All fields round here

I had thought the North West Counties League Division 1 playoff at Barnton would be my last game of this football season. I trundled off to the rugby union County Championship the following week, and had no Saturday plans after that. However, Matt from the Lost Boyos tweeted that his 100th game of the season would be Sandbach United's Cheshire League game at home to Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds and issued a general invitation. Sandbach have been accepted into the North West Counties League, so it would be interesting to see their preparations.

I arrived in Sandbach intending to take a few pictures and have a pint before walking to the ground. As I was inspecting the Saxon Crosses in the Market Place, a cheery wave from the beer garden of the Lower Chequer told me I had found Matt. I joined him and his travelling companions: Emil, the Secretary at Atherton Collieries, whose father admired the Czechoslovakian runner Emil Zátopek; and Joseph Gibbons, universally known as Gibbo, who combines being part of the Atherton Collieries media team with York based ground hopping.

I selected a pint of Joule's Shropshire Hop, and was concerned about breaking the Geneva Convention.

Joule's red cross is one of the oldest registered trade marks in the world, and is covered as an existing trade mark in the legislation that brought the Convention into UK law.

A consensus emerged that we would go to the ground in the town's taxi (we can offer no evidence of the existence of any others). We therefore visited the Saxon Grill, where the barmaid told us that, as they were mainly a food establishment, we would find a better beer range in the Market Tavern, along with a more eccentric landlord, although she did not mention that.

The club play at the Sandbach Community Football Centre, a large facility on the edge of the town, with five or six pitches. The main pitch sits on the highest ground, which should help with drainage, and has a wooden perimeter fence. Opposite the clubhouse and the entrance, the ground slopes away at the edge of the pitch, giving a good low vantage point for the photographer. The ball can travel some distance out of play, so spectators need to be nimble.

Gibbo returns the ball

Hard standing is in place behind one goal, with neat, new wooden cover. The unusual barrier at the front made me think of shooting butts, but use as such might make it difficult to clear up the gizzards, or whatever the inside of a clay pigeon is called, ready for a game. Still, I could not get rid of the image of gentlemen in flat caps shooting away.

Matt tries the covered standing

Seats have arrived, from the Britannia Stadium, and I assume a modular stand to accommodate them is on its way.

Once, and possibly future, Prescot Cables players were represented by the visitors' Lee Novak, who I understood from a brief snippet of conversation after the game is returning to playing after some time being unavailable due to work commitments.

Lee Novak

Ground grading regulations specify that the ground perimeter should be designed to prevent the viewing of the game from outside the ground. The reverse is not required, so we were surrounded by greenery, which might feel a bit open on a wet Tuesday night in November.

I have always been puzzled by the tendency of some players in contact sports to stick their tongues out in play, although I have never seen anyone left with an inability to pronounce their Ls as a result of an accidental collision. The habit is spreading to the match officials.

I do not think the result had a great deal of consequence, as the hosts had been accepted for promotion regardless of position. I was confused by what I assumed to be final the table on the League website. Knutsford were in top position with 43 points from 18 games, but others had played anything from 15 to 29 , with no suggestion of allocating position by the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Back in Manchester, I made a first visit (for me, not for my companions) to the Piccadilly Tap which has appeared in Piccadilly Station Approach since I last had need to leave the station. The beer was in tip top condition, on what looked like electric dispense, but they may live to regret not having anything to open at the back of the bar for through ventilation.

The rest of the pictures from the game are available here. Matt's account, in which I appear as a well spoken hipster, is available here.

Final score: Sandbach United 1 Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds 2.

What was your name again?

Thus enquired a Buckley Town player of one of his team mates in Prescot Cables' pre season game at the weekend. The question was not confined to the home team: I watched the second half from where the Prescot substitutes were warming up, and introductions were going on there too. Observant readers may have noticed a lack of captions in the last couple of posts for the same reason.

Some players are familiar from the previous season, such as the agile Brian Pilkington.

For the last few seasons for Prescot have played an international friendly. Wales is not as international as some places - the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team were spending the weekend playing the supporters of Altona 93 in Hamburg. However, it has caught out the odd English club in the past, who have not read the page in their League handbooks where it reminds them that players whose last club was under the jurisdiction of the Football Association of Wales need international clearance to play in England. Unless you attract the attention of the Prime Minister, failure to comply results in a points deduction for fielding an ineligible player.

One of the hazards of travelling independently (particularly when planning to pop in to the local ruined castle on the way) is negotiating the maze of local bus fares. Operators do not always help: Arriva's map of their North West (of England) area is a bit vague as to how much is included across the border. Mold appears to be in, and the driver confused me by suggesting all of North Wales was included (it isn't), although maps issued in Chester may have "here be dragons" somewhere near Gwernaffield. Had I used their "bus tickets 2 ur mobile" application, I would have probably overpaid by getting a ticket that includes the coast.

Buckley play in the Huws Gray Alliance (leagues seem to like names other than "League", but, as Prescot played for many years in the Lancashire Combination, I cannot complain). The Alliance attracts similar crowds to the EvoStik League, but ground grading requirements are not as strict. For example, the fence does not need to prevent viewing of the game from outside the ground, which means a view can be obtained from inside across into England and the Cheshire Plain, and the steam from the Stanlow Oil Refinery.

Looking around the ground, it seemed that Buckley are keen to progress to the Welsh Premier League, as there was ample evidence of improvements in progress - new turnstiles waiting to be installed, and a newly concreted area that looked as though it was being prepared for covered standing, in addition to the two fairly new prefabricated stands already installed.

The pleasant weather seemed to have had an effect, as this was a much better performance than in the humidity at Wigan in midweek.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Wild Rovers

This is an unusual report for a photo blog, with no photos from the game I am talking about. The reason is, of course, the ground regulations: -

19 Save as set out in paragraph 16 above, no person (other than a person who holds an appropriate licence) may bring into the Ground or use within the Ground any equipment, which is capable of recording or transmitting (by digital or other means) any audio, visual or audio-visual material or any information or data in relation to the Match or the Ground. Copyright, database rights and any other intellectual property rights in any unauthorised recording or transmission is assigned (by way of present assignment of future rights to the Club and The Football League. You further agree (if and whenever required to do so by the Club and/or The Football League) to promptly execute all instruments and do all things necessary to vest the right, title and interest in such rights to the Club and The Football League absolutely and with full title guarantee.

I think we can all agree that is quite comprehensive. The paragraph 16 allows mobile telephones provided they are not used to disseminate audiovisual material from inside the ground. It is a different world from that in which we move, a brand to be protected, rather than depending on supporters to provide the publicity the club needs to survive.

Prescot Cables were playing at Prenton Park, the home of Tranmere Rovers, in the semi final of the Liverpool Senior Cup, having been reinstated in the competition due to Southport's having fielded an ineligible player in the previous round.

I started watching Prescot Cables 20 years ago, when my friend Roger drummed up support for the club by bringing his friends from University along. Today, this function is fulfilled by Phil, who got together a group of us to go to the game by the Mersey Ferry, pausing for a pint (but not a haircut) in the excellent Gallagher's Pub and Barbers in Birkenhead.

Tranmere accurately anticipated the crowd of 273, as they had opened an area of the main stand with, I would estimate from the small number of empty seats, a capacity of a little over 300, with a good view of the pitch. This was just as well, as we were treated to an excellent game, especially as they had only charged £3 admission. As Tranmere were fielding some first team players, I thought a good result would have been to keep them to two or three goals, and to score a goal ourselves.

To say our team exceeded these modest expectations is putting it mildly: not only did Prescot score, but we scored the first goal; when Tranmere scored the anticipated couple in reply, Prescot came back again; when Tranmere put the game to bed in the 90th minute, we ensured extra time with a goal in the last few seconds of injury time. The EvoStik League website listed the time as 95 minutes, rather than the customary 90, which may have been accurate, but will have left the casual observer wondering how we came to be playing extra time. Coming back from behind again in injury time meant penalties, with both teams' efforts all being on target, but one from Prescot being saved.

Going to a Football League ground, although it is a big day, can sometimes feel like a bit of a bind, with no pictures, restrictions on what you can take in - I sometimes wonder if I am to be parted from the rolled up newspaper for reading on the way home. This is especially so when the expected defeat materialises, but there are times an amateur  team like ours can produce a turn up for the books and hold a fully professional team, which makes the exercise worthwhile.

The report would not be complete without a couple of pictures (from the next game, obviously). It seems almost unfair to only show a couple of players, as it was first and foremost a team performance, but here are our goal scorers, Steven Tames, who scored a hat trick, and Michael Grogan, who scored the goal to ensure extra time.

Steven Tames

Michael Grogan