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 7th 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)
