el Queso Grande's Groundhopping Tour 2007-8

Arngrove Northern League Division 2: Birtley Town 0-1 Darlington Railway Athletic

Sorry for taking so long to post my report on this game, I have spent the last 24 hours trying to remember something memorable about it! I arrived at the ground to be greeted with the news that me old mate Paul Foster had resigned his position of Assistant Manager, for reasons best known to himself. Great start to the afternoon. My spirits lifted somewhat when I got in with some other pals, the Brinkburn Road "Massive" as they call themselves. I probably spent more time chatting and bantering with them than I did watching the footie.

The Brinkburn Road "Massive" on tour.

RA took the lead in the 11th minute when some slack defending allowed Danny Robinson finish well. Some poor finishing of some attractive moves from Birtley involving new signing from Washington, the 40-something Willy Moat cost Birtley dearly. RA keeper Simon Clark was never really troubled for most of the game. For Birtley, Scott Garrett, at centre-half alongside Andy Soulsby, was constantly waching out for his stand-in fullbacks - midfielders Ged Ramshaw and Mick Hay had to play out of position due to a long injury list - but still managed to display all his usual defensive skills while Willy Moat worked his socks off, constantly encouraging his fellow players, who seemed resigned to defeat after half-time. For RA, Tony Ptottopoulis (sorry if that is the wrong spelling, Toppy), Nicky Lyons and Michael Carter stood out.

Birtley's Scott Garrett sends a free-kick into the RA penalty area.

As for me, a decent pint of John Smith's Smooth in The William IV pub before the game was my only refreshment; I never bothered with anything to eat as I hit the nosebag before I left home. Nobody offered to sell me a raffle ticket, so I didn't win again. My most memorable moments came when fellow Nonleaguezone-er Timbo, of the RA Massive, kept up a running commentary on the punctuality of the various Intercity Expresses which flew past on the nearby London-Newcastle railway line! Some people liken Groundhoppers to Trainspotters; I sometimes wonder!

More photos of this match can be found at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/blackfelladder/BirtleyTownVDarlingtonRailwayAthletic

Arngrove Northern League Divison 2: Crook Town 1-6 South Shields

Pre-Matchday: The word is on the street.
The residents of Helmington Row have set up an observation post, so they can be the first to witness HIS arrival!
A semaphore system has been set up from the top of High Jobs Hill to The Mill Field, so the pies can be introduced to the oven at the correct time and temperature, so as to be at HIS liking.
All along Wheatbottom, the popular window cleaner, Tubhead, has been kept busy, as they all want to have a good view as HE passes. No curtains will be twitched, by request.
In Church Street, The Vicar has placed prayer mats in strategic positions, for the use of those uninformed and unprepared passers-by who might want to pay their respects to HIM.
In the Clubhouse, the disciple commonly known as The Mighty Crook Town has spent a whole week, polishing one particular (new and previously unused, of course) pint glass, which will be dedicated to HIM and which will be enshrined with the other, less important, trophies after the event, for perpetuity.
The reason for all this activity?

el Queso Grande is coming to town!

Matchday: The Mill Field must be one of the easiest stadiums to find in the whole of the Northern League, standing as it does on the main route from Durham to Alston, the A690.

I got there about an hour before kick-off and having bought a programme from the turnstile, I made my way to the clubhouse to read it while enjoying a canny pint of John Smith's Smooth, keeping an eye on the televised Bristol City v Southampton FA Cup tie at the same time. I also managed to add a Crook pin-badge to the collection on my woolly hat. Not long before kick-off, I was joined by Crook supporters and fellow Nonleaguezone.com-ers The Mighty Crook Town and his pal, The Vicar. I first met this pair at Birtley Town earlier in the season and have been in contact with them ever since.

I was very soon to notice that Crook were not playing the same quality of football they had at Birtley, even though the team did not seem to have changed much. South Shields were by far the better side and soon turned domination into goals from Mark Johnson (2), Willie Crew (2), Chris Feasey and Lee Scroggins. Crook's consolation came as a result of probably the best bit of football they produced in the whole of the match, well finished off by Darren Kokes. When I went for my half-time feed, there were NAE PIES LEFT and I had to appease my hunger with a BOILED burger! Oh, and, as usual, I didn't win the raffle! Shields look a good bet for promotion in my opinion.

View of the action from the South End terracing; Crook playing in the gold shirts.

More photographs of my matchday at Crook can be found at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/blackfelladder/CrookTownVSouthShields

Arngrove Northern League Division 1: Ashington 2-3 Seaham Red Star

Pre-Matchday: This will be an unusual experience for me as I don't manage to get to many night matches. However, this one is special, as it will be the last game ever played at Portland Park, Ashington, before the bulldozers move in and demolish the old place, to make way for a superstore. A higher than average attendance is expected, as I am sure that there will be a lot of supporters of other clubs renewing their acquaintance with the ground, as well as a whole host of groundhoppers. The 90 minutes of football will probably be secondary to what I suspect will be a very emotional evening. 

Matchday: I travelled up to Ashington with Shaun Smith, host of the "100 Football Grounds Club" and we arrived at Portland Park a good 90 minutes before kick-off, which gave us time to have the customary stroll around the ground and relax in the clubhouse with a canny pint of John Smith's Smooth. Even at that early hour, the clubhouse was probably busier than normal. One of the first people we met was fellow 100FGC member no. 69, John S Lawton, from Matlock, who was working in the area and was taking the opportunity to "tick off" another venue. With John were two other groundhoppers, one of whom was from Norway and was "hitting" his 320th venue. As the kick-off time drew nearer, the clubhouse began to fill up so we adjourned to the spectator areas and I took another lap of the perimeter, recognising a lot of people from other ANL clubs on my way. By the time photographs had been taken of the two sides, the referee finally blew for the off about 6 minutes late, by which time I estimated there about 1,300-1,500 in the crowd, which was still swelling by the minute.

The game itself was quite enjoyable and the atmosphere was great, with the famous Ashington Drum constantly being beaten, accompanied by the chants of the Ashington supporters. It was obvious that Seaham did not intend to be sentimental and provide the perfect result for the occasion. Goals for Ashington: Paul Hutchinson and Gareth Bainbridge, for Seaham: Warren Byrne (2) and Steve Burns.

Shaun Smith has a full report of the evening at http://100groundsclub.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-matchday-last-match-at-portland-park.html

Match Programme Cover

The Pit Pony Express - fanzine to celebrate the last match.

Arngrove Northern League Division 1: Northallerton Town 2-3 Spennymoor Town

A lovely sunny afternoon for a comfortable 54 miles drive down the A1! The last 5 or 6 miles through some beautiful agricultural surroundings and a fleeting view of the old church at Ainderby Steeple. (Note to self - must go there for a look round sometime). Whoever said watching football can be stressful? The Regency Stadium is easily found, situated on the outskirts of the town and visible from the main A684.

I received a warm welcome from the gate-man, who directed me towards my first objective - the clubhouse and a pint! The very friendly chap behind the bar presented me with an excellent pint of John Smith's Smooth, albeit on the pricey side at £2.35. Having taken a seat to watch the telly and read my programme, I was approached by several members of Nonleaguezone.com, supporters of both sides. (The price of fame )

Having finished my drink I wandered along to the Club Shop, where I purchased a Northallerton Town pin-badge for £3 and chatted with the guy who runs the shop, which, incidentally, seems to do not a small amount of business, selling programmes from other clubs as well as Northalleton's. He has also ventured onto eBay with some of the merchandise to access a wider market. After my customary pre-match stroll around the pitch, I decided to sample the delights of the "Bait Cabin", where there was quite a good selection on offer. I settled for a meat pie for £1.50 (this is Yorkshire!) which, although very tasty and filling, had apparently been heated in a microwave oven and was not very crispy. My half time visit to the Bait Cabin was for a 50p cup of coffee in a PROPPA mug.

It is a nice place to watch football, plenty of observation points and all in a good state of repair. Both sides are followed by some vociferous supporters who take up their places behind the opposition goal and they kept up an entertaining exchange of banter throughout the game.

Northallerton dominated the first half and took the lead in the 14th. minute with a great strike from Paul Hinton following a free kick from the right wing, however, I did wonder at the lack of a Spennymoor defender on the post. The result could have been resolved by half time had the home side not missed two excellent chances to wrap the game up. The second half was just the opposite; Spennymoor took the game by the scruff of the neck and were rewarded 4 minutes in when the much-travelled Stuart Brightwell, newly arrived from a spell in the USA, shot from the edge of the penalty area, the ball taking a wicked deflection from the body of Steve Ashton on it's way into the net. Spennymoor finally took the lead in the 82nd minute by virtue of a Gareth Waite header. Northallerton never gave up and showed great resolve to equalise in the 92nd minute with a Robbie Bettson goal 2-2. Everyone thought that was that, however, a scramble in the Northallerton goalmouth resulted in Jamie Clarke scoring from close in to earn Spennymoor the points.

One interesting event was that Spennymoor manager, Jason Ainsley, was "sent from the dugout" by the referee, who brandished a red card as a result of something Mr. Ainsley must have said. I asked Mr. Ainsley, whose name also appeared on the team sheet as a substitute, whether that meant he was not allowed to enter the field of play as a player and he replied that it did. I have never come across this situation before.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at Ainderby Road and give my regards and thanks to people like Young Skin, Wack, Bertbanger, NLFutsal and SpennyUtd, to name but a few, who went out of their way to make me feel welcome.

There are more photographs of my day at Northallerton at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/blackfelladder/NorthallertonTownVSpennymoorTown

Arngrove Northern League Division 2: South Shields 5-2 Birtley Town

Omigosh! It ain't easy being a Northern League groundhopper! I had decided to reshuffle my itinerary in order to leave the FA Vase round dates free, just in case there was continued participation by at least one of our clubs. This reshuffle meant that I would pop out to Crook Town for their game v Ryton. The cold weather took it's toll however and this game was one of the 14 which suffered postponement so back to Plan A, i.e. the Filtrona and South Shields at home to Birtley.

Birtley fielded a much changed side due a populous suspended and injured list and their performance showed as much.

The aptly named David Scorer opened the scoring for Shields in the 6th minute, heading in a free kick from the left wing. Michael Hay, a new signing for Birtley from Whickham, levelled with a good shot from the edge of the penalty area. A couple of opportunist goals from striker Mark Johnson put Shields two goals ahead but John Sherlock reduced the deficit just before the interval. Shields really dominated the second half and could have had a lot more goals in the bag, however, they only managed two more, through Mark Johnson, who completed his hat trick in the 65th. and Chris Feasey, 5 minutes from full time.

I always enjoy games at Filtrona Park, good beer in the clubhouse, good food on offer at reasonable prices and always a good attendance, with the associated good craic.