Tag Archives: NWCL

The History

23 Sunday Mar 2025

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Saturday 1st March 2025 ko 19:30

North West Counties League- Premier Division

GLOSSOP NORTH END 0

WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 2 (Banister 60 Bass 81)

Lazenbury penalty saved 17

Att 830

Entry £10

Programme £2

If the North West Counties Hop was going to New Mills then it was close to inevitable that we’d pair them with Glossop North End as the “High Peak Twins.” But with all due respect to New Mills they were never a Football League club…

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The Shawcross Redemption

18 Tuesday Mar 2025

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Saturday 1st March 2025 ko 16:45

North West Counties League First Division South

NEW MILLS AFC 2 (Woods 13 Pavley 19)

Shawcross penalty saved 7

CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS 0

Att 558

Entry £6

Programme £2.50

We moved from Manchester’s environs for the last two games of Saturday’s North West Counties Hop. The scene moved from the urban to the countryside of the Derbyshire High Peak, as we approached New Mills.

The town was built around coal, spinning and calico printing, and was also a centre for Methodism. That fact partly explains why sweet manufacturer Swizzels Matlow are based here, taking over an old mill in 1940 and sweet treats such as Refreshers and Parma Violets are still produced in New Mills today. Confectionery and Methodism do seem to go hand in hand, Fry Club in Keynsham and Cadbury Athletic in Bourneville are other examples.

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The Alternate Revisit

17 Monday Mar 2025

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Saturday 1st March 2025 ko 13:45 (but delayed to 13:55)

North West Counties League Premier Division

STOCKPORT TOWN 0

Schofield sent off (DOGSO) 26

CHEADLE TOWN 1 (Delaney 15p)

Att 435

Entry £6

Programme £2

For me and a few others a trip to Stockport Sports Village represented something slightly unusual. Back in 2010 I’d paid the place a visit on a cold December day to watch the hosts play Cammel Laird. The catch is it wasn’t Stockport Town! Woodley Sports used the ground, later to be Stockport Sports, but they folded in 2015, in no small part to Stockport County’s own financial troubles.

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The Pipe

28 Monday Mar 2022

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Saturday 5th March 2022 ko 19:30 (delayed to 19:45)

North West Counties League- Premier Division

BARNOLDSWICK TOWN 0

AVRO 2 (Ellis 53p 62)

Att 517

Entry £6

Programme £2

From Nelson we headed north once again for our fourth game of the day. So far north in fact, we saw signs for Kendal and wondered “What? Is that the Kendal in Cumbria?” Yep, that far north…. Continue reading →

The John Noakes Hop

11 Friday Mar 2022

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Friday 4th March 2022 ko 19.45

North West Counties League Division One North

GOLCAR UNITED 3 (Cox 14 Barrett 27 Naidole 52)

CAMPION 2 (Maltby 59 Boshell 85)

Att 467

Entry £5

Programme £2

If you are roughly my age then the most famous person to have been born in Halifax was unquestionably John Noakes. The Blue Peter presenter was, in a age of two channel tv and received pronunciation a revelation to this small boy from the shires; who could forget his climbing of Nelson’s Column without any kind of safety equipment? Continue reading →

What Was Left

06 Wednesday May 2020

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With the football season over prematurely due to the Coronavirus Pandemic I’m in the unusual position of actually having this blog up to date! So to keep the content coming, and for something to do, I’ll do some old grounds and games where there’s a story to tell.

Saturday 18th November 2006 ko 15.00

FA Vase 2nd Round 

FLIXTON 4 (Mitten 44 Grandison 53 Wilkinson 75 Tobin 83)

PICKERING TOWN 0

Att 84

Entry £3

Programme £1.50

The sole reason I, and around 50 groundhoppers ended up here was the Salford City/FC United game at the Willows that kicked off at midday. There was roughly an hour to get the tram back to the car, and make a quick blast across western Manchester which did limit the opportunities to complete a Mancunian double. It boiled down to a choice between Trafford and Flixton, we chose the latter mainly to watch another Vase game. It proved to be both a good move, and an interesting one too! Continue reading →

The End Of The World As We Know It

04 Saturday Apr 2020

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Sunday 8th March 2020 ko 14.45

North West Counties League Premier Division

WINSFORD UNITED 0

1874 NORTHWICH 2 (Woolley 25 Knight 31)

Att 627

Entry £6

Programme £2

Delaying the kick-off 15 minutes looked like a good idea as the Groundhop coach inched it’s way into an already-full car park at the Barton Stadium. It took all of a second to work out that the club had thought long and hard about how they were going to cope with a huge crowd. Those who’d bought advance tickets were directed to a separate entrance, that took well over 100 away from the cash turnstiles speeding up the process of getting over 600 people in. Continue reading →

The Friendly Bear

02 Thursday Apr 2020

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Sunday 8th March 2020 ko 11.30

North West Counties League Premier Division

CONGLETON TOWN 2 (Jones 7 79)

NORTHWICH VICTORIA 4 (Barski 11 22 Lynch 52 65)

Att 495

Entry £5

Programme £2

It was all change at Crewe on the last day of the hop, and although we weren’t to know, the last day of organised groundhops this season. We’d spent the previous 5 games watching the North West Counties League Division One South and the previous 4 in Greater Manchester. Sat at the hotel in Crewe it was time to step up a division and aim for south of Manchester, and at least at our first destination, the foothills of the Peak District. Continue reading →

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

30 Monday Mar 2020

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Saturday 7th March 2020 ko 19.30

North West Counties League Division One South

CHEADLE TOWN 2 (Davin 17 47)

MAINE ROAD 1 (Mooney 86)

Att 380

Entry £5

Programme £2

The coach pulled into Park Road, and we got precisely what we expected- chaos! One massive advantage of having the clubs’ meetings a month or two before the North West Counties Hop. We knew we’d be trying to get 300-plus supporters to a ground with a small car park at the end of a cul-de-sac. It meant anyone driving there would either park close by and risk being blocked in, or park further away and walk the last few hundred yards. We in the coach could drop the party off then driver Ian could park up elsewhere. Continue reading →

A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours

26 Thursday Mar 2020

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Saturday 7th March 2020 ko 16.20

North West Counties League Division One South

CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS 1 (Foley 58)

STOCKPORT TOWN 5 (Depieaza 2 20 70 Furguson 12 Middleton 19) 

Att 343

Entry £5

Programme £2

Teamsheet 20p

Saturday’s 3rd game on the North West Counties Hop saw a change of locale, from Wythenshawe to the leafy Manchester suburbia of Cheadle. Or if you’re the unfortunate type that thinks along the same lines as me, then the start of second pair of the day’s clubs. While I’d greatly enjoyed Wythenshawe Amateurs’ company, I’d found their rivals Wythenshawe Town’s attempts at one-upmanship grating and their staging frankly poor. That last fact had a massive impact on our next hosts. Continue reading →