Ellesmere Rangers FC
Beech Grove Stadium
Beech Grove
Ellesmere
Shropshire
SY12 0BZ
07947 864357
Ground Number: 1152
Friday 3rd March 2023
Ellesmere Rangers 2-1 Alsager Town
NWCFL D1 South
Friday 3rd March 2023
Ellesmere Rangers 2-1 Alsager Town
NWCFL D1 South
ELLESMERE RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1969 following a meeting in the Railway pub and was initially known as Railway Rangers. They joined the Oswestry & District League and were initially managed by a committee. In 1974 the club was renamed Ellesmere Rangers. They moved to the Shrewsbury & West Shropshire League in 1975. During the 1980s Ellesmere moved up to the Shropshire County League. They won the league in 2004, earning promotion to Division Two of the West Midlands (Regional) League. After finishing fourth in Division Two in their first season in the league, the club were promoted to Division One. They went on to win Division One in 2006 and were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2010 the club were Premier Division champions, securing promotion to the Midland Alliance. The league sat at step 5 of the non-league pyramid, so the 13th-place finish in 2011 was a club record. Two years later they finished bottom and were relegated back to the WMRL Premier. Ellesmere spent five more seasons here before making the sideways switch to the North West Counties League Division 1 South in 2018. They've generally struggled since, however, this season has seen a sharp rise in fortunes with them sitting on the edge of the playoffs.
MY VISIT
This game was decided around a week after reviewing my options in the Football Traveller. It was either a trip to Ellesmere Rangers or something in Wales. With fellow hopper Colin keen on the former, it was a pretty easy choice. The weather looked set to be frozen again, even as we entered March. Just in case, we had a backup in the Welsh Cup Semi-Final between Bala Town and Connah's Quay Nomads, being played an hour away at Flint Town United which was a 3G surface. However, with it being an organised hop event, I had reasonable confidence about it going ahead, despite the 2 degrees forecast.
The week had been quiet on the groundhopping front, thanks to having my car in for MOT & service. The bill was reasonable for once, working out at around 5p a mile. This will be added to my fuel costs to get a fairer reflection of the price versus public transport. It works out at around 21p a mile but does not include insurance, the cost of the car or depreciation, some things are always going to happen even if I just used it for work. I had one game, my 20th visit to my local club Holmer Green for their game against Eaton Socon. The game was not bad and far better than the 0-0 scoreline suggested, despite lacking serious efforts on goal. Work was starting to grate again with me really looking forward to 12 days off in a fortnight's time.
The day of the game came and I was working as per usual. The 4 pm finish would mean that time would be tight, so I wanted to fill up with petrol in the morning. That was done with ease, but the day really dragged. I was out promptly and met Colin who had been sheltering from the cold in the store. Aside from a few sticky spots, it was a good journey up with us getting there at 7. We parked outside on the road as I couldn't see the entrance. The car park had plenty of space though and it was a great start with entry £5 and a programme £1. I then got a great chicken curry and chips for £5, an Ellesmere scarf for £5 and a book about non-league football for £5. Everything was superbly organised which isn't always the case. I've been in small queues that have taken half an hour, but despite the packed bar service was swift. It was great to bump into plenty of familiar and friendly faces. This included the Linesman, Carl Arrowsmith who was a fellow hopper and had the physique to match our beloved hobby.
Ellesmere were in 6th place, but their form was average. They'd won 4-0 against Stockport Georgians in their last game as well as winning 4-0 at Stockport Town in the game before that. Their trio of recent wins had started with a 1-0 win over Stafford Town. However, they'd lost the three before that - 2-0 at Wythenshawe Amateurs, 4-3 to New Mills and 2-1 to Barnton. Visitors Alsager Town were in 17th and their form reflected this. They'd drawn 1-1 at New Mills in their last game and also 1-1 at Stockport Georgians. Their sole win had come as they beat Cheadle Town 2-0 but they'd lost 2-0 to Wythenshawe Amateurs, 1-0 at Cheadle Heath Nomads and 2-1 at Foley Meir. Ellesmere started on top and on Steve Hole hit the angle of post and bar on 35 minutes with a shot from 20 yards. From there, Alsager broke up the other end and a low shot into the bottom corner from Harry Bebbington. Alasager were in the midst of a good spell but Ellesmere forced a great save and a corner from close range. Just before halftime, Alsager drilled shot wide and retained the lead going into the break, The visitors continued on top and five minutes into the second half, they came close again. The Ellesmere equaliser came against the run of play and was scored by Jack Harris, getting on the end of a free kick routine. The hosts then settled into the game and took the lead on 79 minutes, a 25-yard shot from Carl Rogers finding the bottom corner of the net. This was harsh on Alsager and they smashed the post with a great shot from 30 yards. Ellesmere did have the ball in the net again, following a scramble but the 'goal' was ruled offside.
The final attendance was announced as 272. Not bad, but Ellesmere, as excellent hosts, deserved more. They had certainly made the most of their opportunity and would have done well out of merchandise and food. Hoppers from as far away as Norway had been in attendance and poor Anders had had a wasted night in Wycombe after Risborough Rangers had changed their fixture at late notice. Tom had also come from the land of Fjords and both were great company. Colin had become famous amongst the hopping contingent for his part in Pastagate and although he consumed some fetid creation as soon as we got in the car, he was clean and tidy. 85 hoppers had checked in on Futbology, but we must have been one of the few heading home. I only had Eccleshall left to 'tick' out of this year's hosts. There were roadworks coming out of Ellesmere, but fair play, there were actually people hard at work on this one, unlike the dreadful Cadent works that you see everywhere. Equally repugnant were the works on the M6, with the customary incompetence and inconvenience that this dreadful motorway brings. Half an hour was added to my journey and I dropped Colin off at 12.45, getting in just after 1. A parcel including a box of Ross Cider Major SVC was waiting for me and a pint of this helped me chill. It was superb and I was very tempted by another but held off with a heavy day tomorrow. It was still after 3 before I got to bed though, what with me taking time to do this blog.
THE GROUND
BEECH GROVE is an excellent venue and home to a great club. The only covered area is a combined seating (75) and standing (around 150). The rest of the ground is open and very well-kept. The bar is pleasant and has a reasonable range of drinks whilst the food is decent also. There's plenty of parking and the town is around 15 minutes walk away.
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