Saturday 4th January 2013 ko 15.00

North-West Counties League Division One

WIDNES VIKINGS 3 (Tollitt 49 McEvatt 85 87)

IRLAM 1 (Mooney 11)

Att 71

Entry £5

Programme £1.50

When the rain is this bad it’s no bad thing to have a guarantee that the game will be on! That said, it was notable that as soon as I reached Stoke, the rain stopped and the North-West Counties League was one of very few leagues that saw the majority of its scheduled games take place. However the fact that Halton Stadium has a 3G artificial pitch took the worry out of travelling. In any case I do have a soft spot for the NWCL, not least after Atherton Colleries helped us at GroundhopUK by coping with over 100 hoppers at short notice when we had a postponement on a hop we were organising.

Widnes in Cheshire, but historically in Lancashire is a town built on the petrochemical industry, passing through just before the Runcorn bridge, you could almost be in Port Talbot! The town is the birthplace of Jack Ashley, politician and campaigner for disabled rights, and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm went to school here.

However Widnes is known world-wide for one thing, and that’s Rugby League. The Widnes Vikings were one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, and split from the Rugby Football Union, the schism occurring due to the insistence of the RFU on amateurism. From there the club won the RL Premiership 9 times, the Challenge Cup 7 times and were the first winners of the World Club Championship in 1989 beating Canberra 30–18.

The club played in the centre of Widnes, at Naughton Park, Lowerhouse Lane from 1895, but when financial difficulties bedevilled the club, the ground was sold to Halton Council in 1995. The council decided to build an entirely new stadium on the site to provide a multi-purpose complex including a social club, conference facilities, recreational facilities and catering/function facilities. The stadium was officially opened on 2nd November 1997, with a 3G pitch being installed in 2011. The effect is a modern stadium in the traditional town-centre setting, but how does this affect the football?

Widnes Dragons were formed 10 years ago, but with the management of the rugby club wanting to enhance the Vikings brand, the club agreed in March 2012 to fall under the rugby club’s wing. Other than giving the club use of fully professional facilities, it gives them use of a football-league compliant stadium! They successfully applied to the NWCL for this season, and no doubt visiting teams will enjoy their visits here, in the same way SPFL League 2 teams enjoy visiting Queens Park at Hampden. In fact on a personal level this was the lowest percentage of a capacity I’ve ever seen as game at (71 in 13,350 – .53%) beating my trip to the Spiders many moons ago (454 in 52,000 = .87%)

It was an odd experience, buying my ticket at the reception at the leisure centre and entering the stadium at pitch level. The café bears the legend “Proudly serving Starbucks coffee” but the only food was what was available in the vending machines. Still, we were pointed in the direction of the chip shop 200 yards down the road.

I’d been warned that watching a game here would be “Sterile,” and that would have been the case had the club not been an absolute joy to deal with. To a man or a woman each and every person seemed pleased to have 3 extra people watching. The secretary was happy to supply the team sheets for me to copy, and as we left, the steward thanked us for coming. Small things yes, but they mean so much. I’ve seen it on so many groundhops I’ve organised and attended, and it makes people want to come back, and let’s face it Widnes will have no difficulty in squeezing new customers in!

The game hinged on the departure of Irlam keeper Jamie Brewer on 40 minutes due to injury. Goal-scorer Gareth Mooney went in goal which at least gave me the chance of a never-to-be repeated one-liner as the teams went in at half-time, “Hey keeps, nice goal!” I think he appreciated the sentiment! Before the injury, Irlam looked the stronger team, with the hosts looking a little shot-shy. Widnes equalised just after the break through Ben Tollett, and eventually the pressure told with Gary McEvatt knocking into two late goals to win it for the Vikings.

We left, via a loo with a sauna, and travelled back south though the rain with a far more enjoyable tick recorded that any of us could have dared to expect.