Tredegar Town - Tredegar Leisure Complex

Tredegar Town FC

Tredegar Leisure Centre

Stable Lane

Tredegar

Blaenau Gwent

NP22 4BH

Atdal Southern Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1149
Friday 17th February 2023
Tredegar Town 5-2 RTB Ebbw Vale

Ardal South East

TREDEGAR TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1968 and was originally known as Rhyd Boys Club. It was founded by the late Cliff Bethel who wanted to provide a platform for those who wished to play football as opposed to the more popular sport of rugby. Over the years the club provided many schoolboy internationals to the Welsh national team. The club changed its name to Tredegar Town in the early 1980s. They later joined the North Gwent League and in the 1990s, the Gwent County League. After gaining promotion from Division 3, they were Division 2 champions in 1993 but were relegated back straight away. However, they bounced back as champions again in 1995 and didn't look back. They were Division 1 champions in 1998 and made the step up to the Welsh League. Starting in Division 3, Tredegar were runners-up to Caerleon in their first season, gaining promotion to Division 2. The club's best season came in 2005 as they finished 4th in the league which sits at the third level of football in Wales. Tredegar were relegated back to Division 3 in 2010 and remained there until 2019 when reorganisation saw them back in Division 2. The Covid pandemic then happened and when they came out the other side, the club was placed in the Ardal South East. Their first season here saw them finish in 12th place.

For the first part of its history, Tredegar Town played at the local recreation ground. In 2004 they moved to a ground at the Tredegar Leisure Centre, building it up gradually over the years. Local cup wins include the Gwent Amateur Cup in 1983, the Gwent Youth Cup in 1998 and the Gwent County Motors Cup in 1997 The latter year also saw their best run in the Welsh Cup, reaching the last 32 before falling to Llanelli (2-1) after wins over Pontlottyn Blast Furnace (3-0) and Taffs Well (2-1). The town of Tredegar has a population of around 15,000. Tredegar has strong links with prominent Labour MPs and the history of the Labour Party and the Labour Movement in Britain as a whole. It was the birthplace of Aneurin Bevan, who was responsible for the introduction of the British National Health Service (NHS), and who in the 1920s was involved in the management of Tredegar General Hospital. Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992, was born in Tredegar in 1942 and lived there for most of his early life, attending the town's Georgetown Infants and Junior Schools between 1947 and 1953. Tredegar has been twinned with Orvault in southeast Brittany since 1979. Another football team in the town, FC Tredegar, formerly Tredegar Athletic, plays in the Gwent County D1.

MY VISIT

I'd originally intended to visit Tredegar a couple of months ago but had backed out of the game. For a start, it was during many of the big freezes that we have had recently and for a second, the scenery looked great. I thought I would do it on the coach to Cardiff or Newport on a Saturday as the train from my neck of the woods was prohibitively expensive. However, with the slower and more restricted travel times of the coach, it would mean too much travelling and not enough time actually enjoying the day out. I waited a good while for a Friday night game to come up again and they finally obliged with a local derby against Ebbw Vale. This also had the advantage of a 7.15 PM kickoff, but I'd have to hope the roads played ball. They most certainly hadn't on Tuesday, so I was hoping for a change of luck for this game. I'd be travelling solo as all of my hoppers were either not interested or skint.

I did my research on Wednesday night and was surprised to see that it was a lot further than I thought. I still decided to stick with it though as I'd researched the history of the club and there were four backups in place. I'd also been researching a weekend in Austria and Slovakia in late March, hoping to make the most of my time off work. Pastagate had an unwelcome extension to the saga with Dan telling hop organiser Chris about Colin's antics in an attempt to get Colin thrown off of the hop. As he was travelling with me, that put my plans in jeopardy which I thought was wrong. I had a  call from Chris, but luckily it was all amicable with him only wanting to protect the good relationships with coach firms by leaving the vehicles tidy. When I reassured him that Dan bought out the worst in Colin and that he'd be no issues, he was fine with it. I went up my local side Holmer Green on Thursday night as they lost 4-0 to Cockfosters in the Victor Gladwish Trophy.

The day of the game came and it was a fairly standard day at work. I got some crisps for later, just in case I didn't have time for dinner pre-match. Colin had briefly fancied the trip, but in the end, opted to go to Shrivenham with his mate Martin. It was a reasonable day and I got away quickly, setting off at 4.05. Aside from 15 minutes delay near Reading where some traffic cones had been placed in the road, despite no work, it was a good journey. I was in Tredegar at 6 45 and headed to Yummee Chinese where I had Chicken in hot Satay sauce and salt and pepper chips.  It was getting near kickoff and so made my way to the ground. A combination of the confusing road system and Futbology sending me to the wrong place meant I arrived a few minutes before the advertised kickoff. £4 was superb value to get in, but the game was actually a couple of minutes old, having kicked off early. Thankfully no goals had been scored and I had my dinner whilst watching the game.

Tredegar Town were in disappointing form, their last win coming as they had won 3-2 at Monmouth Town on 26th November. Weather and other things had disrupted their schedule and they'd not won at home in the league since 9th August when they beat the same team 2-1. Recent results had included a 3-1 loss at Undy and a 2-0 home defeat to Trethomas Bluebirds as well as draws at Newport City and Risca United. They were 13th out of 16 teams whilst Ebbw Vale were rock bottom. The visitors' form had been similarly poor but they had beaten Lliswerry 1-0 recently. They'd also drawn 3-3 at Newport City but had lost 4-2 at Treowen Stars and 4-0 to Caldicot Town. On a drizzly night, Tredegar took the lead on six minutes, a low ball from the right was put home by Arran Elias. A minute later, it was all square, Daniel Battle with an excellent free kick for Ebbw Vale. , Luke Morgan put the hosts back ahead, in a similar fashion to their first but from the other flank. Tomas Lynch extended the lead to 3-1 when he headed home a deep cross from the right.  Ebbw Vale were not giving up though and Josh Jones pulled it back to 3-2 with a looping shot from the left which evaded the goalkeeper. However, they threw it away soon after, a catastrophic backpass allowed Lynch in to complete his brace and make it 4-2. There was one further goal on 74 minutes, a superb lob from Ian Pettit who finished from 25 yards to make it 5-2.

Good South Wales Derby here between Tredegar Town and Ebbw Vale. Good equaliser for the visitors but Tredegar lead 2-1. #groundhopping pic.twitter.com/hAQyrXGhnV

— ⚽Russell Cox💙 (@RussWWFC) February 17, 2023

No attendance had been announced, but I would guess around 150. I'd learned that my destination was pronounced Tre-day-gar as opposed to Tread-egar like I'd originally thought. Whatever, the hosts had deserved the win with Ebbw Vale only losing by such a margin due to poor defending. They only had three miles to get home, whereas I had around 145 miles to get back. There was a few miles and minutes added to my journey thanks to the M4 being closed for a junction, but I was still back by 11.45. I'd had a nice day and for me, the third tier in Wales is the best in the UK in terms of entertainment and value for money. I just wish I'd had more time to explore the place and club. I was happy with my choice of game although Penydarren BGC 3-3 Caerau Ely ran it close. For the rest of the evening, the plan was a few drinks and typing my blog ahead of sleep before the Wycombe v Bolton game tomorrow.

THE GROUND

TREDEGAR LEISURE COMPLEX is part of a larger complex which offers all kinds of activities for the community. The football ground part is very nice, fully railed and with a small stand for around 100 fans. It's surrounded on two sides by steep hills and must look great in daylight. Aside from that, there's not so much as a bin but a nice volunteer will come around with a bag towards the end of the game. All the facilities are outside, a basic kitchen with cans and snacks I believe. There's plenty of parking, though this does get filled up quickly. The pleasant-looking town is a mile away and includes Wetherspoons and various takeaways.

Chadderton - Andrew Street

Chadderton FC

Andrew Street 

Chadderton

Oldham 

Greater Manchester

OL9 0JT

07506 104005

Official Website

NWCFL Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1148
Tuesday 14th February 2023
Chadderton 1-0 Ilkley Town
North West Counties D1 North

CHADDERTON FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was originally formed in 1946 under the name of Burnley Lane Estate Juniors, who joined the Middleton Youth League. They graduated into an adult team a year later, changing their name to Millbrow following a ground move. Another name change to North Chadderton Amateurs before settling on their current name in 1957. Starting in the Oldham Amateur League, they progressed to the Manchester Amateur League where they won the North Division in 1956 and Division 1 in 1963. Next up was the Manchester League and this was a boom time for the club as they won Division 2 in 1965 and Division 1 in 1967. The 70s were a lean time but in 1980, they took the decision to move up to the Lancashire Combination. They remained here for two years until the league merged with the Cheshire League to form the North West Counties League.

As founder members, Chadderton is one of the few clubs to be ever-present for the entire history of the league. Starting in the second tier, a third-place finish behind Maine Road and Vauxhall GM saw them spend a single season in what was then called Division 1 before being relegated. In 1992, they were promoted despite only finishing 11th and this bought about a club record finish of 3rd in the North West Counties' top tier behind Atherton LR and Bamber Bridge. In 1998, ground grading issues saw them demoted despite a mid-table finish. They've remained in the second tier ever since. This season is their best in many years and sees them challenging for promotion, now with the required facilities in place.

Chadderton have twice reached the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round - losing to Southport in 1992 and Atherton Collieries in 1994. In the FA Vase, their best run came during the 2014/15 season. They beat Abbey Hey, Dronfield Town, AFC Darwen and Newcastle Benfield before losing to AFC Mansfield in the 4th Round. Local honours include the Manchester League Murray Shield in 1965 and the Gilgryst Cup in 1970. They also won the Oldham Amateur League Challenge Cup in 1955 and the Manchester Challenge Trophy in 1972.

The club's record attendance of 2,352 came for a game against FC United of Manchester in 2006. The most famous player to turn out for Chadderton is David Platt. The future England international was born in the town and played for their youth team. They also had John Pemberton, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Leeds United defender in his younger days. Other players include Take That's Mark Owen and Northern Irish international Steve Jones. The town of Chadderton is in Greater Manchester, a mile from Oldham and six miles from Manchester. It has a population of around 35,000. Chadderton's urbanisation and expansion coincided largely with developments in textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era. A late-19th century factory-building boom transformed Chadderton from a rural township into a major mill town and the second most populous urban district in the United Kingdom. More than 50 cotton mills had been built in Chadderton by 1914. The import of cheaper foreign materials killed off the trade with the last production in 1998.

MY VISIT

This game was decided around five days before. There was a real lack of choice of new grounds on this day, though I favoured Hartpury University. However, Anwar was not keen and had turned it down on a number of occasions. I expect that I will have to do it on my own as I need it as my final ground in the Hellenic D1. I did plan to go on my own, but then Anwar had a suggestion. He really fancied doing Salford and was happy to help out with petrol. Normally, I'd not fancy such a long drive, but I figured that it would make more sense to go somewhere where other hoppers could come with me. Fellow hopper Colin was also keen and that meant it would be a reasonably priced night for all of us. I would drop them at Salford and head off to Chadderton myself, with Abbey Hey as a backup.

Talking of Colin, the fallout from 'Pastagate' had continued. After dropping a load of pasta on Dan's car floor and smearing it over his seats, he refused to clear it up. He also refused to help with the cleaning costs, calling Dan 'lazy' for not cleaning it up. It then took him eight days to even properly answer Dan's messages and then only when he wondered why he wasn't being offered a lift to AFC Sudbury on Friday. I don't blame Dan TBH as Colin forever insults him about his weight despite having a pot belly. Richard, another hopper who he has got many lifts off said he displayed 'these are the hallmarks of a total slob' and had also banned him, as had Tractor, a Clacton & Ipswich fan. For me, he is on his last chance as he always leaves rubbish behind and has been badly behaved on a couple of occasions before. Happily, he was OK on this trip. Though he was unrepentant about the mess in Dan's car. He claimed that he was no loss as he had his mate back giving lifts. He also claimed that Dan could f**k off as his attitude stank. How Colin sees himself as the victim in this situation is beyond me, but I am happy to remain good mates with both. 

After a couple of mediocre revisits to Holmer Green and Chinnor, Saturday was a very happy day. It was the usual pre-match in the Rose & Crown and then a pizza from Mozarella Hut. I was greedy and had a 15-inch to myself as it was only a quid more than the 12-inch. I was then to Adams Park in the usual decent company of Anwar & Colin for a glorious Wycombe win as we beat Derby County 3-2. It was then back to the pub and then a walk home, all in all, a very boozy & happy day.  It was the standard purgatory of Sunday but I did have the bonus of steak for dinner. Monday saw a far quicker-than-usual trip to work than usual. Though the place was like a creche with everyone bringing their kids in. Although on balance, the extra half hour in bed on Wednesday morning would be greatly appreciated. I spent Monday evening researching Chadderton's history and also food options for pre-match. I settled upon a place called Dynabite and thought I'd allowed myself plenty of time for any traffic woes.

The day of the game came and I'd had a reasonable night's sleep for once. After getting ready, I walked to town and back although I didn't buy anything. I came back and checked the oil and tyres on my car as it was a pretty long journey. After some lunch, I left at 1.45. It was a good journey over to Colin with me getting there at 2. That was where the good luck ended though and it was a dreadful journey over to Anwar, taking 45 minutes. This was due to two sets of roadworks with absolutely nothing going on. I picked Anwar and his lad Hicham up and we were quickly on our way. The journey to the M40 was delayed through Aylesbury's abysmal road system but the M40 itself was fine. The M42 saw delays due to a BMW on fire and there was further delay as there had been a crash between two careless drivers. The festering turd that was the M6 was the prime offender though. Always terrible, we crawled most of the way up and hit Manchester right on rush hour. Of course, it was busy and it was 7.15 by the time I made my drop off at Salford. Thankfully it was a good journey to Chadderton and I was parked up five minutes before kickoff after a six-hour journey and two-hour delay. Entry was £5 to get in, great value. I was sad that everything had been so rushed though as I'd have liked to visit the club shop, which understandably had closed.

Chadderton were unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions - they had last lost in October when they went out of the Macron Cup and Manchester Premier Cup. Their last league defeat had been on 17th September when they lost 3-1 against AFC Blackpool. They'd won their last game 3-0 against Cleator Moor Celtic and had also beaten Atherton LR 1-0 and won 3-1 at Darwen. There had also been draws against FC St Helens, Daisy Hill and Steeton. The hosts were top whilst the visitors were third. Ilkley Town had been in decent form too and had won their latest game 2-1 against Bacup Borough. They'd also won 3-2 at Pilkington and 3-1 at Runcorn Town. They'd also had draws at Euxton Villa and against Darwen as well as a 1-0 defeat at Holker Old Boys. In the end, it was a pretty dull game. Ilkley shaded the first half but it was Chadderton who took the lead on 33 minutes through James Purfield. I was up the other end though so I had a poor view. It was a game of few chances but plenty of effort, not the best watch to be honest. But I was hardly in the best frame of mind to enjoy the game after the horrendous journey. It's why I dislike driving so much as no one in my local group is qualified to share the burden, so I can't relax.

From there, I headed to Asda to get petrol which was 5p a litre cheaper than back home. I was back in Salford at 10.10 and we headed to a local takeaway called Frazers. It took half an hour to come, but my Frazinger wrap meal was excellent for £6.50 and we eat it in store. We left just after 11 and luckily, it was a far better journey home. Even with lane closures and speed restrictions, I dropped Anwar off at 2.15, Colin off at 2.40 and got home at 2.50. It took me ages to get to sleep and in the end, I only had less than three hours. I felt fine the next morning though. Though the night had been largely disappointing, Wycombe had won 2-0 at Accrington which softened the blow of losing defender Alfie Mawson to a premature retirement. The fans were caught up in the traffic and despite our late departure, we had passed both the team and supporters coach on the way home. I even heard of some fans that didn't arrive at Accrington until 9.10 because of the dreadful roads.

THE GROUND

ANDREW STREET or THE FALCON FIRE STADIUM as it is known for sponsorship purposes is a great ground for the level. It has a full-length cover along one side with standing for around 200 and seating for around 100. The rest of the ground is open, aside from a small disabled area near the tea bar. There are several good vantage points around the pitch. Food is restricted to hot dogs and pies but is well-priced. The bar is very smart and offers a great view of the pitch. It also looks great lit up at night. There's a decent amount of parking nearby and the town is less than five minutes walk away with a wide range of places to eat and drink.

2011 PICTURES

These pictures are from Saturday 1st October 2011. They were taken as part of a mini football grounds tour on the way to Rochdale 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers.