My Matchday - 246 2inspire Park

Tadcaster Albion 4v0 Eccleshill Town
Northern Counties East League Division 1
Saturday 27th March 2010
Tadcaster is a market town in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, which lies on the River Wharfe situated between the cities of Leeds and York.
The town has a long association with the brewing industry from as far back as the 14th century, due to the quality of the local water. Freshwater springs known locally as popple-wells, can still be seen bubbling up near St. Mary’s church.
The water is made from very hard magnesium limestone, rich in sulphate of lime which proved ideal for producing bright bitter beer as brewed by John Smith’s in Tadcaster from 1847, as bitter began to replace in popularity the sweeter porter ales, which had up to then, been the working-man's preferred pint.
There are three breweries still making booze in the town. The Tower Brewery, which was formally owned by Bass until being taking over by Coors. The Old Brewery which is the oldest in Yorkshire is home to the Samuel Smith Brewery, which was passed on to John’s nephew Samuel after John Smith’s Brewery moved on to bigger premises next door.

It was here that the John Smith’s Brewery formed their own football club, playing on the cricket ground pitch behind the brewery in 1892. The club began playing in local leagues, winning the York Football League Second Division in 1909-10 and continued playing in the First Division until the club disbanded in 1920.
The club remerged in 1923 as Tadcaster Albion, but reverted to the original John Smith name four years later, however the club formed a second team in 1930, using the Albion name with both teams competing against each other in the York Football League.
After the war both clubs merged, this time keeping the Tadcaster Albion name and nicknamed themselves “The Brewers” winning the York Football League title for the only time in 1947-48, where they remained until joining the Yorkshire League in 1973-74.
Two league titles in four seasons saw The Brewers in the Yorkshire League’s top division by the 1977-78 campaign, a season which produced their best run in the FA Vase, reaching the 5th round.
In 1982-83 they became founder members of the Northern Counties East League where they have the distinction of recording the league’s record score - 13-0 against Blidworth MW during the 1997-98 season.

The Brewers are yet to play in the NCEL top division, but that looks set the change as Albion produced a convincing win over Eccleshill United to strengthen their position in the promotion race.
It was Albion’s left sided midfielder Mike Braithwaite who stole the show, scoring a hat-trick after 50 minutes. He opened the scoring with a left foot shot from the edge of the box , then doubled their lead when latching on to a long ball from the centre half, the ball fell nicely into his path, allowing it to bounce in front of him before nodding the ball over the keeper’s head, making it 2-0 at half time.
The third goal came from Thompson’s long ball over the top which had the Eccleshill defence on the back foot, Sunley squared the ball, picking out Braithwaite who produced another good finish, shooting low to the keeper‘s left hand post.
After an hour the goal hero was substituted, apparently his job was done, so it was left to Darren Brandon to complete the scoring, finishing off a good move and unselfish work from Taylor to score from close range five minutes from time.
This three points leaves Tadcaster a point behind leaders Brighouse Town but with the added luxury of three games in hand, so now it’s not only promotion the club are looking at, it’s winning the Division One title as well.

In 1960 the club moved a further 100 yards along the river from their old Ings ground to The Park, which is now know by its sponsored name - 2inspire Park.
When I arrived at the ground I got a bit anxious with the lack of activity on the pitch, expecting the players to be doing their pre-match warm up. I then discovered that the players use a separate pitch behind the ground, keeping the main pitch in prime condition for matchday.
The admission hut is next to the clubhouse, after paying and purchasing a programme I asked if they had any pin badges, the gateman and his two assistants looked at me as if I was asking for the crown jewels, so as you can guess - there wasn’t any!
There is only one stand at The Park, situated behind the left side goal surrounded by hard standing. The stand has a mix of 62 red and blue seats, which were backside free during the game. I didn’t have to count the seats in the stand as they are each numbered 1-62.
The majority of spectators gather around the clubhouse. The cream building is quite impressive inside, having a spacious bar with Sky Sports on two screens and a separate refreshment bar for hot drinks and snacks. The best feature is the large window which spans along the length of the clubhouse, which means you don’t have to go outside to watch the game, a bit like a large communal executive box.
Terrace steps lead up to the building which also houses the changing rooms and there’s a bench seating area at the side. The far side has a pair of brick dugouts with partial hard standing which leads to the far goal which has a large lawn area and three sets of tall thin light pylons at each side.
As a visitor to the ground I can’t say (which I’ve said many times in the past) that this is a friendly ground where your made very welcome by the fact you’ve made the effort to come and visit their football club. However if you live locally and support The Brewers then relaxing in the clubhouse with a cheap pint of John Smith’s brewed by the neighbours, looking out of the window watching some NCEL action and not forgetting the sweet tones of Jeff Stelling in the background, what better way could you spend a Saturday afternoon?

TAFC 4(Braithwaite 22,35,52 Brandon 83) EUFC 0
att.68

admision £4

programme £1

Ground no.246 2inspire Park - Matchday Webalbum (16 pictures)

My Matchday - 245 Bescot Stadium

Walsall 1v0 Colchester United
League One
Saturday 20th March 2010

Walsall is an industrial town in the West Midlands, situated ten miles north west of Birmingham and eight miles east of Wolverhampton.
The town’s name is believed to originate from the words "Walh halh", which means "valley of the Celtic speakers”. Although the town isn’t referenced in the Doomsday Book, it was mentioned as 'Walesho' in a document dated in 1002.
The small market town developed and population increased during the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing the likes of saddles, chains, buckles and limestone quarrying.
Amongst the town’s notable people are 70’s glam rocker Noddy Holder from Slade and “Metal Legend” (Well according to my daughter Laura anyway) Rob Halford from Judas Priest, who were both born in the town.

Walsall Town were founded in 1877 and along with Walsall Swifts (who formed two years later) amalgamated as Walsall Town Swifts in 1888. Both clubs played on adjacent pitches on a sports ground in Chuckney, which remained their home as the club gained admission to the Football League in 1892 in the newly formed Second Division.
Gates topped the 2,000 mark, but after complaints from local residents in the Sutton Road area over their noisy neighbours, they moved to a new ground on West Bromwich Road in 1893 which had a capacity of just over 4,500.
In 1895 the club dropped out of the League but were re-elected the following year with a new name and ground. Walsall FC played their first game on Hilary Street in September 1896, however the club struggled financially and were evicted for two years before finally agreeing on a new lease in 1903. The Saddlers played at Fellows Park for the next 87 years, the ground being renamed in 1930 in honour of the clubs popular benefactor and club chairman Len Fellows.

Walsall moved to the Bescot Stadium in 1990, built by GMI Construction at a cost of £4.5m. The stadium was officially opened by Sir Stanley Matthews on August 18th 1990, before a pre-season friendly with Aston Villa in front of a crowd of 9,551 with the first goal honour going to Tony Cascarino in a 4-0 Villa win.
The opening league fixture in Division Four game came the following Saturday, a 2-2 draw with Torquay United watched by a crowd of 5,219.

The ground was renamed The Banks’s Stadium in 2007 in a 11 year sponsorship deal with the Marston Brewery, however it is still affectionately known as “The Bescot” to Saddlers fans.
The H.L. Fellows Stand is the main entrance to the stadium, the stand includes executive boxes, lounges and suites and has been renamed the ‘Text 64446 Health Stand’ The stand itself is quite shallow and has a TV gantry box perched on the roof in between a set of four floodlights.
The Walsall Bite Size Stand is similar in size and appearance to the stand opposite and has a family section. Both stands are slightly spoilt by several supporting pillars which can restrict your view, however the stands close proximity to the pitch more than makes up for this.
The Gilbert Alsop Stand terrace was replaced with the new Floor To Go Purple Stand in 2003 which towers over the rest of the stadium. The two tier cantilever stand can be seen by passing traffic on the M6, which gives the impression that the ground is bigger than it actually is.
Built at a cost of £3m its two tiers are split by a glass fronted concourse, the upper tier is larger with two sections of seats, the top section having WFC in white amongst the red seats.
Away supporters use the Dains Stand, which was originally a terrace until seats were added in 1992 at a cost of £28,000. The stand has an electric scoreboard perched on the roof and a programme shop outside next to the turnstiles.
The Club have been granted planning permission to re-develop the stand in a mirror image of the Floors 2 Go Stand which will add 2,300 seats to the stadium, raising the overall capacity to 13,500.
The back of the stand will also feature a giant advertising hoarding, clearly visible from the passing traffic on the M6, a prime spot for potential sponsors.
I took advantage of a family rail day out in Birmingham to slope off for a couple of hours and drop in on the Bescot. The train from New Street to Bescot Stadium station only takes around 20 minutes and cost £3 return.
I checked all my records and historical facts and I was shocked and ashamed to discover- that in 36 years of watching football I’ve never seen Walsall play.
The long wait to see The Saddlers in action nearly ended in disappointment, but a dire game was lit up in injury time, with a fine individual goal from Darren Byfield saving the day.
On a heavy cut up surface, good football was at a minimal, each side carved out one decent chance in the first half. Kevin Lisbie could have put Colchester ahead in the tenth minute, latching on to a through ball from Prutton, but keeper Gilmartin got down well to block the shot. Minutes later a cross from the left found Mattis, whose close range volley was brilliantly tipped over by Williams.
Just prior to the break Walsall were reduced to ten men when a late tackle by Hughes on Vincent produced a straight red. The Saddlers fans were angered by the decision and spent the rest of the afternoon crying for parity on the field, with calls of “off off off ” every time a Walsall player was tackled.
In the second period the visitors had chances to win it, although man of the match Gilmartin easily dealt with the idle threat. The U’s had a goal by Wordsworth chalked off for offside and in the final minute of normal time, a Gillespie volley from 15 yards came back off the woodwork.
Then with seconds remaining Walsall pulled off an unlikely victory. Substitute Byfield picked up the ball wide on the left, as the furthest attacking player he decided to go for goal himself, making a beeline to the penalty area, before cutting inside, turning the defender then sliding the ball under the keepers body. I celebrated the goal as if I was an avid Walsall fan, but the glee was for more selfish reasons, as I hate travelling a couple of a hundred miles to witness a dismal goalless draw.

After the match I caught the 1704 back to New Street, along with a train full of very disappointed and annoyed Colchester fans. I met up with the rest of the Smudgers before boarding the 1803 back to Newcastle.
The Bescot Stadium is a lot better than I imagined it would be. It’s a tight little ground with a quite homely feel to it. The newest stand is quite impressive and if plans go ahead to add a similar stand in the away end then The Saddlers will have themselves a smart little stadium, although with average crowds of under 4,000 and treading water in the middle of League One, there’s no real urgency for a bigger ground just yet.

WFC 1(Byfield 90+3) CUFC 0

att.3510

Admission £20

Programme £2.50

Ground no.245 Bescot stadium - Matchday Web album(15 pictures)

My Matchday - 244 Prostar Stadium

Shrewsbury Town 0v1 Rochdale

League Two

Saturday 13th March 2010

Shrewsbury is a historic market town in the county of Shropshire. The town centre features over 660 listed buildings, its medieval narrow streets and passages features many timber framed buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries.
The town remains largely intact as it wasn’t bombed during World War II. The last conflicts in the town came between the English and Welsh, its geographical position caused many tiffs between the countries amid the 7th and 13th centuries. The most significant came in 1069, when a Welsh invasion was thwarted by William The Conqueror. William gave Roger de Montgomery the town as a reward and he build Shrewsbury Castle in 1074.
The most famous Salopian is English naturalist Charles Darwin, but the town’s is mostly well known for the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show, one of the oldest and largest horticulture events in the country which attracts over 100,000 visitors during mid August every year.

Shrewsbury Town formed in 1886 originally playing on the Racecourse Ground at Monkmoor. In 1889 the club moved to Amblers Field, where they played for four seasons before another move, this time to Sutton Lane when elected to the Birmingham League.
In 1895 the club looked to have found a permanent home at the Barracks Ground. The Shrews turned professional and drew crowds of 5,000 and stayed there for the next 15 years until an offer of a ground in the town centre on the banks of the River Severn.
After 97 years Shrewsbury Town left there quaint home at Gay Meadow for a brand new stadium on the southern outskirts of the town between Meole Brace and Sutton Farm in 2007.
The New Meadow or to give its official sponsorship name for the next four years - Prostar Stadium, was built by Hall Construction and has a capacity of 9,875.
The stadium has four separate stands equal in size and appearance with blue seats and amber lettering. The North Stand is the away end and differs slightly from the South Stand having a police control box in the corner and electric scoreboard central.
The main stand is the Roland Wycherley East Stand, which is slightly larger than the West Stand having hospitality boxes along the top, both stands have four floodlight pylons perched on the roof.
There’s the option to expand the capacity to over 12,500 with the corners filled between the Roland Wycherley Stand, South Stand and West Stand, which is only likely if the Shrews progress up the Football League. At the moment the corners are used as bicycle parks, I’ve never seen so many bikes parked outside a football ground, the stadium’s outpost means that cycling is the best mode of transport to the match.

Rochdale strengthened their position at the top of League Two with a well earned victory at play-off hopefuls Shrewsbury.
The decisive goal came just after the hour mark. A free kick from Kennedy was nodding home at the far post by substitute Joe Thompson for his sixth goal of the season.
Rochdale were twice denied by the woodwork in the first half, after six minutes a wind assisted cross by Kennedy came back off the post, then a free kick from the left back hit the crossbar in stoppage time. In between Dale went close with efforts from Hibbert, Elder and Langmead was twice denied by keeper Button.
The Shrews best chance fell to Cansdell-Sherriff on 58 minutes, his near post header from a corner kick saw the woodwork again called into action.
Shrewsbury were reduced to ten men on 74 minutes, Cansdell-Sherriff was caught in possession by Dagnall, who then dragged back the striker, denying him a clear run on goal, which gave the referee no option but to produce a red card.
The leaders comfortably held on to their one goal advantage to stretch their lead at the top of League Two to nine points and look champions elect.

This was my first return to the banks of the River Severn in just over 30 years. I left Central Station at 0730, Shrewsbury is served by trains from Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly. I took the cheaper option of going via Manc, but due to unnecessary waiting time and an uncomfortable rattler train from Manchester-Newcastle, which was invaded by a gang of drunken scrapping Yorkshire tarts - I wish I had paid the extra cash and took the Brum route.

My previous jaunt came on the 23rd February 1980 for a Newcastle away match in what turned out to be my first and only visit to the much missed Gay Meadow.
There’s three things I can clearly recollect from that day; This was my first away match travelling with the Supporters Club on the old dirty yellow Armstrong Galley coaches, which became a regular occurrence over the subsequent years.
I do remember the match well, as Newcastle got absolutely tanked by a rampant Shrews side. Goals from Maguire, King and Biggins with an injury time Alan Shoulder penalty small consolation, which made the 3-1 score line look closer than it actually was. Although me and Ian celebrated that goal as if it was a last minute winner, two young un’s joyful seeing a goal on opposition soil.
The third was a player amongst the United line-up that afternoon. A Scottish international who was playing his third and final game in a loan spell from Aston Villa. Most Newcastle supporters might not know, or if they did, have probably forgot, that we actually had midfield schemer Alex Cropley on loan.
Cropley made his name at Hibernian, before a six-figure move to Arsenal in 1972. He signed for Villa two years later in a £125,000 deal, going on to make 67 appearances scoring 7 goals.
Proud Scot Cropley was actually born in Aldershot, his career later took him to the States with Toronto Blizzard, then on to Pompey before returning to Hibs in 1982.
An eventful career which was unfortunately blighted by injuries including a double leg break in 1975, much loved at Hibs and the Villa, but his short time at Newcastle is probably best described as ‘anonymous’ typified by that bloody good hiding at Gay Meadow.

I arrived in the town at 11.35, which gave me amble time to explore the town’s public houses, calling in The Shrewsbury Hotel, Montgomery’s Tower, The Salopian Bar and The Three Fishes. After a canny bevvy I needed to walk it off so took the long walk to the stadium instead of catching the bus.
After the game I got talking to a Shrews fan who walked me back into the town, taking various shortcuts which allowed me time for a quick pint in The Bulls Head which is next to the train station.
I caught the 1754 back to Manchester for my connecting train at 1942. After an eventful journey home It was pleasing to finally arrive back in Newcastle at 2220, having enjoyed a nice quiet relaxing day in leafy Shropshire.

STFC 0 RFC 1(Thompson 62)

att.6081

Admission £18

Programme £2.50

Links

Bevvy Almanac
Simple Piemans visit earlier this season.

Ground no.244 Prostar stadium - Matchday Webalbum (15 pictures)

My Matchday - 243 The Shay

FC Halifax Town 3v0 Prescot Cables
Unibond Division One North
Saturday 6th March 2010 Halifax is a Minster town in the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire. Halifax Minster dates back to the 12th century and is dedicated to John the Baptist, the towns coat of arms carries an image of the saints head, as local medieval legend proclaims the head of John the Baptist was buried here.
The town is well known for manufacturing wool and is also the birthplace of the Toffee Crisp! Toffee King John McIntosh started off from a humble shop in 1890, before becoming a thriving family business selling those chocolate delights including Quality Street and Rolos worldwide. John McIntosh merged with Rowntrees to form Rowntree-McIntosh in 1969 before being taking over by Nestle in 1988.
Nowadays the Halifax name is made famous by the bank and former building society. ‘The HalifaX’ has giving TV viewers some of the most irritating and overall annoying advertisements in the history of British television, their advertising campaigns have been a collection of excruciating visual and aural pain which is clearly at the top of my ‘foot through the tele’ moments.

FC Halifax Town formed out of the ashes of Halifax Town who went into administration during 2007-08 season. Debts of £2million with over £800,000 owed to HM Revenue and Customs saw the club wound up. The Shaymen reformed in July 2008, be it three steps further down the pyramid, the FA placing them in the Unibond League Division One North.
The original club formed in 1911, ten years later becoming founder members of the Football League Division Three North. The club peaked in 1970-71 finishing 3rd in the old 3rd Division missing out on promotion by one place, four points behind Fulham and five behind champions Preston North End.
Town were relegated to the Conference in 1992 before finally managed to regain their Football League status in 1998, until becoming the first club to be twice relegated into the Conference in 2001/02.
This time there was no League return, losing the 2006 play-off final to Hereford United with a narrow 3-2 defeat in extra-time. That 109th minute winning goal by Ryan Green was the beginning of the end, as the club then struggled both on the field and financially off it, which finally led to the club’s death within two years.

Having originally played on grounds on Sandhall Lane and Exley, The Shay was purposely built for Halifax Town’s arrival into the Football League. The name ‘Shay’ derives from the Old English word for ‘shaw’ meaning a small woodland area.
Work commenced in October 1920, players, directors and fans worked together to get the ground ready for the following season, with League football kicking off on 3rd September 1921 with a 5-0 over Darlington in front of 10,000 spectators.
The first stand was purchased from Manchester City’s old Hyde Road ground, which still stands and the only survivor of the big oval ash banked stadium, with terracing and stands far from the shrunken pitch.
The Skircoat Stand as it is now called, is still currently the main stand. The stand was once split between terracing and seats but is now all seated in blue with white lettering and gives the appearance that it may have been extended due to the uneven roof. Access is gained at the top of the stand along a long gangway, once inside at the top there’s a press area with some seats out of use. The front of the stand has blue supporting pillars and the peaked roof still has old fashioned type advertising at the side.

The Shay introduced Speedway for the first time in 1949, to accommodate this the pitch was made smaller to make way for the dirt track. The sport only lasted for three years but returning in 1965, again more construction work took place and this time it was a success, the Halifax Dukes stayed for the next twenty years and got bigger attendances than their football landlords.
The largest attendance came in February 1953 for an FA Cup 5th round tie with Tottenham Hotspur which drew a crowd of 36,885, with floodlights first switched on in 1961, Red Star Belgrade being the first illustrious opponents under lights.

The Shay is very different to what many people will remember when visiting as a '92 club', as three sides of the ground have completely changed with funding from the Football Foundation and Calderdale Council, the stadium owners since 1987.
The North Stand was built in 1998 which allowed Halifax Town to return to the Football League when winning the Conference. The stand is only used when there’s a large away support or when Halifax RLC host a big game. The South Stand is a similar terrace, completed over the following year and is the popular end with home fans. Both are large terraces with a blue frame and crash barriers with yellow gangways with excellent views of the pitch. The South Stand also has a five-a-side pitch and the Southdale lounge at the rear, there's also a large cabin temporary being used for hospitality purposes.
The East Stand will become the grounds main stand when finally completed. It replaced the old Patrons Stand which was demolished in 2000, but relegation meant work ceased after only two years. In 2008 the council stumped up £4.5m to finish the project which is has now finally complete and is planning to be opened by Easter.
The stand is quite impressive, decked out in blue with a capacity of 3,500 with hospitality suites along the top and centrally towards the south side.

FC Halifax strengthened their position in their quest for automatic promotion with a routine three goal win over a poor Prescot side.
On a heavily sanded pitch it was the visitors who started brightly but failed to trouble Halifax keeper Hedge, a trend which would continue for the rest of the afternoon as any wayward efforts tended to end up in the stands.
Halifax took the lead after half an hour and what an absolute beauty it was. A corner kick was headed clear but fell into the path of Winters, who hit a sweet volley from the edge of the box which flew high into the net.
Winters could have capped his man of the match performance with a second on 56 minutes, unlucky to see his 20 yard effort come back off the post, however two minutes later Town grabbed their second. Marshall ran on to a through ball but then seemed to bottle out of the 50-50 with goalkeeper Paxton, but an error from the keeper saw the ball fall kindly at his feet, leaving him to poke the ball into an empty net.
Halifax were reduced to ten men on the hour mark. Baker saw red after a lunge at centre half McIntosh. After a long delay Marshall was stretchered off, the victim was viciously booed off by some of the home support while the culprit had received a standing ovation, as a neutral spectator I have to ask the question … Why?
The numerical advantage didn’t make a difference as the home team had chances to add to the score. Prescot’s afternoon was typified by left back Laundon who received his second yellow card for childishly kicking the ball away, which summed up their frustrating afternoon.
The scoreline was complete in the third minute of injury time, good work by Dean set up Lowe to fire home from close range, which leaves The Shaymen four points behind leaders Lancaster but with a game in hand, with a meeting between the two teams still to come at The Shay next month.

My initial plan was a visit to Keighley, to see Silsden AFC play one of their last remaining fixtures in their ground share with their Rugby League landlords at Cougar Park.
I had booked some reasonably priced direct train tickets to Leeds, but after checking the Silsden forum on Friday night I discovered the NWCL game was postponed due to an egg chasing fixture clash.
So after digging out last weeks Non League Paper, I hastily checked out the fixtures and was relieved and also delighted to find that FC Halifax were at home, meaning I could finally pay a long overdue visit to The wonderful Shay.
My pre-booked trains nicely coincided with the 35-40 minute connection to Halifax, which gave me a good hour to have a look around and naturally have a couple of bevvies. After finally finding ‘The Barum Top Inn’ I then headed off towards the ground intending to stop off at the nearby GBG listed ‘Three Pigeons’. Before I got that far I walked past the Pump Room pub which somehow was beckoning me inside.
Its calling must have been the Geordie connection, as the lady behind the bar was a canny lass from Jarrow and the pub had the equivalent of ‘a little boy in a sweetshop’ choice of fine ales, I selected a pint of Goats Milk, and as I’m a native of Goatshead, it was a natural choice.
The pub had a friendly atmosphere, full of Yorkshiremen standing at the bar having deep discussions on their favourite subject - Yorkshire! I would have liked to have stayed longer but I had a match to go to, but its one I’d recommended to any future travellers.
I enjoyed my brief stay in Halifax. Those of you who visited the old Shay will be surprised how much it’s changed, although I feel the ground hasn’t lost any of its aura or appeal since its makeover. It’s just a shame what happened to the original Halifax Town as a cracking football ground like this is wasted languishing deep in the Unibond League.

FCHT 3(Winters 31 Marshall 57 Lowe 90)

PCFC 0

Att.1,322

Admission £10

Programme £2.50

Ground no.243 The Shay - Matchday Webalbum (21 pictures)