Runcorn Linnets - APEC Taxis Stadium

Runcorn Linnets FC

Apec Taxis Stadium

Stockham Lane

Murdishaw

Runcorn

Cheshire

WA7 6GJ

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1487

Saturday 27th September 2025

Runcorn Linnets 1-1 Ashton United

FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round

RUNCORN LINNETS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2006 for the recently defunct Runcorn FC Halton, better known when they were Runcorn, a mainstay at Non-League's top table. The phoenix club would have to start in the tenth tier of English football, the North West Counties League Division 2. In their first season, they finished as runners-up to Winsford United on goal difference, winning promotion to the NWC Division 1, later to be renamed the NWC Premier. The club would finish as runners-up here three times between 2014 & 2016, coming within two points of the title when they finished behind Colne on the latter of these. Runcorn finally put this right in 2018 when they won the title and earned promotion to the NPL Division 1 West. They have been here ever since, their best finish of 2nd behind Leek Town in 2024. Runcorn lost in three consecutive playoff campaigns, losing to Marine in the 2022 final, Workington in the 2023 final and City of Liverpool in the 2024 semi-final.

Runcorn Linnets have twice reached the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round before this season and could match or even beat that this weekend. During the 2022/23 season, the club had their best FA Trophy run. They beat Workington, North Shields, Ossett United and Belper Town before a 3-2 defeat at Spennymoor Town in the 2nd Round. The club have twice reached the FA Vase 3rd round, losing to AFC Fylde in 2009 and Marske United in 2018. Local cup wins include the NWCFL League Cup in 2013 and the Cheshire Senior Cup in 2025. The club is one of the many fan-owned clubs in football. After sharing at Witton Albion FC, the club opened their own ground in Murdishaw to the east of Runcorn, where they play to this day.

The original Runcorn FC was established in 1918 as Highfield and Camden Tanneries Recreation Club. They became members of the Lancashire Combination in the same year. As Runcorn FC, they were founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919, and were its first champions, going on to win it five times. They were founder members of the NPL in 1968 and would win that twice before moving to the Alliance Premier League (the modern-day National League). They won it in their first season here and would have several top-half finishes before being relegated in 1996.  Returning to the NPL Premier, the club was renamed to Runcorn FC Halton in 2001 to reflect a ground change. Following the 2004/05 season in the Conference North, the club was relegated to the now step 3 NPL Premier and went into liquidation a year later. They had various FA Cup exploits over the years and reached the FA Trophy Final three times. However, they lost on each occasion - to Altrincham in 1986, Wycombe Wanderers in 1993 and Woking in 1994.

Results from games involving Wycombe Wanderers & Runcorn. from the times I saw Wycombe Wanderers play Runcorn. Three wins out of three, but at Canal Street, it was a different story with Runcorn winning the last two clashes.

Runcorn played at Canal Street from 1918, but the ground started to fall into disrepair in the 1990s. Problems such as a wall collapse in a 1993 FA Cup game against Hull City, a fire in their main stand and storm damage, which meant they lost the roof off of another stand, led to them selling the ground and moving in with Widnes Rugby Club at the Halton Stadium. Towards the end of the 2004/05 season, the club played at Southport's Haig Avenue due to the high rent at the rugby ground. For the final season, they played at Prescot Cables' Valerie Park. During its final season, the club went into a severe financial crisis and was unable to pay its players' wages, forcing it to offload many of its key playing staff and replace them with amateur players used to playing at a much lower standard. This made for an embarrassing end to the season, with Runcorn finishing bottom and frequently suffering defeats by five or more goals, though their record defeat of 9–0 remained intact. After a second successive relegation, the club's future was in doubt, and the decision was made to officially confirm its resignation from the league and cease activity in favour of starting a new club.

Some images of Runcorn's former Canal Street ground, colourised as best as I can. (From The Non League Football Grounds of Great Britain)

Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire. Runcorn was founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia in 915 AD as a fortification against Viking invasion at a narrowing of the River Mersey. It remained a small, isolated settlement until the Industrial Revolution, when the extension of the Bridgewater Canal to Runcorn in 1776 established it as a port that would link Liverpool with inland Manchester and Staffordshire. In 1964, Runcorn was designated a new town and expanded eastward, swallowing neighbouring settlements and more than doubling its population. Other teams in the town include North West Counties side Runcorn Town and Runcorn Ladies. Famous people from Runcorn include singer & actress Kym Marsh and darts player Luke Littler, as well as various football league players.

MY VISIT 

Runcorn Linnets had been a very long-term target for me. For one, it was one of six step 4 grounds I had left to do, with two at step 3. This FA Cup game was the ideal opportunity to visit, too, with Runcorn Linnets facing a side from the step above. I had missed the last two rounds due to the clubs being too far away. I had started with 35 teams that I needed to visit in the Extra Preliminary Round, and now I was down to two for this round. Both were at home, but as I'd already discovered, Morpeth was impossible to do on a sensible budget. I initially thought the same about Runcorn Linnets, and the rail booking sites said the same. However, having seen my mate River get a cheap deal from Watford Junction to Crewe, I hit upon doing the work myself. Two advance singles were secured from Hemel Hempstead to Crewe for £17.71, meaning that I'd just have to stump up £13 to get me to Runcorn on the day.

It was going to be a week of detoxing for me after 12 days of nothing but junk food and getting nearly 150 units of booze in over my time off. When I calculated that it was equivalent to 57 pints of Strongbow, it was quite scary, but then I tend to opt for higher-strength drinks. I usually only drink a couple of days a week, but even then, I could still do with cutting down. We were at the coach station half an hour before kickoff, but still, the queue was huge. A lot of people were here because of the rip-off train prices and the fact that the last train to London is at 17:30. It was an uncomfortable night sitting next to an oversized, fidgeting gorilla. A lot of people were going to Heathrow Airport, and that was where we would get off, too. Though thanks to opportunism by National Express, it was £43 to get there, rather than the £21 we paid to London Victoria. We were at Heathrow half an hour early and so only had ten minutes to wait for an earlier bus. My mouth felt grim, so I brushed my teeth on the platform to freshen up. We were back in Wycombe just after 6.30 and I was home by 7.15. I went straight to bed and had a seven-hour sleep, waking up at 2:30. I needed a bath after all that travelling and then spent the rest of the afternoon working out the big hole that had been made in my finances in the last ten days, as well as sorting the hundreds of photos I'd taken.

Tuesday was the final day of my time off, and I used it to walk down Wycombe and stock up on a few bits. I was also glad when my bag arrived safely home after it was sent from Newcastle on Saturday. In the evening, I went up to Amersham Town to watch groundhoppers Sport London E Benfica play Chalfont St Peter. Given that the visitors were bottom, it was surprising to see them pin the hosts in their own half for much of the opening stages. However, they were quite wasteful and unlucky with their finishing. It was typical then that Sporting Benfica scored with only their second shot of the game after 20 minutes. This changed the game, and the hosts started knocking it around superbly. A goal apiece at the start of the second half changed little. Two quick goals made it 4-1 around the hour. Chalfont scored a consolation and then missed a last-minute penalty before Benfica made it 5-1 on the break. Up in Lancashire, I was delighted that Wycombe won 2-0 at Wigan to reach the 4th Round of the League Cup for only the second time in our history.

On Wednesday, I was not too daunted about returning to work as I needed to get back into the routine, and it was my short six-hour day. I was glad to have sold my Football Weekends magazine collection, albeit at a fraction of the price I  paid for it. Having gone for the digital sub and the magazines had been sitting on a shelf doing nothing for years, I decided to cash in. However, thanks to eBay's hopeless Simple Delivery system, I had to pay to send some of them myself after the provided postage label was insufficient. The £160 will still come in useful, though, after a very expensive month. Thursday and Friday were fairly incident-free and decent days at work, though I'd not be having my usual Friday night drinks due to last week's imbibing. To get in the mood for the next day, a bit of Retro gaming with Runcorn on the 1992 game Premier Manager was enjoyed. After changing much of the team, I finished 6th in the Conference with the Linnets, better than their 19th place finish in real life. It was an early night, around 9.30, and as a consequence, I woke up at my normal work time. I woke a couple of hours later, had breakfast and left ten minutes later than intended. Luckily, the roads were good and the free parking space I got last time was available. I was on the platform ten minutes ahead of my train. Everything was on time, Hemel to MK with a shorter-than-expected wait on the platform as the train turned up early. The second train was a pleasant one. I was able to get on with my game, winning the Conference title and FA Trophy in my second season and also reaching the FA Cup 4th Round after beating Huddersfield Town and Southampton.

 

We were at Crewe by 10.55; it was a longer wait than I'd have liked due to the service only being hourly. I fancied a pint by now but decided to wait until the more wallet-friendly Wetherspoons to imbibe. The Transport For Wales service was packed, perhaps unsurprisingly given the limited service. We were at Chester at 11.45 and I headed to Wetherspoons 446, The Square Bottle. A bog standard Spoons full of families with scouse accents. Just missed out on Breakfast Muffin, so had a pint of Strongbow with my Spice Bag. It took ten minutes for the food, then a further five minutes for my drink. Still, you can't knock £10.52 for a very tasty meal and drink. Second up was just around the corner, That Beer Place. An exceptional pint of Ross On Wye Thorn was enjoyed for the price of £7.50. Another £6 left my bank account for some Brennans Merseycider to take with me. Time was tight, but I could still squeeze the other Spoons in. The Bull and Stirrup was a lot nicer and £3.64 was fair for a pint of Black Dragon. I thought I'd left enough time to get to the station in good time for my train, but a footpath closure by construction workers blocked my route. It was a reasonable £14 for my journey to the ground, a nice Romanian man in an Uber saving the day. The arrogance of the firm to treat the place as their own personal land was disappointing, though. Chester had still been a fantastic city, though, and I'll return for sure. For such a big journey, the Uber was great value, although it was an unwanted expense. I was there at 2.20, it was £11 entry, a fiver for an old training top and £2 for a book. I was in a good mood for the game, a friendly dog made me feel better, and I poured the earlier bottle into my cup.

 

Runcorn Linnets were bidding to reach the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round for the first time in the reformed club's history, having got to this stage twice before. They sat 7th in the NPL D1 West. To get this far, they'd started right back in the Extra Preliminary Round and were only one of eleven survivors from back then. They'd beaten Clitheroe 1-0, won 3-0 at Whitchurch Alport and won 2-0 at both West Didsbury & Chorlton and Pickering Town. Ashton United sat 9th in the NPL Premier and had reached the 4th Qualifying Round as recently as 2023. They'd also reached the 1st Round twice in the 1950s. Just two rounds for the visitors as they beat Hallam 2-0 in a replay, then defeated higher league side Scarborough Athletic by the same scoreline. Both teams entered the field in excellent kits. The first half saw chances for both sides, but with Runcorn much in the ascendancy. The hosts took the lead at halftime, Ryan Brooke finishing from a close-range cross. I got some chips at halftime, but the sheer volume of people delayed things. Ashton had the ball in the back of the net, apparently, but it was disallowed for a foul. They did finally get the goal, right in the last minute. A shot on the turn from Jason Gilchrist in the 94th minute gave Ashton a share of the spoils, and although it reflected the balance of play, it must have been frustrating for the hosts to concede so late. 

It was not good news back home. Wycombe Wanderers had lost 2-1 at AFC Wimbledon in an earlier kickoff before Holmer Green lost 1-0 at Colliers Wood later on. I was back at Runcorn East five minutes before the train. We went through Frodsham and Helsby on the way to Chester as tempting as it was to stay on one more stop and get Shotton Spoons ticked, I stayed on. Thinking back at my unexpected Taxi, I just wish I'd scaled the fence or brought bolt cutters. I was unable to change my train home to an earlier one, perhaps not disappointing, given I had time for a look around Crewe. The Belgium Hops Bar was very good for a pint of Timmermans Strawberry and Thyme, and as much as I'd liked and felt good for a second pint, my app said no if I was to be fit for driving. I made my way to GoGo Kebabs, but they were closed. Across the road to Pepper Jacks for a spicy kebab burger and Peri Peri Fries. This was an OK meal, but not the Calzone I wanted. I had been listening to an Audiobook about Fred West on the way to the station and it at least prepared me for a train back full of Milton Keynes fans, with some saying it wasn't that bad to go out with a thirteen-year-old. Repugnant, but each to their own.

THE GROUND 

THE APEC TAXIS STADIUM is a decent ground with cover on all four sides. This comprises around 250 seated and 250 standing. The club shop has a decent range of merchandise at good prices. Food is simarly decent, albeit the queues are a bit much. The bar is similar. Parking is decent, or there is Runcorn East Station, around 20 minutes walk away.

Livingston - Home Of The Set Fare Arena

Livingston FC 

Home Of The Set Fare Arena

44 Alderstone Road

Livingston 

EH54 7DN

Official Website

Mens Twitter

Womens Twitter

Ground Number: 1486

Sunday 20th September 2025

Livingston - Gartcairn

SWF Premier League 2

LIVINGSTON FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club began life as Ferranti Amateurs in 1943. A works team of the Ferranti engineering company they initially played in the Edinburgh FA's Amateur Second Division. In 1948, the club became known as Ferranti Thistle and began competing in the Edinburgh and District Welfare Association, where they competed for five seasons, before moving to senior football in 1953, joining the East of Scotland League. During this period, the club won the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup in 1963 and the Scottish Qualifying Cup ten years later.

 In 1974, as a result of the demise of Third Lanark seven years earlier and the new three-tier format of the Scottish Football League, a place opened up in the second division of the competition. After beating off competition from four Highland League sides, Hawick Royal Albert and Gateshead United, Ferranti Thistle were accepted into the league by a vote of 21–16 over Inverness Thistle. The club faced several obstacles before it could join the Division, as its name did not meet the stringent SFL rules on overt team sponsorship at the time, and the City Ground was not up to standard. 

The local council offered use of Meadowbank Stadium, a modern stadium built in 1970. After an Edinburgh Evening News campaign to find a name for the club, the name Meadowbank Thistle was chosen. This was approved by the SFL in time for the new season. In 1983, the club achieved promotion to Division 1, but was relegated after two seasons. In 1987, they won promotion again, and this time they were far more successful, finishing as runners-up to Hamilton Academical. However, due to a league restructure, they were not promoted. Still a part-time club, they started to struggle and were relegated to Division 2 in 1993 and in 1995 to the newly established Division 3. After this, Chairman Bill Hunter claimed Meadowbank had run into severe financial difficulties and was facing closure as a result. In the face of significant opposition from many Meadowbank fans who objected to the dropping of the club name and the team moving from Edinburgh, Meadowbank Thistle relocated to a new stadium in the new town of Livingston and changed its name again, to Livingston Football Club.

In their first season as Livingston, they were crowned champions of Division 3 and then won Division 2 in 1999. Another promotion followed in 2001 when the club were Division 1 champions and gained promotion to the Scottish Premier League, just six seasons after the relocation to Livingston. Livingston's first SPL campaign brought more success as they finished 3rd (behind the Old Firm) and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time. Jim Leishman's side gave a competent showing in the UEFA Cup. After disposing of FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein on the away goal rule after a 1–1 draw, they came up against SK Sturm Graz of Austria, and after a 14-goal, two-leg thriller, they missed out on the second round, going out on the wrong side of an 8–6 aggregate scoreline. Livingston just avoided relegation the following season, finishing 9th. In 2004, they won the Scottish League Cup, beating Hibs 2-0 at Hampden Park. They spent a year in administration after this, following severe financial issues and relegation in 2006. Another period of administration came in 2009 when Livingston were demoted to Division 3 after breaching insolvency rules.

An appeal was lodged and as a result the club refused to play their opening Division 3 fixture against East Stirlingshire on 8 August 2009. Because of this, the club were threatened with a points deduction, but in the end, they were given a £3,000 fine for their actions. This was later overturned on appeal, meaning that the club ultimately escaped any punishment for their boycott of the match. They won the title in their first season and then the Division 2 title in 2011. Despite lean times in the league,  Livingston won the 2015 Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating Alloa 4–0 in the final at McDiarmid Park. In 2016, they were relegated to League 1 after losing to Stranraer in a relegation playoff. They bounced back as champions the following season, winning the league by 19 points. In 2018, they were runners-up to St Mirren in the Championship. Qualifying for the Premiership play-off final, they faced Partick Thistle, who escaped automatic relegation in their final game. Despite this, Livingston won 3–1 on aggregate, 2–1 at home and 1–0 away, earning the final place in the Scottish Premiership and their first season of top-flight football since 2006, relegating Partick Thistle to the Championship in the process, ending Thistle's five-year stint in the Premiership. They were relegated back to the Championship in 2024 but bounced back straight away as runners-up to Falkirk.

Livingston Women's FC was formed in 2020, merging with local side Blackburn United. They began competing in the Scottish Women's Football Championship. They won that division in 2022 and now play in the Scottish Women's Premier League 2, which is the second tier of women's football in Scotland.

MY VISIT

This whole trip was based around a trip to Ibrox for Rangers Women against Aberdeen. All transport was booked with this in mind but then the venue was changed to the Broadwood Stadium, a little over a week before the game. It was exceptionally disappointing, and as I really wasn't looking forward to the overnight coach home, tried to see if we could get some kind of a deal to do something in the North East. It wasn't to be and so Scotland it would have to remain. Thankfully, Livingston provided an opportunity to visit an SPL stadium and although it was a bit tight for time, it was doable. There was also the chance of a Wetherspoons for lunch beforehand. I was not as enthusiastic for all this palaver, and so it wasn't until the night before the game that I finalised the plans.

From the brilliant Mean Eyed Cat, Colin and I made our way back to our room. We checked in and headed out to get a curry, in my case, Sri Lankan Chicken, Lemon Rice and a chilli Keema and cheese Naan. Balti Masters had a huge and bewildering menu, but hopefully I picked the best option. It turned out to be super tasty but the portions were huge and great value. I got my blog up at 10PM and finalised the plans for this trip whilst watching Match Of The Day. We both agreed that this was by far the best accommodation of our trip with it being spacious and well served by plugs. This was ahead of the worst accommodation of the trip, the overnight National Express home from Glasgow. 

It was a reasonable night's sleep and we were on the Metro to Newcastle and at Central Station in good time. A breakfast of cheese and onion toastie and a cake from Greggs was most welcome and it was a very scenic first leg of the journey to Carlisle. We had an hour's stop there, so happily, there were no ticket barriers to stop us from going to Wetherspoons for an hour. It was a revisit for me, but a good place for a breakfast muffin, an energy drink and a pint of Black Dragon. From there it was a busy Transpenine Express to Glasgow Central, where we chatted to ex Carlisle United keeper Tony Caig, now goalkeeper coach at Newcastle. I remembered him playing against Wycombe a few times. It was a dash across Glasgow where I got a can of Irn Bru 1901 on the way to Queen Street. It was then a shockingly poor ScotRail train with no working toilet. We only had a 55-minute journey, but it was quite a long distance. We were there around 2.10 and had a 45-minute walk to the Wetherspoons. The NewYearField was in the shopping centre, which made up the bulk of a very bland and functional town. The Haggis and cheddar cheese Panini was good with chips and a bottle of Aspalls for £10.80. It was then to the ground for the game, a good value £7 entry, but not my favourite 'music' selection pre-match.

 

Livingston were 7th with four points from four games. In their last game, they drew 1-1 with St Johnstone. Gartcairn were a place above with six points from four games. Last time out, they lost 2-0 to Queens Park. Gartcairn had the better of the game at the start, but it was Livingston who took the lead on 25 minutes. A swift move out from the back, Vivienne Strain played through, Justine Strain slotted a low shot past the keeper. The hosts had the better of the first half, but Gartcairn started the second half on top. The pressure told on 51 minutes when Sophie Timlin headed home a free kick from ten yards out. They continued to dominate and took the lead on the hour through Timlin's second, a lob over the keeper from the edge of the area. Livingston keeper Chloe Gibney was clattered in a 50/50 challenge and she was thankfully fine after a bit of treatment. Further injuries held the game up even longer, but Livingston had the chance to equalise from the spot. However, the effort was well saved. That was that for chances. We made our way back to Livingston North, arriving with 20 minutes to spare. It left us with an hour to kill in Glasgow before the grim prospect of a sold-out overnight National Express coach home.

THE GROUND

THE SET FARE ARENA is a functional stadium with three sides joined together and with filled-in corners. There is then a separate seated stand and altogether it holds 10,000. The seats have plenty of legroom and offer decent views, although the ground is looking a little tired in places. The food appears to be the standard football fare at reasonable prices. Further afield, there is a shopping outlet with a good range of places, including a Wetherspoons. There is plenty of parking at the ground, but it is 40 minutes from Livingston North, with buses available sporadically.