This was a weekend of contrasts; contrasting journey’s,
contrasting weather, contrasting standards of football and contrasting levels
of entertainment – however, I would describe it as a banger!
Saturday – Men’s 2nd
Qualifying Round
Rushall Olympic V Gainsborough Trinity
Let’s begin with my trip to Dales Lane in the midlands on
Saturday. My Sat Nav had originally said
that the journey would take 1hr 52mins.
I checked again on Friday night and this had gone up to 2hrs 10
minutes. On the day as I set off, this
had gone up to 2hrs 20 minutes. I set off
at 12.10pm with plenty of time. However, the further I drove, the longer it was
going to take. After an hour, the Sat Nav was still saying 2hrs 40mins.
An accident on the M6 meant huge delays between Junctions 14 &
15. If I didn’t change plan, then I wasn’t
going to arrive until 15:40! This was
all quite stressful, and I became ‘that guy’ who drove past long queues and nipped
in to come off the motorway at Junction 15. This has made me appreciate that
when people do this, perhaps they are in a rush and need to be somewhere (sometimes,
somewhere even more important than a football game).
After a massive diversion I arrived with 3 minutes to
spare.
To put this into perspective with hindsight, this was a minor inconvenience
for me as it only added 50 minutes to my journey, and I hope that the accident didn’t
seriously injure anybody.
Sunday – Women’s 1st
Qualifying Round (the women play one Qualifying Round less than the men, as there
are fewer teams).
Sunderland West End Ladies V Mossley Hill Ladies
My trip to Herrington Recreational Park had far less
incident. The Sat Nav estimated 2hrs
23mins and it took me, 2hrs 23mins. The
only slight issue was that it was pouring with rain when I set off and parts of
the journey were wetter than Tom Daley’s trunks – however, I arrived at 13.40 and
all was dry.
Saturday
It cost £10 to get into the ground, plus £1 for
parking. The temperature was 22 degrees
and very sunny. As soon as I walked through the turnstiles, a guy with a
Midlands accent greeted his friend with a smile and the words, ‘Alright
fuckface.’
I bought a program for £2 and a can of Vimto for
£1 (the weather was hot). The attendance for this game was 249 and the ground reminded
me very much of Avro FC’s (from our Extra-Preliminary Round game), including
the artificial pitch.
Sunday
It was free to enter the park and it was free
to park. The pitch I thought the game was
going to be played on was empty. I had
an initial panic, before deciding to investigate further.
There were another couple of pitches deeper
into the park and one had a women’s team kicking a ball around. There was no information, no toilets and I
took an educated guess that this must have been my game. It was 17 degrees, and
quite pleasant.
Obviously, there were no
programs available to buy.
Saturday
I took my GKA corner flag photo…
Sunday
I took my GKA corner flag photo…
Saturday
At 15.03 the game kicked off…
I found a nice spot, drank my Vimto and soaked
up the sunshine and the chilled atmosphere.
As with most football fans there was banter; one guy turned up 10mins
late and his friend lied to him by saying that Rushall was already 2 nil
up.
At 18 minutes they were 1-0 up. By which time
Manchester City were 4-0 up against Watford and this score line was echoing
around the stadium like a game of Chinese whispers.
The atmosphere reminded me of the sunny Sheffield
FC game. It was hot, the crowd was quiet and there wasn’t much swearing. Perhaps, as I’ve mentioned before, increased
crowd size = more ‘anti-social’ behaviour. Everybody here seemed pleasant and
smiley.
The pitch had a rubbery smell (like a cycle
shop) and you could see puffs of black dust as the ball bounced across the
surface.
It appears that the new handball rules are
still confusing to many. During a Rushall free kick, a Gainsborough defender checked
with the referee if it was okay to stand with his hands covering his ‘vital’
parts! The ref said ‘yes.’
This game seemed a step up in class from the previous
game I’d watched between Sheffield FC and Litherland Remyca. A few of these
players looked like real athletes. The attackers for Rushall were fast and
displayed great balance. This was matched by excellent Gainsborough defending. 1-0 seemed like a fair half-time score and
there were only four fouls committed throughout the whole first half (all by Gainsborough).
Sunday
The game kicked off at 14.08 and I counted 54
fans plus a dog.
The standard of play in this game was not as high as the Rushall
game. The fact that women’s football is not on a level playing field (both
literally and figuratively) could be seen.
We had a female referee and two male
assistants. The crowd was mixed, in
terms of men and women, and they were mostly quiet and relaxed. West End Ladies juniors were dispatched at
both ends of the pitch, as ball girls (ball people?).
Most of the noise was coming from the West End
coaches as they shouted, harassed and encouraged their players throughout the
whole game – and what a game it turned out to be. A better standard of football does not necessarily
equate to a more entertaining game, as this match had more twists and turns
than a trip to Alton Towers.
At 30 minutes Mossley Hill went 0-1 up and they
soon doubled that lead on the 33rd minute. This was probably against the run of play
because Mossley started well, but after about 15 minutes West End seemed to
settle into more of a passing game. Too many Mossley players were ‘over-dribbling’
and kept getting caught with the ball.
West End had a fast, aggressive and talented striker (no 23) who
was driving her team forward and causing all sorts of problems. Her
problem in the first half was that she kept drifting offside.
However, on the 43rd minute it was 1-2.
And this ref confirmed that West End equalised
to make it 2-2 as his watch vibrated to confirm 45 minutes. This was a highly entertaining game.
Half time – Saturday
I visited Pics Pantry...
And bought this hot dog for £2.50. It was very nice, but the sausage appeared to
be a chip shop sausage (Saveloy) rather than the traditional Frankfurter.
Half Time –
Sunday
This tent was the shop…
And I bought this coffee for £1. I was told it was a ‘fancy’ cappuccino. The only food on offer was chocolate
bars.
Half time –
Saturday
I went for the usual GKA wonder around the
stadium for an explore. I came across the
sponsors lounge in which there was a round table and some men sat eating ‘corporate
cheeseburgers.’
I saw this sign and wondered if the GKA should have
access to the media room? (I didn’t really).
And this press tower.
This was the Press Tower smoking zone that had people
using it at half-time.
I took this picture of the floodlights and as I
wondered around, in the sunshine, ‘Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon’ by the Kinks
was playing on the PA. It could not have been a more appropriate song for that
moment.
There was a semi-cheer, by some fans, at the Birmingham 0-1
Preston North End score line when the half-time football scores were announced
over the system.
Half time –
Sunday
The West End Ladies team stayed on the pitch for their half-time team
talk and I took my GKA wonder.
Around the stadium….
I’d earlier bought some raffle tickets but didn’t
appear to have won…
And no matter how many times I tried to take a
picture of this excellent dog, he turned away as I snapped (he must have been
camera shy).
Second half –
Saturday
The second half of the men’s game took
a familiar pattern to the first half.
Rushall were the better side and created
the better chances.
Rushall doubled their
lead on the 76th minute and then went down to 10 men after one of
their players pushed over a Gainsborough player.
They still held on to a deserved victory and
won 2-0.
I got into my car and I checked the sat Nav -
it estimated 1hr 52mins to get home. The sun was shining, and ‘Love is the law’
by the Seahorses blasted onto the radio as I drove out of the car park – a fine
end to a lovely afternoon.
Second half –
Sunday
This half had more incidents than an episode of
Crime Watch.
The second half kicked off at 15:12 and
after a few minutes, one of the Mossley girls remembered that they’d left their
medical kit back in the changing rooms – she rushed off to get it.
At 60 minutes, a dog invaded the pitch (a
different dog) and this lively Border Collie bounced around for a minute before
being escorted out of the stadium.
On the 69th minute it became 3-2 to
West End and they deserved the lead.
There was a large period of injury time as the
Mossley Captain went down on the 73rd minute, in her own box. Someone asked for a stretcher and as
predicted, this was not available. It brought back memories of a Women’s Championship
game being abandoned last year because there wasn’t enough oxygen to cover
injuries. I wondered, are there any Oxygen
tanks here?
Number 11 came running off the pitch for
Mossley Hill shouting, ‘I forgot to put my shinnies on’ and then she proceeded
to tuck some shin pads into her socks.
I witnessed the first women’s yellow card of the
GKA, after a late challenge, and as the time ticked it looked ominous for Mossley
Hill.
They’d struggled to keep
possession and spent large periods of the game stuck in their own half…
On the 90th minute they made it 3-3
and the final whistle blew.
The assistant linesman jokingly complained that
his dinner was going to be late and we moved into an extra 30 minutes of play.
However, the ball girls had already quit before full-time arrived.
On the 105th Minute, West End made
it 4-3.
As they switched sides, one of the West End players
shouted, ‘I can’t wait to read this match report from the ‘Killing Man’, or
whatever he’s called.’
I presumed she meant me! Unless there is a killing man out there.
As I stated earlier, high quality football does
not always equate to high quality entertainment.
The game on Saturday was played at a high standard, but it was not as
entertaining or thrilling as this one.
On the 112th minute Mossley Hill
made it 4-4 and then spent the final 8 minutes pinned in their own box.
The final whistle blew, and this was my second Mossley Hill penalty shoot-out.
West End banged in their first penalty but unfortunately
their number 23 hit the bar on their third penalty and they lost the game 4-5 on pens.
The Mossley Hill Ladies celebrated their victory…
Another great afternoon and a 2hr 23min drive before I arrived
home in time for my dinner…
Thanks Sunderland West End Ladies for such an entertaining game
and I wish you luck throughout the rest of the season.
our geeky
stats…
Rushall Olympic wins £6750 in Prize Money and Mossley
Hill wins £375
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
|
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
|
Highest Number of Fans
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
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
|
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 11
|
1 Women
|
Red Cards – 1
|
0 Women
|
1976
Brian James followed Tividale
in their home game against Telford United.
This was an interesting match for a few comparison reasons.
Firstly, it only cost 30p
to get in and an extra 10p for a seat. That is only equivalent to £2.14 now for a
ticket and 71p extra to sit. Cheap, but
still more expensive than the women’s game.
Tividale only had one sheltered area, with
a capacity of 150 people.
Geoff Hurst played 49
times for England and scored 24 goals for his country. In 1966, he became the only player to score a
hat trick in a world cup final.
10 years later at age 34,
he was considered way past his prime, so he was playing for Telford United (a
non-league side). This is the equivalent of Wayne Rooney playing for Rushall
and Hurst’s arrival to Tividale boosted ticket sales to the extent that they
had 1007 people crammed in to see their side lose 0-3.
This set up an away tie in the 3rd Qualifying Round Telford against Hednesford Town.
Route 1976
Hinckley Athletic 0
|
1 Tividale
|
Oldbury United 0
|
4 Tividale
|
Tividale 0
|
3 Telford United
|
All away victories so far…
1976/77 League
Table
Team
|
Won
|
Drawn
|
Goals F
|
Goals A
|
GD
|
Points
|
Tividale
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
Telford United
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
Hinkley Athletic
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
Oldbury United
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
0
|
Next up in the GKA
Another double header for the weekend of 5th
and 6th October
Men’s North Draw
Number 10 – Belper Town or Witton Albion V Rushall Olympic
Women’s Draw Number
9 – Mossley Hill Ladies V Stockport County LFC
More information about these games to come…
All this of talk of equality reminds me that I’m organising
a mixed gender futsal competition as part of a fund-raising event at the
University of Central Lancashire in Preston…
Get in touch if you are interested in entering a
team.
