And so to Shropshire’s ‘Lake District’ and the historic market town of Ellesmere, nestling in the North West corner of the county. Today’s action is an FA Vase First Qualifying Round tie between Ellesmere Rangers and Birstall United.
The home club 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 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.
Their club nickname
is ‘The Meresiders’ referring to The Mere in the centre of Ellesmere, 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.
Birstall United FC
was established in 1961, playing Sunday League football in the Leicester &
District League. After winning three championships Birstall switched to
Saturday football and Division Five of the Leicester Mutual League.
BU rose quickly to
the top tier and following a third Division One title in 1975/76 took their place
in the Leicestershire Senior League Division Two. United won the title in their
first season and stayed in Division One, latterly the Premier Division, for 39
years before being crowned champions in 2016.
This saw the club
promoted to the East Midlands Counties League where they resided for two
campaigns, with BU transferred to Division One of the United Counties League in
the close season.
So on a glorious
September Saturday afternoon it's past Totty Towers, a hand written sign
pointing to Katy and George's Wedding in Bowdon and down to the M56. The
motorway is clogged with caravans and police cars dealing with a smash on the
opposite side, the car pointing in the wrong direction.
Wind turbines and
Stanlow oil refinery softly belching out fumes, then the M53 and into Wales,
and an old red London bus displaying 138 Streatham. This week's weird car
registration plate, spotted on a Range Rover, is SO05 AGE......
Then Cinders Fancy
Chicks and The Cross Foxes, both in Erbistock, and another hand written sign '25th
Party' in Knolton. Back into England and Shropshire at The Trotting Mare before
I reach Ellesmere and a detour to see The Mere on a perfect day for boating.
Through the pretty
market town and Beech Grove is on the road out to Oswestry; fortunately there
are two signs directing me to Ellesmere Rangers FC, but I still miss it on the
first drive through. That's because the ground is smack bang in the middle of a
housing estate via a ginnel barely wide enough for a car, and far too narrow
for the Birstall team coach which is parked on a side street.
A fiver in, straight
to a smart clubhouse, deck chairs outside for drinkers to lap up the sun. Three
sides of the ground are surrounded by hedges and housing, the other playing
fields and then farmland.
The near side supports a 93 seat covered stand, a real sun trap today. The rest
of the stadium has a single railing and walkway around the pitch. There are
several shipping containers dotted around the periphery of the pitch, a roller
and, in the corner, two abandoned dugouts....
The Meresiders are in
sky blue shirts and navy shorts and socks, BU in red with white flashing and
grey trim. The first half is scrappy and littered with free kicks and lost
balls, and ends up being the tale of two volleys. Rangers' Anwar Olugbon sends
in a great cross and the cushioned volley that meets it skims the bar. Shortly
after a headed clearance at the other end leads to BU's James Pearce volleying
the falling ball into the bottom left corner to give United the lead on the
half hour.
The second half can
only be an improvement and so it proves. Birstall sub Josh Clarke drifts in
from the right touch line, beats four men and shoots with his left foot low
past the keeper for BU to double their lead on 50 minutes.
Eight minutes later
Ethan Bibby launches one from 25 yards and it sails into the top corner for a
wonder goal, and the tie is over. Ellesmere are wretched, epitomized by
Olugbon's shot from the corner of the six yard box that is so wildly shanked it
runs out of play closer to the half way line than the goal !! His team mate
Patrick Udoh loses the plot and threatens to start shooting the opposition, and
not in a footballing sense.....
Ryan Rowley wraps
things up with six minutes to go from a fabulous team move, latching onto a
series of one twos and steering the ball home. The underemployed BU stopper,
Brad Jones, finally makes a save in injury time clawing away an Olugbon shot,
after dropping the ball at a corner.
4-0 at the finish to
Birstall, and much joy amongst the travelling support in a crowd of 63 - that
four hour round trip was worth it !!
