Sunday 24th August 2025 ko 14:00

West Lancashire League Division One

HESKETH BANK 6 (Johnson 6 Edgar 16 45 Morris 23 Atkinson-Jones 47 Birken 86)

TURTON (Prudnikov 56 Mason 88)

Att 401

Entry £3

Programme £2

From Croston we headed towards the West Lancs Railway, these days a steam heritage line, and once the means of transporting bricks from the village of Hesketh Bank to the rest of the world.

You’ll find the Centenary Sports Ground in the centre of the village, and it was one of those occasions where you didn’t need directions, you just saw the multiplicuty of parked cars, found a spot and joined the throng- this was attracting a crowd that wasn’t just groundhoppers.

The biggest queue seemed to be for the catering run by a tandoori. Normally I don’t like to see a club bring in outside catering- why pay someone to take a source of revenue away, but since the club shares its car park with an Indian restaurant, it seemed counter-intuitive to do otherwise! And once service got going the food was excellent!

Much was made of the club’s outsize, A4 style programme. I liked it, why be the same as everyone else and they did contain an interesting piece on visitors Turton. They are the oldest club in Lancashire and are pioneers of football “with no hands” and Bolton Wanderers’ white kit is a nod to Turton. But my mind being what it is, I remembered something odd from my groundhopping past.

Ten years ago I visited Brading Town on the Isle of Wight. The vaguaries of the Island Line meant I got to the ground far too early. I ended up looking at the pennants on the wall of the clubhouse; I’m sure you played the “Have I been there?” game! One caught my eye though and it was for the scatalogically named “Turton Turds” with the motto, “Flushed with success.” I assume they were a touring team, but were they from Lancashire?

I’m not whether that team were related to the Lancastrian club here, but either way the vistors weren’t exactly flushed with success, with Bank running riot during the first half to record a well deserved win. I was tired, but I shuffled back to the car smiling. Just the one game left in the day.