And so to Jericho Lane in the
Otterspool area of Aigburth in Liverpool for a North West Counties Division One
North clash between South Liverpool and Atherton LR. It's one of a handful of
NWCFL games going ahead on FA Vase day - South Liverpool receiving a walkover
as AFC St Helens Town 'weren't accepted into the competition'....
South Liverpool date back
from the 1890s - their first incarnation coming from a club changing its name
from African Royal, moving to the Dingle, and eventually relocating to become
New Brighton AFC. The Rakers were dissolved in 1983, having been Football
League members from 1923 to 1951.
The second coming of The
South came about in 1935 with the club playing at Holly Park in Garston, and
enjoying trophy joy as Lancashire Combination champions in 1937, 1938 and 1939.
The club made 10 applications to join the Football League, all unsuccessful,
but won the Welsh Cup in 1939, beating Cardiff City 2-1....
The Cheshire County League
followed in 1951 and subsequently the club played the first ever match under
'permanent' floodlights against a Nigeria XI (who were reputedly barefoot !) -
a game covered by Kenneth Wolstenholme (until it was all over !) on the BBC,
with a crowd of 13,007.
Then in 1967 Ferenc Puskas
guested for the club in a fundraising friendly, attracting a crowd of 10,000
before South were invited to join the new Northern Premier League a year later.
Jimmy Case and John Aldridge both cut their teeth at Holly Park before moving
onto better things..
South struggled
against wealthier, better supported clubs but in 1983/84 enjoyed their best
post war season as they annexed the NPL League Cup, the Lancashire Challenge
Trophy and the Liverpool Senior Cup. South’s success was not built upon and
whilst two more Liverpool Senior Cup wins followed along with the NPL
Presidents Cup, Holly Park was lost (burnt down) in 1989 and the limited
company was liquidated in 1991. Holly Park was later converted to the
impressive Liverpool South Parkway station.
South supporters had already formed a committee to take over the football club
and in 1992 the phoenix club, a merger with Cheshire Lines FC, joined the
Liverpool County Combination, groundsharing with Bootle rent free in exchange
for Holly Park's floodlights - the clubs separating two years later. A nomadic
existence was then South’s main issue but at the dawn of the Millennium they
secured a home at the North Field, Jericho Lane, Otterspool. The County
Combination joined forces with the I Zingari League in 2006 to form the
Liverpool County Premier League.
South were
consistent top half finishers in the Liverpool Combination / Liverpool County
Premier League and won the George Mahon Cup at Goodison Park in May 2009. In
2011 South took the decision to switch to the West Cheshire League and
immediately won two consecutive divisional titles to move up to the top
division in 2014. The First Division was won in 2015, retained in 2016 when two
cups were added, making it a triple winning season. Further title success was
achieved in 2018.
2019 saw South’s home ground move 200 yards to the Jericho Hub complete with
floodlights, cover and stand. After the cancellation of the 2019/20 season
South stepped up and took the abbreviated league title in 2021, achieving
promotion to the North West Counties League for 2021/22, thirty years after
semi pro status had been lost. South currently sit 7th with 14 points from 9
games.
Atherton Laburnum Rovers FC
was founded in 1956 as Laburnum Rovers, an Under 14s side to play in the
Briarcroft Junior League. 'The Laburnums' were named after the Laburnum Playing
Fields where they first played; it is not clear where their other nickname,
'The Panthers', emanates from.
The club expanded to senior
level, starting in the Leigh & District League, and after moving to Hagfold
Playing Fields, became members of the Bolton Combination in 1961. Ground
facilities prevented promotion so a farmer's field was found at Greendale and,
despite a footpath criss-crossing and duck ponds on either side, a football
pitch was created. The move to the new ground occurred in June 1966, and after
winning the Bolton Combination Division Two, the Laburnums were promoted and
new changing rooms were erected - a major improvement on the old air raid
shelters previously in use !
The Panthers joined the
Cheshire County League in 1980, with the league stipulating the team changed
its name to include that of the town - and Atherton Laburnum Rovers was born.
The ground was renamed Crilly Park in honour of chairman Jack Crilly, who had
died suddenly.
LR were also founder members
of the North West Counties in 1982 and, as champions in 1993 and 1995, were
promoted to the Unibond Northern Premier League, the latter a stay that lasted
three seasons culminating in relegation after financial problems. Thereafter
there was a flurry of managers - 6 in 2 years at one point - and the
intervening years saw two relegations, one promotion and two Bolton Hospital
Cup successes.
2015/16 represented the nadir
for Rovers, finishing next to bottom in the lower division with only 4 wins and
18 points all season – fortunately there was no relegation. 20th and
18th both out of 22 in the last two full campaigns shows
progress has been limited….. although 31 points from 29 games in 2019/20 was
rather better. Only three fixtures were completed last time, and Rovers
currently have 7 points from 8 games.
Past the
Armenian Grill House ( est 2020 - but still to open: 'Coming Soon' ), Buff Nail
& Beauty, with Ronaldo's second coming queues in the opposite direction,
and glorious floral colour at Denzell Gardens sees pockets of drizzle. This in
direct contrast to the previous two days when the weather has not been so much
foul as utterly deranged, the sky gushing like a burst water pipe, with roads
becoming swirling eddies and fields turning into lakes.
Another motorway bonanza - the M56, M6 (still struggling from the fatal crash at The PIES bridge) and the M62 - now fully reopened after 19 pigs escaped onto the carriageway this morning. Beyond the Dream sculpture and Sutton Manor Woods at St Helens, with curious bridge graffiti of 'End Speciesism' and 'Free Julian Assange'. En route are numberplates 4PPY, 111 OB (an ill old boy ?) and a very odd 380 EBO .....
The M62
finishes at junction 4, in a failed attempt to reach Liverpool city centre; left at The
Rocket and a
circuitous (calamitous ??) route takes me via Sefton Park and Penny Lane... But
I reach the outskirts of Aigburth, passing Hair We Are, Grilla - Meat On A Spit
and Pose and Pout, before hitting Jericho Lane and the Community Football &
Fitness Hub.
Opposite is the glorious vista of Otterspool Promenade, looking onto the River Mersey - at the hub plenty of parking, the requirement to obtain a QR code and £5 admission for a match that is tweeted with a crowd of 126, but curiously downgraded to 125 later. Who is that missing man ??
Inside a
small seated stand behind the goal, only three sides open, a walkway and a
covered area opposite the dugouts, and surrounded by small sized pitches.
Another sullen sky spasmodically allowing sunshine greets the game, with South
in white shirts, black shorts and red socks and the Laburnums in yellow and
blue.
South
Liverpool have 'not got out of bed' as Rovers conjure up 4 chances in the first
five minutes - Justeace Holness going close twice. The home side rouse and Alex
Woodcock forces a smart save from away custodian Josep Genestar aka 'Pepe'.
Thereafter it's a half (and match) dominated by bewildering officiating,
seemingly based on guesswork...
Keiron Dale, for the visitors, is injured and leaves the pitch to avoid playing South onside, then walks back on and collapses and is booked. Thereafter South's keeper, Oli Farebrother, strays outside his box, cleans out the onrushing forward and handles the ball - and also, mystifyingly, gets a yellow - the whole ground expecting a red.
'Ref, get a grip' and 'Book the linesman' are two of the more printable comments, as (particularly the away) supporters laugh at some of the decisions made. But with just over five minutes to go before the break Luke Nicholls scuffs home a volley that loops lazily into the far corner and Rovers lead. Woodcock immediately forces a fine save from Pepe, and Stephen Doyle's free kick is marginally wide - but Atherton lead 1-0 at the interval.
The second period is all South, as Paul Bathgate slashes one over the bar (and into the drink !) and then a wayward back pass allows in Owen Hough but his shot is too close to Pepe, who pulls off a brilliant save from the follow up. No matter as on 54 minutes Louis Gorman is impeded at a free kick and a rather debatable penalty is given, which Stephen Doyle smashes into the roof of the net for parity.
The Laburnums, far from wilting, play themselves back into the game and the final half hour is end to end, as both sides look to nick the three points. South are defied by some quality defending and keeping, and a poor final ball too often, whilst Rovers, more on the break, come closer though Travis Boyles - Farebrother pulling off some fine saves. But ultimately it finishes as a 1-1 draw, but an entertaining one at that - complete with comedy officials ☺
