ASHTON TOWN AFC PROFILES PARK,
# Onward Onwards s & Upwards
Edge Green Street, Ashton in Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 8SL
COMMITTEE
President - Jimmy Cahill Chairman - Mark Hayes Vice Chairman - Gordon Johnson Vice President - Stephen Barrett Secretary - Stefan Ochwat Clubhouse Manager - Clare Peters Treasurer - Peter Williams Committee Members - Kieran Johnson, Joanne Round, Joanne Bourne, Alison Sinnott Catering Manager - Denise Brady Commercial Manager - Jonathan Logan Advertising & Programme Editor - Ian Pomfrett Welfare Officer - Gordon Johnson Social Media Officer - Lucy Ford Grounds Team - Jimmy Cahill, David Bourne, Keith Peacock, Kit Manager - Keith Peacock Club Covid Officer - Mark Hayes Photographer - Megan Sharples
www.facebook.com/ashtontownafc Twitter - @ashtontownafc This Club is Unincorporated
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Welcome to our club Good evening and welcome to Profiles Park for this North West Counties Division One North game against Daisy Hill. Wow. What a couple of weeks. In football you expect and do see everything so nothing surprises you, however I will be honest that these last two weeks have caught me out. I honestly thought we had found a manager that was to be with us long term, and the very correct person to do that, however having only spoken early morning and also in the afternoon of Monday with him regarding players, at 4pm I received the call to say that he was resigning. After a huge rally round both on and off the field some only 26 hours later we took on 3rd place Cleator Moor in a 5 hour round trip and picked up a point, being totally honest we were even disappointed not to come home with all three Points. The lads were superb, and their commitment to get to the game was outstanding. Huge praise also to Terry Smith of course in taking the caretaker role at such short notice. Terry was brought in by Glynn just a couple of weeks ago and his first game this week wasn't an easy task. I still stick by that we have built a very, very good squad over pre season, and I honestly think its possibly the strongest
that I have seen here in my time here, but obviously it takes a little period to gel, add 3 or 4 experienced heads and I think we will still be in for a good season. As a Chairman, and a club, we are in no rush to make an appointment, which I feel our point at Cleator confirms. This is a huge appointment for the club and we have to get it right. Thank you so much to all whom are watching today, your support means a hell of a lot in these surreal times both financially and with morale. Stay safe and onwards and upwards as always. Mark Club Chairman
@northernpromise
Match reportv st Helens town aFC 13/10/20 Tuesday 13th October saw us play our second competitive home game of the season, another local derby game, with St Helens Town being the visitors to Profiles Park. Manager Glynn Hurst made a couple of changes both on and off the field for the game, with new assistant manager Phil Hackney joining him in the dugout in place of the outgoing Neil „Jocky‟ Hansen and, new first team coach, Terry Smith also watching from the terracing. On the field Zack Hibbert replaced Ben Purdham in goal for his first start of the season and Luke Robinson made his first league start of the season replacing the „Isolating‟ Khius Metz. Erion Bujupi also was on the bench with Chris Hill partnering Junior Dos Santos in the centre of the defence and Dave Moore starting up front alongside Luke Robinson, in place of Tyreek McCallum. The changes certainly appeared to have the desired effect on the team who took the game to St Helens right from the first whistle and Dave Moore put the Town in front after only 3 mins being played. The lads had several opportunities to extend the lead but were indebted to keeper Zack Hibbert for a fine one on one save in the 15th minute of the game. Town responded positively with Kieran Alley causing the visitors all sorts of problems down the right flank which resulted in a caution for the visitors, Jack Taylor, who cynically brought Kieran down in the 25th minute of the game. Only a minute later Kieran Alley again sprang the visitors offside trap and his
resultant shot on goal though saved by the St Helens keeper rebounded into the path of Dave Moore who duly scored both his own and Ashton Town‟s second goal of the evening, notably one with each foot for the record. Despite creating many more chances before the interval, Town failed to increase their lead and went into the half time break with a two-nil lead. The second half saw the visitors start stronger and push to reduce their deficit but on 62 minutes a superb break down the left saw a pin point cross delivered to the head of Dave Moore who duly headed home, giving Ashton a three-nil lead and completing a perfect Hat-Trick in the process. And also winning him the postmatch Man of the match Award. The visitors again tried to rally and did manage to pull a goal back on 76 minutes, shortly following which skipper Carl Lownsbrough also received his second caution in as many games as he too cynically prevented a promising St Helens Town attacking phase of play, taking one for the team! Ashton rode out the storm though to collect our first three points of the season in front of a promising crowd numbering 210 in total. #UpTheTown
By Gordon Johnson
MANAGER’S NOTES Good afternoon, I am really looking forward to my first home game as caretaker manager this afternoon. I wasn't expecting to be taking charge of the team and it came as a massive shock when I heard Glynn Hurst had resigned as he had only a week earlier asked me to join him at the club as assistant manager.
was joint manager with me at Witton Under 21 and Colin Carruthers, who is a UEFA B licenced coach to help out. I can't thank them enough for volunteering their time at such short notice and for travelling so far.
Before the game we explained to players that this a good chance for them to put their marker down as it is a clean slate for every player and to go out, work hard and impress. That is exactly what they all did. They followed our instructions, battled, ran their socks off and was unfortunate not take the 3 points. It was a good start for myself, Jay and Colin and hopefully that can continue today against When Gordon and Mark asked me to take Daisy Hill. We just need the same attitude the team until a decision is made on a new and application from the players along manager, I had no hesitation as it is a with the backing of the fans and I'm sure great opportunity for me to impress the we will get the result. board and be in the running for the manager position on a permanent basis. Terry Travelling to Cumbria for an 8pm kick off on Tuesday night with no time for preparation, a depleted squad and the off field situation regarding the manager position all against us, it was always going to be a tough ask against Cleator Moor Celtic who had started the season in good form. To be honest I didn't even know half the lads names as I've only been here a week or so. After getting a bit of help with team selection I asked James Kane who
By Terry Smith
Match report v garstang 18/10/20
Ashton made the short trip up the M6 to Garstang full of confidence following the impressive first win of the season at home to St Helens Town the previous Tuesday evening. With Luke Robinson being unavailable due to work commitments Khius Metz returning from injury partnered Dave Moore up from for Town, with Erion Bujupi also returning to the back four due to the enforced absence of Tom Parry. Town started the game confidently and were by far the better team for the first 20 minutes. Garstang were a tough outfit to break down though and on 25 minutes took the lead with their first attempt on goal which must be said was totally against the run of play. Town fought back though and on 35 minutes following a blatant push in the back on Dave Moore, Khius Metz dispatched the resultant penalty kick into the hosts goal to level matters and taking his own personal tally to two goals I two appearances for Town. The lads relaxed too quickly having restored parity though and on37 minutes Garstang took the lead again with their second attempt on goal of the afternoon. As half time approached and to add further misery to Ashton Chris Hill, whilst challenging for the ball, injured himself and had to be replaced by Joe Williams, with captain Carl Lownsbrough dropping into the back four in place of the injured Chris Hill .Half time came with the score at 2-1 to the hosts and the news that Chris‟s unfortunate injury looked quite severe and is likely to keep him side-lined for several
weeks. A shame for the player who it must be said has started the season well and been one of our most consistent performers thus far. We all wish Chris a speedy recovery and return to the team as soon as possible. The second half saw our hosts adopt what can only be described as a defensive strategy, obviously having settled for a one goal advantage and adopting just about every trick in the boo of „Delaying Tactics‟ that is known to man for the whole of the 45 minutes. To say that Garstang‟s goal keeper was „Man of the match‟ would not be an understatement with him pulling off a string of fine saves during the second half. The lads should have been back in the game on 82 minutes, when Tyreek McCallum was cynically tripped from behind as he was just about to shoot on goal from only six yards out. Unbelievably the match referee did not award the blatant penalty kick, despite being positioned in close proximity to the challenge and was seen to be looking towards his „More Senior‟ Assistant Referee who was on the far side of the field from the incident some 30 yards away. In the words of a certain Chris Kamara, “Unbelievable Jeff”!!!Town finished the game camped out in the Garstang penalty area with a series of three corner kicks in quick succession during stoppage time at the end of the game, with Goal keeper, Zack Hibbert, playing out those final few minutes alongside the rest of the team in the Garstang penalty area. The hosts stood firm though and held on to their 2-1 advantage which was a tough pill to swallow for Town who deserved so much more from the game. So onto Tuesday evening with the long trip to Cleator Moor in Cumbria, but what a „Roller Coaster‟ 48 hours was about to unveil ahead of that game!!! #UpTheTown
By Gordon Johnson
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
By Gordon Johnson Jack Butland (2012), Ben Foster (2010), Matthew Upson (2004) and Trevor Francis (1978). Lucas Biglia (Argentina), André Silva (Portugal), Nikola Kalinić (Croatia), Cristián Zapata (Colombia) and Ricardo Rodríguez (Switzerland). Just once in Season 1997-98 (Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley & Crystal Palace). Cheikhou Kouyaté (Senegal), Manuel Lanzini (Argentina), João Mário (Portugal) and Javier Hernández (Mexico). Samuel Eto‟o (18 Cameroon), Laurent Pokou (14 Ivory Coast), Rashidi Yekini (13 Nigeria) and Hassan El Shazly (12 Egypt). Six Times: 1973-74 (8th), 1974-75 (11th), 1975-76 (2nd), 1983-84 (5th), 1987-88 (5th) and 1992-93 (5th). Zlatan Ibrahimović (4 goals PSG 5-0 Anderlecht 2013), Layvin Kurzawa (PSG 5-0 Anderlecht 2017) and Neymar (PSG 6-1 Red Star Belgrade 2018). Brian Deane (15), Adrian Littlejohn (11), Dane Whitehouse (10), Jostein Flo (9) and Rob Hulse (8). José Mourinho first win with Chelsea FC in 2004-5, aged 42. Christopher Wreh (Liberia & Arsenal), Costel Pantilimon (Romania & Manchester City), Quinton Fortune (South Africa & Manchester United), Gökhan Inler (Switzerland & Leicester City) and Diego Forlán (Uruguay & Manchester United).
ANSWERS 9. 10. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 1. 2.
Who were the last four Birmingham City players to win full England Caps? Which five players AC Milan players participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals in Russia? How many times have all three newly promoted Premier League Clubs been relegated the next season? Which four West Ham United players participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals in Russia? Which four players have scored the most overall goals at CAF Africa Cup of Nations Finals? How many times have Queens Park Rangers finished the League Season as London‟s Top Club? Which three players have scored UEFA Champions League Hat-Tricks for Paris Saint-Germain? Which five players have scored the most Premier League Goals for Sheffield United? Who was the youngest Manager to win the Premier League Title? Which players from Liberia, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland and Uruguay have won Premier League Medals?
HALF TIME QUIZ
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On this day 24th october 24th October 1925 Five players, George Armitage, captain Claude Ashton, Billy Austin, Frank Hudspeth and Sydney Puddefoot made their England debuts in the 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland in Belfast. Puddefoot was the only one of the five to play for England a second time! 24th October 1997 When the then Harrods owner Mohamed AlFayed bought Fulham in 1997 he said he would see them in the Premier League in five years‟ time and to be fair he put his money where his mouth was. On October 24th, 1997 Fulham shattered their club record transfer fee paid when they bought Paul Peschisolido, the husband of Karren, sorry now Baroness, Brady, from WBA for £1.1million, the first million pound purchase by a third tier club. Just a
week previously The Cottagers had set their previous record fee paid when buying Ian Selley from Arsenal for £500,000, a broken leg saw him play only 3 League matches for Fulham, while in early December 1997 both Fulham's and the divisional record were shattered when the Londoners bought Chris Coleman from Blackburn Rovers for £2.1million. Fulham were playing in the Premier League in 2001 and later Chris Coleman progressed to club manager after an injury ended his playing career. 24th October 2004 Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League, amazingly Arsenal's first League defeat since May 2003. Since then the Gunners had gone a record 49 League matches without defeat, including the whole of the 2003/04 season.
www.ashtontownafc.co.uk By Gordon Johnson
Who’s played at edge green st Christopher Edmund Kirkland was born on 2nd May 1981, he is an English football coach and former professional goalkeeper who is now the head goalkeeping coach at Colne. As a player, he made 321 league and cup appearances in an 18-year professional career from 1998 to 2016 winning one cap for the English national team in 2006. Kirkland started his career at Coventry City, where he was regarded as one of the country's most promising young goalkeepers. He was later signed by Premier League club Liverpool for £6 million in August 2001. However, his time at the club was blighted by recurring injuries, which almost caused him to retire from football altogether. He later signed for Wigan Athletic in July 2006, after a successful loan period, and he had further loan spells at both Leicester City and Doncaster Rovers before being signed by Sheffield Wednesday in May 2012. He joined Preston North End in August 2015 and had a brief spell with Bury before retiring in August 2016. A year after retirement from playing, Kirkland took up coaching with Port Vale in January 2017. In July 2018, Kirkland returned to Liverpool as a goalkeeping coach for the women's team. He was appointed caretaker manager of the team on 14 September upon the resignation of Neil Redfearn. Following Vicky Jepson's appointment as permanent manager on 26 October, he returned to his previous role as goalkeeping coach and took on the additional duty as assistant manager, however he quit the role in March 2019 to
focus on the growing demands of running his own goalkeeping academy and in June 2020 he was appointed as head goalkeeping coach at Colne in the Northern Premier League. Kirkland appeared here at Edge Green Street in May 2015 when he played as centre half for the Latics Legends team in the inaugural „Josephs Goal„ Charity fund raising game against a team of Holyoaks soap stars, a game which was emphatically won by the Latics team by a score of 10-0 with a crowd of 2000 cramming into Edge Green Street on the day.
www.ashtontownafc.co.uk By Gordon Johnson
HISTORY OF ASHTON TOWN Ashton Town Association Football Club originally joined the Div 2 of the Lancashire Combination in 1903 and were promoted Div 1 in 1st season. However, relegated back to Div 2 after finishing 16 in first season of Div 1. Towards the end of 1910/11 season club withdrew from league and fixtures taken over by Tyldesley Albion. The Club was reformed in 1953 as Makerfield Mill FC and after a short spell in the Wigan Sunday School League, they played in the St Helens Combination League for three years before joining the Warrington and District Amateur League in 1958. The founder was a persistant man named Derek „Mick‟ Mycock. In 1962 the Club was forced to move from its original ground at Windsor Road because of land development and it was at this point the Club name was changed to Ashton Town AFC. Home games were played on a public park pitch at Whithill Street Recreation Ground in Bryn until
1964, at which point the Club purchased a piece of land at Edge Green Street, previously the home of Stubshaw Cross Rovers. This became the Club`s new home, and development of the ground began. In 1969 the Clubhouse was completed, and was opened by Liverpool and England star Roger Hunt, and in 1975 the present dressing room facilities were built. During this period the Club joined the Lancashire Combination in 1971, and then in 1978, they left to join the Cheshire County League for four years. The formation of the North West Counties Football League 1982 saw Ashton Town join as founder members, and the Club has remained in the league since then with the exception of season 1985-86, when they played in the Manchester League while essential ground maintenance work was carried out to bring the ground up to stringent ground grading requirements for the NWCF League. Throughout the years there have been many custodians of the club, owned by noone, powered by volunteers. I‟ll surely miss out a host of names here but….Notable is the involvement of Jack Longstaffe, Pat Dooney, Barry & Sandra Longstaffe, Gordon Ellis,, Les Bailey, Len Riley, Malcolm Magrath, Billy Pomfrett and Jimmy
Cahill. The latter two who have clocked up over a hundred years service to Town and Jimmy is still here on a daily basis. In more recent times, Clare and James Horner made a massive boost to the club with the long overdue formation of a Junior section. As did the arrival of our current Chairman, Mark Hayes, who has helped build the profile of the club both locally and nationally. Other volunteers to mention are Steve, Stefan, Denise, Ian, Dawn, Peter, Clare, Joanne and more recently, Keith whose dedication and workrate is second to none on quite often a day to day basis. It would go amiss if I didn‟t mention at this point Brian Cunliffe, who has on and off, over the years worked behind the scenes painting, digging or mending often without the right resources for the job…..it‟s people like this who really make a place what it is. So Many to mention, others to forget, but we are here and that wouldn‟t exist if it weren‟t for those who give up their time and effort to keep the club alive. Our motto ...... „Onwards & Upwards‟, sums us up as we now strive for promotion.
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OUR CHOSEN CHARITY Joseph‟s Goal is a Wigan-based charity, ran by a small group of family and friends who all volunteer their services. The charity has received support from Wigan Council, Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic, as well as schools, local organisations and the business community. Joseph‟s Goal have raised most of their funds through charity balls, football matches, bike rides, marathons and 10-Ks, swimathons, spinathons, Xmas jumper days, numerous other fundraising events, and hundreds of donations from generous people. Ashton Town AFC now host an annual charity legends football match, after the huge success of the inaugural match in May 2015, with the Latics Legends thumping a Hollyoaks XI 10-0 with a sensational performance. Town chairman, Mark Hayes was touched by Joe‟s story and has been actively involved in the charity‟s fundraising efforts for several years. This years event is the fifth annual Joseph‟s Goal legends game and is set to be another classic with the likes of Bryan Robson, Emmerson Boyce and Arjan De Zeeuw gracing the Ashton Town turf. Since Josephs story was shared publicly, the 10-year-old has become a little star in the local area and recognised throughout the United Kingdom for his fantastic story in defying all the odds. Joseph‟s Goal has
also received support from multiple football, rugby and television stars over the years including Pep Guardiola, Harry Redknapp and Joe Calzaghe.
lights in Wigan Town Centre. Joseph‟s Goal was recognised further in 2014 by the Wigan Council for contributing to the “Believe in Wigan” campaign. In April 2019, Joe returned to his role as Wigan Athletics‟ lucky charm as he featured pitchside at half-time during Wigan‟s shock victory against Leeds United. This was after more than 70 Latics fans heroically walked 58-miles over three days for the charity from Wigan‟s Euxton training ground to Elland Road, In 2013, Joe was the mascot organised by Martin Tarbuck for Wigan Athletic in the FA from the Mudhutter fanzine. Cup Final and was carried out Joseph‟s story has inspired onto the pitch at Wembley by thousands of people to help skipper, and charity fundraise for NKH and ambassador Emmerson Boyce, contribute to their bid in which led to television finding a cure for the very rare appearances on BBC North condition. West, ITV, Granada and Sky News. Many Latics fans believe Help us to raise money for that Joe was a lucky charm as further research and hopefully Wigan defied the odds to edge closer to the end goal of beat Manchester City 1-0 and helping Joe and other children claim their first major trophy in with the same condition. the club‟s history, similar to how Joe managed to defy all the odds given by the doctors to reach his 10th birthday on Thursday May 9th 2019. Joe‟s father Paul Kendrick, a life-long Wigan Athletic sup-porter and the Latics correspondent for Wigan Today, was gobsmacked that Joe was given the opportunity to be a mascot. In 2014, Joseph‟s family were the Joseph's Goal is a registered charity in WISH FM “Local Heroes Family England and Wales of the Year” and Joseph Charity number: 1151548 switched on the Christmas
www.josephsgoal.org
BRICKWORK - BLOCKWORK -STONEWORK
NEW BUILD - REFURBISHMENT
01695 682 181 Hewitt House, Winstanley Rd, Wigan, WN5 7XA
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KIERAN ALLEY ZAK EL-BESHRI LIAM BOTT EMMERSON BOYCE ERION BUJUPI LEON DONNELLY JUNIOR DOS SANTOS THOMAS HEWLETT CHRISTOPHER HILL CARL LOWNSBROUGH TYREEK MCCALLUM DYLAN MAKIN KHIUS METZ DAVID MOORE HARRY NEVITT ALEX NORTHOVER JORDAN PARKES THOMAS PARRY JAMES PRICE BEN PURDHAM LUKE ROBINSON RUSTAM STEPANS JOSEPH WILLIAMS Manager: Terry Smith Assistant: James Kane Coach: Colin Carruthers Physio: Adam Young Colours: Red Shirts, Red Shorts, Red Socks GK: Grey Team sponsored by
CAMERON ALLISON DANNY WARBURTON TOM LEE JORDAN HUSSEY MACAULEY FARRINGTON DEXTER BRIERLEY DEAN SINGLETON NICHOLAS CRITCHLEY JAKE FOSTER MATTHEW DAVISON THOMAS JACKSON MATTHEW KNOWLES ADAM FARRELL HENSLEY MILLS CONNOR HUGHES PAUL OLDHAM JAKE O'BRIEN ALEX SPENCER JEAN KHASA JOSEPH MULLARKEY Manager: Brian Hart Assistant Manager: Steve Iley Head Coach: Craig Thomas Player Coach: Leighton Mills Colours: All Royal Blue GK: Yellow
Referee: Referee: Jack Carr, Assistant 1: Jamie Albison, Assistant 2: David Mateer
NEXT FIRST TEAM HOME GAME - SAT 31st of October 3PM v CHADDERTON FC