The Game on the 10th August...

This was another great day in GKA history as we opened the 2019/20 blog with a men’s football afterthought. Two community led club’s battled it out for a chance to progress into the Preliminary Round of the men’s game.

Drawn Number 25 Avro FC V Litherland Remyca

It was our trip to Avro FC’s Vestacare Stadium for their first ever entry into the Emirates FA Cup.

I had two guests for our opening encounter, and they were previous blog 'FA Cup Semi Final' and 'VIP One Off Special' returners, Adam and Tim Webster.  Adam is a fellow blogger as he tends to cycle around with his companion Peggy and create excellent little movies and photos of their adventures https://www.cyclingwithdogs.com/ .

However, Peggy wasn’t available as we were concerned about her renowned fouling ability on the pitch! ('joke' provided by Adam Webster). 

Adam appears to live in a hotbed of non-league football grounds and it only took us 15 minutes from his house to get to Vestacare.

It must have been a busy day as the Car Park was full and blog driver Tim had to park on a near-bye street.  

You can see the guests’ arrival here.

We headed directly into the club bar for the GKA’s first taste of non-league hospitality in 2019.  The bar was quiet, appeared friendly and we ordered a pint of Tetley’s, a Sam Miguel, a can of Pepsi and 3 hot dogs – this all came to £16.15.  The hot dogs were £1.50 each and we got kinda ‘swindled’ as there was a jar of massive German hotdogs on display behind the bar, but the one’s we got were only half the size – still tasty though. I'm not sure how much the pints cost, but it must have been somewhere around the region of £4.50 each. 

We moved into the stadium and it was £5 entry and the program cost £2. 

However, we jumped at the chance of a ‘meal deal’ in which it was £10 for entry, a program, plus a pie and a pint (Pies were £2, and pints appeared to be somewhere in the region of £4.50). 

 Hand model, Tim Webster.

As we moved into the Stadium, it seemed like Ryanair extras, as there was a sign saying £2 extra to sit in the stand.  I’m surprised it wasn’t extra for hand luggage or toilet usage. 

* Since posting this blog I've been informed by Avro FC that the above sign relates to Oldham RLFC who share the ground - Avro FC do not charge extra, so I stand corrected and appreciate the support. Avro FC have informed that they will cover this sign during their games to avoid any fan confusion.   


Below is how the other half live as the ground also had a Private box area and I saw a lady in there eating Pringles away from the riffraff…

The ghostly figure is me, taking the photo 

Customary Corner flag photo

Ball on a stand

The fun started, and the passion of football could be seen all around. The Avro Team were practicing penalties and there was a fan behind the goal that kept winding them up, but I wasn’t sure if he knew them or if it was a Litherland fan – it seemed good natured banter.  The game kicked off and, just next to the £2 extra sign on the main stand, a group of around 10 Avro fans started singing ‘Looking back on when we first met.’ One fan had a drum and as they banged out a rhythm, the rain started heavily onto the artificial surface.  We moved behind the goal to get some cover and spent most of the game with a slight restricted view.  

This reminded me of the 2014 GKA visit to see Everton V Swansea in which I got £1 off the ticket price.

At Avro we were treated to a cracking first half of football that saw 7 goals, some excellent team play, some great long-range screamers and a few bar and crossbar hits.  The worse the weather got, the better the Avro team seemed to play, but they went in at half time 3-4 down.

Above was the moment Liam Ellis scored a penalty for Avro to make it 1-2 after 15 minutes!

At half time it was Avro 3-4 Litherland so we moved into the Bar to use up our voucher.

We moved into a different much larger bar that was busy, but not too packed, and it didn’t take long to get served.  I would rate this as a good pie, because it was served at a warm eatable temperature and the filling was excellent. Temperature is important, as Blog Guest Tim was once served a hot dog at Salford City that could only be eaten if he 'warmed it up' in his Bovril first. Well done on the pie front Avro FC.   

I know this is a cliché in football, but it really was a game of 2 halves.  As the weather improved, the game got worse.  We moved away from our restricted view and the game got a little tetchy for both the players and the fans. For much of the second half it felt like Agro FC as parts of the crowd abused the referee for his decisions.  It seemed like a lot of pints had be sunk (not for the players) and this brought out more passion from the fans.  The game was accompanied by shouts of ‘Ref you’re a bald daft twat’ and ‘open your eyes next time.’ A Remyaca fan turned to me and said, ‘I was a Ref for 30 years and we always got abuse.  I bet these fans complaining couldn’t do any better.’

Football is a subjective game and as the ref blow a whistle for a ‘high feet’ decision I agreed with how he’d called it, but a lot of fans where hurling him abuse.  That’s part of the beauty of the game and that helps drive the passion and debate. Part of the reason I’m writing this blog is to see if the fans give as much grief to the refs and the players in the Women’s FC Cup – it will be interesting to see.

It was a goalless second half and great day out for the GKA.

See game report above…

There was a fan 'level-crossing' as we had to wait for the players to leave the field before we could vacate the stadium. As I stood next to the main singer and drummer for Avro FC, one of the Litherland fans said ‘That guy should be sectioned ’ – the banter never ends on a great day out and an excellent opening adventure. 

Thank you to both teams and sets of fans for the good times…    

Excellent Geeky Stats time (Men’s afterthought).

Route: -

Avro FC 3 – 4 Litherland Remyca

RIP Team and Stadium

Avro FC - Vestacare Stadium

Number of fans

Can’t find official numbers anywhere – somewhere around 190 (GKA guess)

* Since posting - I've been informed by Ryan Lewis (@RazzLewis) and Avro FC that the official attendance was 150.  Cheers for the update. 

Prize Money Leaders

Litherland Remyca £2,250

GKA Men’s League Table

Team	Won	Drawn	Goals For	Goals Against	GD	Points
Litherland Remyca	1	0	4	3	1	3
Avro FC	0	0	3	4	-1	0

Penalties (Men V Women)

Men 1 – 0 Women 

Next up for Litherland Remyca is a Preliminary Round tie against Sheffield FC.  I will keep an eye on this route and keep you posted, however, I won’t be attending all the games as this blog's focus is on the Women’s FA Cup…

Starting next Sunday 18^th August, with our featured game of...

Draw Number 3 Mossley Hill v Burnley Belvedere

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Meet Litherland Remyca…

Litherland Remyca are a community owned football club that have been established since 1959.

The club started as St Thomas FC in the Seathforth area of Liverpool and mainly recruited locally and from Bootle – changing their name to Bootle Church Lads Brigade and training at the Bootle YMCA.

It was then financed by the REM Social Club and that joint co-operation with the YMCA created REMYCA Utd FC in 1968.

Remyca are now based at Litherland Sports Park and still have strong community links to local councils.  They are in the process of trying to set up a Remyca Community Facility.

The team were promoted to the NWCF Premier Division in 2018 and last season they finished 15^th out of 20.

In their first ever appearance in the FA cup they beat AFC Liverpool 2-0 (2017) and that was their best FA Cup run - reaching the Preliminary Round.

Let’s see what Saturday’s game against Avro FC brings (2 sleeps away).

In other good news about the women’s game – the FA have announced that from 2^nd September 2019 all WSL games will be streamed live, via a new App that they are launching. This service will be free of charge and it will also include coverage of some Championship games and FA Cup games.  

See ya’ll Saturday for the opening round of the men’s FA Cup.

Extra-preliminary Round

Draw Number 25 Avro V Litherland Remyca

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Men’s Football afterthought: - Extra Preliminary Round Game

All this talk about equality has made me realise that I should at least cover the Men’s 2019/20 FA Cup.  I’m not going to go to all the matches as I did that in 2013/14. I will try to attend this opening fixture and possibly some milestone fixtures such as the 1^st Round Proper, 3^rd Round Proper and perhaps the final (provided I can get tickets for either of those games).

I will pick one route and keep an eye on the results – that way I can compare attendances and prize money etc with the women’s game – to see how different grass roots football is for the different genders.

As Manchester City won the 2018/19 FA Cup I shall also be starting with the closet game to the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City is the starting point for both these journeys. 

Draw Number 25 Avro V Litherland Remyca

V

As you can see (below), Avro Football Club is based 5 miles from the Etihad in an area of Oldham.  The club was formed in 1936 at the Failsworth factory of the British Aircraft manufactory - Avro. They play in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division in the 9^th Tier of the Men’s Football Pyramid. They were promoted from the first Division North Last season after finishing 2^nd.     

Avro FC play their home games at Vestacare Stadium and this is where the game on 10^th August will be held.  It is their first ever venture in to the FA Cup.

The winner of this game will receive £2,250 in FA Prize money and the loser receives £750.

736 Men’s Teams have entered the competition and 368 teams are taking part in the Extra-Preliminary Round.  You can already see a massive gender discrepancy in the number of grass roots teams playing the game. The women’s draw only has 20 teams entered at this stage (plus I can’t find any information regarding prize money for the women’s Extra-Preliminary Round –  the FA’s own page only has information for last year and it only starts with the Preliminary Round Fund).   

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Burnley Belvedere Ladies FC

More Women’s Football positives as yesterday FIFA announced plans to expand the 2023 World Cup to 32 teams – I have mixed feelings on this in the short term as there aren’t enough good teams right now to make the group stage matches competitive. One of my friends texted me after USA beat Thailand 13-0 and said, ‘women’s football is a joke.’ However, men’s football can also be one-sided as Man City won the FA Cup final 6-0 (and that was a final!), plus men’s World Cup games have been equally one-sided in the past (Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 in a 2002 World Cup Qualifying game).  On reflection, I think that expanding the women’s World Cup to 32 teams is a great long-term idea as it will spark more interest around the world. If more Countries can have a genuine chance of qualifying for the most prestigious competition in International Football, then surely this is a good development.  

A recent BBC article said that "The Women's World Cup is the most powerful trigger for the professionalisation of the women's game, but it comes just once every four years and is only the top of a much greater pyramid. In the meantime, we all have a duty to do the groundwork and strengthen women's football development infrastructure across all confederations."

I couldn’t agree more with the above statement so let’s get on to GKA business: -

Mossley Hill Ladies V Burnley Belvedere Ladies – Sunday 18^th August, 2019.

Burnley Belvedere Ladies FC were formed in 2017.  They play in the Lancashire FA Women’s County League – Premier Division – I think it is in Tier 5, but it could be Tier 6 as it is difficult to find up to date information on the Women’s Football Pyramid! Information seems to be a couple of years out of date, but I’ve already said enough about this in previous posts. 

Belvo Ladies play their home games at Belvedere and Calder Vale Sports Club.  This is about 2.5 miles north of Burnley Manchester Road train station, towards Brierfield.  Burnley itself is a town in East Lancashire and the men’s football team have a massive rivalry with local team Blackburn (apparently, the fans just don’t get along).

Like many Northern towns, Burnley boomed during the Industrial revolution due to engineering and the cotton industry – a lot has happened in the North since then! 

The Singing Ringing Tree is a wind powered sound sculpture that overlooks the Burnley Town Centre in the landscape of the Pennines – this sculpture won an award for architectural excellence in 2007.

Possibly the most famous export from Burnley is actor Sir Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men, plus numerous other roles and National Theatre Performances) and he was born there in 1939.  

Burnley Belvedere Ladies FC are surrounded by Pendle Hill and the Yorkshire Dales in this picturesque part of Lancashire.  I welcome them to our blog and wish them every success in the 2019/20 football season.

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Mossley Hill Ladies FC

I’d like to apologise for all the complaining and start with 3 positive stories. The wonderful Stourbridge FC released news about Stourbridge Ladies becoming the first semi-professional team in the Midlands, even though they only play in the 6^th tier of the game.  It’s an interesting read and discusses what this means psychologically to the players, in terms of their perceived worth, and the impacts of more training and diet plans etc on their development. Please could more clubs adopt a similar policy and the article can be read here.

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2019/07/30/its-a-whole-new-ball-game-for-glassgirls/

 

Speaking of Stourbridge FC, I’d like to thank them for their kind re-tweet.

The Manchester United Women’s team have gone on a mini-tour with the men’s team this week to Norway.  This is another positive development and Liverpool FC have taken it a step further as they took their Women’s team on their full tour of the United States. Liverpool’s tour included the use of private jets and official club buses.  Well done Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp for the forward thinking.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49152793

Now onto GKA business: -

Both Mossley Hill Ladies and Burnley Belvedere FC Ladies have tweeted about our blog!  Cheers for the support. 

This is where the difficult information times continue (another minor whinge), and (another disclaimer) I may be wrong about Mossley Hill’s position and even their name (when you look at the League Table on their website they seem to be called Mossley Hill Athletic, but everywhere else it is just Mossley Hill Ladies FC).  Another slightly perplexing issue is that there seem to be two lower divisions and two lower Tiers than Mossley Hill and yet those teams aren’t joining the FA cup until the Preliminary Round – In the men’s FA Cup the lowest ranked teams start in the competition first.    

All this looking at tiers has literally brought me to tears so let’s get on with it…

I think Mossley Hill Ladies FC are in the 5^th Tier of the English Women’s Football Pyramid.  They play in the North West Women’s Regional League Premier Division.  The female section of the club has been running for almost 20 years now and they have risen through the ranks from the lower divisions through various promotions.  

The club boasts to ‘have beaten teams such as Everton Ladies, Manchester City Women and Preston North End Ladies in recent years.’

During the summer I saw England Lioness star Toni Duggan play at the World Cup - her skills were developed at the Mossley Hill team from 2001 to 2003 before she moved over to Everton, Manchester City, Barcelona and most recently Atletico Madrid.  

  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49159755

 

Last season Mossley Hill came 4^th in the league and are hoping to improve on that in the 2019/20 campaign. The GKA wishes them good luck…

Mossley Hill is a district of Liverpool in the North West of England and the street from the famous Beatles song ‘Penny Lane’ is located there – including ‘the shelter in the middle of the roundabout.’ 

We all know about Liverpool itself as a huge City of great importance – it has a rich history of industry, music, culture, architecture and comedy (I’m old enough to remember Carla Lane sitcoms such as ‘The Liver Birds’ and ‘Bread’). The City has two massive football teams in the men’s game… Liverpool and Everton.

In our 2014 blog I picked up Everton 3 times as they beat Stevenage in the 4^th Round, beat Swansea in the 5^th Round then lost to overall winners Arsenal in the 6^th Round.   

I’ve visited Liverpool various times and spent many an hour by the Albert Dock enjoying great food and wine. It will be my first time in the Mossley Hill area and I’m looking forward to it.  Next up, some information about Mossley’s Hill’s (Athletic?) opponents Burnley Belvedere…       

 

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