Daily Archives: March 18, 2012

Unhappy Glappy

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in G

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Saturday 17th March 2012 ko 7.30pm

Central Midlands League North Division

GLAPWELL 0

PARKHOUSE 2 (Clay 23 Wain 73)

Att 201

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £2.50

The final game saw the hop at a club returning to the CMFL after rising as far as the Northern Premier League.

Still in North Derbyshire Glapwell is most famous for its colliery which closed in the 1970’s. Its most famous employee was current Bolsover (around 3 miles away) MP Dennis Skinner. Apparently he often tells the story of turning up back at the pit to work his shift after being elected as an MP as he still considered himself a miner, and being an MP not a proper job.

The village is listed in the Domesday Book. In 1086, the book notes that Serb holds this for William Peverall, “In Clapwell, Liefric had one carucate of land to the geld. There is land for as two ploughs. There eight villans have 6 ploughs… Serb now holds it.”

I found it hard to see the place as a colliery village, as there’s something rather quiet and rural about the place. Hall Corner was easily the best appointed of the grounds on the Bonanza, a testament to the club’s rise and fall. The club won the CMFL in 1994 and won their way through both divisions of the Northern Counties East to reach the Northern Premier League. That’s reflected in cover on 2 sides and 137 seats at the ground plus a club shop and burger bar. Despite this, Hall Corner was not deemed suitable for the NPL and for the 2010–11 season, the club had an agreement with Mansfield Town F.C. which allowed the club to play their home games at Mansfield’s ground, Field Mill. Disaster struck in December as Mansfield were locked out of the ground by their landlord Keith Haslam, and so the Glapwell reluctantly returned to Hall Corner. At the end of the season the club resigned from the NPL over ground grading issues and returned to the CMFL, opting not to enter the higher status Northern Counties East.

There was a little nugget of news about the opposition too. Clay Cross based Parkhouse are set to change their name to Clay Cross Town so as to better reflect the suburb of Chesterfield in which they play. Perhaps I should have bought one of their badges, I’d have a little piece of history.

In a scrappy game of few chances it was the visitors’ quality in the final third that was the difference with Glapwell struggling to register a meaningful shot on target.
After a cagey opening where Parkhouse went close on a couple of occasions, they took the lead on 23 minutes in fortuitous circumstances.  Ant Lynam’s through ball was headed back into the middle of the box by Michael Wain. Lee Clay’s shot was blocked by keeper Jamie Davies, but the rebound hit Clay and agonisingly the ball trickled in.
Glapwell were guilty of gifting away possession and they created very few clear-cut chances throughout the game. Parkhouse could have doubled their lead just after the break but full back Luke Beatson headed over the bar when it looked a good deal easier to score.
Glapwell had a half chance just before the hour when Jordan Johnson’s free kick was headed over by Jay Whalley. Thet followed that up when Kye Martey controlled well, before playing in Callum Green, whose low effort just slid past the post from around 18 yards out.
Alex Marsh then volleyed into the side netting for Glapwell, but the game was won for the visitors on 72 minutes when Wain beat Davies with a powerful effort from an acute angle from the right.
Clay then netted again for Parkhouse, but it was disallowed for offside while the closest Glapwell were to scoring in then remainder of the game was when Adam Jones curled a free-kick just over the bar from the edge of the area. It all looked rather laboured for Glapwell, who now find themselves second from bottom of the table, with just the unfortunate Welbeck Welfare (22 games ,0 points) below them. Hopefully this will be the nadir for this hard-working club’s fortunes, as a further relegation would I fear be fatal to them.

And so another hop finished, with goodbyes and best wishes. I finally caught up with Margerete and Jens from Germany, and made sure I found Rob Hornby to both thank him and congratulate him on another wonderful Bonanza. So now its on to the next one!

Soap & Steel

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in D

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Saturday 17th March 2012 ko 4.30pm

Central Midlands League North Division

DRONFIELD TOWN 4 (Doran 15 90 Gange 48 67)

THORESBY COLLIERY WELFARE 1 (House 60)

Att 276

Entry & Programme-Hop Ticket

Teamsheet 25p

Badge £3

Cheeseburger £2

Tea-in-a-mug 50p

The day’s 3rd game saw a real change of environ, from North Nottinghamshire to North Derbyshire, and there’s a real rivalry between the 2 counties, exacerbated by the UK miners’ strike (1984–1985). I drove through Chesterfield with its iconic crooked spire (or typical Derbyshire workmanship if you’re from Notts!), and headed north to to the small town of Dronfield. Rick Allen, drummer with Def Leppard hails from the town.

Situated as it is on several borders, Dronfield’s roots lies in several industries. There have been, at various times tanneries, soap works, and with a nod to nearby to nearby Sheffield, a significant steel industry. With the Peak District being a mere 3 miles away agriculture was also a massive contributor to the town’s prestige, and the most famous building in the town is testament to this.

The “Peel Monument”, situated on the town’s High Street, was built in 1854 out of gritstone as a tribute to Sir Robert Peel, to commemorate his repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The monument is very distinctive, and is often portrayed in images of the town. It also forms the football club’s badge.

Dronfield’s ground makes use of the hilly topography of the town. The car park is above the cricket club, which is in turn above the football ground in Stonelow Road. On the other side of the valley the terraced houses disappear into the distance like a Lowry painting.

Like Basford, Dronfield Town are an ambitious club, and buckets were in evidence for their floodlight fund. A barbeque was fired up, but the club found the one food that even groundhoppers turned their noses up at. Pork dripping sandwiches are, so I was told by Rob Hornby, a local speciality, but I actually heard a hopper comment “Do they come with a free heart attack!” That said, I now regret not trying one, it couldn’t have been that bad could it?

The game pitched Dronfield against a Thoresby side that had only conceded only 9 goals in 19 league games. Clearly, noone had told Dronfield, and particularly fowards Andy Gange and John Doran, who scored excellent braces, despite at various times playing through driving rain and hail. Doran in particular looked a class better than the CMFL, and I do wonder whether in the future he’ll feature on a Northern Counties East hop! Danny House’s strike, from Thoresby’s only corner of the game was scant reward for the visitors who made a fine contribution to the game, for me the best of the 4 on offer today.

First Base

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in B

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Saturday 17th March 2012 ko 1.00pm

Central Midlands League South Division

BASFORD UNITED 4 (Holt 38 Horton 52 79 Hastings 90)

NOTTS POLICE 1 (Alves 9)

Att 268

Entry & Programme-Hop Ticket

Pie & Peas £2

Tea 80p

Badge £2.50

From Clifton it was a short drive to Basford, (which is pronounced Base-ford by the way), a northern suburb of Nottingham, and an area most famous for its soap factory. The factory was established in the 1890s by Gerard Bros before in 1955 the company was acquired by Cussons Sons & Co., manufacturer of “Imperial Leather” soap. In 2005 the factory was closed and production was moved to Thailand.

At Greenwich Avenue until recently, the problem wasn’t soap, rather bats! The club, being top of the table, are looking to progress to the East Midlands Counties League, and for that you need floodlights. The trouble is that the tall trees behind the far goal are a significant nesting site for bats, and there were concerns that the club’s ambitions might disturb them. Perhaps the fact that the mammals are there despite the presence of a tram and rail station convinced the authorities and in November the lights were erected. All a bit late for Rob Hornby as floodlit grounds are rather handy for evening kick-offs.

Basford looked a little surprised at the whole occasion. The programmes sold out a clear half hour before kick off, and the queues for the food were huge, perhaps due to the lunch-time kick off. This was the only game of the day where a team sheet was not available, and the line-ups were posted by the changing rooms only a minute or two before the match started. That said, the club rescued the situation by taking down names and addresses to send on the reprinted programme.

The feeling of surprise also affected the team, it appeared. The visitors are struggling, second from bottom of the league and are set to fold due to Police cut-backs at the end of the season. However it didn’t stop Bernardo Alves firing them into a shock lead after 9 minutes. That lead lasted long enough for the crowd to wonder whether were about to witness one of the great rearguard actions of a groundhop game, as bodies were thrown in front of shots as Basford piled forward.

It couldn’t last and didn’t. Martin Holt equalised, and after half time Basford simply pulled away and ended up easy winners. Aaron Horton collected a well-taken brace, and Courtney Hastings rounded thing off nicely for the home team. That, I felt was a little rough on the visitors who didn’t look a bad side, and how can you find inspiration when you have no future?

Still, it was a markedly better game than the previous one, and it was fun being interviewed by the Norwegian TV2 crew who were covering the Bonanza.

I’d like to thank Chris Powell for his photo.

Real Football

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in C

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18th March 2012 ko 10.10am

Central Midlands League South Division

CLIFTON 3 (Atkins 52 C Anderson 61 Richardson 90)

REAL UNITED 0

Att 267

Entry & Programme Hop Ticket

Badge £3

Team sheet 20p

This was the 9th, and sadly the last Central Midlands League Bonanza, where games are staggered so as to attract the groundhoppers. It’s hop that I was involved in for a short time until GroundhopUK and the League mutually agreed that the League would take over the running of the hop wholly themselves. The face of the CMFL, of course is Rob Hornby, one of life’s unsung heroes who works both tirelessly and with a huge smile for grassroots football despite serious ill health. Rob’s retired from the CMFL committee but continues to run the Bonanza, and will shift the hop to the Notts Senior League for next season. We at GroundhopUK were pleased to donate a stuffed carrier bag of programmes for Rob and wife Hazel’s charity programme stall and attend a hop where all we had to do was watch the game. Mind, you it didn’t stop me being stopped regularly to be asked whether I’d done the crowd count!

I wonder how many people who seeing Clifton would immediately think Bristol. In fact this Clifton is in Nottingham.  The Clifton family trace their lineage back to Alvaredus de Clifton, a Norman knight who was appointed Warden of Nottingham Castle in the time of William the Conquerer, and who took his name from this Nottinghamshire village, now a city suburb, in which he settled. Sir Gervase de Clifton purchased the manors of Clifton and Wilford from the de Rodes family in the late 13th century, and held Clifton Manor until the 1950’s.

Clifton is also a well known area in Nottingham for sporting talent, with Olympic Ice Skater Jayne Torvill growing up here, as did former Boxing Champion brothers Tony and Kirkland Laing. Jermaine Pennant, Jermaine Jenas, and Darren Huckerby all played as youngsters for Clifton (Formerly Clifton All Whites).

The Norman Archer Memorial ground is more than adequate for the club’s needs, playing 7 promotions from the football league. There’s a small stand, with no seats, plus hard standing. I can imagine the place being fairly bleak when its cold and windy. Not a problem on a warm day like this, the programme sold out, and club officials were kept busy printing out teamsheets for the throng. There also seemed to be a roaring trade in bacon rolls!

The opposition were even more intriguing. Real (pronounced the Spanish way-“Ray-Ahl”) play at the nearby Gresham Sports Centre, but started life in 1998 as a means of reducing drug use and associated crime in the area.

With the CMFL altering its constitution from a top and second division to North and South divisions I was interested to see how the standard would have fitted in the old set up.  The visitors pronunciation of Real was unfortunate as this game was real football, in the English language sense, two amateur sides slugging in out in what was at times more enthusiastic than skillful. The game needed a goal and a spectacle it was a little dull until Clifton opened the scoring, after that it was one way traffic.

It was a pleasure to catch-up with friends, especially those who couldn’t be on last week’s Welsh hop-up, and the promise of another 3 games kept me more than interested. That said it did seem strange for it to be midday and I still had 4 and a half hours of football to watch!