Impressive Burton Albion.

A change from Non League football as I was treated by my daughter to a visit to Burton Albion a club that was on my long standing visit list.

A pub and food outlets on the way to the ground had been occupied by a large contingent of good humoured Sheffield Wednesday fans on a spring afternoon where the high grey cloud was under attack from some blue sky patches. The fans seemed to be in high spirits and treating the day as summer despite it only being 10 degrees. Outside the stadium was Burton Albion Community Football Centre and nearby artificial pitches in use by fans prior to the match.

Only started in 1950 Burton were major players in the Non-League game. They initially joined a local Birmingham League but soon spent most of their time alternating between the Southern and Northern Premier Leagues until in 1988 they were promoted to the Conference and joined the EFL in 2009. Their upward journey continued spending two seasons in the Championship, but have now become mainstays of League 1.

Burton moved to their Pirelli Stadium home in 2005 and it is a good example of a compact modern stadium with covered standing at both ends and down one side and with covered seating and hospitality boxes down the other. The ground capacity is over 6000 and on the day 4682 were there. The pitch as you would expect was an immaculate flat grass surface being watered before the start.

Sheffield Wednesday had been top of League One before kick off but had been knocked off of that perch by the result of an early kick off. They had sold their full allocation of away tickets despite a recent run of poorer results. Their fans crave to climb back up the league structure considering their history and attendances. They have previously won FA cups, the League Cup and four top league titles but their achievements have tailed away since the early 1990’s. They have also recently been in a long shadow from local rivals Sheffield United who look very likely to make it back to the Premier League.

Burton Albion 3 Sheffield Wednesday 2

Saturday 15th April 2023 15.00 pm kick off

English Football League Division 1 Brewers v Owls. 18th v 2nd.

Burton Albion, Yellow shirts and shorts: Sheffield Wednesday, Blue and white vertical striped shirts and black shorts.

Before the game wreaths were laid to remember the 34th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy and a minutes applause was observed.

Sheffield started the quickest but it was soon Burton who started to control the game with some dominant play down the right. It was however a corner from the left for Burton that ended the deadlock when John Brayford rose unmarked in a group of players to head the ball home for a one nil lead. Burton kept up the pressure but were undone by a perfect ball through from Barry Bannan to Callum Patterson on 28 minutes which he met with a strong shot across the goalkeepers right hand into the net to level.

The Wednesday supporters packed in their end came alive but were silenced only 7 minutes later when a complete mix up trying to clear with headers meant the ball fell to Mark Helm who accepted the gift and stroked it into the net. Within 2 minutes it was Mark Helm again, who was having an outstanding match, who latched onto another poor clearance to steady himself, move infield and from 30 yards out smash the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net for a 3.1 lead for the home side. Burton fans were in heaven and made all the noise up to half time.

Wednesday fans stayed very quiet as the second half was started and even three changes early on didn’t help in fact they lost shape and their constant high balls into the Burton defence were dealt with easily. Burton fans continued to taunt the away contingent behind the goal and the away players as well.

With just less that ten minutes to go in the second half Burton right back tripped a player just entering the penalty area and the referee had no alternative but to point at the spot. Michael Smith composed himself after a long wait and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score. Despite the goal there was little chance of an away team comeback as they continued to play the long balls that had proved of no use all game. Burton ran out the time and were worthy winners with the youngster, Mark Helm, being deservedly named man of the match.

I was impressed by Burton’s beautiful, compact ground, their journey and their play on the day.

Unfortunately the chips at Burton were less than impressive. They came in a recyclable cardboard box and were a good quantity but they were just bland. I can say no more than I didn’t eat them all and must apologise for leaving the box on the terracing, I did mean to put it in the bin on the way out.

Dodworth’s football melts in the Easter sun.

There is always a great choice of matches over Easter and with it being the final few yards in the marathon season some games gain my attention more than others. I chose to watch a local derby between two teams with mining backgrounds that held the two top spots in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County League.

There are two teams in Wombwell sitting 2nd and 6th in the League, but I ventured to Wombwell Main although Wombwell Town with a go kart track running down one side of their ground looks a must for next season.

Another journey down Dearne Valley way to Wombwells ground in bright sunlight with wispy white clouds littering a bright blue sky was a long way from the dreary weather that has greeted me at many recent games.

After only a generation there is no outward sign of the coal mining that dominated the area. Now there are enormous sheds for delivery companies and their ilk and grown trees that were planted to hide the scars. I’m sure there are still scars in the communities but what I notice is that it has not dampened the community spirit which I have seen on many of the grounds in this area and at the Totti and Montagu cup finals. The brutal closing of the mining, steel and shipbuilding industries in the UK was necessary in a changing world but could have been done with a bit more empathy.

Wombwell Main’s ground is next to a beautiful cricket pitch that is manicured, ready for the impending summer season. There is a well furbished club house for the cricket that opens for football matches. The TV was on, tuned to the early Premier League game disappointingly though there was no coffee or food here. I passed a chip shop near the ground and one of the crowd passed me with a box of fish and chips just before the start of the game, which did tempt me. The changing rooms are in one corner of the football pitch that is on the far side of the cricket ground. The playing surface was of grass that was in great condition for the end of season. It sloped from side to side and wasn’t flat, seeming to mirror the tree clad hills in the picturesque backdrop.

There is no cover here and one park bench to sit, although many were making use of a retaining wall for this purpose. There were a few crush barriers to lean against.

The kick off time was confusing, 15.00 on the F.A’ s League website and on both clubs social media until the morning of the game when it was changed to 14.00 pm. I have learnt with this league to check, check and check again. I even rang the club house at noon to check with them. Perhaps this confusion was why there were about 20 spectators to start the game but 70 plus, of all ages, by the time it ended and Uncle Les’s Ice Cream Van. The van turned up with about 30 minutes left and on the warm day I thought he was there to put his music on and sell ice cream. Instead he parked, locked the van and watched the end of the match.

Wombwell Main 1 Dodworth Miners Welfare 0

Houghton Lane, Wombwell, South Yorkshire S73 8PW

Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior County League 14.00 pm kick off: 2nd v 1st

Wombwell, orange shirts and shorts; Dodworth, royal blue and black vertical striped shirts with black shorts.

POS	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Dodworth MWFC	20	15	2	3	29	47
2	Wombwell Main F.C.	19	11	5	3	28	38
3	Hepworth United F.C.	19	12	2	5	21	38
4	Swinton Athletic	18	11	3	4	16	36
5	North Gawber Colliery	17	10	3	4	23	33

Prior to kick off

Dodworth were the more organised and dominant in the first half but their finishing was wasteful as they hit four shots over the preventative netting behind the goal into the next field only for the Wombwell subs to chase off to retrieve the ball.

The second half saw much of the same with constant attacks down the wings by Dodworth, especially down the right. Wombwell though responded occasionally and their defence stood firm against aerial attacks.

But as is often the way when one team doesn’t take its chances the other does and on roughly 70 minutes the ball was hit long and just evaded the Dodworths number 5’s attempt to clear, giving him no chance to turn and challenge Wombells’ number 11 who controlled the ball on the left, drove infield and passed across the goal for Ryan Wingrove to score. Dodworth continued to press to the end of the game but their efforts were of no avail and the home side threw open the league title chase to be one of five when if Dodworth would have won they would have looked in a very strong position to prevail. A great afternoons football for free although one of Uncle Les’s ice creams would have topped off the day.

Hanley race past Northwich in the relegation stakes.

A drive to the Potteries gave me the opportunity to visit Hanley Town to see them play 1874 Northwich. A bright clear drive through the Peak District had given way to a grey overcast sky with it registering 8.5 degrees on the car dash board.

Hanley’s ground is in a housing estate with other pitches to one side and parkland surrounding most of it. Cars were parked and abandoned outside the housing although there was a car park next to the ground which for some reason was locked up.

The facilities are being added to, a small seated stand on one side has been recently been extended and there is a small covered standing area to the left of one goal. The club house and café are clean and tidy with happy helpful staff.

The pitch was grass and flat but was wearing badly after our wet March. It was muddy in patches all over with the goal areas and corner flags suffering the most.

There was an original Hanley Town FC formed in 1882 but it lasted only until 1912.

The current Hanley Town FC came into existence in the Mid Sixties as a Sunday League team and soon decided to try their luck playing Saturdays. They progressed in local leagues being promoted to the Staffordshire County League and by 1976 joined the Mid Cheshire league but by 1994 after some poor seasons they went down to Junior football. They were soon back and promotions and league mergers meant they were asked to join the North West Counties League Division One, a goal that they had coveted for some time. They won that Division in 2016 and after their good performances in the reduced covid seasons, in then the Midland league, they were placed in the re-organised Northern Premier League Division One West where they play today. Quite a journey in a short time.

1874 Northwich’s history is even shorter having been started in 2012 after supporters of Northwich Victoria broke away to form a new democratically run, supporter owned club. The 1874 coming from the founding date of Northwich Victoria. They started footballing life in 2013 in the North West Counties League Division One. Despite only finishing third in their first year they were promoted to the Premier Division because of the demise of Formby. By 2018 they reached the Semi Final of the FA Vase but were defeated and only two years later went up another league with the then reorganisation to the Northern Premier League Division One West. An even quicker rise in such a short time.

Hanley Town 4 1874 Northwich 0

Potteries Park, Abbey Lane, Bucknall, ST2 8AJ Northern Premier League West Division

Saturday 1st April. 15.00 pm kick off 16th v 12th. The Blues v The Greens

Hanley, Royal Blue Shirts with thin vertical lines and royal blue shorts; 1874 Northwich Emerald green shirts with green shorts.

Hanley were off to a great start when with just 5 minutes gone their no 11 Jones made it to the by line to cut the ball back for Jack Twyford to strike it home to the left. Hanley did not slow down and continued to dominate and scored a second on 18 minutes when the Northwich centre back miss timed his interception leaving Kieran Brown to run on and curl the ball across the away teams goal keeper and into the far right hand corner of the net.

Northwich did come more into the game but by half time, which was reached with no added time , they had not had a shot on goal.

Two half time changes did inject some more positiveness for Northwich but it was Hanley who scored again when Jack Twyford stepped forward to volley the ball into the net after a goal mouth mele on 62 minutes.

It was all over when on 80 minutes Jack Marrow handled the ball on the line to stop a definite goal and was sent off. A minute later Kieran Brown made no mistake from the penalty spot for a well deserved four nil win.

From my point of view I did not see one shot on goal by Northwich all afternoon and with all three teams in the relegation spots and Hanley winning they have been sucked into a massed battle.

The chips were hot, tasty, not greasy but the centres were a bit powdery gaining a score of 65.

End of season gets tough.

Recent rain led me to target three games to visit and luckily my first choice was deemed fit to play whereas the other two both failed pitch inspections. I made my way across North Nottingham in the traffic to Mapperley Plains and the home of Gedling Miners Welfare FC.

The ground is just off a main road to the right of a main stream gym and other community facilities. There is a large car park at the front and an overflow one at the back. I had layers on to counter the 6 degrees and a wind which was whipping down the ground.

Going through the turnstile I was greeted with a flat pitch that is showing wear all over. The ground felt hemmed in with some low roofed terracing with some having a single line of seating. Despite the clocks going back a few days ago it was dark and overcast by some heavy dark clouds.

The club was born in 1919 after the first World War playing in local football changing its name to Mapperley St Judes in 1930. They took on their current name during the Second World War continuing in senior local football and become ever present Amateur Cup entrants setting ground attendance records in the 1950’s against heavy weights Pegasus and Bishop Auckland. These heights were not maintained and by 1999 they were relegated down a Division bouncing back the following year. Gedling were accepted into the Central Midland League five years later and soon gained promotion to the Supreme Division. In 2008 they became founder members of the East Midlands Counties League where they stayed until its demise in the League restructuring. At that point they were placed in the United Counties League Division One.

St Andrews FC started senior life in 1985 in the Leicestershire Senior League gaining promotion to the Premier Division after 2 seasons. Their progression reached a high point when they reached the semi final of the FA Vase in 2014. Their rise meant joining the United Counties League getting to the Premier Division only to be relegated to where they are today, Division One. They are based in Aylestone near Leicester playing at their Canal Road home.

Gedling Miners Welfare 2 St Andrews FC 3

Tuesday 28th March 2023 19.45 kick off.

Plains Road, Mapperley, Nottingham 19th v 20th

Gedling, Yellow Shirts Blue Shorts: St Andrews, Black and White Vertical striped front of shirt, white on back with Black Shorts

The ball skidded fast off the wet surface to start as both teams found it hard to control and within 6 minutes Gedling were ahead when Courtney Hastings was put through and he calmly stroked it under the diving goalkeepers left arm.

St Andrews responded immediately with some good wing play and crosses that tested the home defence. From an overlap on the right and a brilliant cross Jurelle Philip made it all square on 19 minutes. Jurelle Philip was again on the score sheet 6 minutes later when taking the ball in the centre of the goal he volleyed it home. Sitting in the stand in line with the St Andrews player I was surprised that the official did not give off side.

St Andrews forwards continued to look lively but were dealt a blow just before half time when the impressive Mangondoza was sent off. Although St Andrews led at half time they looked to have a mountain to climb in the second half.

The second half started with a mist like a sea fret swirling down the pitch towards the St Andrews goal and despite constant pressure on it the away team scored again. A static square defence didn’t cover the runs from the St Andrews forwards after a free kick and allowed Shim Thompson -Isac to sneak in to glance the ball with his head past a wrong footed keeper.

The home side rallied with more and more attacks and pulled one back on 69 minutes when Hasting rose to head the ball home off the underside of the cross bar after a beautiful curling cross from the right. With Gedling leaving space at the back as they pressed forward St Andrews scored again on 78 minutes but this time it was ruled off side.

The home team had three penalty shouts turned down by the referee and some of the tackles became tasty as both teams showed how important this bottom of the table encounter meant. A touch line scuffle with most of each team neared the end of the game.

St Andrews overtook Gedling in the league and must have been very happy to have journeyed home south to Leicester with the three points despite the conditions, a man being sent off and the competitiveness of the encounter.

Two coffees and some chips were needed to stem the cold, the chips were tasty, hottish, soft and not greasy with an overall score of 62.

Totty Cup, the past and the future.

In South Yorkshire Sheffield has its oldest teams and grounds, in the Dearne Valley they have two cups with great histories. Last year I went to the 125th Anniversary of the Montagu Cup, the oldest football competition to be played continuously at its original venue, Mexborough. So when I read about the Totty cup I thought I would go and see what it’s all about.

100 years ago in 1923 a cup was presented to the winners of a schools football competition that had been donated by Russell Totty who was the proprietor of a Goldthorpe Picture House. Then it was competed for by “senior schools”, today it is a primary schools competition.

Russell Totty moved his family to Devon a few years later, but the organisers of this year’s anniversary had tracked down some of his decendents who travelled from Surrey to see the game.

What is heartening for the game and the community is the archive and memories that have been collected and grows with each year. The band of people who organise the administration of this cup and others in the area are amazing. The afternoon of finals, culminating with the Totty Cup attracted more than were at the Northern Premier League East game I was at last Saturday. They had produced a program, special 100 year pin badges and the clubhouse was open for drinks of all sorts and food.

To follow this there will be ‘The Totty Cup’ Anniversary Centenary book on sale by the end of the year. This follows the publishing, last year, of “The Mont” which chronicled the 125 years of the Montagu Cup.

The next Montagu Cup final, this year between last year’s beaten finalists, Dog Daisy United and Dearne & District FC, will as usual be on Easter Monday kick off 11.00 am at Mexborough Stadium. A great morning out but getting there early is always a good idea with an expected crowd of over 1000.

Like the Montagu Cup the crowd to see the Totty Cup was a real family affair with fans of all ages despite the overcast skies that had earlier turned the pitch and surrounding area into mud patches.

Goldthorpe Sacred Heart 1 Swinton Queen 1

With a Drone recording the game Swinton kicked down the hill in the first half in this 9 a side game. Sacred Heart were the only team who had a girl in their line up and it was them that went ahead after 10 minutes when a shot from outside the box sailed into the top corner of the goal. Individuals on both sides showed good skill on the muddy pitch.

The second half continued with end to end play and Swinton equalised when the ball was robbed from the Sacred Heart goalkeeper and hit into the net. Despite protests from the goal keeper the goal stood.

Sacred Heart now exerted more pressure but full time came and extra time of 5 minutes each way was started. The deadlock could not be broken so another two periods of 5 minute extra times were played. Neither side scored partially thanks to Swinton’s goalkeeper who was undoubtedly my man of the match. The two teams decided on a replay rather than penalties so this has been tentatively pencilled in for 30th March.

What a great community event which will be remembered by players, family, friends and fans for many years. An historic cup showcasing the future football talent.

An unexpected bonus was the chips that were hot, tasty, crispy, golden, fluffy centre and with no greasy after taste getting a chip league score of 68.

Long Eaton leave it very late.

The stand out game of the day to me was at Long Eaton just West of Nottingham. Long Eaton United were at home to Hebburn Town in a promotion chasing game.

Long Eaton vie with Grantham as to who is the most southerly in the Northern Premier League East and play at Grange Park with a 3G pitch and other grass pitches on the site. As I pulled up players were leaving the NJD Community Arena after playing junior games on the 3G pitch, vacating the large car park for the Senior game to follow.

The car was showing a heady 13.5 degrees even though there were light grey clouds covering the sky. The ground was very tidy with a big seated stand on one side, a terraced covered area on the opposite side and good hard standing around the rest of the pitch. The refreshment kiosk greets you as you go through the turnstiles alongside the club house. I was disappointed to find that with such an interesting game and good facilities there were only 248 there.

I sat high up at the back of the stand and behind the goal to my left I could see the cloud machine you pass on the M1, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal fired power station. The grass pitch looked very flat but was beginning to see the scars of a long season.

Hebburn Town were started in 1912 as the ‘Reyrolles’ works team plying local football in Jarrow. Having moved within leagues they eventually changed name to Hebburn Reyrolles in 1986 and two years later to Hebburn when they joined the Northern League. They yoyoed up and down leagues for some years having added the “Town’ name in 2000. They continued steady progress and highlighted with an FA Vase win at Wembley in 2020 against local rivals Consett. They were promoted to the Northern Premier League East, their current location, after the recent league reorganisation in 2021.

A team called Long Eaton St Helens played in the Derbyshire Alliance in 1907 and played in local leagues for around 20 years before disbanding. Long Eaton Town were established in July 1949 and spent many years in the Central Alliance, before moving to the Midland League in 1961.

In 1982 they were founder members of the Northern Counties East League, with the merger of two leagues. They stayed there for 7 years before opting to move to the Central Midlands League but by 2002 they were back in the Northern Counties East League.^[9] They moved up to the Premier Division before changing leagues again in 2014 to the newly formed Midland League. Their nomadic days continued when reorganisations moved them to the Premier Division North of the United Counties League in 2021 which they won and were promoted to The Northern Premier League East where they sit today. They now hope to move up again via the play offs

Long Eaton United 3 HebburnTown 2

Saturday 18th March 2023. 15.00 pm Northern Premier League East. 4th v 2nd

Grange Park, Long Eaton, The blues v The railwaymen

Long Eaton, Royal Blue and black vertical stripes on the front of shirt, all blue on the back with black shorts: Hebburn Light blue shirts with white shorts.

Hebburn were a disappointment, sitting second in the league they had no answer for Long Eaton’s quick inter passing forwards with Fearon continually causing trouble on the right and setting up chances with good crosses.

It was no surprise that a cross led to long Eaton’s first goal. It was nodded down by walker to Cursons who appeared to miss kick the ball but it came back to him to just tap in with no one challenging.

Long Eaton continued to make chances and converted one just on half time when a flick header put Jamie Walker through who drew the keeper and slid the ball along the ground into the net for a two nil lead for the home side.

Hebburn had made one positional change by switching a different defender to marshal Fearon and when Long Eaton’s centre back went off with a shoulder injury and the away side subbed on two forwards the game changed. Hebburn took control and hit the bar, sent free kicks just over and scored on 70 minutes when Daniel Moore rose above everyone else to head the ball down into the goal. The ball was cleared off the line but the linesman who was in the correct position gave a goal as it had crossed the line.

Hebburn kept pressing and were awarded a penalty on 83 minutes when a player was tripped in the box. Olly Martin sent the keeper the wrong way as he hit the ball just inside the left post.

With the clock ticking over into added time Hebburn conceded a freekick to the right of the goal and Jamie Walker left footed stroked the ball past the Hebburn wall just inside the post for the winner. Hebburn after completely turning it around in the second half had themselves to blame for defending the free kick sloppily and coming up against a superb strike from the Long Eaton. If these two sides meet in the play offs it will be anyone’s game.

Great refreshments bar with a good variety on offer served in a helpful manner. The chips were red hot, crispy, golden, great taste and not greasy. If anything slightly overcooked but still a very good score of 69.

Chinese Cultural Influence in English Football.

Earlier in the year I saw that there was a touring exhibition about the contribution that the Chinese ethnic population have made to the UK’s culture at a local Library. There have been few footballers emerging into the highest level from a Chinese background but with an expected increase in their ethnic grouping due to the expected immigration from Hong Kong we perhaps could soon be at the start of a few emerging stars.

What interested me was the reference to Frank Soo.

Born in Derbyshire my home county for the last 25 years, I thought our paths had crossed before.

Frank Soo I had believed was the manager of St Albans City FC when I was born in January 1950. Born on a Saturday my father was not there but watching his beloved ‘City’. More importantly a week later my mother had to stay in hospital for an extra day because he was watching St Albans again this time playing Stork FC in the FA Amateur Cup. Her antipathy to football may have been strongly influenced by this event. Further research though shattered my belief as Frank Soo didn’t become the Manager of St Albans City until the start of the 1950/51 season.

Reading about Frank Soo though soon made me realise that I had come across one of the greats of English football. He was born in Buxton to a Chinese father and English mother.

His footballing career was at Prescott Cables, Stoke City, Leicester City, Luton Town and Chelmsford City and a managerial career that included clubs in England, Scandinavia and Italy. Perhaps his overseas work meant his exploits were lost to a UK press. he even managed the Norwegian National Team at the 1952 Olympics in Finland.

He played as a midfielder and was reputed to be a very accurate passer of the ball which would unlock defences as well as a dead ball specialist.

Frank Soo’s career started at Prescott Cables, which I visited last year and from there moved to Stoke City in 1933. He played 173 times for Stoke scoring 5 goals and captained Stanley Mathew’s during his stay there which ended in 1948.

1932–1933	Prescot Cables
1933–1945	Stoke City	173	(5)
1945–1946	Leicester City	0	(0)
1946–1948	Luton Town	71	(4)
1948–1950	Chelmsford City
Total		244	(9)

Frank Soo was the first non-white person to play for the England national football team and still is the only player of an Asian background to reach that level for England. He achieved this in May 1942 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, against Wales and played for England a further 8 times all of which were deemed to be unofficial matches. His England career was limited by the Second World war when he turned out for many top teams as a guest in morale boosting games.

I was privileged to have come across such a pioneer in English football and hope that he gains more recognition and inspires others in the future to help our multi cultural game.

Much of the above information has come from ‘The Frank Soo Foundation’ http://www.thefranksoofoundation.org.uk the Chinese Cultural Exhibition at Mansfield Library and

St Albans City historian, David Tavener’s research for a Jake Ellacott article ‘From Clarence Park to Padova. The Story of an International Pioneer.’ http://www.stalbanscityfc.com

Football could be at your corner shop.

You may live in a neighbourhood where you have an RS McColl, McColls or Martin’s newsagent as a local shop. There are over 1100 of them, many with a post office within and more recently some have been changed to Morrisons Daily. More will now follow with last year’s takeover by Morrisons but they have also announced that 132 will be closing.

So what is this to do with football. Well it was all to do with a man from the St Rollox area of Glasgow named Robert Smyth McColl.

Robert was a promising footballer who started playing for a junior club called Benmore in 1892 at the age of 13. Two years later he moved to the amateur club Queens Park and success there led to a lucrative move to Newcastle United with a signing on fee of £300 of which he invested £100 into business with his brother Tom.

He stayed there until 1904 when he was transferred to Rangers, where he played for another 3 years before returning to Queens Park to see out his career. In that career he scored goals at almost one every two games. In one game near the end of his playing days, he scored 6 at Hampden Park, a record that still stands today. In fact he scored on average one a game for the 13 games he played for Scotland. He is still the only man to score three goals against all of the Home International teams.

Robert Smyth McColl finished his international career in a 4-1 victory over England at Celtic Park a year before he opened his first R S McColl store. He continued to increase the store portfolio until he retired in 1951, seven years before his death in 1958. A cup competition was named after him, the RS McColl cup junior football competition. – which is still played for today.

So if you are a football fan enjoy your McColls store until it is revamped and renamed.

Fields of Dreams and Broken Fences

Fields. Of Dreams and Broken Fences (Delving into the world of Non-League Football) by Aaron Moore

Published in 2022 by Pitch Publishing

This book was an easy read about Aaron Moore’s recent football adventures either side and during Covid.

There are 13 chapters taking in the losers in the great covid cancellation sacandal, the journeys of players into Non League football, the growth and decline of clubs, finding a level in the woman’s game and individuals visions and passions.

Aaron’s book is mainly about the South East of England with occasional forays north in particular Vauxhall Motors on the Wirral. Non the less it covers the Non League game and fraternity very well and once started it is hard to put down.

I believe it to be his first book and I will look out for anymore in the future.

It’s not all plain sailing at the top.

I drove 18 miles to Retford United and the contrasts were amazing, no snow and a temperature of 7.5 degrees whereas at home it was six inches of thawing snow and 2.5 degrees. There were Grey skies and a light wind but it felt almost tropical compared to the previous few days.

Retford was one of the games on that were near to me and I thought I would catch up with the Central Midlands North League leaders as they move towards a promotion to either the Northern Counties East Division 1 or the United Counties Division 1. There are a few overlapping anomalies at the border of these leagues which I’m sure the FA will sort in future seasons. Retford had been undefeated in the league until last time out and were playing a hard to beat Bentley side. I estimated about 100 were there to witness the outcome.

Retford’s ground is on the edge of town surrounded by fields and has a very large car park to the front of the stadium. The pitch slopes slightly from end to end, has a few undulations and a very good grass cover for the time of year. There is a covered seated stand on one side with the changing rooms, club house, administrative rooms and a food kiosk on the other. Behind one goal there is covered standing and open standing at the other.

Retford United have been going since 1987 and were formed to provide football in the town after the demise of Retford Town. They have had a meteoric rise to the Northern Premier League Premier Division and back down again to where they are today. After their fall they are now aiming to progress back up the pyramid and catch up neighbours Retford FC.

AFC Bentley are mere infants in the Non League world having been born out of Brodsworth Welfare FC and Bentley Colliery FC in around 2015. They have set up as a Community club and run teams at all levels. The club has consolidated its position in the league and is quickly updating it’s facilities to move up the leagues in the future.

Retford United 2 AFC Bentley 1

Saturday 11th March 15.00pm kick off.

Central Midlands Football League North

Cannon Park, Leverton Road, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN 22 0DR

1st v 8th

Retford, white shirt backs with vertical black and white fronts, black shorts: Bentley, green shirts and shorts.

The game was competitive from the start and the referee took some verbal chat from the away side. Retford looked quick when they went wide and on 13 minutes a ball through on the right to Mark West was clipped back along the ground for Charlie Baird to back heel it into the net for the lead. Retford seemed to relax after this and allowed Bentley to grow in confidence. Despite West hitting the post and Retford’s left back causing some good defending from his long throws Retford were unable to add to their tally by half time.

Bentley were the dominant team in the second half and with 18 minutes gone of the second half they swarmed forward overwhelming the Retford defense for them to be able to score by the left hand post.

For all of Retfords huff and puff they could not find a way past the resolute defence and some fine saves by the goalkeeper, Danial Lister, from West and Barlow.

Bentley had a player sin binned and one sent off both of which I believe were for dissent. Their trainer too was yellow carded and with all of the stoppages there was a long period of added time. A few minutes before this Max Pemberton rose to meet the ball from a corner and planted it downwards into the net for what had looked an improbable win.

Retford did not seem to have the swagger they had when I saw them demolish Dinnington on Christmas Eve. Perhaps it is the expectation of being champions that is weighing on them that has seen their first defeat and making hard work of this game. Mark West too, their prolific scorer, is stuck on 99 goals for the club and just can’t get over the line.

The chips were hot, skins on, crispy, tasty with no greasy after taste. A good score of 66.