Pies to Wigan

I was sitting in the stand at Wigan Robin Park, whom Prescot Cables were visiting for their first midweek pre season game, munching the snack I had bought in Liverpool, when I realised the incongruity of my position. I had come to Wigan, and brought my own pie. Not that I would imagine many bakers would have been open at 7pm, and as the humidity meant a downhill walk from the station to the ground was unpleasant enough, I would not have been inclined to go looking for any. It was an evening, at least in the early part, where the conditions make you glad you are not playing.

The club play at the Robin Park Arena, part of a sports complex next to the DW Stadium, the home of Wigan Athletic FC and Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club. The arena is a full athletics stadium, with an 8 lane running track, the normal installations for field events, and a decent sized stand.

I have never worked out what the gates are for on the enclosure, as they do not seem to be at an angle that would catch any hammer or discus accidentally released in the wrong direction that would not have been caught by the fence. It was, however at a very convenient location to reduce the time needed to retrieve stray balls.

Brown is not a common colour for football kits, with the only clubs I can think of off the top of my head who use a significant amount of the colour being Corinthian-Casuals and FC St Pauli of Hamburg - even Sutton United seem to have reduced the amount of one of their traditional colours to trim on an otherwise yellow kit. So, a brown kit with a red front to go with the name would have been too much to hope for, but in line with many modern kits, they have a plain red back.

I fully agree with having a plain panel on the back of a striped shirt, as it makes it easier to read the numbers, but I have never been keen on the front and back of the shirt being a completely different pattern.

Having full athletics facilities makes it difficult to find a vantage point close to the pitch. By the stand, you are looking across a running track and a long jump pit. Behind the goal, the curve of the track takes you away from the action. So, I went for a position opposite the stand, by the hedge, where the midges live, and where I found ... another long jump pit.

The lights were designed to illuminate the track, with three pylons along each side and three on each curve, which, when it was time for them to come on, made for well illuminated wings, being fairly evenly lit  all along, with the darker patches in the middle of the pitch. I am not sure whether they use the stadium for field events at night, the light looked good enough for safety, but I am not convinced about measurement, particularly with a discus that bounces when it hits the ground.

I like to include the ball in an action shot (as distinct from a portrait), but I sometimes wonder how far away the ball can be from the players and still make for a good shot. When players are chasing a distant ball, we can get away with quite a distance.

I am not sure how much you can get away with when it is a header and still give the sense of what has happened - I put this picture in the published collection, so viewers can judge for themselves.

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

Over 'ere son, on me 'ead

I take ONE weekend away ...

Since my last Prescot Cables post, we have had a change of manager, with the previous incumbent departing for the snouting velvet dingles of Cantilever Park to take charge of Warrington Town, and bring League football to the town.Warrington acted with considerable speed: having announced the dismissal of Joey Dunn on Monday 20th March, they received over 40 applications, sifted them and announced an appointment shortly after the post arrived on the closing day the following Monday.

Stepping in to the caretaker role at Prescot is someone who needs no introduction, Joe Gibiliru Senior, who my friend Roger pointed out as one of our best players when I first started watching the club in 1991. Shortly afterwards, Joe was appointed for his first spell as Manager.

Club President George Hayward welcomes Joe Gibiliru Snr back to the dugout

Prescot were entertaining Lancaster City, having captured a point at Witton Albion, in the first game of Joe's stewardship, in midweek.

I was once watching a game at North Ferriby, where the home manager was loudly instructing his team, "Head the BALL, head the BALL". The emphasis on the word "ball" was such that I thought he may have been concerned a stout Yorkshire cranium was about to be applied to downing a passing pigeon. From the photographer's point of view, this is welcome advice, as getting a head to the ball is good for a photo when it works, although using the head for freelance pest control in mid game may provide an interesting image as well.

Prescot very rarely outrank their opposition for height, so we sometimes come off second best in the air. We have some exceptions, such as Stuart McMullen, who joined us before Christmas.

Stuart McMullen

This is one of the classic shots of a header, the player making a big jump to get to the ball. Sometimes of course, the player hardly needs to leave the ground, as here.

Chris Rowntree

Another classic header shot is of the player rising above the players around, such as here.

Michael Grogan

Having the player taking the header with other playes in close proximity is very handy, as the feet of the players on the ground give a natural lower edge for the picture to show how high the player is jumping, with the ball forming the natural upper edge. I was looking for an example of a header without other players to prodvide a point of reference, and realised that they hardly ever make it in to the collection.

Better still are two players are in the air, going for the ball, as here.

John Couch

You will see that in many cases, the ball is not particularly close the the player's head. I do not always have the best of reflexes, and, unlike a player making a run, the header is a single contact, so if I catch the player's head making contact with the ball, it is sometimes more by luck than judgment. The SLR, with its mirror that rises to allow the light through to the sensor provides instant feedback - if you see the moment of contact, then you have not captured it.

The momentary nature of the header means that a lot of pictures end up in the bin.

James McCulloch

This one has everything - James McCulloch rising above his marker to head the ball, Ashley Ruane getting into position to receive the ball, and even a dark background for contrast. The fatal flaw of course is that the ball is just out of frame.

Prescot were unable to repeat their result from midweek, and lost 1-0. Meanwhile, numbers were coming in from Durham - 5, 6, and finally the end result. Durham City 7 Warrington Town 1.

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