My Matchday - 375 Tameside Stadium

Curzon Ashton 3v1 Kendal Town
Evo-Stick First Division North
Saturday 23rd November 2013
It’s been a few years since I’ve had a day out in Manchester, so I booked train tickets a few months ago, but without any idea what my football destination was. That decision was made just last weekend, when I decided that after a few pub and record store visits in Manc I would head across to Ashton-Under-Lyne and visit the Tameside Stadium, the  home of Curzon Ashton.

Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester. The town lies on the north bank of the River Tame at the foothills of the Pennines, situated just over six miles from Manchester city centre.
Ashton was once considered "bare, wet, and almost worthless” until the introduction of the cotton trade in the 18th century. The town grew in prominence during the Industrial Revolution and by the mid-19th century became an important mill town at a convergence of newly constructed canals and railways, plus the transport network allowed for an economic boom, which led to the granting of honorific borough status in 1847. Ashton’s heavy industries declined during the mid-20th century but the town has continued to thrive as a centre of commerce, and is "considered the hub of Tameside” 
Curzon Ashton was formed in 1963 after the merger of Curzon Road F.C. and Ashton Amateurs F.C. originally known in their early years  as Curzon Amateurs. The club are nicknamed The Nash in reference to their former home National Park.
Curzon originally played in the Manchester League before becoming founder members of the Cheshire League Division Two in 1978. They won promotion in their debut season and the following year they navigated through six rounds of the FA Vase before losing out in the semi-finals to Stamford. They lost both legs 2–0 with the home tie played in front of a record home attendance of 1826 at National Park.
Curzon became founder members of both the North West Counties League First Division in 1983-84 and the First Division of the Northern Premier League when the Non-League pyramid was reshuffled in 1988. The club returned to the NWCL in 1998 after playing a single season in the North Counties East League, winning promotion from Division Two in 1999-2000.
Their debut season at the Tameside Stadium was a memorable one, amassing 99 points in the 2006-07 title race, finishing runners-up to FC United of Manchester and promotion to the Northern Premier League First Division North. They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase, but again missed out on a trip to Wembley, this time they were denied by Truro City, winning the first leg at home 1-0 but lost out 3-2 on aggregate.
Since winning promotion The Nash have consistently finished in the top five, but on each occasion have failed to win further promotion via the play-offs.In the 2008–09 season they reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time where they defeated League Two side Exeter City 3–2, before losing 2–0 away to Conference National side Kidderminster Harriers in round two.
Curzon Ashton moved to the Tameside Stadium for the start of season 2005/06, the ground formally opened by Sir Alex Ferguson before a game against a Manchester United XI on the 8th September.
On the approach to the stadium there’s a statue commemorating three local football legends – Denton born Jimmy Armfield with World Cup winner Geoff Hurst and 2006 Italian World Cup star Simone Perottta, who were both born in Ashton.
The main stand holds 527 blue seats with TMBC picked out in white lettering (that’s the coonsill..Eddy) with the changing rooms and clubhouse underneath. The club shop is housed in a storage container near the turnstiles, which stocks a good range of programmes and souvenirs. On the opposite side is a large covered terrace which shelters 1100 and the rest of the ground is made up of built up terracing, behind the goals and at the wings of each stand. Overall a smart looking stadium, which has a current capacity of 4,000. 
Second placed Curzon Ashton were up against Kendal Town for the first time in a league fixture since 1997, when they were still called Netherfield.
Although I was attending the game as a neutral I always favour a team wearing black and white shirts, plus I lived in a street with the word Kendal in its name on and off for 30 years, so today I favoured the Cumbrians.
The visitors made a positive start and took the lead on 27 minutes when Rob Wilson fired in at the far post. The game turned on its head early in the second half when Danny McGahon was harshly shown a second yellow card and the hosts took advantage of the extra man with a three goal burst in a four minute spell from the 70th minute.
Matty Warburton got on the end of a right wing cross to slide in and score followed by a neat turn and shot from Ryan Brooke to fire Curzon ahead. From the restart Ryan Watson was on hand to make it 3-1 and the points were bagged. Kendal were awarded a penalty deep into injury time when Zak Brown was fouled by Ashton ‘keeper Anthony Thompson. From the resulting spot-kick he got down well to save Wilson’s effort to round off a fine victory for The Nash.
This matchday had all the ingredients of a good and somewhat typical day out, that my dozen or so regular readers will be familiar with. I arrived in Manchester at 1050am and after some record store shopping, I went for a few bevvys. I arranged to meet up with 100FgC Squad #187 Alan Oliver (aka The Casual Hopper) for the first time and although he’s now on the wagon he was good enough to take me around the city’s ‘Spoons pubs, of which I was confused by which ones I had previously ticked off. Alan was also good enough to pay for a taxi to Ashton where on arrival we alighted at The Ash Tree JDW boozer for a quick drink before heading to the match.

Alan is currently doing the FA Cup through all 14 rounds which started at the extra-preliminary stage at West Didsbury & Chorlton in August all the way to Wembley in May, all in aid of The Christie Charity, which raises funds to help provide additional services and undertake vital research for cancer patients. 
If you would like to show your support and sponsor Alan in his FA Cup quest then please visit his blog  http://thecasualhopper.co.uk/ where you can make a donation to a great cause.
After the match I thanked Alan for a cracking day and heading to the train station, where  there were no trains running just a bus replacement service. My plan was to just head to Stalybridge for a few pints and catch my train to York from there, instead of returning to Manchester. The man in the hi-vis jacket showed me what bus to get for the 10 minute journey but fifteen minutes later I still hadn’t reached my required destination, then when I saw the splendour of the Ethiad Stadium I knew a f**kin' blunder had occurred. Worse was to come when the bus by-passed Piccadilly and in heavy traffic with time running out, headed towards Victoria Station. I asked the driver to let me off the bus, but he stubbornly refused and told me to get the Metro back to Piccadilly. To cut a long story short I missed the Metro by seconds and ran up to Piccadilly making the 1811 train to Scarborough with 3 minutes to spare. 
Funnily enough me and Alan were discussing running around chasing trains earlier, this is something I’m used to but when you’re in an unfamiliar city and have a belly full of beer its bloody hard work! So an enjoyable, action packed day and I  look forward to returning the city that has so much to answer for and meeting up with Squad #187 - The Casual Hopper sometime in the not too distant future.

Matchday Stats
CAFC 3(Warburton 70 Brooke 72 Watson 73) KTFC 1(Wilson 27)
Att.125
Admission £7.50
Programme £1.60

Ground no.375 Tameside Stadium - Matchday Web album(19 pictures)

My Matchday - 374 Belle Vue Stadium

Consett 1v2 Newcastle United XI
Official Opening of Belle View Stadium
Friday 22nd November 2013
One-hundred-and-ninety-one days since Newcastle United provided the opposition for Consett’s very last game at Belle Vue, the Toon have returned for the grand opening of The Steelmens new ground in the Crookhall area of the town, which forms part of Durham County Council’s regeneration of Consett. 
The development has saw the demolition of the club’s former ground, as well as replacing Belle Vue Sports Centre and Consett Baths with a £3m community based sports complex. I’ve featured Consett a couple of times on the blog but haven’t gave the club the full Google caboodle, so here you are..
Consett is a town in the northwest of County Durham, about 14 miles southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, which sits high on the edge of the Pennines.The town is perched on the steep eastern bank of the River Derwent with the town centre being around 885 feet above sea level, therefore making it one of the highest towns in the country. Although I live 14 miles away from the town, my own home is 500 feet above sea level in Sheriff Hill, which is the highest point in the Gateshead borough, so I can clearly see Consett and in particular the nearby Pontop Pike transmitter from my bedroom window.

Consett was a basic village in 1841 with 145 residents before becoming a boom town, as it sits on top of coking coal and blackband iron ore, and along with nearby limestone, had the three essential ingredients needed for blast furnaces to produce iron and steel. The Derwent Valley was the cradle of the British steel industry  helped by the easy availability of coal from Tyneside and the import of high quality iron ore from Sweden via the port of the Tyne. However, following the invention of the Bessemer process in the 19th century, steel could be made from British iron ore, so the Derwent Valley's geographical advantage was lost to South Yorkshire as Sheffield became the leading centre of the British steel industry.
The closure of the steel works in 1980 marked the end of the Derwent Valley steel heritage, and along with the closure of coal mines, it was also a first step in the decline of all heavy industry in the area, reaching an unemployment peak of 36% in in 1981.
Consett AFC was formed in 1899 as Consett Celtic and played local football until joining the Northern Alliance in 1919. The club switched to the North Eastern League in 1926 winning promotion from the Second Division in their debut season before going on to win the top division in 1939-40. When the league was disbanded in 1958 they moved onto the Midland League, then became founder members of the Northern Counties League in 1960, winning the title in 1962. In that same year they returned to the reformed North Eastern League which again ceased after only two years. The Steelmen joined the Wearside League, twice finishing runners-up and winning a couple of pots before joining the Northern League in 1970. 
The club have finished league runners-up in 1976-77 and 2007-08 and have won the Second Division on two occasions in 1988-89 and 2005-06. They’ve also lifted the Northern League Cup in 1995 as well as winning the Durham Challenge Cup six times.
Like minded football ground enthusiasts will be disappointed with this new venue, for starters I thought that the powers that be would come up with a more original name than Belle Vue Stadium, but the club felt it was only too right to honour the old ground.
There are two seated stands, one to the right hand side of the dugouts at the entrance end and the other sitting on the halfway line at the far side. Both are the regularly seen meccanno type stands,  filled with red flip seats. The changing rooms/clubhouse block are to the left of the dugouts and the rest of the ground is open. The best and most important feature is the 3G pitch, as Consett is notorious for being the first place in the north-east for snowfall and freezing temperatures, so there shouldn’t be any problems getting a match on now, just as long as they’ve got some big shovels!
In preparation for the game I called up to Consett earlier in the week to take some daylight photographs and on match night I set off early in anticipation of a big crowd. Upon my arrival at 7.20pm there was already a healthy queue and by the time I reached the turnstile fifteen minutes later, it had snaked out of the car park towards Delves Lane. Club Chairman Frank Bell appeared outside from the warmth of the clubhouse and reassured everyone that the match wouldn’t start until everyone was inside, so Consett born referee Mark Clattenburg eventually got proceedings underway at ten past eight.

In true Consett fashion the shiny new pitch already had a frost coating and there was the distinct Derwent Valley chill in the air. Prior to kick off the stadium was officially opened by the Vice-Chairman of Durham County Council John Robinson and Peter Beardsley, the Toon legend put on his boots and wore the number 10 shirt as a guest player for the evening.
I would have loved to see Peter score the very first goal at the Belle Vue Stadium, however that honour went to another Geordie as Adam Campbell fired United ahead on the half hour mark.

Newcastle made several substitutions at the break including two old warhorses from the Everton team of the ‘80s, now on the NUFC staff – Kevin Richardson and Dave Watson, the big centre half breezed through the game and hardly broke sweat.
On 56 minutes Consett equalised when substitute Luke Sullivan knocked in a right wing cross, but United snatched it late on when County Durham-born defender Jamie Cobain header home a near post header from a corner kick.

A fantastic evening and great reward for everyone connected with Consett AFC who have worked so hard in making this happen. The Belle View Stadium might not win any architectural awards but this won’t bother anyone at the club, as the whole point of the move is to benefit the community and built on a successful youth set up. The club run a large junior section covering all ages and have just announced a link with the Newcastle United Football Foundation, so things are looking bright and certainly heading in the right direction for The Steelmen.

Matchday Stats
CAFC 1(Sullivan 56) NUFC(Campbell 30 Cobain 86)
Att.TBC (approx 1,500)
Admission £6
Programme £2

Previous Consett AFC posts
My first visit to Belle Vue
My last visit to Belle Vue
Consett by The Riverside

Ground no.374 Belle View Stadium - Matchday Web album(28 pictures)

Heed Academy

373.The Bede Centre
Gateshead U-19s 9v0 Crewe Alexandra U-19s
Football Conference Youth Alliance - North Division
Wednesday 20th November 2013
I don't usually do Academy grounds.Its not the fact I don't count them(everyone else does) its just I never get the chance to attend matches at youth level apart from in the FA Youth Cup.
I took advantage of some time off work to see the Heed young'uns in action for the second time this week, following on from their disappointing exit from the Youth Cup against a very good Luton Town side on Monday night.

Home matches are usually played on the Gateshead Academy 3G pitches behind the International Stadium, however some matches this season have been played at the Bede Centre, which is situated on the other side of the Felling-by-pass. The pitch is enclosed running parallel with the Northern Rail and Metro lines which run past here, between Newcastle and the coast.
Gateshead took out their cup exit frustration on Crewe Alexandra, going into a seven goal lead by half time and adding another couple after the break, so I just had enough fingers and thumbs left to tally up a final score of 9-0.
As there's no more FA Youth Cup ties this season I'll hopefully get more opportunities to see the bairns in action in the Conference Youth Alliance again this season.


Matchday Stats
GFC 9 CAFC 0
Goal times  Carson 5 Hope 21,26,37,40 Briggs 36 Taggart 45 Oman 46 Lavery 59



Around The Alliance - part nine

I featured both Shankhouse and Killingworth in part five of Around the Alliance during the 2009-10 season, so Google searches may want to read up on this previous post for the historical background of both clubs. On the eve of this campaign both clubs switched grounds which was welcoming news for groundhoppers like myself, gaining a couple of new local ticks. To complete the trilogy of this latest episode I also made a long overdue visit to one of my local teams Gateshead Redheugh 1957.
Update - Cullercoats FC - Links Avenue added on 8th December


369. Action Park
Shankhouse 4v0 Willington Quay Saints
Archers of Blyth George Dobbins League Cup
Round 2
Saturday 12th October 2013
After spending the last few years based at the Northburn Complex in Cramlington, Shankhouse have returned to their previous home at Action Park, which is situated three and a half miles south in the Northumberland village of Dudley. The reason for their return is all down to finance and pitch problems at Northburn, where a lot of matches were postponed. During the summer the club held a fundraising day which raised sufficient funds to make future ground improvements to Action Park. The plans include hardstanding, mesh fencing, a new gate and the extension of the dugouts, which are the smallest I’ve ever seen, built back in the days when dugouts were occupied by the manager, trainer and just the one substitute. The ground is fully fenced off with a dugout at each side. The changing rooms are at the main entrance, which also has a refreshment bar where they sell you a proper cuppa in a mug.
There’s also been major club changes behind the scenes during the summer, with Chairman George Davison stepping down after 25 years,  replaced by local businessman and former player Chris Wall. Garry Kirkup has stood down as team manager after 15 years with Johnny Wilson taking over the reigns after eight years as his assistant. Both remain at the club in another capacity along with the recruitment of new members of the committee.
If I looked through my matchday records it will probably show that Shankhouse are the Northern Alliance club which I’ve seen more than any other and their opponents for this League Cup tie were a club I was viewing for the first time -  Willington Quay Saints.
The House comfortably booked their passage into the third round with a three goal burst in a 13 minute spell in the first half. Chris Rue broke the deadlock on 26 minutes, netting the rebound after the Quays keeper parried a long range effort. Ten minutes later Paul Dunn nodded home a left wing cross, before adding his second sliding in from close range in the 39th minute
The hosts struggled to add to their tally in the second half, wasting several golden opportunities, especially striker Dunn who should have easily completed his hat-trick. The fourth goal was finally added in the last minute through substitute Josh Walsh, firing a shot inside the far post to round off a routine victory against the lower ranked side. 


Matchday Stats
SFC 4(Rue 26 Dunn 35,39 Walsh 89) WQSFC 0
Att.23(HC)
Admission £1
Programme:none



371.West Moor Community Centre
Killingworth Station 4v1 Shankhouse
Northern Alliance Premier Division
Saturday 9th November 2013
During the summer Killingworth Sporting Club became Killingworth Station after a sponsorship agreement with one of the local boozers - The Station on Killingworth Drive. Also during the pre-season the club upped sticks to the West Moor Community Centre on Benton Lane. The ground is found on the edge of Killy over the roundabout as your head north from Newcastle via the A189 on Salters’ Lane.


The reason for the change of venue is to give the senior side more independence from the junior set up. The main pitch at West Moor is only used by one other side, a women’s Sunday League team, so there’s less chance of games being postponed due to an overused pitch.

The ground is enclosed on three sides with dugouts at the far side and is roped off from a second football pitch on the near side, so at the moment the pitch doesn’t have perimeter fencing. The changing rooms are within the Community Centre block and there’s a refreshment room where you get your free half-time drink. This is part of your £1.50 admission which includes an 8 page programme, so great value which will attract the groundhopping paper chasers.
On arrival I was pleased to see celebrity groundhopping couple Lee and Katie from the 100FgC and along with the other forty-odd in attendance, we saw a decent game with some terrific goals. Killy were up against, yes you guessed it, my regular Alliance guests....Shankhouse! A goalless first half looked on the cards, with a Hamilton header which rattled the crossbar on 29 minutes, the game’s best effort, but two minutes into first half stoppage time the home team broke the deadlock when Martin Roper latched onto a through ball, before producing a neat chip over the advancing ‘keeper.
Shankhouse responded positively in search of a quick equaliser after the break but fell further behind on 52 minutes, with a goal which the media nowadays would annoyingly describe as “A worldy” Lee Hamilton received the ball 40 yards from goal and looked up to see goalkeeper Joyce off his line, before firing an unstoppable shot which sailed high into the net.
The Killy number nine followed up that wonder strike with another good finish, running onto a through ball in the inside right channel and smashing his shot in off the far post on 64 minutes to make it 3-0.
Shankhouse striker Paul Dunn, who grabbed a brace in my previous Alliance game pulled a goal back, lurking at the far post to tap home a right wing cross, but the three goal advantage was restored in injury time when substitute Michael Bowman curled in a lovely effort to cap off a handsome victory for Killy.

Matchday Stats
KSFC 4(Roper 45+2 Hamilton 52,64 Bowman 90+2) SFC 1(Dunn 84)
Att.43(HC)
Admission, programme and hot drink: £1.50




372. Eslington Park
Gateshead Redheugh 1957 3v1 Birtley St Josephs
Archers of Blyth George Dobbins League Cup
Round 3
Saturday 16th November 2013
Redheugh Boys Club formed in 1957 and have always had the reputation of being one of the best junior football clubs in the region. Back in my own schoolboy playing days I remember if your opponents had a couple of Redheugh players in their side you knew you were in for a tough game, with the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Don Hutchinson and Andy Carroll prove of the quality of players they’ve had through the years..  The club currently run 17 teams from under-7s to under-16s playing in the Gateshead Appollo League and the Russell Foster League. 
The senior team were formed just a few years back taking over the reigns of Whickham Lang Jacks in the Northern Alliance. Lang Jacks finished 5th in Division Two in their only season in the league, with Redheugh finishing 7th in Division One last term.
 In 2006 the club moved from their former base on Rose Street across to the other side of the Teams to Eslington Park. The facilities football pitches are known as “The Shuttles” and I’ve played many times on these grounds, but only have one lasting memory, that was for Glynwood in an away game against Kelvin Grove, when I sadly missed a last minute penalty which would have giving my side a valuable point in the race for the Gateshead Schools Central League title.
 The new pavilion incorporating a clubhouse and state of the art six team changing facility was officially opened by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew on the 26th January 2012. The £716,000 project was managed by the club in association with Four Housing Group. The club secured a £102,000 grant from the Durham FA and the sports pavillion forms part of a £2.7m community scheme which will develop the overall site, providing residential support and training for young homeless people. The facilities were giving an added boost yesterday(Friday) giving the keys to a fully enclosed new 3G pitch.

The ground is in the shadows of Eslington & Redheugh Court’s - two twenty-story-buildings which have survived the period of when the planners dream went wrong.
The Alliance side play on Pitch 2 of the four available grass pitches, which faces the side of the pavillion. The ground is fully fenced off but currently without dugouts, which will obviously be added if, or when, the seniors win promotion to the Alliance Premier Division.
Redheugh were up against Birtley St Josephs in the 3rd Round of the League Cup - booking their place in the next stage with a 6 minute three goal flurry in the second half.
The home side had the better of the first half and should have gone ahead after 35 minutes when Dewhurst was dragged back in the penalty area, but from the resulting spot-kick the goalkeeper got down well to parry away Alan Pegram’s effort.

They took the lead in the 62nd minute when Kevin Hay ran onto a Scott Robson through ball before taking it under control and firing home under the ‘keepers body. Pegram made up for his first half miss minutes later, running onto a pass and although the ‘keeper got a hand on it, the ball crept in at the far post and within a minute John Dewhurst was on hand to fire from 10 yards.
St Josephs made substitutions and tactical changes to try and claw their way back into the tie and managed a consolation on 75 minutes with a simple tap-in from Lee Cuthbertson, but the match was over in that six-minute burst and hopefully Redheugh can progress much further in the competition.

Matchday Stats
GR1957FC 3(Hay 62 Pegram 66 Dewhurst 67) BSJFC 1(Cuthbertson 75)
Att.32(HC)
Admission and Programme:none




377. Links Avenue
Cullercoats 3v1 Rothbury
Northumberland Minor Cup 3rd Round
Saturday 7th December 2013
Cullercoats is an urban area on the North Tyneside coast sandwiched(egg and tomato...Eddy) between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. The area has a semi circle sandy bay, which is historically a fishing village and a popular coastal destination for day-trippers. 
The football club was founded in 1915 originally known as Culver Cotes, as the village was once a breeding place for doves, hence ‘culver’ - another name for doves and ‘cote’ a shelter for birds.
A large part of the club's history was in the South East Northumberland League which they won for the first time in 1936-37. They joined the Northern Alliance set up in 1997, winning promotion from Division Two in their second season. The club run a junior section with ages ranging from 8 years to seniors. They were renamed Percy Main Tyne but reverted back to Cullercoats F.C. for the 2006/2007 season, rejoining the Northern Alliance having left the league in 2004. Cullercoats won promotion to the First Division in 2007-08 where they've played ever since.
The Links Avenue ground is found just off Broadway, the main road which runs between Tynemouth from Whitley Bay. At one side of the pitch is the main entrance where the changing rooms, club office and a portacabin canteen are situated. The pitch has a perimeter fence with a pair of conservatory type dugouts. At the bottom end of the ground is a second park pitch with the Metro line and views of St Georges Parish church and the North Sea.

Cullercoats faced Rothbury in the third round of the Northumberland Minor Cup, a competition which brings together Northern Alliance clubs with teams from lower leagues. Rothbury play in the North Northumberland League and gave their hosts a decent game in front of half a dozen watchers which swelled up to seven when I was joined by Squad no.123 Ian Cusack for the second half. 
Cullercoats took the lead after 13 minutes when an inswinging corner kick was touched in at the near post by Richard May but they failed to build on their early lead. The visitors equalised on 37 minutes when Richard Hooks missed a good chance to score but when the ball was recycled, he made no mistake with his second effort. On the stroke of half time Cullercoats regained the lead when a long ball from Johnny Ranson picked out May to head home at the far post.

The second half was a bit of a non event football wise, the highlight was seeing the big referee accidentally elbowing the little Cullercoats midfielder Andrew McClay in the face, which he just laughed off as the player nursed his sore head. Both sets of players seemed more concerned with events at Old Trafford after learning that Newcastle had taking the lead, which they managed to maintain, alas winning for the first time in the city of Salford since February 1972. 
The cup tie was sealed with five minutes remaining when May produced a neat finish to complete his hat trick which rounded off a straightforward victory and a place in the last 16 of the Minor Cup.

Matchday Stats
CFC 3(May 13,45,85) RFC 1(Hooks 37)
Att.7(HC)
Admission & programme:none

My Matchday - 370 Victoria Pleasure Grounds

Goole 3v1 Chasetown
Evo Stick Division One South
Saturday 2nd November 2013


Another beer and football day out on the lash with the lads, with Doncaster our chosen destination for Zippy’s Birthday. My mate’s anniversary of his birth falls on Halloween, but we’re not the sort of blokes to wear fancy dress for the occasion, instead I chose to visit somewhere with a ghostly name, so the destination was obvious...it had to be - ghoul!
I booked our advanced train tickets back in August without knowing which game we were attending. I consulted the fixtures a few weeks ago to find none of the Doncaster based  non-league clubs playing at home, but was more than happy to nip along to the East Riding into Goole for the match.

Goole is a town, civil parish and more importantly an inland port located approximately 45 miles from the North Sea at the confluence of the rivers Don and Ouse. The port is capable of handling a yearly cargo of nearly 3 million tonnes, making it one of the most important docklands on England’s east coast.
The name Goole has its origins in Middle English, deriving from the word goule, meaning "stream, or channel". The town wasn’t recorded in the Domesday Book, but was first mentioned as Gulle in 1362.
Goole Town FC was formed in 1912 and entered the Midland Football League, playing within the division for three seasons prior to the war and also reached the First Round of the FA Cup in 1914, losing out to Middlesbrough 9–3 at Ayresome Park.
After the war the club returned as Goole Shipyards Football Club and became founding members of the Yorkshire League for the 1920–21 season. After four years the club reverted back to their original name and won the first of three league titles in 1927-28.
In 1948 Goole Town returned to the Midland Football League, where their best performance was a third place finish in 1950-51. 
In 1968 the new Northern Premier League was formed and Goole became one of the founder members, finishing 8th in their debut season. They went onto finish a best placed 6th in 1976–77 and in season 1988–89, but they dropped into the Northern Counties East League in 1995-96 and at the end of that season folded due to financial difficulties.

The new club formed as Goole AFC in 1997 and by 2005 had returned to their regular non-league status of the Northern Premier League via the Central Midlands League and NCEL, winning three league titles along the way. The club announced they had changed their name back to Goole Town F.C. in June 2006, but the request was rejected by the West Riding FA. During the 2008-09 season they again faced financial troubles, going into administration and deduced 10 points and an extra point for fielding an ineligible player, but this time The Vikings survived and are currently in the south section of Evostick Division One. 
 The Victoria Pleasure Grounds has been the football club’s home since their formation but dates back to 1888. The ground had been occasionally used by Yorkshire Cricket Club and in its early days hosted Rugby Union, then in subsequent years; Rugby League, wrestling, heavy horse shows, galas and sports days, which made it the focal point of the town.
The ground has changed dramatically since its heyday, as it once had a popular Spion Kop with the original wooden enclosure taking down in between the wars. The interior shape of the ground altered with terracing replaced when the running track was laid and the second stand was destroyed by a fierce gale in the early ‘90s.

The Main Stand has terracing running towards the dugouts and a mixture of red flip seats and green benches with bum parking spaces for 200. The stand also houses a small press box with the changing rooms and the Viking Bar underneath. Appearing prominently from behind the stand is the town’s most famous landmark - the twin water towers locally known as the salt & pepper pots.
On the opposite side sits a covered terrace on the halfway line and the rest of the ground is open with a pathway running aside the ground’s running track.
There’s four floodlight pylons on each side and VPG has a current capacity of 3,000 with a record gate of 8,700 against Scunthorpe United in the 1949–50 season. The new version of the club took on a Leeds United side in 1999 in front of a club record 976 spectators.
 The Vikings came back with a late rally to grab the three points against a hard working Chasetown side. The visitors had taking a 26th minute lead through Nicholas Wellecomme, who latched onto a neat through ball before producing a tidy finish. As the second half progressed Chasetown looked comfortable with their slight advantage but once Johnson-Cole fired his side level on 68 minutes there was only going to be one winner.
In the 75th minute James Cottingham rifled in a powerful effort into the roof of the net and ten minutes from time Ashley Jackson was on hand to net the rebound after an effort came back off the crossbar. After a slow start it turned out to be a decent games and Goole gaffer David Holdsworth will be delighted with his team’s strong finish and hard earned victory.



Birthday boy Zippy along with Plymouth Pete and of course your venerable author arrived in Doncaster just before midday. We visited the town’s three JD Wetherspoons pubs and also called into the Railway Inn before catching the 1418 Northern Rail service to Bridlington, alighting at the next stop - the journey to Goole taking about 20 minutes. We enjoyed our visit to the Victoria Pleasure Grounds especially the homemade pie and mushy peas. Just to make it interesting we had a shilling on the side in predicting the score and I was correct with the 3-1 win for the home team, but unfortunately didn’t have any luck with our Golden Goal tickets. Afterwards I got my third new ‘Spoons tick of the day at the town’s City and County pub where we had a few more bevvys and bait(blotting paper...Eddy)
On arriving back in Donny we called at a couple of pubs that I hadn’t previously visited; the Corner Pin and The Plough were both excellent boozers and I’ll make a point of returning on my next visit to Doncaster. We were back in Newcastle at 10pm, the train journey home somewhat spoilt by the presence of a particular unearthly race of people, who had also spent Saturday afternoon in the East Riding of Yorkshire. 
Before home time we had a few more pints in the Toon and met up with Jimmy Jimmy and his better half, our Colin Clarke look-alike friend couldn’t make the trip as he went to see John Cooper Clarke(no relation) at the Tyne Theatre. Overall an excellent day, its great to have my mates to accompany me in my favourite hoppy and we’re planning more days out, the lads happy to come along as long as there’s serious drinking involved.

Matchday Stats
GAFC 3(Johnson-Cole 68 Cottingham 75 Jackson 82)
CFC 1(Wellecomme 26)
Att.122
Admission £7
Programme £2

Ground no.370 Victoria Pleasure Grounds - Matchday Web Album (35 pictures)