Droylsden 1-5 Ilkeston

Saturday 8^th February

Northern Premier League

Attendance: 136

Admission: £10/£6/£2 (Adults/Concessions/Under 16s)

As many matches fell victim to the weather, on Saturday came that time looking for any game in the local area. We were due to be going to the Winsford v Stockport Sports game but that got called off so I found myself on the way to Droylsden by Tram.

Droylsden were formed in 1892 and play in the Premier division of the Northern Premier League, with their home games being played at the Butcher’s Arms ground. The small ground has 3 stands, a seated stand housing the player’s facilities so the seats have a heightened view. The other two stands are terraces with the large terrace behind the goal sheltering the Ilkeston fans from the heavy rain and the small stand to the side housing some more of the fans. The attendance at the game was 136 with many of the fans coming from Ilkeston.

 

The admission at Droylsden was £10 for Adults, £6 for Concessions and £2 for Under 16’s which is average from what I’ve seen in this division and decent value especially for the children attending. The ground was close to the Droylsden tram stop making it an easy ground to get to. When we got into the ground we picked up one of the programmes which has some good content but it was hardly professional and lacked some colour but for £2 it wasn’t bad.  The game was entertaining enough with result pretty much pre-determined with Droylsden’s winless season. Ilkeston bossed the first half but for much of the second half Droylsden were much the better side.

At half-time we sampled the foods on offer and went for Chips which came (to us dreaded) cone but it was overflowing with chips so the portion size was nothing to complain about, they were average, they had the normal condiments of salt, ketchup and vinegar. The prices were good for chips at £1.50, whilst the pies were also £1.50. So the Admission/Programme/Chips combo in the ground is £13.50 which is very good for the things available, maybe as a home fan it would be hard to muster giving this money away each week when your team cannot win.

Overall the ground had character with a very big social club and the good value food makes the day all better, a pretty good day.

Price: 7.5pts

Programme: 6.5pts

Food: 7.5pts

Entertainment: 7.5pts

Parking 2pts

Staff: 2pts

Facilites: 2pts

Total Score: 35pts

Match Pictures

Trafford 3-3 Witton Albion

Saturday 28^th December

Northern Premier League

Attendance: 234

Admission: £8 Adults / £5 Concessions

 

Trafford FC welcomed Witton Albion to Shawe View in the Northern Premier League. Both sides are flirting with relegation danger in the league, it was going to be an entertaining affair. Trafford FC, formed in 1990, play their home games at Shawe Lane. The ground is made of 3 covered stands. Two of them are seated stands along the length of the pitch, the main stand housing the refreshments and bar and opposing that is the other seated stand with small section of standing behind the seats. Behind the goals there is a covered terrace and an open end. Trafford gained promotion last season through the play-offs after beating Cammell Laird in the final.

The admission at Trafford is £8 for Adults, £5 for Concessions, £2 for Under 18’s and free for Under 12’s which is very reasonable for the league and the quality of the teams. There were many kids at the match a true reflection of the value for Under 18’s. There is a large car park directly outside the turnstiles to the ground.  After getting into the ground I parted with more cash buying a ‘Trafford Review’ and a golden goal ticket. The programme offered a lot of information across the Northern Premier League, premier and northern division and also the NWCFL. It also gives good detail on the playing squad of both teams and also has the match reports from previous games. It maybe lacked colour in the programme as it is primarily black and white. There was a large group of vocal Witton Albion fans who had made the trip.

 

The game was very much end to end, Witton opened the scoring 5 minutes in, messing up my golden goal of 49 minutes, the rest of the first half was even throughout. The action came in the second half as Trafford levelled the match up a few minutes in. Witton took control of the match after that and inevitable came when they went 2-1 up and that looked to be the winner until the 87^th minute when Trafford equlised and just minutes later Trafford took the lead for the first time in the match. It didn’t end there. Witton with the last attack of the game equalised to end the game 3-3.

At half-time we sampled the food on offer at Trafford. We went for the burger, parting £2.50 for Cheeseburger with onions, a nice burger; the value for other things such as cans was good, at 60p. We decided against having a pie. So the Admission/Programme/Burger combo costs £12.50 at Trafford which is pretty good value especially for the entertaining match on offer.

Overall it was a great game to watch, with good value food and admission. The programme was good and overall it was a good overall experience.

Price: 8pts

Programme: 7pts

Food: 7pts

Entertainment: 9pts

Parking: 4.5pts

Staff: 2.5pts

Facilities: 1.5pts

Total Score: 39.5pts

Match Pictures

Ashton United 2-1 FC United Of Manchester

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 10^th 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.

Overall Ashton United was a good visit with an entertaining match. It’s been a while since we’ve had chips so that’s a plus. Hurst Cross is a great ground for a match and the atmosphere was brilliant adding to the game.

 

Price: 5pts

Programme: 8pts

Food: 6.5pts

Entertainment: 9pts

Parking: 3pts

Staff: 2.5pts

Facilities: 2pts

Total Score: 36pts

Match Pictures

Glossop North End 0-3 Stockport Sports

Tuesday 29^th October
NWCFL Premier Division
Attendance: 109
Admission: £6


Glossop North End, a former football league side, now plays in the NWCFL Premier Division and they reside at Surrey Street. The club formed in 1886 and their record attendance was 10,736 against Preston North End in the FA Cup 1914. Last season the club managed 13^th place in the league and will be hoping to improve on that this season.
 It was a short trip from Woodley to get to Glossop; Surrey Street is a small ground with three covered stands, two terraced with one to the side of the pitch and one behind one of the goals. The seated stand placed to the side of the pitch. The first thoughts of the ground are that it’s a nice non-league ground and will host hopefully an entertaining game.  Admission was £6 for adults for the match which is £1 above the average fiver in this league. Chips are the holy grail on our travels but there weren’t any.                              

Plan B: Pies. The Steak pie was one of the many pies on offer and it was probably the best pie I’ve had at any football matches. At £1.50 it was well worth the outlay; there was no wait to get the food which makes it all better. So Admission/Programme/Pie cost just £8.50 well worth it with the game.
 It’s nice to see at a football ground especially at Non-league level, fans wearing the shirt, the support is great at Glossop but there were seemingly disappointed with the result as they put in a decent performance and were unlucky not to get anything from the game. Stockport Sports were impressive and so far this season it’s not been often that you can say that. Standing next to irate opposition fans can make the game a lot more interesting. Only a small contingent following Stockport to Glossop but they obviously went home happy. Kick-Off was delayed 5 minutes due to the Stockport kit arriving late from Blackpool with some of the players, so most of the players had to loiter around the ground while the other team were training.
 It’s also nice to see a PA system working clearly to give the team line-ups and the team sheet was also put up in the clubhouse.
 The Programme is great at £1 it’s great value, you anticipate it being more and you put some of your money away, the contents good, it looks great and it delivers what a programme needs. The parking outside seemed lacking but the ground still hosted over 100 people. The staff were friendly, although I didn’t speak too much to them, you could see them interacting with others and they showed their love for the club.
 Overall well worth the visit, made better with a win but the food there is amazing (note: get a steak pie) and it was all round a great match, definitely one of my favourite ‘Away Chips’ of the season.

Price: 7pts
Programme: 8pts
Food: 8pts
Entertainment: 9.5pts
Parking: 2.5pts
Staff: 3pts
Facilities: 2pts

Total Score: 40pts

 

Match Pictures