Jack drinks his milk

These days, you need to drink your milk to be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley.

After Prescot Cables' game at Clitheroe, I did something I have not done before. Seeing the scores from the Football League, I paused and waited for the Accrington Stanley result, for a reason new to me, I knew one of the players.

Cables player Jack Phillips, who earned a clean sweep of the player of the year awards last season, had signed a short term contract with Accrington the previous day. He is not the first Cables player I have seen go to the Football League: Carl Baker is at MK Dons and Mark Duffy at Burton Albion, although they both went via Southport. Nor is he the first player I have photographed to do so: Erhun Öztümer and Danny Carr from Dulwich Hamlet spring to mind, but you do not make much connection with a player you see four or five times a season. Jack is the first player I have followed for a full season (even if I missed the wet Monday evening at Harrogate Railway Athletic) to progress, and the first from Prescot to move directly for many years.

At the first pre season game last year, I snapped the substitutes warming up. One struck me with not much more than his apparent youth. It was only a couple of games before I noticed he was regularly in my photos, often outwitting a bigger player.

Pre season against Charnock Richard

Three or four games in, I was looking out for the name of Jack Phillips on the team sheet.

Starting the season against Ossett Albion

In the FA Cup against FC United of Manchester

Step forward a year, to the first pre season game at Runcorn Town, and it was good to see Jack as a spectator. By now he was training with Accrington, and it would have been easy to concentrate on that and leave us to our own devices, but he came to watch about half the games.

Jack came to us from Wigan Athletic, about to cease to be eligible for their under 21 team, a birthday that was a surprise to many, who thought he was a lot younger. Many players leaving academies are lost to the game - Jack approached us after not hearing from anyone. A player released by a semi professional club will attract interest. Players leaving academies often need to to find their own club, at the same time as finding a new job or course of study. I suspect you have to be fairly determined to stay in the game to carry on playing. Many will decide it is time for something different, but it would be easy enough for academies to circulate the names of leavers interested in continuing to play to local clubs at steps 1-4.

There are plenty of players, Jack among them, who have the skill to play in the Football League, but, at 21, are not ready physically - take another look at that first photo, and compare it with this from the end of the season.

The last game at home against Brighoouse Town

Both Carl Baker and Mark Duffy turned fully professional at 23 or 24, and I thought Jack would be likely to do the same. However, Stanley manager John Coleman, as well as having long experience of the game at our level, was Jack's teacher at primary school. Much will have changed in his footballing ability in that time, but he will have known of his character. Given that I come away with a positive feeling from even a brief exchange of pleasantries with Jack, I suspect we will miss that as much as his ability on the field.

Celebrating a point saving goal against New Mills

Keeping the Yorkshirepersons at bay against Farsley

This week, Jack made his first team début for Accrington, coming on from the bench and contributing to their goal in the Capital One Cup against Bury. This blog extends its best wishes to Jack for his future success.

Up Ended

For those whose interest in the FA Cup extends only to the Preliminary Rounds, there are things we look for in the draw. Aside from a winnable home tie, an away game should provide a good day out, and be somewhere we would not normally visit. Glossop North End answers the first requirement, being nestled in the Peak District, and in any of the last ten years would have answered the second, except that this year they joined us in the league, so we played them at home last week, and will be visiting again later in the season.

A small but select group from our Train Crew travelled on our traditional 10.22. On arrival in Glossop, the other members of the party had some local hostelries they wanted to try. I went for a walk in the hills, so stayed on the train to Hadfield, and took a circular route taking in the old Woodhead railway route and two of the Longendale reservoirs, rejoining the away support in the excellent Star a couple of hours later.

The ground is one of the more picturesque in the division - provided you keep the chimney out of view, although it helps you see where the ground is from miles around.

This was the first match in charge for Andy Paxton.

Having started the season with three poor performances, there was a feeling that some of the new players were not as good as those who finished last season. Whilst that may be the case for some, of whom we may not be seeing much more, others were potentially good players who had not been seen to their best advantage.

There was just one completely new face in the starting XI.

Josh Nicholson (foreground)

This picture allows us to play "FA Cup spot the difference". Most clubs at our level have a kit suitable for league games, i.e. a starting XI plus five substitutes. In the Cup we can name seven, so it is not uncommon for one or two players' kits to be colour matched, but slightly different in detail. Comparing Josh with Shane Glean in the background, we can see Josh has drawn the slightly different shorts and socks.

Team captain James McCulloch was back from holiday, a welcome return for his leadership and organisational ability on the field.

James McCulloch

We started well, with a goal from Rob Doran ...

Rob Doran lines up his successful free kick

... and held on to our lead for the first half with a disciplined team performance.

At half time it was time for food, in the shape of the local Mettrick's pies. Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, visited last season, and reported that Mettrick's shop had a banner indicating their pies had been sold at last season's FA Cup final, possibly because of the Hill-Wood family's connections with Glossop North End and Arsenal, or because the pies have won several awards. Either way, I suspect they were sold at Wembley for a somewhat higher price than the reasonable £2 (including peas and gravy) at Surrey Street.

The hosts better organised start to the season started to show in the second half.

Joe Herbert in defence

Some were keeping tight hold of the ball.

Jazz takes a rest

Unfortunately we could not keep the lead until the end, with the equaliser coming in the 89th minute, and the winning goal for Glossop from former Cables player Jamie Rainford in injury time.

Obviously it was disappointing to lose having led all game, and the prize money would have been handy for club funds but there were positives to take. The team played as one, and some of those who looked lacklustre in the previous three games gave a much better performance under the new management.

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

Final score: Glossop North End 2 Prescot Cables 1 (Doran).

Things can only get ... er ...

Travelling to Prescot Cables' game away at Trafford, I was in the right part of the city to use Liverpool Central, and some tunnels where in the 1880s there had been a spate of fatal accidents. A number of men (they were all men) had been killed striking the tunnel wall or an oncoming train. It transpired at the inquests that they had been leaning out of the window, or in some cases clinging to the outside of the train, to observe "courting couples" in the adjacent compartment.

Believe me, that is as jolly as the evening gets.

I arrived just in time for the start of Joe Gibiliru's first, and it transpired, only, game of his current stint in charge of the first team. The event was facing stiff competition for the attention of the busy Urmston resident: Army Cadets were busy drilling next door, and bell ringers were practising about half a mile away.

It was overcast, so the floodlights were needed from the start. I remember on my last visit for an evening game, the floodlights were partially obstructed by trees, Most of the branches now appear to have been cut back, apart from on one specimen. The pitch is close to the perimeter fence on two sides of the ground, with a substantial gap on the other two.

There was a welcome return by Andy Harper from last season ...

... and by Franny Foy, who has played a couple of spells for the club in the past.

This picture neatly illustrates the problem with floodlights, unless you have 15 or 20 heads, you always have pools of light. Here, Franny is in the shadow, and the player in the background, Jonah O'Reilly, is fully illuminated.

Our play in the first half was encouraging: although we conceded two goals, one was a controversial penalty, and our team were visibly keeping formation. It would be a struggle, but at half time, if confidence continued to improve, a point was not inconceivable.

Sam Gifford

There was also news that our new manager would be announced the following day. If I had taken a break from my half time salmon and egg sandwich (I always go for fine dining in south Manchester, and it was reduced in Sainsbury's) to go to the stand side, I would probably have found out more.

Unfortunately, the hosts claimed the game shortly after half time, with three goals in as many minutes. I am not in the habit of leaving games early, but had the gate nearest to the station been open, I might have called it an evening, as there was a train due. As it was, I watched a confidence sapping defeat with Trafford scoring three more goals. Some were able to keep going, with Phil Bannister taking a shot that, had it been a couple of inches lower would have provided a consolation, and been the goal of the game.

Phil Bannister aims for goal

The announcement of the new manager indeed came the following day, although, as we are currently relying on the League for official announcements, at the unusual time of 1am. We have appointed Andy Paxton, who kept goal for us in the 2009-10 season, and has most recently been coaching at Skelmersdale United. He will be assisted by Steve Pilling, formerly of Atherton Collieries. This is a positive appointment, Andy knows the club well, has good experience in our League, and will be looking to make an impression in his first managerial appointment - and is probably best placed to address our most urgent problem in defence.

Andy Paxton playing for Cables in 2010

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

Final score: Trafford 8 Prescot Cables 0.

Well, that escalated quickly

I had been expecting rain for Prescot Cables game at home against Glossop North End, and, as I had not replaced the hood I lost a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering where to stand to get a decent view without getting wet. There were some cask ales from the Melwood Beer Company in the bar: the Walloper Gold the brewery makes for us is usually on keg dispense, presumably to avoid losses from tapping a cask before a late postponement and the contents going unsold. I need not have worried about the weather, and I found a plastic pint glass somewhat tricky to handle in conjunction with the camera.

Our Train Crew is often mentioned in these pages as respectable people naming themselves like a dodgy outfit from the late seventies. Some Glossop supporters with a minibus had the same idea.

I took up position in front of the tea bar, as against Witton in midweek, although this time I was alongside the half we were attacking.

I have reported over the last few weeks that we have kept about half the side we had at the end of last season. However, that has come a bit undone, with only three of the team that played against Padiham on the team sheet for this game, with Joe Evans, James Edgar and Ben Morrow all on the bench. I was unsure on the whereabouts of the others, apart from Jonah O'Reilly, who was injured.

Phil Bannister has been getting back into his stride since rejoining.

Phil Bannister

We did not have a good first half, not only conceding three goals, but also losing Leon Williams and Rob Doran to injury.

Rob Doran

In the second half, we seemed to be playing a bit more as a team, but we still conceded a fourth goal.

With three poor results from three poor performances, there was talk of whether the manager's position was in jeopardy. This seemed premature, although the board would need to feel he was on top of the situation. I am not aware of any discussion that took place between Neil and the board, but they clearly did not feel they had the reassurance they needed, and the following afternoon the League posted a club statement that we had parted company with Neil Prince.

The problem was that this was not the first anyone heard of it, as the news dribbled out on social media, with the first club related statement being from the Reserves' Twitter feed that Joe Gibiliru Senior would be taking temporary charge of the first team. I see how they reached the conclusion that the news was in the public domain, but it points to a gap in our communications. Hopefully the new website will be active soon, as it will allow multiple people to add content, and make it easier to ensure the club's official channels are the first to issue news.

I enjoyed the football Neil Prince's team played last season, with a decent group of young players - perhaps the team I have felt most attached to over the years - and we avoided relegation with a couple of weeks to spare, so this blog wishes Neil well in his future endeavours.

Neil Prince

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0 Glossop North End 4.

Kevin who, or naming names part 2

When I first saw the list for Prescot Cables pre season games, it had been jotted down from a conversation with Neil Prince, and the last game was against a team called Kevin. I knew about Barry and Keith, but this was Cefn Druids, from near Wrexham. Druids are a part of cultural life in Wales, and can lead to misunderstanding elsewhere, such as when the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury accepted (whilst Archbishop of Wales) appointment as an Archdruid of the Gorsedd of Bards, causing consternation amongst those who thought it involved wicker men rather than poetry in Welsh.

We had a team sheet, which caused some merriment, with our team featuring "Bram", "Gaz" and "Evo", and the visitors fielding "Fiz" and "A. Trialist". A team sheet at a pre season game is a working document, a rough and ready resource for those with an interest in knowing the names of at least some of the players, and something the management can use to make notes. It is not a league or cup game where names are checked for registrations, suspensions, etc. Having said that, it is surprisingly common for players to appear with unusual spellings, coming from a busy match secretary reading the opposition manager's writing for names they have not seen before.

Evo needs no introduction.

Joe Evans

Anthony Phillips, the brother of Accrington Stanley player Jack Phillips (a sentence a proud big brother might like to see in print - I will probably do a separate post for Jack's move) was able to identify Bram, but I did not think to write his full name down.

Bram

Some names needed to be corrected from previous versions.

Adam Garner

The sun had come out for the end of the day, which was just as well, as I still needed to take some ground pictures for the programme. As well as the stand, I took one of the Hope Street end.

As for the game, an early goal from the visitors was cancelled out by Phil Bannister on 30 minutes.

Phil Bannister shoots for goal

It looked as though we would hold on for a draw, but we fell to a goal three minutes from time, something we still need to address to make sure we are taking advantage of late goals, not losing to them.

After the end of the game, it was time for a couple of shots of the stand before the floodlights were switched off.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Bannister) Cefn Druids 2.

Stationary

Bus timetables almost always allow the bus the same time to complete a route regardless of the time of day. There seems little consensus amongst companies, or drivers, on how to address when light traffic means the bus is ahead of time. Some set out late and have you standing at the start of the route; some race along and arrive early leaving prospective passengers at intermediate stops; others take extended pauses at every timetable point. My 10A to Prescot Cables' home game against Witton Albion took the third option, which meant we were passed by at least three buses taking one of the first two approaches. In the event, I might have preferred the bus to have stayed put for the evening.

Jack Cookson

To manage expectations, I thought this game would be likely to prove fruitless, barring a stellar performance on our part. Witton were narrowly relegated last season, and appear to have recruited well over the summer.

A club in our position can still be building a team in the first few weeks of the season, due to players becoming available from higher placed clubs, and to holiday commitments. In an ideal world, everyone would be away when there is no football, but particularly where people are tied to school holidays, players who have been training in pre season become unavailable for a few competitive games. At least three or four likely first choices were missing for this game.

I took up position, unusually for me, in front of the stand, so I could continue my conversation with Dr Jon. We thought the visitors shorts were a bit close in colour to our own, but agreed this was the least important part of the kit to avoid a clash.

Phil Bannister

Witton's shirts had a plain panel on the back, too make the numbers easier to read; however, this was negated by black numbers, which come out better in the photos than with the naked eye.

Joe Evans

As a result, I was alongside our own half.

Witton looked likely to stop us scoring, whereas we looked in danger at the back. Jonah O'Reilly was doing a reasonable job in defence, but had to go off injured after 18 minutes.

Jonah O'Reilly

With the visitors 3-0 ahead at half time, the second half would be about damage limitation, and we were none too successful, with Witton adding three more to their total. This was undoubtedly a poor performance, with some first choice players absent, and the team unable to perform as a unit, The result will not be good for morale, there is nothing like getting those first few points on the board, the priority now is to make sure it is a one off at the start of the season rather than anything worse.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0 Witton Albion 6.

Seeing the view

An attraction of Clitheroe Castle is the view of the Ribble Valley and surrounding hills. The Clitheroe Tourist Board may not like my pointing this out, but on my last few visits, the advertised views were unavailable due to inclement weather. I did not visit the Castle this time, but the view from around the town revealed hills I had not previously realised existed.

The Market Place sometimes feels like a Lowry painting, and some sources assume "A Street in Clitheroe" depicts Church Street, off the Market Place. Closer inspection reveals that the building in the painting is not the Library, and a quick trip with Mr Google's camera cars reveals that the scene is a quarter of a mile away at the foot of Castle Gate, just down the hill from Wool Craft.

Google Earth currently shows an estate agent in the Market Place opposite the Library. In good news for the discerning drinker, this is now The Ale House, described on its website as a micropub, although, as it has seats on two floors and more than one toilet, it is perhaps a minipub. Given that the common experience in other pubs was finding beer coming to the end of the barrel as they started to pull the first pint, a fair proportion of the travelling support eventually joined us. To be fair, the first pint in the Ale House met a similar fate, but they had enough other beers to make up for it.

I have never needed to consider the position of the sun at Clitheroe's ground, but the pitch is aligned north - south, so that was going to cause problems for one half. For the first, we played into the sun, and I took up position on the covered standing behind the goal.

Almost before I was ready to start taking pictures, the pristine playing surface acquired its first divot.

Rob Doran was making a welcome return, and quickly reminded us what we had been missing, with a goal after 11 minutes.

Rob Doran

The advantage was short lived, according to the timestamps on the pictures, it was precisely one and a half minutes later that we kicked off after conceding the hosts' first goal.

A league game means you can use the team sheet to name players with confidence.

Leon Williams

By half time I was ready for refreshments. The steak and kidney pies had run out, but the meat and potato was a more than acceptable substitute. Meanwhile Ben and his father wondered what the Train Crew were plotting.

For the second half, we were playing with the sun behind us, which puts the players in shadow even when you find a spot where you are not looking into it.

Mike Kennedy

A Clitheroe goal straight after half time probably killed off any chance we had of getting back into a winning position: whatever we did up front, it was apparent we were missing key players in defence. Although there was plenty of time on paper, a third goal from the hosts ten minutes later effectively put the game beyond reach.

James Edgar

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

Final score: Clitheroe 3 Prescot Cables 1 (Doran)