Flat cap day

A few months ago, I was watching a programme about the musical duo Chas & Dave. Chas (or Dave) was telling a story about an interview with a journalist. "She said, 'Why do you wear braces?', and we answered in unison, 'To stop our trousers falling down'. She looked at us and said, 'You mean you wear them in real life?'." As someone who likes braces, at least with formal trousers, I understood their point, and was reminded of it when Phil of the Cables Pharmacologists suggested that, as Mossley is on the Lancashire / Yorkshire borders, we should wear flat caps in honour of this heritage.

The flat cap has to be one of the most useful garments for the photographer of a winter sport. It is light, easily folded and slipped in to a pocket or bag, warm (provided you get a proper woollen one) stops rain running down your face but without a wide brim against which to knock the top of the camera, and sits securely enough on the head not to blow off. That last is dependent on not having long hair: when I feel the cap starting to slip a bit, it is time for a haircut.

So, flat caps were purchased by those who did not own them, and the independently travelling supporters (or the Cables Train Crew as we have christened ourselves, despite only one of our number ever having actually crewed a train) assembled for a rather crowded 10.22. I am not sure why it was so full. With the Grand National, I can see why there were crowds on their way to Liverpool, but, although I am not particularly keen on horse racing, I have never seen the need to leave the city at all costs.

The Train Crew - photo by Richie Brown

The first stop was the Station Buffet in Stalybridge, where the stag parties seemed well under way, with one group doing their bit for flat cap sales dressed as farmers, and another impersonating clergymen, for which I think you could be excommunicated until 1963. Moving on to Mossley, we found the locals in the Commercial to be interested in their visitors and their football club, although not quite interested enough to make the ascent to watch a game.

Warren Jones and Dave Powell watch Enzo Benn and Karl Bergqvist

Having encouraged the stragglers up the hill, the game got under way with Prescot playing towards the Yorkshire end (the end nearest to Yorkshire, whatever definition you choose to use). This end has a large area of white paint, with the sun shining towards it. However, there are relatively few problems of backlighting.

Jack Webb

We had hoped to encounter the Mossley Ultras, who have something of an internet presence, as it would have made for a good atmosphere, with both sets of supporters making a noise for their teams, but we seemed to have found their weekend off - something commented on by MossleySmiffy, a regular photographer of Tameside's football teams.

I do not often include pictures from the substitutes warming up at half time, not least as I am often getting some food at the time.

The warm up often takes the form of shooting practice, with a large proportion of shots missing their target. When the services of a stand in goalkeeper were offered and accepted (slightly irregular, and Mossley would have been within their rights to object), many more shots were on target when they had someone to concentrate on beating. Given that keepers from the 50s and before wore a woolly jumper and cloth cap, our stand in keeper chose to perform his function bare headed.

The second half presented more of a problem with backlighting, hence more of the final slideshow came from the first than normal (45 pictures from the first half, 14 from the second and one from half time).

Connor McCarthy makes his debut as a second half substitute

Some people ask the question why we need cameras any more when we all have them on our phones. The answer is that they are not very good (to be fair, the camera is at least of some use, unlike the actual phone, on which I rarely succeed in completing a call, like most people, I use it mainly as a mini computer). An action picture taken on a phone has never appeared in these pages, as I have never taken one, as the delay between pressing the button and the picture actually being taken means an attempt to do so is unlikely to be be particularly successful.

However, as we went down the hill, the pharmacologists wanted a picture in front of Mossley's rather fine scenery. As I had put the proper camera away, I thought my phone would suffice. Cue a LCD display that is hopeless in sunlight, and, with no viewfinder, failing to notice three of the party were in shadow from the sign at the entrance to the park. Still, a little tweak of the lighting on the computer helped a bit, and they seemed to like the result.

The pharmacologists on tour

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