War they won the Ripon League and later had two teams in the Harrogate & District League, enjoying league and cup success during the 1950’s. The Bridge won the Harrogate Premier League eight time and the York Premier League on three occasions before joining the West Yorkshire League in 2002. In their debut season they were Division One champions, winning promotion to the West Yorkshire Premier League, finishing runners-up in 2004-05, there best season to date. Currently the club also fields teams in the Harrogate & District, Claro Sunday and York Corinthians leagues.

Ground no.432 Aldborough Road
(English Non-League ground 213, 2nd in West Yorkshire League)
I was quite impressed with the set up at Boroughbridge AFC. The Club is based in a complex on Aldborough Road on the town’s edge, which boasts a bowls club, tennis courts, a cricket pitch and two full size football pitches. The main pitch has a small white brick stand at the near side with room for about 30 spectators made up of two rows of benches next to the away dugout. On the opposite site are some unique dugouts which is basically a container cabin with the dugouts built at the front. The structure is also painted white and has the club name at the top. The pitch is fully railed off on all side apart from a hedgerow behind the goal next to the tennis courts.
The changing rooms are found at the side of the impressive clubhouse which serves a selection of draught beers and a proper cup of tea in a mug at half time.

The Match
Boroughbridge have navigated their place in round four after receiving a bye then knocking out local rivals Ripon City, followed by victory over Campion in the last round. Today’s tie against Bardsey was their toughest fixture yet, with the visitors second in the table and having beating Bridge 3-0 at Aldborough Road just a fortnight ago.
Another comfortable Bardsey win looked on the cards as they dominated the early stages, but surprisingly fell a goal behind after a quarter of an hour when Mickey Mullenger scrambled in a right wing cross from close range. The hosts finished the first half well and looked as if they could hang onto their slim advantage as the second half progressed, until the game flipped with two goals in a three minute spell. In the 66th minute a neat through ball for Danny Maw saw the striker race in on goal, before showing great composure to dance around the ‘keeper and slot the ball home, then minutes later a right wing cross found Nicky Seed who got in front of the defence and fired in a side foot volley. The double strike was enough to send Bardsey into the next round of the West Riding County Challenge Cup, setting up a home tie against either Salt or Whitkirk Wanderers in the last eight.

My Matchday
After arriving in Boroughbridge at noon and parking at the ground, I walked into the town centre for something to eat and a quick look around before the 1pm kick off. The world is a small place especially when it comes to the Groundhopping community, so I wasn’t too surprised to bump into 100FgC A17 Peter Miles with his better half. They had travelled up from Essex, staying in Harrogate for the weekend to visit the two teams in the town and also catch the first half at the Bridge. I enjoyed my visit to Boroughbridge they seem a friendly club with good support and a community spirit, so this made up for a disappointing FA Cup 3rd round Saturday. The two clubs closest to my heart bowed out of the competition, one of which went out in style with a good hiding while the other produced a maladroit display, so a decent game at a nice venue more than made up for the anticipated big let down.

Matchday Stats
BAFC 1(Mullenger 16) BFC 2(Maw 66 Seed 68)
Att.91(HC)
Top Bloke - Danny Maw (Bardsey)
Admission:donation
Programme:none

Foetoes (22 pictures from Aldborough Road)

Kilbirnie Ladeside 4v2 Kilsyth Rangers

Scottish Junior Cup 4th Round

Saturday 24th January 2015

My new groundhopping project for 2015 and over the proceeding years is to visit the winners of the Scottish Junior Cup throughout my lifetime, which will add up to half a century this year. My original plan today was to visit Arthulie FC, but this like many others fell foul to the brutal Scottish weather, but thankfully my second choice of Kilbirnie Ladeside got the go ahead.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts

Kilbirnie is a wee town situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, around 20 miles south-west of Glasgow and approximately 10 miles from Paisley. The town was historically built up around the flax and weaving industries before the Glengarnock Steel Works opened its blast furnaces around 1841. Since the works closed in 1985, the area has very few local employers, making it a commuter town.The suburb of Kilbirnie in the New Zealand capital of Wellington is named after its Scottish counterpart.

Plantpot History
Kilbirnie Ladeside formed in 1901 and are nicknamed The Blasties, which derives not just from the steel works but from a Robert Burns poem, The Inventory, written in 1786. The poem refers to the local Saint Brennan's Day Fair, the largest horse market in the west of Scotland and his purchase of a plough horse.
My furr-ahin 's a wordy beast,
As e'er in tug or tow was traced.
The fourth's a Highland Donald hastle,
A damn'd red-wud Kilburnie blastie!

The club won their first honour in the Ayrshire District Cup in 1904, a trophy which they've won on ten occasions. Further cup success includes lifting the Ayrshire Cup eight times and winning the West of Scotland Cup in 2008. As for the holy grail of the Junior ranks, they won the cup for the first time in 1952 with a 1-0 win over Camelon, then a quarter of a century later they featured in the very first Scottish Junior Cup Final on TV (STV) when they beat Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 3-1 in the 1977 final at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 11,476. Kilbirnie were denied the Junior Cup hat-trick in 1987 after drawing 1-1 with Auchinleck Talbot they narrowly lost the replay 1-0.
Kilbirnie Ladeside started their league career in the old Scottish Junior League, winning the title in 1903-04. They went on the win the Western/Ayrshire League five times between 1947-48 and 1975-76. They currently play in the West Super League Premier Division having won the Ayrshire District League in 2006-07 and finishing runners-up Super League First Division in 2008-09.

Ground 433 Valefield Park
(Scottish grounds 54, Junior grounds 11, Lifetime Junior Cup winners 6/27)

Kilbirnie Ladeside originally played at Ladeside Park on Mill Road. During World War II the army used the ground so the club relocated to Valefield. The ground had been the home of Glengarnock Vale, who vacated the ground after not reforming after the war.
The ground is found in the south end of Kilbirnie, just at the other side of Glengarnock village. The paying entrance is behind the goal, with another turnstile block off the main road which is currently out of use. There are two enclosures at the Kirkland Road side of the ground, both identical with one of the stands having a small section of wooden seat benches. There are three dugouts on the opposite side in front of the changing rooms and refreshment hall. This side also has a club office cabin and a bar incorporating a club shop which sells alcoholic refreshment in can and bottle form. The best part of Valefield (for a ground connoisseur like myself) is the terracing. At the entrance end is four large steps of terrace while at the far end the standing area sweeps around to meet the sides. The ground is nicely finished off with the stands, structures and pitch perimeter decked out in the club colours of amber and black.

The Match
After last weekend’s total whiteout of the 16 Junior Cup ties, this match was one of only five cup games to beat the weather this week with the Vale pitch looking in great nick, considering it was still under a blanket of snow in the middle of last week.
The Blasties faced First Division side Kilsyth Rangers in a game which turned out to be a closely contested encounter, although the scoreline would suggest otherwise.
Kilbirnie took the lead after just nine minutes when Richie Barr raced onto a through ball and calmly slotted home, but the Wee Gers were level on 24 minutes when Joe Barclay received the ball on the right flank before cutting inside and firing in from a tight angle.
The match was nicely poised at this stage but two goals before half time booked Ladeside’s passage into round five. Just after the half hour mark a Wilson free kick from the right was nodded past his own ‘keeper by David Water, the goal was quite bizarre as it looked as if he had forgotten he was defending and headed home like a top striker into the far corner, giving the ‘keeper no chance.
Just before the break a long through ball found both Ryan Borris and Christopher Craig in acres of space. The linesman flagged for offside but the referee waved play on before Borris teed up his team mate up for a simple finish.
The visitors made an encouraging start to the second half and if they’d a been more clinical in front of goal they could have easily drawn level. They were made to pay for those missed chances as the hosts sealed the win when a quick break from midfield was finished off by Ryan Borris, before a late consolation from Barclay made the scoreline look a bit more respectable in a typical end-to-end cup tie.

Matchday Stats
KLFC 4(Barr 9 Waters 32OG Craig 44 Borris 75) KRFC 2(Barclay 24,89)
Att.300est
Top Bloke - Ryan Borris(Kilbirnie Ladeside)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme: none
Mince pie £1.20
Coffee £1

Richie Barr blasts The Blasties into an early lead.

My Matchday
This Matchday trip was split between using the car and letting the train take the strain. Engineering works on the Newcastle to Carlisle route, meant a replacement bus service from Hexham, which added an extra 40 minutes onto the journey. It was easier and a helluva lot quicker to just drive along to Carlisle myself and jump the train to Glasgow from there. I left home that morning not knowing where my final destination would be due to the bad weather in Scotland over the last week, which added to the excitement of just having a list of travel details for seven possibilities.
I parked up in Carlisle at 1025 and immediately checked my phone for messages to find out what was on and off. I received a tweet from Brian, a Kirkintilloch Rob Roy fan who informed me that his team's game at my original plan of Arthurlie was postponed. Paisley based Chris Sanderson(100FgC A38) kept me well informed throughout the morning and confirmed my main back up plan of Kilbirnie Ladeside was definitely on.
Typically, the national train provider on the west side of the country let me down yet again, giving me another kick on the bollocks with the 1047 running 35 minutes late. I don’t know if its just me being unlucky when I use them or if they're frequently so incompetent. Thankfully there's a regular service for my onward journey to Glengarnock, so I had just enough time to buy my tickets and catch the 1248 which took around 25 minutes, so nicely timed to arrive at Valefield for the 1.45 kick off.
The train delay meant I didn't have any spare time in Glasgow, which was the only downer on a cracking day, although I did have a 20 minute window on the way home to pop into Fopp on Union Street to bag a copy of the new Belle & Sebastian LP. I shouldn't be too disappointed as there'll be plenty of other opportunities to have time for a bevvy in Glasgow as my latest groundhopping pursuit will see me becoming a regular visitor to the west of Scotland, as its the most successful region for Junior Cup winners, and Kilbirnie is just the first of many cracking grounds to come.

Foetoes (28 pictures from Valefield)

Footnote
All going well I’m in the process of writing a book on the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, so I’ll be writing a more thorough piece on my matchday at Kilbirnie. You can check the progress and a map of the grounds on my list on the T’Do Page

Hartlepool United U-18s 2v2 Hull City U-18s

Youth Alliance League - North East Division

Tuesday 27th January 2015

Hartlepool United Academy play home matches in the former pit village of Blackhall Colliery The village is situated on the North Sea A1086 coast road between Pools and Horden. The colliery closed in 1981 with an industrial estate built over part of the site, and following the pit closure the once busy village became a commuter link on the east coast.

Blackhall beach was the setting for the final scene in the 1971 film Get Carter starring Michael Caine, when(*spoiler alert*) Carter is shot by a sniper after a chase across a coal-strewn beach. The film shows the beach black with coal dumped by the mine's conveyor system. Following its closure £10 million was spent removing the huge concrete tower, the conveyor and clearing tons of coal from the now spotless beach.

Blackhall Colliery Welfare FC was formed in 1927, winning the Wearside League on three occasions during the 1930's. Just before the Second World War they joined the North Eastern League which they took part in until 1955. During the 1951-52 season they had their best run in the FA Cup, reaching the First Round proper after navigating four qualifying rounds they were knocked out at home to League club Workington 5-2. They later returned to the Wearside League in 1987 but struggled badly and unfortunately called it a day after failing to complete the 1991-92 season.

The Welfare ground is still used by a village team as Sunday league and former Durham Alliance League side Blackhall Hardwick FC play at the Welfare. The ground is fully railed off with hard standing on three sides including a five step terrace at the far side. The changing rooms are in the new cricket pavilion which was officially opened in 2011 by former Newcastle United, Manchester City and England centre-half Steve Howey. Within the Welfare Park is the local bowls club, cricket pitch and children’s play ground, as well as the Blackhall War Memorial.

Hartlepool United faced league leaders Hull City in a Youth Alliance League fixture rescheduled from the 17th January. Pools denied the Tigers the chance to extend their lead at the top of the North East Division coming back to grab a well earned draw.
The hosts made a bright start and took the lead on the half hour mark when Dylan Armstrong found room in the box to pick out full back Scott Howes who fired in from ten yards. The advantage only lasted a minute, as Jake Buckle stepped up to take a free kick wide on the right and surprised everyone by curling his 25 yard shot into the top corner of the net.
Hull took the lead early in the second half when Mitch Langton was giving a simple task when the defence failed to clear a corner, but they fought back to earn a deserved draw when fantastic wing play from Jack Blackford saw him pick out Connor Smith, arriving into the box to fire in the equaliser.

Matchday Stats
HUFCU-18 2(Howes 30 Smith 71) HCFCU-18 2(Buckle 31 Langton 47)
Att.43(HC)
Admission:none
Top Bloke - Jack Blackford(Hartlepool United)

Foetoes (Web album of 19 pictures from Blackhall Colliery Welfare)

Whitehill Welfare 1v2 Stirling University

Scottish Lowlands Football League

Saturday 21st February 2015

Another day in Scotland when I ended up at a different destination from my original plan. The good weather forecast meant I hadn’t prepared for a postponement, so there wasn’t a plan B, C or D. It was left to one of my old 100 grounds club muckers to come to my rescue, so instead of the Juniors it was the Seniors with Lowlands League action at Whitehill Welfare.

Wherabouts and Whatsabouts
Whitehill Welfare play in the former mining village of Rosewell in Midlothian. The village is situated south of Polton, south-west of Bonnyrigg and 10 miles south of Edinburgh city centre. As its just a small village with its history derived from the colliery I'll leave it to Frances Groome from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland in 1882-84 to describe Rosewell:

Rosewell, a village in Lasswade parish, Edinburghshire, 5 furlongs S of Hawthornden station, and 4 miles SW of Dalkeith. It is largely inhabited by colliers employed in neighbouring coal mines; and it has a post office, with money order and savings' bank departments, an Established church, and a public school. The church (1872; 350 sittings) is a handsome edifice, and was raised to quoad sacrastatus in 1874. Pop. of village (1861) 390, (1871) 790, (1881) 1394; of q. s. parish (1881) 2129.—Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1857.

Plantpot History
Whitehill Welfare F.C. were founded in 1953, although earliest records indicate that a team first appeared in the village at the beginning of the twentieth century in the form of Rosedale Rovers, then Rosewell Rosedale playing in the Midlothian Juvenile League. The club was formed by a group of employees from the Whitehill Colliery who came to the fore in the mid 1960s, when they won every trophy in the Mid and East Lothian Section Juvenile League.

In 1979 they decided to step up to the senior ranks and joined the East of Scotland League. They were league champions in their first four seasons and won a total of 16 titles prior to joining the Lowland Football League for the 2013-14 season, making them the most successful club in the competition.
The Welfare have also won a shed load of cup honours, most notably the East of Scotland League Cup 13 times, plus the Scottish Qualifying Cup(11) East of Scotland Qualifying Cup (10) and have also lifted the City Cup and triumphed in the Kings Cup on six occasions.

Ground no.435. Ferguson Park
(Scottish grounds 56 Lowlands League 6/14)

Football in Rosewell was played on various pitches within the village until after the Second World War, when the National Coal Board leased the club a stretch of land behind Carnethie Street. The landowner of Stonefield House, Mr J. Ferguson allowed the club to cut turf from his farm, as long as they transported it the three miles to their new home, so as thanks to this gesture the ground was named Ferguson Park.
The 4,000 capacity ground is quite homely and very neat, having been vastly improved in preparation for their move into the Lowlands League in 2013. The standing enclosure has been filled with about 130 blue flip seats, bolted onto the terrace, with a new perimeter fence separating the pitch from the three sides of grass banking. Apart from the stand, the entrance side has a terraced section with the team dugouts in between. The clubhouse, snack bar and the changing room pavilion which was opened in July 1999 is also at the entrance side of the ground. There is also a row of 20 seats with a disabled shelter at the top of the grass bank in the south-west corner.

The Match
Whitehill left the home supporters angry and frustrated after a poor display against Stirling University. The visitors took an early lead when a half hearted backpass was intercepted by Chris Geddes who took the ball around the keeper to fire in off the far post. The hosts looked out of sorts and didn't muster any clear chances while Stirling could have added to their tally in a lacklustre first half.
The Welfare got themselves on level terms but were a touch fortunate, when the linesman flagged for a penalty after a soft challenge on Wayne McIntosh. Aaron Somerville fired home the resulting spot kick, and with half an hour remaining it looked like to game could turn on its head.
If that penalty award looked a bit harsh then it was nothing compared to the decision which gave Stirling all three points. A fierce shot from the edge of the box struck Ryan McKenzie as he lifted his arm to protect his face. The referee deemed it as a handball and to make matters worse the offending player was sent off for a second yellow card. Geddes made no mistake with the penalty which proved to be a well deserved winner for the students, who are managed by former Arsenal Ladies manager Shelley Kerr, the first female coach in British senior men’s football.

Matchday Stats
WWFC 1(Somerville 59pen) SUFC 2(Geddes 6,79pen)
Att.81(HC)
Top Bloke - Chris Geddes(Stirling University)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1
Pin badge £2.50
Coffee & biscuits - free(Jamie's guest)

My Matchday
I didn’t find out until 11.15 that my intended game at Hill of Beath Hawthorn was postponed. I had arrived in Edinburgh two hours earlier, so after a big breakfast and some record store shopping I was ready for a pint. I called into The Playfair, logging onto their WiFi to find a few twitter messages letting me know the match was off. After checking through the remaining fixtures, it was disappointing to find the clubs I’m visiting for my book project were either playing away or their match was also postponed. I was alerted to the fact that Whitehill Welfare had a home fixture, so I gave club committee member and programme editor Jamie McQueen a call, knowing he would he going to the game as his beloved Liverpool FC weren’t playing until Sunday.
I arranged for Jamie, along with Jamie Jnr. to pick me up at 1.30, which was followed by a sightseeing tour of the back streets of Edinburgh to pick up the match programmes and a Whitehill and Celtic fan called Cam, who told me a few happy tales of Celtic v Newcastle matches during the late ‘60s.
Although my day didn’t go as planned it worked it fine in the end, as I was glad to finally visit Whitehill Welfare after promising Jamie I would visit Ferguson Park this season, before realising I probably wouldn’t be able to make it due to my Scottish Juniors task. Everyone connected with the club were very hospitable which made for an enjoyable afternoon, although I must apologise as I’ve now seen Whitehill play twice and they’ve lost both times, so you can blame me for your teams poor performance on this sunny but chilly afternoon.
Foetoes (26 pictures from Ferguson Park)

Bevvy Almanac
After going through the majority of a bottle of Jack Daniels on Friday night I wasn't really in my usual drinking mood so it was just...
The Playfair (Omni Centre)
Broughton Sin Bin ale(4%)****
Caledonian Harpoon 'The Long Thaw' (5.5%)****
Guildford Arms(Werst Register St)
Sunny Republic 'Hop Day' (5.5%)****+

Shotts Bon Accord 2v1 Vale of Clyde

New Coin Holdings Cup Round 2

Saturday 28th February 2015

My two recent trips to Scotland have seen me end up at a different match to the one I initial intended. I fully expected my planned trip this week to again fall foul to the weather, so I was well prepared with a list of potential backups, however I needn’t have worried as the forecast of heavy rain held off until after the football so I could visit Hannah Park, the home of Shotts Bon Accord.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Shotts is a small rural town in North Lanarkshire with a population of just over 8,000, located almost halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Shotts was known for its mining and ironworks, having 22 coal mines prior to the Second World War, with Northfield Colliery being the last to close in the 1960s.
According to folklore Shotts was named after the legendary giant Bertram de Shotts who roamed the village in the 15th Century. He notoriously mugged pack men and peddlers carrying their goods along the Great Road of the Shire, which prompted King James IV of Scotland to offer an award for his death.
Bertram’s life came to a barbaric ending in a gripping tale told by Willielmo, the 1st Laird of Muirhead who slayed the giant, ambushing and paralyzed him by slicing both his hamstrings as he lay down to drink at Kate's Well in Sallysburgh (now Salsburgh, 3 miles from Shotts)
He was then savagely decapitated with De Muirhead proudly carrying the blooded head to the King, claiming his reward of a 'Hawk's Flight' of land, which subsequently became Muirhead's Lauchope estate. Bertram de Shotts was only about seven or eight feet tall but his large presence merited giant status, and is believed to have lived roughly between 1467 to 1505.
Toponymics give the Anglo-Saxon derived 'sceots' (steep slopes) as the real origin of the name, but the legend of Bertram de Shotts is a much better source and a splendid tale in the history of this part of Lanarkshire.

Plantpot History
Shotts Bon Accord FC were formed and began playing in the Lanarkshire League in 1950. The club were one of the most successful in the competition, winning the title for the first time in 1957-58, in the same season they won their first Scottish Junior Cup, beating Pumpherston 2-0 in front of a 33,000 crowd at Hampden Park. Six further league titles followed during the 1960s, and they also lifted the League Cup on seven occasions, until the flagging league saw the remnant clubs move into the Central League from the 1968-69 season.

During their time in the Central League, The Bonny played within its three divisions, the majority of which in its Premier Division, until the club fell out with the game’s governing body and were suspended in 1995. The club returned to the league the following year and placed in its third tier, but under a new manager Rab Sneddon they won a hat-trick of championships in all three divisions, crowned Premier Division winners in 1998-99.
The amalgamation of the Ayrshire League and the Central League at the end of the 2001/02 season, saw Shotts enter the Superleague First Division for the following campaign. In 2004-05 they won promotion to the top division after finished runners-up to Kilsyth Rangers.
The long awaited second success in the Junior Cup finally came in 2012, beating warm favourites Auchinleck Talbot at Almondvale Stadium, with goals from Stefan McCluskey and John Boyack securing a 2-1 win.
P.S. Before anyone asks this fine club has got bugger all to do with the Bon Accord which lost 36-0 to Arbroath in 1885.

Ground no.436 Hannah Park
(Scottish Grounds 57 Junior Grounds 12 Lifetime Junior Cup Winners 7/27)

Hannah Park appears as a huge venue, having one the largest playing surfaces at this level surrounded by an oval track. There's a central standing enclosure on one side, with eight steps of terracing which snakes around the other three sides of the ground. The brick wall around the perimeter of the terraces forms the dugouts at the far side. There is also a larger terrace in front of the changing rooms/clubhouse building with the Bonny Bistro and toilets at the top. The changing facilities are downstairs with two rooms upstairs providing refreshment and bar facilities. There are four floodlight poles on each side, although these are rarely used nowadays.
The 4,000 capacity ground was build by the workforce of local volunteers and is named in honour of James Hannah, who died of thrombosis during their efforts to finish the ground. As well as being a football stadium, it’s also been used as the venue of the annual Shotts Highland Games.

The Match
Prior to this game I fully expected Shotts to comfortably book their place in the next round of the West of Scotland Cup, however Vale of Clyde can count themselves unlucky not to have taking the tie to penalties.
They took the lead in the 27th minute when a cross from the right dropped onto the left foot of Higgins who hit a half volley out of the reach of Whyte, but unfortunately the visitors couldn't keep hold of their slim advantage and ten minutes later Bonny equalised with a quite bizarre goal. The ball found the back of the net at the third attempt, after the initial shot from Marriott hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced in front of Allan McCrum, his point blank effort well saved, but Jordan White was on hand to fire home the rebound.
The best chance of the second half saw a header from Chris Walker kicked off the line on 70 minutes which could have settled the tie, but just as it was looking like Vale had won a ticket for the spot kick lottery, a right wing corner in the final minute saw Jack Marriott fire in through a crowded penalty area to book their place in round three.

Matchday Stats
SBAFC 2(White 38 Marriott 89) VoCFC 1(Higgins 27)
Att. 90apx
Top Bloke Jack Marriott (Shotts Bon Accord)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme:No issue (but giving 3 back issues free)
Pin badge £2
Mince pie £1.20
Tea and biscuits free in clubhouse (invite from club secretary)

My Matchday
I travelled up to Glasgow via Edinburgh, arriving mid morning, so allowing plenty of time to visit my favourite shopping outlets and of course have a few bevvies. Breakfast was partaking in the Camperdown Place ‘Spoons which still has black pudding on the menu, but my delight was dampened by the fact they don’t serve alcohol until 11am.
One of my favourite shops in Glasgow is ‘Missing’ which is an Aladdin's Cave for collectors like myself, having a huge range of CD’s, DVD’s, vinyl, football programmes and magazines, autographs, basically a shitload of great stuff! I picked up a couple of CD’s for only two quid a piece(old albums by Stephen Malkmus and Flaming Lips) and headed off for a few pints. I’ll be back in Glasgow with a few of my mates in four weeks time, so I surveyed a couple of boozers for our return before catching the train to Shotts at 1pm.
Before heading to the train station I rang the club secretary just to confirm the match was definitely on and arrived at Hannah Park ten minutes before kick-off. On arrival I was greeted by Alec Hendry who apologised for not asking who I was when taking the earlier call, and invited me upstairs in the clubhouse for a cup of tea and a chat at half time. Everyone was very hospitable and recognized my presence, even when I bought a pie and a pin badge at the Bonny Bisto I was giving me a couple of old programmes, which included both the Shotts recent Junior Cup semi-finals.
After the game I thanked Alec for a great afternoon and headed next door to the Shotts Bon Accord Social Club. Just as was leaving I was approached by a member of the football club hierarchy who apologised for not getting the chance to speak to me earlier, wishing me well and I promised to send him a copy of my book … if it gets published.
So overall an ace day and I don’t have too long to wait until my next venture into the West Region, with the next ground in the series at the end of March, which will round off a busy month of football and new grounds to bag.

Foetoes(link for Matchday album of 27 pictures from Hannah Park)

Footnote
All going well I’m in the process of writing a book on the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, so I’ll be writing a more thorough piece on my matchday at Shotts, including the whitest footballer I've ever seen and what the 28th of February really means to me.
You can check the progress and a map of the grounds on my list on the T’Do Page

Bevvy Almanac
Crystal Palace (Jamaica St)
Mauldons 'Suffolk Pride' (4.8)***+
The Horse Shoe (Drury St)
Harviestoun 'Bitter & Twisted(4.7 )*****
(One of my all time favourites)
Drum & Monkey (St Vincent St)
Stewarts 80% (4.4%)****
Plus Belhavens Best in the Shotts Bon Accord Social Club

A17 Peter Miles - MCM Mouloadia Marrekech

Jim McAlwane - Weldon United

Neil Edgar - Alloa Athletic

Paul Paxton - Sutton Courtenay

Ben Hall - Bradford City

A17 Peter Miles - SC Preußen 06 Münster

Vote for your favourite at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/100FgC/

Armthorpe Welfare 3v1 Parkgate

Northern Counties East Premier Division

Tuesday 3rd March 2015

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Armthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The settlement of Armthorpe is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as 'Ernulfestorp', being the property of the monks of Roche Abbey near Maltby.
The village name shows Viking origins, translating as a farmstead or hamlet from the Old Scandinavian word “thorp” owned by of a man named either Earnwulf or Arnulfr.
The population of Armthorpe increased when the deep seam Markham Main Colliery was sunk in 1916, with a model village constructed for the mining workers, when coal was first recovered in 1924. The pit closed in 1996 and the old colliery site is now a large housing estate, with a thriving community with parks and tracks for walkers and cyclists to the local wood.

When I think of Armthorpe one person immediately springs to mind; former England international player and manager Kevin Keegan. The one-time “King of Newcastle” was born in the village on Valentines Day 1951 and went on the have a successful playing career at Scunthorpe, Liverpool, SV Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle United. He also won 63 England caps and in his managerial vocation almost achieved the impossible dream of guiding the Toon to a first piece of much sought after silverware for this trophy starved generation.

Plantpot History
Armthorpe Welfare FC was established in 1926, initially playing in local competitions, before first entered the FA Cup in 1936, followed by competed in the FA Amateur Cup after the Second World War. The club dissolved in 1974 before reforming two years later to join the Doncaster & District Senior League. They won all four divisions within the competition’s pyramid, four years on the bounce, topped off by winning the Premier Division title in 1982-83.

The Welfare joined the Northern Counties East Football League in 1983–84 in Division Two North. Their taste for winning championships was stretched to six consecutive years as they won the won two NCEL league titles to reach the Premier Division in 1985. They have remained at this level for the last thirty years, the Welfare’s highest league finish came in 1987-88, when they just lost out to champions Emley on goal difference.

Ground no.437 Welfare Ground
(Non League pyramid grounds total - 214 NCEL Grounds 14/43)

The 2,500 capacity ground is made up of a seating stand and a cover section behind one goal. The Philip Mitchell Stand faces one half of the pitch with a capacity of 250. The seating is made up of wooden benches on concrete steps, split into two sections and decked out in all white. Between the turnstile entrance and the back of the stands are the club offices, the match officials changing rooms, toilets and the Welly Boot cafe. The players changing facilities are in a new looking building in the near corner of the pitch.
The cover on the Park Close terrace is directly behind the far goal, giving shelter to 200 spectators. There’s two large floodlight pylons on each side large flanking the stand and the dugouts at the Southfield Road side, which also has the remnants of five old fashioned concrete pillar lamps.

The Match
The Welfare came from behind to grab a much needed three points to steer themselves clear of the relegation zone. They fell behind in the tenth minute when Adam Stapleford-Jones (who sounds like a contestant on University Challenge) picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box before delivering a pinpoint chip over the 'keeper to put them one up. Parkgate could have built on there early lead, but the hosts soon got back on level terms, when a long range effort was deflected into the path of Joe Lumsden who made no mistake to fire home from the right hand side of the area.
Armthorpe finished the first half strongly and Lumsden gave them the lead in the 38th minute with an ambitious 25 yard effort from the right flank, which took everyone by surprise as the ball found the back of the net.
The match result wasn't in doubt once Tom McLaughlin made it 3-1 early into the second half, finding himself unmarked in the box with a simple task of shooting home from close range. The visitors pressed to get back into the game but the Welfare always looked menacing on the break, and surprisingly both teams failed to add to the scoreline in an entertaining encounter.

Matchday Stats
AWFC 3(Lumsden 20,38 McLaughlin 51) PFC (Stapleford-Jones10)
Att.48
Top Bloke - Joe Lumsden (Armthorpe)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £1.50
Pin badge £3
Bovril £1

Foetoes (Matchday album of 25 pictures from the Welfare Ground)

My Matchday
I'm not usually the envious type but I was getting quite jealous of Lee and Katie's postings on Facebook. Every midweek they were heading off to matches at grounds I hadn't previously done and my envy multiplied, as they’re also ticking off uncharted JD 'Spoons. As Tuesday was my day off this week, I contacted Katie on Sunday night to check if they had a midweek match planned and was delighted that a trip to Armthorpe Welfare was on the cards.
To make things easier and to save time I caught the X1 express bus down to Easington Lane to get picked up, so we were on the A19 by quarter to four. The chosen Wetherspoons pub Lee picked out on route was The Winter Seam at Xcape in Castleford, where there was plenty of time for a couple of bevvies and some bait. Lee had his usual Spoons meal of Chilli con carne plus Ham, eggs and chips in the two meals for £7.39 range, while me and Katie were content with just the standard one plate full.
I posted on Twitter about our trip to the Welfare so the club were expecting our arrival. When we entered the ground at 7.20, we received a warm welcome and they were good enough to seek out a couple of pin badges for our collections. Overall an enjoyable night out and hopefully I’ll get another chance for a ground and ‘Spoons double in the Katiemobile in the not too distant future.

438 Rockliffe Park

Middlesbrough U-18 2v0 Manchester United U-18

Premier Academy League - Group A

Saturday 7th March 2015

Middlesbrough FC purchased Rockliffe Park in 1997, after researching other training ground facilities on the continent, with the likes of Ajax in Amsterdam being a prime example of a top class football academy. The £7 million developed was constructed by builders Taylor Woodrow and was officially opened on the 29th October 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Rockliffe Park training complex currently resides in a 160-acre site. Within this site are 8 full size pitches with the main academy pitch fully railed off with a TV gantry tower sandwiched in between a pair of full sized perspex dugouts. The adjacent pitch is used by the U-16 team and is roped off with dugouts at the far side.
In October 2006, Middlesbrough FC in association with Rockliffe Hall Developments obtained 4 square kilometres of farmland adjacent to Rockliffe Hall, which will be be turned into a luxury five star hotel and Europe’s longest golf course at a cost of £50 million.

The ground is in the village of Hurworth-on-Tees, just south of Darlington in County Durham. The land has a bit of history, dating back to 1863 when Arthur Backhouse, a member of the Quaker banking family of Darlington built Rockliffe Hall. The grounds and hall were then sold off to Lord Southampton and used as a command headquarters during the Second World War. The estate was then split amongst the family and sold to the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God in 1948, who built St Cuthbert's Hospital, which remained open until 1991 before relocated to Scorton in North Yorkshire.

Middlesbrough clinched the Group A League last month and a goal in each half against Manchester United established the Boro’s position as the top team in the division. Boro took advantage of the strong wind blowing towards the car park end goal, to boss the first half. They took the lead just before half time when an inswinging corner from Joe Wheatley held up nicely in the wind for Dael Fry to attack the ball with a fine header into the roof of the net.

United finally found their rhythm at the start of the second half but couldn’t find the killer touch in front of goal. Boro improved as the game progressed and confirmed their superiority with a penalty from Wheatley in the 77th minute, after Hayden Coulsen was fouled in the area by Jordan Thompson.
Boro along with Everton and the two Manchester clubs will be joined by the southern section teams; Chelsea, Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Bromwich Albion in an eight team group with the winners playing in Europe next season. So even though Middlesbrough are the Northern Section champions the hard work is just about to begin.

Matchday Stats
MFCU18 2(Fry 43 Wheatley 77pen)
Att.130(HC)
Top lad - Dael Fry (Middlesbrough)

Cliftonville 2v3 Glenavon

Danske Bank Premiership

Saturday 14th March 2015

A matchday of firsts … my first visit to Belfast to visit the country’s first football club at the oldest ground in Ireland.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Cliftonville is a suburb located north of the city of Belfast in the district of Oldpark in County Antrim. It is one of the nine district electoral areas of the capital, containing the wards of Ardoyne, Ballysillan, Cliftonville, Legoniel, New Lodge and Water Works. Oldpark forms part of the Belfast North constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.

Belfast meaning "mouth of the sandbanks" is the largest city in Northern Ireland and the 17th largest in the UK. Belfast earned the nickname "Linenopolis" as it was once the centre for the Irish linen industry. The city also excelled in tobacco production, rope-making and shipbuilding. The city's main shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff became the biggest and most productive shipyard in the world, building the magnificent but ill-fated RMS Titanic.
Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts and a pivotal city for higher education, business, and law. The city suffered greatly during the period of conflict known as "the Troubles" between 1969 and 1997, but has now sustained a period of calm, free from the fierce political violence of former years, in hand with significant economic and commercial growth. The city centre has also undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, most notably the Victoria Square shopping centre, which opened in March 2008.

Plantpot History
Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club are the oldest club in Ireland, founded on the 20th September 1879 by a successful young Belfast businessman named John McCredy McAlery. He placed an advertisement in the Belfast News-Letter and Northern Whig asking people to sign up with "Cliftonville Association Football Club" after falling in love with football while watching matches on his honeymoon in Scotland the previous year. (what a guy!) The advert was a success, as they played their first recorded game just one week later on the third ground of Cliftonville Cricket Club, losing 2-1 against a selection of rugby players known as Quidnunces
John McAlery influence in Irish football saw the formation of the Irish Football Association. The first meeting took place on the 18th November 1880 at Queen's Hotel, Belfast, presided by John Sinclair, with Major Chichester being appointed president and McAlery becoming the honorary secretary of the association. This meeting also paved the way for new clubs and the Irish Cup. The club lost the first two finals in 1881 and 1882 but lifted the cup at the third time of asking with a 5-0 win over Ulster. They went on the win the cup a further six times in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, but had to wait 70 years until lifting the trophy again, with a 3-2 win over Portadown in 1979.
The Reds are the current Northern Ireland Premier League champions, winning the title for a fifth time and a second consecutive year, following on from earlier successes in 1905–06 (shared with Distillery), 1909–10 and 1997–98. Cliftonville were an all-amateur club until the early 1970s and played a minor role in turning the game to professional status in Northern Ireland.

Ground no.439 Solitude
Opened in 1890, Solitude is the oldest football ground in Ireland. The venue has hosted a number of cup finals and international games, having the kudos of the first ever penalty awarded in an international fixture. Solitude replaced the Ulster Cricket Ground at Ballynafeigh to become the home ground of Ireland, hosting 11 home internationals, before gradually being replaced by Windsor Park and Dalymount Park.
Another first for the ground was the use of floodlights in 1891. Cliftonville played two matches under lights against Distilery (lost 4-2) and Black Watch (2-2 draw) becoming the first Irish football club to use floodlights, with both games kicking off at 8pm. The lights were later dismantled with the announcement that spectators found it difficult to follow the action and that "the player seemed to have all the fun in the middle". This bold experiment wasn’t a success, as the general public seemed convinced that football under lights would never catch on.

The main stand was constructed during the 1950s, replacing the original structure which was destroyed when a fire broke out after a Linfield v Glentoran Irish Cup tie in January 1949. The classic looking stand has two tiers of seats, with only the bottom section open to the public. Overall the stand has a capacity of 2,500 and has the Cliftonville Social Club underneath.
On the opposite side is the team dugouts, but this end is barren apart from a small disabled section and a free standing electric scoreboard in the corner.
The Cage End terrace was replaced with a new 1,600 capacity seated stand in 2008. The stand is decked out in red seats with THE REDS picked out in white, with the main facilities such as changing rooms, directors box and press area are now housed behind the goal. The Red Shop portakabin is found at the side of the stand.
The away end is behind the opposite goal. The Bowling Green End is now a 880 single tier seated stand, having replaced the old covered terrace in 2001. Another feature of Solitude, situated in the corner between the two main stands is the Whitehouse. This is similar to the Cottage at Fulham, but the old changing room building is closed but hopefully will be revived sometime in the future. There is four traditional corner floodlights and Soiltude now sports a 3G surface.

The Match
My introduction to the Northern Ireland Premier League wasn’t great, as the first half an hour of this match against Glenavon, was as dull as the old lightbulb I've got hanging up in the loft.
The match finally produced a goal courtesy of a penalty kick from Kevin Braniff after 33 minutes, after a handball offence against James Knowles. The award looked a bit harsh with the home fans showing their disapproval with the bloke behind me setting a new record for the number of times he said "You're a fooking eejitt ref!" in the space of a minute.
The second half was a complete opposite to the first, turning out to be cracking entertainment. The Reds had the chance to draw level when another penalty was awarded for handball, but James McGrath made a great save to deny Joe Gormley from the spot. The visitors punished that missed opportunity by increased the lead just before the hour mark when Eoin Bradley nipped in ahead of his marker to side foot home, before extending their lead six minutes later, when Braniff finished off a fine passing move to fire in from ten yards.
On 79 minutes the home side pulled one back through Martin Donnelly with a delightful chip from the edge of the box, then minutes later Knowles was on hand to volley in a Tomas Cosgrove cross. The Reds battled away in search of an equaliser but the golden opportunity didn’t arrive and the Lurgan Blues hung on to claim the three points.

Matchday Stats
CFC 2(Donnelly 79 Knowles 82) GFC 3(Braniff 33pen, 64 Bradley 58)
Att.500(est)
Top Bloke - Eoin Bradley (Glenavon)

Spondoolicks
Admission £10
Programme £2
Pin Badge £3
Pint £2.30
Coffee £1

Foetoes (Matchday Webalbum with 26 pictures from Cliftonville)

My Matchday
Our first visit to Belfast saw me and the breadknife having our Wetherspoons breakfast at 9am, after a short 35 minute flight followed by a half hour bus transfer to the city centre. After exploring the city and booking into our hotel, we took the 12A bus service from outside the City Hall up to Cliftonville. We enjoyed the match and had a good night out in Belfast. There are a few decent pubs, but unfortunately they are few and far between, so there was plenty of walking in between the boozers. Nevertheless, come midnight I was still half popped and ready for a kebab compass back to our hotel.
There are some cracking grounds in Belfast, so this visit won't be a one off, so hopefully a return to Ulster will be on the cards sometime in the not too distant future.

Bevvy Almanac
Cliftonville FC Social Club
Caledonia Smooth (4%)***+
The Bridge House (Bedford Street)
Oakleaf ' Blake's Gosport Bitter' (5.2%)***+
Ilkley 'Baby Jane' (4%)***
The Crown Liquor Saloon (Great Victoria St)
Hildens 'Scullion Irish Ale' (4.6%)****
Kellys Cellar (Bank St)
Smithwick Blonde(4.1%)***+
John Hewitt (Donegal St)
Hercules Belfast Pale Ale(4.6%)***
Duke of York (Commercial Court)
Some American Craft Beer gubbins with an orange slice wedged on the side for £4.20 a pint.Ever had the feeling you’ve been robbed?

Yorkshire Amateur 5v0 Grimsby Borough

Northern Counties East League Division One

Tuesday 17th March 2015

Another midweek Northern Counties East ground courtesy of the Katiemobile, off to Yorkshire Amateur for their Division One fixture with Grimsby Borough.

The club are based in Harehill in the inner-city area of east Leeds, situated approximately 1 mile north-east of the city centre, just south of Chapel Allerton and Roundhay. The area is basically a south-facing slope, with many streets of terraced houses on hills. In the middle off Harehills Road is Banstead Park, a grassy slope with trees and play areas, giving a view over the city of Leeds

Plantpot History
Yorkshire Amateur A.F.C. was formed by local man Kolin Robertson in Leeds in November 1918. The club started life playing friendlies at Elland Road, after gained a ground lease before it was sold to the newly formed Leeds United for £250 in 1920.

The club were founder members of the Yorkshire Football League in 1920–21, but left the set up in 1924, before returning six years later. During this period they became the first ever football club from Britain to tour the Eastern European countries of Latvia and Estonia.
The club played in the Yorkshire League for just over half a century, winning six league titles within its three division, until joining the newly formed Northern Counties East League in 1982.
The club have won cup honours in the West Riding and reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup for the first time in 1931-32, losing 3-1 to Carlisle United. During the same season they also reached the semi-finals of the FA Amateur Cup and were crowned champions of Division One for the one and only time.

Ground no.440 Bracken Edge
(Non-League grounds 214 NCEL 15/43)

Yorkshire Amateur played at various grounds once leaving Elland Road, including sharing with Harrogate Town. They moved to Bracken Edge in 1930, which was originally a rugby ground and home to the Roundhay Club, who vacated the premise, moving to Street Lane.
The first football match took place on the 6th September 1930 against Goole, with the players using old wooden rooms at a nearby housing estate.

The original stand was condemned after the Bradford fire and replaced by new changing rooms with an overhang shelter. The clubhouse is next to the paying gate, which also has a covered shelter over the terrace. The main stand is at the bottom, running up from the corner flag to the dugouts, decked up with a mixture of 200 red and blue flip seats across three rows. The other three sections of the ground is open with hard standing and grass banking. The overall capacity is 1,550 with the record attendance of 4,000 set back in 1932, for an FA Amateur quarter final with Wimbledon.

The Match
The Amas faced bottom of the table Grimsby Borough, who went into this game with just a solitary victory and a goal difference of minus 94.
The expected goal fest was put on hold as Borough made a promising start, but fell behind in the 20th minute when Craig Heard danced around the defence before firing home.
The hosts took full control of the match courtesy of a second half hat-trick from Harrison Blakey. On 55 minutes he produced a cracking chest, turn and volley combo to shoot home from 15 yards, followed by rounding off a terrific team goal with twenty minutes remaining.
Good work by Heard set up Blakey for his third, before getting himself on the score sheet for the second time thanks to some unselfish play from Joel Hughes.
So after a sluggish start the Amas finished the match strongly to eventually go nap, while their opponents are now just one short of a three figure minus goal difference.

Matchday Stats
YAFC 5(Heard 20,83 Blakey 55,65,80) GBFC 0
Att.25
Top Bloke - Harrison Blakey(Yorkshire Amateurs)

Spondoolicks
Admission £4
Programme £1
Pin badge £3
Coffee £1

Foetoes( 29 pictures from Bracken Edge)

My Matchnight
Similar to our trip to Armthorpe a fortnight ago, the afternoon started with the X1 bus. This time I alighted in Houghton-le-Spring where Katie picked me up, before we headed across to Peterlee to collect Lee.
As our route to Leeds was via the A59 I requested a refreshment stop in Knaresborough. This meant I was able to tick off The Crown and mark off more bevvys from my 'Spoons Ale Festival bingo card. We still had time call to the Three Hulats for our tea and more drinks, as its just a mile from Bracken Edge. The pub was really busy, full of punters wearing stupid hats in celebration of a patron saint of a another country (the likes of which don't have the same enthusiasm for our own saint)
We arrived at the ground just in time for kick off, receiving a warm welcome and were pleasantly surprised how decent the ground is, with a top notch clubhouse.
Another enjoyable night out with the “Celebrity Groundhopping couple” with the only bummer behind the closure of a large section of the A1 on the way back. The long diversion route meant I got home way past my bedtime, but I’m happy enough to live on four and a half hours sleep before going to graft, as long as I can visit another new ground.

Dover Athletic 1v0 Gateshead

Vanarama Conference

Saturday 21st March 2015

Over the last few years I've just fallen short of completing the Conference and the top 116 clubs, so at long last I've finally achieved my goal after a long tiring journey to Dover Athletic.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, facing France across the narrowest part of the English Channel. The town is an administrative centre and home of the Dover Calais ferry through the Port of Dover. The famous surrounding chalk cliffs have become known as the White Cliffs of Dover at the narrow sea passage nearby the Strait of Dover, which may have give England its ancient name of Albion, meaning “white”

The name of the town derives from the River Dous which flows through the town and is also one of only a few places in Britain to have a corresponding name in the French language - Douvres.

Historically the town goes back to the Stone Age, but the coming of the Romans made Dover part of their communications network, connected by road to Canterbury and Watling Street and it became a fortified port - Portus Dubris. Forts and lighthouses were constructed to guide passing ships and it has one of the best preserved Roman villas in Britain.

Dover was also one of the Cinque Ports during medieval times along the Kent and Sussex coast and has served as a guard against various attackers, most notably the French during the Napoleonic Wars, and against Germany during World War II. The medieval Dover Castle hails from the 12th century. The largest castle in the country was described as the "Key of England" due to its defensive significance throughout history

Plantpot History
Dover Athletic Football Club was formed in 1983 after the dissolution of the town's previous club - Dover FC. The town’s original club dated back to 1894, having started life in the Kent League and were members of the Southern League from 1959.

The new club took their place in the Southern League, winning promotion as champions from the South Division in 1987-88. Two years later they won the Southern League championship, but failed to gain promotion to the Conference due to ground regulations. A second league title followed in 1992-93 and promotion was granted after extensive work to the Crabble. They spent nine seasons in the Conference before suffering relegation in 2001–02. The club moved to the Isthmian League Premier Division in 2004, but another poor season coupled with financial problems led to further relegation. Back to back championship seasons from 2007 took The Whites into the Conference South for the 2009-10 season. After five seasons and knocking on the promotion door several times, they returned to the Conference after a twelve year absence, defeating Ebbsfleet United in the play-off final.

Ground no.441 Crabble Athletic Ground
(Non League 20 Current Conference 24/24)

Crabble Meadows opened in 1897 in the suburb of River on the outskirts of Dover. The word “ Crabble” is the name of a local corn mill which derives from the Old English crabba hol, meaning a hole in which crabs are found.
The pitch was shared with Kent County Cricket Club, who were given priority over the football team, which resulted in the council laying out a new football pitch further up the hillside, behind the lower pitch's pavilion. The first match played on the "upper pitch" took place in September 1931, with a small stand being constructed the following year. The football club then used the upper pitch whenever the lower pitch was unavailable due to cricket matches.The final game on the lower took place on the 26th March 1951, and the first on the upper was held eleven days later against Fulham in a friendly, as the club moved there on a permanent basis, initially paying the council rent of £300 a year.
The new grandstand was opened by the Deputy Mayor before a match with Folkestone in August 1951 and the Supporters Association financed a covered terrace behind the town goal. Floodlights were added in 1961 and inaugurated with a match against a Chelsea XI, which included Terry Venables in the side.
This stand runs the full length of the pitch with five rows of red seats. The stand is split by a larger section in the middle for the press and directors lounge at the top.

The work required to bring the stadium up to Conference status at the start of the 90’s included new turnstiles and two new terraces behind both goals. The seating in the main stand was replaced and a second stand was added on the opposite side.
The Family Stand is a small covered all seated stand running up from the Dover End to the half way line. The paying entrance is also on this side behind the dugouts with the clubhouse beside it next to the River End. Both ends are similar looking covered terraces, which have a lot of supporting pillars, with an electric scoreboard on the front of the roof. The capacity of the Crabble is 5,745 with 1500 seats

The Match
What a terrible game of football. Mislaid passes, poor crossing and in Gateshead's case not a decent effort on goal. The decisive moment of the game arrived in the 53rd minute when a left wing cross landing in the path of Connor Essam who snack a 20 yard volley past Bartlett.
That's it regarding the key points of the game, the Heed were very poor, very poor indeed and Dover were slightly better...but only just.
To add a bit more misery to a miserable afternoon, the match announcer gave notification of the attendance without mentioning the long journey made by the away supporters and didn't wish us a safe journey home. This is my only recollection of this happening since we returned to the Conference, even Darlington wished us well and that's only twenty odd mile away and not 335 miles and a lot of travelling expense.
Dover are looking to round off their first season back in the Conference with a good run in and a top ten finish. As for Gateshead, after two back to back wins over the last week they blew a golden opportunity to enhance their play-off chances, which was summed up by a Dover fan who I overheard saying to his mate as we departed the ground; "They're not that special Gateshead are they?"

Matchday Stats
DAFC 1 GFC 0
Att.725
Top Bloke - Connor Essam(Dover Athletic)

Spondoolicks
Admission £15
Programme £2.50
A pint of Fosters lager & pint of John Smiths £5
Coffee £1.20
Hot chocolate £1.20

My Matchday

As you would imagine a long journey to the bottom right corner of the UK, meant an early start for me and my travel companion Honest Paul. The train to Kings Cross, then onward from St Pancras to Dover Priory saw us arrive in deepest Kent at 11.40. This allowed sufficient time for a few pints and a walk down to the seafront, before the long walk up to the football ground.

We had a few drinks in the local Spoons, the quirky Tir Dar Ghlas and also The Lanes micro pub, where the barmaid welcomed us both with a kiss on the cheek. Once we arrived at the ground we still had plenty of time before kick-off for a pint in the clubhouse, but a splendid day out was about to be spoilt by the football.

After the match we needed perking up so we called into the Flying Scotsman in Kings Cross. After watching eleven fannies earlier that afternoon what harm would there be in watching a few more!

We headed home on the 8 o'clock train both knackered after a very long day, arriving back at Newcastle Central Station at twenty minutes past midnight.

After a busy day travelling what was required was a nice relaxing Sunday, but this match was just the first of three this weekend, after a catching up on my sleep I was up and back on the go again, for a trip to the south-west of Scotland for the Lowlands League hop.

Foetoes (25 pictures from the Crabble)

Bevvy Almanac

Eight Bells (Cannon St)
Black Sheep ‘Monty Python Holy Grail’(4%) ***+
Tir Dha Ghlas (Cambridge Rd)
Tir Dha Ghlas 'Jimmy Riddle' (4.7%)***+
The Lanes (Worthington St)
Hopfuzz Hoppy Bomb(5%)****
Golden Lion (York St)
Sharps 'Doom Bar' (4%)**** (Re-sup)

Dalbeattie Star 2v1 Edinburgh City
Lowlands Football League
Sunday 22nd March 2015 (k.o Noon)

Much gratification to the organisers at Groundhop UK for sorting the weekend fixtures in my favour. The first ever Lowlands League hop kicked off at East Kilbride on Friday night, followed by three matches at grounds I’ve already ticked on Saturday. This meant I could watch the Heed at Dover and return home before visiting two new grounds the next day.

Also a big thank you to Peter Taylor who picked me up on Sunday morning, and along with Lee and Katie(who left her car at 100FgC HQ) we heading off to Dumfries and Galloway at 8am.

We arrived in Dalbeattie at 10.15, early enough to get a good parking spot at the ground before taking a short stroll in the town, which is is situated in the valley of the River Urr. The river flows from the north to the Solway Firth and passes by the west side of the town. Dalbeattie is known as the “Granite Town” due to an abundance of distinctive grey granite. The town today has a greatly reduced industry and most residents commute to the nearby town of Dumfries and is a frequent tourists stop due to its access to the Solway coast.

Plantpot History
Dalbeattie Star Football Club formed in 1905 and competed in the South of Scotland Football League. They won the league title for the first time in 1924-25 followed by championship success five years running at the turn of the 1930’s. More honours followed in the South of Scotland Challenge Cup, the South of Scotland Cup and the Potts Cup before the club folded prior to the Second World War. The club rejoined the league after the conflict, but lasted just one season before they folded altogether in 1948.

The Star was brought back to life in 1976 at Islecroft Stadium, winning their first trophy in the J Haigh Gordon Memorial Trophy in 1977-78. The South of Scotland League title returned to Dalbeattie after a gap of over 50 years, which was won two years running from 1984-85 and again in 1988-89. In 1983 Islecroft hosted its first Scottish Cup tie against Arbroath, and more trophy success followed in the League Cup, local cup competitions and they took their tally of Potts Cup wins to nine.
The club also entered a team in the East of Scotland League in 2001-02, winning promotion as Division One runners-up in 2003-04, then after relegation were champions 2006-07. In the club’s final season before resigning from the East of Scotland League they almost won the Premier Division, but were pipped by Spartans in the final match of the season.
The Star became founding members of the Lowlands Football League in 2013 but not before winning the league and cup double in the South of Scotland League in their concluding seasons.

Ground no.442 Islecroft Stadium
(Scottish Grounds 58 Lowland League 7/14)

The 3,500 capacity ground is dominated by a old fashioned but very handsome looking stand. The 300 capacity structure has a dark green frame with levitated seating with the changing rooms situated underneath. The stair access to the stand is at the sides with a few steps of terracing at the front. The refreshment bar is at the side of the turnstile block and the team dugouts are at the far side. The ground has an oval perimeter with grass banking which peaks behind the top goal.

The Match
Dalbeattie Star hosted Edinburgh City, the new winners of the Lowland League. Due to results elsewhere The City were crowned champions over the weekend, so were giving a guard of honour as the teams entered the field. The champs most have been out celebrating the night before as they were caught napping with just 67 seconds gone, when Jack Steele latched onto a long through ball before showing an electric turn of pace to fire into the far corner from the inside left channel. City grabbed the equaliser just before the half time whistle, when Dougie Gair ran onto a square ball to side foot home from fifteen yards.
The second half was a cracking affair, with both teams going all out for a winner. The visitors just shaded it on chances created but it was the Star that clinched the three points when Liam Park was fouled in the box by Frazer Paterson. Lewis Sloan fired home the spot-kick in the 78th minute to give the champions their first defeat of the season following 17 wins and 2 draws in a terrific campaign.

Matchday Stats
DSFC 2(Steele 2 Sloan 78) ECFC 1(Gair 45)
Att.400
Top Bloke - Darren Martin(Dalbeattie Star)

Spondoolicks
Admission £5
Programme £2
Pin badge £3
Square sausage sandwich £1.50
Tea 80p

Foet oes (23 Matchday pictures from Islecroft Stadium)

Sloan fires in the spot-kick

Dalbeattie were great hosts, adding to the occasion with the town’s own Galloway Pipes and Drums performing before kickoff. As is always the case with these groundhopping events it was good to meet up with my 100FgC friends and acquaintances, meeting a few ‘hoppers for the first time. So a great start to the day with a cracking ground and entertaining match, the only negative being the macaroni pies sold out, which was my own fault as my hunger pangs didn’t kick in until the second half, so a scabby eye would have to wait until the next match at Threave Rovers.

Threave Rovers 2v3 Edinburgh University

Lowlands Football League

Sunday 22nd Match 2015 (KO 3pm)

After the game at Dalbeattie Star is was a quick 7 mile drive along the A747 for the next match at Threave Rovers. The club are based in Castle Douglas, a town in the eastern part of Galloway known as the Stewartry.
The town was founded in 1792 by William Douglas, a wealthy descendant of the Douglas family who made his dosh in an 'American Trade' and created a town, based on the street grid plan pattern used in Edinburgh’s new town, which was built around the same time. Sir William also created a number of industries in Castle Douglas, including hand-woven cotton factories from which Cotton Street derives its name.
Castle Douglas is built next to Carlingwark Loch and to the north of the town Glenlochar is the site of two successive Roman forts, the first being erected during the invasion of Agricola and the second during the Antonine period. Nearby Threave Castle was a seat of the powerful "Black" Earls of Douglas from the late 14th century until their fall in 1455.

Plantpot History

Threave Rovers FC was founded in October 1953, taking their name from the former Threave Tearooms, where ten regular customers formed a new football club. They spent their early years playing in friendlies and local cup competitions until replaced Whithorn in the South of Scotland Football League in 1959.
They won the league title for the first time in 1964-65 and a further six times before moving to the East of Scotland Football League in 1998. The reserve team continued to perform in the South of Scotland League, before the club as a whole returned in 2004 after just six season, due to the financial burden of constantly travelling east to games.
Threave won the league for the seventh time in the 2005-06 season, before going on to be champions in four out of the next five seasons. The club have also won an array of cup honours, most notably in the Potts Cup, which they've won eight times and six victories in the South of Scotland League Cup.
They produced a big cup shock when defeating Third Division side Stenhousemuir 1–0 in the second round of the Scottish Cup in 2007-08, then hosted Raith Rovers in the next round, but Rovers lost the game 0–5. Threave joined the Lowland Football League in 2013 as founder members.

Ground no.443 Meadow Park

(Scottish Grounds 59 Lowlands League 8/14)

Maybe it was because of all the black and white on show that I really adored this ground. Once you enter through the paying gate all the amenities are in front of you behind the goal. The refreshment bar adjoins the entrance, with the changing room block (opened in 1996) the Rovers Bar, hospitality suite and committee room are all lined up together in gleaming white, with plenty of standing room in front.

The stand is on the opposite side with six rows of white flip seats courtesy of St Mirren’s old Love Street ground. The front two rows are larger at both sides but aren’t covered and the stand is finished off with the club name on the perimeter wall at the front. The dugouts are opposite with stepped terracing at one side running towards the entrance. The capacity is just under 1800 with around 100 seats.

The Match

Threave Rovers’ kit comprises of a black and white striped jersey and black shorts, plus they enter the field to the sound of “Local Hero” which either means they have a connection to a club close to my heart, or they did this for my own benefit, if that’s the case, then..thank you!..it’s much appreciated!

Another good game where the form book looked to have been chucked out of the window, until Rovers were denied by a late winner. They took the lead after only seven minutes when a shot from Jamie Struthers took a wicked deflection which left the ‘keeper stranded. The lead only lasted five minutes, as Finns Daniels-Yeoman ran onto a neat through ball to fire home into the bottom corner, but they regained the advantage just before the interval with Andrew Donley nodded in a left wing cross at the far post.

The University side played really well in the second half, equalising just after the hour mark when Joe Aitken capitalised on some slack defending before Dan Ward fired in from 20 yards ten minutes from time, his strike similar to the opening goal of the game; finding the net via a big deflection.

Threave pushed for a late equaliser to grab a point which their overall effort deserved, but their case wasn’t helped by a late sending off for Ian Miller after a fracas with a Uni defender, so they remain at the foot of the table losing out to the odd goal in five.

Matchday Stats

TRFC 2(Struthers 7 Donley 43)

EUAFC 3(Daniels-Yeoman 12 Aitken 61 Ward 81)

Att.462

Top Bloke - Dan Ward(Edinburgh University)

Spondoolicks

Admission £5

Programme £1.50

Pin Badge £3

Scotch Pie £1.20

Coffee 50p

Pint of Sulwath ‘The Grace’ (4.3%) £2.50

As I mentioned in the last post, it was good to catch up with groundbagging friends and everyone I spoke to said they enjoyed the weekend. The Lowland League hop will be back next season with the last remaining clubs that don’t groundshare, which will be a popular entry in everyone’s fixture diary. My own busy weekend of travelling ended when Peter dropped me off back home at 7.15pm. I was cattle trucked after covering just under 1000 miles in two days, but it was well worth the effort and overall a very enjoyable weekend.

Foetoes (Matchday album of 19 pictures from Meadow Park)

Cambuslang Rangers 1v1 Wishaw Juniors

(Wishaw win 3-2 on penalties)

Euroscot Eng Central League Cup Rd 2

Saturday 28th March 2015

This was my third trip north of the border in the space of seven days, after attending the Sunday leg of the Lowlands Hop followed by the Scotland v Northern Ireland international at Hampden on Wednesday night. This week I was back on my Scottish Joons trail with a trip to Cambuslang, just outside Glasgow.

Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Cambuslang is a suburban town located just south of the River Clyde, about 6 miles south-east of Glasgow city centre. It is known as "the largest village in Scotland", having a population of around 24,500, with historical links to coal mining, iron and steelmaking.
Cambuslang is an ancient part of South Lanarkshire where Iron Age remains loom over modern day housing estates. Due to its location, the town has been very prosperous over time, due to its agricultural land and mineral resources underfoot, such as limestone, iron and coal. This wealth was guarded by the medieval Church, and later by the local upper classes, particularly the Duke of Hamilton. These riches made the town intimately concerned in the politics of the country and over the centuries the Church has made Cambuslang a major focal point.
The manufacturing industries attracted workers from the rest of Scotland, Ireland and other European countries. This diverse population increase posed problems in housing, employment and education, although Cambuslang has always benefited from its closeness to the thriving city of Glasgow. The two brought closer in the 18th century by a turnpike road then of course the railway and nowadays wider communication networks, particularly the M74 motorway.
The town was represented at the start of the Scottish Football League in 1890-91. Cambuslang FC were founder members but folded after just two seasons in the new league, their most notable achievement being runners-up in the Scottish Cup in 1888.

Plantpot History
The football club were originally known as Leeside and joined the Junior ranks in 1892, changing their name to Clyde Rovers. They became Cambuslang Rangers in 1899, also changing their kit from red and white to Royal Blue to become “The Wee Gers”.
They joined the Glasgow and District Junior League in 1900-01, winning their first trophy as champions in 1901-02 before repeating the feat the following year. The club switched to the Glasgow League in 1904, winning the title in 1911, 1912 and 1916 and finished that decade by reaching their first Junior Cup final in 1920, losing to Parkhead 2-0.

In 1927 they again lost out in the Junior Cup final to Glencair, but made it third time lucky in 1938 defeating Benburb 3-2 at Celtic Park. When football resumed after the Second World War they got to another final but were defeated 3-1 by Burnbank Athletic.During the 1950s and 60s the club won a few minor cup honours and lost two more Junior finals against Dunbar United in 1961 and Johnstone Burgh in ‘64.
After a thirty year wait the the Scottish Junior Cup was finally brought back to Somervell Park, when they defeated Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 1-0 in the 1969 final at Hampden Park. This heralded a golden era for the club, as they went on to beat Newtongrange Star 2-1 in the 1971 final and retained the trophy with a 3-2 win over Bonnyrigg Rose after a replay. This was the first time a club had back-to-back wins in this century and they almost made it a hat-trick, but were thwarted by Irvine Meadow, losing 1-0 in the second replay.
Cambuslang earned the title of "Junior Side of the Century" by the Scottish Newspapers, as during this era they were also winning an array of league titles and cup honours. The Lang added the top prize yet again to regain the Scottish Junior Cup with a 3-1 win over Linlithgow Rose in 1974. Since that golden era silverware has been hard to come by, although they did win the 2nd Division of the Central League in 1989-90 and the Division One title the following season. They currently play in the Central District Second Division.

Ground no.444 Somervell Park
(Scottish Grounds 58 Junior Grounds 13 Lifetime Junior winners 8/27)

The Lang originally played on a park at the "Old Mill" before renting a new ground at Somervell Park in 1904. The ground was named after the property owners, with the first ever match against local rivals Rutherglen Glencairn.
The original wooden stand was replaced with a new pavilion in January 1937, then in December 1941 the football club became owners of the ground having bought it from Colvilles Ltd. This purchase left the club in debt, which was eventually cleared through fundraising and social activities by the committee. In December 1970 they formed the Cambuslang Rangers Social and Recreation Club called Sweepers Lounge Bar. The licensed premises opened with extensive renovations made on the pavilion at the same time. The standing enclosure is about two-thirds pitch length with eight large steps of terracing which runs around the other three sides. The dugouts are opposite built into the perimeter wall. The changing rooms and food hut are at the corner entrance next to Sweepers. The open elements show panoramic views of Glasgow.

The Match
Cambuslang were up against Wishaw in the 2nd round of the Central League Cup. The visitors were the better side throughout the first half, after going behind to an early strike from Greson, who cheekily lobbed the 'keeper from the edge of the box. After missing several good chances Wishaw finally levelled just before half time, when Chalmers received a left wing cross to place his shot out of the 'keepers reach from the edge of the box.
The second half was an even affair but Wishaw finished the game on top but were unable to grab the vital winner. The whistle blew with the teams still level, however Wishaw deserved their shoot out victory, with Sandy Thomson saving twice to win the penalty shoot out by 3 strikes to 2.

Matchday Stats
GRFC 1(Greson 8) WJFC 1(Charmers 45)
Att.160hc
Top Bloke - Charmers (Wishaw)

Spondoolicks
Admission £4
Programme: none
Pin badges - 2 badges of old and new design giving free by the club photographer....Many Thanx!
Bovril and Scotch pie £2

My Matchday
Akin to last Saturday’s trip to Dover, I wasn't a "William no mates" as Honest Paul came along for the ride, as we boarded the 7.43 to Edinburgh, then following a quick train swap we arrived in Glasgow at 10.25.
The journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow was pretty stressful, as my Scottish Joons twitter feed list saw the fixtures in the West Region dropping like flies after a night of heavy rain. I was expecting to yet again look for an alternative match, but as I was enjoying my first drink of the day in the Camperdown Place, the news came from the Wishaw Juniors feed that the match was on.
Cambuslang is just an eight minute journey from Glasgow Central, so we enjoyed a good drink before and after the match, including the impressive new Wetherspoons in the town; The John Fairweather on Main Street which was a picture house in its previous life.
To allow ourselves more time in Glasgow we travelled back via Carlisle, where we enjoyed an hilarious ninety minutes in Cumbria before catching the 0924 back to the Toon. So overall a cracking day out which managed to tick all the right boxes as we enjoyed visiting a friendly club, a smashing old ground, a good game of football and of course, a canny bevvy!

Foetoes(Matchday album of 31 pictures from Somervell)

Footnote
All going well I’m in the process of writing a book on the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, so I’ll be writing a more thorough piece on my matchday at Cambuslang. This chapter will also include my first childhood memory and the confessions of Honest Paul.
You can check the progress and a map of the grounds on my list on the T’Do Page.

Bevvy Almanac (Scotland only)
Camperdown Place
Mauldons ‘Bronze Adder’(4.1%)***
The Counting House
Brains ‘Pocket Full of Rye’(4.3%)**+
Weltons ‘Churchillian’(6.6%)***
Caledonian Merman XXX(4.8%)****
The Crystal Palace
Celt Experience ‘A False Dawn’(4.4%)****+
The John Fairweather(Main St,Camuslang)
Robinsons Mojo(3.7%)***+
Pot Still (Hope Street)
Scottish Border ‘Foxy Blonde’ (3.8%)****
Also the usual pint of ‘Bitter & Twisted’ in The Horse Shoe and a Deuchars IPA in the Royal Scot.

My Matchday - 427 Victory Park

My Matchday - 428 Foresters Park

Pic of the week Cup - Round 7

Around the Alliance - part thirteen

2014 Pic of the Week Cup - The winner is...

The 100FgC 2014 Accolades

My Matchday - 432 Aldborough Road

My Matchday - 433 Valefield Park

My Matchday - 434 Blackhall Colliery Welfare

My Matchday - 435 Ferguson Park

My Matchday - 436 Hannah Park

Facebook Pic of the Week Cup 2015 - Round 1

My Matchday - 437 Welfare Park

Boro Academy

My Matchday - 439 Solitude

My Matchday - 440 Bracken Edge

My Matchday - 441 Crabble Athletic Ground

My Matchday - 442 Islecroft Stadium

My Matchday - 443 Meadow Park

My Matchday - 444 Somervell Park