When Skies Are Navy Blue....

And so, at the fourth time of asking (waterlogged and frozen pitches and then structural damage caused by Storm Angus), it's a trip to the wonderfully named Cowtoot Lane in Bacup. There stands the Brian Boys West View Stadium, the home of Bacup Borough and the venue for today's North West Counties fixture against Carlisle City.

Bacup Borough began life as Bacup Baldies (!) in 1879 before changing to Bacup then Bacup Borough in 1920. At the start of the 2013/14 campaign they became Bacup & Rossendale Borough, following the sad demise of Rossendale United FC. BARB only lasted two seasons though and the start of last season saw a reversion to Bacup Borough - not through supporter pressure but because 'evil spirits didn't approve' (I kid you not !!).

 

The Borough moved to their current ground, West View, now sponsored by local property developer Brian Boys, in 1889 and joined the Lancashire League in 1893. A move up to the Lancashire Combination in 1903 followed and the club was crowned champions in 1947.

 

Following the amalgamation of the Cheshire League and the Lancashire Combination, the club became founder members of the North West Counties in 1982. In September 1997 and after a 0-10 reverse against Tetley Walker, Brent Peters was appointed manager.... and is still in charge for this afternoon's game.

 

The club were promoted as Division Two champions in 2004 but, despite the BARB club motto of 'Prosperity Through Endeavour', was relegated at the end of the 2014/15 season - those disapproving evil spirits presumably......... Borough just failed to bounce straight back, losing the play off final in extra time at Barnton last May.

Carlisle City FC was formed in 1975 by two former Carlisle United players, George Walker and Ron Thompson, 'to give local lads somewhere to play'. The Sky Blues joined the Northern Alliance and were runners up three times before finishing bottom of the league in 1987, and dropping into  the Northern Combination. At the end of the following season, the Northern Combination merged with the Northern Alliance and City became founder members of the new Division One.

 

As champions in 1992, the club was promoted to the Premier Division where they were runners up on five occasions. Having finished third last season their application to join the North West Counties Football League was successful. This was not least because they had taken over the lease at Gillford Park in the city in 2015 from Celtic Nation FC. (Yes that Celtic Nation - millionaire throws money at the club to buy promotion, club finish second, millionaire withdraws support, club goes bust: all in two years)

Onto Washway Road, past Cinders Fireplaces, Red Hot Lips, Maidments - and their ludicrous Serious Crime Solicitors strapline - and Garveys still with their Christmas karaoke..... Then the M60 'smart' motorway, with just the 30 vehicles running out of fuel in December, and Sale Sharks traffic snarling up Barton Bridge and the Trafford Centre.

 

Off at the M66 with the hills shrouded in low grey cloud, blotting out the wind turbines before I reach Rawtenstall, the terminus of the East Lancashire Railway, and home to several mills and even more shoe factory shops.

 

Into Waterfoot, where appropriately it begins to drizzle, and naturally there is a Waterfoot Aquatics - but also The Raven's Nest, a tattoo parlour. Beyond Stacksteads and then to Bacup, up Cooper Street, its steep gradient surely making it a candidate for Heart Attack Hill, which brings me to Cowtoot Lane.

 

West View is, to put it mildly, a ramshackle stadium. Two sides are completely fenced off presumably due to safety reasons - the covered far end behind the goal and the stand opposite where a dry stone wall separates the ground from the farmland and hills. A picturesque view on a glorious sunny day but alas today is grey, bleak and unremittingly cold.....

 

On the popular side is the main stand, which apparently was doing a Mexican Wave during Storm Angus - possibly why only three people take their seats.....The near end supports the Martin Peters Sports Bar, 'The place to be seen', and five portakabins in varying states of decay. There is also a noticeable slope across the pitch, coming down from the hills.

 

Borough are in black and white, and the Sky Blues (sponsored by House of Vodka), inexplicably, in change navy blue... and with no number 4, but 14 instead. The first half hour, on a pudding of a pitch, produces much slipping and sliding with the mud the only winner, and 100mph football combining wayward passing and aimless hoofing. Sky Blues' winger Ryan Errington has two long range efforts and a goal ruled out for offside, whilst Borough's Anthony Hall shoots weakly and has a tame header saved.

 

Then on 32 minutes Borough's keeper Aaron Ashley flails at a cross and City's number 14, Michael Slack, drives the ball across him into the far corner. Three minutes later Jamie Heath's free kick eludes everyone to nestle in the opposite corner and the Sky Blues lead 2-0 at the break.

 

Half time brings us news, via the tubby linesman, that the referee's wife has locked herself out of the house, and will have to make a detour to the dressing room to pick up his key... And an answer as to why City have no number 4 - a fortnight ago Mark Graham broke his tibia and fibula at Widnes, and the shirt is yet to be retrieved from Whiston Hospital.

 

The half time rollicking from Brent Peters has no effect, as within seven minutes the Sky Blues conjure up a wonderful team goal, ending with Brad Hayton slotting past Ashley. A flurry of substitutions follow, with City content to hold on to what they have, and Bacup unable to create any real opportunities.

 

Twelve minutes from the end Borough get a lifeline. Hall's free kick from just outside the penalty box is fumbled by Carlisle keeper Adam Coward and centre forward Adrian Bellamy smashes home the rebound. But that's it for the home team as Steven Cassidy's delicate cross drifts just wide of the post and then Alexander Nwachukusa's free header is planted over as the Sky Blues emerge as 3-1 victors.

West Undermined By Atherton Collieries !

 And so to Alder House, or the Kensite Stadium as it has now been branded, for a North West Counties Premier League fixture between Atherton Collieries and West Didsbury & Chorlton.

'Colls' was established in 1916 by miners from the six pits in the Atherton Urban District with the aim of raising money for locals involved in the war effort. After the end of World War 1 the club joined the Bolton Combination, which they won 10 times up to 1965 along with a record 6 Lancashire FA Amateur Shield successes.

Brief forays into the Lancashire Alliance and Manchester League ended with a return to the Lancashire Combination in 1971 and then a move to the Cheshire County League in 1978. The two leagues merged in 1982 to form the North West Counties Football League, with Colls founder members of Division 3.

The club was promoted as champions in 1987 and then to Division 1 as runners up in 1996. Following relegation in 2009 the Colls regained their position in the top flight as champions in the 2014/15 season.

In this, their centenary season, the club has adopted a season only centenary badge but continues to play at Alder House, their home from inception. There have been two major changes to the ground though - the pitch has been rotated 90° at some point and the main stand was demolished in 2007, a stand formerly described as 'leaning forward as if in prayer for its continued survival'......

West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC, the visitors from Brookburn Road, was formed in 1908 in West Didsbury as Christ Church AFC by a local Sunday School superintendent - a team formed out of the Boys Brigade Company and the Young Men's Bible Class. The side played in the Manchester Alliance League up to the outbreak of World War 1.

The team changed its name to West Didsbury AFC at the start of the 1920/21 season, entering the Lancashire & Cheshire League. The 'Bury won the Rhodes Cup, twice, and the Whitehead Cup, but never the league.

In 2003 the club changed to West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC, and moved across to the Manchester League in 2006, with their 2012/13 application to join the North West Counties being accepted. In their first season 'West' finished third and were promoted to the Premier, as now defunct title winners Formby AFC failed ground grading criteria.

The club enjoys celebrity support, including local indie rock band Dutch Uncles who launched their album O Shudder at a game in 2014 (no, never heard of them !!). They also form part of the club's Krombacher Ultras, named after the lager sold in the clubhouse.... And popularity is rising with a season's league record crowd of 674 for the South Manchester Derby against Maine Road on 27 December.

Some familiar sights en route - Sunsation Tanning Centre, The Flamin' Chicken, Hairport, Honeyblossom Bridal and Garveys, still advertising Christmas karaoke on 23rd December. Inevitably queues for the Trafford Centre on Barton Bridge and then off the M60 at Worsley and into Boothstown, where the road is awash with polystyrene.

Past Mosley Common Pit Wheel, and then through Tyldesley and Skenning Bobs, a pub named after an old landlord with a profound squint ! Beyond Cranky's Off Licence (under new management !) and to the outskirts of Atherton, with the ground on Alder Street, next to Formby Hall, and Alder House Cat Hotel (yes a hotel for cats !!) at the end of the road.

Alder House has an outdated and dilapidated charm to it, from the three raised park benches underneath mature trees at one end, to the changing rooms with their concertina players tunnel (complete with Fly Emirates sponsorship) and the hut grandly entitled 'The Jimmy Fielding Suite'. A cargo container serves as the refreshment bar next to a very welcoming clubhouse.

There are two stands, a smaller one with covered terrace extension in the far corner, and in the near corner a larger stand by the ground entrance. This main stand is old and made from railway sleepers, but with slightly newer, albeit faded, seats. Next door is a six step crumbling terrace spanning the two dug outs.

West, managed by Steve 'Man and Boy' Settle, have brought decent support - their three flags matching the home team and their 'Original Crazy Gang'. Colls are in traditional black and white, their keeper in salmon, with 'Pride of Atherton' emblazoned on their backs. West are in change light blue and their keeper in all purple.

It's a raw afternoon as Colls attack down a prodigious slope towards the 'Shallow End' - it's a slope that proves too much for the linesman who takes a tumble to the crowd's delight !! The first half hour owes less to craft and guile and more to graft and bile as the two sides cancel each other out.

Aimless is the word on the terraces, sloppy from the Colls bench as West shade it. West's left back, Richmond Botchey, has a marauding run and shot which brings a sprawling save from Colls' keeper Adam Reid. A further well constructed West move sees Joe Shaw lift his shot over the bar. Colls' first real effort results in Liam Wood hitting the post.

Four minutes from the break, and with Colls struggling to clear the ball, West's Martyn Andrews deftly chips the ball goalwards and the salmon jerseyed Reid makes a real mess of it, failing to, er, leap like a salmon, and palms the ball in. Parity is restored a minute before half time as Colls' left back, Gaz Peet, hits a venomous free kick into the bottom left corner.

The second half is an altogether different affair. It's as if Colls prefer to play up the hill as Neil Chappell strikes the top of the bar, and then Ben Hardcastle strokes the ball wide when it seemed easier to score. Midway through substitute Jordan Cover outmuscles his man and strikes the ball across West keeper Dean Williams - and the home side lead.

With ten minutes to go and after sustained West pressure, producing a deflected Andrews' shot that goes agonisingly wide and a succession of corners, the ball breaks for sub Dave Sherlock. West are short at the back and his 50 yard ball finds Cover, who tees up the third sub, Henoc Mukendi. His shot is cleared off the line but Sherlock, following up, rams the ball home. Game over as Colls win their eighth straight game and go joint top.

Leon Is The King of Chaddy

And so on a breezy Boxing Day a visit to the ARK Fleetech stadium on Andrew Street for the North West Counties clash between Chadderton FC and Sandbach United.

Chadderton FC, 'Chaddy', was formed in 1947 as Millbrow FC, then became North Chadderton Amateurs and finally Chadderton in 1957. Initially competing in the Oldham Amateur League, the club then progressed through the Manchester Amateur League and on to the Manchester League in 1963.

A step up to the Lancashire Combination followed and, after finishing runners up in 1982, they became founder members of the North West Counties, created by the merger of the Lancashire Combination and Cheshire County League. Promotion in 1990 was swiftly met with relegation the season after, but the club lasted longer at the higher level after gaining promotion in 1993 - until being forcibly demoted in 1999 due to ground grading issues.

In 2007 Chaddy was taken over by Craig Halliwell and Tony Bhatti of HB Property Group, but within two years ties had been severed; the club becoming a members' club run by the people for the people. The play offs were reached last year, but the team remains best known for two of its ex-players - England international David Platt and Mark Owen from Take That.

Sandbach United was established in 2004 when Sandbach Albion and Sandbach Ramblers joined forces in their quest to improve football facilities in Sandbach. The club badge reflects the union, featuring R and A in its design.

Sandbach Albion, formerly known as Hays Junior FC, was founded in 1994. Sandbach Ramblers Youth Football Club was reformed in 1995 to provide access for schoolboy football for the youth of Sandbach and the surrounding area.

United originally competed in the Staffordshire County Senior League, before moving to the Cheshire League in 2011 where they were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014. The club was accepted into the North West Counties this summer and, whilst initially looking for a season of consolidation, currently lie sixth in the play off places.

And so to Timperley Met, and an (almost) fit for purpose Metrostink service with the tram full of bleary eyed Man United fans, seemingly wanting to discuss George Michael's death..... Past Old Trafford and into the city centre where I walk the Second City Crossing which is littered with beggars.

Then onto the Rochdale line, 'The Line of Violence', at Exchange Square and beyond the National Football Museum the conversations turn to hard drug use. It's a bleak line with abandoned mills on both sides of the track; I alight at Westwood for a walk down the hill, crossing from Oldham back into Manchester, into the teeth of a biting wind.

The Humdinger pub is no humdinger as it is closed and looking for tenants or to be sold, before I reach Fish World and a male jogger in pale pink socks and shocking pink running shoes.... Andrew Street is across the way, and the ARK Fleetech Stadium is hemmed in amidst a warren of terraced house side streets.

Inside immediately to my left is the tea bar with the main bar upstairs. This end and the popular side are tree lined, with the latter providing the only cover (but not from this wind !!) and a middle section with three broad steps for seating and backed by Broadway - the Oldham version !!

The far end is open with a small hillock and waste ground, whilst the near side hosts a very boggy car park - and several spectators do not even venture from the warmth of their vehicles for the entire 90 minutes... The dug outs are on this side too along with a waste receptacle that tells us shoutily 'DO NOT PUT DOG CRAP IN THIS BIN'. On the pitch the goalposts are still being erected....

Chaddy are in all red, United in change white with one blue stripe and their goalkeeper in pink - but I don't think he was the aforementioned jogger ! A pale sun provides no warmth and there really is no respite from the icy wind. 51 goals in Chaddy's 11 home league games so far this season - so a guaranteed goalless draw then ?

Immediately it is obvious that Chaddy are more up for the fight and their front two of Leon Iluobi and James Curley are a handful all afternoon. However they manage to make a complete hash of a two on one, caused by dreadful Sandbach defending, and then have three valid penalty claims rejected.

United seem disjointed and rarely threaten, although Josh Lane pinches the ball from the last man and greedily shoots wide when a pass to unmarked centre forward Danny Bartle would surely have seen him score.

After Sam Gibson shoots just wide for Chaddy, the home side get the goal they deserve on 26 minutes. Wingman Luke Heron beats his man, runs to the dead ball line and crosses for Iluobi to slam home from five yards. Iluobi is then denied by a magnificent last ditch challenge from United captain Bradley Cooper (awaiting his next film role one assumes). At the other end Bartle gets it all wrong with his left foot when a header was the better option, and Chaddy lead one nil at the break.

The second half sees more of the same, Curley shoots straight at the keeper, Chaddy have two goals disallowed - one for a push on the keeper at a corner, the other for a tight offside - and hit the underside of the bar.

Sandbach are frustrated and frustrating to watch, and create only one significant opportunity but Bartle's twenty yard strike is handily parried wide. Still the second goal won't come for the home side but, as we edge into injury time, Gibson beats three men on the left, shoots beyond the keeper - and strikes the post... Iluobi's first half goal proves to be enough :-) 

Rock On - Druids Avoid Becoming Major Twits

And so to The Rock for a Welsh Cup 3rd Round match between Cefn Druids AFC and the visitors from the coast of the Vale of Glamorgan, Llantwit Major FC. It's a cup tie postponed for a week due to international call ups - Cefn Druids contributing three players to last weekend's Home Nations Futsal tournament !!

Cefn Druids, 'The Ancients', is the oldest football club in Wales. In 1872 Plasmadoc FC, founded three years earlier, became Druids (ancient mystic men of Celtic civilisation) when the various colliery and quarry teams around Ruabon and Cefn Mawr were brought together under one banner.

In 1876 the Druids entered the FA Cup - the first Welsh club to do so - and in 1877 contested the very first Welsh Cup game. The club won the Welsh Cup in three consecutive seasons between 1880 and 1882, and have won the competition 8 times in all.

The Ancients joined the first Welsh league in 1890, and in 1920 merged, first with Rhosymedre to be called Rhosymedre Druids, and then with Acrefair United in 1923 to become Druids United. Enthusiasm had waned by the 1980s as the Druids were being outstripped by local rivals Cefn Albion (established in 1967). Another merger in 1992 between these two clubs saw Cefn Druids AFC born, playing at Plaskynaston and adopting the white and black colours of the original Plasmadoc.

The club was rebranded as Flexsys Cefn Druids in 1998 and that season saw them crowned as champions of the Cymru Alliance earning promotion to the League of Wales. Subsequent sponsorship deals saw the club renamed NEWI Cefn Druids, after the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, and then Elements Cefn Druids before reverting back to Cefn Druids in 2010.

The Ancients dropped down to the Cymru Alliance as the new 12 team Welsh Premier League was born in 2010 and moved from Plaskynaston, showing its age and now a supermarket, to The Rock. In 2012 the club were Welsh Cup runners up, reaching the final for the first time in 108 years, which brought a brief foray into Europa League football.

In 2014 Druids were promoted to the Welsh Premier League but lasted only one season before being relegated. Last season's Cymru Alliance champions Caernarfon Town were deprived of a Welsh Premier League license, as they officially did not exist as a legal entity having failed to file accounts in August 2015. In the ensuing fiasco runners up Cefn were promoted back to the Welsh Premier League.

The Druids recently made headline news when it became known the club had failed to sell a single season ticket, not helped by having to play home games for the first two months of the season at The New Saints' ground whilst their new 3G pitch was laid. Season ticket sales have 'surged' since the announcement....

Llantwit Major FC, 'The Major', was formed in 1962. A selection committee picked the team until the club joined the South Wales Amateur League in 1971. The 1980s saw three league titles and three Corinthian Cup successes but thereafter fortunes were mixed.

The visitors from the Windmill Ground were promoted to the Welsh Football League Division Three, three tiers below Druids, for the start of the 2012/13 season. They currently sit 4th (out of 16), and progress in the Cup has come with victory over Sully Sports and a giantkilling - beating Llandrindod Wells of the Cymru Alliance, two divisions above.

And so on a grey mild December afternoon Christmas shopping creates snaking lines of traffic, woeful driving and, naturally, roadworks.... Onto the M56, past the Stretton Fox, then a softly belching Stanlow before crossing the Welsh border and bypassing the floodlights of the Racecourse at Wrexham.

Left at the Ruabon Wheel and then past a caravan dealers, which appears to have sprung up amidst a forlorn and crumbling church. Right into High Street and then into Rock Road, where the Ancients' home is just beyond Rhosymedre Methodist Church, and where the road is currently blocked by two fire engines.

The Rock is reached either by a footpath up the hill or, further up, the car park off Rock Road. The stadium has literally been hewn out of the rock, with houses perched atop the precipice and looking down onto the pitch. At one end is the car park, club shop and Druids Social Club - this end also hosts, strangely, a Welsh flag with Aston Villa printed on it.....

The popular side supports a refreshment bar and a very tidy main covered all seated stand with the black and white seats patterned to spell out CDFC. At the far end is a solitary steward with his pedal cycle, behind which are fields where an onlooker has precariously perched himself on top of some rocks for a free view. Across the way is the sheer rock face in front of which is a tarmac walkway and brick built dugouts bisected by a two tier open press box/ photographers platform.

After a minute's silence in honour of Chapocoense and Druids' player Adam Eden's father who passed away this week, we are underway with the Ancients in black and white, and the Major in change all red. The Llantwit Major contingent, with a 300 mile round trip, occupy the front row of the main stand for 'their cup final'.

The underdogs are not overawed and shape the better early chances. Robert Jones is just wide from a free kick, and Glyndwr Davies heads the resulting corner over when he should have done better. Druids have plenty of the ball but struggle to create openings; Jordan Harper charges down Jack Lansdown's clearance but the ball runs wide, and Fisnik Hajdari's long range effort sails over.

Half time sees the game goalless and with little indication of a three league gulf between the two sides. Much merriment at the break too that Bala's game at Airbus was postponed shortly before kick off due to a 'hazardous floodlight', and much berating of the referee by Llantwit fans 'because he's from North Wales'.

The second half is far more open as the Druids, no doubt following a half time haranguing, begin more positively and are helped by an early goal. Harper is felled in the area and Mike Pritchard squeezes the penalty inside Lansdown's right hand post. Six minutes later the ball falls to Corey Roper whose shot seems to be going wide until it is deflected by a Llantwit leg inside the near post to make it 2-0 to the Ancients.

The play becomes end to end with the Druids looking the likelier to add to their advantage - Steve Blenkinsop skying over from a parried shot. But there is no further score and, as the rain sheets down, the Major are denied a consolation as sub Luke Cox sees his shot saved by the onrushing Michael Jones in injury time - in truth the first save Jones has had to make….

Fog On The Line - Villagers Lost In The Mists Of Time...

And so to Hind Heath Road and the Sandbach Community Football Centre, for a clash between two newcomers this season to the North West Counties - Sandbach United and Charnock Richard. The M6 Motorway Services Derby anyone ?? !!

Sandbach United was established in 2004 when Sandbach Albion and Sandbach Ramblers joined forces in their quest to improve football facilities in Sandbach. The club badge reflects the union, featuring R and A in its design.

Sandbach Albion, formerly known as Hays Junior FC, was founded in 1994. Sandbach Ramblers Youth Football Club was reformed in 1995 to provide access for schoolboy football for the youth of Sandbach and the surrounding area.

United originally competed in the Staffordshire County Senior League, before moving to the Cheshire League in 2011 where they were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014. The club was accepted into the North West Counties this summer and, whilst initially looking for a season of consolidation, currently lie sixth in the play off places.

The visitors hail from Mossie Park, and a village more renowned for its motorway service station than its football team - Charnock Richard.

In 1933 the Chorley Sunday League became the Chorley Alliance League and a Charnock Richard village team was entered, competing until the outbreak of the Second World War. The club was reformed at the end of the War, winning the league title in 1947/48 but then ran into difficulties and closed down at the end of the following season.

The present club was reborn in 1955, playing in the Chorley Alliance League then the Preston & District League, with a brief flirtation with the Bolton Combination. In 1993 the Villagers joined the West Lancashire League and after winning the Premier Championship seven times, including four consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2015, moved up to the North West Counties this summer, and lie third but with a minimum of three games in hand on Whitchurch Alport and City of Liverpool above them.

And so on a gloomy freezing Saturday afternoon it's onto Manchester Road, then past North Cestrian 'Where Individuals Thrive' and Denzell Gardens shrouded in mist. Through the confusing new Bowdon roundabout and joining the M6 'Smart' motorway and 13.75 miles to the end of roadworks - so all the way there, then !!

It's a blanket of fog making the PIES graffiti barely visible, but astonishingly (OK unsurprisingly) a huge amount of drivers/ imbeciles choose the no lights option.... Off at junction 17 and to the outskirts of Sandbach where I turn near the Hightown Drinking Fountain, one of 77 listed buildings in the market town.

Then onto Hind Heath Road and the Sandbach Community Football Centre. Plenty of car parking and an overflow at the cricket club across the road, which is doing a sideline in selling Christmas trees. A green Shogun sporting what can only be described as a car tattoo, a golden 'The Fat Frog', draws in and then leaves immediately….

Outside the sign tells us Proud Sponsor's (oh dear !) Planet Environmental and then we see what £2m FA and council grants gets you in terms of facilities - an impressive clubhouse on the popular side, 3G pitch, 9 other pitches, 40 teams and over 600 players. Despite, or because of, the new floodlights not much of this is in evidence because of the murk. Two sides are fenced off and out of bounds (ignored), and the near end supports two open, but covered sheds....

The referee, after some debate, decides to start the game as he can see both goals from the centre spot and indeed it's only in the two far corners that the action is particularly fuzzy. Sandbach are in maroon and light blue, with Charnock Richard in white with green trim.

United start the stronger and have a decent shout for a penalty when Danny Bartle appears to be clipped. Shortly after an incisive pass inside the left back sees Omar Mballo score with aplomb for the home side.

As much as Sandbach have controlled the first quarter hour their lead is wiped out soon after. The Villagers' Ollie Evans is tripped in the box, and Nathan Fairhurst calmly hits home the penalty. The away side take control, dominating proceedings with some lovely one touch football. United keeper Ryan Moss makes two fine saves but is beaten by Carl Grimshaw's majestic header from a precision Mark Adams cross for the Villagers to lead 2-1 at half time.

Conditions deteriorate during the interval but the second half gets underway with Charnock again creating opportunities. Ten minutes in, a through ball is cleared desperately by Moss ahead of the onrushing Evans but straight to Adams who lobs home from 40 yards to make it 3-1.

Evans and Grimshaw have chances to extend the lead, but Sandbach respond. Bartle has a shot cleared off the line after some particularly kamikaze defending, then blazes over from six yards and the Villagers' Adam Halton makes the save of the day, turning aside a piledriver - 'Quite how he saw that in this fog - unbelievable'.

By this time we are largely guessing what is going on; the fog means we can no longer see the far touchline and on 74 minutes the referee abandons the match to some disgust. 'Conditions are no different to 3 o'clock' is the general consensus but the fact that we only hear the referee blow his whistle three times, and cannot see him is probably why he brings matters to a premature end......

Little Devilment From The Red Devils As Port Weather No Storm

 And so to the Angel Telecom Stadium, the sponsor's name sounding much better (for once !) than the original Keighley Road Stadium. It's the home of the Cobbydalers, Silsden AFC, and the venue for today's North West Counties fixture against Whitchurch Alport.

The first ever Silsden AFC was formed at a meeting at Silsden Liberal Club in September 1904, adopting the blue and white playing kit that had been used by the recently defunct village rugby club. A field adjacent to the original rugby field on Keighley Road was hired – and that same field is used to this day.

The Cobbydalers played in a variety of local competitions, bouncing round the Keighley & District, Bradford & District, West Riding County Amateur, South Craven, Airedale & Craven, Bradford Amateur and Wharfedale (Saturday) Leagues. When Keighley Cup holders Keighley Shamrocks withdrew from local football due to ground problems in the summer of (19)69, the club's players moved en masse to Silsden and a period of success was to follow. Seven Keighley Cups were won and the West Riding County Amateur League title was lifted at the end of the 1971/72 season.

But the club were expelled from the league at the end of the following term for failing to raise a team for a league cup final against Lower Hopton - citing injuries, which coincided with six players travelling to Wembley to watch the Leeds United/ Sunderland FA Cup Final....

The club joined the West Yorkshire League, which they won in the 1975/76 season. The Cobbydalers were then promptly expelled from this league following incidents between Silsden and Fryston players at the league's end of season presentation evening.

Having been readmitted to the West Riding County Amateur League at Division 1 level, promotion to the Premier followed two seasons later. Almost inevitably the club was again thrown out of the league 'for violent and abusive conduct by players and officials both on and off the field'.

As if a third expulsion in six years wasn't enough, the club saw their facilities taken from them by the trustees of the ground. Sunday team Silsden United were installed as tenants and became the new Silsden AFC. Having rejoined the Craven League in 1980, the Cobbydalers were swiftly promoted but resigned from the league at Christmas 1988.

For seven years Silsden was without a Saturday team. Then Silsden Juniors took up the mantle in 1996 and, five successive promotions later, reached the West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division.

The Premier Division was won twice in 2003/04 and 2004/05 and after the second title the club was elected to the North West Counties, initially groundsharing with Keighley Cougars RLFC at Cougar Park. Having been promoted immediately to the Premier, the Cobbydalers moved back to Keighley Road for the start of the 2010/11 after the ground was extensively refurbished, and a £1.2m Sports Club erected. They were relegated back to the First Division at the end of last season.

The visiting side from Yockings Park, Whitchurch Alport FC, 'The Reds', was formed in 1946 and joined the Shrewsbury & District League. The club was named after Alport Farm on Alport Road, the home of local footballer Coley Maddocks, who was killed in action in the Second World War. As 1947/48 champions of the Shrewsbury & District League, the club was elected to the Birmingham League - but news of the proposed Mid Cheshire League reached the ears of the committee and this led to them becoming founder members.

Affectionately known as the 'Allbran Allstars', Alport were champions of the Mid Cheshire League in 1970, and are ten time winners of the Shropshire Cup. The Commander Ethelston Cup has also been won on numerous occasions, and the Reds became the last English club to win the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1974.

The club took the decision to move down to the Mercian Regional Football League in 2012, and, after squad strengthening and ground improvements, applied to join the North West Counties for the 2015/16 season. Initially denied by the FA, they were admitted on appeal. A torrid inaugural season ensued, with just two league victories and finishing bottom of the table.

And so onto Manchester Road and immediately the scene of some kamikaze and atrocious driving - a car stopped in no man's land at the traffic lights causing chaos, another car hits bus, and bus wins as the road is strewn with wreckage. Further on Indian restaurant Exotica has proved, well, too exotic for Sale and closed, but WAGS Grooming Salon next door is still flourishing.

Then Smart Motorway, with '32 vehicles running out of fuel in September' - so 32 not so smart drivers.... The average speed cameras prove no impediment for an Impulse Plants 'lorry-train' hurtling past me, as I join the M66 where hills are bathed in sunlight and I am (unfortunately) reacquainted with the blot on the landscape that is wind turbines.

Then Baxenden, the home of Holland's Pies, before turning onto the M65 and ignoring signs for Shuttlewoof Hall (a dog day care centre - what else !!). The motorway is brought to an abrupt end by Boundary Mill, and the bottleneck that is Colne....

Through the sprawling Cowling and then into Glusburn and Cross Hills, or Cross Hills and Glusburn if you approach it from the opposite direction.... Progress is halted by a huge freight train and two ambulances at the railway crossing, before a left turn and over the River Aire to the outskirts of Silsden, the home of the Ecology Building Society.

This brings me to Silsden Sports Club, where parking remains difficult after last year's floods, so, bearing in mind the marooned BMW in the mud trap at Eccleshall last season, I park on the main road.

Inside one end houses the impressive Sports Club and the 1904 Suite - an upgraded Portacabin - plus, new for this season, outside toilets. Two flags flutter side by side - SY13 Alport On Tour and Silsden AFC Keep The Faith.

The near side supports the McNulty Stand, an abandoned refreshment bar and a small covered shelter; opposite are two stone built dugouts and an advertising hoarding announcing 'Good Luck Silsden AFC From The Lost In Barrow Family'. Behind them the village of Silsden looks down on the ground and, nearer, the Leeds Liverpool Canal with barges chugging along, comfortably outpaced by the cyclists on the tow path.

But all around is breathtaking scenery, and after the announcer has sympathised with Alport's traffic problems in Colne 'But we have that for every away game', he comments on the picturesque surroundings 'And yes those are real cows – and sheep'.....

Silsden are in red and black, in keeping with their alternate nickname 'The Red Devils', whilst Alport are in change all blue. There is to be no repeat of last week's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog on the Pitch' - Whitchurch having a goal disallowed due to a stray mutt on the field of play - as the only dog inside the ground is safely leashed.

Alport start brightly, playing with confidence as befitting a team currently second in the league, but the Cobbydalers create the first real chance - player manager James Gill shooting over from a training ground move at a corner.

Whitchurch have played some lovely possession football without looking like scoring. So it's a surprise when a hopeful hoof from the back finds captain Si Everall bisecting the two home centre halves, and he comfortably rounds home keeper Callum Jakovlevs to sweep the ball home.

The home side fail to learn their lesson and Everall is put through again, but this time is forced wide. Fellow strike partner Matt Ashbrook hits the side netting, whilst for Silsden Ross Wilson goes close twice and Kyle Hancock volleys over - but in truth away stopper Danny Read is barely troubled.

The second half sees the Red Devils press without really threatening, aside from one unorthodox Read save. Midway through, with Alport playing on the break, Ashbrook is tripped by left back Josh McNulty for a soft penalty. Mike Blundell calmly slots home to double Alport's advantage.

The Cobbydalers go to three at the back, which just leaves them even more horribly exposed. With ten minutes to play the game is put to bed; a two on one , and Everall superbly finds Blundell and his deft chip over Jakovlevs sneaks in, just. The Alport ultras go wild....

Silsden have one cleared off the line and Read makes a decent stop from a quickly taken free kick but that's it. 3-0 to Alport, a ninth successive away win and top of the league, a complete transformation from last year's shambles.

On the way out, the one man public information service that is the stadium announcer thanks us for our support. And then, ahead of next Saturday's Macron Cup tie at New Mills (an equally idyllic panorama) tells us, tongue in cheek, 'And if you fancy following us next weekend, we're in Derbyshire - that's near London'..........

 

Villagers Soar As Eagles Have Their Wings Clipped - Eccy Thumped !!

And so to Mossie Park, and a village more renowned for its motorway service station than its football team - Charnock Richard. The visitors from the Adverc Stadium at Pershall Park, are 'The Eagles' of Eccleshall FC - 'We Play For The Badge & The Oat Cakes - We Are Eccy !!!' for today's North West Counties Division One fixture.

In 1933 the Chorley Sunday League became the Chorley Alliance League and a Charnock Richard village team was entered, competing until the outbreak of the Second World War. The club was reformed at the end of the War, winning the league title in 1947/48 but then ran into difficulties and closed down at the end of the following season.

 

The present club was reborn in 1955, playing in the Chorley Alliance League then the Preston & District League, with a brief flirtation with the Bolton Combination. In 1993 the Villagers joined the West Lancashire League and after winning the Premier Championship seven times, including four consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2015, moved up to the North West Counties this summer.

Eccleshall Town FC was established in 1908 but the most successful local team of that era was Eccleshall Comrades, set up in 1918. The Comrades' most famous player was the FA Cup Final scorer and winner (for Wolves), and England amateur and full international, The Reverend KRG Hunt. The club also featured in a curious incident when Stone Christ Church were defeated 5-0. The game ended 10 minutes early when first one ball burst, then another and there were no more available.......

 

Both clubs became defunct and the current club was founded in 1971 as Eccleshall Town Old Boys, the team made up of locals and staff from Eccleshall Secondary School, where they played their home games.

 

The Eagles joined the Staffordshire County League (North) in 1979, moved to Pershall Park in 1982 and ascended to the Staffordshire Senior League - now the Springbank Vending Midland League - in 1984. As Eccleshall FC championships were won in 1990 and then consecutively in 2001/02 and 2002/03. With work complete on the stadium the club moved up to the North West Counties Football League in 2003, but several seasons of inconsistency have followed, and last term's 16th place finish owed much to the ineptitude of the two clubs below them - Atherton Laburnum Rovers and Whitchurch Alport.

So on a bright October afternoon it's onto Washway Road, past a white van seemingly held together by gaffer tape and drawing up at the lights where Maidments are ludicrously championing themselves as 'Serious Crime Solicitors'; amusingly there is a To Let sign above the office.

 

Phil Novak and the Rat Pack are on at Garvey's, and then it's just another gridlock day at the Trafford Centre and Barton Bridge. Onto the M61 and that 'Incontinence Supplies At Internet Prices' sign and then off at Botany Bay. Through Euxton and into Charnock Richard, with Mossie Park down Charter Lane, just beyond Bevonair Hair Salon and Dignity Wigs, and just before you reach the village centre.

 

The ground is on the opposite side of Charter Lane to the old Mossie Close ground where the club were based from 1968, after playing elsewhere in the village. £4 in at the gate but you can watch the game for free from the car park....

 

Immediately inside is the entrance to the changing rooms, then the refreshment bar and, curiously, a converted garage. The small main covered seated stand is situated midway down the popular side, with a walkway and barriers that appear to be made from roller shutters surrounding the pitch. Two sides are tree lined and the far side is adjoined by the village cricket pitch.

The Villagers are in white and green (club colours have always contained green since the 1955 reformation) and the Eagles, who can only name two substitutes to the home side's five, are in change all red. One linesman has a paunch whilst the other is just plain obese, and they are joined by (we soon discover) a cantankerous referee.

 

The visitors' tactics of one up front, flood the midfield, contain and frustrate works well for the first three minutes. Then Spencer Bibby's cross finds an unmarked Carl Grimshaw and he sidefoots home. With second playing next to bottom the home crowd awaits a lorry load of goals, but surprisingly the Eagles swoop to equalise on ten minutes - some shambolic defending allowing Tom Wakefield the freedom of Mossie Park and he dinks over the keeper to level.

 

The rest of the half sees the Villagers in the ascendancy with the vast majority of possession, plenty of passing but unconvincing in the final third. Nonetheless they come close three times - Ollie Evans' horror air shot, Bibby's fierce strike well saved by the Eagles' stopper Stuart Robertson, and a deflected shot that just swirls wide.

 

The second period sees Charnock Richard, laboriously, dominate proceedings and the Eagles offer no attacking threat whatsoever, giving some respite to the heavily perspiring fat assistant referee. Grimshaw blazes over when he should have done much better, Robertson makes two fine saves, two shots are cleared off the line and two strong penalty shouts are waved away.

 

Finally, at the midpoint of the half, Robertson's goal is breached - a glorious scissor kick executed by Mark Adams from a cushioned header back, and a piece of skill quite out of keeping with the overall quality of the game.

 

With just under a quarter of an hour left the ball is played into Grimshaw, who appears to be crowded out by three defenders. To a plaintive cry from the crowd 'Don't shoot Carl, you'll never score from there', he rockets the ball home, via a stanchion, from a seemingly impossible angle.......

 

The 3-1 win takes the Villagers top, and leaves the Eagles flying low in 21st with 5 points from 13 games.