1921
This was a defining year
for women’s football as the FA sought medical advice to try and discourage or
ban the women’s game.
Doctor’s stated that ‘the
kicking was too jerky a movement for women and the strain was likely to be
severe. Just as the frame of a woman is more rounded than a man’s, her
movements should be more rounded and less angular.’
Another doctor stated, ‘the
knocks and buffetings from playing football would seriously impair a women’s
duty to be a mother (don’t get mad at me,
it’s not the GKA saying this).
In the next round the GKA
will look at some women player responses to these ‘expert’
opinions at the time.
Until
then, lets fast forward to 2019… (Sorry this next section is whingy)
In the WSL there was
another game at a men’s Premiership stadium. On Sunday 29th September, West Ham LFC hosted Tottenham LFC
in front of 24,790 people, at London Stadium.
On the surface this appears to be another big crowd and the GKA is happy
about this… However (you knew there was
going to be a ‘however’, didn’t you), when you consider that the population
of London is 9,176,530 (that’s over 9
million), the crowd is only 0.27% of the City’s population – tickets were merely
£2 for adults or £1 for West Ham Season ticket holders. Average home attendance for the men is
58,336, so I’m not being negative, I’m just pointing out that this is all still
‘a work in progress’ heading in the right direction.
I have two more whingy points
to make (sorry).
1) Last
season I bought a season ticket for Man United Women for £39. I thought that quite a few people would jump
at this offer, but according to the BBC website (which influences my feminist agenda) only 478 other people bought
season tickets.
2) The
women’s Champions League is in full flow and both Manchester City LFC and
Arsenal LFC have reached the last 16.
This is something that the English press should be ‘all over’ like a
‘cheap suit’ but It seems to have little coverage. How can the women’s
sport grow at grassroots level when games at the top level of club football
hardly get a mention?
Speaking of grassroots
football, let’s get on with the purpose of today’s post…
Another fantastic weekend of FA Cup Football! (whinging over).
Saturday
5th Oct
As the GKA set off for its
2-hour journey to Belper Town, the England Women’s team kicked off against
Brazil in front of another large crowd (29,238 and we will not over analyse this number and see it as a positive).
The journey to Belper was
straightforward, without incidence and I arrived at 14:25 as the sat
nav had predicted. However, as I drove
through the small quaint town centre, the sat nav instruction was to turn left
down into somebody’s driveway. I was
confused, I missed the turn, carried on, turned the car around, came back,
tried again, same problem. This could
have gone on forever. I turned into a
side street, parked on a quiet road and investigated further on foot.
I walked down the main
street following my phone’s instructions and walked where it was telling me –
it took me into somebody’s driveway. I was confused, but I could hear footballs
in the distance and hidden through some trees I could see the
pitch. What I didn’t know was how to
get there.
I knew that my anal plan of
setting off early was a good thing, because I’d already wasted 15 minutes
wondering around - until I saw my saviour!
A very friendly, elderly gentlemen dressed in a Belper Town hat and
scarf.
‘How do you get to the
ground?’ I asked (as a male, we hate
admitting defeat and asking for directions – I felt emasculated).
‘You can either go that way
past the church,’ he pointed, ‘or follow me past the library.’
I decided to follow this
young man and we had an excellent chat about Belper Town FC. I think he
struggled to understand the concept of why I’d driven 2hrs to watch the game.
‘We’re tough to beat at
home you know,’ he informed, ‘even though we’ve been around since 1883, the
trophy cabinet is a bit small.’ He gestured, to show its lack of size.
I enjoyed talking to this
friendly gentleman (the GKA’s Night in
Belper Armour) and said ‘Goodbye,’ when we
reached the Turnstiles.
It was
£9 to enter…and the time was 14:51, so I’m glad I’d set off early.
It was the standard £2 for
a program.
The
first thing I noticed when I walked in was this excellent dog. Then I noticed 3 other dogs.
I
turned to the 2 guys’ next to me and said, ‘I’ve never seen so many dogs at a
football match.’ They both looked at me like I’d spat in their faces and turned
away without reply – it’s seems that not everyone was as chatty as my Belper
Town savour.
A
couple of fans walked past me shouting ‘Come on you pics’ – the away fans had
arrived.
This 250-space
stand was built in 2008 in recognition of Reg Walker’s involvement in the club
– he was one of the men responsible for the club’s reformation in 1951.
A friendly young girl served me and smiled as I took the photo above.
‘Are
you surprised by the prices?’ She asked.
‘They’re
the kinda prices I like.’
We
both laughed (I’m so smooth).
I
walked away thinking, is that the only
food they’ve got, chocolate?...
and where are the toilets? If I drink this coffee, I’ll need to go soon (I’m
so old).
I
must be old because Craklin’Rosie By
Neil Diamond was on the PA and I was enjoying it.
It was 15 degrees, mild and warm and I went
for a wonder…
To take the GKA
customary corner flag photo.
I set up camp, ontop of the Rushall Olympic
dug out. Waterfall by the Stone Roses came on the system and I thought to
myself Is there some kind of Rose
obsession at Belper?
Moments
later, the nearby Church Bells chimed (sounding like a Spaghetti
Western) and the match kicked off simultaneously. Behind the goal, to my left there were
several singing Belper fan’s (it’s the first GKA singers of 2019). However,
once the game kicked off, the singing mostly ended as they watched the
game.
Just
behind me was the scoreboard and the press tower.
I
have a GKA confession to make – For the first 8 minutes I thought that the team
in yellow was Rushall (because they'd played in yellow when I last watched them). It wasn’t until the yellow team scored and
most people cheered that I realised my mistake (don’t tell anyone). It was a
well-deserved lead as Rushall, err, I mean Belper had dominated the early
exchanges. It was 1-0 Belper.
The
Rushall coach was the nosiest person in the stadium as he constantly encouraged
and harassed his team. In comparison,
the Belper coach was quiet, as he only shouted every now and again.
An
elderly group of Belper Fans were joined by their friend who shouted, ‘Stand by
your beds.’ As he came over. I’m
guessing they were all ex-military as they seemed a tightknit group that
laughed and joked together through the whole game. Especially as the Rushall
keeper spent 5 minutes shouting an inaudible angry rant to his own team. It finished 1-0 at the half and this was a
fair reflection of play.
Half Time – Saturday 5th
October…
I went for a wonder behind the opposite main stand to discover a 2nd
shop and bar.
The prices were still cheap. I wondered why it
was 20p extra for a coffee, but I didn’t let it affect me emotionally.
There
was no pathetic attempt at flirting as I ordered my ‘Home Made Steak Pie’ that was
served to me upside down.
There
was a extensive sauce and condiment table…
I would
describe the pie as ‘average.’ The filling was excellent as it was crammed with
nice chunks of steak, potatoes, carrots and an unrecognisable green think
(maybe leek?). The pastry let this pie
down as it was a little dry and tough.
Having
said that, I still bloomin enjoyed it!
I
finally found the toilets which were a bit of a trek… my ‘old man bladder’ was
safe.
My
phone rang and I was being Fraud Called by somebody pretending to be HMRC
revenue and customers – if you get a call from 02038965094, just ignore and
block the number.
Galverston by
Glen Campbell was on the PA and I set up camp for the 2nd half –
back ontop of the Rushall Olympic dugout.
I could smell tobacco smoke but wasn’t quite
sure if it was psychosomatic due to the 60s music or just the gutters on top of
the dugouts… The Belper part-time singers had moved behind the other goal to the
right.
Rushall
Olympic, in the last game of the GKA were the best team I’ve watched. They seemed quick, powerful and
they passed the ball well. The Rushall that had turned up for the first half of
this game, was not the same team – perhaps they play better at home, on their
artificial surface?
The
Rushall that came out for the 2nd half on Saturday 6th
October against Belper were a much better example of their potential. As the half progressed, they got more into the game and started to dominate.
As
per usual, nearby fans were obsessed with other football scores – I could hear
discussions about Buxton, York and Chesterfield results.
It
was at this moment that I realised that the FA cup is the best club football
competition in the whole world! What
other tournament would take you to these excellent villages, towns and cities
across the whole of England, from grassroots to premiership football? I felt
privileged to be part of this occasion.
On the 69th
minute, after a fair amount of sustained Rushall pressure – it became 1-1.
Then the referee’s
performance became a talking point - this was started by the Rushall coach who
shouted, ‘Well done Ref,’ followed by a mumble of, ‘I don’t say that very
often.’ In the 2nd half, the referee made a number of questionable
decisions and one of the Rushall assistant coaches was getting more angry.
He shouted’ ‘Ref,
do fucking better.’
This caused the ref
and the assistant ref (aka linesman) to come over for a quiet word and ‘any more
of that and I’ll give you a red card,’ threat.
Ironically,
the ref spent the next 5 minutes making a hash of a free kick/penalty incident
– in which nobody knew if he’d given a free kick or a penalty (it ended up
being a free kick).
Rushall had all the
momentum and pressure.
Against the run of play,
Belper made it 2-1 on the 80th minute – football can be a cruel
game!
I would describe the goal as a
wounder and the team held on to this slender lead for the final 10 minutes of
normal and 6 minutes of added time.
As I left, I had to
take a picture of this excellent dog and I was most surprised to learn that the
attendance was 528 people!
I
was home within 2 hours and it was another great day out for the GKA…
Sunday 6th October, 2019….
I
am very grateful because I received a direct message on Twitter from the
wonderful Mossley Hill LFC to let me know that their game against Stockport LFC
had been called off, due to surface water on the pitch.
Their
2nd round qualifying game is now scheduled for next Sunday, 13th
October at 14:00…
Thanks Mossley Hill for letting me know…
Geeky Stats…
Belper Town wins £11250 in Prize Money.
Route Men’s
Avro Fc 3
|
4 Litherland
Remyca
|
Sheffield FC 2
|
1 Litherland Remyca
|
Rushall Olympic 3
|
1 Sheffield FC
|
Rushall Olympic 2
|
0 Gainsborough Trinity
|
Belper Town FC 2
|
1 Rushall Olympic
|
Route Women’s
Mossley Hill
Ladies
|
Burnley Belvedere Ladies (No show)
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies 2
|
2 Mossley Hill Ladies
(2-4 Pens)
|
Sunderland West End Ladies 4
|
4 Mossley Hill
Ladies (4-5 Pens)
|
RIP Team and Stadium
Avro FC
|
Vestacare Stadium
|
Burnley Belvedere Ladies
|
Belvedere & Calder Vale Sports Club
|
Litherland Remyca
|
Litherland Sports Park
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies
|
Failsworth Sports Campus
|
Sheffield FC
|
Home of Football Stadium
|
Gainsborough Trinity FC
|
The Northolme
|
Sunderland West End Ladies
|
Herrington Recreational Park
|
Rushall Olympic
|
Dales Lane
|
Highest Number of Fans
Belper Town FC
|
528 (3rd Qualifying Round)
|
Rushall Olympic
|
259 (1st Qualifying Round)
|
Rushall Olympic
|
249 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
Sheffield FC
|
184 (Preliminary Round)
|
Avro FC
|
150 (Extra-Preliminary Round)
|
Sunderland West End Ladies
|
54 (1st Qualifying Round)
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies
|
44 (Preliminary Round)
|
Prize Money Leaders
Belper Town FC
|
£11,250 (3rd Qualifying Round)
|
Rushall Olympic
|
£11,250 (1st & 2nd Qualifying
Rounds)
|
Sheffield FC
|
£2890 (Preliminary Round)
|
Litherland Remyca
|
£2250 (Extra-Preliminary Round)
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
£1,035 (1st Qualifying Round+ Preliminary
Round + Extra Preliminary Round)
|
GKA League Table
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
GD
|
Points
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
0
|
9
|
Rushall Olympic
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
Belper Town FC
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
Litherland Remyca
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
3
|
Sheffield FC
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
-1
|
3
|
Sunderland West End Ladies
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
Avro FC
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
-1
|
0
|
Gainsborough Trinity FC
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
-2
|
0
|
Burnley Belvedere Ladies
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Penalties and Cards
– Men v Women
Penalties - Men 1
|
0 Women
|
Yellow Cards – Men 13
|
1 Women
|
Red Cards – 1
|
0 Women
|
1976 – 3rd
Qualifying Round – Hednesford Town V Telford United
After Geoff’s Hurst’s men beat Tividale they
travelled 17.9 miles north to Hednesford Town - it seems that all these early
ties in the 1976 competition were very local compared to the distances the GKA
have travelled so far in 2019.
Geoff Hurst was still a big draw and 1,600
supporters turned up for this Cup Tie (four times the size of a normal West
Midlands League gate for the period). It was still 3 times larger than our 2019 crowd at Belper Town FC and I’m guessing that Mossely Hill LFC will have
around 50 fans in next week’s re-scheduled match.
Hednesford Town’s stadium had been described as an
old stable in which the players washed in a trough and the pitch was a
bog. I wonder if this is any different
to the pitch that was called off at Mossley Hill?
The soggy conditions brought this game to a nil-nil
draw.
The following Tuesday night Hednesford travelled
26.1 to Telford.
On a night with terrible floodlights and a surface that suited Geoff Hurt’s playing style, Telford won 3-0.
Setting up another home tie against Matlock Town in
the 1976 4th Qualifying Round.
Route 1976
Hinckley Athletic 0
|
1 Tividale
|
Oldbury United 0
|
4 Tividale
|
Tividale 0
|
3 Telford United
|
Hednesford Town 0
|
0 Telford United
|
Telford United 3
|
0 Hednesford Town
|
1976/77 League
Table
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
GD
|
Points
|
Telford United
|
2
|
1
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
Tividale
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
Hednesford Town
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
-3
|
1
|
Hinkley Athletic
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
Oldbury United
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
0
|
Next
up in the GKA…
Next Sunday 13th
October 2019 will be the re-scheduled women’s 2nd Qualifying Round
game between Mossley Hill LFC and Stockport County LFC.
Men’s
Draw for the 4th Qualifying Round (Saturday 19th October)
Notts County FC V Belper Town
Women’s
Draw for the 3rd Qualifying Round (Sunday 27th October)
Mossley Hill LFC/Stockport
County LFC V FC United of Manchester Women/ Brighouse Town LFC
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