..

SUMMARY

..

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
23	13	6	4	2,644

..

..

This issue is for the game against Workington on 29th December 2013. It was the first time that the Cumbrians, who had been regular opposition in Division 4 days, had visited Edgeley Park since a Barney Daniels goal had given us victory nearly 37 years earlier. I went to that game, but assuredly never even considered that our next meeting would be in the second tier of non-league!

..

A FINAL PLACE OF 14TH IN TIER 6 – THE LOWEST EVER

..

The new year started in fine style, as we travelled to the Northolme, Gainsborough, and saw a rampant 5-1 win. Kristian Dennis bagged a hat-trick. I had seen him playing for Curzon on many occasions, and knew that he was a quality striker, but his first 4 months at EP had produced a mere 3 goals, although he had missed 8 games. It was also capped by a thunderous strike from Chris Churchman, making his full debut. A defeat at Hednesford in mid January, in which Tunji Moses got his marching orders after what wasn’t far off a summary execution of the Hednesford man. There then followed a run of 13 points from 5 games.

It was that spell which avoided any unnecessary flirting with relegation, because the remaining 15 games brought 11 points, and staggeringly, from a strike force which looked great on paper, the sorry return of 11 goals. We failed to hit the target in 10 of those matches. In some ways it was quite remarkable that Phil Jevons, (21 goals) and Dennis, (10) got precious little support, after Rhys Turner departed to Oldham in early February. He looked highly promising in his spell at EP, (picking up 6 goals in 18 starts. His time at the Club, (after arriving through the Lord / Myerscough College connection). was a direct consequence of Help the Hatters. They paid for his wages – things had reached a pretty pass when supporters, (not only paying thought the gate), were having to supplement the Club budget in a way like that.

Mark Battersby arrived from Salford with a decent record as a striker. We saw little of it. All I really recall of him is the day Jeff and I had pulled in at the services on the way to Cheltenham, (where Gloucester were based), in early March. We emerged after a ‘comfort break’ to see Battersby wandering round in a state of panic. The team coach had also pulled in there but had departed without him. Offering him a lift, he said that a taxi had been ordered for him which duly arrived seconds later.

He got to the ground and took part in a dismal display which saw Lord say, “I get very emotional about being the manager of this club and that performance doesn’t represent the club or the unbelievable fans“. It was symptomatic of the latter stages of the season. Fans were still travelling in numbers which were huge for that Division but getting little in return.

Lord had rung the changes in the second half of the season. All in all we saw 32 players, and many of them were reasonably well known names to those who followed non-league football in the north-west. It was now the level we were operating at. Of the 14 on duty on the opening day of the season only 6 made it onto the field for the closer against Harrogate. Reasonably informed gossip suggested that the playing budget was not too far adrift from £225k – putting it simply, with a squad of 18, being paid over a 40 week season, the average weekly wage for a player was £300, and that kind of level drove what could be brought in.

It was out into context in the last game of the season. A link with County’ great days of the mid 90’s appeared. Matthew Todd, son of Lee, made his debut, (as a sub),in the season finale against Harrogate, but only courtesy of Help the Hatters covering the wages cost! The only heartening news in the last couple of months of the season was that McKnight had gone. The era of blue skies thinking was over

A final league placing of 14th, the lowest in the Club’s history, had never been entertained when the campaign started. This was supposed to be the season when the climb back began, but the austerity regime McKnight had imposed gave us little chance of competing even at that level. He truly was one of those characters I had come across so frequently in business – they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

..

2014/15 – MORE NEW FACES; FA CUP PROGRESS & A SANTA SPECIAL!

..

The opening day saw a home defeat at the hands of North Ferriby. Their’s is a case of a good local club being bankrolled, (in this instance by relatives of the Hull City owner, Assem Allam), reaching for the stars, and falling to earth in apocryphal style. As it turns out this was the season that ended with them winning the FA Trophy at Wembley. Twelve months later they were promoted to the Conference National. The money ran out and the bare matter of two years later they went bust, leaving a phoenix club to start well down the pyramid. A salutary tale of success built on sand rather than sustainability.

It is a common theme throughout football, and does a disservice to long suffering fans, and would undoubtedly be replicated all the way to the top. If Abramovich or the oil funding at Eastlands pulled out, the fall of those ‘top’ clubs would be a sight to behold!

Anyway, Lord had spent the summer bringing in more new faces. Turning out against Ferriby were 6 new faces. Danny Hurst arrived from Southport to take the No. 1 shirt; Glenn Belezika, (Oldham); Danny Gregson, (Weston super Mare); Richie Baker, (Tamworth); Nathan Woolfe, (Hednesford); and Jack Ryan, (on loan from Preston) were the additions in the starting line up. Added to that were strikers Chris Sharp, (Hereford), and Hyde scoring legend, Scott Spencer. They were on the bench. The turnover of players to this extent is the nature of non-league, and it was something that, sadly, we were having to get used to. But the level of change of players we saw in the summer of 2014 was absolutely nothing to what we would witness 12 months down the line.

..

Back (l to r): Jordan Felgate, (goalkeeping coach); Tunji Moses; Kristian Dennis; Jordan Lazenbury; Glenn Belezika; Ian Ormson; Danny Hurst; Jordan Fagbola; Danny Murray; Scott Spencer; Chris Churchman; Nathan Woolfe; Richard Landon, (kitman)

Front (l to r): Matthew Todd; Bobby Lofthouse; Chris Sharp; Danny Gregson; Phil Brown, (coach); Alan Lord, (manager); Dave Conlon, (coach); Steve O’Halloran; Mark Lees; Jamie Milligan; Scott Duxbury

..

Goalless after two games, with a midweek defeat at Guiseley following the Ferriby reverse, it took a late, late Jamie Milligan penalty at Tamworth to get the season moving. Form picked up with a run of 6 wins and 2 draws in an 9 game spell, added to which was a win in the FA Cup at Harrogate. Ryan and Kristian Dennis formed a good pairing up-front, with 12 goals between them in those games.

Spirits rose, but for those who travelled to Court Place Farm on a Tuesday night in early October it was a swift return to earth. We had been humbled there 12 months previously, (a 4-1 defeat), a game which was one of the last to feature Peter Snape as a County Director. It was more of the same, but only 2-1 this time. All the way to Oxford for regional football – but that proved to be a mere cockstride, as we found out later in the season, having to visit Lowestoft!

Progress in the FA Cup had been good. A win at Harrogate was followed by a home victory over Ilkeston, who featured in their line-up a very youthful Che Adams. Just 18 he was clearly far better than this level, and so it proved, as within a month he moved to Sheffield United. Not much more than 3 months after his appearance at EP he rose from the bench at White Hart Lane, scored 2 in 2 minutes, and almost gave the Blades a place in the League Cup final. It shows that there are gems to be uncovered in the nether regions of English football.

The win over Ilkeston was rewarded with a home tie against Conference side, Chester, and it provided more than good entertainment for a crowd of 4,612, almost double the number that were showing up for league games. It also gave us the goal of the season, as Scott Spencer, rifled one in shortly after half-time, bringing us back into the game. We went down 4-2, but it was a throwback to earlier days. A good crowd, bolstered by a a fair number from Chester gave the game plenty of atmosphere, and an exciting encounter to boot.

I’m not in the same corner as many who deride non-league, and particularly the Conference North, but one thing is for sure and that the atmosphere (not) generated at many of the games does take away from the matchday experience. Compare and contrast the Chester game with the visit of Brackley a couple of weeks later, when the visitors section was occupied by more stewards than the 7 Brackley faithful who made the trip from Northamptonshire!!

In the league there was a fall away in form as we went through November and December, with no wins in the 6 games leading up to the turn of the year. We went to Ramsbottom in the FA Trophy, aside managed by foes in years to come, the Chuckle Brothers, Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley. There was a comfortable 3 goal victory, heightened on a murky pre-Christmas afternoon, with snow lying around, by the constant passage of the “Santa Express” on the East Lancashire Railway which ran behind one of the goals.

The comments flowed freely about Santa bringing us a turn of fortune in the New Year. It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility – we were on 33 points, lying just outside the play-off zone, and Lord had brought in Danny Glover, from Hednesford. I was encouraged, having seen him run a game at Ewen Fields against Hyde not so many months before. History records that my sense of expectation as to what he might bring was dashed!!

..

Back to 2013 Forward to 2015 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 2014

..

THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

..

Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Home Game
Sat	25/01/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Histon	W	1	0	2,070	960
Tue	04/02/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Vauxhall Motors	W	4	1	1,424	961
Sat	08/02/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Stalybridge Celtic	W	2	0	3,107	962
Sat	22/02/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Solihull Moors	D	2	2	2,396	963
Tue	04/03/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Barrow	D	2	2	2,457	964
Sat	15/03/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Guiseley	D	3	3	2,764	965
Sat	29/03/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Hednesford Town	L	0	1	2,669	966
Fri	18/04/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Altrincham	D	0	0	3,770	967
Sat	26/04/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Harrogate Town	W	3	1	3,604	968
Sat	09/08/14	The Skrill North	Tier 6	North Ferriby United	L	0	1	2,714	969
Sat	23/08/14	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Bradford Park Avenue	W	3	1	2,173	970
Sat	30/08/14	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Lowestoft Town	W	3	0	2,169	971
Sat	13/09/14	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Boston United	W	3	2	2,585	972
Tue	16/09/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Worcester City	W	2	0	2,448	973
Sat	04/10/14	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Gloucester City	W	5	3	2,691	974
Sat	11/10/14 (Highlights)	FA Cup	Qualifying Round 3	Ilkeston	W	1	0	2,562	975
Sat	25/10/14 (Highlights)	FA Cup	Qualifying Round 4	Chester	L	2	4	4,612	976
Sat	08/11/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Brackley Town	W	2	1	2,475	977
Sat	15/11/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Hednesford Town	W	3	0	2,651	978
Sat	29/11/14 (Highlights)	FA Trophy	Qualifying Round 3	Colwyn Bay	W	2	1	1,452	979
Tue	02/12/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	AFC Fylde	D	0	0	2,313	980
Sat	06/12/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Guiseley	L	0	3	2,547	981
Fri	26/12/14 (Highlights)	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Colwyn Bay	D	1	1	3,165	982