Chorley vs Curzon Ashton, National League North, Victory Park, 27/08/2018

Unfortunately the weather had decided to take a distinctly British feel for today’s match, as it was freezing. Luckily I was only heading five minutes down the road to Victory Park so the weather didn’t matter too much, although I wish I’d warn a hat. Speaking of hats I didn’t see the guy in the woolly hat from the previous blogs, which caused me some discomfort as I’m sure that hat is lucky!

Chorley have started the season fantastically, sitting top of the league with a four point cushion separating us from AFC Telford who occupy second place. Jamie Vermiglio has been a breath of fresh air, as he’s got us playing fantastically, the team look dangerous going forward and I’m starting to become confident about our chances for this year. However it is a long season, and we’ll definitely need to remain at our best to stand a chance of getting promoted.

As normal I left my home at around 2.45pm, and walked the short distance to Victory Park. Heading through the turnstiles I spotted a bloke selling programmes, and managed to get my first Chorley programme of the season, and I’m glad I did as it is a very interesting read! I must also say a thank you to Alex Birch at this point, as Alex contacted me after the York game to say that he had a spare programme, unfortunately I forgot to pick it up from the club shop today, but once again Alex thank you, I will pick up that programme soon!

I was glad that I didn’t decide to stand on the Duke Street Terrace before the game, as the Curzon Ashton players spent most of their warm-up yelling “Heads!” at the crowd. Curzon have had a rather even start to the season, as they’ve played six games, and have won two, drawn two and lost two so far, they currently occupy 11^th in the league and have eight points on the board.

Curzon Ashton were formed in 1963 following the merger of Curzon Road Methodists FC and Ashton Amateurs, who played in the Manchester Amateur Football League. They initially began life as Curzon Amateurs before switching to the current name. In 1971 Curzon were Manchester Intermediate Cup runners-up, following this they won the competition three times in a row. In 1974 they were runners-up in Division One of the Manchester League, meaning they were promoted to the Premier Division, where they finished as runners-up in their first season, they matched this again the following season. In 1978 they became founder members of the Cheshire League Division Two and won promotion at the first attempt, only missing out on the title by two points.

In the 1980s, Curzon won the Manchester Premier Cup on five occasions, and in 1983 they became founder members of the North West Counties Football League, they were placed in the first division. Floodlights were purchased in 1986 as part of preparations for a serious attempt on the title and promotion to the Northern Premier League, however they weren’t able to pull this off, as due to work commitments Peter Mayo resigned as manager, and Les Sutton, his successor, failed to win a single league game, although they did win the Manchester Premier Cup, Sutton was sacked at the end of the season.

Curzon did become founder members of the NPL First Division the following year, despite finishing in the relegation zone. Following a disastrous campaign, Curzon were only saved from relegation as the league expanded from 19 to 22 clubs. Following finishing in a relegation place during the 1996-97 season, Curzon were, bafflingly, placed in the Northern Counties East League following a meeting of the Northern Joint Liaison Committee, a decision which shocked not only the club but many others connected with football in the region. An appeal to the National League System Sub-Committee was somehow fruitless. The 1997-98 season was difficult, obviously, and after finishing next to bottom, common sense prevailed and Curzon were moved back to the NWCFL. In 2000 the club were promoted to Division One of the First North Western Trains League. (I presume this was a sponsored name of the NWCFL Division One.)

Curzon moved from their home of twenty years, National Park, in 2005, as they moved to the £4 million Tameside Stadium. In 2007, the club were promoted to the Northern Premier League as runners-up to FC United of Manchester, and were also runners-up to FCUM in the North West Counties League Challenge Cup. In the 2008-09 season, they reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time, where they beat Exeter City 3-2. In the second round they faced Kidderminster Harriers but were beaten 2-0. John Flanagan took charge of the club in the summer of 2011, and in his first season in charge he guided the club to a 2^nd placed finish, however they lost the play-off final to Witton Albion. Success was to arrive in the 2013-14 season, as they won a league championship for the first time in 36 years, as a last minute Niall Cummins goal against Harrogate Railway Athletic sealed the title, and with 99 points the club were promoted to the NPL Premier Division. The following season the club won the play-offs beating Ilkeston 1-0 in the final, meaning that they had not only secured consecutive promotions, they had also been promoted to the National League North, the highest level in the club’s history.

The first thing I noticed as the teams came onto the pitch was the Curzon Ashton shirt, to describe it as bright would be an understatement, as I’m sure that it glows in the dark. I’m guessing that the kit manufacturer would describe the colour as a “Luminous Green” or “Electric Green”, but all I would call it is bloody bright! Secondly I noticed that the Curzon keeper was wearing short sleeves, now each to their own but I’m not a fan of keepers in short sleeves, it doesn’t look right! To be fair though I miss the days that keepers’ shirts had padding on the elbows!

I did begin to wonder whether the referee for this match was the same as the one at Atherton Collieries on Saturday, as he seemed to be too lenient in the first half. Whilst there were no over the top challenges, there were a few unnecessary fouls which interrupted the flow of the game.

I’m not sure which player produced the most pathetic moment of the first half, but both, Chorley’s, Courtney Meppen-Walter and, Curzon Ashton’s, Mohamud Ali gave it a good try. First of all in around the 33^rd minute, Courtney Meppen-Walter went down screaming following an aerial challenge, and by the sound he made I was expecting him to have a head wound, but no there was nothing, he was fine and able to carry on straight away. However Mohamud Ali wasn’t to be outdone and in the 43^rd minute he also screamed and fell to the floor, indicating that someone had grabbed him in his private area, although from where I was stood no-one went near him. This kind of behaviour is unnecessary and pathetic and needs stomping out of the game. Although if the ref had been a bit braver and had got a grip on the game earlier on this may not have happened.

Half Time: Chorley 0-0 Curzon Ashton

At half time the home fans walked around to the opposite side of the ground, and the more vocal of them gathered under the Piling Road end. I decided to stand out in the open, and again I began to wish that I’d worn a hat, there was also still no sign of the guy in the woolly hat, and I began to worry that without the lucky omen that this would be our first defeat of the season.

The referee must have remembered to bring his cards out for the second half, as he finally booked someone. Cameron McJannet was the man to go into the book as he picked up a yellow in the 47^th minute for a foul on Alex Newby on the right hand side of the box. The resulting free kick was wasted though, which was disappointing as it was in a dangerous area.

It took until the 50^th minute for the deadlock to be broken, and it was Louis Almond for Chorley who opened the scoring. Elliot Newby put in a brilliant cross from the left wing, and Louis Almond managed to get onto the end of the cross to stick the ball into the back of the net.

Louis Almond should have doubled the score in the 54^th minute as he found himself through on goal, with only the Curzon keeper to beat, however the Curzon keeper won the duel and the score remained at 1-0.

There were only two yellow cards in this match, with Courtney Meppen Walter going into the book for a foul in the 73^rd minute. In my opinion there should have been a couple of bookings in the first half, and the lenient nature of the ref did encourage some of the petty behaviour on display.

Chorley secured victory in the 92^nd minute, as Marcus Carver fired home from a tight angle, following some good work from Matt Challoner. Challoner has been superb for us so far, and for me he’s been one of the stand out performers in the squad. I’m firmly a fan of Jamie Vermiglio and his backroom staff as they are getting the best out of the players.

Final Score: Chorley 2-0 Curzon Ashton (Almond 50, Carver 92)

I was meant to pop into the club shop after the game to pick up the programme that I mentioned earlier in the blog, however I was that cold that all I could think about was getting home, and getting warm again!

Victory for Chorley sees us sit top of the table, unbeaten in seven matches. Hopefully we can carry this form on through the season, as we’ve set ourselves up for a real challenge at promotion, and it would be brilliant to see Chorley in the Conference.

Curzon have dropped to 14^th in the league, although they are only three points off of the play-offs. There’s still plenty of time for them to push for promotion, as I keep saying it’s a long season and there are plenty of matches to be played.

Cost: £2.50

Attendance: 1,571

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139632000@N07/albums/72157670619496457

Atherton Collieries vs Colwyn Bay, FA Cup Preliminary Round, The Kensite Stadium, 25/08/2018

With Chorley away at Blyth it meant that I had a weekend to go groundhopping on, and my initial plan was to go to West Didsbury & Chorlton, however I found my attention grabbed by the FA Cup and subsequently that led to me finding that Atherton Collieries were playing Colwyn Bay. Technically this is a re-visit as I have been to Atherton Collieries before, way back in January 2016. In my blog from that occasion, click here, I stated that “I will be visiting again, although the next time I visit I would like it to be in one of the warmer months (if they exist in Britain).” So with it being a bright and sunny Saturday I decided to finally make a trip back to The Kensite Stadium.

I left Chorley around 2.15pm, and again made the same mistake that I made last time, as I forgot to check whether Bolton were at home, they were and I lost a few minutes trapped in traffic around their stadium, luckily I was able to get through quickly, and I arrived at around 2.45pm. I was glad to see that the parking area at the ground still existed as I do get anxious about parking, it’s weird but for as much as I love groundhopping there is an element of anxiety that follows me, with questions like, “Where will I park?” floating around my head, and that has put me off of going to some grounds, as I check Google Maps and rule out any grounds where I don’t see anywhere where I would be comfortable to park, those are the grounds that I’ll have to do on public transport.

At the turnstile I paid £7 for entry, and a further £2 for a programme, my first of the season. The programme itself was a double issue, as it consisted of the information for both the Colwyn Bay match and Colls’ match with Ramsbottom United on Monday. I can understand why the club have taken the decision to issue a programme to cover both matches as it probably would have been a nightmare trying to get separate programmes printed for both games. Plus, as it was a double issue programme it meant that there was more to read, so who’s the real winner here?

Interestingly this match was to be a repeat of the previous Saturday’s match, as on the 18^th of August Atherton Collieries had played Colwyn Bay at the Kensite Stadium. This game had ended 4-2 in Colwyn’s favour, however it was a game marred in controversy as Colls’ saw their keeper, Greg Hartley, sent off in the first half for handling the ball outside of his area, luckily Colls’ had video footage of the game that proved that the ball had hit Hartley in the face, and therefore he should have stayed on the pitch.

As I said at the start of the blog, this is a re-visit to Atherton Collieries so I won’t delve into their history again, and will instead encourage you to read my previous blog on the club. In fact I’ve seen Colls’ play twice before, as I headed to their FA Vase Third Round match with Penrith, click here, and I have to admit that I do have a soft spot for the Colls’ as their fans are brilliant, especially the guy with the Christmas Tree at the Penrith game. At this point it would be unfair of me not to mention one of the blog’s that got me into groundhopping, and first alerted me to Atherton Collieries, the one and only Gibbo’s 92. Gibbo’s 92, is the blog of Joseph Gibbons a Bolton Wanderers and Atherton Collieries fan, and I would recommend that anyone that hasn’t read it before goes and has a look.

It would also be unfair of me not to talk about the recent history of Atherton Collieries as they now find themselves playing in the Northern Premier League West Division where they currently sit in 9^th place. Atherton Collieries are also the current holders of the of the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup, which is impressive when you consider they won it during their first season back in the Northern Premier League.

I’ve also seen Colwyn Bay play before, click here, although that was before I started writing about the history of the club’s that I watched, so I’m going to have a quick run through of Colwyn’s history here; Colwyn Bay played their first match in January 1881, and in 1898 they joined the North Wales Coast League, however they were forced to resign from this league in 1901 as they were unable to find a home ground. They returned in the following season, and became known as Colwyn Bay United in 1907.

Following the league folding in 1921, they joined the Welsh National League, finishing as runners-up in the league in 1928, a season in which they won the League Cup. Colwyn were forced to move league again 1930 as the Welsh National League folder, and they became founder members of the North Wales Combination, which they won in their first season. Following their title, they decided to join the Birmingham & District League, predictably they struggled in this new league as travelling must have been difficult. After finishing bottom in 1936 and 1937 they switched to the, more local, Welsh League (North).

Colwyn won the Welsh League North in 1965, and saw a period of success in the 1980s as they were champions for a second time in 1981, they repeated this in 1983 and after retaining the title in 1984 they returned to the English football league system, as they joined Division Three of the NWCFL. In their first season they finished as runners-up and were promoted to Division Two, where they immediately were promoted to Division One as they finished fourth. In 1991 the club were promoted to Division One of the Northern Premier League as they finished as runners-up in the top division of the NWCFL. Promotion to the NPL Premier Division was achieved at the first attempt, this season also saw them win the North Wales Coast Challenge Cup.

It wasn’t all to be plain sailing though, as a dispute with the Welsh FA led to Colwyn Bay, and a number of other Welsh clubs playing in the English Leagues, being ordered to play in the League of Wales or cease playing in Wales. Not wanting to leave the English football league system, Colwyn began playing at Drill Field in Northwich and then moved to Ellesmere Port. Colwyn Bay were allowed home in 1994 following a court injunction and the matter was settled in 1995 with common sense prevailing. Bay remained in the NPL Premier Division until 2003, when they were relegated to Division One, following league re-structuring in 2007 they were placed in Division One South for the 2007/2008 season before being switched to the North Division the following season. Colwyn earned promotion back to the Premier Division via the play-offs in 2010, they were immediately successful through the play-offs again, as they beat FC United in the 2011 Play-Off final to earn a place in the Conference North. Colwyn spent four seasons in the Conference North before being relegated back to the NPL Premier Division in 2015, unfortunately for Colwyn they were relegated again in 2016 returning to Division One North.

Atherton found themselves playing downhill for the first half, and when I say downhill I really mean it. The pitch at the Kensite Stadium is on a noticeable slope, and in my previous Atherton Collieries blog I wrote, “One thing that is very noticeable about Alder House is the slope of the pitch, people used to say that Barnet’s Underhill pitch was a steep slope, but in all honesty I was surprised that there weren’t Sherpas to help the players up the slope.” The slope is still there, although it still isn’t as bad as the slope at Crilly Park, home of Colls’ neighbours Atherton Laburnum Rovers. I suppose the slope is what makes me rate the Kensite Stadium as one of my favourite grounds, as it is a proper non-league ground. It is evident that the ground is lovingly looked after by volunteers, and I have to say that I love the fact that there are park benches near the turnstiles.

The first half was an even affair, until the 41st minute as Collieries were awarded a penalty. There had been a number of penalty shouts in the first half, but this one was a clear penalty, and I have to say that the ref got the decision right. Ben Hardcastle stepped up and converted nicely to put Atherton in the lead.

Half Time: Atherton Collieries 1-0 Colwyn Bay (Hardcastle 41)

At half time I took a walk round the ground and found myself at the refreshment hut, last time I was here I’d had a very nice pie, however I wasn’t feeling hungry and instead bought a can of Diet Coke for a £1.

Colwyn Bay made a change during the break with Gaz Grant having to make way for Ethan Devine, due to an injury picked up in the first half. According to the report on Colwyn Bay’s website they had only been able to name three subs, Josh Brizzell was called into work, and Olly Marx fell ill on the journey to the ground. This meant that Bay only had Ethan Devine, Craig Pritchard and Paddy Rutter, a goalkeeper, to call on. Pritchard came on in the 60^th minute for Callum Hassan, and Rutter remained on the bench.

Atherton Collieries were forced into a change in the 63^rd minute, as Tom Bentham had to leave the field due to injury, and was replaced by Adam Farrell. Bentham’s injury caused a bit of confusion as Colwyn Bay were in possession, and weren’t sure whether to put the ball out or not. Ultimately he did, and he was correct to do so as Bentham had actually injured himself, and had to be assisted off of the pitch. I can understand why the Colwyn Bay players were unsure whether or not to put the ball out, as feigning injury is a plague in this game at the moment, as teams that are in the lead tend to do so to disrupt the other side. It’s disgusting, and quite frankly if a player is caught feigning injury (by this I mean miraculously being able to walk again, especially after going down like they’ve been run over by a tank) they should be banned for the next three matches. I mean if you are going to feign injury then you should be treated like you are injured and not be allowed to play, although people would probably kick off as players like Neymar would constantly be banned.

One thing that I love about non-league football is the fact that there is more interaction between the fans and players, as both parties can hear every word that is said. Danny Lafferty and Dave Sherlock, playing for Colls, received a bit of stick from the Colwyn Bay fans, Lafferty for calling for offside when the player was clearly onside, and Sherlock for a couple of challenges. But Lafferty and Sherlock were to have the last laugh as Ben Conway made it 2-0 in the 68^th minute. The ref allowed play to continue following a foul during the Colls’ attack, and Ben Conway picked up the ball outside of the area and fired a hard shot into the back of the net. Lafferty and Sherlock clearly enjoyed it as they directed their celebrations towards the Colwyn Bay fans. There was no malice from either side though, and ultimately it was taken in good humour.

Following the goal Ben Conway was also forced off due to injury, and he made way for Josh Peet. Colls’ final change of the game came in the 80^th minute as Connor Gaul was replaced by Glenn Matthews.

Colwyn Bay pulled one back in the 72^nd minute, as Dave Sherlock conceded a free kick in a dangerous place on the edge of the area, and Tom McCready stepped up and fired a beautiful free kick into the back of the net. The only goal I can think to compare it to is David Beckham’s free kick against Greece, this one.

Final Score: Atherton Collieries 2-1 Colwyn Bay (Hardcastle 41, Conway 68 – McCready 72)

Victory for Collieries sees them go into the hat for the next round, which will be drawn on Tuesday at 1pm, and hopefully Colls’ can go on to have a good run in the competition as the prize money on offer could keep the club going for a few years. I’d like to see a Chorley vs Atherton Collieries FA Cup game, but there is quite a slim chance of that happening.

Colwyn Bay unfortunately find themselves out of the FA Cup, which may be a blessing in disguise as it is one less distraction and one less game in an already packed schedule. Hopefully Colwyn will be able to focus on the league now, as they started well and currently sit in third.

There’ll be another blog on Monday as I’ll be at Chorley vs Curzon, unless the weather takes a huge change for the worse…

Cost: £10

Attendance: 184

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139632000@N07/albums/72157700314366664

Chorley vs Hereford, National League North, Victory Park, 18/8/2018

With toothache meaning that I didn’t attend a game last Saturday, and with work meaning that I had to miss Chorley’s 4-0 win over Southport, I was looking forward to getting back to watching football. I was particularly excited about this game, as it was to be one of the games this season featuring one of Shrewsbury’s rivals, and as a Shrewsbury Town fan I was looking forward to seeing Hereford again. Whilst I dislike Hereford I didn’t take any pleasure in watching their slow demise, as whilst I dislike Hereford I couldn’t help but feel sorry for their fans. No-one should have to watch their club fall apart, and the FA need to take stronger and ultimately consistent action to ensure that fans do not have to suffer, but the FA doesn’t care about us in the lower-leagues, they barely care about the clubs in the Championship…

My anxiety had been playing up in the morning before the game, to the point where all I wanted to do was lie on the couch and shut the world out. I don’t want to bore people with talk of my mental health, but it is helpful to write how I feel down as it gets it off of my chest. I have to admit that I forced myself out of the house and on the walk down to Victory Park the thought of just turn around and go home kept repeating itself in my mind, but as soon as the ref started the game I forgot all about my troubles as I lost myself in the action on the pitch. I suppose that’s why I love football as much as I do, as it helps me to escape my depression and anxiety for ninety minutes.

I’ve found it difficult to start this paragraph about the history of Hereford FC, so difficult that I’ve decided to tell you how difficult I found it. The thing that troubled me was whether to talk about the history of the “original” Hereford United or just to start with the “phoenix” club. But after consulting my blog, I found that when I covered AFC Telford United I wrote about the history of the “phoenix” club, so I’m going to start Hereford’s history from when they reformed.

Hereford FC rose from the ashes of Hereford United FC in 2014, and luckily inherited their Edgar Street stadium, I say luckily as I actually like Edgar Street as it is a classic example of a proper football ground, sure its falling apart in places but the place has character and history, and as much as it hurts as a Shrewsbury Town fan to say I do like Edgar Street. The FA confirmed Hereford’s place in the Midland Football League Premier Division on the 14^th of May 2015.In their first league match on the 8^th of August, Hereford played Dunkirk and won 4-1, in the process they set a league record for the highest attendance as 4,062 people were in attendance to watch the Bulls take their first steps at this level. Whilst sitting in first place in the league the club confirmed in December 2015 that they had applied for promotion to the Southern Football League. Hereford went on a 27 game winning spree which eventually came to an end on the 23^rd of January 2016, as they drew with Alvechurch, and their unbeaten run of 34 games came to an end on the 23^rd of February with a loss to Highgate United. Promotion was secured on the 25^th of April following a 4-0 away win at Coventry Sphinx, with the Bulls clinching the league title. Further silverware was won as they picked up the Herefordshire County Cup and the Midland Football League Cup, although they were to lose in the FA Vase Final to Morpeth Town. On the 12^th of May 2016 it was confirmed that Hereford would play in the Southern League South and West, this season would also see the new club make their first appearance in both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy. The club withdrew from the Southern League Cup in an attempt to focus on the league, as the club have their sights firmly set on getting back into the Football League. The club won promotion at the first time of asking from the Southern League South and West, although this was marred by their away match against Didcot Town being abandoned due to a few overexcited fans making their way onto the pitch. The 2017/2018 season saw the Bulls join the Southern Premier League, during this season they enjoyed runs in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy. In their FA Cup run they beat Godalming Town, Kempston Rovers, Hornchurch and Eastleigh to enter the First Round proper for the first time in the new club’s history. A win against AFC Telford United put them into the second round where they faced Fleetwood Town, Hereford earned a replay but they were beating in the replay. The FA Trophy saw Hereford beat Weymouth, Potters Bar Town and Oxford City to reach the first round. In the first round Hereford beat Dagenham & Redbridge 3-2 to set up a tie with Wealdstone, which they lost 1-0. In the league, Hereford faced stiff competition from Slough Town for the league title, and on the 17^th of April they travelled to Biggleswade Town where a 1-0 win saw them become league champions for a 3^rd consecutive season. They also lifted the Southern Football League shield, after beating Kettering Town 4-1, and a 6-0 win over Hereford Lads Club saw them win the Herefordshire County Cup for a third successive time.

For the first half I stood on the Duke Street Terrace, as Chorley were attacking towards this end, the game started off with Chorley dominating possession, however Hereford defending brilliantly to restrict our chances and kept us at bay.

One of the things that annoys me most in life is the sound of people eating, and unfortunately that’s something I can’t control as the sound goes through me, so you can imagine my dismay when someone stood next to me with a bag of sweets and chewed audibly, so I decided to head to the Magpie’s Nest where I paid £1.70 for a bottle of Pepsi Max. Drink in hand I found a new place to stand on the Duke Street terrace, far away from anyone eating. Although I did spot the guy in the woolly hat from last week’s blog, and I think it may have to become a tradition to spot the guy at least once!

Chorley dominated the first half, with plenty of possession in the Hereford half, however we couldn’t convert this into goals, as we were thwarted by the Hereford keeper who had a very good game. The game was also very stop-start as a number of fouls from both sides interrupted the flow of play.

There was some extra entertainment in the 38^th minute as a wayward ball knocked the corner flag over, the linesman on that side attempted a number of times to stand the corner flag back up before giving up. To be fair it did take a member of groundstaff a while to put the flag back up, so maybe it wasn’t the linesman’s fault that he couldn’t stand it up again.

Half Time: Chorley 0-0 Hereford

At half time I walked round to the opposite side of the ground and took up a place near the new stand. The new stand at Victory Park is an odd affair, as it is raised above the pitch, which I suppose will make it a good vantage point for anyone sitting in it. However it is an “Arena” stand, meaning that it is essentially a large meccano kit, the one real problem from this stand is that it is not enclosed on the sides, and with it being raised I can only imagine that during the colder, wetter months that anyone who sits in the stand is going to be rather exposed to the elements.

Following the break, the second half continued where the first half left off, Chorley dominated possession, and Hereford defended well. That isn’t to say that Hereford didn’t have their chances, and Matt Urwin in the Chorley goal had to be well prepared for the threat that Hereford posed.

I’ve changed my blogging style for this season, as you may have noticed, as I am no longer going into great detail about all of the changes during the second half. There were the usual changes in this game with Hereford making the first change in the 51^st minute as Lewis Hall made way for Keyon Reffell, Hereford’s 2^nd change occurred in the 80^th minute as Jamie Bird came on for Lance Smith, and their final change came in the 94^th minute as Eliot Richards was replaced by Calvin Dinsley. Chorley’s changes came in the 63^rd, 67^th and 96^th minute as Louis Almond, Scott Leather and Elliot Newby made way for Josh Wilson, Courtney Meppen-Walter and Jake Cottrell respectively.

The most interesting substitution of the game came in the 65^th minute as referee Dean Watson limped off injured. The ball had just gone out for a Chorley throw as Watson blew his whistle signalling for play to stop, it looked to me like he’d strained his calf and I hope he’s alright! I was impressed by Andy Teague as well, as he showed how classy a guy he is as he helped the ref to limp off of the pitch. For me Andy Teague is the perfect example of a club captain, as he clearly loves the club and he oozes class. I’m going to be honest, I’m thinking of setting up the Andy Teague appreciation club! A call went out over the tannoy asking whether there were any qualified officials in the ground, and a volunteer made his way onto the pitch, dressed in a blue jacket he took over from the linesman who had moved up to referee the game, and fairplay to the guy he did well. This has got me thinking about qualifying as a referee myself, as it would be handy to be able to say that I am a qualified official.

Chorley continued to press forward, however I did begin to fear that this would be the day I would see my first 0-0 game in what is now four years of blogging. Josh Wilson had been making a nuisance of himself but he just lacked the luck in front of goal, with Hereford’s keeper playing extremely well.

Due to the injury to the ref it was signalled that there would be six (I can’t remember if that is exactly correct as part of me thinks it was actually seven) minutes of added time. This seemed to spur Chorley on, and Elliot Newby linked up brilliantly with Matt Challoner, Challoner in turn played the ball into Josh Wilson who fired the ball home in the 93^rd minute. The goal was a deserved one, and it made it even sweeter that it came in the dying minutes of the game, as for some reason I think last minute goals are just better than goals scored at any other time.

Final Score: Chorley 1-0 Hereford (Wilson 93)

I practically skipped out of the ground at the final whistle, Chorley currently occupy top spot in the league, and it’s a great time to be a Chorley fan right now! If we can keep this form up I can honestly see us being promoted, but the league is a marathon not a sprint and whilst being top of the league at the start of the season is nice, it’s more important at the end of the season.

Hereford defended brilliantly during the game, and did well to restrict the score to 1-0, that’s not to say that they didn’t have their chances, but Chorley did dominate the game. I know I keep referencing being a Shrewsbury Town fan, but it is difficult to say that I hope Hereford find themselves back in the Football League soon! I do miss the derby games as they were always an entertaining occasion. I’m also very much looking forward to going to Edgar Street with Chorley for what will hopefully be another good game of football.

Cost: £1.70 (Bottle of Pepsi Max)

Attendance: 1,542

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139632000@N07/albums/72157698801834701

Chorley vs York City, National League North, Victory Park, 4/8/2018

It doesn’t seem like two months have passed since the 2017/2018 season ended, although the World Cup may have had something to do with the time passing quickly. I have to admit that my relationship with football has suffered recently, a combination of depression and anxiety serving to rob me of any motivation that I may have had. For the past however many Saturdays there have been since the 2017/18 season ended, I have spent most of them lying on the couch dreading the thought of having to leave the house. It may seem strange that I get anxious at the thought of leaving the house and popping across the round to the shop, but that’s just how it is in my head at the moment. Normally by this point I would have seen a couple of games as I normally attend some of the pre-season games, however today was to be my first game of the season. I’ve become a Chorley season ticket holder as it means that I have no excuse at least twice a month to not leave the house, as I don’t want to waste my season ticket. On the Saturdays when Chorley are away from home, I’ve decided to stay within a smaller radius and try and tick off as many grounds in the North West Counties League as possible. Hopefully this season will see me overcome the anxiety that I currently battle with.

Anyway, mental health aside I’m still amazed to see York City at this level, as it doesn’t seem long since I watched Shrewsbury Town play at Bootham Crescent back when Salop were in League Two. Then again I’ve had a second child since then and he’s now three years old so it has been a while. York aren’t the only “big” club of this division now as Chorley find themselves in a league that contains the likes of Stockport, Chester, Kidderminster Harriers, Darlington and Hereford, all clubs that have, under different guises, played in the Football League.

York were founded in 1908 as an amateur club and joined the Northern League, however they left this league after two seasons as they joined the Yorkshire Combination to reduce the amount of travelling they would have to do in a season. In 1912 the club turned professional and joined the Midland League where they played for three seasons until the First World War stopped the competition. In August 1917 the club went into liquidation through the bankruptcy court after a creditor pressed for payment for the club’s stand at their Field View home. York City were re-founded in May 1922, and joined the Midland League, after an unsuccessful application to join the Football League. York played in the Midland League for several seasons, and made their first serious attempt for election to the Football League in May 1927, however Barrow and Accrington were re-elected. Two years later in June 1929 York were finally successful in being elected to the Football League as they took the place of Ashington in the Third Division North. York remained in the Third Division North until the Second World War, when the competition was suspended. During the war, York played in wartime competitions and won the Combined Counties Cup in 1942. Following the Second World War York stayed in the Third Division North until 1958 when a 13^th place finish saw them become founder members of the Fourth Division. In 1959, York were promoted as they finished in third, however they were relegated after one season in the Third Division. York regained their place in the Third Division in 1971 as they finished fourth in Division Four. York flirted with relegation a couple of times, until they hit form in the 1973/1974 season, and were promoted to the Second Division as they finished third. However York were relegated in 1976 back to the Third Division and they dropped further still as they were relegated in 1977 to the Fourth Division. York became the first Football League season to achieve a three-figure points total in a season in 1984 as they won the Fourth Division with 101 points and remained in the Third Division until 1988. York bounced back and regained a place in the Second Division in 1993 as they beat Crewe in the play-off finals. York were relegated on the last day of the 1998/1999 season, and in December 2001, long serving chairman Douglas Craig put the club and Bootham Crescent up for sale for £4.5 million, later announcing that if a buyer did not come forward the club would resign from the Football League. In March 2002 motor racing driver John Batchelor took over the club, and by December the club had gone into administration. The Supporters’ Trust bought the club in March 2003, after an offer of £100,000 as payment for £160,000 owed in tax was accepted by the Inland Revenue. Batchelor left having diverted almost all of the £400,000 received from a sponsorship deal with Persimmon to his racing team. York failed to win any of their final 20 league fixtures in the 2003/2004 season, and finished bottom of the Third Division meaning that the club were relegated to the Football Conference ending a 75 year stay in the Football League. York only avoided a successive relegation late into their first season in the Conference. In 2007 they reached the play-off semi-finals but were beaten by Morecambe. York again flirted with relegation in 2009, before reaching the play-off final in 2010 but they were beaten 3-1 by Oxford United. City won the 2012 FA Trophy, meaning that the club won their first ever national knockout competition, a week after beating Newport to win the FA Trophy they earned promotion back to League Two by beating Luton 2-1 in the play-off final. York once again flirted with relegation and in their second season back in the Football League they reached the League Two play-offs, but were beaten by Fleetwood in the semi-finals. York were relegated to the Conference four years after returning to the Football League, and they slipped into the National League North in 2017, despite winning the FA Trophy that same season.

It hasn’t been an easy few months for Chorley, as rather unexpectedly Matt Jansen walked away from the manager’s role, Chorley’s board acted quickly to replace him and did so internally by promoting Jamie Vermiglio to the manager’s role. In my opinion the appointment of Vermiglio as manager is a good one, as it allows for continuity around the club, he’s worked here for years, and knows the first team players very well, it’s not like he’s a new guy still trying to find the ropes, he already knows the ropes. Here’s to a successful future with Jamie at the helm!

As I only live a five minute walk from Victory Park, I left home at 2.50pm, which unfortunately turned out to be too late to get a programme as they had sold out. Now I can’t say I was annoyed at not getting a programme, as it’s better that Chorley sell each copy and make a, possibly small, profit than have a large stack of programmes left over at the end of the day. Whilst there will always be programme collectors that will hoover up rare programmes, there are always going to be programmes that will sit on a shelf somewhere just taking up space. It would be good if Chorley offered an online version of the programme though!

The heatwave that we’ve been experiencing still shows no signs of letting up, and with the sun high in the sky I made my way onto the Duke Street Terrace and found a shaded area to watch the game from. As the teams walked out onto the pitch they were greeted by three large flags being waved on the Piling Lane end where York fans were situated, and I have to say that the York fans were in good voice.

I have to admit that I hadn’t been as excited as I had expected to be, but that’s another thing to chalk up to depression. However as soon as the referee started the game, I found myself engrossed in the action on the pitch, and that’s why I love football, it is a distraction from everyday life, you work Monday to Friday and then let all your frustrations out on a Saturday at the football. This sport has provided some of my lowest moments, losing at Wembley featuring in a number of those low moments, and it has given me some of my best moments such as celebrating James Collins’ goal at Arsenal, sure we lost that game but the celebrations for that goal are something that will stay with me for life.

The game itself was a scrappy affair, not helped by a hopeless referee who made a number of strange decisions, and at times ruined the flow of the game with poor decisions. In the 13^th minute the ball was worked into the York box, and one of their defenders ended up on the ground, now I’m not sure if it was intentional or not but he fell in a way that he obstructed the ball and in all fairness he didn’t make much of an attempt to get back to his feet, however the referee decided the York player had been fouled during the melee that had ensued.

York started the game the better of the two sides and had a clear penalty denied in the 19^th minute, as Alex Kempster was bought down by Matt Challoner, however the referee had already blown his whistle for a free kick meaning that play had been halted and the penalty was correctly denied, although if the referee hadn’t had blown his whistle for the free kick I’m confident that I would be writing about York getting a penalty.

One thing I also love about football is the spectators, be that because of inventive chants or just for the odd little moments, but in the 20^th minute I saw something that can only be described as brilliant. Chorley had been on the attack and a wayward shot had deflected off of a York player, the ball looped into the air and began to head towards a pram. Now I began to worry that there was a baby in the pram who was about to become good friends with a football, until a middle aged man, who had up to this point just been making his way along the front of the terrace, launched himself into a header, and cleared the ball perfectly. In celebration of this he ripped his shirt off and ran down the rest of the terrace ala Ryan Giggs in 1999.

Another odd thing that I spotted during the first half was a man wearing a woolly hat despite the heat, sure it was a black and white striped hat so it clearly fit in, but it was woollen and I began to fear that the bloke was accidentally cooking his brain.

Chorley broke the deadlock in the 38^th minute as Adam Blakeman beat his marker and picked up the ball from a throw in on the edge of a crowded area, with the crowd encouraging him to try his luck, Blakeman picked his spot and beat Adam Bartlett in the York goal.

With Chorley in the lead, the game became scrappier still as in the 45^th minute there was a bit of a coming together between York’s Jake Wright and Chorley’s Josh O’Keefe. From where I was stood it all looked like it had stemmed from Josh blocking York from taking a free-kick, with Wright tripping O’Keefe, the two went down in a heap with Wright seeming to pull O’Keefe down, O’Keefe ended up landing on top of Wright causing the York man to have to receive treatment for a facial injury. Josh was booked for his efforts, but in all fairness both parties were guilty.

Half Time: Chorley 1-0 York City (Blakeman 38)

At half time I made my way round to the other end, and stood by the pitch, the only problem with this side of the ground is that the pitch-side barriers are low, and aren’t the easiest of things to lean on! The guy with the woolly hat had also moved around the pitch and was now wearing a black and white scarf, and I did begin to wonder if he was slowly getting ready for the inevitable terrible winter that we are going to have. Although he wasn’t the only person sporting some odd headwear, as I spotted a guy wearing what looked to be a Ushanka (Click here if you want to know what I’m talking about https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=XC5nW9gIwtvBAturgYAJ&q=Ushanka&oq=Ushanka&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i67k1l3j0l7.809.809.0.999.2.1.0.0.0.0.94.94.1.1.0….0…1c.2.64.psy-ab..1.1.93.0…0.GlE8Cou4uBk). I’m getting tempted to buy a top-hat and wear that to Victory Park now as there seems to be a trend for odd hats.

Under Jansen we would have shut up shop and defended the 1-0 lead without taking any risks, however Vermiglio seems to want the players to continue to attack, so it was good to see us continuing to adventure forward in the second half.

In comparison to the first half, the second half was a dull affair with neither side producing anything of note, there were the usual raft of substitutions, with Chorley’s being made late in the game, however the guy stood next to me got very excited when Jon “The Beast” Parkin came on in the 69^th minute, Parkin is an absolute unit but even his physical prescence wasn’t enough to get through the impeccable Chorley defence with Andy Teague and Scott Leather playing extremely well.

Chorley’s biggest chance came in the 68^th minute as Josh Wilson saw a header cleared off of the line, however whilst we enjoyed a lot of possession we didn’t do much with it where it mattered.

Final Score: Chorley 1-0 York City (Blakeman 38)

At the final whistle I made my way round to the club-shop in an attempt to get my hands on a programme, however as I’ve said at the start of the blog they had sold out, whilst in the club-shop I had to resist every urge to buy the new home shirt which looks incredible, especially the black patch on the back for the numbers, I haven’t been particularly struck by the recent home shirts but this one is a nice one.

After the disappointment of not getting a programme I made the short walk home, before spending the rest of my long suffering wife’s birthday with her.

There’s no point talking about form at this point of the season as there’s only been one match played and nothing should be taken for granted, whilst a good start is always a nice thing it is more about the sustained effort over the course of the season, and I honestly hope that this is the season that Chorley get themselves promoted to the National League, however with some tough opposition in the league it should be interesting.

Next week I’m aiming to be at Garstang vs Steeton, however those plans may change!

Cost: £0 (Season ticket and a good lunch before the football!)

Attendance: 1,520

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