My Matchday - 340 Focus Scaffolding Sports Complex

Whitehaven Amateurs 5v2 Tow Law Town

Northern League Division Two

Saturday 9th March 2013

When I began blogging on this site in 2006 my first football ground task was to complete the Northern League set. Over two seasons I bagged the remaining twenty odd needed before eventually completing this mission at Esh Winning in April 2008. The following season Whitehaven Amateurs became the league’s newest members, meaning it’s taking me a mere five years to finally head across to the west coast to re-complete the set.

Thanks to a friend of a friend, my mate Jimmy Jimmy got me some £5 Friends & Family Northern Rail tickets, so I could travel all the way from Newcastle to Whitehaven and back for approximately the same price of a pint of shandy on the Diamond Strip* in Newcastle.

I caught the 0926 service to Carlisle, when on arrival I hotfooted through the heavy rain and straight to the Market Hall, which probably serves the best cooked breakfast in the whole of Cumbria. Because of the downpour I tried to find out whether the match was on, but after ringing the Northern League postponed line, Whitehaven AFC and checking the clubs twitter feed I was none the wiser, but still gambled by boarding the 1139 for my onward journey. Just as the train pulled away from the platform I received a twitter text replying to my tweet for help from @knockernorton1 and @whitehavenafc telling me it was match on.

Little football and big rugby stand not speaking to one another.

The train journey from Carlisle to Whitehaven takes 70 minutes and once you pass Maryport the train line runs parallel with the Irish Sea. This coastline doesn't have golden beaches and surfin’ safari waves lashing onto the sand, instead it’s the complete opposite. I put on my ipod, switching it to shuffle mode and one of the first songs on the playlist was Atmosphere by Joy Division, which captured the mood of this grey day and the sight of the motionless sea bordered with mud and black stones perfectly. Additional tunes along the route included Mercy Seat - Ultra Vivid Scene and Cold - The Cure, so it was if this train journey had its own soundtrack as the coastline on this grim day looked like the edge of the world.

Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, situated between the county's two largest settlements of Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Copeland, located on the west coast just outside the Lake District National Park.

The area name of Copeland was settled by Irish-Norse Vikings in the tenth century. The Copeland name also includes indicates that the land was obtained from the Kingdom of Strathclyde. The Lowther family were principal pioneers of the town in 1630. Sir Christopher Lowther purchased the estate, using Whitehaven as a port to export coal from the Cumberland Coalfields to Ireland, before building a stone pier for cargo ships four years later. Whitehaven grew into a major mining town during the 18th and 19th centuries and became an important commercial coal port.

Whitehaven Amateurs formed from the disbanded Marchon AFC works side, joining the old Wearside League Division Two in 1994. The club won the title the following term as the league became a single division and by the mid-noughties were the best side in the league, winning the title in 2005-06 as well as appearing in various cup finals, one of which was an astounding victory in the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup, which I attended at Teesside Athletic in 2007.

Although the club finished 3^rd in the 2007-08 season, their application to step up to the Northern League was successful,  finishing 11^th followed by two seventh place finishes, then 13th in Division Two last season. The club also lifted their first piece of Northern League silverware in the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Trophy in 2010.

 A new £6 million sports ground for the club has been in pipeline for some time. The 8,000 capacity stadium would be shared with their Rugby League neighbours as part of the redevelopment of both grounds. The sports village would be the centrepiece of the £20 million Pow Beck regeneration by Copeland Council and West Lakes Renaissance. The original plan was for the football club to ground share with the rugby club at The Recreation Ground with the current football ground the site for the new stadium, with The Rec then being used for training and parking. At the moment the proposed scheme has come to a grinding halt and it’s believed the investors and both clubs are looking at possible alternatives to the plan, which has faced delays over problems securing access to the Pow Beck site.

I arrived at 1250pm, calling into the JDW Bransty Arch which is across the road from the station, then after a few quality pints I took a stroll through the town centre towards the ground. The Focus Scaffold Sports Complex is in the southern end of Whitehaven off Coach Lane next to Corkickle station. Once you locate the welcome sign there’s still a longish walk along a footpath to the ground, where at the end is a young lad ready to take your £4, as there isn't a proper designated admission entrance.

The ground had two separate meccanno type stands with yellow and blue flip seats, sitting each side of the halfway line behind the dugouts. One of the stands has a small standing section and behind this side is the rugby club’s Recreation Ground which you can look directly into from the football ground.

The clubhouse (where I had time for another bevvy and read of the programme before kick-off) and changing rooms are at the top end of the ground beside the main car park. The other three sides are open with hard standing and there are two floodlight poles at each side.

 It wasn't just me who was appearing here for the first time, it was also Whitehaven Amateurs opponents Tow Law Town's debut having been relegated to Division Two last season. If  The Lawyers live to play a hundred more fixtures in Whitehaven they’ll never make a worse start to a game than this, going a goal behind after only 33 seconds, when Hodgson ran onto a through ball down the left side before dinking the ball over the keeper, to give the home team a dream start.

Both teams then took it in turns to give away clumsy penalties. Ryder equalising on 15 minutes before Sam Smith also succeeded from the spot to regain the advantage twenty minutes later. Just before half time Tow Law were reduced to ten men after a wild challenge from the big centre half saw a straight red. This gave the hosts a big advantage going into the second half and they extended their lead when a shot from Hodgson produced a great save from Robinson, however the number 9 was quick off the mark to net the rebound.

Sam Smith was on hand to make it 4-1 after capitalising on a loose ball to slot home before a cracking goal from substitute Harrison gave Town a glimmer of hope, but it turned out to be too little too late as sub David Dustin made it 5-2 with five minutes remaining.

After the match I ran around to Corkickle station to catch the 1651 back to Carlisle. I had time for a pint in the William Rufus before heading back east along the Tyne Valley. It was good to finally get across to Whitehaven and re-complete the second oldest league in the world in this its 125^th year and overall it was a canny day out in Cumbria, not bad for a fiver!

(* The Diamond Strip is a row of pubs/clubs on Collingwood Street which is frequented by wankas and tarts with more money than sense)

Matchday stats
WAFC 5(Hodgson 1,54 S.Smith 35pen,67 Dustin 85) TLTFC 2(Ryder 15pen Harrison 75)
att.TBC
Admission £4
Programme £1

Ground no.340 Focus Scaffolding S.C. - Matchday Web album(17pictures)

My Matchday - 339 Dennyfield

Thackley 0v2 Hall Road Rangers

Baris NCEL Premier League

Tuesday 5th March 2013

 I took this specific week’s leave from work, in the hope of having another escapade on foreign shores, courtesy of Newcastle United’s progress in the Europa League. Even though we advanced into the last 16 of the tournament, our next round opponents weren’t the club I asked for, as Hannover 96 lost out to Anzhi Makhachkala, meaning a £619 round trip to Moscow (including visa) instead of a cheap excursion to Germany. To make up for missing out on a new ground this week I decided I would drive down to the closest uncharted club who had a Tuesday night fixture, and the lucky winner of having the honour of my presence was Thackley AFC, their Dennyfield ground being 93.4 miles door-to-door from 100FgC HQ.

 Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho declared that tonight the world would STOP to watch the big Champions League clash with Man Yoo and that’s just what I did. I jumped in the car and drove down the A1 and STOPPED once I arrived in a small West Yorkshire village to watch some proper football.

Thackley is a small suburban area south of the River Aire in the northernmost part of Bradford, which borders the village of Idle, the West Royd area of Shipley and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The canal was built through the top end of Thackley in the 1770s and historically the area formed part of the Lordship of Idle. In the 17th century a tanning industry developed and in the 19th century sandstone was quarried, with mills built for a local cotton industry. Recent development on Weavers Croft occupies part of the location of the former Bowling Green Mills.

Thackley Wesleyians formed in 1930, plying their trade in local football before joining the West Riding County Amateur League in 1939, when they also dropped the suffix from their name. The club progressed to the West Riding County Amateur League and over a quarter of a century won the league title five times, before a brief spell in the West Yorkshire League. Thackley joined the Yorkshire League in 1967 before becoming founder members of the Northern Counties East League's Premier Division in 1982.Since then the club have stayed in the same division without being relegated or promoted, with their best season coming in 1993–94 when they finished second with 74 points to Stocksbridge Park Steels, who amassed the same points tally but were champions on goal difference. The Dennyboys have enjoyed success in the West Riding County Cup, lifting the trophy on four occasions during the 1960s and ‘70s.

 Dennyfield is found on Ainesbury Avenue which is along a long dark lane which reminds me of the approach to Esh Winning. The entrance brings you straight into the car park where there’s the clubhouse and turnstile entrance.  Once I arrived in the outskirts of Thackley I was greeted with fog which wasn't too heavy and without pending danger of the game being in doubt.

After parking up I bought a programme from the turnstile which was priced as a quid but was giving free because it was a smaller issue due to printing problems. I then checked out the clubhouse before deciding to move the car after a couple of stray balls just narrowly missed bouncing off my bonnet, as the players did their pre-match warm up.

You enter the turnstile at the corner of the ground behind the goal. After parting with a five spot I asked the bloke on the turnstile about pin badges and he said they've got some and he’ll get them for me. I attempted to take some pictures but due to the combination of fog and bright lights from the eight floodlight pylons I failed to capture any decent images. As I was taking the photos the club official caught up with me with the pin badges, offering me the latest badge for £3 or a boxed limited edition of the 1964 crest for £5, or both for a fiver! So logically I bought both, so a good start to the evening, having bagged a free programme and badge.

The main stand sits central to the pitch, having 4 rows of bench seats painted white on red concrete blocks. The stand also has a small PA box and is fully covered with the club name proudly displayed on its façade. The changing rooms and refreshment bar are also on this side and opposite are the dugouts in front of three steps of built up terracing. There is also a similar standing area directly behind the far goal and the nearside goal has pathway standing.

Dennyfield is a tidy little ground and looks lovingly maintained. The overall capacity is 3,000 with the biggest gate recorded when the ground was half full for a friendly with Leeds United in 1983.

The Thackley home kit is akin to Arsenal’s while their opponents tonight Hall Road Rangers, wear the QPR style blue and white hoops so the players had a look of two clubs from London not east and west Yorkshire. The first half was quite an open affair with the lively Thackley number 10 having a similar stature and running style of Theo Walcott, although my vision may have been wavered by the fog. 

Hall Road Rangers are anchored at the bottom of the NCEL Premier League with five wins from a possible 31 fixtures, while the host sat in 9^th spot, hoping for a strong run in towards the season’s end. I was expecting a comfortable win for the Dennyboys but it was the basement club who held off the early pressure and took a two goal lead before half time.

The breakthrough came in the 35^th minute when Darren Rookes pinched the ball off the defender on the left and with a quick turn of pace ran towards goal and then from a tight angle managed to squeeze his left foot shot in at the far post. I thought the goal scorer looked like a young Alan Biley (one for the older readers…Eddy) but as I've said it was foggy and he was playing over on the left wing.

A minute before the break another defensive lapse made it 2-0, when a Titus Bramblesque back pass was seized by Jamie Reeson who poked the ball past the keeper into the right hand corner of the net.

Thackley dominated the possession in the second period but didn't really look like making the breakthrough as Rangers deserved this much needed victory which gives them at least a glimmer of hope of avoiding the drop.

Afterwards I bravely managed to work my way home with a stressful drive through thick fog along the A59 and the Yorkshire part of the A1, eventually pulling up outside Gallowgate View at 1120pm.

Apart from the fog and the disappointment of not being able to get some decent ground photographs I still had a pleasant evening at Thackley. The drive down to Yorkshire was well worth it just to get out of the house for the night, because what’s the point of STOPPING in, when there isn't the attraction of anything good to watch on the tele!

Matchday stats
TAFC 0 HRRFC 2(Rookes 35 Reeson 43)
att.58
Admission £5
Programme:Free(normally £1)

My Matchday - 338 The Bet Butler Stadium

Dumbarton 0v2 Falkirk
Scottish First Division
Saturday 23rd February 2013

My gradual progress of completing the senior grounds of Scotland continued with a day trip to the West Central Lowlands for the Scottish Division One clash between Dumbarton and Falkirk.

Dumbarton is a town and burgh in West Dunbartonshire and the former capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, which lies on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. The town was a Royal burgh between 1222 and 1975 and is dominated by its castle which sits on top of Dumbarton Rock.

Dumbarton came to prominence in the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, whisky distilleries and glassmaking, but nowadays its seen more as a commuter town, being 13 miles east-southeast of the city of Glasgow

 Dumbarton FC formed in 1872 and are the 4th oldest football club in Scotland following Queen's Park (1867) Kilmarnock (1869) and Stranraer (1870). The club are nicknamed 'The Sons' which derived from the phrase for those born in the town - 'Sons of The Rock' and have the historic honour of being the first Scottish champions, winning the league in the competition’s first two seasons from 1890.  Their first piece of silverware came in the Scottish Cup in 1883, beating Vale of Leven 2-1 in the final after a replay and they’ve also been losing finalists on five occasions, all in the late 19^th century.

After the Scottish League was split into two divisions the club won the Second Division title twice in 1910-11 and 1971-72, but haven’t played in the top tier since 1985 spending the subsequent years jumping between the three SFL divisions.

Dumbarton played at Boghead Park from 1879 until relocating in 2000, their home for 121 years was the longest continuously used senior ground in Scotland before its closure. The new stadium was built by Barr Construction and originally named the Strathclyde Homes Stadium, before several sponsorship changes to the current rebrand of The Bet Butler Stadium before the start of this season.

The stadium was built on the former site of Denny’s shipyard and is commonly known by supporters as "The Rock" The ground is easy to describe, having just the one stand which has a 2,025 capacity which sits on the river bank overshadowed by Dumbarton Rock. The one tier stand is decked out in black and yellow plastic flip seats with the dugouts and another pair of floodlight pylons on the opposite side. The three unused ends are closed in with a medal fence without any cheeky free viewing gaps in between.

Dumbarton ground shared with Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill before the stadium was officially opened on the 2nd December 2000 prior to a 3-0 win over Elgin City, with the biggest gate so far being 1,959 against Queens Park on the 27th April 2002.

 

I jumped out of bed at 730am to be greeted to the sight of the cold white stuff after a heavy overnight snowfall, which I wasn’t too bothered about, as according to the weather forecast todays destination was bathing in sunshine and clear blue skies. The journey to Dumbarton is a three train trip via Edinburgh and then Glasgow, where I spent a few hours record store shopping and obviously stopping off for a pint before catching the 1341 west bound train to Dumbarton East.

The stadium is a 5-10 minute stroll around the corner from the rail station, so I had plenty of time to do a lap of the outer perimeter of the ground and try and capture a decent photography of the stand with the rock behind it. After doing a lap I found it was impossible to achieve this snapshot, the best I could muster was risking life and limb by climbing a wall at the far end of the car park and only capturing the rock with the top end of the stand, the bottom blocked off by the fence(see second pic.)

The game matched up “The Sons” against “The Bairns” so this fixture sounded more like a kiddies crèche than a clash between two of the in form teams in the Scottish First Division. Dumbarton have been in a rich vein of form since Christmas winning six out of the last 9, with narrow defeats in their other three fixtures. However there was nothing marginal about this game as the visitors produced a comfortable victory where the game should have been out of sight by half time, as they fluffed a series of excellent chances. The Bairns first half dominance produced two goals, opening with Thomas Grant slotting home after a through ball by Taylor found Alston who picked out his team mate with a neat cross on 25 minutes. They doubled the lead five minutes later, a precision pass from Taylor  found David Weatherstone on the right wing who stayed onside before running through to fire under the keepers body, although Grindlay should have done better in stopping his effort.

 Dumbarton improved in the second half, but only a slight improvement, the early goal didn't arrive which was badly needed to give them hope of salvaging at least a point. As the game progressed it looked more likely that Falkirk would add to their tally as they continued to frustrate the hosts and they saw the game out with ease to pick up the three points.

Prior to the kick-off I spoke to the head steward and asked if it was possible to take a picture of the stand from the opposite side of the pitch. He was very cooperative and said it wasn't possible with the players currently warming up on the pitch, but insisted he would happily escorted me over at half time. Come the interval my new friend in the hi-vis wasn't visible at all until the players reappeared for the second half, as he had forgotten all about me, offering his sincere apologies and requested if I could possible wait until full time. As I had to catch the 1704 train back to Glasgow I was pushed for time but the game finished without too much stoppage time, so as soon as the referee saw off the players and exited down the tunnel he immediately honoured my requested.

I had another pleasant day ticking off another Scottish League ground. The journey was stress free as the six trains I boarded ran like clockwork and of course my afternoon was made more complete by attaining that vital money shot! (see below)

Matchday stats
DFC 0 FFC 2(Grant 25 Weatherston 30)
att.997
Admission £15
Programme £2

Ground no.338 The Bet Butler Stadium - Matchday Web album (18 pictures)

My Matchday - 337 Falkirk Stadium

Falkirk 4v3 Airdrie United
Scottish First Division
Saturday 26th January 2013 

Due to the inclement weather at this time of the year, I generally don’t pre-book trains and make definite plans, particularly when it comes to heading off in a northern direction. However I wasn't going to waste a work free Saturday, so I managed to line up a 3G plan B and C in case plan A didn't come off, plus there’s always Plan D of course – no football but a day in Edinburgh on the lash!

As it turned out the B and C plans weren't necessary as my initial plan of a trip to Falkirk Stadium was a definite goer, apart from an early morning plea for volunteers to help take the covers off the pitch, there weren't any problems whatsoever of the match being in doubt.

Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, which lies in the Forth Valley, almost halfway between the major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Its locality at the junction of the Forth and Clyde and the Union Canals, made the town an ideal location as a centre of heavy industry during the Industrial Revolution. The town was the hub of the iron and steel industries during the 18th and 19th centuries, especially the Carron Works (also the name of the town’s JDW pub I visited) in the nearby village of Carron, responsible for making Carronades for the Royal Navy and pillar post boxes throughout the UK.

Attractions in and around Falkirk include the Falkirk Wheel(which I've been on and it’s not exactly Alton Towers!) Callendar House and remnants of the Antonine Wall, the northern frontier of the Roman Empire which stretches across the centre of Scotland, passing through the town with its remnants seen at Callendar Park.

The town folk of Falkirk are known as "The Bairns", which is replicated in the Falkirk Burgh motto: "Better meddle wi' the de'il than the Bairns o' Fa'kirk” This is also the nickname of Falkirk Football Club, who were founded around 1876. The club were elected to the Second Division of the Scottish Football League in 1902–03, and after two seasons won promotion to the top division, going on to twice finish league runners-up to Celtic in 1907-08 and 1909-10 the highest league finishes in their history.

The Scottish Cup first appeared in the Brockville trophy cabinet in 1913, beating Raith Rovers 2-0 in the final, although they had to wait another 44 years to lift the trophy again after beating Kilmarnock in a replay in 1957. The bairns also reached the final of the League Cup in 1947 and in recent times have won the Scottish Challenge Cup on four occasions in 1993, 1997, 2004 and last season with a 1-0 win over Hamilton Accies.

Falkirk played home matches at three different grounds during their primary years at Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. In 1884 they returned to Hope Street which became Brockville Park, remaining the club's home ground for the next 118 years.

In 2003 Brockville was sold by the club to the Morrison supermarket chain for £9 million, of which £2.8 million went towards the construction of the imaginatively named Falkirk Stadium, with a further £200,000 coming from sportscotland.

The stadium project was a partnership between the Football Club and Falkirk Council who set up the Falkirk Community Stadium Ltd which provided the funds to construct and run the stadium. Falkirk Council initially funded just over half of the £6.1m for the first stage of the building work, while the football team ground shared at Ochilview Park during the 2003-04.

The stadium has been built in stages, with the main west stand constructed first and completed in time for the 2004–05 season. Falkirk hosted their first game at the stadium in July 2004 with a friendly against Dundee, which they lost 2–1, followed by the first league game a month later against Hamilton which finished in a 1-1 draw. The stand has a large single tier of royal blue seats split into two sections, the bottom has the stadium name picked out in white with a smaller section fenced off at the top in front of the executive boxes. The stand also houses the changing rooms and club offices and naturally the tunnel and dugouts.

Work began on the second stand in October 2004 on the north side of the stadium. The stand cost £1.58m with a capacity of 2,000. The stand is a basic one tier structure broken up into six sections of blue seats, which is now used as the away end.

The south stand construction began in December 2008 by contractors Ogilvie, supported by a £2m pledge from Schuh founder and Falkirk fan Sandy Alexander. The stand is identical to the north stand and was officially opened in August 2009 in a friendly game against Royal Antwerp. Just prior to the stand opened the joint venture between the club and the council ended, with the football club taking full control of the ground facilities, whilst the council retained most of the sites development rights and manages and receives rent from businesses set up the stadium's main stand. The stand has a unique feature of murals of past players displayed against the wind shields at each side.

The stadium has used a temporary stand on the empty east side in the past which takes the capacity from the current 8,000 to around 9,200.

It was good to see green land and sunshine again, instead of grey days and the white shite which we’ve put up with over the last few weeks. I arrived in Edinburgh nice and early at 0930, which gave plenty of time to do my usual thing of going vinyl hunting and exploring a few pubs.

I headed across to Falkirk at 1pm, the Dunblane service takes about half an hour, so sufficient time to check in to the local ‘Spoons and walk along to the ground. As you arrive towards Falkirk Grahamston you can clearly see the stadium and it seems miles away from the station, but the walk only takes around 20 minutes, straight along the A904 road towards Grangemouth.

I requested a press pass for this match but my email was greeted with suspicious. The responsive line of ‘who are you doing the match report for’ a imprudent response to my usual blueprint email I send, which is generally answered with a ‘yes no problem, see you Saturday’ (The info was in the email!?!…Eddy)

Similar to a lot of new stadia, electronic scanning tickets for matches have to be bought separately at the ticket office instead of paying at the turnstile which can be a bit of a clart on. The club shop sell tickets, so after buying a pin badge I purchased my seat, asking for behind the goal. The lady responded with “an adult ticket…yeah?” meaning she either thought I was an OAP or a juvenile, I hope she was thinking the latter as that’s no way to address the Handsome Groundhopper!

Falkirk faced Airdrie United, a club the Bairns have never lost to since Airdrieonians reformed as United in 2002. That long run looked set to continue as the hosts took a fifth minute lead. A lovely interchange of passing around the box released Lyle Taylor who stayed onside before firing a left foot angled shot past Kenny Arthur.

Airdrie had made an encouraging start to the game but fell further behind on 23 minutes, when a cross from the right fell nicely into Stewart Murdoch’s path, the ball sat up just right allowing him to rifle an unstoppable drive from 20 yards into the keepers right hand post. Falkirk went into the half time break three goals to the good as Taylor headed home from a right wing cross, which rounded off a great first half performance.

Airdrie pulled a goal back just before the hour mark through substitute Di Giacomo. Defender Darren Dods was adjudged to have fouled Buchanan in the box and the penalty kick was successfully converted.

Arthur made a string of fine saves to keep the Diamonds in the game but the three goal cushion was finally restored on 73 minutes when Fulton’s corner kick was headed home at the far post by Dods.

With a quarter of an hour remaining it looked a case of how many more the Bairns would score but the visitors produced a late flurry. On 88 minutes McClaren curled home a delightful free kick from 25 yards then minutes later Kieran Duffie fired home, but it was too much too late as Falkirk comfortably seen out the last few minutes to claim victory.

My visit to the Falkirk Stadium produced a terrific game with some cracking goals. The three points puts Falkirk at the half way position while Airdrie have now slumped to the bottom of the table.

Those of you who follow me on twatter or on Friendface will already be aware my pending changes at my workplace and my big transfer window move from the biggest industrial estate in Europe to the largest indoor shopping complex in the north of England. Part of the transfer deal was a weekend off every 4 weeks instead of the current six, so now I only have to wait a month in between groundbagging days out. So this means I haven’t long to wait for my next return to the Scottish First Division with a trip to Dumbarton on the 23^rd February, when their opponents are coincidently Falkirk, so hopefully I can look forward to another thrilling encounter from the Bairns alike to which I witnessed this afternoon.

Matchday stats
FFC 4(Taylor 9,35 Murdoch 24 Dods 73)AUFC 3(Di Giocomo 57pen McClaren 88 Boyle 90)
att.2,715
Admission £18
Programme £2.50
Ground no.337 Falkirk Stadium - Matchday Web album (20 pictures)

Squad #123 Ian Cusack and #173 Andy Hudson were also in attendance.You can read Ian's account of the day on his blog Payaso del Mierda

The 100FgC 2012 Accolades

 (Shaun's choices in the 100FgC New Years Honours list)

*Best Match Attended*

Staveley MW v Dunston UTS(FA Vase Semi-Final(2nd leg )31st March

I've seen plenty of good games this year, but nothing outstanding which stood out from the rest, making my choice in this category rather difficult. I decided the plump for the FA Vase semi final second leg at Inkersall Road, as it had all the emotions of a big game with a Wembley place at stake, plus I've never seen so many grown men cry tears of happiness in my life.  >>>  link

*Goal of the Year*

Hatem Ben Afra (Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers 9th April)

This wasn't even Ben Afra's best goal of this calendar year, that was scored back in January in an FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Blackburn Rovers. Unfortunately I wasn't at that game so the best goal I've seen live this year was this superb individual effort from the 92nd best player in the world.

*Favourite Previous Uncharted Senior Ground*

Cappielow Park - Greenock Morton

Covered terraces, traditional stand. cranes landscape, floodlight pylons, scotch pies & bovril - a classic! >>> link

*Favourite Previous Uncharted Non-League Ground*

Kingsfield Stadium - Woking

Kingsfield has a good mixture of old and new and apart from the match result, I enjoy my visit to Woking; the home of The Jam..    >>> link

 *Favourite My Matchday*

316 Wembley Stadium

Me and the bairn went to the home of English football to see a club from our home town lift a trophy at Wembley. Having suffered nothing but disappointment at the old stadium it was nice to enjoy a winning start at the new Wembley gaff.  >>> link

*Best Pre-Match Bevvy*

Blind Jacks - Knaresborough

The Good Beer Guide listed 'Blind Jack's' is found in the Market Place in the north Yorkshire spa town of Knaresborough. The pub has a top selection of ales and on my visit I supped Magic Rock 'Curious' (3.9%) which I marked as a 5* i.e. The perfect pint!
The best pub I discovered this year was actually The One-Eyed Rat in Ripon, but my drinking time spent at this fine establishment was on a non-matchday, so didn't qualify for this category.

*Silver 'Spoons Award*

Picture Palace - Braintree

This Wetherspoons was once a cinema and still has the original features, including the big screen which is used to beam live sports.This is one of the best 'Spoons I've come across on my 'Neverending JDW UK Tour' a cracking venue and decent bevvy.

*Scabby-Eye of the Year*

Mince & Onion - Manse Lane, Knaresborough Town.

A winning double for the north Yorkshire town of Knaresborough in this years New Years Honours List, just pipping the steak and kidney pies at Nuneaton to take this prestigious prize.

Last years winners here

My Matchday - 335 Stade Chaban Delmas

Girondins De Bordeaux 2v0 Newcastle United

Europa League Group Stage MD6

Thursday 6th December 2012

After the events in Brugge last month I decided on a more straightforward and hassle free trip for Newcastle’s final group game in this season’s Europa League. The destination for matchday six was the port city of Bordeaux, found on the Garonne River in the Gironde area of south-western France.  

Due to work commitments I was a day tripper for this one, doing the round trip on my day off, meaning an early start for the 0630 flight from Newcastle International Airport.

On this occasion I didn’t have the company of my usual NUFC travel companions; Mr Patrick senior and junior, however I was chaperoned by Honest Paul, who regular readers will remember as the chap who was falsely arrested and left behind in Belgium on our last Euro jaunt.

The flights were booked through Newcastle United’s official travel partner Thomas Cook, so all our travel needs were taking care of, such as transfers from the airport into Bordeaux and later onto the match, as well as inflight meals plus our match ticket was guaranteed.

As I’ve mentioned, this was thought to be a stress free excursion, but the heavy snowfall in the north-east on the eve of the game saw the United players and staff unable to take their scheduled flight to Bordeaux. The team were stranded on the runway at Newcastle airport, stuck in the snow for several hours until it was safe to depart, which delayed their arrival and disrupted preparations for the match.

I heard this news on Radio Newcastle, whilst working on Wednesday evening, driving back to the Team Valley from Newcastle city centre. This drive normally would take about 15 minutes in teatime traffic but because we live in Britain and have a major problem when cold white stuff falls from the sky, this short journey took the length of time it would take to watch a full football match, including stoppages and “Fergie time”

We booked a taxi for 4.45am, so I crawled out of bed thirty minutes earlier and was relieved to find there hadn’t been any overnight snowfall. We arrived at the airport to find my pre-travel concerns laid to rest as there were no problems and our flight was on time.

The flight took just under two hours and it was great to arrive in sunny Bordeaux with just a quick passport check and no luggage to wait for. The coach was already waiting or arrival, the transfer into the city centre took half an hour and we were accompanied by a French lady who gave us a potted history of this fine city on route to our drop-off point.

The Bordeaux metropolitan area lies in the north of the Aquitaine region, being the sixth largest populated urban area in the country with over 1.1m "Bordelais" and "Bordelaise" citizens.

The city is known as "La perle d'Aquitaine", "La Belle Endormie" (Sleeping Beauty) in reference to the old centre which because of pollution had blackened walls, although some parts of the city have been restored to their original state. The historical part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.

Bordeaux is most famed as the world's capital of the wine industry, producing vino within the region since the 8th century and plays host to Vinexpo; the International Wine & Spirits Exhibition.

FC Girondins des Bordeaux was founded on 1 October 1881 initially as a gymnastics and shooting club, before later adding other sports such as rowing, equestrian, and swimming. It wasn’t until 1910 that football was officially introduced, the trial lasting only a year before returning almost a decade later in 1919, so it wasn’t until 1920 that the club contested its first official match defeating Section Burdigalienne 12–0.

The club is one of the most successful clubs in French football, winning six Ligue 1 titles, three Coupe de France titles, three Coupe de la Ligue titles, and Trophée des champions three times. In 1995-96 they reached the final of the UEFA Cup, but lost the two-legged final to Bayern Munich.

The coach dropped us off next to the Monument Aux Giorondins with an arranged 5pm return to take us to the match, so we had seven hours free to explore the city and of course this also meant we had time for a pint!

We decided to start the day with a walk to the stadium, so I could take some daylight pictures with refreshment stops on the way to break up the walk. When we arrived at the ground I was disappointed to find the entrance gate locked, but we found the main entrance around the other side by walking along a terraced street.  I noticed a couple of hardhat workman at the stadium, coming in and out of a small gateway, so we brazenly followed them and walked into the impressive empty arena, where I was able to snap away at my heart’s content.

The Stade du Parc Lescure was first built in 1930 as a cycle-racing track, and then in 1935 it was restyled to accommodate football in preparation for France hosting the 1938 World Cup. It was the first stadium in the world to be completed with concrete and covered stands without any pillars obstructing the view of the pitch. The record attendance was 40,211 on the 24th April 1985 as Girondins de Bordeaux hosted Juventus in the semi-final of the European Cup.

The stadium was expanded to 34,462, as Bordeaux was selected as a host city for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, staging 6 matches as well as playing host to four games in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

All four sides are mainly open, decked out with beige bucket seats with cover for a smaller section of seats at the rear. The cover is a rolling concrete semi-circle structure which gives the stadium a classic look. The main stand seats differ with a blue and white central section above the team dugouts and tunnel, inside the connection between the changing rooms and the pitch entrance is the longest in Europe at nearly 120 meters. There is also two video screens pinned to the inside wall at the side stands.

In 2001 the stadium was renamed Stade Chaban-Delmas in honour of politician Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who was the mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995.

In July 2011, the club announced plans to construct a 43,500 capacity new stadium, located in Bordeaux-Lac, as yet again France has won the right to host another football tournament, staging Euro 2016. 

We spent an enjoyable day strolling around this historic city and frequently stopping for a drink, calling at a couple of café bars and a few British and Irish pubs, namely the Blarney Stone, the HMS Victory and the Sherlock Holmes. Apart from having a few bevvys we also went for a meal, enjoying a delicious pizza with Honest Paul footing the bill with his Brugge compensation money. We did ask the waitress if she had frogs legs, when she said “Qui” we told her to hop to the kitchen and bring us two pizzas!

We looked around a few shops as Paul was determined to buy a beret. After asking in several stores but he wasn’t having much luck, mainly because the locals had no idea what we were asking for. We eventually found a specialist hat store where they had a selection of berets in a variety of colours. Paul was chuffed to purchase a black one for 10 euros, while I tried on the red number in honour of Captain Sensible, the bass player with The Damned. However it was a look I couldn’t pull off, so I decided not to bother but my travel companion was cock-a-hoop with his purchase.

The final Group D match was a dead rubber with both clubs guaranteed their place in the knockout phase in February. Considering the Magpies present injury list and current poor run of form I was expecting “Nul points” from this game, never mind the required victory which would see United win the group.

The match went exactly as I had anticipated with a goal in each half from striker Cheick Diabate settling the tie. The big Mali striker’s glancing header on 29 minutes put the hosts in a buoyant mood with some fine saves from Rob Elliott on a rare United start, limited the goal tally to just one at half time.

Bordeaux sealed victory on 73 minutes when Diabate latched on to a through ball before easily out-muscling and outpacing Williamson and firing past Elliott.  The win guarantees the French side a seeded spot in the knockout draw, while United will face one of the group winners or Champions League drop outs.

I thoroughly enjoyed this European trip, what made it so great was it was well organised and everything ran like clockwork. The city was very welcoming and the local resident’s friendly, although I did have a wee confrontation with a workie-ticket poliss outside the stadium, which meant it could have been my turn to be left behind in custody on foreign shores. Call me a snob if you like, but I do prefer this kind of foreign trip when there is a smaller support (1,200 attended) to when the Toon Army take a place over, as if you’re back hyem in the Bigg Market. I was home and tucked up in bed at twenty past midnight and up again for work at 5am, which meant I got home quicker from France than I did the night before when I was stuck in traffic.

I'm looking forward to the draw for the next round and hopefully I can do another Euro jaunt in the new year, however on the pitch United need to drastically improve and strengthen the squad in January or the Round of 32 could be the Magpies last fixture in Europe for a while.

Matchday stats

GBFC 2(Diabate 29,73 )NUFC 0

att.19,983

Admission £13

Programme:Free inside stadium

Ground no.335 Stade Chaban Delmas - Matchday Web album 

My Matchday - 334 Firhill Stadium

Partick Thistle 0v1 Dunfermline Athletic

Scottish Cup 4th Round

Saturday 1st December 2012 

Similar to my matchday at Albion Rovers last month, I had pre-booked trains to Edinburgh unaware of which Scottish Cup fixture I would be attended until the draw was made. After scrutinising the fixtures I decided to head west from Edinburgh and have a day out in Glasgow.

Partick Thistle Football Club are based in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. The former burgh takes its name from Hew Hill, the Lord of Gairbraid, who left his estate to his daughter Mary Hill, who married Robert Graham of Dawsholm in 1763. They used the land on the estate to form coalmines which turned out to be non-profitable, but much needed finances were provided when Parliament approved the cutting of the Forth and Clyde Canal through the estate in 1768.

Maryhill has also featured on both the small and big screen, as Maryhill Police Station is the home of internationally famous TV Glaswegian detective Taggart and in the movies a café and a pub supplied scenes in the film Trainspotting.

The club formed in the burgh of Partick in 1876 and played at various grounds including Kelvingrove, Jordanvale Park and Muir Park. In 1891 the club settled next to the River Clyde at Meadowside, but were forced into another move to make way for a shipyard in 1908.

The club played all their home games during the 1908-09 season at various grounds in Glasgow until securing a site owned by the Caledonian Railway in Maryhill for £5,500, which finally became their  settled  home, which means they haven’t played in their birthplace for over 100 years.

Thistle became founder members of the Scottish League Second Division in 1893 and have won silverware in major cup competitions, beaten Rangers 1–0 in the 1921 Scottish Cup final and also winning the League Cup in 1971–72, the Jags hammering hot favourites Celtic 4-1 in the final.  As far as the League competition is concerned, Thistle achieved third place finishes in the top division in 1948, 1954 and 1963.

Firhill Park got off to a bit of a false start, as it was due to open on the 21st August 1909. The first match was postponed because it had not been declared safe for public use and without planning consent, so the ground opened a month later.

Major ground work commenced during the 1920s with the main stand constructed in 1927. It was during this decade that the record attendance was set for a Thistle game when 49,838 saw The Jags take on Rangers in 1922. Then the stadium record attendance was set a year after the main stand was opened for a British Home Championship game between Scotland and Ireland, when 54,728 people attended the international fixture.
Extra income was raised when the ground hosted greyhound racing in the 1930s, but further improvements weren’t made until the early 1950s, with cover added to parts of the terracing and floodlights installed, which were first switched on for a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur in November 1955.

Firhill’s capacity was cut in half following the Safety of Sports Grounds Act in 1977, reduced down to 20,500. In 1986, Firhill became the first Scottish ground in the modern era to allow a ground share, when Clyde moved in for 5 years after being evicted from Shawfield. Hamilton Academical also shared Firhill in two different spells from 1994.

The original Main Stand is still standing but is no longer in use due to maintenance costs. The stand was original built with a 6,000 capacity, but now houses about 2,900 seats with a small terraced enclosure at the front. The stand now has an office block at one side and its here where the players enter the park. The team dugouts are still situated at the front and the stand is only used by club officials, unless there’s a big game, such as a clash with the old firm when the stand opens to increase capacity.

The Jackie Husband Stand named after the former Thistle player, opened in December 1994. The impressive large cantilever stand replaced the huge section of enclosed terracing on the east side. The stand is decked out with mostly grey and silver seats amongst the 6,263 capacity which includes the press area at the rear.

The North Stand was built in 2002 to meet the SPL criteria on stadium capacity which stated at the time that clubs must have a minimum of 10,000 seats. The 2,014 capacity stand originally ran two thirds the length of the pitch, but was extended in 2003 after the sale of some land to allow the construction of student flats behind the stand. This is also decked out in silver with a band of seats in the club colours.
There are plans for a new 1,000 seated family stand at the disused south end, although planning permission still hasn’t been granted on the grass bank, which is known as “The Bing” to Thistle fans. Now that Firhill is an all seated ground, its turned from a park to a stadium with a current capacity of 10,887.

Dunfermline gained revenge for their 5-1 gubbing by The Jags just three weeks ago, to knock the First Division leaders out of the Scottish Cup in an eventful tie at Firhill.

The decisive goal came after 35 minutes when Andy Barrowman got on the end of a right wing cross to nod home at the far post. This came after the home side were reduced to ten men when Thistle defender Aaron Muirhead was adjudged to have been the last man, given a straight red card for a foul on Craig Dargo in the 28^th minute.
Up until this point the game was an even contest, but The Pars made good use of the extra man and should have finished the game off on the hour mark, but were denied by fantastic double save from Graeme Smith, saving a Husband effort from eight yards and the follow up shot from substitute Cardle, to keep his team in the tie.

Thistle were awarded a penalty on 72 minutes when Chris Erskine was felled in the box by Andy Geggan. From the resulting spot kick Dunfermline ‘keeper Gallacher tipped Ross Forbes’ effort onto the post, then the ball agonisingly rolled along the goal line before being cleared by the visitors defence.

From this moment you knew it wasn’t going to be Thistle’s day, and even the sending off of Barrowman, who received a second yellow card on 90 minutes for a late challenge on Sinclair, didn’t make any difference to the outcome as Dunfermline secured their place in the 5^th round draw.

As this is probably my last visit to Glasgow for a while, I made the most of my time in this great city by adding more fuel to the fire regarding my OCD problem of drinking in Wetherspoons pubs wherever I may be. I visited five previously unchartered JDW pubs; Camperdown Place, The Edward Wylie, The Hanglers Circus, Crystal Palace, with the pint of the day going to Cairngora‘Wildcat’ (5.1%) in The Society Rooms. I headed up to Firhill at around 2pm catching the subway from Buchanan Street to St Georges Cross. The Glasgow tube service is shit-hot, so fast it knocks the London Underground into a cocked-hat, from boarding the train I was on Maryhill Road after only three minutes; from there it was a 15 minute walk up the hill to the stadium.

Outside the ground I bumped into Steve McCann – Travelling Fan, who turned up at this game after his original plan of going to Cowdenbeath became a victim of the frosty weather. We arranged to meet up for a pint in Edinburgh afterwards, but in the end this wasn’t possible as we both missed the 1715 train, so I had insufficient time for a bevvy.

I requested a press pass for this game and on arrival the lovely Stacey was on hand to welcome me to Firhill, after forgiven her for spelling my name wrong, she pointed me in the direction of the press room and told me to help myself to hot drinks and sandwiches, which I gratefully devoured after working up quite an appetite following my JDW Glasgow tour. There was also scotch pies to be had at half time, which wasn’t a surprise, as your always well looked after, making sure you’re properly feed and watered on this side of the border.

It was great to finally catch up with Partick Thistle on their own patch. I’ve always had a fascination with The Jags as their red and yellow strip is the closest attire to the mighty Melchester Rovers, although I’m not too impressed with this season’s fashion range of yellow shirt with red pin stripes. Partick Thistle may not have had that amount of over the top success or never had a prolific blonde haired record breaking striker (What about Mo Johnston?…Eddy) but they are a smashing little outfit and a proper community based club and I wish them all the best in their pursuit of the First Division title this season and a return to the SPL.

Matchday Stats
PTFC 0 DAFC1(Barrowman 35)
att.3,197
Admission:Press (£12)
Programme £2.50

Ground no.334 Firhill Stadium - Matchday Web album (21 pictures)