North West Counties Premier Division
LITHERLAND REMYCA FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1959 as St Thomas FC and were initially based in Seaforth. They were later renamed Bootle Church Lads Brigade, with Bootle YMCA becoming the club's base. In 1967 they became REM Social after a local working men's club started financing the club, before being renamed REMYCA United the following year, the name reflecting links with the REM social club and the Bootle YMCA. Under the new name, the club joined Division Three of the I Zingari Alliance, winning it at the first attempt. After winning higher divisions in successive seasons, the club entered the I Zingari League. They saw a great deal of success, winning the title four times. They had a brief spell in the Liverpool County Combination but returned to the IZL which later merged with the LCC to form the Liverpool County Premier League. They won Division 2 in 2007 before finishing 3rd behind Essemmay Old Boys and Stoneycorft in 2010 to earn promotion from Division 1 in 2010. In 2013, they changed their name to Litherland REMYCA. In 2014, a 5th place finish in the Premier Division was good enough for promotion to the North West Counties League. In 2018, they finished as Division 1 runners-up to Silsden to win promotion to the Premier Division. Their best finish here of 10th came in 2023.
Litherland REMYCA reached the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round, losing 7-2 at Tadcaster Albion. They also have three FA Vase 1st Round appearances. Local cup wins include the Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1991 and the I Zingari League Challenge Cup on five occasions. The strange name means 'the gypsies' in dialecticised Italian, and I Zingari was the name of an English amateur cricket club formed in 1845, and an Australian one formed 40 years later. The Liverpool Football League’s name invokes their spirit of amateur competition. The club had its record attendance of 1,303 v City of Liverpool in the 2017 North West Counties League Division One Playoff Final.
The town of Litherland is situated five miles from Liverpool and has a population of just over 22,000. Litherland remained a poor area until the arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1774, this brought the area into the modern world, originally providing a safe route through Lancashire from Liverpool to Wigan, and eventually in 1816 through to Leeds. The route became very busy primarily for goods and later for the transportation of passengers. The outcome of all this activity was to bring prosperous businessmen from the city to the countryside, where they had a desire to live. The canal was crossed by a mechanical lifting bridge built in 1934 (replacing an earlier swing bridge) which was demolished in 1974.
MY VISIT
As you would expect, by far the biggest choice of games for my trip was on Saturday afternoon. However, the choice of grounds in Liverpool at step 6 and above is pretty poor once you have done the likes of Prescot Cables and Marine. The collection of 3G cages at the likes of South Liverpool and Lower Breck were pretty uninspiring but the good thing was, I could do them for the morning games on Saturday and Sunday as they were regularly rented out. to local teams. That left just Litherland REMYCA, a pretty uninspiring venue with a huge running track and other assorted rubbish around the pitch. I did briefly consider dropping down to a step 7 league but there was nothing amazing there either. I reasoned that I needed the ground with Groundhop UK having already included it on their hop. I also thought that at least for photos, it would be better to do it in the day rather than at night.
From my game at Lower Breck in the morning, I hopped straight on the bus that dropped me near the Thomas Frost Wetherspoons, in between the current grounds of Liverpool and Everton. My opener was a pint of Stowford Press, a bland and functional drink in a bland and functional pub. It was the usual superb value though, £1.99 a pint so I had another. Also the excellent chicken wings, five for £2.49. Service was superb and warm-hearted which sums up the wonderful city of Liverpool. From there, I walked 15 minutes to the required bus stop. It was five minutes late but I was still well on schedule. I was at the ground half an hour before kickoff, entrance was a well-priced £6. I had a walk around and the pitch seemed so distant, not just the running track but other dead space around the track. I decided to position myself behind a shed thing near the pitch and managed 15 minutes of the game before I was asked to move. Seen as they were friendly and apparently, it was the league whining. I had no issue and stood pitch side.
Litherland REMYCA were 20th in the league but their form was not terrible. Out of their last six, they had won three, drawn one and lost two. It was a real relegation battle as South Liverpool were 21st, having won one, drawn two and lost three of their last six, They did have a midweek game at home to Pilkington on Wednesday though. From what I could make out, it was a fairly even game with no real chances. But as the game progressed, both teams had good spells, firstly Litherland with a shot cleared off the line and then a good spell for South Liverpool with a series of corners. Litherland came close again but the shot was tipped over the bar by the South Liverpool keeper on 50 minutes. The scoring was opened on 65 minutes, James Hamill giving REMYCA the lead on 65 minutes as q quick break presented him with a one-on-one which he put past the keeper. There were not many other chances and the most notable point was strong wind which blew the goal over a few minutes from time and the referee ended the game soon after.
I was happy to be on my way and to have the ground ticked. It was one that I needed to catch up with Groundhop UK on the North West Counties hop, though they appeared to be doing the same as I only needed two of the seven on the upcoming hop. It was a short walk to the bus stop, just under ten minutes wait for the bus and half an hour into Liverpool. I'd not had a lot of luck with cider pubs, the cider pub of the year, the Augustus John, closed at weekends. The Baltic Fleet only had some crappy fruit cider rather than the one I fancied. I walked instead to the Beatles Statue and the docks where I got some great pictures. The Ship and Mitre is always good in Liverpool and so I headed there for a pint of Delirium Red, fruit beer fine for me, but I prefer my cider pure apples. It was a cracking pint whilst I waited for Colin at one of my favourite places in Liverpool. We then met up with Sean, getting another couple of Spoons ticked. The Fall Well was excellent for food and drink but the Welkin was pretty ropey on the service. For that reason, we scrapped plans to go to the one in Birkenhead as we couldn't guarantee the buses. The 9.47 was five minutes late but was pretty full, showing that there is demand for a reasonably decent bus service. We were back just after 11 and I caught up with my blog.
THE GROUND
LITHERLAND SPORTS PARK is as bad as it gets in terms of grounds at this level and even below. The running track is bad enough but when other athletics crap is dumped in front of a stand that might as well be a sofa for the glorified school sports day that is athletics it makes you feel distant from the pitch with no elevation.
It is not the club's fault though and they are friendly and welcoming. There is a decent club room, although small there is a lot going on in there and a decent range of food and drink is available. Card payment is available too and it's probably better to do in the daylight. Parking is plentiful and the bus route runs right outside the ground.
