Join me later for more about the day and to see who Curzon Ashton will meet in the next round...
My personal journey as I follow the Women's and the Men's FA Cup from the Extra Preliminary Round, right through to the final. Like the FA Cup itself, my route will be random - the goal is to go to the games and report upon the experience of the places whilst comparing the men's and women's game at all levels.
Saturday, 31 August 2013
Full Time
Curzon Ashton 4-0 Ashton Athletic.
Join me later for more about the day and to see who Curzon Ashton will meet in the next round...
Join me later for more about the day and to see who Curzon Ashton will meet in the next round...
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Tameside Stadium
Tameside Stadium is home to Curzon Ashton. Curzon Ashton’s average home
attendance in the 2012/13 season was 178 people. They are currently top of the Evo-Stik First
Division North, with 12 pts from 4 games. Ashton Athletic's biggest home attendance
this season has been 98, so it should be a larger crowd than they are used to.
Ashton Athletic are currently 13th in the North West Counties Premier
Division with 7 pts from 5 games.
This is Curzon Ashton's first
match in the 2013/14 FA Cup as they received a bye in the Extra Preliminary Round. Ashton Athletic has already
played twice in our Giant Killing Adventure. They drew 2-2 against St Helens
Town and then won 1-0 in the replay. Curzon Ashton will be favourites to win
the game (they play in 1 division higher than Ashton Athletic), but the FA Cup
may have other ideas. We’ll find out in 5
days (4 sleeps).
In other news:-
I have started to think about the
later rounds when the football league clubs join, (Round 1 Proper) and when the
Premiership teams join (Round 3 Proper). I may struggle to get tickets or to
travel to games that are far away. So I wrote to Budweiser (as they are the
official sponsors of the FA Cup) to see if they could help me. However, I got a
reply which told me that they could not endorse unsolicited material in which
they have no control over the content - which to me is fair enough as I could
put all kinds of offensive things on our blog if I was that way inclined. It is
a wise policy for them to have, so I’d like to thank Budweiser for getting back
to me and I’ll have to think of another plan.
I’ve found a YouTube site by the journeymen who are also following
their own road to Wembley. They are making short films of their matches and
have started off with Mole Valley SCR V South Park. It's a bit sweary in places - just a warning to people who are offended by 4 letter words and any kids that might be reading. Click the link below if you
are interested in their progress.
Finally the FA has filmed an
Extra Preliminary Round match as they followed the tie between Parkgate and
Shirebrook Town. Click below for the
FA’s report of that match.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the extras
and I’ll see you on Saturday the 31st of August 2013 for our blog’s
match between Curzon Ashton and Ashton Athletic.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Curzon Ashton - draw number 25, 31st August, 15:00 at Tameside Stadium.
Before I begin, I’d like to say
thank you to Jeff Voller the secretary of St Helens Town AFC, for his speedy
and helpful reply to my email. Now, let’s
get to business:-
It is the Preliminary Round of
the FA Cup 2013/14, and in this round teams that are 7 divisions lower than the
Premiership big boys are entered.
Our victors Ashton Athletic from the Extra Preliminary Round have drawn an away tie against Curzon Ashton. It is the battle of the Ashtons - Ashton-in-Makerfield verses Ashton-under-Lyne.
V
Curzon Ashton was founded in 1963
and as our journey travels to the Tameside Stadium, the club will be celebrating their 50th year of
existence (only 10 years less than my existence – scary!). The club was formed
when Curzon Road and Ashton Amateurs were merged into one team. The Stadium was opened in September 2005 by Sir
Alex Ferguson in a friendly game against Manchester United. Curzon Ashton play in the Evo-Stik League
First Division North (last season they finished 7th in the league –
missing out on the play-offs by 7 points) – this season they are currently in 2nd
place, having played 2 and won 2. Curzon Ashton are in the 8th tier of the football league so should be favourites
for the game against Ashton Athletic – they play one division lower in the
North West Counties Football League - Premier Division. However, last year's final shows that FA Cup games are not always won by favourites - hence the magic.
Curzon is approx 8 Miles east of
Manchester in Ashton-under-Lyne. From
the map below you can see that it is 31.8 Miles from Brocstedes Park (A) to Tameside Stadium (B). Our FA Cup journey
has travelled 36 Miles in two rounds from its current home in Wigan, to
Curzon via Ashton.
Thursday, 22 August 2013
The game on the 17th August 2013
This turned out to be a fantastic
day for many reasons (one being the surprise 40th birthday party
that was thrown for me when I got home)!
I have tried to assemble a team
of experts to help me with our blog, so my unofficial photographer/driver for
the day was Beverley Rogerson @bmrogerson (photos due to come at a later date).
She arrived and we set off on our journey to the game which was 24 miles away
and 37 minutes from my house (according to my phone’s Navigation system). We
went via a Booths store in which we had tea and sandwiches, whilst looking out of
the window and contemplating how wet we were going to get at the match – it was
raining quite heavily. I felt nervous slightly, as I didn’t know what the
ground or the atmosphere would be like.
As we got into the car the radio
played a top ten countdown from 1989, and as we listened to Bobby Brown’s ‘Own
our own’ (from the soundtrack of Ghostbusters 2) the rain battered Bev’s
massive sunroof. This is before we were greeted by a tight twisty country road
which only had room for one car - the approach to Brocstedes Park. I hoped that
no other cars would be coming in the other direction and my anxiety cleared as
I saw the sign.
I felt an instant excitement and
sensed a welcoming atmosphere. It cost £5 at the turnstile to enter a nice
little ground. It cost £2.40 for my pint of bitter (which was placed into a plastic
wobbly glass) and £1 for Bev’s cup of tea (Styrofoam cup). The crowd was small, friendly and quiet –
there was no singing so I could hear the conversations. One 13 year old girl
asked her friend ‘Why does nobody use kettles nowadays?’ and I heard a kids
joke - ‘why is 8 afraid of 7? Because 7 ate 9.’
It was a small crowd of 71 fans
and the Mayor of St Helens, Councillor Andy Bowden was in attendance.
One player complained that the
grass on the pitch was too long, but to me it seemed like a nice, early season
surface. The game itself was very even,
in very difficult conditions (driving rain at times and windy – temp 17 degrees)
but I think Ashton Athletic edged the tie as they hit the post a couple of
times and produced a good save from the St Helen’s keeper. A draw
was a disappointing result for me and our blog – this meant a reply and when I
committed to attend as many games as possible I didn’t rake replays into
account – especially when this reply was set for Tuesday the 20th
August – 3 days is very short notice.
I could not attend the reply
because I was in Newcastle on a pre-paid City break with my girlfriend, which means
that 2 games into the blog, I’ve already missed 1 game! On a positive note, both teams share the
same ground, so I did not miss out on seeing another ground or visiting another
town.
The Giant Killing Adventure Leading Goal Scorers - 17th
August 2013
Adam Gilchrist 2 (Ashton Athletic)
Neil Weaver 1 (St Helens Town)
Greg Harrison 1 (St Helens Town)
The Giant Killing Adventure League table – 17th August 2013
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals For
|
Goals Against
|
GD
|
Points
|
Ashton Athletic
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
St Helens Town
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
So far we have witnessed 90
minutes of football, £10 on the turnstiles, 4 goals, 1 pint of bitter, 3 cups
of tea, 71 fans and the journey has travelled 4.2 miles from the FA Cup’s
current home in Wigan.
Sunday 18th August 2013
On Sunday 18th
August 2013, Wigan Robin Park was knocked out of the competition by AFC Emley.
The score was 3-2 and Wigan Robin Park’s run in the competition has been a
bitter sweet symphony, but that’s life!
Tuesday 20th August 2013
The replay on Tuesday 20th
August 2013 between Ashton Athletic and St Helens Town was won by Ashton
Athletic 1-0. Goal scorer Nathan Ward.
I can’t comment on the match but
it was attended by 58 fans. All I can
tell you is that Newcastle has 2-4-1 cocktails (around £6 for two Long Island
Ice teas) nearly everywhere, it costs
£4.30 to ride the whole Metro all day (including a ferry from North to South
Shields), and Greggs the bakers sell ham and pease pudding stotties. Pease
Pudding is savoury, similar in texture to hummus and is made with split yellow
or Carlin peas, water, salt and spices. A stottie is a flat and round loaf, baked at the bottom of an oven – it has a heavy and dough-like texture.
Whilst Ashton Athletic was
knocking St Helens Town out of the FA
Cup I was eating a whole lobster at Puccini that cost £16.50 (that’s a whole
Lobster) – brilliant!
The photo above is the Angel of the North near Newcastle.
The Giant Killing Adventure Leading Goal Scorers – 22nd
August 2013
Adam Gilchrist 2 (Ashton Athletic)
Neil Weaver 1 (St Helens Town)
Greg Harrison 1 (St Helens Town)
Nathan Ward 1 (Ashton Athletic)
The Giant Killing Adventure League table – 22nd August 2013
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals For
|
Goals Against
|
GD
|
Points
|
Ashton Athletic
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
St Helens Town
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
-1
|
1
|
So far the Giant Killing Adventure has reported on 180 minutes of football, £10 on the turnstiles, 129
fans, 5 goals, 1 £2.40 pint of bitter, 3 £1 cups of tea, 1 ham and pease
pudding stottie, 2 £16.50 Lobsters, 4 2-4-1 cocktails, 1 City Break and the
journey has travelled 4.2 miles from the FA Cup’s current home in Wigan.
Ashton Athletic has drawn an away
tie at Curzon Ashton in the Preliminary Round of the 2013/14 FA Cup. Join me again to learn more about the next
round and more about Curzon Ashton. The match is currently due to be played on Saturday 31st
August 2013...
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Final score
Final score was 2-2. Join me later in the week for more about the day. Also, the Wigan Robin Park result and to see who St Helens Town or Asthon Athletic will meet in the next round...
Friday, 16 August 2013
Draw number 32, Sunday 18th August....
In keeping with the Wigan theme
(as Wigan Athletic are the current 2012/13 FA Cup holders) I thought I would
mention a little tributary to our River to Wembley. If draw number 32 had been a home draw for
the other team, it would have been the source to our river and our featured
game of the Extra Preliminary Round – the starting point of our Giant Killing Adventure. However, the unpredictability of the FA Cup drew number 32 with
Wigan Robin Park Football Club playing away from home in a fixture against AFC
Emley.
V
Their opponents AFC Emley are a
team from the Northern Counties East Football League, Division one - based in
Emley, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.
Their history dates back to as far as 1903 but the current club, name
and location was formed in 2005. Emley are currently second in Division one
(2013/14 season), having played 2 and won 2.
I will be keeping an eye on this tributary tie to our Wembley River on
Sunday 18th August 2013.
Back to our main game, tomorrow
Saturday 17th August 2013 (1 sleep away):
St Helens Town are currently 14th
in the North West Counties Premier Division with 4 points from 4 games. Ashton Athletic are currently 16th
in the same league with 4 points from 4 games – could it be any closer? We’ll
find out tomorrow, 17th August 2013, at Brocstedes Park, 15:00 kick
off...
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Brocstedes Park...
Brocstedes Park is home to St Helens Town and Ashton Athletic. The pitch is just off jct 24 on the M6.
The highest attendance for St Helens Town this season 2013/14 has been 106.
Ashton Athletic's highest attendance for this season 2013/14 has been 98.
Let's see how many people turn up for their FA Cup clash on Saturday 17th August 2013... 3 days time (2 sleeps) and counting....
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Who is up first in the Extra Preliminary Round?
As mentioned yesterday, the trophy
currently resides in Wigan, which is a town in Greater Manchester in the North
West of England. Wigan is generally
known more for its Rugby League than its football as the Wigan Warriors are the
most successful team in their sport.
People from Wigan are sometimes referred to as ‘Pie Eaters’ which to me
is a good thing – everyone must love a good pie, surely (especially a steak pie
with gravy, yummy – I mean a real pie and not just a stew with a lid).
Wigan was well known in the 1960s and 1970s
for its ‘Northern Soul Nights.’ As far as I can figure, this mainly consisted
of men in tight tops and tight trousers putting talcum powder onto a dance
floor and almost performing the splits – done whilst listening to Motown or
Motown influenced music! This sounds fantastic and Wigan Casino was the place
to be. In the 1980s a radio advert told
me that ‘Wigan pier, that’s the place to be.’
One of my most favorite bands of the 1990s also came from Wigan. - The Verve. I saw them 5 times from 1994 to 1998 and I still love their first album 'A Storm in Heaven.' Richard Ashcroft's lyrics really resonated with me in my early 20s. 'You come in on your own and you leave on your own.' Now I'm a little less, err, miserable but I still love The Verve.
One of my most favorite bands of the 1990s also came from Wigan. - The Verve. I saw them 5 times from 1994 to 1998 and I still love their first album 'A Storm in Heaven.' Richard Ashcroft's lyrics really resonated with me in my early 20s. 'You come in on your own and you leave on your own.' Now I'm a little less, err, miserable but I still love The Verve.
All this talk about Wigan leads me onto the
very first match of our journey together:
The Extra Preliminary Round is drawn from
teams that are level 9 and below the league systems (in other words, at least 8
divisions lower than the big boys in the Premiership). The closest geographical game that I could
find to the current home of the FA Cup was draw number 38 in the FA Cup’s
Extra Preliminary Round. This is between St Helens Town and Ashton
Athletic.
V
Although St Helens Town are the home side in
this tie, they are in the current position of playing all their home games on
Ashton Athletic’s pitch – so in essence, this opening fixture has both teams in
the unique position of playing at home – in Ashton-in-Makerfield which is 4.2
miles south of Wigan (the current home of the FA Cup).
St Helens are members of the North West Counties League Premier Division
– last season they finished 19th in the league. The original Town club was in existence from 1901 to 1928, but the club
re-formed in 1946. The club’s biggest achievement is winning the FA Vase at Wembley in
1987 and rather much like Wigan, St Helens is known more for its Rugby League
prowess. St Helens is located in Merseyside
and another 1980s advert told me that ‘St Helen's glass, has the class.’
Ashton Athletic Football Club was founded in 1968 and
they also play in the Premier Division of the North West Counties League – last
season they finished 20th in the league. Ashton-in-Makerfield
is located in the metropolitan borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester.
This should be an interesting first tie for the
beginning of our blog. Two teams that
are located near to the FA Cup’s current home and they know each other well.
Not only are they in the same league, but they are currently sharing the same
ground (very convenient for the away fans). Judging by last season’s form the
tie should be close... but we’ll see what the FA Cup decides
on match day, this Saturday, the 17th August 2013... 4 days time,
it’s gonna be great!
See the image below for the distance from Wigan’s DW
Stadium (A) to Brocstedes Park (B) – home to both teams in our opening match. The FA
Cup journey has travelled a mere 4.2 miles... see you Saturday 17th
August 2013.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
A quick review before the journey begins!
This is my personal journey as I follow one FA Cup route from the Extra Preliminary Round on the 17th August 2013, right through all 14 rounds until I reach the final on the 17th May 2014. I will pick one initial game and keep following the winner until I reach the final. Like the FA Cup itself, my route will be random - the goal is to go to the games and report upon the experience of the places, rather than just the football.
Before I start I’ve realised that the title ‘The Giant Killing Adventure’ maybe misleading for some people. If you’ve read it as the giant killing adventure and are expecting a Dexter-like account of mass murder then I apologise for the misleading title. Instead it is just good clean fun about building a River to Wembley. If anyone has stumbled upon our blog by mistake, you should still read on – you might enjoy it.
The 2013/14 football season sees the 133rd FA Cup competition. 737 teams have entered and via a process of knockout they will commence ‘battle’ with an Extra Preliminary Round on Saturday 17th August 2013. The aim of this blog is to follow this ‘war’ by picking one game in the beginning round and following the winner to each consecutive round until we reach the smooth ‘carpet’ surface of Wembley in May 2014. It’s kinda like following a river from source to sea – they’ll be plenty of twists and turns but without the oxbow lakes. This journey will take you through grass-roots football as we visit the villages, towns and cities of our great nation – all united in one goal... winning at football and moving one game closer to a possible MASSIVE game.
Before I start I’ve realised that the title ‘The Giant Killing Adventure’ maybe misleading for some people. If you’ve read it as the giant killing adventure and are expecting a Dexter-like account of mass murder then I apologise for the misleading title. Instead it is just good clean fun about building a River to Wembley. If anyone has stumbled upon our blog by mistake, you should still read on – you might enjoy it.
The 2013/14 football season sees the 133rd FA Cup competition. 737 teams have entered and via a process of knockout they will commence ‘battle’ with an Extra Preliminary Round on Saturday 17th August 2013. The aim of this blog is to follow this ‘war’ by picking one game in the beginning round and following the winner to each consecutive round until we reach the smooth ‘carpet’ surface of Wembley in May 2014. It’s kinda like following a river from source to sea – they’ll be plenty of twists and turns but without the oxbow lakes. This journey will take you through grass-roots football as we visit the villages, towns and cities of our great nation – all united in one goal... winning at football and moving one game closer to a possible MASSIVE game.
The FA Cup is pure magic – it’s the
oldest association football competition in the world and was first held in the
1871/72 football calendar - that season it was won by a London based club
called Wanderers FC. In the modern era it may have lost its position as a
competition of high importance due to the huge amounts of money and attention gained
from European competition. But to many teams (especially ones that
aren't owned by multi-billionaires) and most fans it is still a competition
that generates excitement at the prospect of knocking out a local rival or
playing a ‘massive’ club and hopefully, just hopefully becoming ‘this season's
giant-killers.’
Before we begin let’s have a quick recap on last year’s 2012/13 final:
Last season’s 2013 final was an example of how
a massive club can be pipped to the post in a one-off game. Manchester City was
a huge favourite to beat relegation strugglers Wigan. However the magic of the
FA Cup didn't listen to the pundits, the Bookmakers or the average fan on the
street – the FA Cup had other ideas.
Roberto Martinez’s men got their
tactics right... Callum
McManaman received the man of the match award and Ben Watson headed in the
winner in the 90th minute.
Wigan beat Manchester City
1-0. Wigan lifted the trophy and Wigan
Chairman Dave Whelan was delighted as his side truly became ‘last season’s ultimate giant-killer.’
A lot has happened since that fateful day and
Roberto Mancini paid the ultimate price for failing to win a trophy for Manchester City. It’s a world where success hungry
fans and owners aren’t happy with Premiership runner-up and FA Cup finalist
(that’s considered a bad season). Mancini had won the Premier league in 2012
and the FA Cup in 2011 – he was the first manager to win a major competition at
Manchester City for over 30 years but he was still sacked for his side's ‘poor’ season!
Wigan
didn’t avoid the relegation drop and manager Roberto Martinez has taken on a
new challenge as manager of Everton.
However, the fans and supporters of Wigan will never forget the day that
their side defied the odds and lifted the original and greatest club cup
trophy... the FA Cup.
As you can see from the image, Wigan (A) is in the North West of England, 200 miles away from Wembley Stadium (B). Join me tomorrow to see where our FA Cup journey begins...
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