Maltby Main - The Gary Wilby Stadium

Maltby Main FC
The Gary Wilby Stadium
Maltby Miners Welfare Ground
Muglet Lane
Rotherham
South Yorkshire
S66 7JQ

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 427
Wednesday 22nd October 2014
Maltby Main 0-2 Dronfield Town
FA Vase 2nd Qualifying Round Replay






MALTBY MAIN - A BRIEF HISTORY

Maltby Main FC was founded in 1916, playing in local leagues until they folded in 1965. They reformed in 1970, playing in the Yorkshire League. They joined the NCEL as founder members in 1982 and have stayed in around its leagues ever since. They were relegated due to ground gradings at the turn of the century but were soon back in the Premier Division a few years later. Generally, they have struggled in the league's Premier Division though, the 6th place that they achieved in 1998 being by far their best ever finish. Later that year they made their best ever progress in modern times in the FA Cup, getting to the 2nd Qualifying Round where they lost 3-0 to Brandon United. In the FA Vase, they have been to the 3rd Round on a couple of occasions, most recently in the 1993-94 season. Before the game, they were sitting in 14th place in the NCEL Premier.



THE GROUND

Originally on this date, I had been planning on going to AFC Mansfield or tonight's visitors Dronfield Town. But both of these games had been postponed due to Cup replays. There was little choice, but in the end, I plumped for Dronfield's FA Vase replay at Maltby Main. I always tend to go for cup games, but on this occasion, the home side had been very harshly treated. The 2 teams had drawn 3-3 at Dronfield in the first fixture and the match had gone to a replay at Maltby Main. Despite Dronfield taking the lead, Maltby Main fought back to hold a 3-1 lead on 88 minutes. But then a serious injury to a Dronfield player caused the match to be abandoned with a couple of minutes to go. Any sensible person would have let the result stand, but the FA in their infinite wisdom said that the match would have to be replayed from the start, with Maltby's 2 goal lead cancelled out.

I'd left St Helens at 3.50PM, and was hoping that the rush hour traffic was going to be kind to me and allow me to have a bit of time to chill in Maltby before the game. I'd been planning to get there as soon as possible, and head into town to the Wetherspoons for dinner. At one point the Sat Nav was showing a 5.20 arrival, and no doubt I'd have made up some more time along the way. This was all destroyed though, by the careless actions of 3 lorry drivers on the M60, who decided it would be a good idea to have a crash and mess up the entire Manchester road system, With traffic diverting onto other roads, my route through Hyde was totally ruined and we were pretty much at a standstill for 90 minutes. With minor delays on other roads, and roadworks on the Snakes Pass road from Lancashire to Yorkshire, I was even concerned about missing kick off, in the end, it turned out to be a 2-hour delay. I got to the ground at 7.20 and had little option but to go straight in. I paid £6.50 for entry and a decent programme. I was hungry and would have preferred a meal, but in the end, the only hot food they did was burgers. Luckily they turned out to be nice and freshly cooked, although they could have done with some onions to go in them. Everyone at the club was nice and friendly, as I have come to expect in this league, and I was made to feel very welcome. I wanted to buy a Maltby Main Ski Hat that I had seen on the website for £4, but try as they might, no one could find one. I also fancied a pint after all that stress, but with it being very close to kickoff and the bar being a 5-minute walk around the other side of the ground and up near the road, I decided against it. In the end, I just took some pictures of the ground, and took a place under the covered standing, as it was starting to rain.

The game was not much of a spectacle, to be honest. I was expecting a dominant performance by higher league Maltby Main, with a battling performance from Dronfield trying to throw a spanner in the works. In the end, the visitors hardly had to get out of second gear as goals from Nick Horsfield on 76 minutes and Christian Savage on 82 minutes sealed an easy victory. Maltby can point to the injustice of having to play this game again, but Dronfield cheered on by a decent amount of fans in the 62 crowd produced a professional if unremarkable performance. After the game, I made my way home. The roads were knackered from the start, the Southbound exit onto the M1 being closed so I had to go North and turn round at the following junction. It was all going fine until I got to Aylesbury, even though I had to travel through the Franchise FC town of Milton Keynes. I got almost to Wing, around 10 miles from Aylesbury, but the roads were closed, and a massive diversion planned, although at least for once they signposted it. My sat Nav did not have this information though despite me paying for live traffic. In the end, after around 5 miles into the diversion, it worked out a route through country roads, then Halton and Wendover, which saw me arrive home at 12.45.

I was still wide awake by this time, but not awake enough to avoid making a mistake. I thought I'd transferred all my photos of my whole week to my iMac, and so deleted them off my memory card. Imagine my horror when I went to the folder where they were supposed to be and they were absent. panicking, I searched around the internet for a solution, with various software demanding upwards of a hundred dollars for a licence for their software. Luckily with my knowledge, I knew where I could obtain a copy through means that would not cost me so much, and so, pretty much all were saved. I was much relieved, and had a few drinks to celebrate, not getting to bed until 4am.

THE GROUND

THE GARY WILBY STADIUM is a typical step 5 ground, with most of it being open hard standing. Both areas of cover are one side, with seating for around 120 and standing cover for 200. The tea bar has a reasonable range at good prices, while I didn't get to try the bar. As I understand, the town is a short walk away and offers a good range of outlets.

St Helens Rugby - Langtree Park

St Helens Rugby
Langtree Park
McManus Drive
St Helens
WA9 3NL

Langtree Park Stadium Website
Langtree Park Stadium Twitter

Ground Number: 426
Wednesday 22nd October 2014
Liverpool U19 3-2 Real Madrid U19
UEFA Youth League




MY VISIT

Originally on this day, I was going to go and see Mansfield Town's youngsters play. They play at Rainworth Miners Welfare FC who play in the Evostik Division 1 North. I'd then go on to see AFC Mansfield in the evening. But then a couple of things happened. Firstly AFC Mansfield's game was cancelled, due to opponents Dronfield Town's involvement in an FA Vase Replay. Then on Tony's Non-League Forum, I saw that Liverpool U19's were playing in the UEFA Youth League against Real Madrid. Not only would it be an interesting game, but it would also be played at a venue not usually used for football - St Helen's Rugby Ground.

I had connections and memories of all 3 places involved in this trip. Firstly St Helen's. I had gone to see one of my favourite bands - the Lancashire Hotpots play there back in March of this year, and also tied it in with a game at Burscough FC. The town's own football club once shared with the rugby club at their old ground for around 10 years, but that was long after they had their most famous player - Bert Trautmann, who was a German prisoner of war and who would go on to be a cult hero. The club is presently playing at Ashton Athletic near Wigan while they search for a new home in the town. Other famous people from the town include the comedian Johnny Vegas. As for the 2 teams on the pitch today, Liverpool had been involved in one of my team Wycombe's most famous matches, for they were our opponents in our amazing run to the FA Cup Semi Final in 2001. We beat Harrow Borough, Millwall, Grimsby, Wolves, Wimbledon and Leicester City to set up a showdown at Villa Park. Wycombe did themselves proud, narrowly losing 2-1 and becoming national heroes. Then in 2007, our youth team lost 5-0 to Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup. As for Real Madrid, I visited their ground on a tour whilst on a short break to watch Atletico Madrid v Austria Vienna in the Champions League last November.

On the day of the game, I woke up at around 8am. I had a shower and watched TV a for a bit before leaving at 9.30. I had to get diesel before I left at ASDA in Radcliffe, but soon enough I was on my way. I arrived in St Helens at 10.45 and parked up at the ground before walking into town. I got a few games from Cash Generator for a good price, before heading to Wetherspoons, a pub called The Glass House. I then had a pint of Black Dragon, my favourite Welsh Cider, before deciding what to have for lunch. Originally I thought about getting something from a takeaway, but in the end opted to have a meal deal, which included a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and all the trimmings, along with a pint of Strongbow for £7.29. By then, it was getting on for 1PM, so I headed back to my car, arriving at 1.10 and sitting listening to the radio while I let my phone charge for a bit. At 1.30, I went into the ground, paying £5 entry and picking up a free teamsheet. The atmosphere was strange, with a crowd made up mainly of schoolkids, who must have been having a great day out away from their work. It appeared that most were Everton fans as they were cheering for Real Madrid. I knew that Shaun of the 100 Football Grounds Club was at the game, but I didn't see him on the day.



As for the game, it was an entertaining contest. Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead within 20 minutes, only to be pegged back to 2-2 in the second half. Real Madrid even squandered a penalty to give them what would have been a goal back just before half time. But the some side won it on 88 minutes when Harry Wilson, who had played for Wrexham, finished well past the Spanish keeper. The most well-known player on the teamsheet however was Jordan Rossiter who had played against Middlesborough in the League Cup and scored a great goal, earlier on this season. After the game, I made my way to Maltby Main, but typically on the UK's roads, the journey was not a pleasant one, as I will detail in my next blog.



THE GROUND

LANGTREE PARK is a smart modern venue, and it's a shame it's used for football more often. With around 11000 seats and 7000 terracing, it's a welcome change to the all seater stadiums you see in football and being modern, you will get a good view from wherever you are in the ground. It's also little over 10 minutes walk from the town centre, which has a wide range of places to eat and drink.

Ramsbottom United - Harry Williams Riverside Stadium

Ramsbottom United FC
The Harry Williams Riverside Stadium
Acre Bottom
Ramsbottom
Bury
Lancashire
BL0 0BS

01706 822799
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 425
Tuesday 21st October 2014
Ramsbottom United 4-0 Whitby Town
NPL Premier Division






RAMSBOTTOM UNITED - A BRIEF HISTORY

Ramsbottom United was formed in England's World Cup winning year of 1966 by present chairman Harry Williams. The club played in the Bury, Bolton and Manchester Leagues before joining the North West Counties League in 1995. They started in the competitions lower tier but within 2 seasons they were in the Premier Division. A fairly long stay in this division was generally successful and they gained promotion to the NPL Division 1 North in 2012. Again success was forthcoming and last season they completed a memorable few years by winning against Bamber Bridge in the promotion playoff final after scoring an incredible 112 goals, but only finishing 5th. This was all thanks to the great work of young joint management duo Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson. Again this season they were doing incredibly, with the team being in 4th place after the game ended.

To cope with this rise in leagues, the club has had to adapt their ground accordingly. This includes several items from old league grounds, including floodlights and executive lounges from Oldham Athletic and seats from Manchester City's old Maine Road stadium. They had their record attendance of 1653 against FC United of Manchester in 2007. In the FA Cup, their best run came in their very first season in the competition in 1998/99. They beat Maine Road, Shildon and Billingham before losing to Southport in the 3rd Qualifying Round. In the FA Trophy, they got to the 3rd Qualifying Round last season, whilst the 3rd Round of the FA Vase was reached in 2003/04 with them beating current football league side Fleetwood Town along the way.



MY VISIT

When I was looking for a Tuesday night game on my week away, I wanted to do one at as high as step as possible as I would be at step 5 and below for all the other games. I had 2 options in the NPL Premier - Trafford who had been friendly when I went to visit to look at the ground and Ramsbottom United v Whitby Town. I had also been to that for pictures and it had been a nice looking ground and looking on various sites, it also appeared that looking on various sites, it was the better area for some pre-match refreshment. So I settled on that one and booked the nearest reasonably priced hotel that I could find, 10 miles away in Whitefield.

The previous night I had a restless nights sleep at first, but eventually, I dropped off and woke up at 9am. I checked Facebook and had a bath before catching up on my blog.

I left at just after 10 and made my way to my next hotel near Whitefield. It took a bit longer than usual because of road closures and traffic. I parked up outside and walked to Whitefield tram stop about 10 minutes away and paid £4.30 for a return into Manchester. I had to stop briefly as my tram only went to Abraham Moss. It was only a few minutes wait to get on the next one and by 12.10 I was in the city centre. I was hungry by then so I got a half decent rice bowl for £1 and then walked the short distance to the Angel pub where I tried a couple of new ciders. I was hungry again so I went back to the same shop and got black pudding and chips. After another look around some shops where I bought a Rayman game for 99p. I then went for another look round the football museum which I had visited twice previously. By now it was nearly 4pm and with my phone battery rapidly deteriorating I caught the tram back to my hotel. I had trouble getting in as they had not sent me my code for the day. Phoning them was tricky too as the phone signal was so poor but after 5 minutes I got it sorted and was in my room with my phone in charge. The weather was looking iffy so I was keeping a close eye on Twitter while I was watching The Chase so I  could make last minute changes of destination if needed. There was no such drastic action needed as I left at 6pm. The M60 was slow though because of the rush hour and eventually, I got there at 6.45. After confirming that the match was definitely on I made my way to the pre-match pub that I had found out about online. It was called The First Chop and was totally brilliant with a great range of ciders. There was also a very friendly dog in the pub, which I always enjoy. After the pub, I went to the Stop In takeaway where I had a doner calzone, chips and a can for £3.50. The chips were average but the calzone was delicious and great value.

It took me 5 minutes to walk back to the ground and after paying £9 entry and £2 for a programme I went and took some pictures of the ground. My phone battery had been giving me problems all day and I had to limit my usage again, but at least I had football to keep me occupied. A nice halftime treat was Bovril in a proper mug for just 60p.

The opening goal came for the home side after 8 minutes when Jordan Hulme capped a good run with a tidy finish. Ramsbottom were dominating and the visitors had their job made a lot harder when they had their number 6 sent off, apparently for elbowing. It looked a bit harsh from where I was standing. He was being held by his opponent, in return, he shoved him away with his arm, but got his marching orders. The game was put to bed with 2 goals close together The first was a deflected own goal on 74 minutes by Lee Bullock the second a couple of minutes later was a lovely goal by Phil Dean as his shot from the edge of the area went in the bottom right-hand corner.  Whitby's misery was completed on 90 minutes when a last minute penalty was converted by Jon Robinson to make it a deserved 4-0 win for Ramsbottom. After the game, it was a quick 20-minute drive back to my hotel. No pub for me tonight as my phone was dead but I did get a couple of bottles of an American cider that I had not tried before. I drank these while I watched TV, particularly enjoying Dave Gorman's Modern Life Is Goodish. I then watched the Champions League show on ITV where their coverage was actually quite good for once, considering their dire performances when doing the England games.

THE GROUND

THE RIVERSIDE STADIUM is a lovely place to watch football. Covered on 3 sides, there is sheltered standing for around 500 behind each goal, plus seating for around the same along the side. The one remaining side has uncovered standing, plus some executive box type buildings. The tea bar and club shop are all in one building and have a fairly good range, while the clubhouse is shared with the cricket club who are based next door. 

The programme is excellent and had an interesting article on the costs of football. It was good value for £2 and though the entry was a pound more than my ideal price for this level of £8 it was still good value and one of the cheaper ones at this level. Ramsbottom is a lovely town, the Chop House is a great pub and there is plenty of choices if you want something else to eat or drink. It's also well kept and a pleasant place to spend a day.

Bala Town - Maes Tegid

Bala Town FC
Maes Tegid
Castle Street
Bala
Gwynedd
LL23 7UY

01678 520348
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 422
Sunday 19th October 2014
Bala Town 4-1 Port Talbot Town
Welsh Premier League






PRE MATCH RESEARCH

Bala Town were in 4th place after the game, not far off 2nd, but a long way away from the usual runaway leaders TNS. They had been regular qualifiers for Europe over the last 2 years in the Welsh Premier. They were formed in 1880 and like their opponents, they had come from the Cymru Alliance. They joined that league in 2004, after playing in regional Welsh football. They took to their new surroundings very well and within 5 seasons were promoted to the Welsh Premier. Lately, they have qualified for the European playoffs, including when they beat Port Talbot in 2013, a game which I went along to. That got them into Europe where they faced the Estonians Levadia Tallinn. Despite winning the first leg 1-0 at Rhyl, they lost 3-1 in Estonia to go out on aggregate.

Port Talbot were in mid-table, just below the last spot for European playoff qualification. I had seen them before, ironically in a European qualifier against Bala. They had been in the top level in Wales since the turn of the century, having previously been in the more regional leagues of Wales. Their best finish came in 2010 when they finished 3rd, that season was a memorable one as they also reached the final of the Welsh Cup, losing 3-2 to Bangor City in a game played at Llanelli. This resulted in their only foray into Europe, where they lost 7-1 on aggregate to TPS of Finland.

MY VISIT

I  hadn't made the most of my last week off,  so I was keen to do better this time. Knowing that I already had a few days in Manchester, I was keen to try and extend it by a day by going to a game on Sunday. There was only one initially,  Bala Town v Port Talbot Town in the Welsh Premier League. I decided not to book my hotel until last minute because of the weather, but on the Saturday lunchtime before I was confident that the forecasted light drizzle would not destroy my plans. I found a hotel in Manchester and booked a night for £29.50. Wycombe had a great victory over AFC Wimbledon, winning 2-0 to remain top of the league.



On the day of the game, I woke up at 7am and watched TV for a bit as well as going on Facebook to see what was going on. I got all my stuff together and left at 8.30, stopping to get the Non-League Paper and some cash out for my few days away. The weather was forecast to be rainy in Bala,  but on the way up it was all sunshine and blue skies. The roads were fine too. That was until I got past Shrewsbury and the A5 turned into a single carriageway with people driving at well below the speed limit and holding everyone up. I eventually got into Bala at 12 but spent another half hour trying to find the ground as the postcode given covered a large area. The mobile signal was totally pathetic,  with just a basic 'G'  signal which crawled along at a snail's pace, if at all. Eventually, I got on the clubs website and got more detailed directions, and once I  had followed them, I was there within a couple of minutes. It was now 12.30 and as it was an hour before kick off, I decided to go straight in,  rather than walking back to town. Everyone was really friendly but I was disappointed to find there was no bar because I could have done with a drink after all the messing around finding the ground. I couldn't even check Facebook as the signal was still awful and I think that O2 are doing the people of Bala a terrible disservice by forcing them to put up with a 1990's style mobile signal, in fact, it's pretty much the case for the whole of Wales in my experience.

During the first half, I initially sat in the stand on the halfway line as it was raining. However, it soon stopped and so I went and stood on some grass banking in the corner of the ground and got talking to a friendly Wrexham fan who also did the occasional groundhop. He had come to see Wycombe at Adams Park when the Ebbsfleet v Wrexham game was called off at the last minute a couple of seasons ago. The first half was lively, certainly the most entertaining I have seen in the Welsh Premier League so far. Bala raced into a  3 goal lead and it looked to be a question of how many more they could score. However, Port Talbot gradually got back into it and just before half-time they scored the best goal of the game with a long-range shot into the top hand corner.  The second half saw much less action in terms of shots at goal. There was a goal right near the end though as Bala sealed their victory with a neatly worked 4th.

After the game I made my way to Manchester, initially on the slow Welsh roads but speeding up when I got to the M56. I listened to the Stoke v Swansea game on the way home, eventually arriving at 5.15. I listened to the rest of the game while I checked Facebook as I had barely had mobile internet all day. Around 6, I walked over a mile to a bar called 'The Font' in Chorlton. I'd previously been to one of their other branches in Manchester city centre and was really impressed. This one did not disappoint either. I had a delicious Chicken Mafe curry plus a few new ciders I had not tried before. I even splashed out £9 on one from America as a treat to myself, and it was really nice. After the meal, I walked back to my hotel which was right near Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground. I arrived back at about 8 and the plan was to watch Match of the Day 2, but this never happened as a mixture of alcohol and tiredness meant that I fell asleep just before 10.

THE GROUND

MAES TEGID is one of the smaller grounds that I have been to in the Welsh Premier. It is set in lovely countryside which makes for a great backdrop and a relaxing place to watch football. There are around 300 covered seats and some covered standing behind the goal. Apart from that, it is open to the elements although you can get a good view from the grass banking behind one of the goals.

The tea bar offers a good selection of stuff at reasonable prices, I had a nice portion of chips for £2. There was no club merchandise when I went and even more annoyingly, no bar. That said, the town is a few minutes walk away and has lots of pubs, though none selling my favourite Gwynt Y Ddraig cider that I could see from the Internet. It's probably a good idea to have a pint in one and make use of their free WiFi as coverage is very patchy around the area for mobiles. Bala is probably the most Welsh place I have been, with lots of people talking in Welsh as opposed to English and all the tannoy announcements are in dual language.