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Only County Visit:	Saturday 1st January 2011
Competition:	npower Football League – League 2 – (Tier 4)
Result:	Chesterfield 4 – 1 Stockport County
Attendance:	7,542
Away Trip:	123
Away Day:	666
County Line-up	27 Matty Glennon; 17 Andy Halls; 3 Robbie Williams; 6 Mansour Assoumani; 32 Tom Aldred; 11 Anthony Pulis (21 Jake Simpson); 14 David Poole; 4 Paul Turnbull (7 James Vincent); 23 Wes Fletcher (29 Yannick Salem); 10 George Donnelly; 12 Adam Griffin (Subs not used: 25 Ian Ormson; 2 Mark Lynch; 20 Jordan Rose; 18 Danny M Rowe)
Scorer:	George Donnelly
Manager:	Paul Simpson
County Visits:	1

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THE DAWN OF THE YEAR OF RELEGATION

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Paul Simpson had come in at the start of the season, but it had hardly been an unqualified success.  There had been only 5 wins from 21 league games; and the swiftest of exits from all the Cups.  Relegated from League 1 the previous May the new year promised to be a fight against the drop. But with a buffer of four Clubs between ourselves and the relegation zone I think it’s fair to say that small fears had not yet developed into paranoia. 

New Years Day 2011 put things into perspective. A 4-1 defeat was the first of 15 that we were to fall to in the remaining 25 games, and when only 4 wins arrived in that spell it led to one thing.  Leaving the League after 106 years.  Equally, we weren’t to know but Paul Simpson’s short tenure in the EP hot chair had but 48 hours to run.

Maybe the fact that it was Away Day 666 should have told me that the portents weren’t good!

Th defeat at the b2Net Stadium remains County’s only visit at the time of writing.  In 72 hours, we will go there again.  When I say ‘we’, it will be merely the team; management; a Board representative, (and I understand that Steve Bellis has been tasked with that role this season); plus the club media team.  Fans will have to watch on the TV, (fortunately the game is one of those scheduled for live coverage on BT).  It’s the ‘new normal’ that Covid-19 has delivered to us. No fans in the ground.

Which brings me to a small diversion. Fans are not allowed into National League fixtures, and that includes the regionalised North and South Divisions.  Yet a tier below, paying speccies can attend.  Locally to me that means Ashton United; Hyde United; Stalybridge Celtic; Mossley and Glossop are permitted to open the gates.  Yes, the attendance is limited to allow social distancing and so on but at least it’s live football.  Curzon Ashton, a Division higher, but with consistently the second lowest gates in the area, (on average around 300), and a ground that holds getting on for 4,000, have to play behind closed doors. And all because of a vanity project on the part of the National League. 

Desperate to get the play-offs completed at the end of the curtailed 2019/20 season they allowed themselves to be deemed an ‘Elite League’. That single decision effectively threw the majority of the NLN and NLS clubs to the wolves, and it’s a fair bet that a good few of the National League teams as well.  Utter madness.  Elite League clubs are not allowed to open the gates.  How many of those places that we have been to in recent years depend on people through the gates, bar and refreshment income and match day raffles.  They are utterly dependent on that as the primary source of income. Football governance has been a shambles for years – that decision was another in a long litany of poor judgment. 

And only this week the emergence of the ‘Big Picture’ proposals assuredly means that there is an even greater sin on the horizon. Whilst the Premier League appears to have voted with their feet against the proposal put forward by Liverpool and Manchester United there can be little doubt that something similar – concentrating the decision making in football with the self-appointed ‘Big Six’ with all the ramifications that brings – will return in fairly short order. And the way it will happen is that the EFL will be bought out by riches in the short term, (thus enabling it to overcome the financial impact of Covid), but at cost of selling not only its soul but also long term financial viability into the long term.

The ‘Big Six’ care little about a meaningful infrastructure for the game, and the further down the hierarchy the impact of this this is felt to a greater extent. There have been calls this week for an independent football regulator, and in general terms for me this is an imperative.

Mark interviewed Curzon’s Chairman a couple of weeks ago. He said that assuredly the Nash would fold by Christmas 2020 if they were not allowed to have crowds in. Since then there has been some central support but there is still no logic to the stance which does not allow controlled attendance. So, for example Hyde played Fylde in the Cup a fortnight ago.  The game was at Ewen Fields – supporters were allowed in, but only from Hyde. If it had been at Mill Farm it would have been behind closed doors.  I singularly fail to understand the lack of logic. 

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What all this has meant that we have had to rely on streaming, and much appreciated it is as well, but it’s hardly a replacement for seeing things in the flesh.  But as things stand it is not beyond the realms of possibility that our 2020/21 season will only be seen courtesy of the internet and occasional appearances on BT.

So, there will be no trip over Tideswell Moor this weekend.  We were due there in April 2020, but Covid intervened.  Tickets had been sold, and a large County following would have been there.  Chesterfield had benefitted from the ticket sales, but at the time of writing there has been no news from them about a refund, unlike the very prompt response from Barrow.  Maybe it’s time to drop the Chesterfield ticket office an email!

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Turning to that first, and only visit, back in 2011. The trip was the usual route for me, and one that I was making at least 3 times a week back then.  Not to the town of the Crooked Spire but through it and onwards to Nottingham, or to be more precise, Gedling to the north of the city, where the Housing Association I worked for had property.  From my house; through Glossop; onwards via Hayfield; Chapel and the aforementioned Tideswell Moor.  This time it wasn’t the normal parking place at the bottom of Foljambe Road, (at the top of which lay Saltergate from times past), but a case of locating the new stadium. 

Jeff, Mark and myself had travelled and with the best will in the world Mark was hardly in tip-top condition.  I must have been a heavy night for him to bring in the New Year, because the trip over brought much moaning and groaning as the colour drained from his face. The Sat Nav found us the ground.  A quick look at Google Maps tells me that we parked on Racecourse Road, and at this point an apology is due to one of the householders along there.

Emerging from the car, and putting our coats on, (it was a chill, damp afternoon), Mark took a turn for the worse.  Propping himself up on a garden wall, Jeff and I left him to regain his (ahem) composure. It took a couple of minutes, and sadly for the householder involved the evacuation of the previous night’s excesses onto the rosebushes or whatever type of foliage there was there.  The archetypal ‘technicolour yawn’! With that the three of us beat a swift retreat in the direction of the action at the b2net Stadium.  So, 9 and half years on – gross apologies for the conduct of my son.  Let’s put it down to the excesses of youth, and hope that there was sufficient rainfall that evening to wash away the gruesome spectacle….

So, it was a new ground.  Number 123 on my travels, and the second of the 2010/11 season, after a debut game at the Pirelli Stadium earlier in the campaign.  At least it was a football stadium, unlike the next new arena, for me, four weeks later.  The Don Valley Stadium was far from a football ground, and certainly would vie for top position in a list of “worst ground” were it not for the Withdean, which takes the honours.  At least the Don Valley had some form of reasonable view.

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Throughout this site I have railed about the new stadia which are monuments to the manufacturers of breeze block and the b2net certainly wasn’t shy of the use of such construction materials.  However, it looked, and felt, different from the likes of the Deva, the New Meadow and others.  Approaching from the road a large car park brought into view the Main Stand, with glass frontage.  Maybe that was a recognition of its predecessor on the site, the Dema Glass works, or maybe not.  Whatever the case, it provided a little bit of individuality. 

For those who needed retail therapy in advance of the action a Tesco store provided the opportunity.  And unlike many of these other new grounds it had not been consigned to an out of town location.  The b2net was near the town, unlike places like the Colchester Community Stadium and, whisper it, the Darlington Arena. So that was a plus in my book.

Gaining entry required something that was, even as late as 9 years ago, pretty much of a novelty; a turnstile operated by a bar code on a paper ticket.  We’ve moved to things like QR codes these days, and it’s now the norm rather than the exception, but only at the Colchester Community Stadium had I experienced it previously.  Many innovations leave a lot to be desired, but this development has definitely been a real enhancement.

Once inside we were located in the North Stand, covered seating behind the goal.  It was a decent view, (albeit that the fare on view on the field was barely worth casting an eye on).  The concourse under the seating was good as well; decent room; plenty of refreshment points and almost a first for us, TV inside the ground! At the far end, there was an identical construction for the home fans.  Both of these held just over 2,000. 

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To our right was the West, (Main Stand).  With a curved roof it provided a small touch of individuality, and in front of the various hospitality areas were just under 3,200 seats.  Opposite that was the East Stand, once again with a curved roof line, holding 3,200.  Since our sole visit this has been developed to the rear with the addition of various community spaces.  All in all it is one of the best of the new grounds that I have been to.  Saltergate it certainly wasn’t – but it’s difficult to make an adequate comparison between one of my favourite traditional grounds, and the new style.  I suppose what I liked was the location; the touch of individuality, and from what I understand of the stadium is the development of a community asset.  As a model for the future there is much to commend it.

I have made scant reference to the game.  It deserves no more.  We went down 4-1; George Donnelly got the goal.  It was his 9^th of the season but the last in County colours.  48 hours later he made his last appearance for us and returned to his parent club, Plymouth.  Four days after the Morecambe game Fleetwood paid £50,000 for him.

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The line-up that afternoon was Matty Glennon; Andy Halls; Mansour Assoumani; Tom Aldred; Adam Griffin; David Poole; Paul Turnbull; Robbie Williams; Anthony Pulis; Wes Fletcher and Donnelly, (Subs: James Vincent; Jake Simpson; and Yannick Salem.  The state we were in shows that by the end of January seven of those fourteen had departed.  There were 24 league games left; we saw 3 managers, (Simpson; Ward and Matthias, added to which was the infamous night at Accrington when no-one was purportedly in charge); 13 new players arrived, and in most cases departed quickly.  Between them they provided 4 wins; 6 draws and 14 defeats. The die was cast, and non-league football beckoned.  It not only beckoned but wrapped us in welcoming arms.  We have never returned to date.

Chesterfield won the league that season as we exited at the other end.  Since then they have suffered three relegations added to another League 2 promotion.  This coming Saturday, (17/10/20), will see us meet in the 5^th tier. County’s start, (three wins in four games), gives us hope that the trip across the Peak District will be a far happier occasion than the only previous one!!

October 2020

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	01/01/11	npower Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Chesterfield	L	1	4	7,542	666

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – PIRELLI STADIUM Next stop – DON VALLEY STADIUM