Tempest United - The Famous Shed

Tempest United Football Club

Tempest Rd

Bolton

Greater Manchester

BL6 4HL

01942 811938

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1467

Monday 25th August 2025

Temprest United 3-2 Rossendale

West Lancashire League Premier

TEMPEST UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was originally established in 1946 and existed as a nomadic club for a few years before disbanding. In 1959, they were established permanently when the local council purchased some allotment land to create a sports field. The early years saw little success and basic facilities for the long-serving committee. However, the 1980s saw them push on, having sold some of the land they acquired from the council for housing, and this allowed them to build a clubhouse and changing rooms.

They saw some success in the Bolton Combination before joining the West Lancashire League in 1992. In 1996, they finished in 3rd place behind Lansill and Kirkham & Wesham to earn promotion to Division 1, but only stayed up for one season. Division 2 was renamed Division 1 in 1998, in line with the current system. A 2nd place finish behind Blackpool Wren Rovers in 2001 saw another promotion to the top tier, but again it would only be for a single season. Tempest won the Division 1 title in 2009, and this time, their stay would last for longer. They still struggled, though and went down again in 2014. A runners-up spot behind Turton saw them promoted again in 2016, and they've been in the Premier Division ever since. Tempest were far more successful this time and last season were West Lancashire League Champions for the first time.

 

MY VISIT

It was only a short walk from the previous game at CMB to get to Tempest. Despite this, the 8-minute walk was too far for Daniel, so Richard and Andrew agreed to go to Northwich Victoria to save his legs. The ground was as busy as the last, the club pulling out all the stops to provide food, drink and merch for the hoppers. I opted for a reusable cup, a bottle of Magners and a burger from the local butcher. There was a good atmosphere, and the ground was packed due to the 2.5-sided nature of the venue. The hard work paid off for the club as they attracted the biggest crowd of the hop as 470 turned up. Quite a few locals were present too, and they were surprised by how many turned up.

Last season's champions, Tempest United, were in 10th, having won three and lost three of their games so far. They'd won their last two, including a 4-0 win over Coppull United last midweek. Rossendale were in 14th, having won one, drawn one and lost four. On Tuesday, they had lost 2-0 at Haslingden St Mary's. Tempest took the lead after 20 seconds, a cross from the left was only partially cleared and Firth followed up from close range. On nine minutes, it was all square, a low cross from the right was nearly finished from ten yards by Wylie. Rossendale took the lead on 21 minutes, a mix-up in defence allowed Foster to slot home a loose ball. Pendlebury equalised on 28 minutes from a penalty awarded for handball. The game slowed down after that due to the heat. Around five minutes from time, Nathan Monson struck the winner for Tempest from the edge of the area. The keeper could only get a touch on it as the score went to 3-2.

That was the last game of what had been an excellent hop and it gave me the appetite to see more of what this league has to offer. The league representative reckoned that each club made a good few grand. Certainly, it was a testament to some extremely hard-working volunteers and the league for taking the initiative to organise the hop. Also, to all those at Groundhop UK for putting together the package and making it as easy as possible for the hoppers. There were plenty of winners, and although there had to be a bit of compromise from everyone, it was a great weekend.

THE GROUND

THE FAMOUS SHED is a compact ground that has only two and a half sides available to fans. The best view is from the raised patio at the front of the bar, where pretty much everything went on. Here and in the bar, a great range of food was available as well as a decent range of food and drink. Parking was quite limited, but cooperation with CMB down the road meant that it was not a problem.