A quick update on
Bury FC – another sad story for lower-league football as Bury
are now on the brink of liquidation. The
GKA spoke of their fight to stay in the football league, but now it seems they
may not exist at all, unless a prospective buyer can save them… let’s hope that
a club with such a long history will be able to find some way to continue.
Saturday 19th
October 2019
It was an easy journey down to Meadow Lane and a
stroll down memory lane as regular blog guest Tim Webster volunteered to
drive. I supplied a bag of car
sandwiches, to stop Tim from starving - he has the metabolism of a humming bird
and therefore must eat every 40 minutes to keep up his energy reserves.
It was a pleasant chatty journey that took 2 hrs 14 minutes and the time flew
bye.
We arrived and paid £4 to park, across from the Stadium,
in what seemed like a road next to some market stalls. A cynic may think that this wasn’t a real car park
and a chancer had set up a fake sign to make some extra cash, but it was a
cheap and close bye so the GKA was happy to pay.
We went for a walk around the stadium. As an old Football League club, with a rich
history, this was by far the most impressive Stadium for the GKA so far in
2019.
We came across this plague celebrating two Notts
County legends, Jimmy Sirrel and Jack Wheeler.
The GKA loves a good statue.
From this angle you can see blog guest Tim Webster,
Notts County’s ground and Nottingham Forest's ground – they are the two closest
competitive football grounds in England (only Dundee and Dundee United in
Scotland have grounds that are closer).
It was a large crowd and we walked past of group of
young drunken Belper fans. One was
urinating against a wall whilst his mates were pushing him in the back and as
they continued to walk towards the ground they were singing ‘We hate Nottingham’
and shouting obscenities whilst laughing.
As the crowds are getting larger, it is interesting for the GKA to
notice an increase in ‘anti-social’ types of behaviour amongst fans. This isn’t a
judgement, it is just an observation of how larger groups can lead to a
reduction in individual responsibility.
These Belper fans were drunken, excited lads having
banter and enjoying themselves – however sometimes fans can cross the line as
on this day the FA Cup tie between Yeovil Town and Haringey Borough was suspended
due to racial abuse from fans (a hot topic since England’s recent game against Bulgaria).
Many of the Belper fans were queuing at this ticket
point.
We stopped at this Burger Stall for £4
Cheeseburgers.
As we entered the ground and tried to find our
allocated seats a Steward told us, ‘We’ll let you in, don’t worry and you can
sit where you want lads – anywhere at the back.’
I had purposely bought tickets in the Belper end as
I thought it would be more fun (remember the GKA is a neutral fan). As a team in the 8th tier of
football, this was a massive game for Belper, and I guessed their fans would be
highly excitable. We went high towards
the back row and it was loud! Further to
my right, there was a drumming section and with 20 minutes to go before
kick-off, the drums were beating, and the fans were singing. It was difficult to hear myself think and as
I absorbed the atmosphere, I could see several disgruntled fans entering the
stand and arguing with Stewards because their allocated seats had been taken
and there was little space left. Perhaps
it was a mistake to say, ‘Sit where you want lads.’
Just before kick-off the Belper team came over to
the fans and were given a huge pre-game round of applause. A large Belper Town
flag engulfed us as it passed overhead like a Mexican Wave.
This was the GKA’s first Mascot of 2019 (I think
he’s called George and the Magpie colours of Notts County inspired Italian Club
Juventus to adopt the same kit in 1903).
The game kicked off and as the chorus
of chanting continued it increased to more antagonistic lyrics. Initially we had chants of ‘Yellow’ and ‘We
all live for a Yellow Football Team.’ As
the game progressed, they developed into ‘We hate Nottingham,’ ‘Your support is
shit,’ ‘Nottingham is a shithole,’ and ‘Your ground's too big for you.’
On the 11th minute it went crazy as Belper scored a belper of a strike from long distance. It was their first shot on target, and it was
a great goal. As you can imagine, this
section of the crowd was ecstatic and the GKA got caught up in the celebrations
– could this be an actual Giant Killing?
A flare was thrown onto the pitch
from a section of the Belper crowd and there was an increase of both Police and
Stewards around that section.
On the 28th minute it
became 1-1 and that is how we went into half time.
There were huge queues for the
toilets and the bar. The whole corridor
stank of booze, but all were in good spirits.
This was 1,718 Belper fans (according to the Notts County match report)
having a great time.
We eventually reached the bar/food
stall and bought two £3.20 Steak Pies and two £2 Bovril’s (Boiling Hot Salt
Water). The Pie had too much pastry, but it was served at a perfect eating
temperature and the filling was excellent.
We headed back to the stands and fell
foul of the, ‘Sit where you want lad’s’ policy - someone had taken ‘our’ seats. We tried to sit close bye but were told by
somebody, ‘People are sat there, they’ve just gone to the bar.’
We moved further down the line and
eventually found a couple of empty seats. The Boiling Hot Salt Water took about
20 minutes to cool down – it’s interesting how you are not allowed alcohol into
the stands but it’s okay to bring in a lethal weapon such as this!
As we settled for the second half,
the atmosphere felt more relaxed. We
were 10 seats further towards the half way line and there were more
families in this section. The songs
reverted to ‘We all live for a Yellow Football Team,’ and we had some brilliant
moments of football. The Belper keeper
made a few close-range saves and on more than one occasion the GKA thought how did that NOT go in?
County increased the pressure, had a
goal disallowed, and then scored a well-worked goal on the 69th
minute.
Belper continued to fight and they
put in a brave performance that became incredibly exciting in the final
seconds. Notts survived two goal mouth
scrambles and at one point the Belper keeper threw himself into the Nott's box for a
long throw – I was a neutral, but it was tense, and my heart was in my mouth on
more than one occasion until the final whistle blew.
County had manged to hold on to their
slender advantage and the ‘Yellow’ football team song erupted combined with
thunderous applause for Belper’s performance. This is the FA Cup and the team
came over for a well-deserved chorus of applause.
These were passionate fans, having a
great day out and it was a privilege to be part of it.
Well done Belper Town FC for your
part in the adventure and the GKA wishes you lots of future success.
The game saw 4 Yellow cards and the full attendance was 5729 (10 times larger more
than Belper’s last game).
As we where in Nottingham, we had a quick look at
Forest’s Ground.
And Trent Bridge Cricket ground.
Tim and I stopped off for a quick pint in the Trent
Bridge pub and as I ordered the drinks, I heard a group of County Fans arguing
about the scoreline. Some of them hadn’t
noticed that Notts’ second goal was disallowed and thought they’d won 3-1. I went over to ‘set them straight.’
‘I wondered why they’d sent their keeper up in the
final minute,’ one of them stated!
These fans were a friendly bunch – it was the
perfect end to a great day out…
1976 – 4th
Qualifying Round – Telford United V Matlock Town
Geoff’s Hurst’s Telford stayed at home after their
3rd Qualifying Round victory over Hednesford Town. It was 75p
(modern day equivalent £5.35) for a ticket, which is cheap for this stage of
the competition.
Conference teams were added
to the mix and 2033 fans attended the game. The biggest crowd of the day was 2550 at
Kettering, but that is still way behind our 5729 in 2019.
Due to injury, Geoff couldn’t play in the game and
perhaps his absence contributed to his team losing 2-5 and crashing out of the competition. It’s a good job that Geoff owned a serious a
Pubs to fall back on once he retired from football.
(Above) the fourth goal goes in against Telford….
Next up in the GKA…
Women’s 3rd Qualifying Round (Sunday 27th October)
Stockport County LFC V
Brighouse Town Women AFC
Men’s
Draw for the 1st Round Proper
79 None-League clubs remain as we move into the 1st Round Proper. They will be joined by 47 clubs from League's One and Two and this is the first time that the draw will been made on Live TV. Tonight, BBC 2 at 19:10... Lets' see what's next for the GKA!
79 None-League clubs remain as we move into the 1st Round Proper. They will be joined by 47 clubs from League's One and Two and this is the first time that the draw will been made on Live TV. Tonight, BBC 2 at 19:10... Lets' see what's next for the GKA!
1976
First Round Proper
Matlock Town V Wigan
Athletic
Geeky Stats…
Notts County wins £18,750 in Prize Money.
GKA League Table
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
GD
|
Points
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
3
|
0
|
7
|
9
|
-2
|
9
|
Rushall Olympic
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
Stockport County Ladies
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Notts County FC
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
Litherland Remyca
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
3
|
Belper Town FC
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
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
|
Highest Number of Fans
Notts County
|
5,729 (4th Qualifying Round)
|
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)
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
24 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
Prize Money Leaders
Notts County FC
|
£18,750 (4th Qualifying Round)
|
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)
|
Stockport County Ladies
|
£450 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
Penalties and Cards
– Men v Women
Penalties - Men 1
|
0 Women
|
Yellow Cards – Men 17
|
2 Women
|
Red Cards – 1
|
0 Women
|
Stadium costs so
far – Men v Women
Men £54
|
Zero Women
|
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
|
0 Rushall Olympic
|
Notts County 2
|
1 Belper Town
|
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)
|
Mossley Hill Ladies 1
|
3 Stockport County
FC
|
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
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
Field of Hope Stadium
|
Belper Town
|
Christchurch Meadows
|
1976/77 League
Table
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
GD
|
Points
|
Telford United
|
2
|
1
|
9
|
5
|
4
|
7
|
Tividale
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
Matlock Town
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
Hednesford Town
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
-3
|
1
|
Hinkley Athletic
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
Oldbury United
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
0
|
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
|
Telford United 2
|
5 Matlock Town
|
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