Few fireworks on the pitch at Gainsborough.

A weekend of FA Cup 1st round games brought me to Gainsborough on a cooling Sunday evening. Last year at Hednesford, at the same stage of the competition, I watched Gainsborough defeat the home team on penalties after a pulsating 4.4 draw, in what was my game of the season. This was 76 miles by road from yesterday’s game but much longer if I had travelled along the River Trent on whose banks both towns sit.

As we queued, a group of Accrington ultras marched past with flags and chants, making us think that the away end would be packed. When in, this close to the centre stadium, we found that it was the home three sides that had filled up and the Accrington fans had only been a noisy few. Surprised at the good attendance, we found some space behind the goal.

Gainsborough of the Northern Premier League were up against Accrington Stanley of the English Football League Division Two, three levels below their opponents. Gainsborough were once in the Football League but that was back in 1912. Accrington Stanley were founder members of the football league and have been an up and down club that was brought back from extinction in the past. Considering the nearly 60 places in the leagues between the two clubs some divine intervention from the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, who originally formed the club, may have been needed.

Gainsborough Trinity FC 1 Accrington Stanley 2 AET

Sunday 2nd November 2025, 17.15 pm kick off. The Holy Blues/Trinity v Stanley

Gainsborough Trinity FC, Northolme, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 2QW

FA Cup 1st Round. Northern Premier League v English Football League Division Two.

Gainsborough; Royal blue shirts and shorts, goalkeeper in all light blue.

Accrington Stanley; Red shirts with white shoulders and sleeve, goalkeeper in all fluorescent yellow.

Gainsborough playing up the slight slope exerted the early pressure but the away back line looked strong and soon took control as the game entered a dull period. It was a surprise when Accrington took the lead on 28 minutes when a cross in from the right was nodded down for Paddy Madden to score near the post. Gainsborough couldn’t find a way to test the away defence and Accrington were in charge by the time the break came.

Two blue flares were thrown onto the pitch at half time, that were cleared, and we also had noticed a man with a dog, a spaniel, on a lead. It did not appear to be any kind of assistance dog and seemed irresponsible to have it in such a big crowd.

A few fireworks had gone off in surrounding properties at half time and these continued at the start of the second half. This must have distracted the players along with another flare which stopped play and caused some disquiet in the terrace behind the goal as the fans pointed out the thrower to stewards.

On the field Gainsborough were now pushing and both sides had chances but were either thwarted by the keepers or the post in Accrington’s case. The introduction of Sisa Tuntuwana spurred Gainsborough on with Accrington finding it hard to match his pace and skill. With 15 minutes left a cross was missed by the away defenders and Tuntuwana found the space to easily head the ball home to draw the teams level. Gainsborough tried hard to press forward and gain the momentum but full time came too quickly and it was into a period of extra time.

Throughout the game Accrington’s players had seemed physically bigger and stronger, faster, played the ball quicker and harder, and played a busy pass and run football. This carried them through when Charlie Caton put them ahead with only minutes of Extra Time played. Maddon’s quick burst freed him to pass to Caton who was able to wham the ball into the net.

Gainsborough didn’t get back into the game to challenge the EFL side although the fans felt that the referee was giving all the challenges to Accrington and none to them.

At the start of the second period of extra time Maddon should have done better with a great chance and was duly subbed off. Accrington saw out the game but the good sized crowd walked away pleased that their team had not been overwhelmed.

Perhaps Gainsborough might invest some of their cup run money in new floodlight/bulbs as the pitch seemed gloomy despite it being a clar evening.

There were chips here, after queuing for a long time, the well staffed kiosk serving as quick as possible and adding to Gainsborough’s coffers. The chips were a big quantity for the £3.50, they were freshly cooked, hot, golden, slightly greasy, but a bit bland. A creditable score of 62.

St Albans cup run ends on the Trent.

Roadworks on the A38 brought me to a standstill as I approached Burton on Trent to see the first round FA Cup game between Burton Albion and St Albans City. With a junction and a side road joining at the point of the dual carriageway becoming one lane it took a while to get through. I was thankful that it was not a week day when this major road artery is well used by commercial traffic.

Having left enough time for such problems I still arrived with time to spare. Parking my car on the grass verge on Derby Road I was surprised at the lack of people. It was easy to enter the ground and I stood on the terrace with the home supporters. It was disapointing that the crowd was only 2523 having read that St Albans had sold over 600 tickets and tickets were available on the day, meaning that the home support was well below 2000.

Burton play at the 3rd level of English football while St Albans play at the seventh. These clubs had last met here in 2007 when they were both in the National League, (St Albans only season at that level), since when Burton have moved up 2 levels and St Albans moved down 2.

St Albans had won through 4 rounds to reach this stage, their season improving after a disapointing start. A missile had hit them however when only 3 days prior, their manager and his assistant, Ian Culverhouse and Paul Bastock, had left the club for King’s Lynn FC. No one blamed them, the offer from a club nearer to their home, at a higher level and full time rather than part time was an offer not to be turned down.

It was a damp afternoon, the temperature, 12 degrees, average for the first day of November, with a blue sky that was being invaded by some very dark grey clouds. Being over meant the floodlights were on from the start.

The Pirelli Stadium is modern with cover on all sides. The two ends and one side are for standing and the otherside seated. A well kept, flat grass pitch presented an immaculate playing surface.

I have written about the history of both these teams on previous blogs.

Burton Albion 6 St Albans City 0

Saturday 1st November 2025. 15.00 pm kick off.

FA Cup Ist Round. Brewers v The Saints, English Football League One v Isthmian Premier League.

Burton Albion; Yellowband black vertical halved shirts with black shorts. The goalkeeper in all light blue.

St Albans; Pink shirts with white shorts, the goalkeeper in all orange.

It was not the start that St Albans needed when within 58 seconds Burton went ahead. A through ball along the ground allowed Tyres Shade to outpace the defence to then draw the goalkeeper, Magnus Norman, and slide the ball under his body into the net.

The expected floodgates didn’t open and St Albans regained their composure producing some fluent football and shots on goal. Burton clipped the top of the bar when a cross decieved Norman and ended up on the roof of the net with 22 minutes on the clock.

St Albans came right back and three minutes later Zane Banton’s long range shot was neatly plamed round the post by Burtons goalkeeper, diving at full stretch.

Both teams cancelled each other out and despite the very early goal, the difference between these two teams was hard to see.

The second half started like the first, but it was St Albans who unluckily saw a header by Lewis Page glanced onto the right upright and scrambled away by the Burton defence. Having ridden their luck Burton made it two nil only 2 minutes later when a long throw from near the corner flag was headed on fir Charlie Webster to riffle it in.

Webster now seemed to be everywhere and he made it 3 when on 55 minutes he ran through the middle of the City defence and smashed it past the despairing Norman.

Both sides made changes and the game calmed down until the Saints keeper slipped while taking a free kick and the ball landed with Burton players who surged forward and from an angle Tyrese Shade made it 4.

As St Albans tired and started to look a bit ragged Fabio Tavares added two more in the 83rd and 96th minute.

Burton will be pleased to have avoided a banana skin and be in Monday night’s draw for the second round. St Albans must have been happy that for 60 minutes of the game they competed strongly with their higher rivals.

What if the post hadn’t stopped Lewis Page from scoring!!

I was informed by an official that the club had stopped selling chips two years ago, was this after my report that said they were the worst chips I had that season? Instead I had a steak and ale pie and a coffee. Small pie but filled to the brim with large chunks of meat.

Retford save another Brickworks postponement.

I decided to go to see Kirton Brickworks FC play for the second time. My previous visit was thwarted by the weather when the game was moved from within the brickworks to a nearby village pitch. The grass pitch was then waterlogged but this time I was sure that this wouldn’t be the case because of our summer of little rain. When I arrived the pitch looked immaculate, the nets up, new advertising boards compared to last time, but no people. Luckily someone was leaving from the brickworks and he told me the game was off but didn’t know why. I have now found that the morning pitch inspection found the pitch unplayable?

On to the phone to check on the nearest game that I could make it to in time, I was lucky to find Retford FC’s game at home to Southwell City. Retford FC sitting top of the table.

The journey started with a crawl behind a tractor and when I was in Retford I was following a car through a green light when on the pavement to the left a grey haired lady on a mobility buggy suddenly rushed towards the road. The car Infront, me and the one behind slammed on the brakes and in our hesitation the lights changed to red. She pressed the button for her to cross and blithely rode across the road.

I parked, with plenty of time and walked through the road tunnel to ‘The Rail’.

The grass pitch looked as immaculate as on previous visits but there were not many people about. In fact only 199 fans in total, disappointing considering Retfords great start to the season. It was a cold day and I walked to the far corner where the club house is and the food kiosk. Getting some chips i went and sat in the open seating behind one goal, very reminiscent of seating behind a green at a golf competition and chatted to a visitor from the Doncaster direction. I wasn’t sure that this was the best place to watch the game as coming across the vivid blue sky were sone light and grey clouds hurried along by a wind that made it seem colder than the official 8 degrees.Luckilly this ground has covered standing down one side and at one end.

Retford FC were only formed in 2015 moving to their ground ‘The Rail’ in 2017. They were founded at a time when Retford United were going through a rough patch and were promoted from the Central Midlands League in 2019 to compete in the Northern Counties East League where they established themselves. With the FA re-organisation of Non-League football they were transferred sideways to the United Counties League Division 1 which they have been competing hard to move to the Premier Division North.This club have done wonders in their ten years in existence, they have purchased their ground and adjoining land, and built a brand new fan area in one corner with a Scandi styled wood clad, club house, food kiosk, and toilet block.

Southwell City FC were formed in 1893, but early records are sketchy, with the club believed to have played in the Newark area. The team was devastated through casualties in the Great War and although football was played in Southwell it wasn’t until its reformation in 1955 that the current club truly emerged. They joined the Notts Football Alliance in 1957 where they stayed until the end of the 2002/03 season, moving to the Central Midlands League was. On their journey the football club merged with Southwell United Youth Football and Southwell Amateurs and have created a Community Charter club that caters for all grades of the game. This has been achieved through developing their old and new grounds. Winning the Notts Senior League gaining promotion to the United Counties Division One in 2022.

Retford FC 1 Southwell City FC 1

Saturday 25th October 2025, 15.00 pm kick off. Attendance 199.

United Counties League, Division 1, 1st v 16th, The Choughs v The Bramleys/City

Retford Football Club,Babworth Road, Retford, Notts DN22 7NJ

Retford in all navy blue kit with the goalkeeper in all yellow.

Southwell City, Grey shirts with fluorescent pink sleeves and shorts, the goalkeeper in all orange.

Southwell started the game as if they were the top of the table team clipping long balls over the top for their forwards to run on to. It paid off within 5 minutes when Christopher Okoye collected the ball on the left, beat two defenders and hit the ball across the goalkeeper into the bottom right hand corner. Southwell continued to look the most promising side with corners and long throws, the home side looked if they were having a bad day. As the half progressed the game became more even with both teams having chances which was summed up by both teams missing easy chances minutes before half time. Retfords striker blasted over the bar with only the goalkeeper to beat and immediately at the other end the away team should have scored had it not been for their goalkeepers outstretched leg. Southwell deserved to be Infront at half time but the score could easily been higher for both sides.

The game resumed the same pattern in the second half but this time it was Retford who were more in charge and they equalised with 62 minutes gone when a corner from the left was headed on twice, across the goal for Ahmed Tahar, a recent substitute, to head the ball into an open net. Retford now took control but good defending by Southwell kept clearing the pressure despite a large scramble on the goal line that somehow did not go in and a long range shot that glanced the post. Southwell too had breakaway chances which the home keeper did well to keep out.

As the game drew to a close it was City who should have taken all 3 points when No 4 was put through. He had been Southwell’s outstanding player all over the pitch but had noticeably faded in the last ten minutes. With just the keeper to beat he hesitated allowing the ball to be cleared, he still however got my vote as man of the match.

Retford’s point kept them in a commanding position at the top of the league and were lucky to find that their chasing arch rivals, Retford United FC also drew along with others in the chasing pack.

The chips this week were disappointing, like warm and soggy. They tasted OK and were not greasy but only managed a score of 55.

Sometimes you just grind out a result.

Saturday morning saw me watching my grandson lose a match at the great facilities on the University of Northampton Campus. Unfortunately he lost but after some sustenance we made our way to Market Harborough to see their home team play.

I have been here before but they have since moved up a League and further developed their ground. Market Harborough is a pleasant Market town that has grown unbelievably since I lived nearby at Desborough many moons ago. The electrification of the rail link to London has increased its appeal as a computer town for London and the building of the nearby A14 east west link makes it easier to reach the West Midlands and the East.

The ground on the outskirts of the town is part of the Harborough Leisure complex which has been recently updated to feature a brand-new, 115-station gym, three swimming pools, a group fitness studio, a dedicated group cycling studio, a wellness studio, a spacious sports hall, an indoor bowls hall, tennis courts a café and outdoor pitches for sports including rugby and football.

There is great parking, all on the flat, and it is an easy walk to the Football ground. It is an all weather pitch that has had some surrounding hard surface update and two new covered seated areas on one side adjacent a previous existing one. The facilities are now easily ready to enable the club to move up to higher levels and is able to host higher attendances as per their 1813 for the midweek FA cup game. There is a large club house and changing rooms which have solar panels on the roof, which we did not go in.

As we passed through the turnstiles we were handed a token for a Spanish beer. It’s relevance became clear as soon as we were in the stadium with one of the three covered stands down one side crowded with fans from Spain . There was also a clue in a Spanish language insert in the programme. Harborough Town FC’s Spanish connection is due to a friendship with La Media Inglesa. The partnership has grown a large Spanish fan base with live-streamed matches on YouTube to all spanish speaking countries. Harboroughhave also been on a pre-season tour of Madrid. The Spaniards were making themselves known well before the start of the game.

Although a grey overcast afternoon the 13 degrees felt quite pleasant, probably because there was little wind. We debated wether the artificial pitch had a slight slope on it from one end but couldn’t make up our minds if this was an optical illusion.

Harborough Town are a new team, although there have been previous clubs in the town. In 2007 it progressively merged three teams, Harborough Town Juniors, Harborough Town Spencers and Harborough Minis and with the local council developed playing facilities that have benefitted all ages and sexes to create many teams that can use the artificial pitches. After 3 seasons in local Northamptonshire football they gained promotion to The United Counties League again stepping up a league two years later. In 2022 they won the Premier League moving nto the Northern Premier League. In 2024 they won the League play offs and now play at the higher level.

Bromsgrove Sporting FC was founded in 2009 after the demise of Bromsgrove Rovers, saved by local supporters. A restriction of a maximum ten percent shareholding in the club has been introduced to keep a community involvement. The club has gained promotion in local and midlands leagues in a very short time to be now competing in the 7th tier of English football. They reached this level in 2019.

Harborough Town 1 v Bromsgrove Sporting 0

Saturday 18th October 2025 Southern League Premier, Central Division.

Harborough Town Community Football Ground, Northampton Road, Market Harborough , LE16 9 HF.

The Bees v The Rouslers. 1st v 14th

Harborough, all yellow kit with the goal keeper in all green. Bromsgrove, Red shirts with some white vertical stripes on the front and back, and dark blue shorts. The goalkeeper in all green.

Harborough were on top throughout the first half gaining numerous corners and long throws that caused concern foy the visitors. The home sides tall defence were very effective but Bromsgrove did manage a few chances.

The game seemed very stale with perhaps Harborough suffering the after effects due to extra-time in their FA Cup match the previous Tuesday. The game changed for the Bees on 66 minutes when their goalkeeper hoisted a free kick from their half into Sporting’s penalty area. The ball was chested down by Riley O’Sullivan, who had just been introduced as a substitute minutes earlier. He turned and volleyed it into the roof of the net for a well taken goal. Unfortunately his game time only lasted 2 minutes, when a challenge on him in the penalty area was given as simulation, and he was shown a yellow card. He picked up his discarded boot, which looked as if it had come off by the defender treading on his foot. He ran to the official to show him the boot but was waived away. His frustration was shown by him throwing down his boot to which the referee showed a second yellow card and then a red due to the dissent. This all seemed harsh and this added to him being sent off in the seventh minute of Tuesday night’s FA Cup replay.

Bromsgrove saw their chances and pushed forward but the home defence stood solid and saw out the game. It was more like grinding out a win,and not a classic, but Harborough were happy to retain their top spot in the league. After the extra time on Tuesday they were relieved to not have had a reaction.

After missing a few weeks it was back to some chips, and they were hot, tasty, golden, not greasy, crispy outside with a soft middle and a score of 73. Because I was with family I was talking and forgot to get a picture of them until after I had finished. As I continued eating them they became a little dry, perhaps due to the large portion.

Sheffield-Home of Football

During Heritage week, I joined the end of a tour of Crosspool, the area of Sheffield where Hallam FC is situated. We then moved into the clubhouse to listen to some facts about ‘The Oldest Football Ground’ in the world.

Looking across the football pitch you see the cricket ground bordering the open side. The Sandygate Road cricket pitch dates back to 1804 a year before the ‘Battle of Trafalgar ‘ and like many emerging football teams Hallam FC were partly born from the cricket club in 1860.

The Sheffield Home of Football group are forging ahead to promote Sheffield’s football Heritage being the birth place of the oldest team in the world, the oldest ground, the first cup and competition, the publishers of many of the original rules and many more firsts.

I had arrived at Hallam via Sheffield Town Hall where three cabinets of items relating to the history of Sheffield were on display. ‘Home of Football Group’ now have enough to display many more cabinets as they move towards a permanent museum in the city. One item in a cabinet was one of their latest blue plaques that are being put up all over the city in conjunction with the council to identify football/social history places that pioneers, events or places frequented. There is now a trail of these shown on ‘Home of Football’ web site.

Interesting in the cabinet are two pictures of the women’s game in the early years of the sport.

Some unusual facts that came out of the Hallam talk were:-

Football shirts in the beginning were either in a block colour or hoops as a loom to make vertical stripes had not yet been invented.

Hallam’s famous pitch slope is 1 in 26 but FA rules will allow up to 1 in 40.

The Youdan Trophy, the first football cup in the world, was not a cup but a ‘Coffee Jug’ bought off the shelf, because the designed cup was not ready in time for the competition.

The football club and cricket club have only 67 years left on their lease.

The exhibition goes on at Sheffield Town Hall until the 2nd of October and pilgrims to see the Hallam ground are always welcome.

Look up sheffieldhomeoffootball.org for all of the many interesting programs and projects that are going on.

Barnard Castle FC, improving in plain sight.

Barnard Castle became notorious during covid due to Boris Johnson’s right hand man, Dominic Cumming’s excuse that he broke the travel regulations due to needing an eye test in the town.

However, it is much, much more than that. The Town is always alive, the Castle adjacent to it and the amazing Bowes Museum a short walk from the centre.

It also has an improving local football team. It seems difficult to find a history of football in Barnard Castle. A team was in existence in 1889 and appear to have been founder members of the Northern League. Since then, there were many short-lived teams. The team I had gone to watch, who came to my attention in 2021 playing in the Wearside League Division 2, but now, a few years later, playing in the Premier Division.

Based at Tensfield behind the Bowes Museum, and within housing, it has been transformed. There is a good grass pitch, like all suffering from this summers lack of water. The pitch slopes slightly, diagonally from corner to corner, there are modern dugouts and the pitch is surrounded by metal railings, with a good perimeter fence securing the whole ground. The new clubhouse/changing room is set back, with a small practice pitch between it and the main pitch. As well as Barnard Castle’s rise off the pitch, the on pitch developments are also quite remarkable.

Silksworth Colliery Welfare FC, like the home side have been around, on and off, in different guises for the last 100 years. The current team have been playing in the Wearside League since 2013.

Although it was a cloudy day it felt very warm with a temperature of 24 degrees. The light breeze became stronger in the second half to need me to put on a jumper.

Barnard Castle FC 4 Silksworth Colliery Welfare 0

Barnard Castle FC, Tensfield 21 Kalafat, Barnard Castle DL12 8LP.

Saturday September 2025 14.00 pm kickoff. Wearside League, Premier Division. Attendance 73

8th v 12th. Barny v The Welfare

Barnard Castle; Blue And yellow vertical striped shirts with blue backs, blue shorts. Goalkeeper in black and grey.

Silksworth Colliery Welfare; black and red vertical striped shirts with red back and red shorts. Goalkeeper, orange top black shorts.

The home side looked very strong, with their back four dominating. Although they were on top in the first 15 minutes it was their goalkeeper who kept them from going behind with a fingertips save to his left.

By 24 minutes, Barny took the lead, when a freekick from their number 11 on the left was met in the centre of the goal to be headed in.

Silksworth responded but were unable to get back on terms by the break.

The second half started with the temperature cooling by a stronger breeze.

Silksworth came much more into the match, but it was Barnard Castle who doubled their lead within 68 minutes when a chest high cross from the rightbby number 7 was met by a diving header which flashed just inside the left hand post.

11 minutes later a speculative cross was dropped by the goalkeeper to allow Dan Hull to take advantage and connect his left foot with the ball and steer it into the net.

Both teams at this point looked tired after a very competitive game in the heat and Silksworth’s woes were completed with time up another accurate cross from number 7 was met again by Dan Hull to make it 4. This was after they had hit the bar two times in the previous 5 minutes.

Barnard Castle looked like their first season in the Premier Division is going to be a happy one.

Silksworth may well have been slightly demoralised by the score but in reality they were not far off the winners all match.

I was amazed at how far Barnard Castle have come in a short time and pleased that I have been able to follow their journey so far. Good luck on their continual growth.

Drinks and a few snacks were available in a small room in the club house so a coffee and a Mars bar sufficed.

Feisty M180 Derby

The first junction off the M180 brings you to the Isle of Axholme. It’s not an island now, but before the marshland was tamed and drained local flooding made it appear as one.

The destination was Crowle, a new member of the Northern Counties East League Division One, having been promoted from the Lincolnshire League.

Past peat cutting and the draining of the bogs have resulted in roads that are above field level and are undulating and uneven.

The road to Crowle I took has straight sections, sharp bends, a manned level crossing, through which trains bound for Drax Power Station carrying imported wood pellets from the Docks at Immingham pass, and a bridge over drainage canals.

Crowle’s football ground is in the outer South Western tip of the town. On entering the tarmacked car park, you can see a modern football set up surrounded by fencing. The clubhouse and changing rooms are large and run for half of one side of the pitch. Apart from a small covered standing area in the far corner, there are no other buildings. There is no seating and only a path round two sides of the ground. The pitch is basically flat but with undulating areas and some tussock grass that has been left due to the lack of rain and the yellowing of the rest of the playing area. This is a ground in progress as they upgrade the facilities to compete at this level since their elevation.

It was 22 degrees, blue skies with some white straight lined clouds. The sun faded fast, making watching difficult to see, but produced some good coloured skies. The floodlights were on from the start but didn’t make a difference until the sun went down on the big sky.

Crowle United Junior Colts was formed in 1997 after various teams had represented the village, joining the Scunthorpe League. They changed their name to the current one the following year.

They stayed in that league until 2018 apart from 3 seasons in the Gainsborough and District League. In that year they joined the Central Midlands league where they had immediate success and after competing in the premier Division for 3 years, they moved to the Lincolnshire League in 2022. After just 3 seasons by finishing second in the premier league in 2024/25 they moved up to the Northern Counties East league, Division One, for the first time.

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 where 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 there since. Briggs Cup exploits have been amazing winning the FA Vase on two occasions in 1996 and 2003.

Crowle Colts 3 Brigg Town 2

Northern Counties East League, Division One, Tuesday 26th August 2025, 19.45.pm kick off. 14th v 16th, The Colts v The Zebras. Windsor park, Godnow Road, Crowle, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN17 4EE

Crowle; Red shirts with white trim and black shirts, goalkeeper in all purple.

Brigg; All royal blue, goalkeeper in all yellow.

There is only 25 miles between these two teams along the M180 so the competitiveness in this feisty duel was not surprising. The good crowd of 241, many from Brigg, were stunned that within 13 minutes Crowle were two nil ahead. Crowle were far more at home with the uneven hard pitch and the uneven fast bounce it created along with a dust flurry with most kicks. It was lee Ridley who put them ahead after just 8 minutes when he rose to head home a curled free kick from the right with the away keeper stranded off his line. Only 5 minutes later a very low corner from the right was met at the near post by a Crowle player who flicked it on for Henry Cook to steer into the net. both sides now put in a lot of effort and intent as Brigg came more into the game. They were rewarded with just minutes left before half time when a Brigg corner was not properly cleared and after some attempts to score Joshua Jordon took control and guided it into the net.

With just seconds left before the referee blew for half time the Crowle keeper tipped a certain goal over the bar for the home team to go in leading at half time.

Brigg made two substitutes to start the second half and both teams continued their frantic hit and run football often slowed by some fierce tackles. Brigg managed to draw on 73 minutes when the referee awarded them a penalty for a contested hand ball decision. Harry Parr for Brigg converted it into the bottom left corner of the goal with the home keeper just getting his finger tips to it. It was now anyone’s game, but only five minutes later Crowle were awarded a free kick to the left of the ‘D’. Henry Cook restored their lead with a neat shot past the wall and into the top right hand corner. A very good strike which turned out to be the winner as the final 12 minutes became even more competitive with some daft antics on and off the ball by both sides. Crowle will build on this result to survive in their first season in the league and Brigg with their competitiveness should soon get the results to climb the league as well.

No chips in the big club house, so just a coffee.

Chesterfield win the Battle of the ‘rites’.

On my way back from visiting the impressive Locomotion, I called in to the Wetherby Road ground to see Harrogate Town play Chesterfield in the EFL Two.

Although there was high grey clouds cover it was dry and warm with the temperature hitting 22 degrees. This is a stadium shoe horned into a piece of land next to the main road and surrounded by houses. Because there isn’t a car park, the residents have to endure supporter parking outside their houses and slow moving traffic before and after the game. A move to an out of town site would most probably benefit everyone.

The stadium has 3 covered seated stands down one side, covered, half standing, half seating behind one goal with all covered standing at the other end. The other side of the ground is all covered too with a small seating area, the rest standing apart from some portacabins in one corner. A lot packed into the space.

The pitch was a brilliant green flat expanse of grass.

Having been impressed with what has been achieved here, I was shocked to find my seat was behind a floodlight pylon. This not only affected me but also others around me. I put up with it for the first half but moved to standing behind the goal for the second half.

In comparison to Chesterfield, Harrogate Town didn’t form until mid 1919 but only a year later they were one of the teams to start the Yorkshire League but remained in the West Riding League before moving that team to the Midland League and folding it soon after. concentrating on the Yorkshire League they became champions in 1927 but moved again to the Northern League but disbanded in 1935. The use of the Harrogate Town name was first used with a resumption of a team after the Second World War then playing in the West Yorkshire League and a move back to the Yorkshire League happened in 1957.

With the re-organisation of local Leagues in 1982 Harrogate town were inaugural members of the newly formed Northern Counties East and just five years later were founder members of a new League again, this time the Northern Premier League, First Division. In 2002 they were promoted to the Premier Division as league champions of Division 1 and continuing their innovations were founder members of the Conference North in 2004.

2011 was a transformative year for the club with the take over by Irving Weaver father of Simon Weaver, the manager. After the club changed to full time contracts in 2017 they went on to win the league play-offs. Covid now played a part in their rise when with the season curtailed and with an average points per game of 1.78 were put into the play-offs where at Wembley in 2020, they eventually overcame Notts County to claim a place in the English Football League. They have remained in the EFL League Two ever since, an amazing rise.

Chesterfield formed in 1866 claim to be the 4th oldest league club still in existence. A chequered history of league status and liquidation led to their reincarnation when they re-joined the football league in 1921. They have been up and down the leagues in their history but reached a low point in 2018 being relegated to the National League. Off the field problems were resolved by a take over in 2020 by a Community Trust who with great local support have steered the club to a new era of major ownership by local Paul and Ashley Kirk. Now back in the EFL they look to rise up the leagues again.

Harrogate Town 1 Chesterfield 2

Saturday 22nd August 2025, English Football League Two. Kick off 15.00 pm. 9th v 4th. Town/Sulphurites v Spireites.

Harrogate Town FC Wetherby Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 7SA

Chesterfield looked sharp from the off, playing long balls out wide for a speedy front 3 and overlapping full backs. It was the left back who swept forward after 5 minutes with the ball eventually being passed to Ronan D’Arcy who changed direction 5 times before slotting the ball along the ground into the right hand corner. Chesterfield’s three front runners continued to put pressure on the home defence and caused them continual problems. At the other end Harrogate came more into the game but apart from one shot that whizzed by the right hand post didn’t look like scoring. Duke-McKenna playing out wide on the left was Harrogate’s main threat and managed to whip in some good crosses, but no one was there to connect with them. The Chesterfield supporters, 1050 out of a crowd of 3276, continued to make the most noise as the teams left the field at half time.

Something in the waters in Harrogate they say, and Harrogate must have drunk some at the interval because they looked a different team. The back four started to tie up Chesterfields front runners after an early burst and push forwards themselves. The home crowd silenced the away fans when on 50 minutes Duke-McKenna collected a pass on the edge of the goal area and drilled it past Hemmings in the Chesterfield goal.

Harrogate kept up the pressure and gained the initiative which Chesterfield tried to stem with substitutes. On 80 minutes Harrogate substituted Bradbury, who looked like their tallest defender, and only two minutes later from a corner on the left the ball came to Dunkley, the tallest player on the pitch, who unopposed headed in from the centre of the goal to give the away side the lead for the second time. Chesterfield played out the game for a good win on the road to move them up to second in the league.

This was an enjoyable game and a friendly ground with good facilities apart from the floodlight post. One of Harrogate’s nick name is the Sulphurites and Chesterfield The Spireites but neither of their fans would chant that. However you could say that Chesterfield won the battle of the ‘rites’.

Unfortunately no chips but there was a really good food selection. I chose a free ice cream, an Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich. Not a fan of Orio’s although I know they are very popular and have not changed my mind after this.

At half time I had a coffee and a KitKat at the Hydration Station, a nice touch that.

The mascot was an alligator? I have since researched that they are Harri-gator, I should have guessed that.

The programme was £5 and was packed with 70 glossy pages, very informative. It was the same one for all Harrogate’s home games in August, a novel good idea, maybe stats a little out of date by the time of this game.

A4 size was great as a magazine but a little large to put in a pocket

Speedy South Normanton Athletic.

A check at lunch time about my planned visit to Rotherham United soon turned to dust as I found that the game against Burton Albion, for which I had bought a ticket, had been postponed. Evidently, Burton’s lights had failed in a league Cup game, and the replay of this took preference over their league game.

A quick search for a substitute brought up South Normanton Athletic at home to Rainworth Miners Welfare in Division 1 of the United Counties League. South Normanton had been promoted to this league at the end of last season as champions of the Central Midlands League South, whereas Rainworth had finished just above the relegation zone of the United Counties Division 1. The season had started differently for these two clubs, only 10 miles between them, with South Normanton 2nd and Rainworth bottom of the league.

I had not been to this ground for 6 years. It is only a short distance from Junction 28 of the M1, and after driving through some houses, you come to a very large car park. Unbelievably, after 3 official heat waves this summer and droughts proclaimed in some areas, I arrived with the sky overcast with some very dark clouds. There was some faint drizzle in the air, and the new floodlights since I was last here were on from the start. Surprising for mid-August. The temperature had also dropped to 15 degrees and felt colder in the strong breeze, and with the stadium being on top of a hill, I was glad I had put on extra layers. There are good views over distant Derbyshire hills.

My first impressions were how much tidier it was with the new floodlights and a new seated stand in the middle of one side. This seated area complements the two others behind one end with the rest of the ground surrounded by a wide perimeter path. The grass pitch slopes slightly from end to end, with the grass looking stressed in some areas. The club house in one corner is large and well decorated with what looked like newly updated toilets. Outside the clubhouse is a very tidy food kiosk, which did not open until 15 minutes before kick off.

South Normanton AFC were formed in 1926 as South Normanton Miners Welfare, which they changed in 1990 to South Normanton Athletic FC. Following a fire, lack of money and an ageing committee they were forced to fold in 2008 but since a new start they have been able to steady the ship and move back into the United Counties League this season.

Rainworth is South East of Mansfield, an ex mining village like South Normanton. The club was formed in 1922 and spent most of its life in the Nottinghamshire Alliance League, sometimes known as Rufford Colliery F.C. Their greatest achievement in the last century was reaching the FA Vase final in 1982, where they lost to Forest Green Rovers who were at the start of their major climb from almost obscurity to the Football League. More recently, their fortunes have faded.

South Normanton Athletic FC 7 v Rainworth Miners Welfare FC 0

Tuesday 19th August 2025 17.45 pm Kick Off, United Counties League, Division 1,

The Shiners v The Wrens, 2nd v 23rd

South Normanton: Kit all Royal Blue, the goalkeeper in dark pink top with black shorts.

Rainworth: White shirts with a black stripe on the shoulder, the goalkeeper in all purple.

South Normanton played the first half down the slight slope and immediately showed their pace on both wings. It was no surprise that with 19 minutes gone, Billy Whitehead passed retreating defenders to slip the ball along the ground for Archie Brown to find the back of the net.

Rainworth kept battling, mainly defensive, but out of the blue on 27 minutes George Morris hit a fierce shot from outside the goalkeepers area into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. This was after some neat inter-passing to create the space. Neither side added any other goals before half time and at the away team must have been pleased to be only 2 goals behind.

The ‘Wrens’ continued to stand firm until with 13 minutes of the second half gone, Marc Bright showed his speed, once again, racing on to a long ball over the top of the defence to whip it past the goalkeeper. Rainworth did now apply a little pressure but going forward left further gaps at the back and a ground pass to Billy Whitehead was despatched with ease past the outstretched legs of the keeper. At four nil this prompted mass substitutions by the home team and the flood gates opened , a fifth being added 6 minutes later by Josh Pickering, a substitute, again a home player outpacing the Rainworth defence.

Only a few minutes later and it was six when Albie White rose to head the ball down and into the net from a corner on the right. To add the icing on the cake Billy Whitehead made it seven on 84 minutes after another pacy run presented him with the ball to tap in.

Rainworth were pleased that it was soon all over, and even this early in the season they are rooted to the bottom of the table with no points after 7 games, with a goal difference of -27. It’s a long time until next May, lets hope they re-group and find some form soon. It may seem silly to say but with a seven nil loss I though their goalkeeper looked a good player.

The Shiners on the other hand went joint top after their win and look a very speedy team that will be a handful for any of their rivals in the league.

The Chips were good too, as first in the queue I received a hot portion, which were not golden but crispy, tasty, no greasy after taste and a nice texture. A score of 69. I nearly gave them one more for the serviettes available on the counter.

An iconic ‘Game of two halves’.

Each season I like to watch an Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, the start of the journey to the final at Wembley. Last year, I started with Albion Sports losing at home to Trafford FC. The game was played at Bradford Park Avenues ground whilst they’res at Myra Shay was being updated to League standards

I noticed this year that Albion had been drawn away to Sheffield FC at the same stage of the competition. I drove to Dronfield, Sheffield still playing in Derbyshire, with their plans to finally set up in Sheffield stalled yet again.

Over recent years, the grounds car park has been reduced and a charge has now been introduced. There have also been little done to upgrade the ground although t looked good in the sunshine with the blue skies dotted with white fluffy clouds. The flat grass pitch, heavily sanded, looked in perfect condition after its rest, emphasised by the end to end striping by the cutting. There is still seating behind one goal, an end that also has the club house, changing rooms and food kiosk. One side has terraced standing with half of it covered, and the rest of the ground just has a path around the perimeter.

These two teams play in the same league, Northern Counties East, Premier Division, having played just one league game of the new season. Sheffield started their campaign with an away draw whilst Albion lost.

Albion Sports in their 51st year, started off playing Sunday League football. Steady progress led them to be winners of The Asian Cup and Bradford Senior Cup and League in 2000. That same season and in 2005 they went all the way to the final of The FA Sunday Cup, but were runners up on both occasions. In 2007 Albion moved to playing on Saturdays where they were successful in local leagues and were elected to the Northern Counties East League in 2011 which they won 3 years later and gained promotion to the Premier Division where they play today. An impressive rise in their short History.

Sheffield FC’s history as the worlds oldest team is well documented and their web site provides a good description of their pioneering days and up to date.

Sheffield FC 1 Albion Sports 1

Saturday 2nd August 2025, 15.00 pm kick off, Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.

The Club v The Lions

Sheffield FC: Red and black quartered shirts, black shorts, Goalkeeper in yellow.

Albion Sports: All white kit with goalkeeper in all Pink.

Before kick off Albion were in a long huddle but it was Sheffield who started the game with the greatest intensity. The Club attacked down both wings with their most success coming from down the right and it was from there that on 13 minutes a cross was met by Nathaniel Crofts, at the far post, who headed the ball into the net. Sheffield were the more composed team and dominated play. Sheffield looked as if their training for the new season was paying off appearing to understand where each other were and where to put the ball. Alex Hardwick was denied by a point blank save by James Aspinall 10 minutes before half time and just before half time his header from a corner tipped the top of the cross bar. As the teams came off at half time Sheffield had looked well in control and the better team.

What a change in the second half with Albion Sports now dominating play, that must have been some team talk at the break. With Sheffield’s goalkeeper screaming for his players to challenge the opponents, Albion executed some neat play around the box to give Nathan Cartman the opportunity to curl a shot across Jim Pollard’s outstretched left hand to nestle in the corner of the net to equalise.

After the goal the referee allowed a drinks break, on the warm day, and also to attend to an injured player. Sheffield needed to regroup, but Albion kept up the pressure playing through a blizzard of dandelion seeds swirling around the pitch. Albion didn’t manage to get the winner and both sides will replay in the week. Certainly a game of two halves and Sheffield must have rued their first half chances and should have gone in at half time well out of sight.

A very good program for £2. It had good info on the clubs, players, and stats.

After just two matches of the new season I have been lucky to have had two portions of good chips. These were golden, crisp, no greasy after taste but not quite as tasty as last weeks at Berwick, a score of 66.