Thursday 26th December
Northern Premier League
Attendance: 1,008
Admission: £9 (Adults)/£6 (Concessions)
Boxing Day was upon us, the football derby day, and
Ashton United welcomed FC United Of Manchester to Hurst Cross, in what was
definitely an entertaining game. Ashton United, nicknamed The Robins were formed
in 1878 and they ply their trade in the Northern Premier League, premier
division. They play their home games at Hurst Cross in Ashton-Under-Lyne and
managed a 10th place finish in the league last season. Hurst Cross
is made of 4 main sections, one seated stand to the side of the pitch and
opposite that was the large covered terrace which housed much of the visiting
fans for the match. Behind one goal was a large open terrace stand and opposing
that was a curved terrace where the refreshments were. 
This match was a very attractive affair for us to do an ‘Away
Chips’, short trip, new ground and a largely supported visiting team. The
admission was £9 for adults which seemed very reasonable but it was £6 for
concessions, so U16’s pay £6 which seems very expensive, especially in
non-league where they should be trying to attract more younger fans to come
along. There was a small amount of parking directly outside of the ground and
not far from the ground there was many cars parked along a long road, just minutes
away. With an average crowd there would be an adequate amount of parking but
there was an extremely large attendance for the match. We picked up a programme
from those selling them outside the ground and the ‘We are United’ programme is
pretty good, giving a good insight about the visiting team and has a lot of
content looking back at previous matches with pictures and also general
football columns and for £2 it’s not bad value. The ground has a nice charm and
it’s a very traditional looking ground which is great for taking pictures, and
after a walk around the ground we headed into the club shop, which had loads of
old programmes on sale and Ashton merchandise and the person running the shop
was very friendly. There was a very good atmosphere building in the ground with
many of the FC United fans watching the Manchester United game in the clubhouse
prior to the match and the match winner was greeted with a very loud
celebration heard from the other side of the stadium. Ashton United have had an
average attendance of around 150 this season but this match attracted just over
1000 people and the FC United faithful in the terrace where vocal throughout
the game. 
The game was a very even affair with chances for both
sides and it was FC United’s keeper Ed Wilczynski’s saves that denied Ashton
opening the scoring. As the game was approaching half-time we decided to grab
something to eat. The opener came from the visitors through Michael Norton. The
queue was considerable in length and it took 40 minutes before parting with
£3.10 for pie and chips. The steak pie we had was nice enough and the chips
were great for £1.50, they were better than most that we’ve had this season but
nonetheless 40 minutes is way too long to wait for pie and chips. Supposedly
they usually have more food and drink outlets open but being a bank holiday
they weren’t and considering the crowd size, it had a huge effect. The second
half saw Ashton take more control of the game and they equalised through a Gary
Gee penalty after Tom Davies was sent off for handling on the line. Ashton’s
pressure paid off after they found a winner on 82 minutes as Dale Johnson poked
home after the visitors failed to clear. It ended 2-1 and it was a very
entertaining game. The Admission/Programme/Chips combo at Ashton United for
adults cost £12.50 which for the overall match is very good. 
Price: 5pts
Programme: 8pts
Food: 6.5pts
Entertainment: 9pts
Parking: 3pts
Staff: 2.5pts
Facilities: 2pts
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