CLUB INFORMATION Honorary Life President: Alan Wellens
Tuesday 19th April 2016, kick off 7.45pm North West Counties League, First Division
Vice Presidents: Jim Barrett and Steve Ball Chairman: John McKiernan (07713 339682)
St Helens Town Red & White Shirts
Vice Chairman: Glyn Jones Hon. Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Voller (07843 692695) 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 Trustees: John McKiernan and Eric Bond 1st Team Joint Managers: Alan Gillespie & Nick Matthews
1st Team Coach Lee Jenkinson 1st Team Physiotherapists Ellie Hayes & Paige Marcus U21s Team Manager: John McLaughlan U21s Assistant Manager: Billy Davies U18s Team Manager: Ellis Hawksworth U18s Assistant Manager: Alex Jardine Sunday Team Manager: David Platt
Club Email: sthelenstownfc@hotmail.co.uk Main Club Sponsor: Johnsons Toyota Liverpool Shirt Sponsor: EcigUK St Helens Legal: St Helens Town Limited Private Limited Company Company No. 04392840 Date of Incorporation 12.03.2002 Company Director: Jim Barrett Parent Company: A wholly owned subsidiary of Sporting Club St Helens Limited
Cover Photograph: Andy Gillespie in action at Whitchurch Alport (26/03/16)
Ashton Town
No
Mathew Hodge
Yellow Shirts
Gls Y R
No
Joe Clements
Matthew Davidson
Jesse Robinson
Stephen Rigby
David Mills
Andrew Presho
Karl Dailey
Adam Lawrence
Kevin Brownrigg
Ant Whelan
Donovan Husson
George Lomax
Philip Williams
Todd Blayney
Scott Baker
Andy Gillespie
Sean Robinson
Alex Gillespie
Neil Weaver
Aaron Morris
Marcus Cusani
Daniel Greene
Andrew McNally
Samuel Rawsthorne
Stephen Milne
Rafael Moran
Dominic Perkins
Liam Bowyer
Jack Hont
Edward Pegler
Daniel Griffiths
Managers: Alan Gillespie and Nick Matthews
Gls Y R
Manager: John Brownrigg Coach: Frank Duffy
Referee: Mr A Brown (Blackburn) Assistants: Ms K Davey (Manchester) & Mr V Evans (Ramsbottom)
Match Sponsor
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool www.johnsonsliverpool.toyota.co.uk Match Ball Sponsors
Next Home Game: Sat 23rd April 2016, 3.00pm Town v Whitchurch Alport 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. The games and indeed the home games are coming thick and fast as we move towards the conclusion of the league season with this evenings game being the second in a run of four consecutive home games here at Brocstedes Park before we take the trip to Barnton a week on Saturday and finish the season by hosting table toppers Hanley Town on Bank Holiday Monday, 2nd May. Saturday saw us host Northwich Manchester Villa and three goals a 20 minute period of the second half were enough to secure the spoils. The first half had been a scrappy affair not helped by the presence of a strong wind, Town had the ball in the back of net early in the contest but the offside flag ruled out the effort as George Lomax had turned Adam Lawrence’s effort home from an offside position. Villa nearly opened the scoring at the other end when Stuart McDonald fired an effort off the crossbar and Town dominated the remainder of the half with the best effort seeing Andy Gillespie turn on the edge of the box before firing an effort which beat the keeper but not the left hand upright. It is to be the skipper who broke the deadlock soon after the restart as his well struck free kick from the edge of the box was going to cause the visiting stopper problems even before it took a deflection which aided its flight into the net for his 29th goal of the season. Seven minutes passed before Danny Greene who had come off the bench at half time scored his first goal for the club firing home from the edge of the box to double the advantage and George Lomax ensured the three points would be St Helens with an excellent goal which saw him finish a fine move by leaving the visiting defenders in knots before curling the ball home. On to this evenings contest and it’s a quick turnaround for the reverse fixture against Ashton Town as we only played out a 4-4 draw at Edge Green Street ten days ago in a game which saw us fall behind three times only to level three times before taking the lead for the first time in the 89th minute only to concede a fourth in added on time a result which was not really any good for either sides play off hopes. On Saturday whilst we were securing a maximum return here against Northwich Manchester Villa our visitors this evening fell to defeat at home against Widnes. Ashton had taken the lead through former St Helens man Sean Robinson but the lively Tunde Owalabi levelled matters before adding his and the visitors second to made it four goals in the last two matches for him. Ashton Town will be looking to bounce back this evening from that defeat and St Helens will be looking to secure a maximum return as we look to press on towards the final few games of the season gaining as many points as we can to finish in the top six and see what that brings us! If the previous game is anything to go by it won’t be lacking entertainment! Hot on the heels of this evenings contest we will host Whitchurch Alport here on Saturday afternoon before welcoming Bacup Borough next Wednesday these three games will be vital in the shake up for the play off places come the end of the month, hopefully you’ll be able to come along to all these games as your support is vital to the cause and the players and management appreciate it. 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 St 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
at St Helens Town NWC-D1
Previous Meetings 2000-01
at Ashton Town NWC-D2
W
NWC-D1
2001-02
NWC-D2
2002-03
NWC-D2
St Helens Town - last 6 matches All Competitions
Home
Most recent
W
L
L
L
L
Away
W
W
D
W
L
D
NWC-D1
Collated
D
W
L
L
D
W
NWC-D1
2003-04
NWC-D2
NWC-D1
2004-05
NWC-D2
NWC-D1
2005-06
NWC-D2
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
19/04/2016
2015-16
09/04; 4-4
Ashton Town - last 6 matches All Competitions
Most recent
Home
L
D
W
D
D
L
Away
L
W
W
D
L
D
Collated
D
D
W
D
D
L
St Helens Town games since...
Ashton Town games since...
All Competitions
All Competitions
Clean sheet
0
Clean sheet
2
Goal Scored
0
Goal Scored
0
Loss
4
Loss
0
No score draw
62
No score draw
St Helens Town Scores First
2
Games Played
1
St Helens Town Wins
0
Draws
1
Ashton Town Wins
0 4
Score draw
1
Score draw
1
St Helens Town Goals Ashton Town Goals
4
Win
0
Win
3
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
9
7
2
0
19
9
10
77.78
Collated
14
11
3
0
24
10
14
78.57
Good evening and a very warm welcome to Brocstedes Park for this NWCFL First Division meeting with neighbours 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 who are also our main club sponsor - a special thanks to Gareth Shone of Johnsons for his continued support. Thanks also to first time sponsors Mark Turner of airborne Bathroom Services who are tonight’s match ball sponsors - we hope you enjoy the game and our hospitality. 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 ae now on our website.
Last Saturday saw mixed fortunes for tonight's teams with our visitors Ashton suffering a surprise 1-2 home defeat to Widnes while Town recorded a 3-0 victory over visitors Northwich Manchester Villa. Andy Gillespie hit his 29th goal of the season and hopefully will break the 30 goal barrier (and beyond) before the season finale. Our run of home games continues on Saturday 23rd April as basement club Whitchurch Alport are the visitors to Brocstedes Park and next midweek we host Bacup Borough on Wednesday 27th April in what may be another pivotal game in the chase for a play-off place. Interestingly, Bacup will have two games to play after we complete our season with a re-arranged home fixture on Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May. The will hosts Ashton Town and Daisy Hill in the final week! Don’t forget our Presentation Evening will take place on Friday 6th May 2016, 8pm in the Percival Rooms, Ruskin Drive, St Helens. Enjoy the game and let’s hope the lads can pick up three points . . . John McKiernan Chairman, St Helens Town AFC
The First St. Helens Town 1901-1928 The current St. Helens Town Football Club is the second to bear the name. The first was formed in 1901, initially to rival the St. Helens Recreation club, which had only a few years earlier changed from rugby to football, under the patronage of the glass company, Pilkington Brothers. The first meeting between the clubs took place before a crowd of over 5000 at Pilkington’s ground at City Road in February 1902 and resulted in a 2-2 draw. Based at the Primrose Ground in Park Road (subsequently a dog track behind the Primrose Vaults and now the site of Mulcrow Close), Town entered the Lancashire League Second Division in 1901-02, alongside Barrow, Workington, Haydock, Earlestown, Prescot and Chorley. Promotion was attained in 1904 and the following season’s fixtures in the Lancashire Combination First Division included the Reserve sides of Everton, Liverpool, Manchester St Helens Town 1901 City, Manchester United, Bolton, Bury and Preston North End. Although relegated later that season, Town bounced back to their former status in 1909 and, in between times, helped out the Recs, sharing their Park Road facilities whilst the City Road ground was re-built. St. Helens Town had ambitions to join the Football League and an application was made to join the new Third Division 1911, but this was unsuccessful. The senior clubs reserve sides set up the Central League in 1912/13 and Town became one of the leading lights in the revamped Lancashire Combination. At the end of that campaign, Recs. resigned and reverted to the handling code, joining the Northern Union (later the Rugby League) as a professional club, rivalling the Saints for success throughout the 1920s. This all-consuming local rivalry was one of the reasons for the failure of St. Helens Town and the club disbanded in late 1920s. It was to take a further 23 years and another World War to revive interest in the association game, by which stage St. Helens Recs. had themselves thrown in the towel, having nearly brought about the bankruptcy of Saints during the depression of the 1930s. Famous players for the first Town club included Oliver Ellaby, father of Alf, who went on to great deeds with Saints and Wigan, Jack Bamber (Liverpool) and Albert Fairclough (Manchester City, Bristol City and Derby County). The programme for the Chester v St. Helens Town game in the Lancashire Combination on 13th September 1913 referred to the reverse fixture the previous week, which Town won 2-1. The editor said: The St. Helens ground is not one of the best, the surface being very uneven and against accurate footwork. St. Helens Town have a very strong side and, if their Saturday's form is kept up, other teams will go the same way home from there. For the record, Town were represented by: Talbott, Hall, Kelly, Platt, Hosker, Hunter, Ryder, Kelly, Jones, Benyon and Barton.
In the First Division, it was a good afternoon for Hanley Town and Irlam, and not such a good one for Barnton, as the chase for automatic promotion places took what could be a decisive turn. A first half hat trick from Jonathan Higham kept Hanley Town on top of the table with a 3-1 win over Rochdale Town, and Irlam stay in second place with a 4-1 win over Cheadle Town at Silver Street. Jordan Southworth and Christian Lawlor gave Irlam a 2-1 half time lead, and further goals from Matty Boland and a second from Lawlor in the space of three second half minutes wrapped up an important win. Eccleshall inflicted what could be a significant blow to Barnton's automatic promotion hopes by holding them to a 1-1 draw at the Adverc Stadium. Dean Twigg gave the home side a half time lead from the penalty spot, but Chris Smith rescued a point for the Villagers with a 66th minute equaliser. Second half goals from Jordan Brough and Michael Rushton saw Holker Old Boys through to an important 2-0 win at home to Atherton LR, which edged them into fifth place ahead of Litherland REMYCA on goal difference, after Remy lost 2-0 at home to Daisy Hill.
Bacup Borough and St Helens Town are still well in the hunt for a promotion play off place, with the most notable point about Borough's 7-0 home win over Whitchurch Alport being that seven different scorers contributed to their comfortable win. Andy Gillespie, Daniel Greene and George Lomax all scored in a 19 minute spell in the second half for St Helens Town in their 3-0 win over Northwich Manchester Villa at Brocstedes Park, but Ashton Town's hopes of a play off place received a setback after they lost 2-1 at home to Widnes. Sean Robinson gave Town a 14th minute lead, but two goals from Tunde Owalabi earned Steve Hill's men the points.
The month of April has brought mixed fortunes on and off the pitch. Results have not all gone to plan but off the field we had the fantastic news of us moving this illustrious club back home.
Moving back home to the borough of St. Helens is massive for the club, the chance of playing back in St. Helens really excites me and the players. The lads have not stopped talking about it since the news broke; another piece of news to break was that we are going back to the traditional colours of Blue and white and being an Evertonian this brings a smile to my face. We have had lots of positive comments on the NWCFL forum from past Town managers, current NWCFL managers and also fans from other clubs congratulating us on the return home. Moving home will give us the chance to the grow again as a club hopefully on and off the field. On the pitch we had two poor performances against Irlam and Stockport, we lost both and failed to scored in either. I personally thought we lacked energy and aggression in both games and we were well beaten. The game vs Ashton Town was totally different , we kept hold of the ball well, tackled hard, scored a couple of great goals but we defended terribly and a few individual errors cost us the three points. It's not often you score four goals away from home and only earn a point!
The month of April has also shown the NWCFL that we have continually used our club philosophy of giving youth a chance; on Saturday we gave a debut to youngster Sam Rawsthorne. He has skippered the youth team since Christmas and is a very good prospect for the club. Sam is a ball playing centre half, strong and quick; A play-off place is in our own hands and we will take each game as it comes. Will we take one of the places? Only time will tell . . . we will give it our best shot Nick Matthews Joint 1st Team Manager #COYS #WeAreGoingHome
Last Saturday’s match sponsors Wilf Marshall and Finding Furever Homes (NW Dog Rescue) outside Brocstedes Park
Jonathan steps up to the mark As Hanley Town continue their push for promotion, they have now recorded four successive wins, and in each game the contribution from Jonathan Higham has been notable. His hat trick in Saturday's 3-1 win over Rochdale Town took his tally to seven goals in the last four games, and certainly helps dispel the theory that the majority of Town's goals arrive through the goalscoring abilities of captain Theo Stair. The skipper has been absent through injury recently, and Jonathan has certainly proved that there is firepower elsewhere in the Hanley ranks. Goals from everywhere at Bacup Borough Bacup Borough's 7-0 win over Whitchurch Alport was not only a handsome win, but proved that goalscoring ability is spread throughout the team with seven different scorers getting on the scoresheet. This continued a theme set a few weeks back, when four different scorers contributed the five goals Bacup scored in the 5-1 reverse fixture at Yockings Park. As Bacup continue their quest for a play-off place, manager Brent Peters will be looking for more of the same in the remaining fixtures. Backheels from Ben Although striker Jason Hart grabbed the headlines with a hat trick in Colne's 6-2 win over Ashton Athletic on Saturday, Ben Wharton's two goals for the Reds are also worthy of mention. It's not often a player scores with a backheel over the course of the season, but Ben managed to do it twice, beginning with the opening goal in the 6th minute when Jason Hart’s corner was flicked on by Ben Hoskin and he beat the keeper at the near post from close range. Ten minutes into the second half, he repeated the performance, again from a Jason Hart corner kick, placing the ball into the bottom corner despite the attentions of the Athletic defence. Ability to conjure goals up out of nothing as displayed by Ben could be important as the Reds' season nears its climax.
Bears run ended unceremoniously at the seaside As AFC Blackpool battle to beat relegation, their recent form has been reasonable with just one defeat in the last four going into Saturday's game against Congleton Town. However, when you are desperate to pick up points, on the face of the last team you would want to face is one who had just recorded seven straight wins and were in the middle of a 14 game unbeaten run. But the form book went out of the window, with Stuart Parker's men notching a 5-2 win that moved them out of the relegation zone, and a continuation of form like that would see the Seasiders retain their place in the Premier Division next season.
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 Tue 05/04/16
Kiera’s Occasions Litherland REMYCA Venue Dressing & Balloons Stockport Town
Sat 16/04/16 Northwich Man Villa
A180 Darts
Danny’s Window Cleaning Invisible Heroes
Wilf Marshall & Finding Furever Homes
Tue 19/04/16
Ashton Town
Johnsons Toyota Liverpool
Airborne Bathroom Services
Sat 23/04/16
Whitchurch Alport
Wed 27/04/16
Bacup Borough
The Track King
Stuart Pyke
Mon 02/05/16
Hanley Town
Stillia
Action Coach NW
Invisible Heroes
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 Andy Gillespie Town v Stockport Town Jack Marshall Town v Northwich Man Villa Aaron Morris
Warrington Motors Man of the Match v Eccleshall Andy Gillespie with Match Sponsors Ian Finney (Action Coach NW)
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
Aug 15
Maine Road
7.45
4-1W
Bradley
Davidson
Kelly
A.Whelan
Sealey
Baines
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
0-5W
Hodge
Morris1
Rigby1
Presho
A.Whelan
Lawrence Blayney
Apr 02
Irlam
NWCFL
3.00
2-0L
Hodge
Morris
Rigby
Presho
A.Whelan
APR 05
STOCKPORT TOWN
NWCFL
7.45
0-3L
Hodge
Presho
Marshall
A.Whelan
Lawrence
Morris
Apr 09
Ashton Town
NWCFL
3.00
4-4D
Hodge
Morris
Rigby1
Presho
A.Whelan
Marshall
APR 16
NORTHWICH M.V.
NWCFL
3.00
3-0W
Hodge
Davidson
Rigby
Presho
Lawrence
A.Whelan
APR 19
ASHTON TOWN
NWCFL
7.45
APR 23
WHITCHURCH ALPORT
NWCFL
3.00
APR 27
BACUP BOROUGH
NWCFL
7.45
Apr 30
Barnton
NWCFL
3.00
May 02
HANLEY TOWN
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
Baines
Du Toit
Andy Gillespie1
Lorde
Kelly
Perry10
Nwachukwu7
Duke
D.Whelan3
Bradley
Duke
Griffiths
Andy Gillespie1
Nwachukwu
Golding
Lorde6
Perry11
Rooney
Rigby10
McLoughlin
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
Baines
A.Whelan
Andy Gillespie1
Du Toit
Gregson1
Lennon8
Golding10
Hoult11
Graham
Bradley
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
Murphy
Morris
Andy Gillespie1
Lomax1
Rigby
A.Whelan2
Perry
Baines
Duke7
Du Toit8
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
Lomax
Blayney
Andy Gillespie1
Sheen
Mavers
Greene
Smith
Alex Gillespie
Rigby8
Murphy7
Greene
Sheen1
Andy Gillespie
Lomax1
Pegler
Alex Gillespie
Rigby10
Smith8
Davidson7
Sheen
Mavers1
Andy Gillespie
Lomax
Pegler
Greene6
Alex Gillespie
Davidson8
Smith7
Pegler
Mavers
Andy Gillespie1
Lomax1
Greene
Blayney8
Alex Gillespie7
Davidson
Murphy11
Lomax1
Pegler1
Andy Gillespie1
Mavers1
Greene
Alex Gillespie6
Rigby91
Hoult7
Lomax
Pegler
Andy Gillespie2
Greene
Rigby1
Alex Gillespie7
Hoult10
McDevitt
Pegler
Blayney
Andy Gillespie1
Lomax1
Greene
Alex Gillespie11
Mavers
Brady101
Davidson2
Jones
Lomax
Pegler
Andy Gillespie
Mavers
Greene
Alex Gillespie10
Marshall6
Rawsthorne
Davidson7
Jones
Pegler
Lomax
Andy Gillespie
Greene
Rigby
Alex Gillespie7
Blayney
Mavers5
Davidson11
Jones
Sheen1
Blayney
Andy Gillespie2
Greene
Mavers
Lomax10
Pegler11
Alex Gillespie7
Davidson
Lawrence
Lomax1
Blayney
Andy Gillespie1 Alex Gillespie
Morris
Greene21
Rawsthorne4
Moran12
A.Whelan Jones Jones
Bowyer
Widnes
Whitchurch Alport
Stockport Town
St Helens Town
Eccleshall
2-2 3-2 0-1 1-1 1-1 3-6 1-3
3-0 1-6 3-0
1-0 1-2 2-1 7-1 1-1 1-1
4-3 0-3 1-6 5-0 4-1
1-2 1-2 0-3 4-3 3-1 0-5
5-1 0-0 3-2 2-0 3-1 3-1 1-2 0-0 4.3 1-1 1-4
0-2 1-0
3-1
0-1 2-2 2-1 2-1 0-2 0-5 0-2
Rochdale Town
1-3 0-1 2-0 4-3
1-2 1-2 0-3
2-2 2-0 5-2 1-4 2-1 1-3 4-1 3-0
St Helens Town
4-1 11-1 0-1
0-3 1-3 0-3 0-4 1-3 2-3 2-4 1-2 2-1 4-3 4-2
3-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 2-2 2-3 2-0
Northwich Man Villa 0-2 3-0 0-2 3-3 2-0
Widnes
2-1 4-2 9-2 3-3 1-1 7-0 6-0
4-0 4-2 1-2 2-2 1-2 2-4 1-1 0-3 1-2 0-1 5-3
0-4
Whitchurch Alport
Rochdale Town
0-1 5-1
3-1 3-0 1-4 1-2
0-2 0-3 2-1 1-4 0-0 0-1 2-3
3-1 2-1
Daisy Hill
Stockport Town
Northwich M Villa
2-0 1-2 0-0 1-1 0-1
0-2
Litherland REMYCA
3-0 2-0 6-0 0-0 0-0
Irlam
Irlam
0-1 5-5
1-2 10-1 3-0 2-2 1-1
Litherland REMYCA
Holker Old Boys
2-3
Chadderton
Holker Old Boys
Hanley Town
2-3 4-0 3-2 0-0 4-3 0-1 2-2 0-1 1-4 5-1 3-2 4-4 0-1 5-0 1-2 0-4 0-6 3-1 1-4 0-3 1-1 1-3 3-2
Cheadle Town
Hanley Town
Eccleshall
Daisy Hill
Barnton
Cheadle Town
Bacup Borough
Chadderton
0-0 1-1
Barnton
Atherton LR
Bacup Borough
Ashton Town
Atherton LR
Ashton Town
North West Counties Football League Division One Season 2015-16 Sat 16/04/16
1-2 0-5
8-0 3-1
3-1 3-0 4-0 2-0 1-0 5-1 4-1 1-1
4-1 2-2 3-1 1-2 1-0 1-0
2-2 4-3 1-3 1-2 1-3 2-1
0-1 0-2 1-1 2-3
1-1 2-0 1-3 4-3 0-3 2-1 3-0
3-1
3-3 3-1 2-2 2-6 2-3
2-1 4-0 3-2 0-2 2-0 3-5
1-3 3-1 2-3 3-0 2-3
6-0 1-0
5-1 0-3
3-2
0-3 2-2 2-1 3-1 3-0
4-1 2-2
0-2 2-2 1-5 1-6 1-1 1-4 1-1 0-5 0-3 2-2 0-3 1-1 0-4 1-1 0-5
3-3
2-3 4-1 5-2 1-3 0-2 1-1 2-1
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
1-3 1-2 1-2 1-3 2-3 1-1 1-2 6-1 3-3
St Helens Town AFC - Player Records 1946-2015 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 67 - Season 2013-14 North West Counties League Team Norton United Runcorn Linnets Glossop North End Maine Road Runcorn Town Ashton Athletic AFC Liverpool Bootle Colne Congleton Town Stockport Sports West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC Blackpool Winsford United Silsden Barnoldswick Town St. Helens Town Alsager Town Squires Gate Abbey Hey Bacup & Rossendale Borough Wigan Robin Park Opponents Abbey Hey AFC Blackpool AFC Liverpool Alsager Town Ashton Athletic Bacup & Rossendale Borough Barnoldswick Town Bootle Colne Congleton Town Glossop North End Maine Road Norton United Runcorn Linnets Runcorn Town Silsden Squires Gate Stockport Sports West Didsbury & Chorlton Wigan Robin Park 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 Mar 8 Apr 17 Mar 29 Aug 31 Apr 21 Sep 28 Oct 29 Mar 15 Dec 7 Oct 22 Apr 19 Aug 24 Aug 3 Apr 15 Apr 3 Oct 19 Oct 8 Nov 23 Oct 12 Aug 13 Dec 21
W 32 29 25 24 25 23 21 21 20 17 15 15 14 15 13 12 11 11 12 9 9 7
D 4 8 8 9 4 5 7 7 4 9 12 8 7 3 8 7 10 7 4 13 12 8 Result Won 2-1 Drew 1-1 Drew 1-1 Lost 0-3 Lost 2-6 Drew 1-1 Drew 1-1 Lost 1-2 Lost 0-1 Drew 1-1 Lost 0-2 Lost 0-5 Drew 3-3 Lost 0-3 Lost 0-3 Won 2-0 Won 5-0 Drew 2-2 Won 3-0 Won 4-1 Lost 0-2
L 6 5 9 9 13 14 14 14 18 16 15 19 21 24 21 23 21 24 26 20 21 27
F 101 103 73 85 87 78 88 87 71 58 64 52 60 57 52 59 55 57 51 47 38 53 Away Sep 21 Apr 8 Sep 11 Apr 5 Mar 11 Apr 12 Aug 27 Sep 24 Mar 1 Feb 4 Oct 5 Apr 26 Jan 11 Oct 1 Mar 17 Dec 14 Aug 6 Feb 15 Nov 30 Dec 3 Aug 10
A 38 39 33 42 45 50 54 57 67 58 69 66 87 83 70 89 89 85 89 86 68 112
Pts 100 95 83 81 79 74 70 70 64 60 57 53 49 48 47 43 43 40 40 40 39 29
Result Drew 1-1 Lost 2-4 Lost 0-3 Won 2-1 Lost 2-6 Lost 2-3 Won 2-1 Won 2-1 Lost 0-7 Lost 0-1 Won 3-2 Lost 0-6 Lost 1-2 Drew 1-1 Lost 0-2 Lost 0-1 Lost 0-3 Drew 1-1 Won 2-1 Won 4-1 Lost 1-2
FA CUP ASHTON ATHLETIC Ashton Athletic FA VASE Sep 7 Pontefract Collieries LEAGUE CHALLENGE CUP Oct 26 ALSAGER TOWN LIVERPOOL SENIOR CUP Nov 26 CAMMELL LAIRD
Extra-Prelim. Replay
Aug 17 Aug 20
1st Rd. Qual. 2nd Rd. 1st Rd. Player
App
Sub Total Goals
Ashton, Cole
15
1
Bailey, Mark
-
2
Home Away
Drew Lost
2-2 0-1
Away
Lost
0-2
Home
Lost
1-2
Home
Lost
1-3
Player
App
Sub Total Goals
16
McKeegan, Joe
1
-
1
2
McNamara, Dave
1
-
1
Barber, Daniel
1
-
1
Mawdsley, Andy
37
2
39
1
Bergqvist, Karl
4
3
7
Milne, Ste
15
9
24
5
Bowen, Stephen
-
2
2
Naughton, Connor
4
-
4
Chesworth, Lee
2
1
3
Norris, Danny
2
4
6
Clark, Josh
3
-
3
Olsen, Andy
10
-
10
1
14
1
Owens, Adam
-
7
7
1
1
Cook-Hannah, Paul
11
3
Cooper, Kenny
3
-
3
Coyle, Lewis
19
2
21
Crompton, Lee
28
-
28
Crowther, Rory
3
-
3
1
Owens, Danny
24
1
25
1
Parish, Nathan
27
3
30
5
Pullinger, Sam
12
3
15
Richardson, Ed
20
2
22
Ross, Kyle
1
1
2
Ryan, Mason
19
4
23
Saleh, Jamil
4
4
8
1
Curzon, James
2
-
2
Dodd, Liam
5
1
6
Edwards, Ste
1
6
7
Etchells, Ben
2
-
2
Sanderson, Connor
27
5
32
5
Flood, Danny
5
-
5
Storey, Adam
17
8
25
6
33
S-Wright, Michael
27
2
29
4
Gibson, Ciaran
33
-
Gillespie, Alex
4
4
8
Gillespie, Andy
26
1
27
Hand, Danny
2
-
2
Harrison, Greg
9
-
9
Judge, Shaun
27
3
30
Kenny, Jake
1
-
1
Lightbody, Tom
11
1
12
Lowton, Daniel
1
-
1
1
Taylor, Ryan
7
-
7
14
Tingay, Chris
13
-
13
Weaver, Neil
9
12
21
1
1
Williams, Chris
8
1
9
1
5
Williams, Phil
2
-
2
Wright, Danny
12
6
18
1
Own Goals Totals
2 517
104
621
59
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 1987 Manager Alan Wellens being interviewed by local television during the build-up to the FA Vase final
George Barratt, former committee member and dad of club Vice President Jimmy, with the Lancashire Combination Trophy 1972
Mid-1980s St Helens Town’s Jay McComb (FA Vase winner) pictured in action in front of the main stand at the club’s former Hoghton Road ground.
2000-01 - club Chairman John McKiernan pictured with Manchester United legend Bill Foulkes (club President) at the start of Sporting Club St Helens
St Helens Fall at Final Hurdle as Ashton Rescue a Point By Kieran Ford Town are now winless in their last 3 as a stoppage time equaliser puts a dent in their play off dream in a pulsating game. St Helens returned to familiar surroundings as they took on former landlords Ashton Town at Edge Green Street in today’s contest. After 2 defeats in 4 days, the men from Brocstedes Park were looking to improve their fortunes as the play offs were still in sight despite these setbacks. Ashton had drawn 3 of their previous 4 games but were still hot on St Helens heels in the Division One standings. The game started evenly as both sides saw plenty of the ball and was tactically trying to suss the other team out. However, in the 11th minute, St Helens number 10 Danny Greene was played in inside the Ashton box, however was surrounded by defenders in red and could not get his shot away. The ball was stole off him and from the resulting Ashton counter attack Marcus Cusani was found, and after a neat turn to evade Jack Marshall, fired a shot with a bounce that deceived St Helens keeper Matt Hodge to put the hosts a goal to the good.
Ashton Town 4-4 Town Saturday 9th April 2016 Photos courtesy of Dawn Marshall
Arguably the goal of the game put the away side level as top goalscorer Andy Gillespie used his strength and dribbling ability to beat 3 Ashton defenders, before sending a curling effort past Joe Clements from the corner of the area. Gillespie had scored 26 goals this season prior to today, but the goal he scored surely has to be one of his best, as he used his attacking nous and accuracy to expertly find the far corner. St Helens fashioned out a few more chances as their heads were up after equalising, however as the weather took a downturn, as did the away team’s fortunes. They were dealt a blow right on the stroke of half time as the Blues defenders failed to clear which allowed former St Helens player Neil Weaver a chance to nip in and round Hodge in the St Helens goal for an easy tap in which saw the hosts retake the lead. HT: Ashton Town (Cusani, 11) (Weaver, 45+1) 2-1 St Helens Town (Gillespie, 19) The opening 10 minutes of the second half were played with both teams putting in some challenges that perhaps wouldn’t have been as rash if the weather wasn’t rain-ridden. This resulted in 2 cautions for Ashton in quick succession, the fouling trend continued as St Helens right back Aaron Morris was tripped inside the Ashton area resulting in a chance for the
visitors to level the score line once again. Sam Sheen, returning to the starting line up, stepped up and sent Clements the wrong way to bring the visitors back on level terms once again. However the hosts went ahead for a 3 rd time as after a goalmouth scramble involving as many as 6 players fell to David Mills who bundled the ball in despite the attempts of Hodge and Marshall to clear, this bad luck may have been a sign of things to come for the visitors… The fight shown by St Helens after they went behind was rewarded with another levelling goal as after a corner into the box broke to Ste Rigby, the left winger sent a curling effort past the Ashton number 1 in an effort that was similar to Gillespie’s an hour prior. This was a testament to Rigby’s high work ethic throughout the match and was ironic that Town’s equaliser number 3 was scored by number 3. St Helens knew however that a draw may not be good enough if they are to obtain a play off place, so threw everything at the Ashton defence for the final 10 minutes. Their persistence paid off as a free kick from the left hand side was scrambled in from that man Andy Gillespie as a vital 3 points seemed to be heading back to Brocstedes as the game approached stoppage time. However, even with substitute George Lomax attempting to keep the ball in the corner, Ashton stole the ball and surged down the opposing end of the field. A long ball over the top resulted in confusion between Jack Marshall and Matty Hodge, this allowed Weaver to nip in and get a shot on goal that was saved by Hodge; but he slammed home the rebound to end the enthralling contest 4 apiece.
Ashton Town 4-4 Town Saturday 9th April 2016 Photos courtesy of Dawn Marshall
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
Town Are Back On Track! An inspired second half performance ensures that St Helens Town return to winning ways. by Kieran Ford Both teams started nervously, as they were looking to evaluate the other side’s tactics, this meant that both sides saw a lot of the ball, but were unable to muster any clear cut opportunities inside the opening exchanges of the contest. Town were impressive in the midfield throughout the game, as Alex Gillespie, making his first start since January, could be seen covering all areas of the pitch, Aaron Morris, again showed his valuable versatility, and Todd Blayney completed a series of long range passes to keep Town on top during the game. There were chances few and far between in the opening half, although the home side did have the ball in the net just after the 10 minute mark when the ball was bundled past the NMV goalkeeper Daniel Whiting from an Alex Gillespie free kick, however, George Lomax made sure the ball went into the goal but he was in an offside position meaning that the goal was ruled out. Following this the two sides had a chance apiece with the side from Manchester hitting the bar, and just before half time, Andy Gillespie found some space inside the box, but his curling effort could only hit the post, in an attempt similar to one he had scored 7 days prior. As a dull first half came to an end, both sides knew that something had to change if there was going to be any goals in this contest. Half Time: St Helens Town 0-0 Northwich Manchester Villa Changes were afoot and St Helens Town joint managers Nick Matthews and Alan Gillespie duly delivered as Matty Davidson was replaced by Daniel Greene who now played between the two strikers Andy Gillespie and Lomax as Town looked to unlock the NMV defence by playing more attacking. Chances were instantly more frequent as the home side looked to take the game to the visitors right away as the newly introduced Greene was at the forefront of their attacks. This could be seen as his pullback presented a great chance to Andy Gillespie but he got the ball stuck under his feet and couldn’t get the attempt on target. The breakthrough came on 51 minutes as a driven free kick from Andy Gillespie took a deflection and evaded Whiting to reward the tactical change with a goal. The attempts continued to flow for the home side as the opening goal going their way had clearly given them some momentum. An Alex Gillespie corner was met by an onrushing Andy Presho however his powerful header could only sail past the post. The impressive substitute Greene was eventually rewarded with a place on the score sheet as he found a pocket of space
between the NMV midfield and defence, beat one defender with ease before hitting a shot from roughly 25 yards out that was helped in from the goalkeeper to double Town’s advantage, and to further increase the likelihood of 3 important points. Goal number 3 ensured the victory for Town and arguably the best goal was saved until last as some neat football around the NMV area ended in a one-two between George Lomax and Greene and the former was played through to calmly slot the ball into the far corner to compound a confident return the winning ways. Full Time: Town (Gillespie, 51) (Greene, 58) (Lomax, 70) 3-0 Northwich Manchester Villa
To add to the promising signs of today’s match, Town gave debuts to Rafael Moran, and Sam Rawsthorne, the captain of the club’s under 18’s. With these being such important games for Town’s play off push, it is encouraging to see the faith that is being placed on these youngsters by Matthews and Gillespie. A busy end of season period now awaits Town as they fact Ashton Town on Tuesday at Brocstedes Park, looking to avenge the 4-4 draw last Saturday, before hosting bottom club Whitchurch Alport again at home next Saturday.
Last Saturday’s Match Sponsors v Northwich Manchester Villa Wilf Marshall and our guests from Finding Furever Homes (NW Dog Rescue) pictured with Town joint managers Alan Gillespie and Nick Matthews
St Helens Town have announced details surrounding their planned return to St Helens this summer. With work well underway at their new home ground at Ruskin Drive, Town are looking forward to a return to St Helens following an extended period in exile which has seen them play ‘home games’ at Atherton Collieries, Ashton Town and currently at Ashton Athletic. The Ruskin Drive project is being led by St Helens Council Sports Development department, in conjunction with the Liverpool County FA and the Football Foundation, and will see a new 3G set-up at the former Pilkington’s Sport and Social complex which is now managed by the Council. Construction has recently commenced and is due for completion in the summer, with work including new floodlighting, a 200 seater stand and purpose built changing room facilities which will ensure the ground meets the minimum requirements for the NWCFL Premier Division. The development has been some years in the planning and will form part of a broader project across the site which will see the facilities for rugby, tennis, cricket, bowls and football hugely improved.
Town will access the facilities, alongside Cheshire League neighbours Pilkington FC who have been based on the site for many years. Club Chairman John McKiernan said, ‘We are delighted to be making a return to the town after a long time as the tenants of a number of clubs. Everyone at the St Helens Town is really looking forward to all our teams returning home, and we must thank all the partners involved in making this happen. ‘We have to be really thankful for the great support offered us over the last five years without which the club would now have been a distant memory. I’d like offer a special thanks to our current landlords Ashton Athletic who have been great hosts, especially in light of the dreadful weather we’ve experienced over the last two seasons. "We’ve worked hard to maintain a presence in the town and to fly the flag for the borough across the region and in the FA’s national competitions. When we left St Helens we were one team, and now we are four with an U18s, U21s and adult Sunday team added to our NWCFL first team with a plan to continue our growth. With a formal inspection of the new ground by North West Counties Football League officials unable to take place prior to the 31st March 2016 deadline, the club has entered into a ground share agreement for the 2016-17 season with Evo-Stik League side Prescot Cables.
John McKiernan added: "I’d like to thank Chairman Tony Zeverona and the board at Cables for agreeing to host us at Hope Street, should our new home not be ready at the start of the 2016-17 campaign. "We have had to sign a season-long agreement with Prescot to satisfy the FA security of tenure requirements, but we are confident that any use of Hope Street will be minimal.
‘We hope to have further updates as work progresses and plan a series of events next season to celebrate the club’s 70th anniversary".
The club are looking for a kit sponsor for the start of the 2016-17 season. With a St Helens homecoming (as part of the Ruskin development) and a return to our traditional blue and white next season when we will also celebrate our 70th anniversary we start the search for a new kit sponsor. EcigUK St Helens, recently relocated to Hall Street, St Helens have been our superb sponsors for the past two seasons but new EU regulations on the promotion and marketing of E-Cigarettes and associated products come into effect on May 20th and has meant that they are unable to continue into a third season. Club Chairman John McKiernan said, ‘Our support from Eddie and all at EcigUk St Helens has been brilliant and I know they did want to continue with their kit sponsorship, especially having supported us during a difficult period when we have been playing out of town. ‘I am disappointed for the club and for EcigUk St Helens but the decision has been taken out of our hands. I’d like to thank them for their continued support and there’s still plenty to play for before the season ends. I’d like to think we have provided great coverage for EcigUK as part of their sponsorship, proving real value for money and a return on their investment in the club.’
We are looking for a 1st team kit sponsor for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons covering a period from June 2016 through to May 2018 but we would also consider a one-year deal. Each package would include the following offer:
Company name/logo on the front of the 1st team HOME and AWAY shirts (40+ games per season). Company name/logo on the back of the 1st team HOME and Away shirts. Press launch/photographs for the sponsorship deal (plus lots of website and social media coverage) Full page, full colour programme advert (we can produce the artwork) plus use of company logo/details throughout the editorial pages of the match programme. Adverts can be updated throughout the season. Programme editorial throughout the season
Company advert on multiple pages of our website linking to your website Use of company name/logo in press releases, match reports, etc Multiple match photos submitted to the local newspapers VIP tickets for our End of Season Presentation Evening and other nonmatchday activities 1 x Executive Match Sponsorship (up to six additional guests) 1 x Match Ball Sponsorship (up to two additional guests) 4 x VIP Match Passes (allowing entry and hospitality throughout the season) Tweets/Re-tweets, Facebook posts/re-posts - significant promotion of the shirt sponsor 1 x Ground Advertising Board
Further details are available from: John McKiernan Chairman, St Helens Town AFC mckiernanj@live.com 07713 339 682
PLEASE SUPPORT NON-LEAGUE FINALS DAY by Tony Incenzo of talkSPORT Radio I would like to call upon all football followers to support NonLeague Finals Day at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, May 22 2016: The FA Vase – Final Hereford v Morpeth Town (12.15pm) The FA Trophy – Final FC Halifax Town v Grimsby Town (4.15pm) I passionately believe that this is a major step forward in how the FA Trophy and FA Vase Finals are marketed. It should be possible to bring the whole Non-League community together for a glorious day of celebration at Wembley. I have been an avid follower of Non-League football for more than 40 years. I grew up in North-West London and I used to watch my local teams – Hendon, Barnet and the old Finchley FC – whenever I could as a school kid. Nowadays, my diet of attending Non-League football mainly consists of groundhopping. But I always try to take in the major Finals at Wembley. Over the last couple of seasons however, I have been very disappointed with the attendances at those showpiece games…
2014…18,120 for the FA Trophy Final, Cambridge United v Gosport Borough 2015…14,585 for the FA Trophy Final, North Ferriby v Wrexham 2014…5,431 for the FA Vase Final, Sholing v West Auckland Town 2015…9,674 for the FA Vase Final, North Shields v Glossop North End Now compare these figures to the record crowds for the respective Finals: 53,262 at 2007 FA Trophy Final, Stevenage Borough v Kidderminster Harriers 36,232 at 2007 FA Vase Final, Truro City v AFC Totton Yes I know there was special interest in 2007 as it was the first year that the Finals returned to the rebuilt Wembley Stadium. But even so, there has been an alarming decline in crowds since then. It must have been getting towards the point where it is no longer viable to stage these Finals at the national stadium – especially the FA Vase. That would be a great shame for the players and supporters of the participating teams. Therefore I would like to see every club that participates in the overall FA Trophy and Vase competitions attempting to sell 50 tickets each and running a coach to Non-League Finals Day at Wembley. A total of 276 teams took part in the 2015/16 FA Trophy competition with 572 in the FA Vase. If they all sold 50 tickets each, it would bring 40,000-plus to the Finals Day on top of the supporters of the respective finalists and other neutrals. I can hear people now saying: “Our club couldn’t sell 50 tickets!” Well even the smallest of Non-League clubs have 50 people involved – first team and reserve players, committee, supporters and WAGS. The ticket prices are very attractive and you would definitely enjoy a great day out! Anyway, those are my ideas. Let’s embrace and boost the FA Trophy and Vase Finals. The alternative is losing their traditional place at the national stadium due to a lack of interest. Follow Tony Incenzo on Twitter @TonyIncenzo
The League is offering hospitality packages for the forthcoming Men United Cup Final between Atherton Collieries and Colne on 10th May. The Final is being hosted at Fleetwood Town's excellent Highbury Stadium. Pre match hospitality is available at £20 per person which includes a two course meal, complementary match programme and a seat on the balcony in the main stand. There are also private boxes available on request. The Match Sponsorship is available at £1500 which includes a private hospitality box for 12 persons, waitress service, two course meal, complementary match programme and seat on the balcony in the main stand. Anyone interested in booking a hospitality package should note their interest in the attached booking form and send it to League Secretary John Deal john.deal@nwcfl.com by 30th April 2016. General admission prices for the final are adults £6 and concessions £4, and spectators can pay on the gate. Tuesday 12th April AFC Darwen's third goal in the 3-2 win at 1874 Northwich, scored by Kiel Lonsdale in the 53rd minute, was Darwen's 200th away League goal.
Saturday 16th April Runcorn Linnets celebrated their 400th League game with a 2-0 win over Squires Gate. The goal from Tyler Edwards that earned 1874 Northwich a 1-0 win over AFC Liverpool was their 250th League goal.
Widnes passed 100 League points with their 2-1 win at Ashton Town (they are now on 102). Jason Hart's second goal and Colne's third in their 6-2 win over Ashton Athletic at the XLCR Stadium was their 750th home League goal. Jordan Hussey's penalty eight minutes from time in Daisy Hill's 2-0 win at Litherland REMYCA was their 750th away League goal.
The 1,000th goal of the season was scored today in Division One. Three players all scored in the 42nd minute of their respective games for the 998th, 999th & 1,000th goal - Tunde Owolabi (Widnes), Michael Barlow (Bacup Borough) and Jonathan Higham (Hanley Town).
First Division Table as at Monday 18th April 2016 First Division
P
W D
L
F
A GD Pts
St Helens Town Player Sponsors 2015-16
1
Hanley Town
29 22
3
4
61
26 35 69
Matthew Hodge Leech Bedrooms & Kitchens
2
Irlam
30 21
4
5
67
25 42 67
Adam Lawrence Leech Bedrooms & Kitchens
3
Barnton
30 17
8
5
84
31 53 59
Matty Lennon Premier Parking Limited
4
Stockport Town
30 17
4
9
59
44 15 55
Alex Gillespie Focus Windows & Doors Limited
5
Holker Old Boys
28 14
6
8
62
51 11 48
George Lomax Electrician’s Direct
6
Litherland REMYCA
31 14
6
11 54
48
48
Todd Blaney Rob Thompson Auto Repairs
7
Cheadle Town
31 13
8
10 79
57 22 47
Ste Rigby Airborne Bathroom Services
8
Bacup Borough
27 14
4
9
44 26 46
9
St Helens Town
29 14
4
11 67 56 11 46
Andy Gillespie Arcoframe
10
Daisy Hill
31 12
5
14 54
11
Ashton Town
27 11
7
9
12
Rochdale Town
29 12
4
13 56
68 -12 40
Northwich Manchester 31 10 Villa
4
17 48
63 -15 34
13
70
6
67 -13 41
54 40 14 40
14
Widnes
32
9
5
18 63
74 -11 32
15
Chadderton
30
7
8
15 34
50 -16 29
16
Eccleshall
31
7
5
19 49
72 -23 26
17
Atherton LR
32
4
5
23 30
96 -66 17
18
Whitchurch Alport
32
2
10 20 31 110 -79 16
* 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 Andy Presho 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 Monday 18th April 2016 Premier Division
P
W D
L
F
A GD Pts
1
Runcorn Linnets
37 29
1
7
87
30 57 88
2
Colne
36 27
5
4
95
39 56 86
3
Atherton Collieries
35 24
6
5 102 49 53 78
4
1874 Northwich
36 22
5
9
81
55 26 71
5
Congleton Town
36 19
7
10 71
54 17 64
6
West Dids & Chorlton
36 18
4
14 69
55 14 58
7
Bootle
38 15
9
14 72
73
-1 54
8
Runcorn Town
39 15
7
17 67
67
0
52
9
Ashton Athletic
35 14
9
12 59
55
4
51
10
Cammell Laird 1907
38 14
7
17 68
72
-4 49
11
Maine Road
38 15
4
19 67
72
-5 49
12
Barnoldswick Town
35 14
6
15 64
59
5
13
Winsford United
39 13
9
17 62
90 -28 48
14
AFC Liverpool
38 11 13 14 82
84
-2 46
15
Abbey Hey
36 12 10 14 56
62
-6 46
16
Padiham
36 12
9
15 72
78
-6 45
17
Nelson
36 12
6
18 61
59
2
18
AFC Darwen
37
9
7
21 69 104 -35 34
19
AFC Blackpool
33
8
8
17 55
81 -26 32
20
Squires Gate
37
8
8
21 44
83 -39 32
21
Alsager Town
37
8
5
24 46
93 -47 29
22
Silsden
36
6
9
21 45
80 -35 27
* points deducted for a breach of league rules
48
42
Monday 18th April 2016 Premier Division Runcorn Town 0-4 Atherton Collieries Winsford United 0-5 Colne Division One Daisy Hill 4-2 Atherton LR Mid Cheshire Senior Cup Final Witton Albion 0-3 1874 Northwich Tuesday 19th April 2016 Reusch Division One Cup Final Barnton v Hanley Town Premier Division AFC Blackpool v Abbey Hey Barnoldswick Town v Ashton Athletic Cammell Laird 1907 v Maine Road Nelson v Runcorn Linnets Silsden v Squires Gate Division One Holker Old Boys v Stockport Town St Helens Town v Ashton Town Wednesday 20th April 2016 Premier Division 1874 Northwich v Winsford United AFC Darwen v Bootle Padiham v Congleton Town Division One Bacup Borough v Irlam Northwich Man Villa v Cheadle Town Thursday 21st April 2016 Premier Division Colne v Atherton Collieries Silsden v AFC Blackpool Division One Barnton v Holker Old Boys Rochdale Town v Ashton Town Friday 22nd April 2016 Premier Division West Didsbury & Chorlton v Maine Road