Wythy Go To Town - Another Fowl Performance From The Meresiders

And so to Ericstan Park (more of which anon !!) in Baguley and another meeting of two sides new to the North West Counties Division One South – Wythenshawe Town and Ellesmere Rangers.

The home team was founded in 1946 as the North Withington Amateur Football Club and was the idea of some young men who attended St Crispin’s Church on Hart Road in Fallowfield – the first committee meeting was held in the lounge of a house in Garswood Road.

The club played at Hough End Field, Princess Road in Withington and initially joined the South Manchester & Wythenshawe League. Twelve years later in 1958 they were subsequently transferred to the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur League, working their way up the divisions before winning the First Division in 5 consecutive seasons. Then in 1972 the team applied for and were accepted into the Manchester League.

In June 1974 the club’s headquarters were moved from the Princess Hotel in Withington to the newly acquired ground at Timpson Road, Baguley where 3 prefabricated houses were purchased and turned into a clubhouse and changing facilities. It was decided to name the ground in honour of the then Chairman, Stan Hahn, and Club Secretary, Eric Renard (one of the original club founders), and thus Ericstan Park was born.

Additionally the club commissioned a new badge incorporating a cockerel and a fox – the cockerel relating to Stan Hahn (the German word for cockerel is Hähnchen) and the fox to Eric Renard (the French word for fox is Renard). Not long after, in the early 1980s, the decision was taken to change the club’s name to Wythenshawe Town to reflect their new home.

In 2014 Town moved to the Cheshire League Division Two and during that season won all 39 matches across 4 competitions, earning national headlines as true ‘Invincibles’. The winning streak continued the following season, ending at 49, but promotion as champions took Town to the Premier Division.

After two seasons the club ‘secured promotion’ in the summer to the North West Counties League Division One South, despite only finishing 7^th out of 15. This campaign has been a mixed one, the highlight being an 11-3 victory at Eccleshall and the lowlight, literally, being expelled from the FA Vase for failing to meet floodlight criteria…..

The away side in its present form was established in 1969 following a meeting in The Railway pub and was initially known as Railway Rangers; there have been football teams in the town of Ellesmere since the early 1900s.

Railway Rangers played in the Oswestry & District League but, after moving headquarters to the Market Hotel, changed name to Ellesmere Rangers FC in 1974. In the first season under their new name promotion to the Shrewsbury & West Shropshire League was achieved.

Rangers moved up to the Shropshire County League in the 1980s and, through winning the league in the 2003/04 season, earnt promotion to Division Two of the West Midlands (Regional) League. Promotions in consecutive seasons saw the club into the Premier Division and as champions in 2009/10 they secured promotion to the Midland Alliance.

Three years later Ellesmere were relegated back to the West Midlands where they remained until being transferred laterally to the North West Counties League Division One South at the end of last season – a move that Rangers have struggled to cope with, currently propping up the table with 3 points from 12 games.

Their club nickname is ‘The Meresiders’ referring to The Mere in the centre of Ellesmere (part of Shropshire’s ‘Lake District’), and the club badge depicts a swan to represent an affinity with the large number of these birds and the waterfowl that inhabit the local waterways.

And so as Storm Callum blasts its way through a wild afternoon it's the shortest trip of the season - all 2.3 miles of it to Timpson Road. Past Turkish Grill, formerly owned by a convicted drug smuggler, now on the run, to an eclectic parade of shops featuring, amongst others, Dog Beauty, Marvel Guitars and Cheshire Clocks - quite the bizarre bazaar !!

Then into Timperley Village, left at the Frank Sidebottom statue, beyond Pinwheel Haberdashery and to Brooklands roundabout, which is where this week's car registration plate comes into view. This time it's SO0 6LAD, maybe an omen but definitely more money than sense again......

Ericstan Park is a short way down the road on the right next to Tesco's Baguley superstore, with access via the car park or the cul de sac of Timpson Road round the corner after the new Lidl superstore. The impressive wrought iron gates are wide open and a fiver in leads to the car park where the Ellesmere Rangers minibus is parked up.

Straight in front of me is the well appointed clubhouse and dressing rooms, behind which runs a freight railway line (just the two diesels this afternoon). Across the way is the Billy Moore (Mini) Stand with 32 seats spread across 2 rows which afford some cover from the blustery conditions, and behind is a thick hedge and ex council housing stock.

This side is fenced off half way down next to the dugouts as is the top end which supports trees, undergrowth and a tall fence screening the A560 we arrived on - just one ball today is hit that inaccurately to land on the busy road. So just a 2.5 sided ground this week !

The near side has a similar mini stand, but this time with only 31 seats, as one has gone astray.... Then a single row of blue seats takes us to half way leading to a walkway down to the corner flag. Tree lined again with the Tesco filling station directly adjacent.

And I mustn't forget the floodlights - 6 newly installed floodlights erected on 1 October in readiness for the following night's match with Barnton. A match that was postponed - due to ' floodlight problems' ....

The match kicks off in very blowy conditions, the sun making a brief appearance and thankfully the heavy rain holding off. Wythenshawe are in all blue, Ellesmere in change all yellow with contrasting dugouts - Town's hugely overcrowded, Rangers sparse, naming only 3 substitutes including their manager, Kevin Sandwith. The game is overseen by a very young, very tubby linesman (boy?), a very young, very attractive lineswoman (girl?) and a bald referee, old enough to be the grandfather of both.

The Meresiders elect to play with the wind at their backs and force some early pressure but particularly wayward shooting means they fail to take advantage. Indeed Joseph Imlach's cross cum shot cleared almost on the line is their only notable effort of the half.

Wythenshawe start to fashion opportunities with Liam Crellin-Myers shooting straight at Rangers' stopper Jack Matthews on 11 minutes. A minute later Brad Byrne is clipped from behind in the box, and Grant Spencer slots home the penalty.

The rest of the first period is all about spurned chances for Town. Ben Steer hits the inside of the post from a half cleared corner, and Crellin-Myers and Ste Yarwood are denied by excellent Matthews saves. Byrne also misses, unbelievably, from four yards.

The police are called during the interval, not to investigate whether it's a crime that Wythy are only 1-0 up at the break, but to view some lazy, selfish Chelsea Tractor parking that is blocking emergency vehicle access. Strange this as the club car park is not full and there are plenty of spaces further down the street.....

With the wind to their advantage Wythenshawe open the second half, well, like a whirlwind. Crellin-Myers flicks in Spencer's cross on 50 minutes, Yarwood taps in a rebound three minutes later and within 60 seconds Byrne scores excellently at the near post - 3 goals in 4 minutes !!

Crellin-Myers is thwarted by the save of the match from Matthews just before the hour. Then a flurry of substitutions and Town get sloppy. Rangers come more into the game, and Conor Hughes and Aaron Davies have long range efforts just past the upright - the small group of away fans continually encouraging their players even though the game is lost.

Finally with five minutes to go Steer breaks Wythy's torpor by, err, steering home in the six yard box for 5-0. The Meresiders respond, trickery on the wing from Gerardo Fernandez providing a consolation for Anwar Olugbon. Olugbon then hits the bar and Jake Aldred in the home goal is almost embarrassed by a shot that goes through his legs, only to retrieve it on the goal line, but it remains 5-1 to Wythenshawe at the death.

(Images courtesy of Dylan Photography)