Not going to the game

When I picked up my Merseymart, and read that one of our players, Joe Fielding, had walked 3 miles from his home in Standish (which my former manager, who lives there, assured me is the posh part of Wigan) to access transport to Prescot Cables' game at Lancaster City, I felt a bit sheepish not having attended myself. Lancaster is a pleasant town, and I would have had chance to send some photos to my friend Philip from church, who watched Lancaster City when he was at University, and is now spending a year staying with his uncle in New Zealand.

Joe Fielding, on a warmer day

During a cold spell in 2009, I was talking to a Manchester City supporter, who was complaining that one of his side's fixtures, at Portsmouth, had been postponed due to a frozen pitch. The temperature had dropped to at least -5ºC, so it was within the Premier League rules, which state that grounds should be playable in temperatures down to -3ºC. However, it was a surprise that games could be postponed due to the weather, especially as he was not planning to go out in the cold, but to watch the game in a nice warm pub.

For those watching football at our level, the weather is of almost as much interest as to the farming community. When I started watching in 1991, attending winter away games was a lottery. We relied on the weather forecast on the television, or in the morning's paper, which was vague at best, and the best part of a day old. Specific information depended on a call to the club, which relied on an official being able to answer the telephone, rather than being out clearing snow or inspecing the pitch.

Technology has made things easier: club websites and social networks keep us informed of early postponements, and the Met Office website and smartphone app give local forecasts that break the day down into 3 hour segments, so you can get a reasonable idea whether your journey is likely to be fruitless. In this case, light snow had been forecast for Friday evening, turning to rain later. In the event, the forecast rain fell as snow, leaving 3 or 4 inches across the county, and bringing down power lines on the railway line between Wigan and Preston.

The things that make a place attractive to visit often disappear in the winter: the steep streets slippery with slush, the views obscured by fog, which leaves the pubs, which are all very well, but they do have them nearer home.

Lancaster - lots of fires but few televisions

Having spent some time working out alternative routes, including using the club coach, it was announced there would be a pitch inspection at 11.45, with the coach departing as soon as the result was known. With the quick route unavailable, I would need to leave home well before the inspection whatever way I chose to travel, so I tried to second guess the outcome.

When the pitch is inspected early by a local referee, he can call the game off (if he decides there is no reasonable prospect of the pitch being playable), but cannot say it will go ahead, that decision is for the match referee. As the amount of snow we had would melt to form large pools of standing water (Waterloo called off their rugby fixture for that reason), I thought a game was highly unlikely, and decided to stay put.

I was a bit surprised to find, in pictures from those who went to the game, Lancaster had received hardly any snow, in contrast with everywhere in a 50 mile radius. It might have been handy if the person on their Twitter feed who was confident about the game going ahead on Friday had shared that observation on Saturday. NASA published a photo from the morning - if you zoom in, Lancaster is in the small green bit.

I had also thought of going to London for the weekend, where I would have been able to see Dulwich Hamlet play away to Leatherhead, but decided against due to the weather between here and London. The game was abandoned after 78 minutes when about 20 people, mostly teenagers (wearing onesies for some reason I have not been able to fathom) were celebrating Dulwich's second goal, a few of them leaned on the pitch perimeter wall and found themselves flat on the ground when it collapsed. Fortunately no-one was near the wall on the pitch side. It even made The Guardian.

Although we can see all the large debris being removed, the referee considered there may be nails and broken plastic from an advertising hoarding presenting a danger to the players - not having been there, I cannot comment. Looking at people's photos, I think Leatherhead may find themselves replacing more than the collapsed section, as a couple of other bits looked less than straight, or had mortar that looked as though it may have suffered from the weather over the years.

Planet Farsley is blue

Last weekend saw another small but select group of Prescot Cables' independently travelling supporters making the journey to Farsley AFC. This can be reached via Bradford or Leeds, the former being cheaper and the latter being quicker. I usually look at the fares, as Richie, our leader in pub and beer choices, worked for British Rail back in the day, so last needed to pay a train fare in about 1976. With only 4 travelling, 2 of whom joined at Warrington, we went for convenience over cost, and were rewarded with a good beer selection at Mr Foley's Cask Ale House, my first visit since the York Brewery took it over. I like a dark beer, but eschewed the Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout, I do spend the afternoon operating precision electronic equipment.

It was announced recently that the 2014 Tour de France will start in Yorkshire. Leeds Town Hall was getting in to the spirit.

Bicycle races are coming to t' town

To get to Farsley, we took the train to New Pudsey, but we could have got a ftr, a bus that pretends it is a tram, running between Leeds and Bradford. I was not able to ascertain whether they have anything to replicate the days of the original trams, half a mile or so from Farsley's ground, where the tram passed over a clever contraption to change the gauge of the wheels from the 4' 8½" of the Leeds system to the 4' of Bradford.

Farsley's pies maintained the high standards of previous seasons, and, although the steak pie was a little on the pricey side at £2.20, peas and gravy at 20p each made a reasonable price for the lot.

Before the game, a minute's silence was observed for George Hayward, our Club President, who died last week. This would normally be (and will be) observed at our next home game, so for Farsley to observe it too was a fitting tribute to George's contribution to his club and town.

When the game got under way, we attacked from the start, with a goal on 5 minutes from Ryan Grattan. When we score from a run towards goal, it provides the best opportunity to capture it, and I had a sequence of shots, which I put into the slideshow.

When I capture a goal, I include it in my pictures for the Merseymart, usually the last shot before the ball goes in the net, in this case including the other members of the day's independently travelling support in the background, in what is sometimes called soft focus. They used it, although not as the main picture, for which they took one of Anthony Shinks. I was a bit surprised, as the picture tends to illustrate the words, the main event for us was the goal, and the article reported Dave Powell talking about strengthening his attacking options.

We can see from the pictures above one feature of Farsley's ground - a large amount of blue paint, of a similar shade to the players' kit. I used the shutter priority mode throughout, and, especially when the floodlights come on when there is still daylight, that can make the pictures off the camera look a bit washed out, which is easy enough to fix by adjusting the lighting in Photoshop Elements. The Farsley players were blending in to the background a bit, and I thought they may have problems picking out their team mates, although the interceptions they were able to make suggested the problem may be for the visitors.

With Farsley's predecessor club having played in the Conference, the floodlights are among the best in our division. There was one issue: on the pylon nearest the goal we were attacking in the second half, two of the five bulbs were out, so I decided to take up a position between the two dugouts, where I found the lighting to be most satisfactory.

Danny Lambert, voted Man of the Match by the players and supporters on the coach

Matty Taylor

A good second half performance meant we were able to keep the high flying Farsley to one goal, and returned home with a much needed point.

I usually make my own way home: having worked with the camera all afternoon, I like to relax with some quiet refreshment. As my ticket was valid both ways, I decided to return via Bradford. I arrived at about 5.45 to find the city centre deserted - the shops still close at 5.30, and on Sundays, and people do not hang around in the evening. This has advantages: it is easy to find a seat in a pub; 24 hour binge drinking seems unknown; and you can get to your chosen establishment (in this case the Sparrow Bier Café - Yorkshire is getting very continental these days) without dodging groups of lairy youths and scantily dressed young ladies falling off their heels.

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

George Hayward 1930-2013

As I was writing my last post, I heard news of the death of Prescot Cables Cables' Club President, George Hayward, who died at the weekend having suffered a stroke just before Christmas.

George was the Club Secretary when I started watching Cables, and later served as Vice Chairman, before becoming President on the death of Bert Taylor a few years ago. He was one of those who kept the club going in the 3 years in the 1990s when we were forced out of the ground by the Prescot Panthers rugby league club, and brought the club home when the Panthers ceased operations.

At 82, and a lifelong Prescot resident, he had a fund of information and experience of the club and the town. I understand from an interview published on the website a couple of years ago that he served three times as Mayor of Prescot (Town Council). I am fairly sure I recall his being Mayor of Knowsley (Metropolitan Borough Council) too, as the somewhat artificial Knowsley United, who used to invite the Mayor of Knowsley to be their President, had to make do with the Deputy Mayor that year.

He was actively supporting the club right up to his final illness, with a fair turn of speed as he walked to the ground, as I observed a few weeks ago, as he turned into Hope Street a few yards ahead of me, and got to the ground a few more yards ahead!

He will be sadly missed by all at the club, and I am sure by many around the town.

George Hayward welcomes Joe Gibiliru Snr as Caretaker Manager, 2012

The light takes its time to get brighter

The trouble with the light at this time of year is that unless the sun is fully out, it is not very strong, even when there is not much cloud. Still, at least the sun goes down 8 minutes later than at out last game, although the benefit of that depends on the referee not hanging about coming out for the second half.

This weekend saw Prescot Cables entertain Curzon Ashton. The corresponding fixture last season saw Curzon resting players for the last game of the season, knowing their playoff place and home advantage were secure. In mid season there are no such luxuries, with Curzon Ashton well within reach of the playoff places, and Prescot needing points to pull away from Goole, Ossett Albion and Garforth Town.

Ryan Gratton

The Met Office tell us last year was the 2nd wettest since records began. We do not currently have a major issue with fixture congestion, with only two games to be rearranged, which I suspect may have something to do with having a run of away games in November. Had we had more games scheduled at home, I suspect we would have had more postponements, as the pitch is definitely sufferng from the weather. In the remaining 17 weeks of the season, we have 12 home games still to play, and our tenants, AFC Liverpool, have 15. If there is one thing we can almost guarantee, there will be postponements in the next few weeks, either due to rain or ice, which should make for an interesting March and April. We can see some of the damage that the weather has done, undoing a lot of the hard work Doug Lace and Harry Molyneux have put in.

Danny Lambert

In the second half, the lighting advantage provided by the calendar was cancelled out by the half not starting until sunset at 4.07. I am not sure why, the first half started on time and did not have a significant amount of time added on. I therefore took up position on the Gasworks Side, opposite the stand. Fortunately I was not asked for evidence of my relation to any of the players: the players' fathers seemed to be extensively populating that side - I noticed Mr McCulloch, Mr Webb, Mr Fielding and Mr Rimmer of those I recognise from our side, and I was standing next to a gentleman who, judging by his directed encouragement, was probably the father of one of the Curzon Ashton players.

From this vantage point I did not capture the Prescot goal, a superb shot by Anthony Shinks from the touchline in front of the stand, under the second floodlight pylon. I was not expecting a shot from there, and would not have captured it anyway, given the light. Those on that side of the ground expressed the opinion that there was little doubt from the moment Anthony took it that it was going in.

Anthony Shinks

Every now and again you get a picture where a player is in just the right position to capture something behind him, as here, with Dave Owens unintentionally advertising the Cables 100 Club (renamed the 125 Club in our 125th anniversary season).

Dave Owens

I slightly cheekily included it in my selection for the Merseymart, as a free advert for our fundraising efforts on the back page would not go amiss. I was, however, not at all surprised when they passed it over for this one, to which they allocated 4 columns and about half the height of the page, so I am not complaining.

James McCulloch

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

If the rain doesn't get you, the bus washer will

The Boxing Day fixture is a long standing part of the football programme. For those of a non sporting persuasion, the Boxing Day sales take a similar part in the calendar. That is, at least, for those with their own transport. Public transport remains patchy, with no trains, and buses depending on your location. London has a full service, other cities vary, and anywhere else has none. Liverpool had a Sunday service on most routes, between about 10am and 7pm. The information from Merseytravel was not as helpful as it might have been, with the booklet only giving times at the start and end of the routes, and only some routes uploaded to the Traveline database, leaving times at intermediate stopping points something of a lottery.

This year, Prescot Cables were playing away to Cammell Laird, on a bus route that was running, next to the Crosville (now First, soon to be Stagecoach) garage in Rock Ferry.

St Peter's Church, opposite the ground

A small but select group of independently travelling supporters made our way to the game, via Gallaghers Pub and Barbers in Birkenhead, something of a favourite for us when we visit the Wirral. Unfortunately, the barber's side was closed, as I could have done with a trim, but the range available from the pub side provided more than adequate compensation.

Cammell Laird seem to illustrate that a club with a profitable social club and small attendances will often do better than one with larger attendances and a lack of social facilities. We arrived at the well appointed Lairds Social Club expecting the game to be off, as it had been raining heavily for a couple of hours, not to mention for a few days beforehand. Looking out of the window, the bowling green looked in pristine condition, which had me wondering whether it is possible to play bowls in the rain. It might be better not to do so if the former World Champion David Bryant CBE is playing, as the rain would extinguish his trademark pipe.

Joining us in the bar was former Cables manager Dave Ridler, on holiday from his job with the Liverpool International Football Academy in Cairo. I assume he joined the 38 people who fitted themselves into the ground, the lowest attendance in the Division so far this season. At least there was plenty of room when the rain meant that everyone, apart from our intrepid musical section (Rod and Richard) made use of the available cover.

Fortunately, the covered standing is by the side of the pitch, at the end Prescot were attacking, so I had a good view of our attacks on goal.

Marlin Piana is denied by the goalkeeper

Our first goal was scored by Carl Furlong, in his first appearance for the club.

Carl Furlong

I did not capture the goal, the closest I came to it was Anthony Shinks crossing in, but the angle meant we would not recognise him without a team sheet. I captured him later, in a shot that sums up conditions in the first half.

Anthony Shinks

Despite the rain, I was happy with the light: sunset a few minutes later makes all the difference. The earliest sunset of the year was for the Radcliffe game a couple of weeks ago. In these latitudes, sunset starts to get later 7-10 days before the shortest day, and sunrise only starts getting earlier 7-10 days after it, although the latter point does not concern us for football.

Dave Owens, also making his Cables debut

The rain eased off for the second half, so I took up a position away from the cover. With 3 floodlight pylons on each side, the best position is about a quarter of the way along the pitch. This is level with the bus washer in the garage, so one usually gets a good spraying as buses return to the garage. Fortunately, on the Bank Holiday, they must have decided the buses had not accumulated enough mileage to need washing, or First decided to sell them dirt and all, so I stayed dry.

I did not capture Prescot's second goal either, a minute into the half, on the "pies before pictures" principle, and as it was a cold wet day, not just a pie, but the last of the soup as well. Marlin Piana, who showed promise on his debut at Radcliffe a couple of weeks ago, fulfilled it with his first goal for Cables. At least I was in the ground to see it, a fair proportion of the crowd were still on their way back from drying off in the social club across the road. With the score at 2-1, it looked like a promising afternoon, and still did even when Cammell Laird equalised again. However, when they went ahead, as Dave Powell explained after the game, we seemed to throw caution to the winds to get a goal back, allowing them to put the game out of reach.

I am not sure if Cammell Laird have improved their floodlights since my last visit. I always thought theirs to be one of the darker grounds, but I was happy with the results to the end of the game. The pylons and heads looked the same, but it is quite possible they have had new bulbs.

Joe Fielding, pictured towards the end of the game

After the game it was back to Gallaghers to squeeze in a pint, about all there was time for before the end of the bus service. As for the haircut, I had that at a Turkish barbers in Liverpool: they even flambée your ears for you!

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