The Wall oper PRESCOT CABLES V CLITHEROE | BETVICTOR NPL NORTH / WEST DIVISION | 20 AUGUST 2019, 7:45PM | ISSUE 3
1966 and
all that
When the North Korean national team came to Merseyside
Throwing their
weight around Can a Premier League club really trademark the name of their home city?
PRINCIPAL CLUB SPONSORS
TODAY’S MATCH SPONSOR: PRESCOT CABLES SUPPORTERS CLUB. TODAY’S BALL SPONSOR: HARRY MOLYNEUX.
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From The Editor Good evening and welcome to Hope Street for our first home match of the 2019-20 BetVictor Northern Premier League North/West Division. It is always a pleasure to welcome the players, officials and supporters of Clitheroe to Prescot and we hope that everyone connected with the Blues enjoys their short spell with us tonight. Greetings, too, to tonight’s third team. We offer a warm welcome to Messrs Brown, Harding and Rahjoo and hope that collectively they have a good game. We are grateful to the Prescot Cables Supporters Club for their sponsorship of tonight’s match and to Harry Molyneux for sponsoring the match ball. It is very much appreciated. If you listened to the NPL Step 4 Show at the weekend, you would have heard the panel describe this division as “horrible” because it promises to be incredibly competitive and unpredictable. One look at Saturday’s results and you’ll see what the pundits meant. Of the ten matches, five were drawn and of the five wins, four were by single goal margins. Interestingly, our victory at Kendal was the only away win in the division. Only a fool would make predictions at this stage of the season, but I will stick my neck out to say that I reckon the North/West Division is probably the strongest on a club-by-club basis of all the Step 4 competitions. Our guests this evening are a prime example; they have a new manager who knows what it takes to win championships at this level and have assembled a young squad. They will be tough opposition from the kick-off right through to the final whistle. Mind you, the Blues will not be taking our squad lightly. We are also under new management, albeit having promoted from within. Steve Pilling and Roy Grundy know the club inside out and have recruited shrewdly. They have got their squad playing quick, passing football but have retained a lot of the spine of the squad which served so well in 2018-19. Allowing for the fact that there were seven debutants in the starting line-up on Saturday, the squad has almost 1,200 First Team appearances for Cables between them. Even if we exclude the legend that is Captain Kirk (377 and counting), there’s a lot of experience at this level in the group. With all that in mind, it is hard not to go into tonight’s game with a sense of anticipation. Every single one of our 38 matches will be a battle; some will be wars of attrition and others will be more open and there will be many twists and turns along the way. It promises to be a lot of fun. Thank you for your support this evening. Enjoy the match!
Gareth Coates
PRESCOT CABLES
COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY LIMITED Company Number: 05540352
Directors: Michael Corless, Ken Derbyshire, Mick Flaherty, Joe Gibiliru, Peter Kneale, Doug Lace, Norman Parr, Mike Rice, Matt Roberts, Jamie Weston, Robbie Williams.
Vice Presidents: Phil Blundell, Bob Nicholson Chair: Peter Kneale Vice Chair: Joe Gibiliru General Manager: Ken Derbyshire Club Secretary: Matt Roberts Match Secretary: Paul Goodwin Treasurer: Norman Parr Social Events: Mick Flaherty Bar Manager: Lynda Derbyshire First Team Managers: Steve Pilling & Roy Grundy Coaches: Garry Williams & Dom Finnigan Physio: Tony Carroll Kit: Vicky Tigwell Hospitality: Harry Boydell & Sandra Williams Head Groundsman: Vacant Ground Maintenance: Alan McNally, David Hill, Paul Watkinson Programme Editor: Gareth Coates Match Reports: Paul Goodwin & Richard Tigwell Regular Contributors: Mike Rice, Roy McDonald, Paul Goodwin, Matt Roberts, Richard Tigwell Club Shop Manager: Kath Conway Club Photographers: John Hendry & John Middleton The opinions expressed within this programme are those of the individual contributors and may not represent the official view of the club.
Chief Editor Johnny Dollar
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Our Visitors Today: Clitheroe Our guests tonight have played many times against Prescot Cables over the years, in the Lancashire Combination, North West Counties League and Northern Premier League.
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he club was formed as Clitheroe Central in 1877 at the Swan Hotel in Castle Street by local businessmen. After playing in local leagues, the club joined the Lancashire Combination in 1903 and dropped Central from their name. Aside from breaks during the First and Second World Wars, the club continued to play in the Combination until the end of the 1981-82 season, when the Combination combined with the Cheshire League to become the North West Counties League. For the first 100 years of Clitheroe FC’s existence, a Lancashire Junior Cup win in 1893, the Lancashire Combination Cup in 1934-5 and the League Championship in 1979-80 were all that the club had to show for its efforts. That was soon to change. Although Clitheroe were put into the Third Division of the North West Counties League at its inception due to the state of the ground, this was the start of the most successful period in the club’s long history
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under the stewardship of Eric Whalley, subsequently manager and Chairman of Accrington Stanley FC. He assembled one of the best non-league sides in the North of England and won back to back Championships in the Third, Second and First Divisions, as well as securing the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 50 years, thanks to a solitary strike from local lad Eric Geldard. This was even more impressive when one considers that at that time, the First Division was effectively at Step 3 in the non-league pyramid. Captained by Mick Ashcroft and containing extravagant talents such as John Taylor and Steve Mullen, possibly the best player ever to play for the Blues, Clitheroe regularly attracted bumper gates, with the championship winning season seeing three crowds over 1,000. Cracks started to appear when Whalley took over the manager’s seat at Accrington. To compound matters, the new Northern Premier Division 1 was formed, but a lack of floodlights meant the Blues
Old Rivals Prescot and Clitheroe have met many times over the years, in three different Leagues.
could not take their rightful place and they found teams effectively leapfrogging them. It was not until the mid-nineties that the Club recovered from this setback and started to fulfil its potential. It became a force in the North West Counties League First Division again and made itself known on the national FA Vase stage. Having been pipped to the title in 1994-95 by Bradford
Park Avenue in controversial circumstances, the following season saw possibly the highlight of the club’s history when the Blues reached the FA Vase Final under the joint managership of Dennis Underwood and Gary Butcher after an epic two-legged Semi-Final win against Mangotsfield United of Bristol. There were 2,000 people at Shawbridge for the second leg who saw a deflected goal scored with seven minutes of extra- time remaining. The Final pitted the Blues against a powerful Brigg Town side and a 3-0 reverse in front of 7,500 fans at Wembley Stadium was a
fair reflection of the play. In the close season, Clitheroe also received their record transfer fee, ÂŁ45,000, from Crystal Palace for goalkeeper Carlo Nash. The Wembley experience turned the Blues into a FA Vase side and a Quarter Final defeat against Tiverton in 1998-99 and a two-leg reverse against Taunton in the 2000-01 Semi-Final gave the Blues national prominence. That 200001 run saw Clitheroe beat pre-tournament favourites Chippenham in the Quarter-Final on their own patch before a two-legged Semi-Final against Taun-
Clitheroe FC were FA Vase Finalists in 1995, semi-finalists in 2001 and quarter-finalists in 1999
Prescot Cables did the double over the Clitheroe last season, winning 4-1 here at Hope Street and coming home from Shawbridge with a 2-1 victory.
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ton Town, which would never be forgotten. With the first leg away and the game only just surviving an absolute deluge, the Blues went in at half time 5-0 down and reduced to 10 men. There was not much good humour amongst the 150 travelling Blues over that cup of Bovril. No further goals followed, but with manager Dave Burgess throwing caution to the wind in the home second leg, the fans dared to dream with 3 goals for the home side in the first 15 minutes (including hitting the post) and the Taunton keeper being stretchered off, but in the end Clitheroe went down 8-4 on aggregate. Dave Burgess stood down at the end of the season and central defender Lee Sculpher took over as player manager. In 2002-03, Clitheroe again finished as league runners up and lost to Mossley at Gigg Lane in the League Cup Final. Early cup exits the following season enabled the Blues to concen-
trate on the league and superb away form saw the Blues capture the 2003-04 league title on the final day of the season at Nantwich where Blues legend Neil Reynolds sparked bedlam when he thumped a 25 yarder into the top corner with six minutes of the season remaining. High hopes accompanied Clitheroe’s first foray into the Northern Premier League in 2004-05, but the club never fully recovered from manager Lee Sculpher resigning after a handful of games into the new season. He was succeeded by Paul Byrom who then quit in the close season. Tommy Lawson was appointed manager for the 2005-06 season, but he was relieved of his duties in early 2006, to be replaced on a temporary basis by Mark Smitheringale. He too left before the 2006-07 season started and his assistant Chris Stammers stepped up to the plate before resigning after a 10-1 thumping away to Conference
North Kettering in the FA Trophy in November 2006. The then chairman Carl Garner offered the job to Neil Reynolds and Pete Smith at the turn of 2007, before the latter took on the role in his own right at the end of the 2008-09 season. The following campaigns, 2009-10 and 2010-11 saw Clitheroe finishing in eighth and sixth respectively, the highest league placings in the club’s history. The end of the 2010-11 season also had a unique twist with Carl Garner stepping down as chairman after four years to replace Pete Smith as manager, in the process going unbeaten throughout April and taking the Manager of the Month prize. Garner was replaced in the role of chair by his long-standing deputy Anne Barker. Despite the great end to the previous campaign, the 201112 season under Garner’s leadership was ultimately disappointing, although it had started so brightly with anoth-
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er Manager of the Month award. The First Team’s form quickly tailed off and huge player turnover ensued, before Garner resigned and the managerial FA Vase duo of Burgess and Sculpher ensured survival on a temporary basis, having taken over with less than 10 games to go. Paul Moore, the exLeek Town and Warrington Town manager, took over the reins in 2012-13 and led Clitheroe to their record points total in Division 1 in finishing eighth, with the play-off push only ending over the final games of the season. However, the loss of key players in the close season led to a woeful start in 2013-14 and to an early exit from the FA Cup and Trophy, and the committee replaced Moore with ex-Blue Simon Garner. Clitheroe finished the season in 17th position, but Garner set his stall out in 2014-15 to create a more east Lancashire focussed team. A 13th place finish and an appearance
at the Reebok Stadium in the Lancashire Trophy against Chorley represented good progress, whilst the 7th place in 2015-16 continued the good work, and the push for the Playoffs only faltered in the final weeks. Following Garner’s resignation, the club moved quickly to appoint exWales international Simon Haworth to the manager’s role. He moulded a team from scratch into genuine Play-off contenders, only faltering in the penultimate game of the season to a 90th minute goal at rivals Colne. 2017-18 could not quite recapture these heights although both Kurt Willoughby and Alex Newby featured prominently in the league goal-scoring charts. When Howarth announced he was leaving, the club appointed former Warrington Town manager, Stuart Mellish. After an unhappy, short tenure, Mellish’s assistant, former Ossett Town man-
ager Lee Ashforth was handed the role six games into the season. Unfortunately, Clitheroe endured their worst season at this level and Ashforth’s tenure was brought to an end. The reins have now been passed to Phil Brown, who has tasted success at this level when manager of Lancaster City. Off the pitch, long-standing Chair Anne Barker stood down in the close season, having overseen the incorporation of the club as a limited company, the renewal of the ground lease and the replacement of the clubhouse, changing rooms toilet block and electricity/medical room during her tenure at a cost of over £150,000. Her successor, Lee Sharples, has moved to build on the firm foundations she laid and has instituted a broad-based threeyear strategy to ready the club for a move to Step 3, subject to success on the pitch.
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INTRODUCING... CLITHEROE Having endured a difficult campaign in last season’s West Division, Clitheroe have built a young and exciting squad led by a wily and experienced manager.
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Phil Brown: Manager Phil is a vastly experienced manager, having previously won the Northern Premier League Division One North with Lancaster City, where he spent three seasons. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the North West football scene. Dave McCann: Assistant Manager Dave is a former player at Bamber Bridge and Atherton Collieries. Prior to taking up his role with Clitheroe, Dave was an assistant manager at Lancaster City where he helped guide the Dolly
Blues to the NPL Division One North Championship. He was also manager of North West Counties League side Squires Gate for several years, helping the club progress on and off the pitch. Connor King: Goalkeeper Connor is a young shotstopper who came through the ranks at Burnley and secured an England Under-16 cap. He moved to Chester last season and is keen to make Clitheroe’s Number 1 shirt his own. Cameron Terry: Goalkeeper Cameron is a 19-year-old
‘keeper who played most of last season for Clitheroe, having signed for the Blues from Altrincham. Danny Gray: Defender Danny is a 19-year-old right back, who recently signed for the Blues from AFC Fylde. Cole Lonsdale: Defender Cole is a 21-year-old left back who stood out towards the end of last season because of his surging runs and consistent performances. Markell Foulds: Defender Markell is an 18-year-old centre back who was prew w w. p re s cotca b le s a fc. co m
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viously on FC United of Manchester’s books. He is looking to get more regular game time to help his progression. Ollie Muir: Defender Ollie is a 19-year-old centre back who previously spent a month at Clitheroe on loan from Lancaster City before making the move permanent. Paul Dugdale: Defender Paul is a 31-year-old defender. He has made the move from Lancaster City and was a key component of the manager’s recruitment strategy. Craig Stanley: Defender / Midfielder Craig is a former England C international. With 200 league appearances under his belt, the 36-year-old will be looking to guide his younger colleagues from the centre of defence or just in front of the defensive unit. Terry Cummings: Midfielder Terry is a 21-year-old attacking midfielder who signed from Burscough after two successful seasons with the Linnets. He is a powerfully built player who has already shown his willingness to get down the
flanks and will make a major impact at this level. Charlie Russell: Midfielder Charlie is a tenacious 23-yearold midfielder who is in his second spell at Shawbridge. He played a full season at Step 3 with Lancaster City last term and will be looking to use that experience and to continue his habit of scoring spectacular goals. Hyuga Tanner: Midfielder Back for his second season at Shawbridge, midfielder Hyuga originally signed from Bamber Bridge after being on the books of Blackburn Rovers. Charlie Mulgrew: Midfielder Charlie is a 19-year-old attacking midfielder who was recently released by Bury. He will be looking to kick on and use his time with Clitheroe to earn a move back up the pyramid. Conor Gaul: Forward Conor is a 23-year-old livewire who is comfortable anywhere across the front line. He won the league title with Atherton Collieries last year and is guaranteed to be a hit with the Blues’ fans.
Elliott Pond: Forward An imposing 22-year-old striker, Elliott holds the youth goal scoring record for Blackpool and was signed from Darwen, where he netted 23 times last season. Jordan Darr: Forward Jordan is a 20-year-old striker who came to Shawbridge after being released by Chorley, where he was on contract. He has also had successful spells with Bamber Bridge and Northwich Victoria. Jake Connolly - Attacker Jake is a 17-year-old local lad. He is a winger and the grandson of Burnley legend John. He has already spent a season with Fulwood Amateurs in the West Lancashire League and will be keen to show his pace and trickery to a wider audience. Jack Price: Attacker A pacey forward who is embarking on his first season in semi-professional football, Jack can play anywhere in attack and is a player with lots of potential.
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FROM RIWON TO RAINHILL Roy McDonald
In today’s feature we take a look back to the World Cup of 1966, staged in England; how one unknown football team won the hearts of the nation, and recall a little known local element to the remarkable story.
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he groupings for qualifying stages of the 1966 World Cup were heavily stacked in favour of the European and South American countries. Of the 16 places available at the finals, only one was reserved for the whole of Africa, Asia and Oceania. As a result, thirtyone African nations boycotted the tournament in protest at their being no automatic qualifying place for an African country and a hugely complex qualifying system involving Asia, Oceanic and African countries. This left South Africa, Australia, North Korea and South Korea to battle out qualification in a round-robin tournament. However, FIFA’s subsequent decision to ban South
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Africa, due to the apartheid regime there meant that qualification would be a mini tournament of three nations to be held in Japan. Because Australia did not formally recognise the state of North Korea, the venue for the mini qualification tournament was switched from Japan to Cambodia. As a result, the South Koreans withdrew for political reasons, meaning that qualification would be a straight shootout between Australia and North Korea. Soccer in Australia was still very much a minor sport at this time but, despite this, the team, largely made up of ex-pats, was confident of qualification and even commissioned a batch of 300, “Australia World Cup 1966” ties. The unknown
quantity of North Korea easily defeated them in both playoff games (6 – 1 and 3 – 1), meaning that they qualified for the 1966 World Cup finals by playing a mere two games rather than the long, convoluted route that would otherwise have been required. Initially there were doubts as to whether the squad would even be allowed to enter England. Like Australia, Britain had never formally recognised North Korea – or as it styled itself, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Archive records reveal that serious consideration was given by the British Government to refusing visas to the North Korean players and officials as a means of solving the problem, with civil servants
concerned that allowing entry would cause diplomatic difficulties with Britain’s allies. FIFA made it very plain to the FA that if any team who had won its way through to the finals was denied visas then the finals would take place elsewhere. FIFA’s diplomatic pressure won the day, facilitating the team’s arrival in England. The only concession was that the team would be known as North Korea, rather than the DPRK. They were drawn in Group D, alongside the Soviet Union, Chile and one of the pre-tournament favourites, Italy. All of North Korea’s games were scheduled to take place at Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park stadium, and there were concerns
that Teessiders would turn against them in view of their country’s part in the Korean War, just 13 years earlier. After flying into London, the Korean squad travelled north by train, bemusing fellow passengers by singing patriotic songs at full volume throughout the journey. By the time they arrived at the St. George Hotel in Middlesbrough, the tired and slightly bewildered players had fallen silent. Unable to speak a word of English, they struggled to communicate with their hosts, leading at one point to the Police being called to an apparent altercation at the Hotel, over a missed evening meal. However, any fears of animosity from the locals quickly evaporated.
After complaining that the practice ground specially laid out at their hotel was bumpy and that serious practice was “virtually impossible” they were given the use of Middlesbrough’s training ground at Hutton Road. However, they found that this, too, was not to their liking and finally found a training ground to suit them at the fifth attempt, just five days before their opening game. They completed their preparations on the I.C.I. chemical works ground at Billingham, and many locals turned out to watch them practice. Spectators were impressed by their technical ability, breathless all-out attacking style, impeccable manners and evident modesty. The locals noted that the North Koreans’ aver-
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age height was just 5ft 5in and that they played in red – the same colour as Middlesbrough – and immediately warmed to them. Their opening game in Group 4 took place at Ayresome Park against the Soviet Union. The Koreans battled courageously and played some speedy football, but the European side was much stronger physically and two goals in a minute on the half-hour mark broke the resolve of the “tiny men with mighty hearts”. A third goal in the final minute sealed a 3-0 defeat. It looked like the plucky Korean adventure would be destined for an early end. However, in their second game, their “astonishing energy, non-stop running and enough enthusiasm to move a range of mountains, brought them their success” when a late Korean goal resulted in a one-all draw against Chile, before just 13,792 rain soaked fans. With Italy also losing out to the Soviet Union, but defeating the Chileans, the final game between North Korea and Italy would be crucial. A draw would see the double world champions through, but an unlikely victory for the North Koreans would see them qualify for the quarter finals. Local fans headed to Ayresome Park looking
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forward to admiring Italy, but an early knee injury to their captain, meant that they had to play much of the game with 10 men (this was before substitutes were permitted). Five minutes before half time, Korea’s Pak Doo-Ik crashed the ball into the Italian net. The majority of the fans in the ground erupted in celebration. In the second half, the dogged North Koreans stood firm against the increasingly despondent and desperate Italians, and as the final whistle went, they had caused a sensation and qualified for the knock-out stages, with the Italians facing a return home to shame and ridicule. In the quarter final the North Koreans would meet Portugal at Everton’s Goodison Park ground. Whilst most people were expecting, and perhaps even hoping for, a spirited show from the North Koreans, anything other than a Portuguese victory was unthinkable. If the Italians had been taken by surprise and hampered by being a man short, the Portuguese, featuring Eusébio - the Black Pearl - were unlikely to fall into the same trap. The Italians had been confident of progress through the group stages, and knowing that the quarter- final was to be staged in Liverpool, they had made arrangements as early as February 1966 with Fr Peter Blake, the
director of Loyola Hall, the Jesuit Spirituality Centre and Retreat, in Rainhill, to stay there before and after their game. They had even brought an engraved chalice to present to the residence in thanks. The Koreans, by contrast, had made no plans, as they hadn’t expected to progress in the competition. On the Thursday before the quarter final, the North Korean party of 75 moved from Teesside to Merseyside, where they were accommodated at Loyola Hall, in the rooms which had originally been reserved for the Italian squad. The Koreans also had the use of the team bus which had been used by the Brazilian squad during the qualifying stages on Merseyside. It is said that they even held a training session at the Prescot B.I. Social ground, although I have been unable to corroborate that. For the Koreans, the experience of living in the retreat was unnerving. They had always slept in team dormitories, now they were put in single rooms. Many eventually took to sleeping two to a room. The squad considered that the rooms had ‘strange pictures’ presumably the religious iconography of the retreat - which they found unsettling. After some negotiation the pictures were removed. But, worst of all was the chapel, which was floodlit at night and was dominated by a huge crucifix. Having no particular
religious connotations for the Koreans, nor previous experience of the image, the players only saw a figure of a man in pain with ‘scary nails’ in his hands and feet. Amongst all this, it is no wonder they all had difficulty sleeping at their new camp! Shortly after their arrival, Mr Danny English, the manager of the Ship Hotel, which still stands opposite the main entrance to Loyola Hall in Rainhill, was startled to receive a request to provide drinks for the entire Korean party. “Certainly”, he replied, “just let me know what you require and I will supply it. I thought it was a trifle strange for I’d heard that the Korean team were teetotallers, but I figured I must be mistaken, and I waited for the big order to come across from Loyola Hall. It sounded like being a good one for business. When their man arrived at the Hotel with the order, you know what they wanted? A hundred bottles of Soda Water, nothing else! It shook me a bit, but I managed to find them 99 bottles in the cellar and sent them over. No wonder those Koreans play football with so much bubble!” With the North Korea now established as instant heroes with the Boro fans, it was reported that 3,000 people from Middlesbrough travelled to Liverpool to see them play
Portugal in the quarter-final at Goodison Park. Remarkably, the game was not a sell-out, and spectators were able to paying 7 shillings and sixpence (37½ pence) at cash turnstiles on the day for admission the game! The match was less than a minute old when Pak Seung Jin hit a shot from outside the area that flew past the Portugal goalkeeper, and into the top left-hand of the net to give the North Koreans a shock lead. Somewhat against the run of play, in the 22nd minute, a cross from the right eluded the Portuguese keeper at the far post and Dong-Woon Lee was there to put it into an empty net. The North Koreans were two up! The crowd was lapping up the excitement, and began chanting “easy, easy”, and “We want three”. Shortly after, Pak Doo-Ik hit a shot from outside of the area that was blocked by a defender, but it fell invitingly to Seung-Kook Yang. “He must score. He must score,” shouted David Coleman in the match commentary for TV, as the player dribbled the ball round a defender and paced it in the back of the net. Sensationally, just 24 minutes into the game and North Korea led by three goals! However, the shell-shocked
Portugal rallied and with the Koreans still naïvely piling forward - defence wasn’t part of their game - Eusébio showed just why he was one of the best players of his era. He single-handedly dragged his side back into the game and went on to net four goals in just over a half-hour, either side of the break, including two penalties. José Augusto added a fifth just before the end. Portugal went on to lose to England in the semi-final and the North Koreans returned home, but not before they presented to Loyola Hall, the chalice which had been passed on to them by the Italians. The chalice, and other material commemorating the Korean World Cup football team’s visit are kept in the Loyola Hall archives to this day. Some reports say that when the Korean squad returned home many members of squad were sent to the gulags for their shaming of the country in the manner of their defeat. However, this has been strongly disputed by most documentarians, and the squad are still held in high regard by Pyongyang. An excellent BBC documentary of the North Koreans exploits in the World Cup 1966, called The Game of Their Lives, can be viewed on You Tube.
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PRESCOT CABLES 0-1 MARKET DRAYTON TOWN
P Saturday 10 August Pre-Season Match Hope Street
Photos by
John Middleton
rescot Cables ended their preparations for the 2019-20 BetVictor Northern Premier League season with a loss at home to fellow NPL club, Market Drayton Town.
In truth, the Gingerbreads were probably a little fortunate to return to Shropshire with the victory. Cables were dominant in possession throughout the afternoon but lacked an end product. By contrast, Drayton’s two narrow banks of four were well-organised and resolute; it would seem likely that counter-attacking will form a significant part of their strategy in the South / East Division. The Pesky Bulls went into the fixture without Steven Yawson, whose five goals earlier in the week had helped Cables to an 8-1 win over Chorley’s Under-21 side. However, the starting line-up featured a number of familiar names as well as the returning Sean Myler. The home side were dominant throughout the first half and
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in the words of the Market Drayton Town Twitter feed, “missed a hatful of chances”. Certainly, the passing and interplay from the home side was a joy to watch. However, visiting goalkeeper Ashley Rawlins was in inspired form and kept the Pesky Bulls at
bay. Cables were made to pay for their profligacy in the 43rd minute when Harvey Howell scored for Market Drayton. The second half continued in a similar fashion, with Cables enjoying the lion’s share of possession but finding
Hawkins in superb form. Although beaten on the day, the quality of the approach play suggests that there is much more to come from this Cables squad.
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BetVictor Northern Premier League North West Division As of 18/08/19 Marske United Workington Ramsbottom United Tadcaster Albion PRESCOT CABLES Colne Droylsden Dunston Marine Pontefract Collieries Runcorn Linnets Clitheroe Mossley Ossett United Brighouse Town Widnes Trafford City of Liverpool Kendal Town Pickering Town
P 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
W 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
GF 2 4 3 2 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1
GA 0 1 2 1 0 3 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 2 1 1 4
GD 2 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -3
SATURDAY 17 AUGUST 2019
MONDAY 26 AUGUST 2019
MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2019
SATURDAY 31 AUGUST 2019
Clitheroe 0-0 Brighouse Town Droylsden 3-3 Colne Kendal Town 0-1 Prescot Cables Marine 1-1 Dunston Marske United 1-0 City of Liverpool Ossett United 0-0 Mossley Ramsbottom United 3-2 Widnes Runcorn Linnets 1-1 Pontefract Collieries Tadcaster Albion 2-1 Trafford Workington 4-1 Pickering Town
Brighouse Town 0-1 Marske United
TUESDAY 20 AUGUST 2019
City of Liverpool v Kendal Town Colne v Marine Dunston FC v Ossett United Mossley v Runcorn Linnets Pickering Town v Ramsbottom United Pontefract Collieries v Tadcaster Albion Prescot Cables v Clitheroe Trafford v Workington
WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST 2019 Widnes v Droylsden
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Pts 6 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Clitheroe v Colne Droylsden v Mossley Kendal Town v Widnes Marine v Prescot Cables Marske United v Dunston Ossett United v Brighouse Town Ramsbottom United v Trafford Runcorn Linnets v City of Liverpool Tadcaster Albion v Pickering Town Workington v Pontefract Collieries
Brighouse Town v Droylsden City of Liverpool v Workington Colne v Ossett United Dunston v Runcorn Linnets Mossley v Kendal Town Pickering Town v Marine Pontefract Collieries v Ramsbottom United Prescot Cables v Tadcaster Albion Trafford v Clitheroe Widnes v Marske United
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MAGPIES MAULED Photos by
John Middleton Cables’ biggest victory of pre-season came on Tuesday 6 August, when the Pesky Bulls hammered the Under-21 team from Chorley FC 8-1. Remarkably, the visitors took an early lead! Steven Yawson stole the show by scoring five times, with George Hassell, Rio Gill and Reece McNally also finding the net. Here are some of the photos from a spectacular victory; you can find a full gallery at prescotcablesafc.com.
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We are a peer to peer support group for men. Come have a brew and a chat!
#ITSOKAYTOTALK 24
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Match and Ball Sponsorship Date
Opponents
223/07/19
Everton (Pre-Season Match)
03/08/19
Warrington Town (Pre-Season Match)
21/08/19
Clitheroe
31/08/19
Tadcaster Albion
14/09/19
Dunston
24/09/19
Widnes
19/10/19
Brighouse Town
09/11/19
Ramsbottom United
30/11/19
Colne
07/12/19
Pickering Town
21/12/19
Kendal Town
01/01/20
Marine
11/01/20
Droylsden
18/01/20
Trafford
01/02/20
Workington
22/02/20
City of Liverpool
14/03/20
Mossley
28/03/20
Pontefract Collieries
13/04/20
Runcorn Linnets
25/04/20
Ossett United
TBA
Marske United
Match Sponsor
Ball Sponsor
Michael Corless Soccer Schools Emilia, Matthew, Karen and Dean Edwards Prescot Cables Supporters Club
Harry Molyneux
Peter Healing
The Town of Larvik, Norway
We are again inviting businesses and supporters to sponsor our home fixtures and the match ball for each game. Match Sponsorship costs £175 and includes pre-match and half-time hospitality, extensive promotion within The Walloper and during the pre-match stadium announcements. Match Ball Sponsorship costs £75 and includes pre-match and half-time hospitality, extensive promotion within The Walloper and during the pre-match stadium announcements. The club also offers a Gold Sponsorship option for £350. This entitles the sponsor to hospitality for up to six people, including a free bar with priority service. w w w. p re s cotca b le s a fc. co m
To find out more about any of these opportunities, please contact Mick Flaherty or Jamie Weston.
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First Team Appearances & Goals Up to and including 17th August 2019. Maximum number of appearances: 1
2019-20 Season Sub. Apps. Goals Apps. 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Player James McCulloch Lloyd Dean Valter Fernandes Marcus Burgess Reece McNally Matthew Hamilton Sean Myler Will Avon Josh Gregory Jack Grimshaw George Hassall Steven Yawson James Edgar Rio Gill Martyn Jackson
Cables Career Sub. Apps. Goals Apps. 357 20 23 127 37 51 94 3 2 81 0 0 49 0 0 28 13 7 24 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 150 34 17 0 1 0 0 1 0
SEASIDERS SIT AT THE TOP, FOR NOW There was one match in the North / West Division of the BetVictor Northern Premier League last night. The game brought together two clubs who had met in last season’s East Division, play-off winners Brighouse Town and Marske United. As with the weekend’s fixtures, a close game took place before 252 spectators at Brighouse Town’s Dual Seal Stadium. The visitors took the lead in the 23rd minute thanks to a goal scored by Andrew Stephenson. Try as they might, Brighouse were unable to find the net themselves and went down to a 1-0 defeat to follow their 0-0 draw at tonight’s visitors, Clitheroe. There are a further eight matches this evening, plus one on Wednesday.
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♠️ Cocktails ♥️ Beer & Craft ♣️ Brunch ♦️ Sunday Roast Served in the heart of the historical town of Prescot.
2 Leyland Street, Prescot, L34 5QP Find us on Facebook and Instagram for our forthcoming live music events
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2019-20 FIXTURES, RESUL Date
Opponents
17/08/19
Kendal Town
A BVNW
Comp. Att.
20/08/19
Clitheroe
H BVNW
24/08/19 26/08/19
Northwich Victoria Marine
A FACp A BVNW
31/08/19 03/09/19 10/09/19 14/09/19 21/09/19
Tadcaster Albion Droylsden City of Liverpool Dunston Pickering Town
H A A H A
BVNW BVNW BVNW BVNW BVNW
24/09/19 05/10/19 19/10/19 02/11/19 09/11/19
Widnes Trafford Brighouse Town Mossley Ramsbottom United
H A H A H
BVNW BVNW BVNW BVNW BVNW
16/11/19 23/11/19 30/11/19 07/12/19
Pontefract Collieries Ossett United Colne Pickering Town
A A H H
BVNW BVNW BVNW BVNW
14/12/19 21/12/19
Workington Kendal Town
A BVNW H BVNW
26/12/19 01/01/20 04/01/20
Runcorn Linnets Marine Clitheroe
A BVNW H BVNW A BVNW
11/01/20 18/01/20
Droylsden Trafford
H BVNW H BVNW
25/01/20 01/02/20 15/02/20
Marske United Workington Dunston
A BVNW H BVNW A BVNW
22/02/20 29/02/20 14/03/20
City of Liverpool Widnes Mossley
H BVNW A BVNW H BVNW
21/03/20 28/03/20 04/04/20
Brighouse Town Pontefract Collieries Ramsbottom United
A BVNW H BVNW A BVNW
11/04/20 13/04/20 18/04/20
Tadcaster Albion Runcorn Linnets Colne
A BVNW H BVNW A BVNW
25/04/20
Ossett United
H BVNW
TBA
Marske United
H BVNW
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Res.
1
2
3
4
5
6
1-0
Burgess
Fernandes
McNally
McCulloch
Avon
Gregory
Players marked in bold are goalscorers; players marked in italics indicate substitutions. Yellow and red cards are also shown, as follows: Caution Dismissal
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7
Ham
LTS & TEAM SELECTIONS
7
milton
8
9
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
Myler
Hassell
Dean
Yawson
Cooper
Edgar
Gill
Jackson
Mann
We have a number of opportunities for pitchside advertising here at the Cables. Taking a board at pitchside doesn’t just get your company’s brand noticed by match-going spectators; we will also provide good coverage across our social media channels. Prices start from £375 for the first season and £300 for subsequent seasons. For more information, send our commercial team an email, talk to one of the Directors on a matchday or call Jamie Weston on 07367 284803.
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K-Bull is going on a Summer Holiday before the new season starts, but he has left his bucket and spade behind.
BACK ON THE TREADMILL
Can you help him find them so that he can make a sandcastle once he gets to the beach?
Gareth Coates
It is something of a relief to have finally got the season underway, given how much hard work goes in to running the football club.
elcome back to Hope Street for the first home match of the 2019-20 campaign. The time has come for players, coaches, volunteers and supporters alike to get back on to the rollercoaster for another season.
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Except, for some of us, it might feel more like a treadmill than a rollercoaster. I’m sure that, for the players, the competitive edge created by League fixtures is more than welcome after eight warm-up games and many sessions designed to build fitness above all else. In addition, for many of the club’s volunteers, a return to meaningful matches will come as a blessed relief after a summer consumed by administration, planning and checking, double-checking, then triple-checking that the club has complied with the various new directives,
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guidelines and instructions that have been issued. There has been a lot of extra work to do off the pitch this summer. A fair amount of the additional workload has been caused by the change of title sponsor. We now play in the BetVictor Northern Premier League and the selection of a bookmaker as the main partner of all the Leagues at Steps 3 and 4 has meant that numerous additional compliance measures have been rolled out to clubs. To an extent, that is to be expected. There are certain legal restrictions on both gambling and the promotion of it, so there was going to be a certain amount of work all clubs would need to do to ensure that they stayed on the right side of the law. I’m not sure anyone – the League included – was prepared for just what
turned out to be required. In order to stay on the right side of the Advertising Standards Authority, clubs must now adhere to a remarkable set of restrictions. We are no longer able to feature photos of players under the age of 25 in images that appear on the homepage of our website. The homepage also features a banner promoting the sponsor, which is fair enough, except for the fact that it must appear at the top of the page, but not in the header across the whole site. Even when that banner appears, clubs are expected to go above and beyond the Advertising Standards Authority’s legal restrictions on the promotion of gambling and apply “Age Gating” so that any young people visiting their websites don’t see it. We don’t yet know how
this will work, except that it will use software developed and provided by BetVictor. This is a perfectly reasonable idea and a brilliant one, in theory. The problem is that there are many ways to build a website and what works on Pitchero is unlikely to work for us, given that we use WordPress to power the club website. Then there are the various things we can and cannot do and say on social media. The restrictions on clubs are very specific and extremely comprehensive. Fair enough. They have to be. But when you have a rotating team of volunteers using Twitter on matchdays and trying to engage with supporters there is a lot to remember, especially whilst also watching a match. There are several apparent conflicts between the rules and how to execute them
now that BetVictor is the title sponsor of the Step 3 and 4 Leagues that simply didn’t exist in previous seasons and the penalties for non-compliance are draconian. While I can understand the need to ensure that clubs are compliant – rule breaches could have legal implications, as well as attracting the attention of the League – the guidelines issued would be hard work for paid marketing professionals, let alone volunteers with full-time jobs and families. Yet, the full-time professionals enjoy a freedom that us mere hobbyists don’t. Anyone with even a passing interest in non-league football will be aware of the story of AFC Wimbledon, the fan-owned club formed amid the chaos that saw the old Wimbledon FC relocated to Milton Keynes. These two clubs were drawn togeth-
er in the Carabao Cup last week, in a match to be played at AFC Wimbledon’s Kingsmeadow. The last time the Buckinghamshire side had to travel to Surrey, AFC refused to use the word ‘Dons’ in the programme, or on the electronic scoreboard. Instead, they simply called their visitors ‘MK’. The Football League fined the Wombles for this heinous crime, so they decided not to bother printing a programme for the cup match. Then, on the morning of the tie, their scoreboard mysteriously developed a fault. Because both match programmes and scoreboards are optional at that level, there is pretty much nothing the Football League can do. Yet, if Prescot Cables (or any other NPL club) fails to produce a programme for any home match, the minimum fine for breaching Rule 8.14
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is £75; the sanction could be as much as £250. For a club like ours, that’s a lot of money. On the one hand, I can only applaud the Wombles’ subtle protest both against the claim made by Milton Keynes on a history they consider their own and the Football League’s application of its own rules. On the other, I return to a question which has vexed me for several years; why are the paid professionals of the Football League operating to a more relaxed set of rules to those by which the volunteers in nonleague football must work? To stick with programmes as an example, not only do we have to produce a programme, we get told what to put in it. Here’s an extract from the first part of League Rule 8.14: “The home Club is responsible for publishing a full match programme acceptable to the Board for each of its Competition matches. A Team Sheet will not be considered sufficient to comply with this Rule. “The visiting Club must send in writing to the home Club details of the proposed team they plan to field together with their Club history and up-to-date pen pictures of their current Players registered with the Competition for the season at least five days before
the scheduled date of the match between the two Clubs. The home Club programme must include the details sent by the visiting Club in the match day programme.” If we hadn’t received anything from Clitheroe for tonight’s game, they would be liable for a fine themselves. Now, this shouldn’t be taken as a rant against the management of the NPL, because this isn’t their rule. To be fair to the League, while they are strict when it comes to enforcing the rules, they do work with clubs to make sure the regulations are understood before hammering people. There’s been a lot of extra work generated by the new sponsorship but the clubs haven’t been the only organisations doing overtime. The rules for our League (and all leagues from Steps 1-6) are dictated to the competition by The FA. So even if our League’s management committee wanted to make a minor revision to any of the rules, they can’t. There are financial reports that need to be submitted every three months and an annual licensing process that sees the club apply for its place in the League. Our ground grading is revisited every three years and our floodlights
recertified every two. We have to work incredibly hard, just to stand still. Meanwhile, professional clubs can link directly to bookmakers’ websites in their site headers, even within pages aimed specifically at children and families. It is almost as if the rule-makers at Wembley don’t care about the pressures their decisions place on people who are involved in football on a voluntary basis, although I think the reality is that they don’t realise just how hard it has become to run a club at this level. Having got that off my chest, I’d like to finish this piece with a word to our fantastic supporters. Please remember that our Board and all our administration staff do what they do in their own time and because, just like you, they are Cables fans. We are human and every so often we will get things wrong. Please, please, remember that before you fire off a message on social media. The jobs we do are hard enough as it is, and we would always welcome some extra people coming on board to help out. But if you don’t feel able to volunteer, that’s fine too. Just be kind to everyone within the Cables Family – we’re all on the same side, after all.
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Reserve Team Fixtures & Results Date
Opponents
H/A
Comp.
Result
Scorers
10/08/19
Mallaby
H
WCL2
3-1
OG, Perry, Sinclair
17/08/19
Maghull Reserves
H
WCL2
3-0
R. Dean, Sinclair, OG
20/08/19
Cheshire Lines
A
WCL2
-
24/08/19
South Liverpool Reserves
A
WCL2
-
As of 17/08/19 Aintree Villa CABLES RESERVES Mersey Royal Cheshire Lines Poulton Royal Heswall Mossley Hill Athletic Reserves South Sefton Borough Maghull Res. Ashville Res. South Liverpool Res. Mallaby Rainhill Town Res. Litherland REMYCA Dev. West Kirby
P 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3
W 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
D 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
L 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3
GF 7 6 9 5 3 9 4 8 4 5 3 12 6 4 3
GA 2 1 5 1 2 5 2 7 4 6 4 14 10 9 9
GD 5 5 4 4 1 4 2 1 0 -1 -1 -2 -4 -5 -6
Pts 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 0
The club’s Reserve Team have started the season strongly, winning both their opening fixtures in the West Cheshire League. Having beaten the First Team of Mallaby FC on 10th August, Cables followed that on Saturday by beating Maghull Reserves 3-0. Ryan Dean cave the Pesky Bulls a first half lead before Cables took control of the match in the second half. Ben Snclair (left) scored for the second successive match before a late own goal sealed the points. Jonathan Sproston’s squad are in action this evening, away to Cheshire Lines who were close to promotion last season. The Reserves play their home matches on the 3G pitch at Prescot Soccer Centre, Warrington Road. Admission is free and there is a licensed bar. Your support for the team would be very much appreciated.
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Youth Team Fixtures & Results Date
Opponents
H/A
Comp.
Result
11/08/19
Chorley
H
NWYA
1-1
18/08/19
Curzon Ashton
A
NWYA
1-5
01/09/19
Egerton
H
NWYA
-
08/09/19
Stockport County
A
NWYA
-
15/09/19
Ashton Athletic
H
NWYA
-
22/09/19
Atherton Town
A
NWYA
-
06/10/19
Southport
H
NWYA
-
20/10/19
Hyde United
H
NWYA
-
TBA
Ashton Athletic
A
FAYC
-
As of 18/08/19 Curzon Ashton Egerton Chester Ashton Athletic AFC Fylde Hyde United Chorley CABLES U18 Altrincham Stockport County Southport Atherton Town
P 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 0 1 1 2
W 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
D 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
L 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 2
GF 15 10 5 4 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0
GA 1 4 2 2 1 3 1 6 0 3 4 18
GD 14 6 3 2 1 0 0 -4 0 -3 -4 -18
Pts 6 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAIN! Everyone at Prescot Cables FC would like to wish Many Happy Returns to our Stadium Announcer, Iain Bradshaw, who is celebrating his birthday today. Such is his dedication to the job that Iain has delayed his birthday drinks until after the match, so you will be hearing his dulcet tones over the Tannoy this evening. Enjoy the match, Iain and a well-deserved beverage afterwards!
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MINTCAKES POLISHED OFF Report & Photos by
Richard Tigwell & John Middleton Kendal Town 0-1 Prescot Cables
After eight warm-up matches, the serious stuff got underway on Saturday at the ST&B Accountants Stadium. Kendal Town struggled last season but have overhauled their squad over the summer and Cables will be delighted to have secured a win and a clean sheet to boot. Here are some of the photos from the game; you can find a full gallery at prescotcablesafc.com.
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P
rescot Cables’ 2018-19 season finished with a Lloyd Dean winner away from home. So, after a summer of so much change, it was perhaps fitting that the 2019-20 season began with a Lloyd Dean winner, away from home. A new season, yet another new league structure, new sponsors, new management team with new players, yet it was Cables talisman Dean who scored the only goal of the game. With thirteen minutes gone, the ball came to Dean on the edge of the area after skipper James McCulloch had battled to keep possession. Dean took one touch to get the ball out of his feet, before hitting a low, left-footed finish which found the bottom corner of the Kendal goal.
Dean could have had a second goal five minutes later but the referee deemed McCulloch to have got the final touch on the ball from an offside position. Former Kendal favourite Stephen Yawson was returning to his old stomping ground for the first time as a Cables player and produced an excellent performance. He and fellow new boy George Hassall produced several good chances to increase the lead for Prescot before half time but were unable to beat the Mintcakes keeper. If the first half had been one of almost total Cables domination, the second half was much more of a battle. The home side grew into the game and seized upon the growing
frustration and nerves within the Cables team as the elusive second goal continued to evade them. Marcus Burgess, returning to Cables for his second spell at the club, produced a miraculous save on 85 minutes to keep the visitors’ lead intact. With the ball seemingly past him he somehow managed to claw the ball back off the line, allowing the recovering defender to clear the ball to safety. A second goal for the Pesky Bulls almost came in injury time when the excellent Yawson drove into the Kendal area and squared the ball to the on running Dean who was unfortunate not to get the required touch that would have carried the ball into the net.
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Reserve & Youth Team League Tables
Raising Awareness Saves Young Lives
Cardiac Risk in the Young Every week in the UK at least 12 young people die of undiagnosed heart conditions. Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) aims to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD). CRY supports young people diagnosed with potentially life-threatening cardiac conditions and offers bereavement support to families affected by YSCD. CRY promotes and develops heart screening programmes and funds medical research. CRY publishes and distributes medical information written by leading cardiologists for the general public. CRY funds fast track referral, screening and cardiac pathology services at leading UK hospitals. Address: Unit 1140B The Axis Centre, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7RD Telephone: 01737 363222 Email: cry@c-r-y.org.uk Web: www.c-r-y.org.uk 42
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/CardiacRiskintheYoung
@CRY_UK
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ON THE ROAD IN THE FA CUP The Pesky Bulls head into Cheshire on Saturday looking to end a half-decade of defeats in the Emirates FA Cup
C
ables will travel to Northwich Victoria on Saturday seeking to record a first victory in the Emirates FA Cup for some five years. The Pesky Bulls have exited the world’s oldest football tournament at the Preliminary Round stage for four consecutive seasons and will hope to end that sequence this weekend. However, given that the Vics were a penalty shootout away from playing at Wembley last season, a difficult test awaits the squad. Northwich got to the semifinals of the Buildbase FA Vase and drew twice with eventual winners Chertsey Town before being edged out in heart-breaking fashion. The Cheshire side more than earned the right to play Prescot; after drawing at home to Northern
Counties East League outfit Silsden, Victoria went 3-0 up in the replay, were pegged back to 3-3, then scored a late winner. They will, therefore, go into the tie with plenty of pedigree where knockout football is concerned. However, Prescotians looking for good omens should take note that the last club to lose to Cables in the Cup was 1874 Northwich – the club formed by former Victoria fans who were unhappy with how their club was being run. The first match in that tie saw Cables on the road, with a 2-1 win eventually coming here at Volair Park. Saturday’s match brings together two of the oldest clubs in the North-West. Victoria are ten years the elder and can trace their history back more than 140 years. They were FA Cup Quarter Finalists in 1883-
84 and have reached the Competition Proper many times since. Famously, the Vics reached the Third Round Proper in 2005-06, playing seven matches along the way. They were eventually knocked out by Sunderland. Their last appearance amongst the big boys was in 2015-16; Northwich got to the Second Round Proper, before losing 3-2 at Northampton Town. This weekend’s game takes place at Witton Albion FC, where Victoria are currently groundsharing. Admission prices are £7 Adults, £5 Concessions and £2 for children aged 12-16. Children aged 11 and younger are admitted free. If the match ends in a draw, the replay would take place on Tuesday 3rd September here at Hope Street and the League fixture at Droylsden would be postponed. w w w. p re s cotca b le s a fc. co m
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MAKING THEIR MARK Gareth Coates
Can a football club really claim exclusive rights over the name of their location? We try to explore the ramifications of a trademark application.
The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal and everybody having a share in the rewards. That’s how I see football, that’s how I see life.”
“
These are the words of Bill Shankly, the man who transformed Liverpool Football Club from an also-ran into a powerhouse. A man who understood not just the game, not just his club, but the city which gave it life and he called home. You don’t have to be a Liverpool fan to respect his intellect or his connection to the people of the city. It was the great Bill Shankly who I thought of when I learned that his club now has a ‘Brand Protection Department’. I wondered what on earth he would make of such a nakedly capitalist development. Even
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if he grudgingly accepted that there might be a need for such a team within a football club, at least one of their ideas would have attracted withering scorn. Specifically, the one where the football club has attempted to register a trademark over the word ‘Liverpool’ in respect of ‘football products and services’. This might have gone completely under the radar were it not for a series of tweets from City of Liverpool FC, complaining bitterly that formally registering an objection to the application had cost them £300. It’s not often I find myself in total agreement with the Purps’ social media account, but on this issue I found myself in their corner. It’s not as if Liverpool is a one club city – even Anfield has two senior clubs now Lower Breck have joined
the National League System. How can any organisation lay claim to the city’s identity, even if only in one aspect of life? City of Liverpool then released a statement which stated that Liverpool FC had given “verbal assurances that we, nor any other local football clubs and organisations were the target of this application, and we of course accept the word of the club that we are not the target. However, the fact remains that the practical effect of the granting of the trademark is a serious threat to the future of our community owned football club.” It could be argued that, were this application approved, the ramifications would be massive. After all, what qualifies as a ‘football product’ or a ‘football service’? Having done the
job in Middlesex for several years, I would consider running County Cups to be a service-driven role. The most obvious football product (other than matches) is merchandise, so that would put AFC Liverpool and City of Liverpool in trouble. At best, the trademark application – or at least making it without consulting other relevant stakeholders, such as the County FA – looks ham-fisted and slightly avaricious. At worst, it looks like a big club throwing its weight around at the expense of smaller outfits. Even Liverpool Supporters Union, Spirit of Shankly, came out against the proposal. Declaring that SOS was “alarmed” by the idea, the body said on its website that: “For decades, local traders outside of Anfield have sold scarfs, hats, T-shirts etc
and for many it’s their sole source of income. Scores of those T-shirts have been, and still are, happily worn by players, past and present. These traders provide a vibrant alternative to the club’s official merchandise and are bought by thousands of fans every matchday. What happens to them? The list goes on.
about Liverpool. The name is not FSG’s to own, it is the name of our city, it is owned by its people.”
“After a magnificent summer of optimism and celebration for LFC, it is hard to contemplate such a controversial, ill-thought out move by FSG. It is one that will alienate the entire fan base. We, along with all fans, cherish our independent traders. They add so much to our fan culture and atmosphere – and therefore the club’s success.
Well, possibly not. Liverpool FC Chief Executive, Peter Moore, arranged for City of Liverpool’s £300 to be refunded and then sat down with various interested parties. Afterwards, he told the Liverpool Echo, “I met with City of Liverpool FC to discuss the club’s application to register ‘Liverpool’ in a football context for goods and services.
“SOS strongly oppose the blatant monetisation of our football heritage. But this is about more than LFC. This is
“We are trying to protect LFC against large-scale counterfeiting operations and are not in any way targeting
Are we about to usher in a new era, where clubs affiliate to the Merseyside FA and various non-league clubs either must change their name or licence it from a Premier League giant?
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small businesses and clubs. “We had positive discussions with City of Liverpool FC and will now develop a legallybinding agreement with LFC that allows them to continue their great work. “We are under attack from large scale manufacturing. We must protect the global revenues to reinvest in players and infrastructure. “Other community football clubs that use the word Liverpool do not have anything to worry about. I have
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made these reassurances and repeated today. “We also met with local independent retailers. We had a positive and constructive meeting. We reiterated the context of our application, which is not about local traders, it is about large-scale operations that are flooding the market.” The statement Mr Moore gave the Echo goes some way to alleviating the concerns expressed by non-league clubs and supporters alike, but it also baldly states a basic truth about Premier League football: it is
all about the money and that LFC sees factories in China as more of a threat to that money than T-Shirt sellers on Anfield Road. It is to be hoped that City of Liverpool (and others) get the legally binding documents they seek, to ensure that clubs and other bodies are not rendered vulnerable by any future change of ownership. Whether the trademark is granted or not, it is hard to see the whole episode as a public relations own goal which might do more harm than any mishap on the pitch.
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THE ULTIMATE COMEBACK Hugo Varley
This week’s column from The Non-League Paper offers a heart-warming story about how non-league football is helping one player make the most of life.
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hile the excitement for the brand new season was building up to unprecedented levels this summer, I was alerted to a truly remarkable story, which serves as a constant reminder of the preciousness of life. The journey that Travis Munn has been on over the last few months is one that has pushed him to the very limits of human courage, bravery and strength. Diagnosed with the degenerative disease Scleroderma in 2016, the former Mansfield Town and Boston United defender was later presented with the crushing news that his condition had become terminal. “It just hits you like a ton of bricks, it is absolutely impossible to process” said Munn.
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“I sat there and asked how long I had left. The doctor said ‘it is impossible to say whether it will be as little as three months or as long as three years’. “How do you break that to your family? How do you tell your parents or your partner that you won’t be here for much longer? Coming through the ranks at Mansfield, Munn soon earned a reputation as an all energy defender, capable of competing with the very best. However, it was after dipping his toes into NonLeague football with Boston United that he started to pick up on a number of concerning signs. “I had always been blessed with a good level of fitness, which had been my biggest attribute as a player” added
Munn. “All of a sudden I was the least fit player at the club. I couldn’t understand it. I was doing extra sessions but I would wake up the next morning in absolute bits. I would be tearing up and thinking that I couldn’t carry on with it. “I spoke with my dad and he was asking me ‘why is it that you can’t do your running anymore?’ He was asking if I was having troubles in my personal life or whether I was getting into alcohol. “Even my manager started to wonder if I was taking drugs. It was becoming unbearable and it was at that point that I needed to find out why I was feeling like this”. As the devastating disease took its hold, Munn was forced to put aside any
thoughts of football and come to terms with the unthinkable prospect of leaving behind his young family. However, one evening as he sat at home, a speculative search of the internet presented the former Boston defender with a potential miracle. He said, “I was just on the computer when a story came up about someone who had, had a stem cell transplant. “What they do is they blast you with the most amount chemotherapy that you can possibly have until you are basically at death’s door. “They then put the stem cells back and hopefully it works. It is hugely risky and there is a very real chance that you might die during the treatment.
“I kind of said goodbye to people because I thought to myself if it somehow works then great but I would rather die trying to do something about this than just lying there and letting it kill me, which it was. “That was about seven months ago and to have come out of the other side is incredible. Just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye”. Having left hospital just before the turn of the year, Munn has undergone a truly remarkable return to strength and after battling against all the odds, he made an extraordinary return to football this pre-season with East Midland Counties League side Borrowash Victoria.
inspirational defender. “I managed to play for 80 minutes in the first game, my whole family was there and when I came off my mum was crying, that nearly got me going but I just about managed to hold it together. “To have been in a position where just a short time ago my next step was death, I have learned to cherish every single moment that I get. So, as we all attend another round of tantalising fixtures this week, win, lose or draw, let’s just be thankful for all that life has to offer.
“I simply can’t describe what I was feeling when I stepped back onto the pitch” said the
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K-Bull’s Kids Korner
.co.uk
Football
Spot the Difference
There are 5 differences in the two pictures below. Can you find them all?
Spot the difference
Once you have, you can colour the pictures in!
Hi everyone! Isn’t is great to be back? I’d like to welcome all you Pesky Calves to Hope Street for our first home Northern Premier League fixture of the new season.
.co.uk
tball
Hello, as well, to any young travelling supporters who have come over from Clitheroe.
5 things are different difference
Have
The start of a new season is always so exciting because anything is possible. There are in these 2 pictures, simply circle the 5 diffe new players to welcome and fun and colour in the pictures for Cables, newtoo! management to wish the best of luck. Steve and Roy have been with the club a while though, so know all about us. This season is going to be incredibly interesting. This is such a strong division, pretty much any club could be celebrating in April. If we get behind the players from the first whistle at every game, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be us celebrating.
ctures, simply circle the 5 differences. ur in the pictures too!
K-Bull would like to thank Lilly Coates for the idea of a Spot the Difference puzzle.
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See you soon!
K-Bull
Br tann a Tax s are proud to Sponsor Prescot Cables
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Today’s Squads Prescot Cables v Clitheroe Tuesday 20 August 2019, 7:45pm
Prescot Cables
Clitheroe
Amber & Black Striped Shirts, Black Shorts, Black Socks
Blue & White Shirts, Blue Shorts, Blue Socks NUMBER
GOALS
NUMBER GOALS
Marcus Burgess (GK)
Connor King (GK)
Ollie Taylor (GK)
Cameron Terry(GK)
Will Avon
Danny Gray
James Cooper
Cole Lonsdale
Lloyd Dean
Markell Foulds
James Edgar
Ollie Muir
Valter Fernandes
Paul Dugdale
Danny Flood
Craig Stanley
Rio Gill
Terry Cummings
Josh Gregory
Charlie Russell
Jack Grimshaw
Hyuga Tanner
Matty Hamilton
Charlie Mulgrew
George Hassall
Conor Gaul
Martyn Jackson
Elliott Pond
James McCulloch
Jordan Darr
Reece McNally
Jake Connolly
Sean Myler
Jack Price
Liam Riley Rodrigo Schmitdinger Mann Aaron Turner Billy Whittle Steven Yawson
Steve Pilling & Roy Grundy
MANAGER ASSISTANT MANAGER
Dom Finnigan & Garry Williams Tony Carroll
COACHES PHYSIO / SPORTS THERAPIST
REFEREE: Darren Brown ASSISTANT REFEREES: Lee Harding & Ali Rahjoo
Next First Team match at Hope Street:
Cables v Tadcaster Albion Saturday 31 August 2019, 3:00pm BetVictor NPL North/West Division
Phil Brown Dave McCann