Great start to the new league season.

I made my way to South Elmsall for what the announcer on the sound system called the earliest start to a league season he could remember.

The game I went to see was Frickley Athletic against Keighley Town. Just an ordinary Northern Counties East League opening match. Maybe not because this was the first competitive match for the new Keighley Town FC.

Keighley Town FC have come about through Ryan O’Neil and Kaue Garcia, the owners of Keighley Cougars rugby league club, taking over Eccleshill United FC last year and moving the club to Cougar Park, changing the name but maintaining Eccleshill’s standing in the non-league pyramid structure. Their next aim is to get local planning approval to install a 3G pitch for men’s and women’s Rugby League and football.

This is an interesting development because at the same level, Sheffield FC the oldest club in the world, we’re linked, under the same common ownership as Sheffield Eagles who are now sharing the football clubs stadium. Both clubs continue to look to relocate to a modern, joint, stadium in the city of Sheffield.

Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors share the same ground and ownership, there maybe more.

Is multi ownership of sports clubs a fast growing trend in the UK as per other countries. The multi use stadium benefit, especially 3G, and all its other junior football and rental opportunities looks compelling.

Back to my first league game of the season. The journey north on the motorways was quiet, considering it being the first weekend of the school holidays for many. Cooler at 24.5 degrees, the blue sky had some fluffy clouds.

The very small Frickley village is just south of South Elmsall where Frickley Athletic have played since 1910, having been founded in 1908. This has always been a multi use sports complex and you still drive past the cricket ground to get to the very huge car park for the football ground.

Inside the stadium you soon noticed the very large covered seated stand, dating back almost 100 years. The grounds development was majorly supported by the local miners welfare. The demise of the South Elmsall and Frickley colliery coming in November 1993. Frickley had already changed their name from Frickley Colliery to Frickley Athletic in 1974. Today as you drive into the town from the A1M you drive past the gigantic shed complex of a Next Distribution Centre which is now most probably the major employer in the area.

Either side of the large stand are a ‘Big Fellas’ tea bar, the entrance, and a bar for refreshments, with seating and a large television. Down the far side is a long tiered covered standing area, with both ends of the ground open but with hard standing. A modern building in one corner houses the changing rooms and a posh area for hospitality.  The size of the ground and facilities reflect the fact that Frickley graced the old Alliance and  Conference Leagues, equivalent today of the National League, once for seven seasons in the 1980’s, with a second place finish one year.

The pitch looked very dry with large patches of yellowing grass. The surface here sopes from one corner to the other and from end to end. What made this more pronounced was a strong wing blowing in the same direction as the slope.

The teams made their way onto the pitch with the backdrop of Frickley Country Park, fashioned out of the old flag heaps with a lone kite flyer taking advantage of the wind at the highest point.

Frickley Athletic FC 1 Keighley Town FC 1

Saturday 25th July 2026, 15.00 pm kick off

Northern Counties East League, Premier Division.

The Blues v TBA

Westfield Lane, South Elmsall, Pontefract, South Yorkshire, WF9 2EQ.

Frickley in all royal blue shirt and shorts, goalkeeper in pink jersey black shorts
Keighley all white shirts and shorts with two red and one black thin stripes down the side of shirts and shorts, goalkeeper in all orange.

Keighley took advantage of the slope and wind straight away with the ball hanging and swirling, making it difficult for defenders to clear.
Keighley kept on top with some skilful footwork, but some dour defence by home team kept them at bay. They couldn’t hold out though when after 27 minutes some tricky skills enabled him to coss along the ground  for Zane Newman Richards to steer in.

Keighley kept up their pressure with Frickley only occasionally mounting attacks, but failing to get a shot on goal.

At Half Time you wandered of the conditions would change the fortunes of the home team and would Keighley rue the fact that they were only one ahead after dominating. The Keighley manager and some of his team had sat on the same row as me in the stand getting a good overview of his charges.

With in two minutes of the restart we had our answer to the conditions advantage when the Blues had a header on goal go just wide. Frickley levelled 7 minutes later when Sam Cable touched in a curling cross from the right.

It was now one way traffic as the ball bounced back off of the crossbar from a free kick.

The home team continued to press forward, however the strength of the away teams players kept pushing them back and they  posed a threat to the end of the game which ended all square.

The game ending rain! Only a light drizzle  but something we have not seen for weeks. It had been coming with the strengthening wind blowing grey clouds in from the east.

A good workout and start for both teams in the conditions, very hard pitch, wind and slope. Keighley to me looked the strongest with a long season ahead.

I had a portion of chips and a coffee for just £4. Not a bad start to the season. The chips were golden and crispy but not hot and a bit story inside. A score of 55 to set a benchmark for my chip league this season. Ths food in general looked good with the meat pie chips and gravy of the person in front of me looking delicious.


No program  but a team sheet for 50P. With their X account having been recently hacked and a new one started I wonder in years to come if there will be any way to view the social history of a football club the way it was possible  through local papers, programs and fanzines. That sounds like a blog for the future.


2026/27 Up and running.

With the publication of the lower league fixtures I decided to start my 2026/27 season with a trip to Goldthorpe.

With the heatwave continuing it was a pleasant evening drive, 22.5 degrees, to the Dearne Valley to watch a Friday night friendly. The dry warm weather meant farmers were out with combine harvesters getting in the wheat. It seems a few weeks earlier this year.

I had watched Dearne and District FC for some time with my first visit back in October 2022 when they were playing on a pitch used by their many junior teams, as they awaited the completion of their current grounds upgrade. They were promoted from the Central Midlands League to the Northern Counties East League Division One, and I visited them again at their current location. They had made great strides to get the ground ready for their new level and having been runaway winners of that league last season I was interested to see how they had progressed.

The concrete walkway round almost three sides is completed, and one seated stand and one standing covered area, made from containers have been fitted out. The transit van that had served as a drinks and food outlet had gone replaced by another converted container. Progress definitely but with costs doubling each level you gain, and ground regulations increasing there will be more to do both on and off the pitch.

The playing surface has suffered from the very prolonged dry spell and although basically flat does have some undulating areas and dry, yellowing patches.

Brigg Town, I watched early last season when they had a disastrous start, later recovering to finish 6th in the NECL Division One. I sat in the covered seated stand behind some of their supporters who were not happy. They had seen their team lose all of their pre-season friendlies by at least 3 goals and were fearful of their line up in this fixture. They also were bemoaning the fact that not everyone had turned up.

Dearne and District FC 6 Brigg Town FC 2

Friday 17th July 2026, 19.30 pm kick off.

Dearne and District FC, The  Century Cladding Community Welfare Ground, Furlong Road,  Goldthorpe, S63 9EH.

Northern Counties East League Premier Division team v Eastern Counties League Division One team.

Dearne, in all red shirts with some thin white stripes down the front wit red shorts. The goalkeeper in all fluorescent green.
Brigg, all royal blue shirts with  some cross fading and blue shorts. The  goalkeeper in all yellow.

A good crowd was present, briefly increased by regular passing trains on the banking behind one goal.

The Brigg fans were adding up the pre season goals against after just 4 minutes  when a
ball through to Jordan Kershaw, I thought he was very offside, allowed him to stroll forward and roll the ball to right of Brigg’s young goalkeeper, into the net.

With 16 minutes gone it was Jordan Kershaw again who found space to shoot but this time hit the post. However he was not denied 12 minutes later when he took advantage of the goalkeeper hesitation and chipped over his grounded body into the open net.

It was not all one-way traffic though and Brigg grabbed one back when a low hit corner was steered into the Dearne goal by Josh Batty with 33 minutes gone. Dearne, a big team, in comparison, scored again, 4 minutes later, when Justin Circuit collected the  ball on right, shaped to shoot and curled it out of reach of the goalkeeper into the top left hand corner.

A Dearne player now shouted loudly that the young Brigg keeper couldn’t  kick far so move up. The keeper then struck the goal kick so that the ball landed just in front of  Dearne’s 18 yard line and the Brigg  keeper shouted “Can’t kick, fuck off”. This drew loud laughs from the players and crowd.

The teams left the pitch at half time with the home side leading 3.1 but with Brigg not crumbling.

D&D pressed hard again at the start.of the second half with their number 2 launching throw ins from the side to beyond the penalty area which were proving effective with their height superiority.

Justin Circuit made it four on 56 minutes when from the right corner of the goal area he curled the ball just inside the far post.

Brigg kept trying and with a penalty awarded to them, for a trip, Josh Batty despatched it for his second goal.

Thirteen minutes from the end one of the amazing long throws was met by Owen Fieldsend, whose bullet header screamed into the net for a 5.2. lead.

Just 2 minutes later a headed clearance was headed back to goal by a trialist and it looped over everyone increasing Dearne’s goal tally to 6.

Dearne and District were happy with their win although the two goals against could have been defended better. For Brigg, back to the drawing board, although they never gave up and have a base to build on.

No chips to start the season, instead a great cup of Bovril but a very dry sausage roll of which I only ate a third. Not a good start to the season.

An Important Day

While we have been enjoying England’s passage to the semi-finals, Scotland’s first World cup appearance for some years it is the coming new season that excites me more. Today is one of those landmark days, like the winter solstice which heralds longer daylight hours and a creep into spring. It is the publication of most of the remaining Non League fixtures. We have had the Premier League, EFL and National League fixtures in orchestrated reveals but today it is the turn of the grass roots. True the preliminary rounds of the FA cup, Trophy and Vase have already crept out but todays are the ones that mark the start of my new season now being able to plan new adventures to new teams and destinations. Why we have to wait so long, giving the smaller teams a shorter time to prepare than the bigger clubs with more resources, I do not know, in todays AI world the excuse that this is delayed because of ground sharing has to be worked out is baffling. Any way we are here and a season unfolds.

 

Stramash – Tackling Scotland’s Towns and Teams’.

Stramash – ‘Tackling Scotland’s Towns and Teams’.

Written by Daniel Gray

First Published in 2010 by Luath Press Ltd. Edinburgh

I looked in an old 1931 edition of Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary, also from Edinburgh, for a definition of Stramash, A noun, scottish, for a tumult, disturbance and as a verb to beat or to destroy.

Daniel Gray is one of my favourite writers, particularly about football, and is also editor of Nutmeg,

This early book of his is a tour round some of Scotland’s less fashionable football league teams. Not only is it about the clubs, and a specific game, but a more a travelogue around the history of place, people, culture and industry. For example he visits, Arbroath, Ayr, Dumfries and others on his journey. His chatty, informative style, that fully captures the fans, makes you want to visit those towns too.

Only 211 pages long, made shorter by pictures, it is very easy to read quickly and get the enjoyment that he obviously gained through his trips.

I look forward to reading some other books of his on my shelfs, in between many others I have lined up.

Hallam FC exploring their future.

A couple of weeks ago I visited The Church of St Columba in Crosspool, Sheffield.

Crossool is a neighbourhood to the West of Sheffield City centre just before you reach countryside and the edge of the Peak District. It is an area of residential houses whih those living there having a strong attachment to their community.

It is also the home of Hallam FC, recognised by FIFA as the second oldest football club in the world playing at the oldest ground. The Football Club share the ground with the local cricket club.

The community rooted Church of St Columba had given up their church for an open meeting for local people, fans and supporters of the club to discuss their future. Ideas and options were presented by the Football Supporters Association with regards working towards Hallam becoming a fan owned community club. Hallam is currently ‘Unincorporated’ which puts an incredible onus and strain on those running the club and its future.

The congregation were told that there are currently 42 cubs operating on a fan owned basis under the guidance of the Football Supporters Association of which Wimbledon and Exeter are the highest ranked clubs in the league system. There are two more just coming on line. The two people presenting were fan members of Bury F.C. and Lewes F.C.

There are different models and constitutions and these have been circulated by the Hallam team. The journey was said to have 5 stages which could take as long as it takes with Hallams journey likely to be about 6 months to a year.

What was interesting was that in discussion it was pointed out that there was considerable interest from abroad, particularly the USA, to take over Non League clubs with the Wrexham rise being the catalyst. The Supporters Association pointed out that this is not sustainable for all with costs doubling each time promotion is gained due to e.g. rises in wages, ground grading, travelling. These costs are not covered by a doubling in the gate or total income. A club could end up with owners soon reaching their willingness to financially support it and not be part of the community who had enjoyed and supported it for many years.

Those attending unanimously voted to move forwards to make Hallam community led, fan owned, and that this action was the first step in five steps to achieve the goal. One poignant message was that Hallam like all clubs should address a plan that looked to the future and realistically set the level that was sustainable to achieve and compete in.

The Football Art Prize.

If you visit Sheffield and South Yorkshire in general this summer, you will be surrounded by a pride of lions and their cubs. They are all part of a fundraising trail in support of the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. This year the Children’s Hospital marks 150 years since it was founded in the heart of the city.

Also in the city centre, just off the Winter Gardens, is the Millenium Galleries and there you will find a free exhibition,  donations  welcome, The Football Art Prize. It runs from the 11th June to the 13th September.

The Football Art Prize celebrates the world’s most popular sport.
Illustrating both glory and defeat, the shortlisted works show the passion, drama and unity that football inspires across the world. They also highlight the inventiveness of makeshift goalposts, the beauty and stillness of empty football fields, and the creativity of pitches built in unexpected places.
Through an open call, artists from around the world were invited to submit work inspired by the beautiful game and how it shapes our lives, identities and communities. The final exhibition includes over 60 artworks and three prize winners selected by a panel of judges, in a wide range of media from painting and drawing to photography and film.

Just some of the art on display. if you are in the area it is well worth a visit.

Food of the Cods

Food of the Cods, written by Daniel Gray.

Published by Harper Collins 2023

 

This book continues my chip obsession and is written by Daniel Gray, a well known writer of books with a social or regional content. They are written well, enabling you to fully visualise what he is seeing, often in an amusing and informative style. Much of his writing is about football and his books are among my favourites. Daniel Gray is also the Editor of Nutmeg, ‘The Scottish Football Quarterly’, whose commentary on Scotland’s football scene cannot be missed.

The book is an investigation into the delights of fish and chips as he ventures across Britain. It explains the regional variations and the history behind their mass appeal. Telling the struggles of immigrants to bring this typically British food to our tables, or open, and how women’s emancipation was helped by them. The delights of the condiments that accompany them and scraps/sprinkles or none, I didn’t know that they had orange chips in Wolverhampton. This 176 page book is very easy and quick reading and is just right for a holiday or a journey read.

 

Chip League 2025/26

I have continued my chip league for another season and my waist line will prove that. Chips were available at just under 50% of the 44 matches I watched and some times the alternative was very good. The pork pie served on a football pitch serviette at Melton Mowbray was memorable, the two Scotch pies in Scotland were a positive experience, previously I was not so sure, and the meat pie at Tranmere Rovers was exceptional.

The chips started off at Berwick Rangers and set up the season, with a high score of 70, which was only beaten by three clubs. A 72 at Staveley Miners Welfare, I think was partially influenced by the superb club house and the friendly atmosphere. The 73 at Market Harborough where I even forgot to take a photo of them, I was obviously enjoying them,, and the winners, a 74, at Hallam FC. The Hallam chips were hot, golden, tasty, crispy with firm but fluffy centres. Having not eaten any lunch the large portion was what was needed but may have also influenced my judgement. The two highest scores were also when I was with family so again that may have influenced the outcomeThe two highest scores were also when I was with family so again that may have influenced the outcome.

As always I have to confirm that all of the scores are subjective and my own personal view.

 

Congratulations then to Hallam FC.

 

Congratulations then to Hallam FC.

Subbuteo still draws a crowd.

With no football matches I looked for another football fix, and at the nearby Renishaw and Spinkhill Community Centre a Subbuteo fair was advertised. Just off the M1 at junction 30 it was a well placed venue. Parking outside I noticed two men chatting and exchanging boxes in the car park. Elicit Subbuteo trading?

I walked in to the Community Hall and was amazed at the number of people there, and the stalls that packed out the venue. Two of the stalls were from Italy and  a man with a quiet accent from the South of Ireland was buying in font of me. He must have been out of the Eire plated car I had parked next to.

This little local hub had been turned into Subbuteo heaven. There were boxes of teams of clubs from all over Europe, women’s teams, boxes of individual players for you to find the one you needed to complete a set, floodlights, stands, supporters, officials and more, all in miniature. It was mainly men 40 plus in age  and a chat with one revealed that he had recently found a friend who still had his old set and they had set up meetings to compete with each other.

This is not just a culture for collectors, I find out there are leagues and even International matches.

One stall was empty boxes for you to buy to keep you team pristine or on display. People will take orders for them to paint you a team in the colours you want and of the era you require. They turn out as miniature works of art. On one stall was a Subbuteo sticker book, who knew, and Subbuteo cricket and rugby.

It was totally fascinating to see theses roughly one inch figures are still so keenly traded, collected and played with. My next Subbuteo education will be to attend one of their competitions.

Unfortunately I did wonder how long the game will continue to draw such support with the attendees all being of a certain age. Their children and grandchildren will have been at home playing on a smart device.

I did buy a referee set and corner flags for my grandchildren to go with their fathers set. Let’s hope they get used.

Amazing venue, a cup of tea was only £1.

“I Empty the Dishwasher”.

In the Autumn of 2016 I met up with some old school friends and I asked one who was already retired what he did. “I empty the dishwasher” was his reply. My mouth dropped and I quizzed him to give me the real answer, but he didn’t change his words. My heart sank, not just for him but for my impending retirement in the following February. I had to find another answer and a purpose to move forward in a new chapter of my life.

If you are looking for a career move people often advise you to turn a hobby into a business. I wasn’t skilled enough in pottery, painting, woodwork etc to turn to one of those, yet one thing I have done all of my life is to enjoy watching football. I have a vague recollection of attending matches when I was five at St Albans City, then like now members of the Isthmian League, and in my first season finishing bottom. I remember that the terrace behind the York Road goal was of wooden sleepers, filled in with ash and at that time frequented by many fans who were smokers. It was fun to get some discarded cigarette ends on to which I piled some litter and managed to get some smoke. My fun was ended by a clip round the ear and I never did that again.

I had previously thought about writing a blog and Non- League football seemed a good place to start, but I lacked the computer knowledge and was fearful to get started. At school and in life my English, especially spelling, had always been an achilles heel, however spell check was now there to remedy this. If you knew me you would not be surprised how many times there are words underlined in red when I write each post. In depth computer knowledge was also not a strong point, however research soon led me to ‘WordPress’ which seemed to be the leader as a blogging tool and I found that it was not so daunting to set one up.

Wow, here I go I thought, but I needed a name and I spent days thinking of the most catchy name in the world, that didn’t materialise, and I couldn’t get ‘notonthepools’ out of my head. I finally managed to ditch that and landed with ‘payonthegate’. payonthegate to me is something that you do at Non-league games although even here pre-booked tickets are creeping in.

Fear was now my biggest obstacle and those first few blogs were daunting. Very few read what I had published at first which luckily didn’t kill my determination to continue, or reduce the number of games I was going to. What now took over was the enjoyment of the endless research, planning and watching matches. Obsesion, some close to me would call it, however it gave me purpose, a need to use my brain, travel to new horizons and a sense of community. Its not just the football, but, the history, the future, the place and the people. To go to football matches in the lower echelons of our national game you soon realise there would be no matches without the dedication of small groups who keep clubs alive. The lady who seemed to run the whole show at LLangollen, the groundsman at Baslow who found time to stop cutting the grass to explain who played there, the lady at Lancaster who facilitated me to get in the ground with no cash, and many more.

What has also been an eye opener are the friendly people I have met, ‘Miserable Les’, his stage name, at Esh Winning, who I chatted to for the whole game, shared a cup of tea at halftime, and I think I can remember the score was 1-1, it didn’t matter. In the away seats at Hereford two guys of a similar age sat with me and talked me through a whole history of Kings Lynn FC, the current team and why the club needed a shake up. We were then kept in the ground , with about 20 others, by the local police for our own safety? I was ambushed by a group of mature fans at CD National FC on Madeira, where I found that although there were no allocated seats they always sat where I was. How we managed to communicate this, with them not speaking any English, and me not speaking any Portuguese, was amazing. They decided to adopt me into their clan and at very goal they scored we hugged, high fived and laughed.

I always feel at home in the clubhouse of Staveley Miners Welfare FC, on a cold day its warm, the food ids good and most importantly there is real sense of community something you find in many clubhouses or on the terraces even when the crowd is only small. Travel is also one of the rewards, watching football next to the ruins of Berwick Castle with the sea as a backdrop, seeing the FIFA recognised pitch on the Isle of Eriksay, covered in sheep droppings, watching Clachnacuddin in Inverness and seeing if the support at Verona was as Tim Parks described in his book ‘My Year With Verona’, it was.

I have also, always enjoyed watching the trends of teams rising and falling within the pyramid system and how new teams are formed. Guernseys emergence in the Non – League pyramid has led to teams from the Isle of Mann and Jersey to follow suit, Loughborough Students have paved the way for more University teams to climb the ladder and the recent rise of teams based on Academies or Academy Colleges. Its also great to see some of the older clubs that have drifted down regroup and succeed such as Oldham, Rochdale, York and Bury. Some clubs have grown based on the income that they can make on hiring their artificial pitch and others through community. Clapton FC are well embedded in their locality, St Albans City, Dulwich Hamlet and Hallam, as examples, have made their games and grounds destinations to meet up with friends and family along with the match.

As you continue writing and presenting your blog you make changes to style and layout which is often driven by the research you do. One inspiration has been ‘The Scottish Football Quarterly’, Nutmeg. This is a fantastic read if you want to know what is going on in all aspects of their game, it is not centred on the top teams as you would expect but everyone. It is also so well written and edited that it inspires and gives me confidence to continue. Talking of continuing, I set a goal of 500 blogs or ten years to finish and now reaching the first of those, and with just over a year to go to ten years, I have decided to hang on in there. It’s much more rewarding than emptying the dishwasher.

At the end of each of my match posts I report on the chips, if they are available. People in football talk about the pies, so I decided to review chips. This may not have helped my waist line or health but often they were enjoyable, except for those left on an EFL grounds terrace after just 3 chips, sorry about leaving them on the terrace but there were no bins.

So finally I have to thank my dishwasher emptying friend who spurred me on to gain so much enjoyment as documented by my 500 posts.