NWCL 'Hop

Friday 8th March 2019

654.Townfield

Barnton(12th) v Vauxhall Motors(4th)(7.45pm)

NWCL First Division South matchday 31

Barnton Football Club formed in 1946 in the village of Barnton just outside Northwich in Cheshire. The Villagers began life in the newly formed Mid-Cheshire League in 1948, which became the Cheshire League in 2007.

Mid-Cheshire/Cheshire League 1948-2014  championships 11 times between 1979-80 and 2004-05 (including 7 in succession)

NWCL 2014-present including a promotion to Premier Division in 2015-16.

Townfield:

Townfield Lane, Barnton, Cheshire CW8 4LH

The ground has a covered standing enclosure and sheltered seating on each side of the pitch. The team dugouts are on one side, with the turnstile entrance, clubhouse and all amenities behind the goal.

Matchday Stats

BFC 0

VMFC 2(Webb 35pen Hassall 67)

Red card: Conley (Barnton) dissent after final whistle.

Att.272

The visitors took the lead when Dave Webb despatched the spot-kick after a handball in the box in the 35th minute. They eventually doubled their advantage when George Hassall was sent through on goal and confidently beat the keeper to seal the three points.

Spondoolicks

Admission £5

Programme £2

Pin badge £3

 Saturday 9th March 2019

655.New Bucks Park

Bootle(2nd) v Ashton Athletic(6th) (11.00am)

NWCL Premier Division matchday 31

Bootle St Johns AFC formed in 1879, playing their first fixture in October 1880 against Everton in October 1880. They changed their name to Bootle F.C. later that year, then after a failed application to become founder members of the Football League, they joined the new Football Alliance in 1889. When the Alliance merged with the Football League in 1892, Bootle became founder members of the new Second Division. Despite a decent eighth place finish, the club resigned after one season, replaced by neighbours Liverpool, before folding due to financial problems.

The club re-emerged in 1953, originally as Langton FC, playing in local leagues before a successful spell in the Liverpool Combination - champions nine times over 10 seasons, before changing to their current name in 1973.

Lancashire Combination 1974-1978 (champions 1975-76, 1976-77)

Cheshire County League 1978-1982 (Division 2 champions 1978-79)

North West Counties League 1982-present, apart from a spell in the Liverpool Combination 2002-2006. (NWCL Division One champions 2009-09)

TDP Solicitors Stadium:

Vesty Road, off Bridle Road, Bootle, Liverpool L30 1NY

The clubhouse runs down one side which elevated decking standing at the front. At the far goal is two covered stands, one with seats and the other with a mix of seats and standing steps. The Dodge Kop is a covered enclosure behind the nearside goal with the team dugouts at the far side.

Matchday Stats

BFC 4(Peers 11,19 Cox 72 Jones 90+1)

AAFC 2(Gilchrist 23 Munro 50)

Att.391

A great match to start the football day off. Bootle raced into a two goal lead with a brace from Carl Peers, nipping at the near post to score on 11th minutes followed by a rasper from a good 25 yards to double the advantage with 19 minutes gone.

The visitors quickly responded with Adam Gilchrist firing in from a left wing cross, before Charlie Munro made things all square early in the second half.

The hosts finished the match strongly with Ryan Cox firing home from close range on 72 minutes and Ste Jones running onto a through ball to wrap it up in stoppage time.

Spondoolicks

Admission £5

Programme & badges sold out 

(bought pin from Terrys Badges)

656.Litherland Sports Park

Litherland REMYCA(14th) v City of Liverpool(1st) (1.30pm)

NWCL Premier Division matchday 31

The club was formed in 1959 as St Thomas Football Club, before later being renamed Bootle Church Lads Brigade, based at Bootle YMCA. In 1967 they became REM Social after the local working men's club and then renamed REMYCA United the following year, the new name unites the social club and the YMCA.The club joined Division Three of the I Zingari Alliance, winning its Third Division at the first attempt in 1968-69.

I Zingari League 197os -2001 (Champions 1987–88, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96)

Liverpool County Premier League 2001-2014(Division Two champions 2006–07)

Changed name by adding Litherland in 2013 before joining North West Counties League the following year. Won promotion to Premier Division after finishing Division One runners-up last season.

Litherland Sports Park:

Boundary Road, Litherland, Liverpool, L21 7LA

The club played at Moss Lane, then Maghull High School before moving to the current ground. The Sports Park has a running track around the pitch with a standing enclosure and a 50 seated stand, installed in April 2014. The dugouts are on the opposite side, with the changing rooms, clubhouse and refreshment found behind the goal, just along from the main entrance.

Matchday Stats

LREMYCA 1(Foy 45+2pen)

CoLFC 2(Dalton 59, Clair 72)

Att.574

COL turned around a halftime deficit to claim the points. The hosts took the lead in first half injury time when a handball in the box was punished by Paul Foy from the penalty spot. The visitors equalised on the hour when a corner kick fell to Daniel Dalton in the box to fire home, then Karl Clair raced in and goal and produces a cool finish on 72 minutes to send the large away support home happy.

Spondoolicks

Admission £5

Pin badge £3

Tea £1

657.Anfield Sports Community Centre

Lower Breck(3rd) v Ashton Town(11th) (4.30pm)

NWCL First Division North matchday 31/30

Lower Breck Boys formed as a youth team in 2010. After winning an array of honours in both league and cup they joined forces with I Zingari League side Famous Grapes FC as an open age team in 2012.

Liverpool County Premier League 2012-2018 (Division 2 champions 2012-13, Premier champions 2017-18)

Joined NWCL at the start of this season.

Anfield Sports Community Centre:

Breckside Park, Lower Breck Road, Liverpool, L6 0AG

The ground is a 3G cage with a wee seated stand and dugouts at the opposite side. There's standing along one side and behind one goal. Admission is taking in the main building, which has refreshment facilities, club shop and the team dressing rooms.

Matchday Stats

LBFC 6(Milne 18,60,90+2 Moore 31 Colback 44 Henders 55)

ATFC 1(Johnson 86)

Att.390

Lower Breck bagged the three points by half time. Stephen Milne opened the scoring with a long range effort on 18 minutes, followed by Peter Moore latching onto a forward pass to double the score just after the half hour mark.  Jay Colback made it 3-0 before the interval before Lower Beck added another three goals in the second half. Jamie Henders tapped in on 55 minutes before Milne struck twice to complete his hat-trick to bring up the half dozen. Matty Johnson added a late consolation goal on a rare foray forward for the visitors.

Spondoolicks

Admission £4

Pin badge £1

Chili con carne/baked potato  £3

658.Ruskin Drive Sports Ground

St Helens Town(18th) v Garstang(10th) (7.45pm)

NWCL First Division North matchday 31

St Helens Town formed in 1901 and are former winners of the FA Vase, beating near neighbours Warrington Town 3-2 in the 1987 final at Wembley.

Lancashire League 1901-1903

Lancashire Combination 1903-1929(folded)

Liverpool County Combination(reformed) 1947-1949

Lancashire Combination 1949-1975 (Division 2 champions 1950-51, League champions 1971-72)

Cheshire County League 1975-1982

NWCL 1982-present

Arcoframe Stadium:

Ruskin Drive, Dentons Green, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 6RP

The club played at Hoghton Road from 1946, but after it fell into disrepair it was sold for new housing in 2002 . The Saints joined forces with St Helens R.F.C. and ground shared at Knowsley Road for 10 years, but the intended relocation to the new Langtree Park ground fell through. This setback, coupled with financial problems saw the club having to ground share at Ashton Town, then at their neighbours Ashton Athletic. Construction work at the Council-owned multi-sports facility at Ruskin Drive had been delayed, which meant matches also played at Prescot Cables until they finally settled back in St Helens in 2017.

As far as 3G cages are concerned this one is pretty good. There's a decent size stand central at one side with the dugouts opposite. The fences are decorated with placards displaying information on the club history. There is also standing available behind both goals into the far corners.

Matchday Stats 

StHAFC 1(Diggle 49)

GFC 3(Coar 12 Sailor 60 Horthersall 76pen)

Att.292

Garstang came away with the victory with two second half goals. They took the lead on 12 minutes through Richard Coar, with the Saints levelling early in the second half when Liam Diggle nodded the ball home from a corner kick.

On the hour mark a good run and finish by Shaun Sailor regained the visitors lead, before Jonathan Horthersall made sure of the points on 76 minutes firing home from the spot after a foul in the penalty area.

Spondoolicks

Admission £5

Pin badge £3

#HeedHopper

Current NWCL Grounds visited 24/60

Travelled with team KatLee in Blossom.

Left home Friday morning on the 8.15 X1 bus to Houghton-le-Spring for lift and dropped back off at hyem at 0045 Sunday morning.

Our first port of call on Merseyside was Huyton, arriving at lunch time so Lee & Katie could have an afternoon session at the bingo, while I had a toby around and a session of my own - on the beer. We had a drink together at the Barker’s Brewery before paying 100FgC squad #137 Jeff Voller a surprise visit at his micropub in Whiston, near Prescot. The Beer EnGin is in this year's Good Beer Guide, so please try and check it out.

We dropped off our gear at the hotel then headed into Cheshire, calling to Northwich to tick off the Spoons and grab a bite to eat before the match at Barnton. Over the weekend we managed a few more JDW’s and I was pleased to tick off a couple of GBG pubs before the final match of our enjoyable weekend in St Helens.