Crewe - The Excel

Crewe FC

The Excel

Crewe FC Sports Pavilion

West Street

Crewe

Cheshire

CW2 8SJ

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1590
Saturday 3rd October 2026

Crewe 1-4 Allscott Heath

NWCFL D1 South

CREWE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1998 and joined the Mid-Cheshire League upon formation. Starting in Division 2, they won promotion to Division 1 after they finished as runners-up to Trafford Reserves in 2000. They were relegated after finishing bottom of the league in 2005 and would spend two more years in Division 1. In 2007, Crewe joined the Cheshire League, starting in Division 2. By 2012, they had been promoted to Division 1 after finishing as runners-up behind Whaley Bridge. The division was renamed to the Premier Division in 2014, and Crewe recorded their best finish of 4th a year later. Last season, they finished 5th and were accepted into the North West Counties League.

Crewe made their debut in the FA Vase this season and lost 2-0 at Coton Green.  They are a three-star England FA Accredited Community Club that also operates as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The town of Crewe is more famous for the League 2 side Crewe Alexandra. Located in East Cheshire, the town has a population of 76,500. The town is best known as a large railway junction; for many years, it was a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling locomotives, but is now much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002, it was also the home of Rolls-Royce; the factory now produces Bentley cars. The most famous person from the town is actor Adam Rickitt, who played Nick Tilsley in Coronation Street from 1997 until 2004.

MY VISIT

For this Saturday, I knew that I'd be on my own. Colin and many other hoppers were on the Southern Combination Hop. I might have been tempted, but for scheduling reasons, it didn't work out for me. For some reason, the step 7 game is always scheduled at the standard kickoff time. I am sure there are reasons for this, but for me, I see the less experienced drifting to bigger games and the more experienced hoppers not bothering unless they've not done the other grounds. For me, I'd have put the step 7 in the morning when there were no alternatives. Either way, I prefer to go on public transport on Saturday. Westfield (Sussex), Crowle Colts, Immingham Town, Kinsley Boys, Bovey Tracey, Ilfracombe Town, Beverley Town and Bridport were the favourites. However, bad transport or obscenely overpriced trains put me off. I didn't want to do the NWCFL ideally, seeing as all the grounds will likely be on the hop in the next few years. But with no guarantee that I'll be able to go on the hop, I decided to take a chance. LNWR generally offer great value advances coming from Hemel, and I had used them before. Crewe is one of their main hubs, and so it made sense to go for Crewe v Alscott Heath. A return was secured for £17.60; fantastic value is a rare thing on the railways. I had backed myself into a corner a bit with an 18:12 train back, but at least it meant that I would get back at a reasonable hour.

After my trip to New Milton, I spent the evening at home, happy that I didn't have work in the morning. I chilled at home whilst getting my blog up. After bingeing on clips of the show on YouTube, I listened to Daniel Barnett's LBC Legal Hour on the radio. I then put on YouTube the Minder Episode 'Last Orders at the Winchester', hoping to get screenshots of Southall's old ground. It had a few faces I recognised, including Gavin Richards (Terry Raymond in EastEnders) and Geoffrey Richards (Sylvia 'Bodybag' Hollamby's husband in Bad Girls). I had a few drinks and had a decent night's sleep, waking at 6. With a lack of decent games at a new ground on Sunday, I was more than happy to revisit Uxbridge FC for Southall v Dorking Wanderers in the FA Cup. As well as being an enticing FA Cup tie, the club had made huge efforts to promote the game on social media, plugging it regularly on Twitter. Tickets were well priced at £10 for this Isthmian League South Central (step 4) v National South (step 2) side Dorking Wanderers game. I lazed about for a bit, watching TV until I got dressed and went out at 9. I walked down Wycombe, didn't really buy much and came back on the bus. I had lunch at home before leaving at 1.10. I met Colin, and we were at the ground by 1.40. Entry was £10, a pint of Strongbow was a fiver (with a £2 club glass), and a disappointing sausage and chips was £5. The latter was just greed on my part, but it killed time until kickoff.

Southall had won 2-1 at Deal Town and beaten Cobham by the same scoreline to reach this stage. Their record progress has been the FA Cup 1st Round, but the last time they did that was in 1955. They would be aiming to reach the 3rd Qualifying Round for the first time since 1979 during their brief tenure as Southall & Ealing Borough. Dorking Wanderers were entering the cup at this stage and had reached the 4th Qualifying Round on four occasions; last season was the most recent when they lost 3-2 to Aldershot Town. It turned out to be a cracking game. Dorking Wanderers were showing their class and moving the ball about nicely, as well as retaining possession. It was Southall who had the first real chance of the game, blasting the ball across the face of goal, but no one could get a touch. Dorking took control, and they took the lead in the 27th minute, Rogalski following up a goalkeeper parry. On the half hour, Southall got the equaliser through Makael Scott, fairly similar to the opener. Their lead only lasted a minute, though, as George Nikaj finished from close range to restore Dorking's lead. It was end-to-end stuff, but Dorking had the better chances. Southall were awarded a penalty on the hour, but it was saved well by former Orient keeper Glenn Morris. The hosts got their equaliser on 84 minutes, a mazy run and finish from Taylor Hayles to end an excellent game. The attendance was 606, and after dropping Colin off, I was back home at 6. The rest of Sunday and Monday, and indeed Tuesday, were all nothingness as I was winding down towards going back to work.

It was my 47th visit to Watchet Lane on Tuesday. It's always a pleasure to visit my local club, £8 for a night's entertainment. Sadly, on the night, Brook House were better than Holmer, a very good side, and they won 3-1. Saturday saw my 990th visit to Adams Park. The usual pre-match pints and food preceded Wycombe's fortunate 2-2 draw against Reading, given the balance of play. My final revisit was to Amersham Town on Tuesday; North Greenford thumped them 6-0, and the events on the field merited the scoreline. It was good to catch up with Colin and plan a small trip to Wales in late October. I was thinking of going abroad, but the prices of flights were stupid. That was due to the schools being out for half term, something I'd neglected to check when booking my holiday, basing it entirely on when Wycombe were not at home. Under normal circumstances. I could have changed it, but a quirk of my work's booking system is that it sends a code to your phone. It was tied to my old device that I'd sold two weeks ago. I tried to sort it on a work computer and was presented with a link to a form to reset the said details. Fantastic, I thought, but as soon as I tried to access the form, it asked for the self-same code that I was trying to reset. So I was stuck with my booked holiday for now and vowed to make the best I could of it. Aside from a wasted Monday, I think I've cracked it. I also finalised my plan for this weekend; sadly, the excellent-looking Tom's Tap would have to wait until a future visit.

It was a fairly dull week with work, the most notable thing being when a helpful policeman noticed that one of my lights was out at 4 am, something that was fairly simple to remedy that afternoon. I walked down Wycombe on Friday and had a couple of pints in Wetherspoons before getting the bus back. I spent the evening at home and went to sleep fairly early, not getting much of a lie in as I woke a couple of hours before my alarm. I stayed in bed until my alarm went off before having breakfast and leaving at 7.20. When I got to Hemel, the roads where I usually park for free were rammed, so I used my backup option, paying £3.50. The payment took an age to go through, but it issued a ticket eventually. As my train was leaving, it came through that payment has been denied, mysterious, so I made a note to keep that ticket in case of any problems down the line. My train was on time and nice and peaceful. The only downside was a 34-minute wait in Milton Keynes as I had to change trains. The second train was a few minutes late, but that didn't really bother me as I was looking to kill time in Crewe anyway.

 

I arrived just before 11 and had a look around the market and some shops before heading to my first pub. I was at the Belgian Hops Bar ten minutes before opening. Having been here before, I knew it was decent.  It was a popular place and I followed a large group in just as they were opening the doors. It was all stuff I'd had before, but not for ages. Cherry Chouffe is available in bottles at a few shops, but I always feel that it tastes better on draught. Being imported, it was fairly pricey, so I went for two-thirds for £6.60. It tasted good; I think I'd have to travel to Liverpool or Reading if I wanted the equivalent Delirium Red at the Ship and Mitre or Castle Tap, two equally brilliant pubs. That was good, then it was a pint of Gwynt Y Ddraig Ancient Warrior for my second drink. I was feeling pleasantly steamed after two strong drinks, just enough to take the edge off of life. The second drink was good, having not had it since walking to Oxford to raise money for the Wycombe Wanderers Trust in 2013 at the sadly missed priory. I was pushed for time after stopping back at the market for a Sri Lankan Chicken Devil and Rice, always keen to explore cuisines. Fairly costly at £13, it was nice. From there, it was just under an hour's walk to the Marshfield Bank House Wetherspoons, number 556 for me. A simple place; my chips took less than a minute, my Stowford Press eight minutes. I left at 2.30 and walked the fifteen minutes to the ground. I was there ten minutes before kickoff: a nice welcome, a free badge and £5 entry. The mobile signal claimed data, but there was no sign of it when I tried to check in.

 

Crewe were sitting 16th in the table. After a sticky start, their form had improved. They had won three and lost three of their last six, including a 6-0 thumping of Brereton Social last Saturday. Alscott Heath were in 11th and had won four of their last six. They were on a run of three wins in a row, including a 3-1 win at Market Drayton Town last Saturday. Two very quick goals, both around eight minutes and from close range, kept the scores level at 1-1 It was Ben Summers for Allscott Heath and Kyle Vickers for Crewe. On 24 minutes, it was 2-1 to Allscott Heath, an excellent free kick from Carl Rogers finding the corner of the net from twenty yards out. On half time, a thumping Edan Sears shot from the edge of the area made it 3-1 to Allscott Heath. A fair reflection, with Crewe restricted to chances on the break. It was all Crewe at the start of the second half; they kept the visitors pinned back in their own half but didn't create much. The hosts did have the ball in the net ten minutes from time, but it was disallowed for an infringement. On 85 minutes, Crewe got a penalty, but the tame effort was well saved by the visitors' keeper. Crewe still pushed, but to no avail. Allscott Heath made it 4-1 on the break in the 89th minute, a calm and composed finish from Jack Davies. I was pretty much sober now, so the walk back to the station via Farmfoods for some Irn-Bru dragged a bit. I saw some Crewe fans whose side had beaten Bristol Rovers 3-1, so the town seemed in a good mood. My train was waiting there for me when I got to platform 11 at 6 pm, having walked 23k steps and nearly ten miles on the day.

THE GROUND

THE EXCEL is very much a work in progress, but has a decent amount of potential. It is a 3G cage with only one side and one end available at the moment. There are two areas of cover but no seated stand at the moment. You can usually get a decent view of the action. The bar and cafe are outside the ground; these offer a reasonable range at fair prices. Otherwise, a standard Wetherspoons called the Marshfield Bank House is 15 minutes walk away, with other pubs the same distance in the other direction. There is plenty of parking. The ground is 2.5 miles from the station; when I checked, buses didn't really save much time but are available.

Milton United - Potash Lane

Milton United FC

The Heights
Potash Lane
Milton Heights
Oxfordshire
OX13 6AG

01235 832999

Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 489
Saturday 11th April 2015
Faringdon Town 'A' 3-0 Wallingford Town Reserves
North Berks League Cup Final








MILTON UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1909 as Milton Hill. They began in the North Berkshire League as founding members, where they stayed for many years. Initially members of the Wallingford Division, they were transferred to the Abingdon Division. After struggling, they left the league for a short while, rejoining as Milton. Returning to Division 2 (Wantage). Though they finished bottom in 1922, they were runners-up the following season. Another geographical switch saw the club, now under the name Milton United, win Division 2 (Abingdon) in 1927. They would last for three seasons in Division 1 (Wantage) before relegation. By 1938, they were champions of Division 2, now in a non-regionalised format. They remained in Division 1 until World War 2, returning to Division 2 afterwards. Various reshuffles saw them moved to Division 1 East, Division 2, Division 1, then Division 2 in the late 1940s. They finished bottom of the league in 1954 and went into abeyance for four years. Milton rejoined at Division 3 in 1958 and won the title in their first season. Two successive championships saw them in the Premier Division for the first time, and they were North Berkshire League champions four times in the 1960s. This was renamed Division 1 in 1974. They were relegated to Division 2 in 1979 but came back in 1981.

Milton United were Division 1 runners-up in 1985 and went on to capture three more titles. In 1989, the club moved up to the Hellenic League and were Division 1 runners-up to Carterton Town. Promoted to the Premier Division, they were Hellenic League champions in 1991. Ground grading prevented promotion, and indeed, their lack of floodlights saw them demoted to Division 1 in 1994. Now with the required lights, they were promoted back to the Premier Division in 1999 after a 4th-place Division 1 finish. Two bottom-place finishes saw Milton back in Division 1 East by 2001. A 3rd-place finish in 2004 was good enough for another promotion; this time Milton achieved two 7th-place finishes before relegation in 2009. Five years later, they were Division 1 East champions in 2014, spending two more seasons in the Hellenic Premier before relegation once more in 2016. A 3rd place finish in 2023 saw promotion to the Combined Counties Premier North, where they spent three seasons. Forced to play in exile as far away as Beaconsfield, their council and residents effectively forced them to resign from the league despite a 13th-place finish. They regrouped in the Oxfordshire Senior Premier at the start of this season.

 

Milton United have competed in twelve FA Cup campaigns. Their best run came in 2013 when they beat Chertsey Town and Marlow before losing to local rivals Abingdon Town in the 1st Qualifying Round. They've also reached the FA Vase 2nd Round on four occasions. Local cup wins include the Hellenic D1 Cup in 1990 and the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup in 1990 & 1991. The club moved to Potash Lane in Milton Heights in 1998. The record attendance at the ground of 608 was set in May 2005 when Carterton played Didcot Town in the Hellenic League Cup Final. Lease problems and objections from residents relating to their clubhouse saw the club relocate to Wallingford & Crowmarsh and then to Beaconsfield Town between 2023 & 2025. The village of Milton is three miles from Didcot and has a population of just under 1,300. In 1841, the Great Western Main Line was built through the parish about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) south of the village. In 1955, a British Railways excursion train was derailed at Milton, killing 11 people and injuring 163. During the Second World War, the British Army had a large depot on land between Milton village and the railway line. The site is now Milton Park Business Park. Milton has one public house, which for many decades was called the Admiral Benbow, and later it was controlled by Greene King Brewery. It is now renamed The Plum Pudding.

MY FIRST VISIT

Around 6 weeks ago, I saw on Facebook that fellow groundhopper, friend and North Berkshire aficionado Laurence Reade had been chosen to present the Trophy at the North Berks League Cup final. He asked as many people to support the event as possible, and as it was on Saturday night, at a ground I had not been to yet, I pencilled it in nice and early. The kick-off time of 7 was ideal - it would give me enough time to get to the ground after the Wycombe Wanderers v Cheltenham Town game, and would also mean that I got back home in time for Match of the Day. Perfect. It would also leave me with just Brimscombe & Thrupp to do to complete the Hellenic Premier, a feat which I hope to achieve before the end of the season.

The North Berkshire League has been a staple of Groundhop UK's schedule for some time now. It is mainly park pitches, so it does not interest me so much. That said, I might dip my toe in the water for the hop next season; it will just depend on what else there is on the day. Founded in 1908, it has five Divisions, with the top one, Division 1, sitting at step 9 of the Non-League pyramid. It can be a feeder league to the Hellenic if the clubs desire, but most of the teams with the facilities to go up - such as Abingdon Town and Wallingford Town, have opted to stay in the league for financial reasons. A few entertaining stories are coming from the hops held so far - most notably a rather foolish hopper, who without the credentials to get into a game, tried to cheat the system. This may sound daft, but the game was being held at an RAF base, and the said person had sneaked in by hiding in the back of someone's car. As you can imagine, you do not mess with RAF security, and when they found out, the person was picked out very quickly to avoid the whole party being thrown off the base.

On the day of the game, I woke at 9 as it was my day off from work. I had a bath and got dressed before going down the shops and getting a paper amongst other things. With the information contained therein, I placed £15 worth of bets on the Grand National and today's football. After lunch, it was time to go to the footy, with a win for Wycombe essential if they were to maintain their push for promotion. We took the lead just before half-time with a great shot by Aaron Pierre, but true to form, we conceded a daft equaliser. Paul Hayes mistake let Cheltenham in for an equaliser. Thankfully Wycombe went straight up the other end and restored their lead with a header by Alfie Mawson. It could prove to be a poor year for Cheltenham football with Town, Saracens and Bishops Cleeve all in relegation spots.

From the Wycombe game, it was a 45-minute drive to Milton United, with mainly fast-moving roads making the journey easy. I got there just before 6 and had myself a pint of Stowford Press at £3.30 and sausage and chips at £2.40. I checked Facebook and read the glossy programme (a good value £3 with entry) while I waited for the game to start. The game started at a slow pace but with some good passing football.  I learned from Laurence that the cup involves sides from the bottom two divisions of the North Berkshire League and must be the club's lowest-ranked side - hence no first teams in the competition. It was Faringdon Town's 'A' team that would be competing in this final. They had got here with victories over the reserve teams of Drayton, Stanford ITV and Long Wittenden. They competed in Division 4 of the North Berkshire League this season and were currently 6th in the league. Wallingford Town Reserves reached the final by beating the reserve sides of Marcham, Grove and Berinsfield. They were a league lower, but doing a lot better, sitting in 2nd place before the game.

 

There were not many clear-cut chances, but on 30 minutes Wallingford took the lead. That's how it stayed at half-time, and during the break I went back to my car to get my coat as it was getting quite chilly. Wallingford doubled their lead on the hour mark when a good run down the right culminated in the Faringdon keeper being beaten at his near post and only being able to parry the ball into the net. It wasn't the greatest of games, but Wallingford were the better team. Just before full time, they forced the Faringdon keeper into a good save to prevent them from getting a third. Afterwards, I watched Laurence present the medals to both teams, as well as a little keepsake for the ball boys that had helped out. While it had not been the best of games with Faringdon not turning up in an attacking sense, it had a lovely community feel at the game. The £3 was a nominal charge to pay for entry, especially seeing as it included a programme. I think Milton United did well out of the day too, selling a fair amount of food and drink. I had done well on the day too, making a £23 profit on my bets, and it was a short drive home with me getting back in time for a couple of ciders with Match of the Day, before my shortest night's sleep of the week - just a few hours before waking at 4am.

VISIT 2

4-0 v Cholsey United - OSL Presidents Cup 1st Round (25/09/26)

I only decided to revisit Milton United the day before. I'd ideally have had Colin to help out with the 80-mile round trip, but he was out at his parents'. The lure of Friday night football and the chance to revisit a ground I'd not been to since 2014 had strong appeal, though. Back to work on Wednesday, a harder slog than expected, mainly because of the constant negativity and criticism around the place. It did not help that I was knackered, as my body clock struggled to adjust back to work. I had a three-hour nap in the afternoon and went out for a walk to get my 10k steps in. The same went for Thursday and Friday, though the atmosphere was better. I got my walk in the afternoon and left after dinner at 6.15. It was a good drive over, unlike the crap roads to Didcot. Aside from the last two miles, it was all well-lit dual carriageways. I was at the ground at 7.25, and no admission fee was asked for. There were no drinks I fancied, so I'd be getting chips at half time. The game kicked off four minutes late.

 

Milton United had enjoyed a solid start to life back in county football for the first time since 1999. They were 3rd in the Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division and had won two (beating Thame United Reserves 2-0 and Chalgrove Cavaliers 4-2), drawn one (3-3 against Chinnor) and lost one (4-0 at Witney Town). Cholsey United were 9th and had won one (4-1 at Longford Park) and lost two (4-2 to Launton Sports and 5-2 to Kennington Athletic). They'd also progressed in the Charles Twelthtree Trophy, beating Kintbury Rangers Reserves 4-0. Milton United featured John Mills who scored 140 goals over three seasons for Hereford as their player-manager. He looked a cut above at the ripe old age of 36. On 8 minutes, the hosts took the lead, Harry Pitman heading home a cross. It was 2-0 on 12 minutes, through Matty Hardwick, despite an attempted overhead clearance from a Cholsey player. The visitors had a man sent off for a heavy tackle towards the end of the half. The break was less than ten minutes, so much so that I missed John Mills' goal at the start of the second period. The second half was a bit more sedate; Milton United made it 4-0 in the last stages of the game with an excellent volley by Mitch Larman at the back post. A good crowd of around 115 were in attendance.

 

THE GROUND

POTASH LANE (or The Heights as it is sometimes known) is a decent enough step 5 venue. All the accommodation is on one side, with seating for around 100, and cover for another 150 people standing. It's in the middle of nowhere, but that's no problem as the bar has a fair range of stuff and the food is good too. It does take a while sometimes, but at least it is freshly cooked for each person.  

2026 GROUND UPDATE

This venue had seen some deterioration since my last visit, as the roof had disappeared from the stand. The ground was also more open, thnaks to a new build housing estate. However, it's the people that make a club, and Milton is still worth a visit. The clubhouse has seen better days, but you can still get food and drink there. Parking is plentiful, and it's a decent place to go.