Saturday 9th November 2019
Those
of you that follow the GKA avidly (all 6 of you) will be expecting a report on
Ebbsfleet United Vs Notts County. However, much in life does not go according
to plan, and due to a number of factors such as cost justification (£104 rail
fare and £17 match ticket), time justification (3hrs 40mins either way), work
pressures, life pressures and a general level of insanity on my behalf, I could not
make that match (I mean, I aint getting paid for this shit am I?).
This
blog’s original intention was to follow one route for the Women’s FA Cup, and
it has somehow morphed into a comparison between the sexes. How much does it cost per round, what is the standard
like, what are the facilities like etc? I completed a full men’s route in 2014
and I don’t have the need or desire to do that again. So, on Saturday 9th November the
GKA (aka me) found an intriguing local men’s game and decided to go to that
instead. A seaside derby between
Blackpool FC and their Irish Sea rivals, Morecambe (£7 rail fare and £10 match
ticket – much more appropriate for the not-for-profit GKA). It would be a similar experience to what I
was going to have, but closer and cheaper.
I
have a lot of links to Blackpool, as I used to teach at Blackpool College, I
used to play American Football for the Blackpool Falcons and my family used to
spend our summer holiday’s there.
However, I have never been on Bloomfield Road, the home of Blackpool
Football Club – this was my opportunity.
The
game was spiced-up as Morecambe have already been in the GKA in the VIP one-off
special from a couple of years ago (http://thegiantkillingadventure.blogspot.com/search/label/00%20VIP%20One%20off%20Special) and their 19-year-old left back, George Tanner,
is the son of a friend of a friend (George is on loan at Morecambe from
Manchester United). I’ve unofficially been told that at age 19, he is already
earning £50,000 a year for playing football – I’d take that deal anytime and it
adds to the inequality of the women’s game. According to the Manchester Evening
News, top Women’s Super League players only earn an average of £35,000 a year.
I’ll
still be keeping an eye on the official Ebbsfleet United game, but this journey
begins with a last-minute phone call to Blog Guest Tim Webster and a £7 train
journey to Blackpool South.
Blackpool was
cold, windy and rainy and I began to rue the decision of not heading to warmer
climates down south. The ground was a quick
walk from the station, and I entered the club shop to buy two tickets from a
very smiley member of staff.
I had time to
(Giant) kill, so I went and had a look at the Irish Sea.
I went for a
walk on the North Pier. In the above photograph you can see, the Irish Sea,
Blackpool Tower, North, Central and South Pier and the Pleasure Beach (the Big
One Roller Coaster in the distance).
I had some
lunch – Standard Fish’Chips’n’peas with a real thick strong cup of tea (a
lovely brew).
I met up with Tim Webster…
We thought
that the above statue was of Stanley Matthews.
However, as
it can be seen above, it was a statue of Jimmy Armfield.
Who had an amazing career, both in and out of football.
We entered the stadium, bought two £2 Bovril’s (standard boiling hot
salt water) and took to our seats.
As the players entered the pitch, I could tell that this was a higher
standard than the previous GKA rounds. This game was between two Football
League sides and all previous matches had been non-league – the players looked
taller, leaner and fitter – they looked like athletes.
A burning smell wafted over from behind the goal on my right, as one the
Morecambe fans had detonated a red flare – thick red vaping smoke engulfed the
top end of their stand as we stood for a minute’s silence for remembrance
weekend.
The temperature was 5 degrees, although if felt colder, and at 15:03 the
match kicked off.
Sunday 10th November 2019
I woke to a warmer, more pleasant sunny day. I had the prospect of a 55-minute drive to
Liverpool, to a stadium that was close to previous games at Mossley
Hill.
The
ground was opposite the River Mersey and I think those hills in the background
are North Wales.
Jericho
Lane Football Hub was a Leisure Centre that had a lot of football pitches.
This was the first time that the GKA had to pay for a women’s match – it cost a
whole £1. Although the person in front of me got in for free because he said,
‘I don’t have any money on me.’ And the two women after me got in for free as
they said, ‘I only have a card on me.’
Stadium costs so
far – Men v Women
I
was happy to pay the pound and I got a team sheet thrown in with the cost of
entry.
On the
day before, 77,768 fans had attended the Women’s International game at Wembley
between England and Germany. On Sunday
17th November 38,262 fans broke the WSL record when Tottenham played
Arsenal.
Attendances
have been higher this season at many WSL games (Chelsea V Man United at
Kingsmeadow was a sell-out as 4,790 fans attended – the largest crowd for a
non-premier league stadium).
These
larger crowds are not filtering into lower league football as I counted 109 at
the Liverpool Feds game. It is the largest crowd so far for a women’s GKA game,
but still a contrast to the 5371 fans that attended the previous day’s men’s
game at Blackpool.
Attendances – Men V Women
Highest Number of Fans
Notts County
|
5,729 (4th Qualifying Round)
|
Blackpool FC
|
5,371 (1st Round Proper)
|
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)
|
Liverpool Feds LFC
|
109 (1st Round Proper)
|
Stockport County Women
|
75 (3rd Qualifying Round)
|
Sunderland West End Ladies
|
54 (1st Qualifying Round)
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies
|
44 (Preliminary Round)
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
24 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
We
were on pitch 1…
Which
was clearly the home to the Liverpool Feds. An artificial pitch, with no
seating area.
There
was a one-minute silence before kick-off, but this was ruined by an argument on
Pitch 3 – their game was in mid-flow and I could hear a guy shouting to his
coach, ‘Tell him? why don’t you fucking tell him.’
It
was sunny, pleasant and 8 degrees as the match kicked off at 14:06.
Saturday 9th September, men’s 1st
half…
As
I mentioned previously, a lot of these players looked like athletes and you
could tell by the way they moved. Blackpool Captain Jay Spearing had spent the
first 16 years of his career playing for current Premier League Leaders and
Champions League winners Liverpool.
Morecambe
had a couple of chances as they hit the bar and post, but Blackpool were the
better side and they went into half-time leading 3-1.
Blackpool
player number 7 Nathan Delfouneso, dislocated his finger during a challenge and
as he walked over to the physio, to have it popped back in, he didn’t even
flinch before continuing as if nothing had happened (I feel that I would have
reacted very differently).
During
the break, Tim and I went inside to use the facilities and warm-up. It was crowded and pints were being consumed
by the fans – there was a TV screen with all the FA Cup updates, and it stated
that Ebbsfleet United and Notts County were 1-1.
Sunday 10th
September, women’s 1st half…
These two games were a contrast.
At Blackpool the away fans were loud and setting off flares, whilst at
Liverpool the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful in the sun. I could hear conversations between people in
the crowd and every so often there was a distraction from the other games. From pitch 2 I heard a shout of, ‘that’s too
fuckin easy’ and as I turned towards the Liverpool goal, I was blinded by the
sun.
This reminded me of the previous round at Stockport as
it was a similar pitch with similar lighting problems – the Feds game was more
sweary due to the surrounding matches and this filtered onto the pitch when one
Liverpool player received a yellow card for a possible bad challenge. I couldn’t see because of the sunlight
as the Fed’s player shouted to the ref, ‘I never fuckin touched her.’ However,
the Town player stayed on the floor for a good few minutes as she grabbed her
ankle and appeared to be in a great amount of pain. A Fed’s fan shouted, ‘Oh get up.’
I am fascinated by the biasness of football players and fans as
a Fed’s player took a throwing, some Town fan’s shouted ‘Foul throw ref,’
whilst simultaneously a Feds fan shouted, ‘What a great throw.’
Yellow Cards have been rare in the women’s route so far, but
this game saw 2 bookings.
Football can be a cruel game as Liverpool Feds’ appeared the better
team through most of the first half, but they still went into the break 0-1
down.
I took my usual stadium tour…
I spent £2.70 on a coffee and a packet of
Quavers (other cheese-based snacks are available at most retailers).
Saturday 9th September, men’s 2nd half…
As
we returned from the relative warmth of the inside, I managed to grab a sneaky
corner flag shot and then Blackpool continued to control this game and ended up
winning 4-1.
The
match saw 4 yellow cards and the table below compares this with the women’s
route.
Elsewhere, Ebbsfleet United equalised in the 89th minute but conceded in the 90th
minute to lose 2-3 against Notts County.
Penalties and Cards
– Men v Women
Penalties - Men 1
|
2 Women
|
Yellow Cards – Men 21
|
4 Women
|
Red Cards – 1
|
0 Women
|
Blackpool won £36,000 in prize money and this increases the
gender ‘pay gap.’
Prize Money so far
– Men V 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
|
Blackpool FC 4
|
0 Morecambe FC
|
Sunday 10th
September, women’s 2nd half…
The 2nd half kicked off at 15:08 and by the 53rd minute it was 0-2 to Brighouse Town and that was the story of the game.
Town defended well, were difficult to break
down and they tended to catch Liverpool on the break with counter attacking
football – this plan worked to perfection and they came away with a 0-4
victory.
Brighouse Town won £850 in prize money.
Prize Money Leaders
Blackpool FC
|
£36,000 (1st Round Proper)
|
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)
|
Brighouse Town Women
|
£1450 (1st Round Proper +3rd
Qualifying Round)
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
£1,035 (1st Qualifying Round+
Preliminary Round + Extra Preliminary Round)
|
Stockport County Ladies
|
£450 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
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
LFC
|
Stockport County LFC 2
|
2 Brighouse Town
Ladies (2-4 Pens)
|
Liverpool Feds 0
|
4 Brighouse Town
Ladies
|
It is interesting to note that the above shows that 83% of wins in the women's route have come from the away team. Whereas the men's route shows that 86% of wins have come from the home team (does home field advantage have little impact when there aren't many fans?).
1976
The
above programme for Matlock Town V Wigan Athletic was 71p in modern money and
this is still cheaper than the £2 that the GKA has been paying at all the men’s
games in 2019 (no women’s game has produced a programme so far).
Seating
at Matlock was for a maximum of 167 people as the rest of the fans (all 3336 of
them) would be forced to stand on the day.
However, the best seats in the stadium were in the impressive team dug
outs as pictured above.
Matlock Town 2 – Wigan Athletic 0
Matlock is on the river Derwent which flooded over our 2019 FA
Cup weekend -previous round winners Belper Town had their stadium and clubhouse
submerged in water as the river burst its banks.
The GKA wishes Belper Town all the best after this disaster.
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
|
Matlock Town 2
|
0 Wigan Athletic
|
Next up for the GKA
The teams for
the 2nd Round Proper for the Men’s, Women’s and 1976 routes.
