Longridge Town - The Mike Riding Ground

Longridge Town FC

The Mike Riding Ground

Inglewhite Road

Longridge

Preston

Lancashire

PR3 2NA

07966 632082

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Ground Number: 1267
Saturday 2nd March 2024

Longridge Town 2-3 Padiham
North West Counties D1 North

LONGRIDGE TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1996 by a merger of Longridge St Wilfrid's and Longridge United. They started in the Preston & District League and worked their way up through the divisions, honours include the Division 3 title in 2004 and the Premier Division runners-up spot the following season. They joined the West Lancashire League in 2009 and were runners-up behind BAC/EE Springfield in their first season in Division 2. Two seasons were spent in Division 1 before they won the title in 2012. They then remained in the Premier Division until 2018 when they finished 3rd. This was good enough for promotion to the North West Counties Division 1 North in 2019. They won the title in their debut season and have been in the NWCFL Premier ever since.

Longridge Town had a good FA Cup run in 2020. They beat Winsford United, Widnes, Charnock Richard and NPL Premier side Stalybridge Celtic before losing 1-0 to Skelmersdale United in the 3rd Qualifying Round. Earlier that year, they reached the FA Vase 5th Round before losing 1-0 to eventual winners Hebburn Town. Local cup wins include the Preston & District Centenary Guildhall Cup winners in 2005 and the West Lancashire Wilf Carr Trophy in 2018. Longridge is a market town in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire. It is situated 8 miles north-east of the city of Preston and has a population of around 7,700. The demand for stone from Longridge's quarries led to the opening of the Preston and Longridge Railway in 1840 to carry the stone away, for use in such places as Liverpool Docks. The arrival of the railway led to the opening of several cotton mills and the town grew considerably larger from the mid-19th century. The mills and quarries have now all closed, although stone quarried in the town was used to construct the M55 motorway in the 1970s.

MY VISIT

The North West Counties Hop had been going for a good few years now. They were a very friendly league and clubs were also very welcoming. They were perfect in embracing the spirit of compromise that is needed to make a groundhop event a success. The league and one of its clubs, Atherton Collieries had even come to the rescue in 2013 when a snowbound AFC Emley needed a late replacement. The first half-hop in this league was in 2017 with the Northern Counties East League hosting the first half. I was there on Easter Sunday as Ashton Athletic, Ashton Town and Runcorn Town (revisit for me) did a great job of introducing the league. Atherton Collieries became a rare case of twice hosting a hop game on Easter Monday as it appeared local rivals Atherton LR turned down the idea. Colls attracted an attendance over three times the original hop game and deserved a proper chance at hosting which they did very well. I headed elsewhere whilst West Didsbury & Chorlton and Maine Road hosted the other games. I was unable to attend the 2019 hop which included Barnton, Bootle, Litherland REMYCA, Lower Breck, St Helens Town and Warrington Rylands. A sore point as I still need four of those, the year break being so the South West Peninsula League could host. I was also absent in 2020 for Sandbach United, Wythenshawe Amateurs, Wythenshawe Town, Cheadle Heath Nomads, Congleton Town and Winsford United hosted. This was sneaked in just before the first lockdown and Covid wiped out the 2021 hop. I only missed out on one new ground that year but the hop was back in 2022. The footprint has moved over into Yorkshire now but Golcar United, Bacup Borough, Padiham, Nelson, Barnoldswick Town, Steeton & Ilkley all hosted superbly despite the weather's best efforts to put a spanner in the works. I only did the Friday night in 2023 at Ellesmere Rangers as I only needed Eccleshall on Saturday. Rocester, Foley Meir, Stafford Town and Brocton were the other host clubs.

The day of the game came and I'd had a pretty late night due to chatting with other hoppers whilst waiting for the traffic to quieten down near our hotel. Then, I was awoken early by Colin's alarm at 6.30, though he had forgotten why he had set it. We got ready and then he joined Dan, Richard and Paul to go to Toby Carvery for breakfast. I stayed in the room as I had some planning to do. Our second game at Garstang was subject to a pitch inspection. It was quite early at 10.30 am but at least they were being diligent. Bamber Bridge, Hurst Green, Clitheroe and Burscough were my backups of choice but at least the first game was going to be on. I left at 8.40 and made my way to Tesco in Preston for petrol. It was then over to Sports Direct as I needed a pair of trainers. A decent pair of Skechers were acquired for £29. It was then another 20 minutes to the ground with me parking up at the cricket club at at 10.20. The ground was viewable from here but I had to walk round, for about five minutes. It was £7 to get in. The rain had started to come down by now but the second game was confirmed on. Due to the drizzle, the bar was rammed so I went outside instead.

Longridge Town were down in 21st place but well clear of relegation. Their form was also poor, having lost 7-0 at Wythenshawe in their last game. They'd lost five of their last six, the only bright spot was when they won 3-1 at AFC Liverpool on 3rd February. Padiham were in 7th and in good form. They'd won four of their last six, beating Cheadle Town 3-1 in their last game. It was a decent end-to-end game, very equal with Longridge hitting the post after around fifteen minutes. They did take the lead after 20 minutes through Morgan Homson-Smith's shot from the edge of the area. Padiham equalised on 27 minutes, an attack down the right and a ball across the six-yard box for Jack Price to tap home. Despite a great save from the keeper, Padiham took the lead on 37 minutes in a similar fashion to their first, the goal by Brownhill. It had been a great first half and on half time a super strike from Mitch Marshall whose shot from the edge of the area found the top corner to make it 2-2.

They came around handing free food just after half time and Dan was on it quicker than Usain Bolt on a running track. I wasn't that peckish but went to the bar for a hot vimto and a club badge for a quid each. The attendance was given as 438, though it looked more due to everyone packing into the stands. The second half was not as good. Padiham took the lead on 83 minutes, a great run and finish by Tyler James. This made it 3-2, slightly harsh on the hosts but there were no more goals.

THE GROUND

THE MIKE RIDING GROUND is a smart venue. There are three areas of cover, one seated, one standing and one mixed. Two of them are pre-fab stands but the other is a lot nicer. At a push, there is enough cover for around 250. The rest of the ground is open and three-sided. There is a small bar which does food although this can get quite cramped with a larger crowd. There is also a smaller tea bar too. Parking is plentiful, mainly supplied by the local cricket club.