CLUB INFORMATION Honorary Life President: Alan Wellens
Monday 28th March 2016, kick off 3pm North West Counties League, First Division
Vice Presidents: Jim Barrett and Steve Ball Chairman: John McKiernan (07713 339682) Vice Chairman: Glyn Jones Hon. Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Voller (07843 692695)
St Helens Town
Ashton Town
Red & White Shirts White Shorts, Red & White Socks No
Mathew Hodge
Gls Y R
Blue & White Shirts Blue Shorts & Socks No
Joe Clements
Matthew Davidson
Jesse Robinson
Andrew Presho
Michael Lacey
Adam Lawrence
Scott Baker
Ant Whelan
Kevin Brownrigg
Todd Blayney
Charlie Munro
Trustees: John McKiernan and Eric Bond
George Lomax
Philip Williams
1st Team Joint Managers: Alan Gillespie & Nick Matthews
Edward Pegler
Dominic Perkins
Andy Gillespie
Jake Ellis
1st Team Physiotherapists Ellie Hayes & Paige Marcus
Daniel Greene
Sam Wilkie
U21s Team Manager: John McLaughlan
Stephen Rigby
Marcus Cusani
Alex Gillespie
Donovan Hudson
Josh Hoult
Michael Mulrooney
Jamie McDevitt
David Mills
Ellis Mavers
Connor Duffy
David Jones
John Brownrigg
Full Committee: John McKiernan, Jeff Voller, Jim Barrett, Ste Ball, Andy Langley Paul Wood, Margaret Wood, Chris Ford and Glyn Jones. Hospitality: Margaret Wood and Paul Wood
U21s Assistant Manager: Billy Davies U18s Team Manager: Ellis Hawksworth
U18s Assistant Manager: Alex Jardine Sunday Team Manager: David Platt
Managers: Alan Gillespie and Nick Matthews
Gls Y R
Manager: John Brownrigg Coach: Frank Duffy
Club Email: sthelenstownfc@hotmail.co.uk
Referee: Mr C Thomson (Rossendale) Assistants: Mr P Rigby (Liverpool) & Mr A Pownall (Liverpool)
Main Club Sponsor: Johnsons Toyota Liverpool
Match Sponsor
Shirt Sponsor: EcigUK St Helens Legal: St Helens Town Limited Private Limited Company Company No. 04392840 Date of Incorporation 12.03.2002
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool 60 Rimrose Road Bootle Liverpool Merseyside L20 4TX
Company Director: Jim Barrett Parent Company: A wholly owned subsidiary of Sporting Club St Helens Limited Cover Photograph: Sam Sheen in action at Atherton LR Saturday 27th Feb 2016
Match Ball Sponsors
Next Home Game: Tues 5th April 2016, 8.00pm Town v Stockport Town NWCFL Division One Adults £5, Concessions £3 U16s £1, U12s FREE*
Good evening and welcome to Brocstedes Park for this North West Counties League, First Division contest against our friends and near neighbours Ashton Town. May I open by welcoming our visitors I hope they enjoy the short time they will spend with us and have a safe journey home after the game. Before I get on to on field matters it was with great sadness that the club learnt on Monday morning that club stalwart and (until recent ill health prevented) long time attendee of Town games Eric Bond had passed above on Monday morning. I can recall many a long conversation with Eric as we put the world both football and non-football to rights and a more pleasant man you are never likely meet. Eric was also good for a bit of tactical analysis and quite often you’d get a few “they wouldn’t have done that in my day” off Eric especially when it came to the more gentile nature of tackles and associated theatrics these days than those in the much rougher era of his career which I’m sure you will read more of later in this issue. Eric was not just a man who gave plenty to St Helens Town, he was also a massive contributor to the grassroots game in St Helens, Merseyside and beyond with commitments on the St Helens Combination League which until recently always saw him skip out of games after a quick brew during the half time interval to record and collate the afternoon’s scores and midweek games also saw him leave before the final whistle to pick up his wife at the end of her bingo session which just epitomised the selfless nature of Eric for me. He also sat on many various committees for the Liverpool County FA from where he was able to impart his wealth of knowledge and experience in the game. He will be a massive loss to the Merseyside footballing community and my condolences to his wife and family at this sad time.
Moving onto on-field matters which I know Eric would approve of we have been on a long road trip since we last played here at Brocstedes Park almost 6 weeks ago when after being 2-0 through Hamish Falconer and Andy Gillespie we lost 3-2 for the second home game in a row. After a postponement at Bacup and the Hanley & Whitchurch home games being called off due to the damage to the Brocstedes Park pitch a hastily slotted in game at Atherton LR saw us run out 4-1 winner a quick start saw us 3-0 up after 13 minutes from two own goals and George Lomax before LR pulled one back and Sam Sheen rounded off the scoring. The following week saw up venture to Hanley and Ellis Mavers put us a goal up just after the half hour only for the hosts to quickly level and net again midway through the second half to secure the points in a game that we should have at least got a point out of. Next up was the shorter trip to Widnes and another quick start saw Lomax and Gillespie put Town 2-0 after 20 minutes only for a Widnes reply soon after the restart to make the remainder of the game nervous as we held out to win 2-1. The longest trip in the league was to follow as we took the trip up to Barrow-in-Furness on a Tuesday evening and the 90 mile trip slowed our start down as we didn’t open the scoring until the 25th minute Mavers netting direct from a corner, Eddie Pegler doubled the lead before Gillespie sent the visitors into the break 3-0 up. Lomax and Ste Rigby made it 5-0 to Town against some commentators pick for an automatic promotion place and the clean sheet was preserved when Matty Hodge pulled of an exceptional penalty save late in the contest. We then visited Bacup and ran up a 3-0 lead after just 12 minutes through goals from Rigby and a Gillespie brace taking him to 25 for the season. Bacup pulled one back before the game was to change on a very debatable refereeing decision as Adam Lawrence was sent off for denying an “obvious goal scoring opportunity” on the left wing with covering defenders in behind him and the numerical advantage allowed Bacup to earn a share of the spoils. We will look to bounce back over the bank holiday weekend (I write before the Saturday game) against Whitchurch & Ashton. Lets get behind Town and hopefully cheer them on to victory! Enjoy the game . . . Jeff Voller
The origins of the football club known today as Ashton Town AFC can be traced back to one man who worked at a local textile mill. Makerfield Mill, located in Windsor Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield was one of Lancashire's leading textile mills in the 1950's. The mill itself was known locally as the "Weaving Shed", and at the height of the Lancashire Textile Industry several hundred people were employed there. In 1953 one of the workforce, a man called Derek (Mick) Mycock decided to form a works football team comprised entirely of mill employees, to offer local men the chance to play in organised football matches. He approached the miil's management with the idea, and permission was granted for a piece of land adjacent to the works in Windsor Road to be used as the site for the football club's ground. Once confirmation was received that his application for membership of the Wigan Sunday School League for the start of the 1953-54 season had been successful, Mick set about forming the first squad of players to represent Makefield Mill F.C. With a sizeable workforce employed at the mill, finding enthusiastic potential players proved to be easy enough, but Mick soon realised that having a large pool of men available and willing to play for the club was not necessarily a guarantee of success. The first two seasons in the Wigan Sunday School League were disastrous from a playing point of view, as the club won only two games and earned the unenviable nickname of "The Chopping Blocks". The inevitable loss of interest after such a poor run of results, allied to a lack of quality players available, meant that Mick had to change his original plan of playing only mill employees in the team. The club successfully applied to join the St Helens Combination for the start of the 1955-56 season, and with the playing surface at Windsor Road now established as being one of the finest natural playing pitches in the area, Mick used this as a selling point to attract new players to the club. A season of consolidation saw an improvemnt in the fortunes, and Mick then decided to extend the experiment of bringing in outsiders to play for the club. The restriction on the use of outside players was totally lifted, and from this point on Makerfield Mill F.C. set out to bring leading local players from other clubs to play at Windsor Road. This move was a turning point in the club's history. Notable players such as Derek Fearnley, Bill Greenwood, Don Langford, Ron Cottam, Cliff Williams, John Austin and Arthur Riley came on board, joining established players such as Bob Selby and Peter Smallwood for the start of the season 1956-57. By this point Mick had enlisted the help of two other men to assist in the running of the club - Joe Glaze and Arthur Jones - and the three men were to be the driving force behind the club for the next few years. With an extended pool of players to choose from, a second team was established for season 1956-57 and an outstanding campaign saw the club's run of success begin when they won the Liverpool County F.A. Shield - the first club from the Wigan area to do so since 1932-33 when Parr St Peters were the winners. In the same season, they also won the St Helens Hospital Cup, the Rainford Pottery Cup and the Tom Worrell Cup and in the league they were S t Helens Combination Division Two Runners Up. Not content with this success, Mick began planning for the following season and decided that the addition of promising young players to the squad would keep the momentum going. Eric Greemn, Bill Pomfrett, Walter Corless and Norman Turner, all under 20 years old, were signed up, as was 17 year old Len Riley who had just been released by Bolton Wanderers. Also, for the start of the season, a new kit was purchased, and the team changed from the tangerine shirts and grey shorts that they had worn in their first years of existence to a kit similar to that of Blackburn Rovers, comprising blue and white halved shirts with blue shorts and blue socks .
The change of kit and the injection of youth into the playing proved to be a winning combination. The club enjoyed another outstanding season in 1957-58, winning the St Helens Combination Division Two and dominating local cup competitions. They won the St Helens Hospital Cup for the second year running, the Martin Cup, and were runners up in the Guardian Cup, Tom Worrell Cup and Rainford Pottery Cup. Having defeated a number of well known Warrington sides during their run to the Guardian Cup Final, the club applied for membership to the Warrington Amateur League at the end of season 1957-58. The member clubs had been impressed by the team's performances during the cup run, and Makerfield Mill were accepted into the First Division straight away. The original Ashton Town joined Division Two of the Lancashire Combination in 1903, and were promoted to Division One in their first season. However, they were relegated back to Division Two after finishing sixteenth in their first season in Division One. Towards the end of the 1910–11 season the club withdrew from the league and their fixtures were taken over by Tyldesley Albion. The current club was established in 1953 as Makerfield Mill. They initially played in the Wigan Sunday School League, before moving to the St Helens Combination, in which they played for three years, winning Division Two in 1957–58. In 1958 they joined the Warrington and District Amateur League, winning Division One in 1959 –60 and 1950–61. In 1962 the club were renamed Ashton Town after being forced out of their Windsor Road ground and moving home matches to a public park pitch at Whithill Street Recreation Ground in Bryn. However, they won the league again in 1962–63 and 1963–64. In 1964 the club purchased their Edge Green Street ground, which had hosted Stubshaw Cross Rovers. They finished as Division One champions for a fifth time in 1964–65, before winning a sixth title in 1969–70. They joined the Lancashire Combination in 1971, moved to Division Two of the Cheshire County League in 1978 and became a founder member of Division Three the North West Counties League in 1982. In 1985 the club dropped into the Manchester League, but returned to Division Three of the North West Counties League the following season. After Division Three was merged into Division Two in 1987, the club have remained at the same level since.
Season 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
League NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-2 NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1
P 38 40 34 38 36 36 34 34 34 32 34 34 34 36 36
W 8 13 12 16 13 17 15 12 4 11 5 6 18 11 7
D 3 6 9 11 8 7 7 4 8 7 8 9 8 11 6
L 27 21 13 11 15 12 12 18 22 14 21 19 8 14 23
F 46 65 49 66 61 59 55 53 35 62 37 49 77 57 51
A 98 85 53 60 62 57 56 80 91 73 86 89 43 61 78
GD -52 -20 -4 6 -1 2 -1 -27 -56 -11 -49 -40 34 -4 -27
Pts 27 45 45 59 47 58 52 40 20 40 23 27 62 44 27
Position 18/20 16/21 11/18 7/20 7/19 7/19 8/18 17/20 18/18 13/17 16/18 18/18 6/18 12/19 17/19
Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Brocstedes Park for this first NWCFL First Division meeting with our former landlords and good friends Ashton Town. Let’s hope their players, officials and supporters have had a safe journey and along with our own support are treated to an entertaining encounter. I’d like to thanks today’s match sponsors Johnsons Toyota Liverpool and our match ball sponsors Airborne Bathroom Services for their continued support. We are still on the look out for one or two final sponsors for this season - please contact me on 07713 339 682 for more information. The full details of next season’s sponsor packages will be on our website very soon. We’ve had an extended period of away games and today is only our second home fixture of 2016. As a consequence we will finish the season with a glut of games here at Brocstedes Park, something we must make full advantage of if we are going to secure a play-off spot. Of course there are a number of teams, including today’s visitors, who will be hoping to do the same! With a print deadline before the Easter Saturday we can only hope we took the spoils at Whitchurch. Next Saturday we take on high flying Irlam at Silver Street and are back at home on Tuesday 5th April when Stockport Town are the visitors for an 8pm kick off. Full fixture details are in the centre of today’s programme. We had the very sad news this week of the death of club Trustee Eric Bond and I’d like to offer our sincere condolences to Eric’s wife Marion, daughter Karina and their extended family. A minutes silence will be held prior to today’s game. Enjoy the game and let’s hope the lads can pick up three points . . . John McKiernan Chairman, St Helens Town AFC
Widnes 1-2 Town NWCFL Division One Saturday 12th March 2016
Sturdy St Helens hang on for another away victory by Kieran Ford A healthy crowd of 112 witnessed a first half that was largely controlled by the away side, and, similar to a recent away trip to Atherton LR, Town turned their sustained pressure in the opening 20 minutes into goals. St Helens took the lead 9 minutes into the game as right midfielder Daniel Greene swung in a ball towards Town’s two strikers for the day, Andy Gillespie and George Lomax. The two men in form did the rest as Gillespie won the aerial flick on to find Lomax at the far post, who brought the ball down and had the composure to find the far corner past Widnes keeper Ben Morrow. Town’s second came 10 minutes after their first, with their danger from set pieces again coming to fruition. A hopeful free kick into the area from Greene was won in the air by Gillespie. His header squirmed through the opposition goalkeeper to compound a miserable opening 20 minutes for the home side who found themselves having to overturn a 2 goal deficit. After the second goal went in, it was clear to see that the away side were playing with a confidence not seen in a while by St Helens Town fans. They kept their opponents guessing either by using the midfield partnership of Sheen and Pegler to pass their way through the defence or by looking over the top for strikers Gillespie and Lomax to latch on to. However, Widnes did show glimpses of being a danger on the counter through centre forward Tunde Owolabi who was a thorn in the away defence’s side all day, but his pace and power could hardly be utilised as St Helens rarely let Widnes get out of their own half. This continued to be the trend until half time, as the Saints returned to the dressing room two goals to the good. There must have been some inspiring words from Widnes Manager Steve Hill at half time, as the home team retreated for the second half with a lot more confidence. There was a change in attitude by both sides however, as St Helens decided to sit on their lead and soak up pressure from the home side, in an attempt to increase their lead through Gillespie or Lomax on the counter attack. As a result of this, the home side started to have a lot more of the ball in the St Helens half, however could not create the possession into many chances until the 54th minute. A hopeful ball was sent into the Town box, and after some aerial ping pong, the ball was headed in by half time substitute Antoine Recizac past a motionless Matthew Hodge to give the home side a chance heading into the last 30 minutes. The home side’s inability to create attempts on goal haunted them as Town arguably created the best chances of the half. This is a testament to the defence of Morris, Marshall, Lawrence and Presho who defended admirably to prevent the dangerous attackers of Windes troubling Hodge between the sticks. Town ultimately held on after a few risky moments in the closing moments of the game to gain a valuable 3 points away from home. FT: Widnes FC 1-2 St Helens Town (George Lomax 9, Andy Gillsepie 19) Pictured Left: Town ‘keeper Matty Hodge being presented with his Reusch sponsored Goalkeeper of the Month award for January 2016
Experience the key for Widnes After watching his side record their biggest away win of the season at Eccleshall on Saturday, Widnes manager Steve Hill is hoping his side will use that result as a boost for their remaining games this season. Hill accepts that his young side still have a lot to learn, but believes more results like Saturdays will help to grow confidence as well as experience. "It's about the lads adapting , realising they have to keep good concentration levels, because you are playing against good players", he said. "The North West Counties is an excellent level for any footballer to be playing at, and you are coming across lads who have more experience and know how".
The general youthfulness of the squad is an area that Steve is constantly looking to address, and admits that it is a constant challenge to try and find players with the necessary experience to strengthen the squad. "I'd like to get more experienced players, in as the young lads do need a bit of guidance on the pitch", he said. "We have a lot of young lads and we have had a habit of shooting ourselves in the foot. It's a steep learning curve for them, and at any level you are going to get punished for your mistakes, not just in this league.�
“We blow hot and cold, and sometimes we have been saying "how can we play as well as we did there", but then revert back to type. It's as if the penny hasn't dropped. So it's just a case of plugging away, but it's important that the lads don't become deflated.� "It's our job as a management team to keep them believing in themselves and hopefully results will come".
The months of Feb and March have been very good with the team picking up points and gaining ground on the teams above us. The only blip on the run came away at runaway league leaders Hanley Town, a narrow 2-1 defeat. Amongst the recent wins we defeated derby rivals Widnes 1-2 at the Select Security Stadium. It's always great to win in a derby match and the first half in particular was a very good performance which meant we completed the double over them. The other big result this month came in our away fixture at Holker Old Boys winning 0-5 against a side who had only lost once at home in the league all season. We had five separate scorers on the night and this was definitely the best result and performance that I have witnessed since being at Town. The lads were superb throughout the whole of the game, we had two debutants in the squad that evening left back Jay McDevitt; Macca is a left sided player, quick, comfortable on the ball and he also likes a tackle. He picked up the Man of the Match award which was very pleasing. The other debutant was under 18 goalkeeper Davey Jones who has been training regularly with the first team since Christmas. Davey has been on the bench the last couple of games and definitely one for the future. Others signing for the first team from the youth team are captain Sam Rawsthorne and Shaun Brady and this shows that the work of U18s management team of Ellis and Alex is not going unnoticed. I want to thank them for their continued hard work. Today we have yet another local Derby as Ashton Town visit Brocstedes Park and we are looking to break into the playoffs as the final month of fixtures get underway. Thanks for your continued support. Nick Matthews, COYS!!
Manager Alan Gillespie and Nick Matthews collecting the Club of the Month award from NWCFL Vice Chairman Geoff Wilkinson
Barnton player-manager Danny Meadowcroft says that his side will now be turning their attention back on collecting league points, after clinching a place in the final of the Reusch First Division Challenge Trophy last Saturday. In just his fifth game in charge, Danny steered his side to a penalty shoot out win over Stockport Town, after the sides were tied at 0-0 after extra time, and the Villagers now face some important league fixtures before they face Hanley Town in the final on April 19th. But for now, Danny is pleased that his side came through Saturday's game, which provided excellent entertainment for the watching spectators. "It was a good game, even though it was 0-0 there were chances", he said. "Defences cancelled each other out and there were no costly mistakes at the back which can quite often happen at this level and cost games.
"It was surprising the game was a goalless draw, especially when you have got two of the top four teams in the league, and two of the leading goalscorers in the league were playing too. The way we started it just wasn't us, and I had a word at half time and told the lads they needed to improve. "I thought in the second half, we grew into the game but when extra time came and we had chance after chance I was thinking that these were good chances and we just couldn't seem to find the net. Then the penalties came, and it becomes a lottery then. But we've done it now, and we can wait until the final before we think about it, because that is in the distance. "It's a really good cup tie, having Hanley in the final. They have not been at the top of the league all season for nothing, they are a good team with probably the best striker in the league. "They beat us twice, 1-0 both times, so I think we owe them one and have got a bit of revenge to dish out, and it would be nice to do it in a cup final". But for now, attention turns to league matters, and having been pushed out of one of the automatice promotion positions on Saturday while in cup action, due to Irlam's win over Litherland REMYCA, Danny is looking for his side to react positively to the challenge of clinching a promotion place.
We are looking for additional sponsors on match-days with a host f benefits for both match (£100) and ball (£50) sponsors including free entry & programme; hospitality, programme and social media advertising; pre-match photos, man of the match awards. Contact John McKiernan on 07713 339 682 for more details. Date
Opponents
Match Sponsor
Match Ball Sponsor
Tue 11/08/15
Atherton LR
PC Problems St Helens
John Cahill
Sat 22/08/15
Irlam
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool
Mike Cole Web Design
Sat 29/08/15
Rochdale Town
Wheel Pro - Alloy Wheel Repairs & Refurbishment
Anthony Hall - Exiled Geordie on Merseyside
Sat 12/09/15
Barnton
Toast Café, St Helens
LM Travel
Sat 19/09/15
Cheadle Town
Paul Pritchard
The Cowley Vaults
Sat 10/10/15
Chadderton
KA Davies Electrical
Conor McGinn MP
Tue 13/10/15
Widnes
Rylance Fishmongers
David O’Keefe & Gary Shaw
Sat 24/10/15
Holker Old Boys
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool
Britannia Taxis
Sat 21/11/15
Daisy Hill
CelebLook Ladies & Girls Fashion
Kiera’s Occasions Venue Dressing & Balloons
Sat 19/12/15
Eccleshall
ODs Designer Clothing
Action Coach NW
Tue 16/02/16
Kiera’s Occasions Litherland REMYCA Venue Dressing & Balloons
Danny’s Window Cleaning
Mon 28/03/16
Ashton Town
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool
Airborne Bathroom Services
Tue 05/04/16
Stockport Town
A180 Darts
Invisible Heroes
Tue 12/04/16
Hanley Town
Stillia
Action Coach NW
Michael Allison
Wilf Marshall & Finding Furever Homes
Sat 16/04/16 Northwich Man Villa Sat 23/04/16
Whitchurch Alport
Invisible Heroes
Wed 27/04/16
Bacup Borough
The Track King Stuart Pyke
Warrington Motors Man of the Match Awards Matty Lennon (v Irlam) and Graham McLoughlin (Rochdale) & Dave Dempsey (Cheadle T)
Warrington Motors Fiat and Nissan 201 Winwick Road, Warrington Cheshire WA2 7PE Telephone: 01925 669 401
Man of the Match Awards 2015-16 Town v Atherton LR Andy Gillespie/Dale Sealey Town v Irlam Matty Lennon Town v Rochdale Town Graham McLoughlin Town v Barnton Dale Sealey Town v Cheadle Town Dave Dempsey Town v Chadderton Adam Lawrence Town v Widnes Jack Marshall Town v Holker Old Boys Matthew Hodge Town v Daisy Hill George Lomax Town v Eccleshall Andy Gillespie Town v Litherland REMYCA Aaron Morris
Warrington Motors Man of the Match v Eccleshall
Between 1946 and 1962 the club, like many, didn’t have a ‘manager’. Town officials would liaise with first and reserve team captains over team selection. In 1962-63 ‘First Manager’ Pat Murphy came from Burscough with a nucleus of his team which won the Lancashire Combination Division One title for Burscough but the formulae didn’t work for Town despite financial backing of a brand new 200 seat supporters club opened by John Connelly in spring of 1962. 1963-64 Sam Cottingham came after success with Pilkington's in a move to rebalance the squad with more local players. 1964-66 Jimmy McKiernan became the club's first commercial manager and team boss after arriving from Earlestown via a successful playing career which included a spell on the North Wales circuit. 1966-68 Jackie Dewsnip, cousin of Town player Jimmy Dewsnip who along with the latter’s son Neil meant the Haydock based family served Town well over a couple of decades. 1968-71 Peter Jones took the reigns in the wake of the Northern Premier League being formed which reduced Town’s league (Lancs Combination) to one division. He moved on after three years to a position on the staff of Preston North End. 1971-77 Alan Hampson arrived from South Liverpool after a distinguished playing career at Holly Park and became a mini ‘Messiah’ as Town won the Lancs Combination title in 1972 along with the Bass Charrington and Watson trophy in quick succession. He also oversaw Town’s step into the Cheshire County League in 1975 as by then, the Lancashire Comb had become a pale imitation of its former self. 1977-79 The aforementioned Jimmy Dewsnip took the reigns after ‘Hampy’ had moved on and became the first ex Town player to become manager. He combined this with work for the Liverpool County FA with the latter eventually claiming his services after two years. 1979-80 Player manager Geoff Robinson hailed from the new overspill at Laffak where he also ran the increasingly successful ‘Starting Gate’ pub team in the blossoming new Sunday League. Many of his squad were ‘Town’ players but the ‘conflict’ of interests was seen as detrimental to the senior club. 1980-82 Jack Prytherch had been at Wigan Athletic and he brought in players from that area including new club skipper, his son in law, Steve Murfin. Jack’s reign saw the formation of the North West Counties League and Town’s first season was a struggle in the new league’s top flight resulting in a change in mid-term. 1982-84 Peter Rutherford. After the success of Alan Hampson a decade earlier, the Town board returned to South Liverpool again for their next appointment. Peter Rutherford was number two at Holly Park at the time but he also found it hard going in the NWCFL inaugural season and his charges only escaped relegation on a ‘technicality’. Things got a little better the following season and he bowed out just before glory arrived. 1984-87 Alan Wellens had skippered Town’s Lancs Combination title team and went on to become the club’s top appearances holder after making his debut at Great Harwood in 1966. His playing career was ended by a broken leg against Hyde in 1981 at Hoghton Road.
Allan Wellens receiving the Lancs Combination Championship Trophy from Wesley Bridge in 1972
Alan went on to Town history with the club’s historic journey to Wembley in 1987 before he and the vast majority of the FA Vase winning side sought pastures new. 1987-92 Alan Aspinall (pictured opposite) took over the mantle of manager following the departure of the Vase squad and management team having been Reserve team boss and spent a successful five seasons in charge.
1992-93 Mick Holgate (left) presided over just one season at Hoghton Road before moving on to Leigh RMI. 1993-2002 Jimmy McBride stepped up from his position as Reserve team boss to take the reigns of the first team for almost a decade which saw the club’s move from Hoghton Road to Saints. Took the club to its first cup final since the visit to Wembley but lost out in the League Cup and Floodlit Trophy finals in the mid 1990s. 2002-2003 John Davison and Peter King arrived from Burscough having presided over a very successful period in the ‘Linnets’ history. After a disappointing first campaign despite significant financial backing the club’s need to tighten the purse strings led to the pair’s departure at the start of the 2003 campaign, along with most of the squad. 2003-04 Ex-Everton professional Paul Lodge became Town manager as the club reeled from financial cuts but unfortunately his youthful side struggled at the bottom of the league and he was replaced in January 2004. 2004-05 Former Town ‘keeper Joe Paladino took over the reigns from Lodge and secured the club’s safety from relegation before going to challenge for the title during most of 2004-05. Joe resigned in March 2005. 2005-06 Assistant to Paladino, Joe Gibiliru took over the manager’s position and presided over a period of on the field stability for the club before resigning in September 2006. 2006-07 Alex Wright, who had previously been assistant manager to Paul Lodge returned to the club as manager but his tenure was short-lived as family commitments led to him stepping down in September 2007. 2007-08 John Fletcher, Wright’s assistant, was given managerial responsibility and he steered the club away from the relegation battle with a 19th place finish at the end of 2006-7. Despite the club’s off the field problems and financial difficulties the following season saw Fletcher’s charges finish fourteenth after only one defeat in the last nine games. However Town remained rooted in a relegation spot for most of the following season and Fletcher departed with weeks of the season remaining. 2009 – 2010 Gary Bickerstaffe was appointed in March 2009 and secured the club’s safety with some ease recording six victories from the final eight games. Bickerstaffe’s fine form as manager continued throughout 2009-10 eventually finishing in 9th place. 2010 – 2011 Lee Riley steps up from assistant manager when Gary Bickerstaffe steps down at the end of the 2009-10. Lee resigned in March 2011 due to work commitments and Iain Dyson took over the managerial reigns before he too stepped down at the end of the season. 2011-12 season saw Jimmy McBride make a return to Town but it proved a difficult season and Town parted company with him as we narrowly avoided relegation. 2012 - 2013 Ian Granite became manager following success with neighbours Wigan Robin Park FC. A challenging 2012-13 season saw Town eventually steer clear of relegation, in doing so maintaining their unique 30 year stay in the North West Counties League top division. Despite an excellent start to the 2013-14 season Ian stepped down at the end of November due to business and family commitments and Ian Price took over the managerial reigns. The end of the 2014-15 season culminated in relegation for Town and Ian Price had already informed the club of his intention to step down. U21s boss Alan Gillespie and Ian Price’s long time assistant Nick Matthews were promoted to the joint managers Nick Matthews Alan Gillespie position. Many thanks to Jim Barrett and Eric Bond for their input in compiling the information.
Date
Opponents
Comp
KO
Result
GK
2
3
4
5
6
Aug 08
Chadderton
NWCFL
3.00
1-3W
McLoughlin
Davidson
Kelly
A.Whelan
Sealey
Baines
AUG 11
ATHERTON LR
NWCFL
7.45
4-1W
Bradley
Davidson
Kelly
A.Whelan
Sealey
Baines
Aug 15
Maine Road
FAC EPR
3.00
2-1L
McLoughlin
Davidson
Marshall
Lennon
Sealey
A.Whelan
AUG 22
IRLAM
NWCFL
3.00
3-1W
Bradley
Davidson
Marshall
Lennon1
A.Whelan
Agbodjan1
AUG 29
ROCHDALE TOWN
NWCFL
3.00
2-3L
McLoughlin
Davidson
Marshall
Lennon
A.Whelan
Griffiths
Sep 05
Winterton Rangers
FAV 1QR
3.00
0-4W
McLoughlin
Davidson
Marshall
Lennon
Sealey
Begley
Sep 09
Litherland REMYCA
NWCFL
7.45
3-1L
McLoughlin
Davidson
Kelly
Lennon
Sealey
Begley
SEP 12
BARNTON
NWCFL
3.00
3-3D
McLoughlin
Davidson
Kelly
Gibson
Sealey
A.Whelan
Sep 15
Rochdale Town
NWCFL
7.45
3-1L
McLoughlin
Davidson
Marshall
Gibson
Sealey
A.Whelan
SEP 19
CHEADLE TOWN
NWCFL
3.00
2-2D
Bradley
Baines
Marshall
Gibson
Lennon
A.Whelan
Sep 26
Hanley Town
MUC 1R
3.00
4-1L
McLoughlin
A.Whelan
Rigby
Gibson
Lennon
Begley
Oct 03
Rochdale Town
FAV 2QR
3.00
6-2L
McLoughlin
Lawrence
Rigby
Garcia
Gibson
Begley
OCT 10
CHADDERTON
NWCFL
3.00
3-1W
Hawksworth
Lawrence
Marshall
A.Whelan
Gibson
Davies
OCT 13
WIDNES
NWCFL
7.45
3-2W
Hawksworth
Lawrence
Marshall
A.Whelan
Gibson
Davies
Oct 17
Stockport Town
NWCFL
3.00
3-0L
McLoughlin
Lawrence
Marshall
A.Whelan
Lennon
Twist
OCT 24
HOLKER OLD BOYS
NWCFL
3.00
1-3L
Hodge
Lawrence
Rigby
A.Whelan
Lennon
Pegler Davies
Oct 27
Bootle
LSC 1R
7.45
4-2L
Hodge
Davidson
Rigby
Lawrence
Pegler
Oct 31
Daisy Hill
NWCFL
3.00
1-2W
Hodge
Davidson
Rigby
Lawrence
Pegler
Baines
NOV 21
DAISY HILL
NWCFL
3.00
2-6L
Hodge
Davidson
Alex Gillespie
Lawrence
Pegler
Blayney
Dec 09
Chadderton
FDC 2R
7.45
6-3L#
Hodge
Davidson
Rigby
Lawrence
A.Whelan
Al Gillespie
DEC 19
ECCLESHALL
NWCFL
3.00
2-3L
Hodge
Presho
Rigby
Lawrence
Pegler
Blayney
Jan 09 Northwich Manchester Villa
NWCFL
3.00
0-1W
Hodge
Alex Gillespie
Rigby
Lawrence
Presho
A.Whelan
Jan 23
Eccleshall
NWCFL
3.00
0-3W
Hodge
Alex Gillespie
Marshall
Lawrence
Falconer
A.Whelan
Jan 30
Cheadle Town
NWCFL
3.00
1-2W
Hodge
Morris
Rigby
Lawrence
Falconer
A.Whelan
FEB 16
LITHERLAND REMCYA
NWCFL
7.45
2-3L
Hodge
Morris
Presho
Falconer1
Lawrence
A.Whelan
Feb 27
Atherton LR
NWCFL
3.00
1-4W*
Hodge
Morris
Presho
Lawrence
A.Whelan
Blayney
Mar 05
Hanley Town
NWCFL
3.00
2-1L
Hodge
Morris
Rigby
Lawrence
Presho
Blayney
Mar 12
Widnes
NWCFL
2.00
1-2W
Hodge
Morris
Marshall
Lawrence
Presho
Sheen
Mar 15
Holker Old Boys
NWCFL
8.00
0-5W
Hodge
Davidson
McDevitt
A.Whelan
Lawrence
Blayney
Mar 19
Bacup Borough
NWCFL
3.00
3-3D
Hodge
Davidson
Presho
Lawrence
A.Whelan
Blayney
Mar 26
Whitchurch Alport
NWCFL
3.00
MAR 28
ASHTON TOWN
NWCFL
3.00
Apr 02
Irlam
NWCFL
3.00
APR 05
STOCKPORT TOWN
NWCFL
8.00
Apr 09
Ashton Town
NWCFL
3.00
APR 12
HANLEY TOWN
NWCFL
8.00
APR 16
NORTHWICH M.V.
NWCFL
3.00
APR 23
WHITCHURCH ALPORT
NWCFL
3.00
APR 27
BACUP BOROUGH
NWCFL
7.45
Apr 30
Barnton
NWCFL
3.00
# - AET 3-3 @ Full Time * - 2 Own Goal @ Atherton LR 27/02/16
Name1
Player name and number of goals scored
Name
Player name and CAUTION
Name
Player name and DISMISSAL FOR 2 CAUTIONS
Name
Player name and DISMISSAL
Name10
Player name and number of replaced player
7
8
9
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
Lorde1
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie
Nwachukwu
Marshall1
D.Whelan
Duke10
Russell21
Perry11
Bradley
Lorde1
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie2
Nwachukwu
Marshall
Lennon
Russell11
Perry71
Duke10
McLoughlin
Nwachukwu7
Duke
D.Whelan3
Bradley
Perry11
Rooney
Rigby10
McLoughlin
Baines
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie1
Lorde
Kelly
Perry10
Duke
Griffiths
Andy Gillespie1
Nwachukwu
Golding
Lorde6
Perry
Du Toit1
Andy Gillespie1
Rigby
Agbodjan
Golding10
Lorde7
Nwachukwu
Duke11
Rooney
Twist
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie1
Nwachukwu
Rigby1
Perry91
Agbodjan111
Golding10
A.Whelan
Rooney
Twist1
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie
Nwachukwu
Marshall
Perry12
Gibson11
Golding
Baines10
Bradley
Du Toit
Baines
Andy Gillespie1
Twist
Rigby
Perry102
Duke
Lennon5
Begley
Golding11
Duke
Baines
Andy Gillespie1
Du Toit
Rigby
Perry11
Nwachukwu6
Golding
Lennon2
Bradley
Du Toit
Twist
Andy Gillespie2
Dempsey
Sealey
Perry8
Duke10
Rigby
Golding5
McLoughlin
Baines
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie
Gregson
Twist
Perry11
Golding81
Hoult
Duke6
Bradley
Golding10
Hoult11
Graham
Bradley
Baines
A.Whelan
Andy Gillespie1
Du Toit
Gregson1
Lennon8
Duke
Gregson1
Andy Gillespie1
Golding
Du Toit
Rigby10
Lennon
Perry71
Hoult
Twist8
Duke
Gregson
Andy Gillespie1
Golding1
Du Toit1
Rigby8
Lennon
Perry7
Hoult
Twist10
Duke
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie
Gregson
Golding
Rigby11
Baines8
Perry2
Hoult
Al Gillespie
Duke
Gregson
Andy Gillespie
Du Toit
Hoult1
Golding11
Baines
Davidson7
Twist6
Al Gillespie
Al Gillespie
Baines
Andy Gillespie1
Blayney
Hoult1
Du Toit7
A.Whelan11
Duke
Lennon6
Bradley
Al Gillespie
Blayney
Andy Gillespie
Du Toit2
Hoult
Golding10
A.Whelan
Duke8
Lennon
Perry11 Du Toit8
Murphy
Morris
Andy Gillespie1
Lomax1
Rigby
A.Whelan2
Perry
Baines
Duke7
Gregson1
Baines
Andy Gillespie1
Pegler1
Hoult
Woodhall7
Blayney
Marshall
Davies
Bradley10
Smith
Morris
Andy Gillespie2
Lomax
Greene
A.Whelan11
Davidson2
Baines7
Alex Gillespie
Bradley
Pegler1
Blayney
Andy Gillespie
Murphy
Greene
Lomax10
Baines7
Smith
Woodhall
Hoult11
Mavers
Sheen1
Andy Gillespie1
Murphy
Rigby
Greene3
Morris2
Davidson
Smith10
Mavers
Sheen
Andy Gillespie1
Greene
Murphy
Presho8
Alex Gillespie
Blayney
Smith
Lomax111 Murphy7
Lomax
Blayney
Andy Gillespie1
Sheen
Mavers
Greene
Smith
Alex Gillespie
Rigby8
Alex Gillespie
Rigby10
Smith8
Davidson7
Greene
Sheen1
Andy Gillespie
Lomax1
Pegler
Sheen
Mavers1
Andy Gillespie
Lomax
Pegler
Greene6
Alex Gillespie
Davidson8
Smith7
Lomax
Mavers
Andy Gillespie1
Lomax1
Greene
Blayney8
Alex Gillespie7
Davidson
Murphy11
Lomax1
Pegler1
Andy Gillespie1
Mavers1
Greene
Alex Gillespie6
Rigby91
Hoult7
Jones
Lomax
Pegler
Andy Gillespie2
Greene
Rigby1
Alex Gillespie7
Hoult10
McDevitt
Jones
A.Whelan
4-1 3-0
Irlam
3-1
1-4 1-2
0-2 1-0
Litherland REMYCA
0-2
0-1 2-2 2-1 2-1
Northwich Man Villa 0-2 3-0 0-2 3-3 2-0
4-3 0-3 1-6 5-0 4-1
2-2
1-2 1-2 0-3
1-2 0-5
1-1
0-3 1-3 3-1 2-3
6-0 1-2
3-1 0-5
8-0 3-1 1-0 5-1 4-1
4-1 2-2 3-1 1-2 1-0 1-0
2-2 4-3 1-3 1-2 1-3 2-1
1-1 2-0 1-3
2-0 4-3
3-1 1-2 0-0 4.3
3-1 3-0 4-0
3-3 3-1 2-2 2-6 2-3
0-1
2-4 1-2 2-1 4-3 4-2
1-1 1-4
0-2
2-1 4-0 3-2 0-2 2-0 3-5
2-3
1-3
0-0 3-2 2-0
5-2 1-4 2-1
4-1
2-4 1-1 0-3 1-2 0-1 5-3
1-2 1-2
2-2 2-3
2-2
Rochdale Town
1-0 1-2 2-1 7-1
0-3 1-3 0-3 0-4 1-3
Holker Old Boys
St Helens Town
2-1 4-2 9-2 3-3 1-1
1-1 1-1
1-1 3-6 1-3
3-0 1-0 1-0
0-1 5-0
0-2 0-3 2-1 1-4 0-0
4-0 4-2 1-2 2-2
3-0 1-6 3-0
0-1
1-1 2-3
3-1
5-1
2-3
0-3 2-2 2-1 3-1 3-0
3-2 4-1 2-2
1-6 1-1 1-4 1-1 0-5 0-3 2-2 0-3 1-1 0-4 1-1 5-2 1-3 0-2 1-1 2-1
Widnes
0-1 5-1
Whitchurch Alport
1-1 0-1
Stockport Town
2-2 3-2 0-1
St Helens Town
Eccleshall
Rochdale Town
0-4
Northwich M Villa
1-2
1-1
Litherland REMYCA
Daisy Hill
Widnes
Irlam
2-1
0-0 1-2 10-1 3-0
Whitchurch Alport
Holker Old Boys
Chadderton
Stockport Town
Hanley Town
Eccleshall
4-3 0-1 2-2 0-1 1-4 5-1 3-2
0-1 5-5
3-0 2-0
Hanley Town
Daisy Hill
3-2
0-4 0-6 3-1 1-4 0-3 1-1 1-3 3-2 2-3
Barnton
Cheadle Town
2-3
Cheadle Town
1-1
Bacup Borough
Chadderton
0-0
Barnton
Atherton LR
Bacup Borough
Ashton Town
Atherton LR
Ashton Town
North West Counties Football League Division One Season 2015-16 Wed 23/03/16
1-3 1-2 1-2
3-3
2-3 1-1 1-2 6-1 3-3
St Helens Town AFC - Player Records 1946-2015 Goals in a career 216 Steve Pennington 118 Terry Garner 108 Gary Laird 105 Lee Cooper 101 Glenn Walker 94 Iain Dyson 83 Harry McCann 81 Ray Fairweather 72 Arthur Tyrer 68 Phil Stainton 63 Mervyn Bull
Goals in a season 47 Phil Stainton 1963/64 46 Steve Pennington 1997/98 45 Jackie Kendrick 1973/74 45 Steve Pennington 1993/94 40 Bob Potter 1952/53 38 Terry Fearns 2000/01 36 Albert Leadbetter 1950/51 35 Arthur Tyrer 1957/58 34 Lee Cooper 2001/02 33 Ronnie Rigby 1952/53 32 Harry McCann 1950/51 31 Terry Garner 1950/51
Career Appearances (Qualification 250 games) 448 Alan Wellens (inc. 207 estimated) 359 John Critchley (16 est.) 352 Steve Pennington 346 Gary Lowe (1 est.) 345 Glenn Walker 327 Jackie Atherton (122 est.) 300 Jackie Cooke (1 est.) 287 Gary Laird 280 Kevin Grice (147 est.) 278 Jimmy Woodyer (67 est.) 276 Iain Dyson 272 Ray Fairweather (3 est.) 265 Larry Redmond (134 est.)
ST. HELENS TOWN AFC – A STATISTICAL HISTORY by Glyn Jones Part 65 - Season 2011-12 North West Counties League Ramsbottom United Runcorn Town Bootle Barnoldswick Town Runcorn Linnets Glossop North End Winsford United Colne AFC Blackpool Flixton Congleton Town Silsden Alsager Town Ashton Athletic Padiham Squires Gate Bacup Borough (-3) Maine Road AFC Liverpool Stone Dominoes St. Helens Town Atherton L.R. Opponents AFC Blackpool AFC Liverpool Alsager Town Ashton Athletic Atherton L.R. Bacup Borough Barnoldswick Town Bootle Colne Congleton Town Flixton Glossop North End Maine Road Padiham Ramsbottom United Runcorn Linnets Runcorn Town Silsden Squires Gate Stone Dominoes Winsford United
P 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 Home Oct 22 Aug 16 Feb 28 May 4 Jan 2 Mar 3 Mar 20 Aug 30 Apr 3 Mar 10 Aug 27 Oct 8 Apr 21 Sep 10 Aug 6 Feb 21 Nov 12 Nov 26 Nov 22 Oct 4 Sep 3
W 31 29 24 26 22 22 21 19 17 18 18 16 16 15 14 14 15 13 13 10 6 5
D 3 5 13 5 10 7 6 4 10 5 5 9 9 6 9 8 7 9 6 6 8 6 Result Won 3-2 Won 3-1 Lost 0-3 Lost 2-3 Won 3-0 Drew 0-0 Won 4-2 Lost 1-2 Lost 2-5 Lost 1-3 Lost 0-5 Lost 2-5 Lost 0-3 Drew 1-1 Won 3-2 Lost 0-1 Lost 1-2 Drew 1-1 Lost 3-5 Drew 1-1 Lost 1-4
L 8 8 5 11 10 13 15 19 15 19 19 17 17 21 19 20 20 20 23 26 28 31
F 108 111 87 73 70 76 88 68 67 69 56 59 63 70 51 74 59 58 60 39 50 36 Away Jan 21 Nov 2 Nov 5 Dec 26 Aug 9 Apr 16 Oct 15 Nov 8 Aug 13 Oct 1 Sep 17 Apr 7 Nov 19 Mar 24 Apr 14 Mar 17 Sep 5 Apr 28 Sep 13 Aug 23 Jan 7
A 43 49 43 38 62 42 69 60 64 68 64 59 65 80 65 89 77 69 73 92 105 116
Pts 96 92 85 83 76 73 69 61 61 59 59 57 57 51 51 50 49 48 45 36 26 21
Result Drew 2-2 Drew 2-2 Lost 2-3 Lost 0-4 Drew 0-0 Lost 2-3 Lost 0-4 Lost 1-5 Won 2-1 Lost 0-1 Lost 0-1 Lost 0-3 Lost 1-2 Lost 1-3 Lost 0-5 Lost 0-1 Lost 2-4 Drew 1-1 Lost 1-6 Lost 1-2 Lost 0-1
FA CUP ATHERTON L.R. FA VASE Sep 24 Squires Gate LEAGUE CHALLENGE CUP Oct 29 Silsden Feb 18 Bootle LIVERPOOL SENIOR CUP Sep 20 Ashton Town Nov 15 EVERTON
Extra-Preliminary
Aug 20
2nd Rd. Qualifying 2nd Round 3rd Round 1st Round Quarter Final
Home
Lost
0-2
Away
Lost
0-1
Away Away
Won Lost
1-0 1-4
Away Home
Won Lost
4-2 1-2
Player
App
Sub
Total
Goals
Player
App
Sub
Total
Addison, Carl
24
3
27
7
Johnson, Liam
3
1
4
Aldridge, Karl
4
-
4
Johnson, Matthew
-
1
1
Baker, Scott
8
4
12
1
Johnson, Phil
1
1
2
Berry, Dave
10
8
18
1
Kavanagh, Mike
15
6
21
Birch, Peter
3
2
5
Kidd, Morgan
1
-
1
Larner, Jamie
-
3
3
Ledger, Andy
13
1
14
3
Luby, Chris
10
1
11
1
McKeegan, Shaun
13
-
13
McLoughlin, Nick
17
-
17
Michalopoulos, Andy
-
1
1
Morgan, Che
21
2
23
Bold, Ian
1
2
3
Brinksman, Chris
14
-
14
Brown, Karl
3
3
6
Bryan, Matthew
-
2
2
1
Burns, Mike
43
-
43
2
Butorins, Artjoms
7
7
14
3
Clarke, Danny
20
6
26
3
Corrie, Dylan
18
8
26
Cowderoy, Richard
9
-
9
Dunne, Anthony
5
-
5
Dyson, Iain
25
5
30
Edwards, Jamie
2
1
3
Fletcher, Gareth
3
-
3
Flood, Andy
33
-
33
Frazer, Ian
38
6
44
Gardner, James
11
5
16
Goals
1
Murray, Neil
1
-
1
Newbrook, Dale
14
-
14
O’Brien, Stephen
3
1
4
1
Olsen, Andy
18
3
21
9
Owens, Lee
1
3
4
Quirk, Colin
20
4
24
Rice, David
2
-
2
2
Roby, Ian
20
5
25
15
6
21
7
Gillespie, Andy
5
8
13
1
Smith, Ian
Glover, Allan
3
-
3
Smith, Robbie
3
3
6
4
Thompson, Ste
3
-
3
3
1
Hand, Danny
7
1
8
Hansard, Anthony
9
4
13
Webb, James
1
1
2
Hatton, Brian
6
2
8
Williams, Leon
10
-
10
4
Jackson, Nick
10
-
10
Totals
528
125
653
57
The original St. Helens Town club was formed in 1901 and played at Park Road, behind the Primrose Vaults public house. Although it was known as the Primrose Ground, the players changed further down Park Road at the Black Horse pub. Playing in the Lancashire League and Lancashire Combination, the team enjoyed some early success, but struggled after the Great War and appears to have folded midway through the 1928/29 season. The club was re-formed by George Fryer and a group of local businessmen in 1946. They took out a lease of the former cricket ground at Hoghton Road, Sutton, adjacent to the St. Helens Junction railway station and, although it entered in the FA Cup in the 1946/47 season, a team could not be raised in time to fulfil its tie with Prescot Cables. Friendly games were played, then local team Derbyshire Hill Rovers were taken over in April 1947, those players forming the nucleus of the team which entered the Liverpool County Combination at the start of the 1947/48 season. St. Helens Town soon began to prosper and early results included a sensational 10-4 win over Everton “A” on 6th December 1947. Former German prisoner-of-war Bert Trautmann joined the club in the Summer of 1948, the strapping goalkeeper helping the team to win its first trophy, the George Mahon Cup, which was secured with a 2-1 win over Runcorn at Prescot on 7 th May 1949. Crowds averaged over 2000 that season, peaking with a league record attendance of 3102 against Burscough Tommy O’Neil in October 1948. Wembley,1987 The following season, 1949/50, Town entered the Lancashire Combination and, despite losing Trautmann to Manchester City in October 1949, they won the Second Division title in some style the following season, three players, Albert Leadbetter (36), Harry McCann (32) and Terry Garner (31) all netting over 30 goals apiece. An all-time club record attendance of “between 8000 and 9000” witnessed a friendly game against Manchester City, arranged as part of the Trautmann transfer deal, in April 1950 and another 4000 witnessed a second match with City the following season. Although relegated by a slender margin from the First Division in 1951/52, the club continued to look forward, even contemplating Football League status and, in order to further their ambitions, it moved to the former St. Helens Recs. ground at City Road. Initial crowds were encouraging but, despite success, the club decided to move back to Hoghton Road in October 1953, where they remained until April 2000. Town produced a number of fine players who joined Football League clubs, including Bill Foulkes (Manchester United), John Quinn (Sheffield Wednesday) and John Connelly who joined Burnley, later transferring to Manchester United and who played in the England 1966 World Cup winning squad. More recently, Dave Bamber scored goals in all four divisions of the league with a host of different clubs, starting and ending his league career at Blackpool and Karl Ledsham is now playing his football at Conference level, initially with Southport, then at Lincoln City. Following a second relegation in 1956, St. Helens Town continued to play in the Lancashire Combination, winning the Championship in 1971/72, by nine points ahead of Accrington Stanley. However, the formation of the Northern Premier League in 1968 led to a gradual drain of stronger clubs from the Combination and St. Helens joined the Cheshire League in 1975, becoming founder members of the North West Counties League seven years later. They held the
St Helens Town 1948
proud record of being the only club to play in the NW Counties’ top flight every season until they were relegated in April 2015, conceding an injury-time equaliser to Silsden in the last game of the season, a match they had to win to stay up. Town enjoyed a golden era in the late 1980s, just missing out on an appearance in the First Round proper of the FA Cup in 1985/86, losing to Morecambe in a Fourth Qualifying Round Replay, but they obtained ample compensation by winning the FA Vase at Wembley in 1987, beating near neighbours Warrington Town 3-2, with two goals from Phil Layhe and one from Brian Rigby. They were regular promotion candidates for many years, largely due to the scoring exploits of Steve “Pellet” Pennington, who grabbed 216 goals in 351 games, his season’s best hauls of 45 in 1993/94 and 46 in 1997/98 just failing to beat the club record of 47 scored by Phil Stainton in 1963/64. This season is a momentous one for St. Helens Town: not only do they have to fight to regain their Premier Division status, but also they are looking to return to a new base, back in the town at Ruskin Drive. The Hoghton Road facilities had fallen into disrepair and the site was sold for housing in 2002, Town having gone into partnership with Saints Rugby League club, groundsharing at the old Knowsley Road ground for 10 years, but the intended relocation to the new Langtree Park ground did not materialise and the club embarked on a nomadic existence, first at Ashton Town, now at Ashton Athletic. Construction work at the Council-owned multisports facility at Ruskin Drive has been delayed, but is now under way and Town are looking to move in at the start of the 2016-17 season, hopefully back in the Premier Division.
Club Honours: 1949 George Mahon Trophy Winners 1951 Lancs Comb Division 2 Champions 1972 Lancs Combination Champions 1973 Bass Charrington Cup Winners 1974 Watson Trophy Winners 1978 St Helens Hospital Cup Winners 1979 St Helens Comb Div 1 Runners Up 1979 St Helens Hospital Cup Runners Up 1980 St Helens Comb Div 1 Champions 1985 NWCFL Reserve Div 2 Runners Up 1986 NWCFL Reserve Div 1 Runners Up 1987 FA Vase Winners (Wembley) 1994 League Challenge Cup Finalists 1994 NWCFL Reserve Division Runners Up 1995 NWCFL Reserve Division Champions 1996 NWCFL Reserve Division Runners Up 1998 Floodlit Trophy Finalists 1999 REALCO Fair Play Award Winners 2009 Bert Trautmann Trophy Winners 2014-15 South Lancs League U17s Cup Finalists 2014-15 Cheshire FA U21 League Champions Record Appearances: Alan Wellens (448) Record Goal Scorer: Steve Pennington (216) Record Attendances: 3012 at Hoghton Road v Burscough (1948) 8000 at Hoghton Road v Man City (1950) 1723 at Knowsley Rd v FC Utd Manchester (2006) 9000 at Prescot Cables v Runcorn (1949) Programme Awards 1993-94 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1995-96 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1997-98 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1998-99 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1999-00 NWCFL Programme of the Year 2000-01 NWCFL Programme of the Year 2009-10 NWCFL Premier Division 2010-11 NWCFL Premier Division 2011-12 NWCFL Premier Division 2012-13 NWCFL Premier Division 2013-14 NWCFL Premier Division 2014-15 NWCFL Premier Division Wirral Programme Club National Survey 1996-97 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1997-98 NWCFL Programme of the Year 1998-99 NWCFL Programme of the Year Programme Monthly 2007-08 NWCFL Programme of the Year
Soccer Club Swap Shop National Awards 2010-11 Placed 28th 2011-12 Placed 8th 2012-13 Placed 7th 2013-14 Placed 8th 2014-15 Placed 5th NWCFL 2015 Awards Payer of the Month Oct Andy Gillespie ‘Keeper of the Month Nov Matthew Hodge January 2016 Team of the Month ‘Keeper of the Month Jan Matthew Hodge
St Helens Town AFC 1948 Alf Topping, Johnny Gaskell, Bill Twist, Bert Trautmann, Harry Critchley, George Fryer (Manager) Jack Bond, Amos Hughes, ‘Bronc’ Gregory, Bill Pheasant, Cliff Knowles
Mick Holgate collecting his Carling NWCFL Manager of the Month Award November 1992
Town manager Alan Wellens pictured with Saints’ Alex Murphy at St Helens Town Hall following the Wembley FA Vase win in April 1987
St Helens Town are saddened to announce the death of club stalwart Eric Bond who passed away in hospital in the early hours of Monday 21st March 2016. Eric was a very well-known and popular figure among Merseyside’s footballing community. The 83 year old Haydock resident continued his tireless football work until very recently and he will be mourned by a number of clubs and organisations in St Helens and further afield. Eric was a much sought after player and the cultured full back was signed by Liverpool FC in the 1950s making a number appearances for the Reserves before a broken leg cut short his professional career. He had a long and illustrious playing career and became a high profile non-league player between the 1950s and 1970s gracing a number of North West and Welsh teams while more locally he donned his boots for Earlestown, Haydock C&B and St Helens Town. Eric went on the join the staff at Town as Reserve Team player/manager and was still taking to the field in his late 40s as the 1970s drew to a close. Around the same time he joined the St Helens Football Combination Committee where he spent the next 40 years serving the highly regarded local competition with lengthy spells as Chairman and President. Eric was highly regarded by the local press providing them with his ‘hand-written’ weekly round-up of ‘Comb’ results for many years. Eric was also a highly respected official at a regional level joining the Liverpool County Football Association in 2000 spending much of his time promoting and supporting the game and the member
St Helens Town AFC New Year’s Day 1964 Town v Wigan Rovers (1-1)
J McGuirk (Manager), R Horton, F Moran, J Critchley, J Pennington, J Diggle, D Maloney, A Giliker, R Thomas, M Topping (Captain), P Stainton, R Fairweather, Eric Bond
clubs. In more recent times he became an Executive Committee member of the St Helens and District Sports Council. He was a long-time supporter and Trustee of St Helens Town and a regular at homes games at Hoghton Road, Knowsley Road and more recently at Ashton Town and Ashton Athletic. Eric would leave early on a Saturday afternoon to be home in time to take the results telephone calls from the St Helens ‘Comb’ teams while mid-week he’d make a quick departure towrds the end of the game to ensure he was back to pick up his wife Marion from bingo in St Helens. Club Chairman John McKiernan said, ‘It’s a sad day for Eric’s wife, family and friends and St Helens Town mourn the loss of a true club stalwart. Eric’s involvement at Town spanned over 50 years and his stories and knowledge about the club and the local football scene will be greatly missed. He added, ‘Eric put a huge amount of time and effort into football and I am sure there will be many clubs, officials and players ready to pay their own tributes to a real gentleman of the game.’ ‘It’s real shame Eric won’t be around to see the club return to St Helens this summer but we have been blessed by the time we were able to spend with him and I send our condolences to Marion and the rest of the family.’ The club will hold a minute’s silence prior to kick off at today’s game v neighbours Ashton Town. The funeral will take place on Friday 1st April 2016 The service will be held at 11.00am on Friday 1st April 2016 at St James' the Great Church, Church Road, Haydock WA11 0NJ Then on to St Helens Crematorium, Rainford Road, St Helens WA10 6DF for 12 noon. The wake will be at Haydock Conservative Club, 3 Bellerophon Way, (Off Church Road) Haydock, St.Helens. WA11 0GT from 12 noon for those who do not wish to attend the Crematorium and for everyone afterwards.
Q1. What nationality was former Wolves boss Stale Solbakken? Q2. Who are the only two teams to have won the European Cup or Champions League at their home ground? Q3. Which Ligue 1 outfit are known as “Le Bistrot”? Q4. Which team have won the most Premier League games from two goals
behind?
Q5. In how many consecutive seasons has Karim Benzema scored a Champions League goal? Q6. Which Bundesliga team are nicknamed “The Lillies”?
Q7. Who is the only Lithuania to have played in the Premier League?
Q8. Which League Two team play their home games at Bootham Crescent? Q9. Did Herbert Chapman win more English First Division titles with Arsenal or Huddersfield Town? Q10. Has a San Marino player ever won the European Cup to Champions League? Q11. There has been a Bayern Munich player on the field at the start of every World Cup Final since 1982 - True or False? Q12. Which Serie A record does Bulgarian international and exManchester City striker Valeri Bojinov hold? Q13. With which current Championship club did Rod Stewart have trials? Q14. Jurgen Klopp is only the second German to manage in the Premier League, who was the first?
Q15. Which Scottish League One outfit player their home matches at Stair Park?
1) Norwegian 2) Real Madrid (57) & Inter Milan (65) 3) Ajaccio 4) Manchester United 5) 11 6) Darmstadt 7) Tomas Danilevicius for Arsenal 8) York City 9) Neither two titles with each! 10) Yes – Massimo Bonini with Juventus in 1985 11) True 12) Youngest foreign play at 15 years 341 days 13) Brentford 14) Felix Magath 15) Stranraer
Five Star Town Produce Their Best Result to Date by Kieran Ford The game’s opening 20 minutes was a very physical battle with a few choice words said between both sets of players which were accompanied by some late challenges. Once the game had “settled down” it was clear to see that the 4-4-2 played on Saturday vs. Widnes had been changed to a 4-3-3 to accommodate the difference in opposition. This meant that as a result Town conceded more possession than against Widnes but seeing as the whole team defended admirably as a whole during this period, aligned with tremendous work rate, the front 3 of Greene, Gillespie and Lomax could break at the opposition defence and their constant pressing became a thorn in the Holker side as the half wore on. This meant that the change in shape proved to be an intelligent tactical decision from managers Alan Gillespie and Nick Matthews. The breakthrough came after 25 minutes, with St Helens yet again gaining the upper hand over their opponent with the opening goal, as has been a trend in their games this year. A Town corner from Mavers on the right hand side was perfectly whipped in towards the near post, and seemed to be deceiving Holker goalkeeper, Ross Liddicott, an attempt to punch the ball away from the man between the sticks could only result in him helping the ball into the back of the net. Mavers claimed the goal, and Town claimed the lead.
10 minutes later was arguably the turning point of the game as the away side turned their 1 goal lead into a 3 goal advantage with two strikes in 4 minutes. The first was a goal of the season contender from Town centre midfielder Edward Pegler. As the ball dropped to him, in plenty of space around 35 yards out, the Town number 8 sent a dipping half volley into the top corner of the net, which took everyone in the ground by complete shock, but enhanced the team’s position in the game heading towards the break. Town’s third was sourced from the inform George Lomax, who surged at the Holker defence, evading their challenges on a barnstorming run. The right winger teed up who else than Town top goalscorer Andy Gillespie, who applied the finishing touches on a terrific passage of play from the away side to put Town in a commanding position heading into the half time interval. The second half was very much like the first, as the away side yet again were effective in absorbing the pressure from a frustrated Holker and looked menacing on the attack with Andy Gillespie, now on the right wing, tracking back and doubling up on their attackers on that side. Amongst the impressive Town defence was the debutant Jamie McDevitt, who slotted into the team well at left back as his confidence grew throughout the game. Town continued to add insult to injury for the visibly tired and anxious Holker outfit as another counter attack resulted from a long ball and a flick on to the speedster George Lomax, who latched onto the and slotted into the far corner to continue his impressive scoring run of 4 goals in 6 games. Four minutes later, Town added a fifth as Lomax, now the instigator of the breakaway, played in Steven Rigby from the left hand side, who applied a finish at the near post that was much like the away team’s performance on the night, confident, and intelligent. On 72 minutes, Holker were presented with the perfect opportunity to ruin Town’s hopes of a clean sheet as they were awarded a penalty for hand ball. However, Matthew Hodge hasn’t been named twice Goalkeeper of the Month for nothing, and duly saved the spot kick, much to the annoyance of the Holker faithful. FT: Holker Old Boys 0-5 St Helens Town (Mavers, 25) (Pegler, 36) (Gillespie, 38) (Lomax, 65) (Rigby, 68)
Hanley Town 2-1 Town NWCFL Division One Saturday 5th March 2016
TOWN’S PROMOTION PUSH CONTINUES by Glyn Jones Following on from their impressive 5-0 win at Holker Old Boys, St. Helens Town held out for a battling 3-3 draw against all the odds at Bacup on Saturday, to leave themselves on the very fringes of the promotion play-off places, still in eighth place, but hot on the heels on the three teams just above them, all of whom have played more games and who are now within striking distance with the Easter weekend fixtures on the horizon. The fine form continued in the early stages at West View on Saturday, where St. Helens raced into a 3-0 lead, Rigby latching on to a Danny Greene cross in the fifth minute before Andy Gillespie scored twice in the 7th and 12th minutes to stretch the advantage. His first goal came as a result of a break when he took on two defenders and then hit a wonderfully placed shot from a tight angle past home keeper Peter Monteith which went in off the far post. His second came from a cross on the right which ricocheted off a defender’s hand on to Rigby and Gillespie was sharp enough to bury the rebound to notch up his quarter century of goals for the season. Bacup pulled a goal back after 26 minutes through Matthew Barlow who headed a cross just out of Hodge’s reach, over his head and into the net. With Town still in control at 3-1, the game turned on its head on the half hour, when the referee dismissed Town centre back Adam Lawrence for a clumsy challenge on Bacup’s Anthony Hall. Hall was actually moving away from goal at the time of the tackle, so the red card appeared unwarranted for a player who has given no trouble for Town since he made his debut back in September. It was the first of a series of controversial decisions from the referee, who upset both sides during the course of the match and which left Town a man short for 70 minutes.
George Lomax had a glorious chance to restore Town’s three goal advantage shortly before the interval, but his shot went inches wide of the far post with Monteith beaten. Just after that, Bacup pulled another goal back, again through Barlow and the teams went in at half-time with Town leading 3-2. The second-half was, for the most part, a very tense affair, punctuated by a series of questionable refereeing decisions, four of which left St. Helens at a disadvantage. In one such incident Lomax, who had been a constant thorn in the Bacup side throughout the game, was elbowed in the face by an opponent, which drew no card, but the Town player had to leave the field soon afterwards. Then Andy Gillespie was bundled over at the edge of the penalty area, again no action taken against the offender and Town were denied a penalty shout when Rigby was clearly felled from behind, although on this occasion, the incident may not have been seen by any of the officials. With 22 minutes left, however, the home side were awarded a disputed penalty, which was dispatched by Barlow, to level the scores at 3-3, after which both sides still had chances to win the game. Matt Davidson cleared the ball off his line to save a certain Bacup goal and Hodge produced a number of important saves, including a double save in the closing minute whilst, at the other end, Todd Blayney, seizing on to a deflected shot, very nearly scored the winning goal for Town, which Monteith was very fortunate to get a hand to. It was one of those days when all the Town players fought to a man to rescue a point which, in the circumstances felt almost as good as a win and keeps the team very much on course for a rousing finish to the season.
St Helens Town - last 6 matches - 19/3 All Competitions
Most recent
at St Helens Town
Previous Meetings
at Ashton Town
NWC-D1
2000-01
NWC-D2
Home
W
W
L
L
L
L
NWC-D1
2001-02
NWC-D2
Away
W
W
L
W
W
D
NWC-D1
2002-03
NWC-D2
D
NWC-D1
2003-04
NWC-D2
NWC-D1
2004-05
NWC-D2
Ashton Town - last 6 matches - 22/3
NWC-D1
2005-06
NWC-D2
All Competitions
NWC-D1
2006-07
NWC-D2
NWC-D1
2007-08
NWC-D2
NWC-PD
2008-09
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2009-10
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2010-11
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2011-12
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2012-13
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2013-14
NWC-D1
NWC-PD
2014-15
NWC-D1
28/03/2016
2015-16
09/04/2016
Collated
Home
L
W
L
W
W
Most recent
W
L
L
D
L
D
Away
L
W
W
D
L
D
Collated
L
L
D
L
D
D
St Helens Town games since...
Ashton Town games since...
All Competitions 19/3
All Competitions 22/3
Clean sheet
1
Clean sheet
Goal Scored
0
Goal Scored
0
Loss
3
Loss
2
No score draw
61
No score draw
1
Score draw
0
Score draw
0
Win
1
Win
8
1
St Helens Town Scores First Games Played
0
St Helens Town Wins
0
Draws
0
Ashton Town Wins
0
St Helens Town Goals
0
Ashton Town Goals
0
Percentage Town Wins
0.00
Previous Meetings
All Competitions P
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Win %
Home
5
4
1
0
5
1
4
80.00
Away
8
7
1
0
15
5
10
87.50
Collated
13
11
2
0
20
6
14
84.62
Bacup Borough 3-3 Town NWCFL Division One Saturday 19th March 2016
CrowdScores, the social football scores network, has announced that it will be the first-ever company to provide coverage of the North West Counties Football League within a live-scores mobile application. This will allow fans of the North West Counties to receive not only immediate goal notifications across the league, but also the platform to engage in conversation with other fans of the competition within the app. As a company that sources its football data from its community of users, this provides the perfect opportunity for fans of the North West Counties Football League to report match events from the stadium to enable their fellow fans to keep track of their favourite team. This can give fans unprecedented and instant access directly from their mobile phone.
The CrowdScores CEO, David Walker, is enthusiastic about this new development: “We are delighted to announce the inclusion of the North West Counties Football League in the CrowdScores app. CrowdScores aims to provide a live score service for fans at all levels of football and the addition of this unique service is an important step towards that goal.� Martin Fallon, Website Development Officer, added: "We all use Twitter on a matchday to see what else is going on around the league. The CrowdScores app takes this one stage further so that you can quickly glance to see what the current situation is at all games taking place that day. "Another great feature for me is the interactivity, where anybody who is in attendance at a match can sign up for free and update the rest of the league as soon as a goal is scored. From the trials that we have done so far, this is often quicker than Twitter as it is so easy to use! We will be trialling the service for the remainder of the season in the Premier Division, and will roll it out for all games next season if it proves a success. "You can download the App for free from the App Store for iPhone or Google Play for Android devices.
First Division Table as at Wednesday 23rd March 2016 First Division
P
W D
L
F
A GD Pts
St Helens Town Player Sponsors 2015-16
1
Hanley Town
24 18
3
3
49 23 26 57
Matthew Hodge Leech Bedrooms & Kitchens
2
Barnton
24 15
4
5
68 27 41 49
Adam Lawrence Leech Bedrooms & Kitchens
3
Irlam
24 15
4
5
50 22 28 49
Matty Lennon Premier Parking Limited
4
Holker Old Boys
23 13
6
4
54 36 18 45
Alex Gillespie Focus Windows & Doors Limited
5
Litherland REMYCA
27 13
6
8
50 38 12 45
George Lomax Electrician’s Direct
6
Cheadle Town
27 12
7
8
72 48 24 43
Todd Blaney Rob Thompson Auto Repairs
7
Stockport Town
25 13
4
8
49 40
9
43
Ste Rigby Airborne Bathroom Services
8
St Helens Town
24 12 3
9 55 47
8
39
9
Ashton Town
23 10 5
8 45 34 11 35
Andy Gillespie Arcoframe
10
Bacup Borough
23 10
4
9
11
Daisy Hill
26 10
3
13 46 62 -16 33
9
4
14 45 53 -8 31
12
Northwich Man Villa 27
49 42
7
34
13
Rochdale Town
25
9
4
12 46 61 -15 31
14
Chadderton
24
6
7
11 28 41 -13 25
15
Widnes
27
6
5
16 53 61 -8 23
16
Eccleshall
25
5
4
16 38 60 -22 19
17
Atherton LR
25
4
5
16 25 73 -48 17
18
Whitchurch Alport
27
1
10 16 28 82 -54 13
* points deducted for a breach of league rules
Ant Whelan The Daily Grind Matty Davidson Kiera’s Occasions Charlie Duke Warrington Motors Jack Marshall Danny’s Window Cleaning Conor Murphy Curtain Wizard North West Danny Greene Total Building Care David Baines SG Specialist Roofing Josh Hoult Gibney’s Jewellers Hamish Falconer Cornerstones Aaron Morris Kealshore Ltd Ed Peglar North West Piling Ltd Alan Gillespie (Manager) Star Physio Nick Matthews (Manager) Foxwood Joinery
Premier Division Table as at Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Premier Division
P
W D
L
F
A GD Pts
1
Runcorn Linnets
31 24
1
6
73 25 48 73
2
Atherton Collieries
31 21
5
5
92 48 44 68
3
Colne
29 21
5
3
73 31 42 68
4
1874 Northwich
31 18
5
8
66 51 15 59
5
West D & Chorlton
34 18
3
13 68 52 16 57
6
Bootle
33 13
9
11 65 66 -1 48
7
Congleton Town
29 13
7
9
8
Maine Road
35 14
4
17 64 68 -4 46
9
Runcorn Town
33 13
6
14 61 55
10
Winsford United
33 12
8
13 55 70 -15 44
11
Abbey Hey
31 12
7
12 52 54 -2 43
12
Cammell Laird 1907
33 12
7
14 62 65 -3 43
13
Barnoldswick Town
31 12
6
13 56 52
4
42
14
Ashton Athletic
30 11
9
10 46 42
4
42
15
AFC Liverpool
16
Nelson
17
57 48
9
6
46
45
34 10 12 12 78 79 -1 42 31 11
6
14 55 51
Padiham
30
9
7
14 57 63 -6 34
18
Squires Gate
31
8
7
16 44 73 -29 31
19
AFC Darwen
31
7
6
18 60 94 -34 27
20
Silsden
30
5
8
17 37 68 -31 23
21
Alsager Town
32
6
5
21 41 81 -40 23
22
AFC Blackpool
27
5
7
15 44 70 -26 22
* points deducted for a breach of league rules
4
39
Monday 28th March 2016 Premier Division 1874 Northwich v Winsford United AFC Darwen v Padiham AFC Liverpool v Bootle Atherton Collieries v Abbey Hey Barnoldswick Town v Nelson Colne v Silsden Congleton Town v Alsager Town Runcorn Linnets v Runcorn Town Squires Gate v AFC Blackpool West Didsbury & Chorlton v Maine Road Division One Bacup Borough v Daisy Hill Barnton v Whitchurch Alport Chadderton v Atherton LR Hanley Town v Eccleshall Rochdale Town v Holker Old Boys St Helens Town v Ashton Town Tuesday 29th March 2016 Premier Division Ashton Athletic v Cammell Laird 1907 Wednesday 30th March 2016 Premier Division AFC Blackpool v Winsford United Division One Cheadle Town v Irlam Northwich Man Villa v Stockport Town Saturday 2nd April 2016 Ashton Athletic v Atherton Collieries Barnoldswick Town v Alsager Town Bootle v Colne Congleton Town v AFC Darwen Maine Road v Silsden Padiham v 1874 Northwich Runcorn Linnets v AFC Blackpool Squires Gate v Abbey Hey Winsford United v Nelson Barnton v Daisy Hill Chadderton v Ashton Town Holker Old Boys v Hanley Town Irlam v St Helens Town Litherland REMYCA v Eccleshall Northwich Man Villa v Cheadle Town Rochdale Town v Stockport Town Whitchurch Alport v Bacup Borough Widnes v Atherton LR