And so to Wellbeing Park, formerly known as the Springbank Stadium and the Flip Out Arena (!!), in the village of Yarnfield, the home of Stone Dominoes FC for their North West Counties League Division One South clash with Cammell Laird 1907 AFC.
The home club was founded in 1987 at St
Dominic’s Catholic Church, Scout, Cub, Beaver Group in Stone with a team of 8 year
olds by then Chairman Bob Bowers for his youngest son, Daniel, and friends. The
club name was chosen by the boys; therefore Stone St Dominic’s became Stone
Dominoes FC.
After initially focusing on youth football
the club entered a first team in open age Saturday football in 1995 in the
Second Division of the Midland League. Three years later promotion was secured
to the top division, and Doms were crowned Midland League champions in 2000
with a 14 point winning margin.
Thus began the club’s first foray into the
North West Counties Football League. Starting out in Division Two the Dominoes
moved up to the First Division in 2003, before being relegated four years later
and it was at this time that the club signed TV star Ralf Little of The Royle
Family as a player. 2009/10 saw the club win the Second Division but after
three troubled years in the First Division Dominoes resigned from the league.
The club was reformed in 2015 and joined the
Staffordshire County Senior League Division One, finishing runners up in their
second season. After a single campaign in the Premier Division, and an 11th
place finish out of 16, Dominoes successfully applied to join the restructured
North West Counties League and were assigned a place in Division One South.
The Camels' history dates back to 1899 when a
team from the Upper Boilers shop at Laird Bros played in Birkenhead Park,
before switching to rugby. Cammell Laird Institute AFC was established in 1907,
playing in the West Cheshire League at Prenton Park, Tranmere.
After World War I the Cammell Laird company
faced cutbacks due to reduced government spending on ships and the football
team was taken back in house. In 1922 a team was entered into the Birkenhead
& Wirral League under the name of Kirklands FC coinciding with the move to
the current ground from their two previous homes - Birkenhead Park and
Bebington Oval.
The side was disbanded at the outbreak of
World War II and reformed in 1946 as Cammell Laird AFC. The Lairds rejoined the
Birkenhead & Wirral League before moving up to the West Cheshire League,
where they were 19 time champions, including 15 titles in 20 seasons between
1975 and 1994.
The Shipyarders joined the North West
Counties in 2004 and back to back promotions took them to the Northern Premier
League Division One North. A sideways move to Division One South a season later
brought promotion to the Premier Division as runners up, but the Camels were
relegated at the end of their first campaign after failing ground grading criteria.
The club disbanded at the end of the 2013/14
season, and a new club, Cammell Laird 1907 FC, went into the North West
Counties Division One, earning automatic promotion at the first attempt.
However the 2016/17 season produced only three league wins, all after
relegation was confirmed, and a bottom placing with a goal difference of
-100...... Last term saw the Camels beaten in the play off final by Whitchurch
Alport.
So as the
rain begins to spit on a cold, grey afternoon it's past the sagging roof at the
abandoned Wheatsheaf and beyond the 1839 stocks in the Old Market Place to the
new A556 and then the M6.
The Pies
graffiti has been replaced by 'SICA DIE' on the overhead bridge as the rain
begins to teem down. The sign 'Jn 17 5.2 miles travel time 22 mins' is
testament to the efficacy of the smart motorway work currently not being done
this afternoon...mind you the opposite carriageway resembles a car park.
Today's car registration is A 8UG V, fittingly on a Volkswagen Beetle.
Eventually
off at junction 15 and I join the A34, passing Trentham Active Monkey Forest
and reaching Tittensor, where Blanc is a very odd name for an Indian restaurant
!! Turning at the Darlaston Inn at Meaford takes me through Swynnerton, granted
its royal charter in 1306 by Edward I, and the magnificent Swynnerton Hall.
Then the village of Cold Meece before I reach Yarnfield with its Labour In Vain
pub.
Wellbeing Park and the football complex are the other side of the village and, as promised, plenty of parking (just wait till I get to the crowd !). I walk through Vinny's Gates to find four giant dominoes which when the dots are added up spell out 1987. Next to these are a clubhouse and two football pitches, with a match in progress. Beyond are further full and mini pitches.
A sign
points me to the sole turnstile and a fiver in brings me to a pitch that seems
to have been hewn out of the earth. Both ends are screened by banking covered
in green vegetation and the opposite side has a grassed banking side with the
M6 behind. The main railway line runs past the far end - Cross Country and
suburban trains only today. The near side is fully covered, terracing at either
end and two rows of seats in the middle. Confusingly the roof is adorned with
'Welcome to the Mway Stadium'.
Stone are in
red and black, and naturally their shirt sponsor is Domino's, the Camels in
blue and white, and the referee in dreadlocks.
The rain has
abated for now but the wet pitch makes for much slipping and sliding. A non
descript opening gives way to a succession of Lairds' corners which Stone have
no idea how to defend. On the quarter hour Ryan Burke's centre from the right
gives Ste Rothwell a free header at the near post to put the Camels in front.
The next corner from the left and Adam Rooney with another free header hits the
bar, before three minutes later, another corner, yes you've guessed it another
free header, and this time Rooney scores.
Doms are
clueless and it's a surprise they only go in two down at half time. They
improve marginally after the break but, despite the promptings of Brandon Rock,
lack the quality or creativity to threaten the scoreline.
Indeed it's
a second half more notable for the Camels' profligacy with Rothwell and Andy
Scarisbrick shooting well wide instead of finding each other. Lairds have three
penalty shouts turned down, the last of which proves controversial.
Scarisbrick
is sent through one on one, a heavy touch and he just dinks it past the keeper
before being caught. The linesman flags, the referee waves it away then they
consult after the ball goes dead. Scarisbrick is booked for simulation to the
bewilderment of the crowd - ah yes the 'crowd' which is 21, and the first time
I've paid to go to a match where the players outnumbered the supporters..... It
finishes 2-0 to the Camels.
