As it is the 2nd
Round Proper, we are getting down to the ‘business end’ of the FA Cup for the
men. A victory could potentially bring a tie with a Premiership Club in the 3rd
Round Proper. This isn’t the same for the
women, as WSL and Women’s Championship Teams are not entered until the 4th
Round Proper.
None of the
above mattered on Sunday 8th December as I was focused on my 24-minute
trip to see Chorley FC at Victory Park. It
was an easy journey and I managed to park right next to the turnstiles.
It cost the
GKA £3 to enter the ground. It was only the second time I’d had to pay for
women’s game and now I’ve forked-out a whopping total of £4 at the turnstiles.
Stadium costs so
far – Men v Women
|
Men £79
|
£4 Women
|
After paying, I
entered the ground and made my way towards the main stand.
I walked past
this Chorley FC badge and headed towards The Magpie’s Nest for a £1.50 coffee.
I took a
quick peek at the player’s tunnel and enjoyed the ‘butcher’s grass’ carpet.
I decided to
avoid these uncomfortable looking seats and headed towards the ‘Director’s
Box.’
I sat on the
half-way line as the game kicked off. The
GKA has become a snob when it comes to seating choice. I have been spoiled by many half-way line
seats and realised that watching football from any other vantage point, will
just not do anymore.
The
temperature was 7 degrees and the game kicked off at 14.01.
It was
difficult to ascertain how many fans were watching the game. There seemed to be
a constant flux of arrivals during the first half and I counted approximately
61 people and 3 dogs.
Attendances – Men V Women
|
Men 15,079
|
367 Women
|
Highest Number of Fans
|
Notts County
|
5,729 (4th Qualifying Round)
|
|
Blackpool FC
|
5,371 (1st Round Proper)
|
|
Oldham Athletic FC
|
2,858 (2nd 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)
|
|
Chorley FC Women
|
61 (2nd Round Proper)
|
|
Sunderland West End Ladies
|
54 (1st Qualifying Round)
|
|
Curzon Ashton Ladies
|
44 (Preliminary Round)
|
|
Mossley Hill Ladies
|
24 (2nd Qualifying Round)
|
After 10
minutes the hosts went 1-0 up with a well worked goal and continued to dominate
for periods of the first half. However,
they were holding on in the closing seconds of the period as Brighouse
had them pinned in their box.
At half-time
it was 1-0 and I went on my normal wonder.
Around the
stadium wall.
And past this
excellent art work in the smaller stand behind the goals.
I returned to
the Magpies Nest for a tea and a snickers bar (£2.50 total) before taking my seat for the
second half. Within 10 minutes it was 1-1.
For most of
the game the crowd was quiet, and I don’t think I heard a single swear word
from either the fans or players.
The most
vocal person was the Brighouse Town coach who was shouting from the start. ‘You
can’t have too many touches or else they’ll crowd ya,’ was his main gripe.
At 15.25 the floodlights flickered into life and the game came to an end
at 1-1. It’s the fourth women’s
extra-time game of the GKA.
10 minutes in and it was 1-2 as Brighouse took the advantage.
Then: -
·
It was tense, as Chorley had various attacks.
·
They hit the
crossbar for about the fourth time of the match.
· A Chorley fan
shouted to the Brighouse Manager, ‘Do you know who your player of the match
is?...
Brighouse Manger - 'Who?'
Chorley Fan - 'Woodwork.’
Tumbleweeds blew across the pitch...
·
It was
exciting.
·
It was
bloomin cold.
·
Chorley fans
became more vocal, ‘Why didn’t she go down?’ cried a fan as a Chorley player
was touched in the Brighouse box.
·
As a rule,
women players tend to stay on their feet when it could be argued that their
male counterparts would fall over like a drunken granddad at a wedding.
·
On the above
note of not diving, I didn’t notice a booking all day.
Penalties and Cards – Men v Women
|
Penalties - Men 1
|
2 Women
|
|
Yellow Cards – Men 26
|
3 Women
|
|
Red Cards – 1
|
0 Women
|
Despite Chorley pressure, the game ended 1-2 and the GKA will be saying
goodbye to the Chorley Women and to Victory Park (the only team so far in which
the women share the same stadium as the men).
Good luck Chorley and thanks for a great day.
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
|
|
Stockport County LFC
|
Stockport Sports Village
|
|
Liverpool Feds LFC
|
Jericho Lane Sports Hub
|
|
Oldham Athletic FC
|
Boundary Park
|
|
Chorley FC Women
|
Victory Park
|
Brighouse Town Women won £900 in prize money.
Prize Money – Men V
Women
|
Men £136,390
|
Women £9,835
|
Prize Money Leaders
|
Burton Albion FC
|
£54,000 (2nd Round Proper)
|
|
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)
|
|
Brighouse Town Women
|
£2350 (2nd Round Proper +1st
Round Proper +3rd Qualifying 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)
|
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
|
|
Chorley FC Women 1
|
2 Brighouse Town Ladies
(ET)
|
We have an 86%-win ratio for the away team and the women’s FA Cup hit
the BBC’s Sports Website as they provided a round-up of the days results.
1976
We have
discussed money, a lot, in this version of the GKA.
We’ve established that there’s not much money
in football for either the men’s or the women’s teams once you drop into the
lower leagues and this was the same in 1976.
Teams were struggling financially and being propped up behind the scenes
by volunteers.
Teams like Matlock Town didn’t want to get promoted into the
football league because it meant extra costs, recruitment of new players and
upgrades to the Stadium that could not be achieved without going into
debt.
In 1976 Matlock had a great team, but
they still didn't want promotion as they went into their 2nd Round
Proper tie at local rivals (18 miles away) Mansfield Town. A good FA Cup run on the other hand, was a different matter.
Ironically,
just like Chorley Women on Sunday 1st December 2019, this tie in
December 1976 was postponed due to adverse weather conditions (very few men’s
teams had proper drainage and under-soil heating in those days). It took 3 attempts and the game had to be
played on a Wednesday night, 15th December.
Mansfield
Town were a football league side (equivalent to today’s League One) and despite
their average attendance of 8500, they, themselves were just about ticking over
financially.
Matlock Town
ended up with a 2-5 away victory and this was considered one of the top non-league
giant-killing acts of the 1976 FA cup.
The Matlock
team can be seen celebrating above - most of them had to work their day jobs
before heading over to Mansfield for this night match and in the 3rd
Round proper they received another away tie against Carlisle United.
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
|
|
Mansfield Town 2
|
5 Matlock Town
|
Next up for the GKA - 3rd Round Proper
In 2019, 64
men’s teams entered the 3rd Round Proper draw and 18 women’s teams
were entered at the same stage (WSL and Women’s Championship teams are only
entered in the 4th Round Proper).
The GKA has another bumper FA Cup weekend double header...
Saturday 4th
Jan 2020, Men - Preston North End V
Norwich
Sunday 5th
Jan 2020, Women – Brighouse Town V Barnsley
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