A Happy Birthday at Hallam

I battled through the busy traffic into and through Sheffield on my way to Sandygate Road to ensure I was early enough to get to Hallam FC to get a seat and a program. A large crowd was expected to see Hallam play Sheffield FC for the first time in a few years in what is called the ‘Rules Derby’ a reference to the Sheffield Rules which are the oldest rules in football and still provide much of the basis for the playing of the game today all over the world.

Hallam FC, the second oldest club in the world were playing Sheffield FC the first and oldest club in the world. This at Sandygate Lane, the oldest football ground in the world for a semi-final place in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup administered by, Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association, the first area Association established in England.

I have been to this ground many time before so will not describe it again but point out that the club have recently extended the standing area behind the ‘Shed End’ and that one side is totally open to the cricket pitch. Because of the exceptional 1496 crowd, spectators were allowed to stand on the hallowed cricket pitch side, something I have never seen here before.

These two clubs are experiencing differing stages in their life. Sheffield FC are still at their Derbyshire ground and trying to get permission to move back into the City to have a permanent home and build the type of local community spirit that has been built up by Hallam over the many years in one location. Hallam’s success in generating income through larger than usual crowds at their level of football and the resulting extras, food, drink, shop, club house, etc has also seen success on the field as well. It leaves them currently in a good position to make the playoffs at the end of the season. Sheffield FC despite their status as the oldest club in the world, which generates a world wide fan base needs a local grounding. Sheffield are uncomfortably at the foot of the Northern Premier League East, 6 points adrift of their nearest rivals. A relegation might see them playing in The United Counties Premier North Division next year because of their Derbyshire location. So this season it is Sheffield that are the team from one level higher than Hallam. but next year the tables could well be turned.

Another reason for the trip was that the game was on my 75th birthday having been postponed, due to the snow, the week before. It was also roughly 70 years since I had watched my first football match, when at the age of five I had seen St Albans City play in the Isthmian League.

Hallam FC 2 Sheffield FC 1

Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup – Quarter Final. Tuesday 21st January 2025, 19.45 pm kick off. Hallam FC, Sandygate, Sandygate Road, Sheffield S10 5SE

Hallam; All Royal Blue kit, goalkeeper wearing pink top and black shorts. Sheffield; Red shirts with black quartered fronts and black sleeves and collars, goalkeeper in all green.

Hallam kicked up the hill in the first half on a pitch that is beginning to show some wear after some busy use. It was a cool night at 4 degrees and would have been colder if not for the cloud cover.

The home crowd were immediately behind their team and they took an early lead when Hugo Warhurst, their goalkeeper launched a long kick that was expertly controlled by James Cadman who drilled into the net.

The end to end play now produced a goal for Sheffield when Connor Cutts rifled home an equaliser from distance. Hallam gained the ascendancy again and were denied by good saves by Niall Edge and the post. Niall Edge’s kicking was not helping Sheffield to move the ball up field and Hallam kept up the pressure. At half time it was one a piece but both teams had played their part in a full blooded encounter that had been end to end.

Hallam started the second half like the first and scored with only a few minutes on the clock. A cross was met by Leon Howarth who steadied himself, moved across two defenders and found the bottom left corner of the net after a deflection. Cue Hallam supporters joy and a blue flare held high behind the bottom end net in which they had just scored.

Sheffield huffed and puffed and created one real chance when the advancing home keeper was well beaten only for the shot to be cleared off the line by one of the three defenders who had raced back to cover.

As the game went on it seemed that Hallam were the side putting it all on the line as they continued to chase and challenge everything. This effort despite their sapping away defeat in the FA Vase on Saturday. Hallam held on and deserved the win. With some strong teams left in the cup another fantastic night could be waiting for Hallam.

The Chips unfortunately did not live up to the rest of the evening, they were warm, soggy, OK taste and not greasy but only a score of 55. Not up to the normal standard here but I think a large batch had been cooked and I may have received the end of that.

Knaresborough upset Thackley’s flow.

On the way down the A1 I popped into Knaresborough to see them play Thackley in the Northern Counties East League. Thackley from the northern outkirts of Bradford were on a run of five wins in a row and sat third in the table whilst the home team, Knaresborough Town were eighteenth , only one place above the relegation zone.

The ground is on the edge of town, not far off the A59, and easy to reach. I was dropped off and walked into the ground on what was a cold day, Google saying it was just above freezing, with patchy grey and blue sky, but with no wind. There was a small covered seated stand in the middle of one side, open behind one goal, a small covered standing area offset from the goal at the other end and down the other side the changing rooms, clubhouse, a food kiosk, a small area to stand and a wall from a neighbouring building. The pitch was grass that sloped slightly from end to end with undulating areas and mud showing through the grass after our wet winter. There is less than 20 miles between the two clubs so it was almost a local derby.

Knaresborough have been established since 1898, then known as Trinity, playing local football, before being elevated to the Northern League in 1909 for only 2 years, before going back into local York leagues. After World War Two they reformed in the Harrogate League and returned to it after another spell in the York League. By the end of the 1960’s they joined the West Yorkshire League where they played mainly, except for one excursion back in the Harrogate League again. It was in 2012, that after investment in the ground they were elected to the Northern Counties East League and six years later won promotion to the Premier Division where they play today.

Thackley were not founded until 1930 when members of the Thackley Wesleyan Methodist Church set up a Sunday League Team. They stayed in the West Riding County Amateur League for 25 years from 1939, After a brief stay in the West Yorkshire League they joined the strong Yorkshire League and became founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982 where they still remain.

Knaresborough Town AFC 3 Thackley 2

Saturday 18th January 2025, 15,00 pm kick off, Northern Counties East League, Premier Division.

Knaresborough Town AFC, Manse Lane, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, HG5 8LF,

18th v 3rd, Knaresborough have no nick name but Thackley are known as the Denny boys.

Knaresborough; Red shirts with white horizontal line on the backs with the sponsors name, black shorts, goalkeeper in lime green top and black shorts: Thackley; All royal blue kit and goalkeeper in all orange.

The first 15 minutes play was even with Thackley looking the most positive. Thackley forwards put one ball just wide and a header over the bar from a corner but neither side scored and they left the field for half time with little indication of anyone scoring.

The floodlights came on for the second half, which showed how quickly the days have lengthened since December 21st, winter is slowly seeping away!

The light must have sparked the player as with 4 minutes gone Knaresborough’s Ben Parkes curled a ball, from outside the goal area, with his right foot, into the top right hand corner for the lead. Four minutes later Ben Parkes was pushed down in the penalty area and Jack Lazenby stepped forward to make it two nil.

There looked no way back for Thackley but they kept pressing and with 19 minutes gone Slater Barnes reduced the deficit after a fast break that meant the ball was whipped across the goalmouth for him to tap in. Thackley now pressed forward and despite having their Manager sent off equalised in the 86th minute when a corner from the right was headed back at the far post for Muhammet Tektas to steer into the net to equalise. Play became frantic with Harry Parsons for Thackley sent off a minute after their equaliser. Thackley pushed on despite their reduced numbers, hoping to retain their winning streak but despair hit them when with time up a freekick was headed back across goal, which Phil Milson stroked home.

The 186 spectators had been warmed by the pulsating second half, with the home side ecstatic but Thackley annoyed at not taking at least a point. Thackley though didn’t deserve the spoils with very little cutting edge up front.

A coffee and a portion of thin cut chips cost only £3.70, but the chips were disappointing being only warm with little taste although they were not greasy, a score of 56.

I didn’t win the meat raffle either.

2024/2025 season, interim Chip League

At the half way stage of many of the leagues, I thought it prudent to issue an interim league table for my chip league. After 25 matches and 15 portions of chips there is a clear leader in Hednesford Town, and by a co-incidence it was by far the most exciting game I have seen so far this season and for many seasons.

As I always state this is subjective and could change at a subsequent visit, sometimes dependent on whether you are first in the queue for a newly cooked batch of chips. After 7 years of chips I do wonder if I am getting a bit jaded in my appreciation of chips but the smell and anticipation, often on a cold evening, overcome those thoughts.

I will in anticipation look forward to the end of the season to see if anyone can knock Hednesford off their top billing.

	payonthegate 2024/25 chip league
Club	Score	Comments
Hednesford	82	Really good taste.
Coleshill	74	Tasty under the gazebo.
Hallam	72	Hot and Tasty
South Leeds	72	Freshly cooked, good Friday night out.
Clay Cross	72	Good taste. Very thick Bovril.
Matlock	70	Big portion
Clifton All Whites	67	Enjoyable
Sheffield FC	67	Good texture
Basford	62	Greasy background taste, good food hut.
Worksop	60	Gone backwards since last times improvement
Mansfield	58	Only ate half, greasy, why chips in away end not main stand.
Sandiacre	56	Lingering, greasy taste, served on a reuseable plate
Albion Sports	55	Lasting greasy taste
Brigg	54	Too greasy, friendly club house.
Wombwell	52	Taste of burnt fat.
Fakenham Town	0	No Chips
Club Thorne Colliery	0	No Chips
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	No Chips
Kiveton Park	0	No Chips
Gretna	0	No Cips but the Scotch pie was great.
SJR Worksop	0	No chips, packet of Quavers instead.
Sheffield Union	0	No Chips, didn’t go to the club house.
Chesterfield	0	No Chips
Aston Villa	0	Couldn’t get to the food kiosks, too busy
Shrewsbury/TNS	0	No Chips

You have to deal with disappointments following the Villa, Part 4 !!!!!!!

Friday saw me take a drive to Villa Park to see their 150th Anniversary Game, which had been deemed to be the Third Rond FA Cup game at home to West Ham. Tickets were reduced to £25 and less for children so another grandson was able to come along and see his first ever game at Aston Villa.

Other celebratory actions were the use of an Anniversary kit of black shirts, to pay homage to the original shirts that also had no sponsorship or player names on them. There were also items for sale in the club shop, which had lengthy queues, for £1.50, as well as a souvenir programme for the same price. Unfortunately only a few had been printed and although we entered the North Stand an hour early, there were none left, although they were for sale on eBay the next day at a very inflated price. Subsequent to this a new batch have been re-printed for sale to fans.

It was a cold clear night with the car temperature registering minus 4 degrees as we parked, and we were soon chilled on the way to the stadium, but inside, where there was a full house, it was warmer. There had been rumblings about Villa making this their anniversary match yet I felt the full house was a vindication considering the weather , a Friday night and the game being on TV. It also gave the chance for younger fans to attend and get their first taste of the Villa bug.

Villa fans were in good voice as too were the 6000 from West Ham who helped to create a good atmosphere.

Aston Villa 2 West Ham 1

Friday 10th February 2025 20.00 pm kick off F.A. Cup 3rd Round

Villa Park, Trinity Road, Aston, Birmingham, B6 6HE, Villains v Hammers

Villa; Black shirts, white shorts West Ham; White Shirts, claret shorts.

The noise ramped up as the game started with both sides looking to take control. A mistake trying to head clear a challenge in the centre of the pitch was swept out to the West Ham right and the ball was quickly moved forward to be centred which allowed Luca Paqueta to shoot low to the left of Olsen, in goal for Villa, maybe for the last time, into the corner of the net to take the lead with 9 minutes gone.

Villa looked sluggish at this point and continual sideways passes with no result were greeted with derision by the home fans. The continual probing didn’t lead to anything and their flow was disrupted on 23 minutes when Barkley was substituted for Onana after a leg injury, not long after Fullkrug had been replaced for West Ham by ex villain Danny Ings. The probing pattern of play continued for Villa, with West Ham occasionally making a quick break but neither side looked like adding to the score as the clock wound down to half time. A group of past players were warmly applauded when they walked around the pitch at the break.

The second half started without West Ham’s Summerville who had been influential in the visitors play.

Villa took more control yet still didn’t score even though they forced a series of corners. One corner from the right was swung in to be headed on by Tyrone Mings to Ezri Konsa at the back post who headed it down into the ground where it was spilled by Fabianski, the West Ham keeper, after an intervention by a defender. The ball was pounced on by the imposing Onana who poked it over the line. Should the Hammers goal Hero, Paqueta, not have fallen over next to Konsa, he would have been able to challenge his goalward header.

The goal signalled a resurgent Villa which was also helped by the immediate introduction of three substitutes. Five minutes after the goal, Yuri Tielemans released a long ground pass from deep in his own half to Emi Buendia, who had started with a positive go forward attitude, who swept the ball out to the left where Ollie Watkins raced into the Hammers penalty area and flashed the ball along the ground to Morgan Rogers who with one strike buried it into the net. A typical Villa goal under Unai Emery. The onslaught continued and only the left hand post stopped Jacob Ramsey’s beautiful curling shot from making it three.

Villa relaxed a little and it was their other substitute, Nedeljkovic who raced back at impressive speed to block a goalward bound shot. Villa fans were now in full flow and were relieved and pleased at their teams second half play. For 70 minutes I though that I would need to write ‘ You have to deal with disappointments following the Villa part 4’ but my influence had changed which I put down to wearing my claret and blue scarf, knitted by my mother 30 years ago, to keep me warm.

UP THE VILLA, even though I couldn’t get any chips with the huge queue, because all food and drink was £1.50 and the crowd was 40898.

You’ll Win Nothing With Kids

You’ll Win Nothing With Kids – Fathers Sons and Football
Written by Jim White
Published by Little Brown 2007

This book jumped out at me because my son manages his sons football team, starting last season as under 8’s. It’s been fascinating and sometimes funny listening to how he was going to set the team up and how they played and initially lost. However with a friend they have enjoyed every moment of it and enabled a group of lads to not only enjoy the games but build friendships and get a good grounding in life. It’s a good lesson to understand the highs and the lows.
It also appealed to me because I was there at the start of the 1995/96 season when Villa overwhelmed Manchester United 3.1 and Alan Hansen said on Match of the Day
‘You can’t win anything with kids’. Little did I know I was witnessing the birth of a team that would transform English and European Football. It also heralded one of the most successful managerial reigns in football history.
Because of Jim’s job, he is able to ask different sports professionals and managers, for tips and ideas. Did they work?, you’ll have to read the book to find out.
The journey is fascinating and a good read.

2024, Another Great Year.

2024 was my seventh year of writing this blog and I thank everyone who has read it this year, making it the most popular year so far.
The year started at Garforth in North East Leeds where on a muddy pitch they were the better team and went on to win promotion later in the season. It was the first of 48 matches including some International Excursions.

There were three excursions outside of England, in theory, with games in Italy, Scotland and Wales (well almost).
The Italian game in Florence to see Fiorentina was a highlight, not because of the game or the weather, but because of the generosity of a local fan who guided me from the railway station to the ground and explained how I would get back. The unique Mussolini era architecture has cover for a very small minority of fans and the rest of us were drenched with a biblical type downpour. Luckily the food stall sold plastic ponchos, I wonder why!

The trip to Gretna was an experience in that I have not seen such avant garde parking. Cars were just abandoned everywhere, with no order but everyone seemed happy and negotiated leaving with no problems at all. The game was a great advert for the Lowland League and the Scotch pie was somehow tasty, I had never been impressed with one before.
On to Wales, but not Wales, as Cymru champion The New Saints played a European Conference League game at Shrewsbury Town’s stadium to meet UEFA standards. Although they lost 2 nil to a very competent Panathinaikos, their exploits at this stage of European football has raised the bar of Welsh football

The stand out game of the year was
Hednesford v Gainsborough Trinity in the F.A. Cup. Down and out, Gainsborough fought back to level at 3.3 at full-time and again came back to level at 4.4 after extra-time. Then the dreaded penalties that saw the away team go through 5.4. This will go down as one of the best games I have ever seen in nearly 70 years watching football.

Other highlights were seeing Loughborough Students gain promotion in a play off final when they overwhelmed Skegness 7 nil. A just reward, having previously been told by the F.A. that they wouldn’t be allowed promotion. A great decision by the F.A. to change their minds.

Another play off game saw, Shirebrook, a team near to me, stun Wakefield 4.0 to gain promotion but not in the completion they were playing in but in The United Counties League. This was due to another F.A. reorganisation. This one tidied up many clubs in the Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, a good sensible move.
Good to see Chesterfield promoted and a great Chesterfield Sunday Cup final at Staveley where Brampton Rovers were winners 4.3 after extra time.
I saw Kiveton Miners Welfare’s last game at Stone Close and also one of Kiveton Park’s first. The ground already looks so much tidier. Just down the road I finally saw a game finished at S J R Worksop, but didn’t make it to Kirton Brickworks ground due to a switched venue because of a waterlogged pitch. Definitely one for the future.
I was bored at Mansfield in December but elated for the Chairman of Biggleswade Town, an old school friend, the month previous, when they came back to win 5.4 at Coleshill in the F.A. Trophy.
A second trip to see a Berwick Charities Cup match left me in awe, again, of this locally organised competition.

As the year ended Ashbourne, the underdogs, almost upset Clay Cross in the Derbyshire Senior Cup and should have reaped an award for their effort.
Finally another aborted visit to Appleby Frodingham’s ground saw me end up at Brigg and a last minute win at a ground soon to join the artificial pitch brigade.
As usual a fantastic year with 2025 beckoning. I wish everyone a Happy 2025.

Wimborne Town FC v Poole FC postponed

Last week, Appleby Frodingham and this week, as I arrived at Wimborne’s modern ground with an artificial pitch that is postponed too, waterlogged I pressure, although I had checked social media half an hour previous.
Journeying from Derbyshire, I don’t think I will be taking them up on using my pre paid ticket for the re-arranged match.
Unfortunately I have previous with Dorset in that I had travelled, again in January, to see Poole play St Albans City, only to find it was postponed due to a frozen pitch, something rare in these southerly parts.
After a pasty and a coffee, I felt refreshed and ready for the year ahead.

Match postponed
Unfortunately, the following fixture has been postponed:
Wimborne Town FC vs Poole Town01/01/2025 at 15:00Wimborne Town Football Club
Your tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled fixture. Please keep an eye on communications from Wimborne Town FC on the new date.

10 men Zebras beat the fog and the The Penguins .

I decided to get one more game in 2024 and headed for North Lincolnshire to see Appleby Frodingham but first checked their social media and the league site to make sure the match was on. I have previous with Appleby Frodingham with games cancelled through a frozen and waterlogged pitch. Luckily, in the past, I had been able to switch games. The last few days had been miserable foggy and grey, and they were again as I pulled off the drive, but the sun was out as I whizzed along a quiet M18. The mood changed as the fog returned along the M180, and it thickened through Scunthorpe. It was to get worse when Google Maps took me to a local rugby club. Not deterred, the Northern Counties East web site gave me a different post code and 3 minutes later I was there along with a couple of other people in cars looking at a very closed ground. Social media now told me that the match was postponed, but again, not givingup, I knew that Brigg Town were at home and that was 8 miles away and I had 30 minutes to get there. Pulling into the large car park at 14.51 with the game on, my luck had changed. There was a large lined out car park all part of more sports facilities. I stopped and chatted to a man collecting for James Hitchcock, the Barton Rovers goalkeeper who lost his life on a night out, and walked to the turnstile. Now I was confronted by a queue! Evidently, another helper had not turned up so I managed to get in at 15.04, unluckily they were sold out of programs but luckily no one had scored.

Brigg Town can trace a history back to 1864, one of the earlier teams in the country. Playing for a long time in Lincolnshire Leagues, they moved up to the Midland League in 1976, and in 1982, when League mergers created the Northern Counties East League they were founder members.
Their highest league status was reached in 2004 when they were promoted to the Northern Premier League, but 11 years later, they were back in the NCEL. 2017 saw a further fall back into the Lincolnshire League, which they bounced back from the following year and have stayed since. Briggs Cup exploits have been amazing winning the FA Vase on two occasions in 1996 and 2003.

Athersley Recreatin FC has a much shorter history, only being formed in 1979 as Athersley North Juniors and took their current name in 1986. They played initially in the local Barnsley Leagues until 1997 when they were promoted to the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League. Promotion to the Northern Counties East League in 2012 they have played in both the Premier Division and Division one. After a few poor seasons, this year has proved more successful.

It was foggy here too but you could see from end to end. The miserable conditions made everything else look sad, with the undulating grass pitch having as much mud as grass. The good news being that at the end of the season the pitch is to be dug up and a new alweather one installed with six changing rooms for multi use and increased income. A reason to return in the future to see how it looks.

It was grey, damp and only 4 degrees giving a miserable feel.

The two ends of the ground are open with low level covered seating dow almost the length of one side. The other side houses the changing rooms, club house, other rooms, with covered standing in front.

Brigg Town FC CIC 1 Athersley Recreation FC 0

Saturday 28th December 2024.

The EC Surfacing Stadium, Wrawby Rd, Brigg DN20 8DT

15.00 pm kick off. Northern Counties East League Division One.

4th v 10th, The Zebras v The Penguins or ‘The Rec’

Although Brigg were more dominant in the first 30 minutes, Athersley made dangerous quick attacks mainly down the left. With just 5 minutes before the break a second yellow card for Prince Hayward of Brigg meant an early bath and some reorganisation at half time for the home side.

The second half started with the fog thickening but on the field despite being one man down the home side kept pressing with Athersley still breaking fast. Athersley despite their attacks only forced the Brigg keeper to make one great save when he managed to launch himself and tip the shot over the bar.

There was plenty of passion and endeavour on and off the field as every tackle, foul or clash of heads was greeted with cries to reduce Athersley to 10 men. The referee kept his nerve and the game moved on to the final few minutes with not only the fog but the cold increasing.

With on my watch, time up and added time being played Brigg fought harder and harder and they were awarded a corner from the left. Harrison Coley curled it in and up rose Josh Jordan unmarked to head the ball with some strength into the back of the net. Fans and players of Brigg went wild, while the Athersley team trudged back to the centre circle knowing that they had missed a golden opportunity to get three points. The crowd of 302 was one of the best at this level for the day.

Considering the weather conditions and the cloying , muddy pitch, heavy legs, both teams had served up a fascinating, hard fought match to remember.

The club house was warm and friendly with many photos of old endeavours. TV screens were showing the World Darts Championship which a few chose to watch rather than the game. The chips although hot were tasty but too greasy for my liking, scoring only 54.

Little Christmas Cheer at Mansfield

I decided on a short trip for football to Mansfield on this busy travel weekend before the festive season. There was also an interesting local Derby between Mansfield and Rotherham and on this usually lean day for football crowds, with shopping being a priority in many families, a good crowd could be expected. It would also be the return of Steve Evans ‘the Marmite character’ to a club he left mid season and not on the home fans Christmas card list. Steve Evans had a football career in Scotland and then fell into management of Non-League and lower English clubs and usually creates a buzz and some excitement on and off the field where ever he has gone. My last brush with him was when he plotted knocking Aston Villa out of the F.A. cup when at Stevenage.

The traffic was bumper to bumper in Mansfield , especially around the ground, which is ringed by ‘Retail Sheds’. I couldn’t believe my luck at parking on the road, only a short walk to the match. My ticket was in the Rotherham end having not been able to get a ticket from Mansfield. A large contingent of the away fans had arrived by coach and on queuing up saw six ‘Father Christmases’ joining. For some reason the stewards were asking everyone to remove their hats to check if anything was concealed but no strip search? For some reason they did not ask me! To my great surprise the food stand was offering chips, some thing that has not been on the menu at the home main stand on previous visits, more of that later. It was also noticeable that this three sided ground had a fourth side as the Bishop Street side has been relieved of its hoardings and remedial work is going on to find a solution to making this a safe seating or standing area to increase capacity. This side of the ground has not been in use for nearly 20years and with crowds nearing capacity for popular games good income is being missed.

It was a grey dry day but with some strong gusty winds that sent darker clouds scurrying across the sky. The grass pitch looked immaculate and was watered heavily before the kick off.

Mansfield Town F.C. 1 Rotherham United 0

Saturday 21st December 2024, English Football League Division One, Kick off 15.00 pm

Field Mill Ground, Quarry Lane, Mansfield. NG18 5DA

Stags v Millers, 11th v 17th

Rotherham started the match with the greater possession but the swirling wind meant that their high balls were difficult to control. Their fans were the most noisy and were enjoying a holiday atmosphere. However as often is the case out of a rare Mansfield attack poor clearances meant the ball fell behind their defence for Deji Oshilaja to run through on his own and plant the ball in the net to the keepers right.

The Rotherham fans silenced and the Mansfield ones more vociferous to the point that Steve Evans complained afterwards about the vitriolic verbal treatment he received.

There is not much more I can say about the rest of the game. The wind totally spoilt it, but my mind drifted back to Hallam’s FA Vase win, when the part timers, in similar windy conditions, hit three goals in the second half by playing football along the ground.

The Rotherham fans turned on their own teams lack of attacks and mistakes.

Mansfield’s win meant that they went up one position in the League and Rotherham dropped down one after their recent form revival. Certainly no Christmas cheer here and perhaps the shops had the better offer for the 8401 who had made the effort.

The chips were a good quantity, crispy, hot, but greasy, and as I eat more the greasiness seemed to overwhelm the taste, to a point where I stopped half way through. A poor score of 58.

The best football team in Wales.

I headed west on a miserable, grey, drizzle ridden day with a temperature of just 6 degrees. I was headed for Shrewsbury, where ‘The New Saints’ were playing Panathinaikos in their latest European Conference League game. £16 had secured me a ticket, a lot less than other UK clubs playing in Europe. The game was being played in Shrewsbury due to the fact that their ground in Oswestry did not meet the UEFA standards, Shrewsbury FC is only 21 miles from TNS’s ground.

TNS are the first football team from Wales ever to reach a European Group stage of a European trophy and capped that achievement by winning one of their league games at home to Astana.

Others would argue that Swansea sitting 9th in the English Championship, Cardiff 22nd, Wrexham 2nd in League 1, Newport County 17th in League 2 and Merthyr Town top of the Southern League Premier Division South all play at a higher level. For me, these are just outliers as unless they spend billions of pounds, they are never going to compete in Europe when TNS are doing it now. The Cymru league offers a pathway that playing in the English Leagues never will.

The history of TNS goes back over 150 years when in 1860 Oswestry Town Fc were formed, but it was their merger with Llansantffraid that forged todays club. llansantffraid had been successful in climbing the Welsh Leagues to enter the Premier League and changed their name to Total Network Solutions in 1997 due to a worthwhile sponsorship deal. They first qualified for European football in 2000. The merger with Oswestry was completed in 2003, and the name of The New Saints was adopted in 2006 when the sponsors company was sold. They have stayed near or at the top of their league ever since. Although they have developed a very good ground with other sporting and leisure facilities it is not big enough for their European nights.

Panathinaikos based in Athens, were founded inn 1908 and throughout their history have been considered one of two leading teams in Greece having won numerous national leagues and cups and being European football finalists.

The New Saints 0 Panathinaikos 2

Thursday 12th December 2024, Kick off 20.00 pm. UEFA Conference League

The Crowd Meadow, Oteley Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ST

The Saints v Panathenians TNS 2nd in their League, Panathinaikos 4th in theirs.

TNS; Green and White hooped shirts with white sleeved shirts and green shorts. Goalkeeper in all orange.

Panathinaikos; Royal blue shirts and shorts that had a purple hue under the lights with a green dart on the shorts. Goalkeeper in all pink.

Panathinaikos had brought a good contingent of fans with them who kept singing and chanting all game.

The Shrewsbury stadium is modern with covered seating on all four sides with a flat grass pitch that has hardly been cut up at this point of the season. The drizzle of the day had luckily stopped for the game.

Panathinaikos played a very pleasing controlled game across the back of their defence, then suddenly trying to break the well drilled TNS defence. TNS suffered a blow after only 11 minutes when one of their central defenders had to be subbed for what looked like a leg injury. Four minutes later the TNS keeper Connor Roberts, made a fantastic left handed save but almost immediately he was called to save again, this time with an outstretched leg from point blank range, only for it to rebound to Duricic to knock it into the net. TNS looked like they would comfortably hold out until half time but Connor Roberts was again asked to perform heroics with a save at the near post just before half time. The half time score of one nil to the visitors meant the game was still all to play for.

Panathinaikos started the second half well and had good chances to increase their lead, which they did from the penalty spot on 61 minutes after one of their forwards was upended in the area. It was Ioannidis who coolly despatched the ball into the left hand side of the goal.

TNS showed a few flashes of attacking intent but never really threatened the Panathinaikos team that was sprinkled with a majority of international players.

A thoroughly enjoyable game for the 5716, and still the faintest chance of TNS staying in the competition if they win their last game.

Unfortunately no chips, but a great food offering.

N.B.

Football in Wales looks like growing in strength with the expandeded Cymru Premiership for the 2026/27 season sharpening competition next year. With more teams upgrading their facilities to be able to apply for the Premier League the supporters should get an enhanced experience.