And so to Holt House on a glorious sun drenched spring afternoon for an Evo Stik Northern Premier League Division One North match between Colne FC and Colwyn Bay.
Colne FC's
history begins with The Colne Dynamoes Debacle. The Dynamoes were formed by
chairman manager Graham 'Chalkie' White in 1963 as a team for former students
of Primet High School. Initially the club played in the Nelson and Colne League
and, after promotion through the local leagues, joined the Lancashire
Combination in 1975.
The Dynamoes
were founder members of the North West Counties Football League in 1982,
winning the Third Division at the first attempt. White, having made millions
from his businesses, began to plough money into the club and at the end of the
1987/88 season the club was elevated to the First Division.
In the
following term the Dynamoes won the championship on goal difference from
Rossendale United, and captured the FA Vase beating Emley 1-0 in the Wembley
final. The club was promoted to the First Division of the Northern Premier
League and with further bankrolling from White, including signing former
Liverpool player Alan Kennedy, the Dynamoes won the First Division with only a
single defeat during the season.
In the
summer of 1989 the club went full time, and they won the Premier Division by a
margin of 26 points and reached the FA Trophy semi finals. However the Dynamoes
were refused promotion to the Conference as Holt House did not meet ground
grading requirements. White attempted a ground share with Burnley, reportedly
offering £500,000 to play at Turf Moor, but was turned down.
After a pre
season friendly against Newcastle Blue Star in the summer of 1990, White
informed the players that the club was to fold. He quit football amidst rumours
of death threats and that the money had run out, with Holt House used by the
Colne Royal British Legion club until it too fell by the wayside in 1995.
Colne FC,
'The Reds', was established in January 1996 and joined the North West Counties
Football League Division Two, finishing bottom of the league. After several
lower half finishes the Reds won the division in the 2003/04 season, earning
promotion to the top division and reaching the FA Vase semi finals, along the
way winning 2-1 at AFC Wimbledon. Last season Colne were crowned Premier
Division champions, leading to a first season in Division One North of the
Northern Premier League.
The
visitors from Llanelian Road are Clwb Pel-Droed Bae Colwyn, or Colwyn Bay
Football Club to you and me. The Seagulls from Old Colwyn were first formed in
1881 and entered the North Wales Coast Football League in 1901 until it folded
in 1921, when they moved across to join the Welsh National League. The club
then became founder members in 1930 of the North Wales Football Combination
(which also covered Cheshire !!) which they immediately won and moved up to
join the Birmingham District League....
The
Seagulls returned to Welsh football in 1937 in the form of the Welsh League
(North) because of travelling difficulties and stayed there until 1984 when
after two successive championships they joined the North West Counties Football
League. This coincided with a move from Eirias Park to the current Llanelian
Road base.
In 1991 the
club was promoted to the Northern Premier League and then won the First
Division in 1992. However the Football Association of Wales banned Welsh based
teams from playing in English non-league, and the Bay were exiled to Northwich
and then Ellesmere Port, before winning a High Court case in 1995 and returning
home.
After
relegation in 2003, and a brief sojourn in the Southern (!) section of the
Northern Premier League Division 1, the Seagulls won the play off final in
2010. They beat Lancaster City, who finished 21 points above them, at the Giant
Axe with an 88th minute penalty, delayed for a minute whilst the penalty spot
was swept clear of standing water. Back to back promotions up to the Conference
North were achieved with a 1-0 play off final victory over FC United of
Manchester in 2011.
The last
two seasons have seen consecutive relegations. The first from the Conference
North in 2015 on goal difference, with the Bay's form disappearing after the
resignation of player/manager Frank Sinclair in January. The second, last year,
an abject surrender involving two sacked managers and 58 players. This term has
been one of underwhelming non-achievement too with the pre season promotion
favourites languishing in mid table mediocrity and another managerial change -
Phil Hadland, a teacher at Lymm High School, now at the helm.
Blue skies
and warm sunshine greets me as I pass the bizarre bazaar of shops on potholed
Washway Road - to name a few : Skullfades Barbershop, Tan n Tonic, Felicity Hat
Hire and the truly execrable T & T Pound Zone. Any shop with a printed sign
telling us that it sells 'ELCTRICAL, TOILETORIES, STATIONARY' is surely one to
avoid.....
To the
seemingly never ending work on the Smart Motorway, with February's toll 29
vehicles that ran out of fuel. An abundance of kamikaze white van men, and then
the M66, the hills blighted by wind turbines before hitting Baxenden, 'The Home
of Accrington Pals'. Onto the M65 next to the sign for Shuttlewoof Hall and off
at its end into Colne, home of the bottleneck and that queue......
Along
Vivary Way then up the hill on Harrison Drive brings me to the Holt House
complex, 4 football and 2 rugby pitches, a pavilion, Ruck and Roll Cafe (sic),
and Colne & Nelson RFC on one side of the car park, Colne FC on the other.
Inside the
ground at one end is The Nigel Coates Stand, a four step covered concrete
terrace named in honour of the Reds' manager from 2003 to 2013. It's also the
home of the Red Army, Colne FC's ultras and their flags 'Pride of the North',
who provide vociferous support throughout the game - and chant about an improbable
rise up to the Football League.
In the
corner is a refreshment hut, behind which sheep are grazing in the fields, then
down the popular side is a small covered area with the rest and the far end
being open - both providing lovely views with the backdrop of Colne in the
valley beneath the countryside and hills. The far side hosts the main
grandstand, clubhouse, The Alma Inn Vice Presidents Lounge and changing rooms.
But the
most striking feature at Holt House is the pitch which runs away with itself -
a steep slope down from the Nigel Coates Stand and another diagonally down from
the refreshment bar. Little wonder there are no spectators at the far end
trying to watch the match - with all that going on, a dizzying experience !!
And so to a
match sponsored by a new born baby (yes really !!), a tattooed linesman and a
very rotund Seagulls' assistant manager, Dave Hughes. Colne are in red shirts
and black shorts, Colwyn Bay in change yellow and pale blue.
Early on a
miscue by Seagulls' Luke Denson ricochets off Colne's centre forward Oliver
Wood and Bay's keeper Kieran Wolland has to palm the ball over his bar. Shortly
after Seagulls' Danny Andrews is allowed to advance and advance without
challenge and he then plays in Danny Bartle whose mishit shot is enough to beat
Reds' custodian Greg Hartley.
Colne's
captain, Simon Nangle, launches himself into a truly atrocious two footed lunge
that earns him a yellow card but warrants a red - the first in a long line of
shocking officiating decisions. He is substituted on the half hour just after
Hartley has beaten away a stinging drive from Bartle, played in by Jamie
Rainford.
A free
header by Wood from a long throw in that drifts wide is Colne's best chance,
whilst in first half injury time Bartle sets up Rainford and his shot is
splendidly tipped past the post by Hartley - but the Seagulls deservedly lead
at the break.
Within 90
seconds of the restart the Reds are level. Adam Morning makes best use of a
little space to arrow in, with his left foot, a 25 yard shot that Wolland gets
two hands to but can only divert into the corner of the net. Bay are struggling
against the slope(s) and it is now Colne in the ascendancy.
Midway
through the half Morning picks up the ball on the right wing and with no
challenge moves inside beyond three defenders before striking the ball low into
the corner to put Colne ahead. Infamous sub Jason Hart (sacked by his previous
club Clitheroe for shenanigans in a dugout at Mossley after a match) nearly
makes it three but Wolland saves well; Rainford fires wildly wide inside the
penalty box just before the death with the Seagulls' best chance of the half.
2-1 at the
finish for the home side, which sees Colne move into the play offs zone - but
the real winner was the slopes J
