St Helens Town v Daisy Hill (Reusch Cup) 2016-17 by John McKiernan

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Team Line-Ups CLUB INFORMATION Honorary Life President: Alan Wellens Vice Presidents: Jim Barrett and Steve Ball Chairman: John McKiernan (07713 339682)

Saturday 5th November 2016, kick off 3pm The Reusch First Division Cup, 1st Round North St Helens Town

Daisy Hill

Blue Shirts Blue Shorts, Blue & White Socks Gls Y R

Vice Chairman: Glyn Jones

Lee Novak

Andy Presho

Hon. Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Voller (07843 692695)

Ste Rigby

Full Committee: John McKiernan, Jeff Voller, Jim Barrett, Ste Ball, Andy Langley Paul Wood, Margaret Wood, Kieran Ford, Chris Ford & Glyn Jones

Craig Haynes Jordan Hussey David Parker

Ant Whelan

Craig Naylor

Paul Carney

Matthew Knowles

Eddie Pegler

Matthew Davidson

Jake Foster

Trustee: John McKiernan

Stuart McDonald

Curtis Cummins

1st Team Manager: Alan Gillespie

Dale Korie-Butler

Jon Stephenson

Luke Edwards

Interim 1st Team Manager Lee Jenkinson

1st Team Coach: Nick Robinson 1st Team Physiotherapists Ellie Hayes & Paige Marcus U21s Team Manager: John McLaughlan U21s Assistant Manager: Lee Jenkinson

U18s Team Manager: David McNabb

Club Email: sthelenstownfc@hotmail.co.uk Main Club Sponsor: Johnsons Toyota Liverpool

Company Director: Jim Barrett

Hensley Mills

Will Threlkeld

Daniel Blythe

Andy Gillespie

Darrell Gavin

Chris Brinksman

Steve Dryden Managers: Craig Thomas, Marc Thomas & Brain Hart

Match Sponsor

Johnsons Toyota Liverpool 60 Rimrose Road, Bootle, Merseyside L20 4TX Match Ball Sponsors

Next Home Game:

KEALSHORE LTD Haulage & Excavation

Hallmark Security League 1st Division Thursday 10th November 2016

Shirt Sponsor: Freestart plc Legal: St Helens Town Limited Private Limited Company Company No. 04392840 Date of Incorporation 12.03.2002

Simon Farrell

Adam Donohue

Referee: Mr I Walsh (Clitheroe) Assist: Mr P Richards (Wigan) & Mr D Thomas (Chorley)

U18s Assistant Manager: TBC Sunday Team Manager: David Platt

Corey Harrison

Paul Cliff

Interim Managers: Andy Gillespie & Lee Jenkinson

Gls Y R

Joshua Fairhurst

Andy Webster

Danny Greene

Hospitality: Margaret Wood and Paul Wood

Red Shirts Red Shorts & Socks

Parent Company: A wholly owned subsidiary of Sporting Club St Helens Limited

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Tel: 01744 21260

Town v Cheadle Town

Volair Park, Prescot Cables FC

Cover Photograph: Andy Presho and Eddie Pegler

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Talk of the Town Good afternoon and welcome to Volair Park for this Reusch First Division Cup, First Round North Tie against Daisy Hill. 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. It has been a busy few weeks on and off the field since we were last here against Carlisle City when we fell to a second 4-3 reverse at their hands this term after being 3-1 up in this particular contest. We recovered from going a goal down midway through the first half to go in front before the interval as skipper Andy Gillespie levelled matters before Andy Webster netted his first goal of his second spell with the club to send the hosts into the break in front. The signs looked good soon after the restart when Luke Edwards netted a third on 49 minutes but the lead was soon halved when Greenslade pulled one back and late on a double salvo from the Carlisle management team of Tose and Allan saw the visitors take the spoils back to Cumbria. We had a short turnaround as we made an unenviable midweek trip to Oswestry but stared brightly with Dale Korie-Butler netting his first for the club after 8 minutes but an own goal on 32 minutes saw the sides go in level at half time. The second half was not to be a good one for the visitors as Price and Jones netted in a five minute spell between 73 & 78 minutes to put the game beyond the visitors and a goal for Ant Whelan deep in added on time put a little gloss on the scoreline for the visitors. We then moved on to visit Bacup Borough the following Saturday, just before the break Korie-Butler made it two goals in two games and this looked to be enough to secure the spoils would return to Merseyside but a goal in the third minute of added on time from the hosts through Adrian Bellamy made the draw feel like a loss for Town. There was an off field change after the contest as joint manager Nick Matthews stepped down from his role and has since been appointed to the coaching staff at Widnes and we wish him well in that new venture. With Alan Gillespie currently Stateside, Andy Gillepsie and Lee Jenkinson have taken the reigns on a temporary basis and the first game under their guidance was last Saturday when attention turned to the Macron Cup, Second Round as we visited Eccleshall. Dale Korie-Butler continued his fine run of form in front of goal as he put Town into an early lead. The advantage was doubled on 38 minutes when Ant Whelan made it 2-0 and this was the way the teams went into half time. Shortly after the restart the hosts pulled a goal back but Korie-Butler re-established the two goal advantage soon afterwards as he made it 3-1 taking his tally to 4 goals in three matches. The scoring continued as Danny Greene made it 4-1 before the hosts pulled a goal back and then Stuart McDonald netted a 5th for Town making it 5-2 before an added on time goal for the third consecutive game made the final scoreline 5-3 to see Town into the hat for the next round where they were drawn out at home to Premier Division high-flyers Bootle with the game scheduled for Saturday 26th November. So onto this afternoonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Division Cup contest against a Daisy Hill side who we have already visited this season in league and the sides played out a 2-2 draw with Town twice taking the lead and Daisy Hill levelling twice and Ryan Taylor in the Town goal saving a penalty to earn the visitors a share of the spoils. The only previous cup meeting between the two sides saw Town win an FA Vase contest at New Sirs 5-0 and a repeat of this scoreline would be gratefully received this afternoon!

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get behind Town this afternoon and hopefully cheer them on into the next round! Enjoy the game . . . Jeff Voller

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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In Town Today Situated one and a half miles south of Westhoughton town centre, four miles from Bolton and five miles from the Macron Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers, the village of Daisy Hill first saw football in season 1894-95 although it is possible that football was being played in the area for some years prior to that date. The first known honours for the club came in 1896-97 when the Wigan and District League Championship and the Westhoughton Cup were won without losing a match. The location of the clubs ground in those days is unknown but the present ground was used during the first world war period when the club played in the Leigh and District Senior Sunday School League. The club then joined the Westhoughton League and during the 1920's and 1930's won many honours in what was one of the strongest local leagues at the time. Little is known of the period leading up to the second world war but the club re-formed in 1951 playing in the Westhoughton League on the St. James Street Recreation Ground/Cricket Ground until the landowner made an offer to the club to return to New Sirs in 1957. The acquisition of the lease was a major step forward and gave aspiration to move into the Bolton Combination and develop into one of the most formidable clubs in the area. Dressing rooms were erected at the ground for the start of the 1968/69 season whilst on the field the club won the Bolton Combination Premier Division on four occasions, the Bolton Combination Cup on four occasions and the Lancashire Amateur Shield twice during the 60's and 70's. In 1978 the Club was accepted into the Lancashire Football Combination and with the advent of the Non-League football pyramid and the subsequent amalgamation of the Lancashire Football Combination and the Cheshire County League the Club became a founder member of the North West Counties League giving them the opportunity to play in and bring national competition to the village. With the National League System requiring clubs to meet new standards for facilities, new dressing rooms and a clubhouse for social activities were erected at New Sirs in 1982. Since then improvement of the clubs facilities has been ongoing and for the 2005-2006 season a floodlighting system has been installed which has allowed the club to remain in the National League System and return to National and County competitions. The club also comprises an U/18's Youth Team playing in the North West Youth

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Daisy Hill AFC Alliance and a thriving junior section playing in the Bolton, Bury and District Junior Football League.

Notable players include: Dick Pollard and Billy Farrimond, both of whom went on to play cricket for Lancashire and England, Alf Watkinson, grandfather of the former Lancashire Cricket Club Captain Mike Watkinson went on to sign for Blackpool. ( Mike himself had the odd game for the club). Sam Marsh (Bolton Wanderers and Bury), Alf Gray (Torquay United and Lincoln City), Greg Strong (Motherwell) and Danny Williams (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) began their careers in senior or junior football at Daisy Hill Football Club. Other notable people / sportspersons born in Westhoughton who may or may not have been associated with the club: Ethel Johnson (Great Britain Olympic Athlete), Joe Bromilow (American Olympic Athlete), Jack Bruton (Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Bournemouth and England). Joe Clare (Accrington Stanley, Norwich City and Lincoln City). Tommy Woodward (Bolton Wanderers and Middlesborough), Francis Lee (Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Derby County and England) and Robert Shaw (Actor). Season 2001-02

League NWC-2

P 40

W 8

D 4

L 28

F 49

A 114

GD -65

Pts 28

Position 20/21

2002-03

NWC-2

2003-04

NWC-2

-51

16/18

-49

2004-05 2005-06

NWC-2 NWC-2

19/20

36 36

12 7

10 6

14 23

61 38

68 75

-7 -37

46 27

8/19 18/19

2006-07

2007-08 2008-09

NWC-2

-40

15/18

NWC-2 NWC-1

34 34

2 6

5 4

27 24

28 39

86 101

-58 -62

11 22

18/18 17/18

2009-10

NWC-1

-5

11/17

2010-11

NWC-1

-43

14/18

2011-12

NWC-1

-8

12/18

2012-13

NWC-1

-26

16/18

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

NWC-1 NWC-1 NWC-1

36 36 34

6 15 12

4 7 6

26 14 16

43 57 56

103 68 72

-60 -11 -16

22 52 42

18/19 8/19 12/18

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Chairman’s Notes Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Volaire Park for this Reusch First Division Trophy 1st Round against Daisy Hill. Let’s hope their players, officials and supporters along with our own following are treated to an entertaining encounter. Thanks to today’s match sponsors Johnsons Toyota Liverpool and our match ball sponsors Kealshore Limited - Haulage and Excavation your support is greatly appreciated. It’s been a busy few weeks at the club with the departure of joint manager Nick Matthews which has been made more difficult with the absence of Alan Gillespie who is currently on family business in America. I am pleased that Lee Jenkinson and club captain Andy Gillespie will take over the reigns until Alan returns. We also welcome the return of Nick Robinson wh joins the club’s coaching team. This week has also seen the appointment of David McNabb who has been appointed to the position of U18s Manager - I wish him and his management team every success. Daisy Hill are having a fine season to date with 24 points from 16 games and they currently sit in 9th place. The two teams met in league action at New Sirs back in mid-September when the spoils were shared following a 2-2 draw. Andy Gillespie twice gave Town the lead but goals from Jon Stephenson and Ashley Stott level led the scores on each occasion. Our wait for a return to St Helens continues but things are hopefully moving in the right direction as the new car park at Ruskin Drive is complete and I am told that access to the ground for our U18s, u21s and Sunday teams and for all teams training is imminent. The first team will have to wait a little longer to be able to play on the site with the new changing facilities not likely to be completed until December. In the meantime we are grateful to our hosts, Prescot Cables as well as the Hallmark Security League for their continued support. Last week’s Macron Cup success at Eccleshall earned the lads a tough home tie against an in-form Bootle in Round 3 which will be played on Saturday 26th November. We involved in more cup action when we travel to Litherland REMYCA in the 1st Round of the Liverpool Senior Cup on Wednesday 16th which means our planned home league fixture against neighbour Ashton Town needs to be rescheduled. We’ve also got some advance notice of our proposed New Year’s Eve fixture away at Prestwich Heys - we’ve agreed to played the game on Friday 30th December, 7.45pm kick off. We’re back at Cables n Thursday evening when Cheadle Town are our visitors for another important league fixture. John McKiernan Chairman St Helens Town AFC

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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The world this week This Week in the World of... Kieran Ford takes a trip down memory and discover what events happened in the history of St Helens Town, sport in general and provide a reminder of any historical world events that occurred in this week in history. The week of 30th October – 6th November Last Season: St Helens Town – 31st October 2015 – St Helens Town return to winning ways in the league with a 2-1 victory away at Daisy Hill, with midfielder Jonathan Du Toit grabbing a brace. Sport – 31st October 2015 Ruby World Cup Final: New Zealand's All Blacks defeat Australia's Wallabies 34-17 at Twickenham in London. World – 5th November 2015 Collins Dictionary name "binge-watch" the word of the year, followed by "transgender"

10 Years Ago: St Helens Town – 4th November 2006 Town lose their 9th game in a row in all competitions, as they succumb to a 2-0 home defeat by Atherton Collieries. Sport – 6th November 2006 Ronaldinho is named FIFPro World Player of the Year for the second time in two editions. World – 5th November 2006 Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982. 20 Years Ago: St Helens Town: - 2nd and 6th November 1996 St Helens are defeated 3-1 in extra time in the North West Counties League Cup 2nd Round Replay against Maghull. They then avenge this with a 3-2 victory against Darwen at Houghton Road 4 days later. Sport – 3rd November 1996 27th NYC Marathon won by Giacomo Leone of Italy in 2:09:54 World – 3rd November 1996 Barry Porter, Conservative MP for Wirral South, dies of cancer aged 57. The FA Vase Year – 1987: St Helens Town – 31st October and 3rd November 1987 Town claim success against Prescot Cables in the derby in the Liverpool Senior Cup 2nd round with a 2-1 home victory. However they go on to lose 1-0 against Rossendale away from home. Sport – 31st October 1987 A pair in Coventry, England, ties the world record for longest singles tennis match at 80 hrs 21 minutes. World – 2nd November 1987 George Harrison releases "Cloud 9" & McCartney releases "All the Best"

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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How We Compare? St Helens Town - last 6 matches All Competitions

Most recent

at St Helens Town

Previous Meetings

at Daisy Hill

NWC-D1

2001-02

NWC-D2

Home

NWC-D1

2002-03

NWC-D2

Away

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

Collated

Daisy Hill - last 6 matches All Competitions

Most recent

NWC-PD

2008-09

NWC-D1

Home

NWC-PD

2009-10

NWC-D1

Away

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

21/11; 2-6

2015-16

31/10; 2-1

18/03/2017

2016-17

17/09; 2-2

Collated

St Helens Town games since...

Daisy Hill games since...

All Competitions

Clean sheet

Goal Scored

Loss

No score draw

Score draw

Win

St Helens Town Scores First Games Played

St Helens Town Wins

Draws

Daisy Hill Wins

St Helens Town Goals

Daisy Hill Goals

Percentage Town Wins

33.33

Previous Meetings All Competitions P

Win %

Home

-4

0.00

Away

66.67

Collated

50.00

Collated

111

42.65

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Ruskin Update

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Tea Break Teasers Q1. What is Galatasaray’s wild animal nickname?

Q2. Who won 91 Northern Ireland caps, spent a decade at Luton Town, won the Cup Winners Cup with Manchester City & ended his career with Chelseas? Q3. Who was player of the tournament at Euro 2004? Q4. With which three British clubs did Claudio Reyna play? Q5. Who has made more full international appearances Iker Casillas for Spain or Gianluigi Buffon for Italy? Q6. Which now defunct country has reached the most European Championship Finals, two without ever lifting the trophy? Q7. From which club did Southampton sign Sadio Mane in 2014?

Q8. Which team collected the most top flight points in the 1960’s? Q9. From which South American club did Everton sign Ramiro Funes Mori? Q10. Which was the only Premier League season where a London club didn’t finish in the top five? Q11. Which player skippered West Germany against England in the 1966 World Cup Final? Q12. Which goalkeeper kept a Premier League record 14 consecutive clean sheets between November 2008 & February 2009? Q13. In which year did Everton sign Leighton Baines from Wigan Athletic? Q14. Who managed West Germany to World Cup glory in 1974? Q15. Which former Premier League player has scored against a record 39 different teams in the Premier League?

1) The Lions 2) Mal Donaghy 3) Theodoros Zagarakis 4) Rangers, Sunderland & Man City 5) Casillas with 167 caps to Buffon’s 165 6) Yugoslavia 7) FC Red Bull Salzburg 8) Spurs with 514 9) River Plate 10) 1994-95 11) Uwe Seeler 12) Edwin van der Sar 13) 2007 14) Helmut Schon 15) Frank Lampard

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Hall of Fame Derek Hennin, Tommy O'Neil and Dave Bamber This week looks at the careers of two players who began with league clubs, moving to St. Helens Town upon retirement from the senior game and a player who began at St. Helens and went on to play in all four divisions of the Football League. Derek Hennin was born in Prescot in 1932. He began his career at Bolton Wanderers in 1950, displacing England international Johnny Wheeler, who was transferred to Liverpool. He played righthalf for Wanderers in their 2-0 victory over Manchester United at Wembley in the FA Cup Final in 1958, only three months after the Munich disaster. Among his team-mates that day were Nat Lofthouse and Dennis Stevens, who went on to win the Championship with Everton in 1962/63. Captain of the United side was ex-Town great Bill Foulkes. He had a brief spell at Wigan Athletic, but joined Town as playermanager in 1964, remaining in that position for nearly five years, featuring at right-half and inside forward. Tommy O'Neil was born in Parr in 1952 and he was one of those gifted sportsmen who had a genuine choice between careers in football and rugby league, having represented England at both codes as a schoolboy. He opted for football and signed for Manchester United. He made his debut against Manchester City in May 1971 and played for three seasons alongside the legendary Best, Law and Charlton. However, he lost favour under new manager Tommy Docherty and was transferred to Southport and when the Sandgrounders lost their league status in 1978, O'Neil moved on to Tranmere Rovers, finishing his league career with Halifax Town in 1982. Tommy returned home to captain St. Helens Town and led the team to FA Vase success at Wembley in 1987 (pictured above), for what must have been one of the proudest moments of his career. He moved on to manage Skelmersdale United. Sadly, he lost his life to cancer in May 2006 at the early age of just 53. At the end of the 2013-14 season the cub named the Young Player of the Year Award 'The Tommy O'Neil Trophy'. Dave Bamber began and ended his league career at Blackpool. He was a native of St. Helens and was born on 1st February 1959. He was a prolific goalscorer, netting 147 goals in 434 league appearances. He moved from Town to Bloomfield Road in 1979, making his debut against Chester. His first goal came against Carlisle in April 1980. Coventry City, then in the First Division, signed Bamber in 1983, but before the end of that season, he had moved on to Walsall. Short spells at Portsmouth and Trelleborgs (Sweden) were unproductive and in 1985, Dave moved to Swindon Town, where he made 108 league appearances, scoring 31 goals. He was on the move again in 1988, this time to Watford, transferring to Stoke City and then to Hull City, before re-joining Blackpool in 1990, retiring in 1994. He played twice at Wembley in play-off finals, being successful on the second occasion against Scunthorpe in 1992. On retirement from the game two years later, he remained in the Blackpool area, setting himself up as a property developer. Bamber was probably best remembered for the way he dipped forward to head the ball.

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Eddie Pegler in action v Eccleshall on Saturday 29th October 2016

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Andy Gillespie in action v FC Oswestry Town on Saturday 24th September 2016

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Match Sponsors We are looking for additional sponsors on match-days with a host of benefits for both match (£100) and match 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

Thu 18/08/16

Sandbach United

Beer EnGin, Whiston

Johnsons Toyota Liverpool

Thu 01/09/16

Prestwich Heys

Johnsons Toyota Liverpool

Cuncannon

Sat 10/09/16

Chadderton (FAV)

Top Car Detailing

Cuncannon

Thu 15/09/16

Widnes

Thatto Heath Tech Shop

Beer Engin, Whiston

Sat 26/11/16

FC Oswestry Town

Toast Café

Live Wire Electrical

Sat 01/10/16

AFC Darwen (Macron Cup)

Johnsons Toyota Liverpool

MLR Heating Supplies

Sat 15/10/16

Carlisle City

Johnsons Toyota Liverpool

Excell Painting & Decorating

Sat 05/11/16

Daisy Hill

Beechley Stables, RDA

Thu 10/11/16

Cheadle Town

Invisible Heroes

Thu 17/11/16

Ashton Town

Sat 19/11/16

Eccleshall

Connor McGinn

Thu 01/12/16

Alsager Town

The Track King

Sat 10/12/16

Bacup Borough

Stillia

Kiera’s Occasions

Mon 26/12/16 Litherland REMYCA

Action Coach NW

Kiera’s Occasions Britannia Taxis

Sat 07/01/17

Holker Old Boys

Sat 21/01/17

AFC Blackpool

Action Coach NW

Sat 28/01/17

Whitchurch Alport

Invisible Heroes

Sat 11/02/17

Silsden

North West Dog Rescue

Sat 18/03/17

Daisy Hill

Invisible Heroes

Sat 25/03/17

Stockport Town

Stuart Pyke

Sat 01/04/17

Atherton LR

John Cahill

Sun 16/04/17

City of Liverpool FC

The Boar’s Head

Sat 29/04/17

Charnock Richard

Toast Café

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Michael Allison

LM Travel

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Team Fixtures St Helens Town Sunday Liverpool &District Sunday League Results 08/09/16 18:30 Hunting Lodge 3-0 Town 11/09/16 11:00 Fulwood Arms 2-0 Town 18/09/16 11:00 Birkdale United 4-3 Town 25/09/16 13:00 Fazakerley Athletic 3-2 Town 02/10/16 12:45 Town 3-2 Mr Smiths 09/10/16 12:45 Western Approaches 1-4 Town 16/10/16 12:45 Town 2-4 The Claremont FC 23/10/16 12:45 Town 5-5 The Masons 30/10/16 12:45 Town 2-4 Bootle Wanderers Fixtures 06/11/16 12:45 Picton Athletic v Town 13/11/16 12:45 The Georgies v Town St Helens Town U21s Cheshire FA U21s League Premier Division Results Lge 24/08/16 Manchester Central Reserves 0-4 Town Cup 21/08/16 Atherton Town 2-2 Town (Town won 1-3 on pens) Lge 18/08/16 Southport 2-2 Town Cup 11/09/16 11:00 Glossop North End 1-9 Town Cup 18/09/16 11:00 BRNESC Reserves 4-7 Town Lge 25/09/16 14:00 Atherton Town 1-6 Town Cup 02/10/16 12:30 Abbey Hey 2-0 Town Cup 09/10/16 12:45 Town 6-3 MSB Woolton Lge 23/10/16 12:45 Town 6-2 Stockport Town Fixtures Cup 06/11/16 11:00 Clay Brow v Town Cup 13/11/16 12:45 Town v Litherland REMYCA Lge 17/11/16 19:45 Irlam v Town Lge 20/11/16 12:45 Town v Manchester Central Lge 04/12/16 12:45 Town v West Kirby Lge 11/12/16 12:30 Stockport Town v Town St Helens Town U18s North West Youth Alliance League Results Lge 21/08/16 14:30 Town 3-5 Chester Colts Lge 04/09/16 14:30 Chester Colts 1-3 Town Cup 08/09/16 19:45 AFC Blackpool 3-4 Town Lge 11/09/16 14:30 Town 2-8 Marine Lge 18/09/16 14:30 Witton Albion 1-3 Town Cup 21/09/17 19:30 Chadderton 1-2 Town Cup 25/09/16 11:00 Prescot Cables 1-2 Town Lge 02/10/16 14:30 West Kirby & Wasps 1-2 Town Cup 07/10/16 Town 1-2 Newcastle Benfield Cup 23/10/16 14:00 Chester FC 12-1 Town Lge 30/10/16 14:30 Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Town Fixtures Lge 06/11/16 14:00 Town v Witton Albion Lge 13/11/16 14:00 Town v Newton

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

The Away Trip I’ve always enjoyed away games. From my first non-league away game watching Horwich RMI in the late 1970s right up to my groundhopping in the present day, that has remained the case. It’s not often I think about what specifically it is I like about away games. It seems obvious. I enjoy the experience. But thinking more deeply about it, there are many reasons why. Some of these things have stayed the same for a long time and some things have changed. But, drawing on my historical experiences, there are a number of things that spring to mind about why I enjoy away games. The coach trip (sometimes the car): When I first started watching RMI away games in the 1970s we would often travel by coach. This was the most magically mundane experience. Getting excited about going on a coach! My uncle would generally take me and we’d get the Lancashire United coach from outside RMI’s Grundy Hill ground. Often as we were getting on the coach the skip with the team kit in would be loaded in to the coach’s luggage hold. As we boarded the coach many of the players would be sat on it. Many of them nodded their heads or even said hello. This was amazing for a young boy of seven or eight years old; travelling with the kit and the players talking to me! On these trips often the players would be playing cards. Sometimes there was singing. It always felt great when we arrived at an opponent’s ground, to be arriving with the team. If we didn’t go by coach we went to away games in one or other of my uncles’ cars. As a young boy I hadn’t travelled very much. Turning up at these places from Kirkby to Middlewich and from Formby to Barrow was a real eye-opener. I can still remember the image of being at what felt like a huge non-league ground at Barrow’s Holker Street in 1981 or what decline felt like at Kirkby in 1980. The novelty: Non-league grounds often have unique features. In those early days it was noticeable that Marine had an interesting wooden stand behind the goal. So, I seem to recall, did Formby at their old Brows Lane ground. We went to Kirkby Town for a league game in 1980 and my memory is of a huge stand with an athletics track around the pitch. A trip to Winsford’s Barton Stadium in 1979 took us to a ground with what appeared to be a dog track round the pitch. The dog track separated us from the players on the pitch, including a young Winsford goalkeeper, Neville Southall. Most games we went to at that time were in the North West of England. But we also had an FA Cup trip to North Ferriby United in 1980. I didn’t know where this was at the time. It was on the banks of the River Humber, with the Humber Bridge as a backdrop and an allotment at one end of the ground. Most of the grounds we went to at this time had something interesting about them; whether that was a tea hut, a clubhouse, dugouts, floodlights or something else. In 1983 RMI moved in to the Northern Premier League and the standard of grounds generally improved. That said there remained many quirky grounds; though this is now changing to an extent as new grounds are replacing old grounds. I still enjoy the novelty of going to a new ground and all that comes with it; whether that is its stands, clubhouse, or refreshment hut; or club shops or programme shops; or unique features such as a club’s advertising boards or their press box. The routine: The coach trip and the novelty of these new grounds was all part of a strange routine. The routine started when we made our way to get the coach and the journey to the match. It usually involved us arriving at the away ground an hour or more before kick off because we were on the same coach as the players. We would buy a programme. I used to read these things from cover to cover, again and again and built up some strange knowledge for a young boy. This included the nicknames of lower level non-league clubs, the names of their grounds, who their star players were and so on. Often these programmes used to have a player profile where one of the home team players would answer questions about himself. This usually involved questions about their date of birth, star sign, favourite holiday spot (usually Benidorm or similar), favourite drink (lager or lager and lime), favourite food (Steak Diane or scampi), favourite read (inevitably the Mirror or Sun in many cases) and so on. Spending some time with a programme, a coke and a packet of crisps I’d peruse the clubhouse, look at the trophies in the cabinet, the pennants and photos of past glories on the wall, absorb the smell, and be confused by the banter of adults. The match, while important, was just part of this routine. The routine would continue after the match, which would mean going back to the clubhouse. As I remember it, this was often packed. This might only be 50 or so people. But when there were so many people queuing for a pint all at once it gave the impression of somewhere bustling. The players would often then come in with their wet hair from the team bath and plonk their sports bag in a pile before queuing for a pint. I remember the coach journey back, usually in the dark, as often being more subdued as it signified an end to the away trip.

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Mike Hodson The violence: By the time of the early 1980s I was approaching my teen years. My family had moved away from Horwich to Ashton-under-Lyne in 1982 and so I was splitting my non-league watching between RMI and other clubs, particularly Stalybridge Celtic. RMI’s move to the Northern Premier League in 1983, the bigger clubs they were playing, alongside the spirit of the times, meant that occasionally there would be instances of violence at away games. I remember a trip to Macclesfield in the middle of the 1980s where our coach window was smashed. On more than one occasion there was fighting involving fans from RMI with those from Macclesfield and Southport. Violence wasn’t frequent but when it happened it also wasn’t just a bit of pushing. On one occasion I had gone up to Fleetwood in the mid1980s with a car-full of friends watching Stalybridge. Stalybridge usually had a good away following and I wondered why there were so few of us inside Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium. I became concerned when I was told that there had been some serious disorder between the two sets of supporters in the past and saw a mob of about 50 Fleetwood fans behind the opposite goal from where our small group of four were stood. In an intimidating atmosphere, towards the end of the second half two Fleetwood fans came to ‘talk’ to us. Within no time at all they were repeatedly punching one of the guys who was with us with the effect that neither of his eyes were visible behind bruising. The humour: The violence wasn’t common; but humour was. There was always low level banter on away trips; between players, fans and anybody else who participated in the away day. Much of this was so regular that it was unremarkable. I do, though, remember us taking the coach with the RMI players down to Burton for a night game in 1985. There was a lot of traffic on the roads and it was soon clear that we would be very late arriving at Burton. Burton had been on a big FA Cup run that season. They had played local rivals Leicester in a ‘home’ game at Derby in front of 22,000. And they had also been drawing big league crowds to their old Eton Park ground that season. I’m pretty sure when we pulled up at the ground it was after kick-off time. We walked off the coach and through a packed crowd, getting plenty of banter and jibes. John McGovern, the former Forest and Derby midfielder, had started playing for RMI and he seemed to be subjected to most of the locals’ comments. Not only did we turn up incredibly late for the match but RMI did not have a ‘sponge man’ to sit on the bench and deal with the players’ injuries that night. Frank, my uncle, who was managing the changing room – doing the kits, making the tea, running the bath – stepped in as sponge man. Frank’s son, Graham, and I positioned ourselves next to the dugout. Just before half time Frank asked us to go into the away changing room and make the tea for the players. Bearing in mind the players weren’t in the best of moods after the journey, it was important this was done. Anyway, as we walked down the tunnel we were stopped by an old guy in a ‘commissioner’s’ style uniform. He refused to let us through to the changing rooms. At half-time Frank came down the tunnel asking why the tea wasn’t made. When we told him he sought out the commissioner, words were exchanged and Frank poured the contents of his sponge man’s bucket all down the front of the guy’s uniform. A few other words were then exchanged, which are probably not appropriate for this blog.

The children: From the late 1970s through to 2000 I had been going to away games and groundhopping with family, friends and on my own. In the early years of the 2000s I began to take my young sons to matches. They inevitably saw each ground as some sort of playground or adventure park. The stands, terraces and landscape of each ground meant something different to them. In particular, they loved a trip to Chorley’s Victory Park as it had a terrific grass bank that they could roll down, run up and which had trees at the back that they could mess about in. They also had great fun messing about for two hours on a log at Atherton Collieries’ Alder House. Strange how simple things kept them so entranced. It also reminded me that, as I had found something unique in non-league grounds as a child so too had my children. They weren’t particularly interested in the football but they loved messing about in the fresh air. The carshare: My sons still come along to non-league away days with me, particularly if they know that the refreshments – the burgers and the hot chocolate – that are available will be of good quality. Often though, I now go to non-league away games with a friend, Alex. We travel to matches in mine or Alex’s car. And in the Carshare the travel to the match becomes a place for good conversation. We chew over everything from problems and successes at work, to big political questions, the state of our towns and cities, to the stories of our lives. It’s both a nice contrast and continuity to the coach trip as an important part of the away day routine. Away games are not simply games of football involving my team at another ground. They’re fantastic and multifaceted experiences of the kind I discussed above. These have changed over time. Some of this is for the better and some for the worse. But it remains the case that away days still remain important to me. For future blogs follow me on Twitter: @mhod71

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Match Statistics 201 Date Aug 06 Aug 13 AUG 18 Aug 20 Aug 27 SEP 01 Sep 03 Sep 06 SEP 10 SEP 15 Sep 17 SEP24 OCT 01 Oct 08 Oct 11

Opponents Carlisle City Cheadle Town SANDBACH UNITED Litherland REMYCA Charnock Richard PRESTWICH HEYS Atherton LR City of Liverpool CHADDERTON WIDNES Daisy Hill FC OSWESTRY TOWN AFC DARWEN Alsager Town AFC Blackpool

Comp NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL FAV 1QR NWCFL NWCFL NWCFL TMC 1R NWCFL NWCFL

KO 3.00 3.00 7.45 3.00 3.00 7.45 3.00 7.45 3.00 7.45 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 7.45

Result 4-3L 3-3D L2-4 W1-2 W1-3 2-2D 4-2L 5-1L 3-5L 1-1D 2-2D 2-1W 4-2W 3-1L 1-3W

GK Novak Novak Novak Novak Novak Hodge Hodge Hodge Taylor Taylor Taylor Taylor Walsh Walsh Walsh

2 D.Brady Presho Greene Greene Greene Greene Greene1 D.Brady D.Brady D.Brady D.Brady Greene1 Presho Presho Presho1

OCT 15

CARLISLE CITY

NWCFL

3.00

3-4L

Walsh

Pegler

Carney

Webster1

A.Whelan

7.45 3-2L Walsh Tserpes 3.00 1-1D Novak Presho 3.00 3-5W Hodge Presho 3.00 7.45 3.00 7.45 3.00 7.45 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 7.45 3.00 TBC 3.00 3.00

Carney Rigby Rigby

Webster Donohue Webster

A.Whelan1 A.Whelan A.Whelan1

Oct 18 FC Oswestry Town NWCFL OCT 22 Bacup Borough NWCFL Oct 29 Eccleshall TMC 2R NOV 05 Daisy Hill RFDC 2R NOV 10 CHEADLE TOWN NWCFL Nov12 Silsden NWCFL Nov 16 Litherland REMYCA LSCup Nov 19 Eccleshall NWCFL DEC 01 ALSAGER TOWN NWCFL Dec 03 Ashton Town NWCFL DEC 10 BACUP BOROUGH NWCFL Dec 17 Whitchurch Alport NWCFL DEC 26 LITHERLAND REMCYA NWCFL Dec 31 Prestwich Heys NWCFL JAN 07 HOLKER OLD BOYS NWCFL JAN 14 ECCLESHALL NWCFL JAN 21 AFC BLACKPOOL NWCFL JAN 28 WHITCHURCH ALPORT NWCFL FEB 11 SILSDEN NWCFL Feb 18 Sandbach United NWCFL Mar 04 Chadderton NWCFL Mar 11 Holker Old Boys NWCFL MAR 18 DAISY HILL NWCFL MAR 25 STOCKPORT TOWN NWCFL APR 01 ATHERTON LR NWCFL Apr 08 Widnes NWCFL APR 16 CITY OF LIVERPOOL NWCFL Apr 22 Stockport Town NWCFL APR 29 CHARNOCK RICHARD NWCFL

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

3 4 5 6 Williams Rawsthorne Falconer Presho Ash A.Whelan Falconer Rigby Sheen Gre Rigby Presho Andy Gillespie Pegler D.W Rigby Webster Falconer Presho Sh Rigby Webster Falconer Presho Sh Rigby Webster Falconer Presho Sh Rigby Falconer Webster Presho Ash Presho Falconer Webster Ashton Will Presho Webster Donohue Davies Pe Rigby Pegler Webster Donohue Sh Rigby Ball Ogden Pegler Sh Rigby Donohue Falconer Ball She Rigby Pegler Donohue Carney Gre Rigby Pegler Donohue Carney Gre Carney Pegler Webster Tserpes Gre Rigby

Gre

Pegler Gre Webster K-Bu Carney Gre

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16-17

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 hton ene1 helan een een een hton iams gler een een een1 eene eene eene

8 Pegler1 Pegler Sheen1 Pegler1 Ashton Ashton Sheen Sheen Sheen Davies Presho Pegler Sheen Cliff Rigby

9 10 11 Andy Gillespie1 C.Lomax G.Lomax1 Andy Gillespie1 G.Lomax1 C.Lomax Williams G.Lomax1 C.Lomax Andy Gillespie1 G.Lomax Williams C.Lomax G.Lomax1 Williams2 C.Lomax1 G.Lomax Williams1 G.Lomax1 C.Lomax Williams Andy Gillespie Pegler Rigby Andy Gillespie2 Greene Rigby Andy Gillespie Presho Williams1 Andy Gillespie2 Greene Williams Andy Gillespie S.Brady Presho Andy Gillespie2 McDonald2 Edwards Andy Gillespie McDonald1 Edwards Andy Gillespie1 McDonald Edwards1

eene

Tserpes

Andy Gllespie1

McDonald

Edwards1

Ball7

Andy Gillespie Andy Gillespie McDonald1

McDonald Edwards K-Butler2

Edwards Carney Edwards

Presho2 Cliff8 Cliff8

eene K-Butler1 utler1 Pegler ene1 Pegler

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12 Greene10 Williams10 Threlkeld11 Threlkeld10 Davidson Ball D.Brady6 Greene7 Ball Greene10 Al Gillespie Hoult10 D.Brady Tserpes8 Cliff8

14 Alex Gillespie6 C.Banasko Alex Gillespie Alex Gillespie Mavers9 Mavers Andy Gillespie11 C.Lomax Williams71 Rowe2 Bradley11 Alex Gillespie S.Brady Ball5 Ball2

15 16 17 Threlkeld3 D.Whelan Al Gillespie D.Whelan2 Threlkeld11 Tingay C.Banasko2 D.Whelan Tingay11 S.Brady Ball2 Hodge1 D.Brady S.Brady Al Gillespie Pegler7 Ball Dutton G.Lomax61 Ball4 Donohue Rowe5 Rawsthorne10 Hodge S.Brady11 Mavers S.Brady4 Novak Williams Jones Rawsthorne Ball Jones Falconer Al Gillespie Jones K-Butler11 A.Whelan Novak KorieAshton Donohue Cliff6 Butler10 7 3 Rigby Donohue Alex Gillespie Walsh Donohue Threlkeld11 An Gillespie9 Ball

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Hoghton Road ‘Two for a tanner’, ‘Five for a bob’ was the cry that greeted me as I first remember coming into the ground as a child in the fifties. The selling of raffle tickets was as necessary then as it is now, perhaps even more so in those austere times. The ground was completely walled in by old railway sleepers and was highlighted by a semi-circular type arch above the turnstiles proudly bearing the name ‘St Helens Town AFC’ and to finish off, a flagpole bearing a ‘blue-peter’ flag was procured by some ex-naval man, conveniently in Town’s colours. The late Roddice Winstanely used to charge 3d extra to go into the stand as LMS steam trains thundered past on the trans Pennine route. The more frequent locos being the Jubilee class, Napier, Seahorse, Resolution, Bihar and Orissa while Patriot class Sir Frederick Harrison and Southport were frequent visitors to the ‘Junction’. The smell of smoke, steam mixed with ‘winter-green’ which oozed from the dressing rooms was a concoction I’ll never forget as you walked down the track passing the wooden buildings on your right which housed the dressing rooms, office and refreshment canteen ran by Mrs Houghton and family.

At this time the site of the existing social club was merely the training pitch behind which lay a large grass mound which formed a mini ‘Kop’ behind the Hoghton Road end goal. In fact the entire pitch was surrounded by mounded bankings though not as high as the one behind the goals and there was also an entrance on the curve of Hoghton Road which supplemented the main ingress on busy days and brought spectators on adjacent to the near left corner flag. The first ‘Town hero’ I can recall was Harry McCann with Jack McGuirk taking on the mantle when Harry was prized away to Witton Albion. Later years saw the likes of Jackie Cooke, Jackie Critchley, Maurice Topping, Stan Ashcroft, Derek Maloney, Ray Fairweather, Dickie Barnes and a host of other including Joe and Bill Pennington. My own humble football career as I reached my mid-teens then limited my ‘support’ somewhat but I came when fixtures allowed to join my dad whose loyalty was steadfast. I was lucky to play in three finals on here, losing two and winning one and in the first one when I was just seventeen, we actually changed in the original old wooden dressing rooms shortly before they were knocked down, my ‘claim to fame’ whenever the ‘old days’ are discussed. These are just some personal recollections on the notable day which I hope will spark a few memories. There are many more which could fill a book. Now there’s a thought! Jim Barrett Published in Town’s match programme v Vauxhall Motors on Saturday 29th April 2000, their last fixture at Hoghton Road.

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Ste Rigby in action v Bacup Borough on Saturday 22nd October 2016

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

A Brief History 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 7th May 1949. Crowds averaged Tommy O’Neil over 2000 that season, peaking with a league record Wembley,1987 attendance of 3012 against Burscough in October 1948. 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 alltime 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 its ambitions, moved to the former St. Helens Recs. rugby league 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 in the last few years, Karl Ledsham, who had a productive career at conference level with Southport, Lincoln City, Barrow and Stockport County before moving to the USA. 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 proud record of being the only club to play in the NW Counties’ top flight every season until they were relegated in April

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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of St Helens Town

St Helens Town 1948 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. The 2015/16 season saw St. Helens Town in the First Division of the North West Counties League and despite some inconsistent mid-season form, they finished the season with an outside chance of making the promotion play-off places, only to fall short in the final match, losing at home to eventual champions Hanley Town in a game they needed to win thereby missing out for the first time on a place in this season’s FA Cup competition. Nevertheless, team captain Andy Gillespie landed the First Division Golden Boot Trophy with 29 league goals, 34 in all matches. At the start of the 2016/17 season, Town are looking to return to the borough and the new ground at Ruskin Drive will at last be ready in early October. In the meantime, early -season games will be played at Prescot Cables and with nearly all of last season’s squad staying on, boosted by new signings in key areas, they will be hoping to be among the front-runners for promotion in the club’s 70th year since their reformation, coincidentally, the 30 th year since their FA Vase success. The nomadic years since the loss of their Hoghton Road base in 2000 are now behind them, the return to their traditional blue and white colours herald a new beginning and the future once again looks bright.

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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 2015-16 NWCFL First 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 2015-16 Placed 8th NWCFL 2015-16 Awards Player 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

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Match Report St. Helens Town lost their second game in three days, going down by the odd goal in five at The Venue in Oswestry recently. FC Oswestry Town 3-2 St. Helens Town by Glyn Jones St. Helens Town lost their second game in three days, going down by the odd goal in five at The Venue in Oswestry on Tuesday night and a 3-2 defeat was scant reward for the effort they put into a game where they deserved at least a draw.

Making their first appearance at the ground which Oswestry share with their better-known neighbours The New Saints, Town started well and took an early lead on 8 minutes when Dale Korie-Butler, making his full debut, opened his scoring account for the club with a well-placed shot from 12 yards from the corner of the penalty box just inside the far post to beat former St. Helens goalkeeper Richard Cowderoy. The young midfielder might have had a second a short time later as he burst through a hole in the home defence with an Oswestry man holding on to his shoulders, but the referee failed to notice the infringement and the defender just did enough to spoil Korie-Butler’s chance. As the first half wore on, the home side took more of a controlling influence on the game and Town had to mount a rearguard action. There were several outstanding contributions to keep the Shropshire side at bay, notably from Paul Carney and Ant Whelan who cleared well off the line to keep the scoreline blank. However, Town’s luck ran out in the 32nd minute when a cross found the head of Andy Webster who tried to head clear, but inadvertently turned the ball just inside his left post to level the scores. Into the second half, Luke Edwards hit a powerful drive, which stung Cowderoy’s hands, but nobody was close enough to get to the spilled ball. At the other end, Oswestry had a goal chalked off for offside and they had a man booked. Korie-Butler hit another wonder shot from 35 yards out from near the touch-line which beat Cowderoy, but crashed against the crossbar, but soon afterwards, Town’s luck began to run out. On 73 minutes, Brendon Price scored against the run of play, then as the referee’s assistant appeared to suggest a St. Helens player had tripped an Oswestry opponent, who had quite clearly slipped, Ollie Jones scored from the resultant free-kick in the 78th minute to stretch Oswestry’s lead to 3-1. St. Helens took some heart when the same Oswestry player who had been booked earlier received a second yellow card and was given his marching orders for a horrible foul on Andy Presho, but this was only brief respite for the visitors as time was fast running out. However, Eddie Pegler, himself cautioned again earlier, hit a rasping shot which Cowderoy did well to tip round a post before Whelan rounded off an excellent defensive performance by hitting his first goal for the club, a piledriver from 30 yards with the last kick of the game to make the final score 2-3. The score was no reflection on the effort Town put into the game and they will look forward to Saturday’s game at Bacup as an opportunity to get back on the winning trail and begin to start a climb up the league table.

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Match Report v Town win comfortably at Eccleshall Eccleshall 3-5 St. Helens Town by Glyn Jones St. Helens Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s young squad put a turbulent week behind them following the resignation of joint manager Nick Matthews with a dominant performance at struggling Eccleshall in the Second Round of the Macron Cup, where they made progress to the last sixteen by virtue of a 5-3 win. In truth, it could well have been double figures for a Town side which had 38 shots at goal, 30 of which were on target, but for an outstanding shot-stopping performance by home keeper Stuart Robertson who was, by some distance, man of the match. With the other joint manager Alan Gillespie still away in America, coaching duties passed to Lee Jenkinson and captain Andy Gillespie, who dropped himself to the bench for the afternoon, in order to assess the attacking strength at his disposal, but it was soon obvious that there was a world of difference between the two sides, though Eccleshall tried as hard as they could to nullify Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attacking force. Luke Edwards went close in the sixth minute, but his shot went narrowly wide from 22 yards. However, Dale Korie-Butler put Town into the lead from a Danny Greene corner four minutes later and they never looked likely to be caught.

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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Eccleshall Paul Carney was next to test Robertson with a header, which brought about a fine fingertip save, then Stuart McDonald saw his shot just tipped over the home bar. On 16 minutes, McDonald’s rasping drive stung Robertson’s hands, but the ball stayed out of the home goal. 32 minutes had past when Korie-Butler connected with a great volley under pressure from a defender, but his shot just cleared the cross-bar, then Andy Webster was just wide with a header. Town grabbed a second goal in the 38th minute, again from a Greene corner, this time from the left side, captain for the day Ant Whelan nipping in between a crowd of Eccleshall defenders to head powerfully home on the far post to double the advantage and send Town in 2-0 up at the break. Just after the interval, Eccleshall unexpectedly scored against the run of play, Tom Wakefield netting on the break, but St. Helens immediately reinstated their two-goal lead when Korie-Butler added his second and Town’s third, netting at the right-hand post to take the score to 3-1. Ten minutes later, Danny Greene stretched the lead still further from similar range before the home side pulled back another through Jack Flanaghan to make it 4-2 with 23 minutes remaining. McDonald was rewarded for all his hard work when he scored Town’s final goal following an intelligent break to secure the win at 5-2 and Danny Greene was unfortunate to hit a post with a well -struck drive a few moments later. Gillespie appeared for the last ten minutes and looked likely to score on two occasions, but was thwarted by Robertson. With three minutes left, Danny Vickers scored another consolation goal for Eccleshall to give the final score a little more respectability from the home side’s point of view at 5-3 but, to be honest, they were never in the game as a contest.

Eccleshall 3-5 Town Macron Challenge Cup 2nd Round Saturday 29th October 2016

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The draw for the Third Round has rewarded Town with a home game against Premier Division Bootle which will take place at Prescot on Saturday, 26th November, kick-off at 3pm. In the meantime, Town’s next games are both at home, this Saturday to Daisy Hill, in the Reusch First Division Cup, kickoff at 3pm, and then a league game against Cheadle Town on Thursday, kick-off at 7.45pm.

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Photo Gallery

Eccleshall 3-5 Town Macron Challenge Cup Saturday 29th October 2016

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

Match Report v "This is How it’s Done!" By Kieran Ford Both manager and assistant score to aid Carlisle comeback as Town suffer déjà vu. St Helens Town got back on track on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory over basement boys AFC Blackpool, although this was expected on paper, the blues were made to work hard for their win. They faced another side below them in the table on Saturday, and another side that were not willing to go down without a fight.

A lot had changed for the away team since Town’s 4-3 defeat against them on the opening day. Only 5 of their squad had remained in the entourage for Saturday’s game, and their two substitutes were restricted to manager James Tose and assistant Jonathan Allen! However their tough battling spirit still remained, even if the optimism shown after that match had washed off a little in the period that has ensued. St Helens Town made a solitary change for the team that beat AFC Blackpool 4 days prior. This was in defence as Ant Whelan made his first appearance in over 2 months, filling in at centre back for the suspended Andy Presho. Tuesday’s star man Danny Green continued where he left off, as he made a series of powerful and skilful runs to test the Carlisle defence. One of these resulted in a pullback to Stuart McDonald, but after getting the ball out of his feet could only force a strong save from young Carlisle keeper Karl Skelton. Town continued to create chances as they started on top, a driving run from central midfielder Stavros Tserpes, who is on the books at Accrington Stanley, resulted in an effort wide of the post. This was before a strong header from the lively Luke Edwards failed to trouble Skelton in the Carlisle goal. Despite the dominance of the hosts, it was the away side who took the lead. A deep freekick that had plenty of height meant that the low lying sun was to claim an assist for this goal. The light

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Carlisle City producing source perhaps produced a little too much light as this impaired the vision of Town keeper Gage Walsh. He could only fumble the freekick which resulted in a Tyran Taylor header to break the deadlock. Although it appeared that Town were losing the midfield battle, they managed to find their way back into the game. A Danny Greene freekick was met with a powerful header from Andy Gillespie who notched his 11th goal of the campaign. Just before the break Town managed to deservedly take the lead. Another Greene freekick found Gillespie who’s header crashed against the crossbar, before Luke Edwards headed across to find Andy Webster, who scored his 2nd St Helens Town goal, 7 and a half years after his first!

HT: St Helens Town (Gillespie, 32) (Webster, 41) 2 – 1 Carlisle City (Taylor, 21) Town started the second half like they finished the first, and added to their lead 4 minutes after the restart as a through ball saw Stuart McDonald offside. However Luke Edwards ran from deep, fooling the Carlisle defence and finding himself through on goal. He calmed lobbed the onrushing goalkeeper, which seemed to put the game out of sight. At this point, the game was finely in the balance as St Helens tried to maintain their 2 goal lead. This cushion was halved just before the hour mark as a cross from the right was flicked on to find Carlisle captain Daniel Greenslade at the far post who put a powerful header past Gage Walsh.

After this point, the game was well balanced and entering the last 10 minutes it appeared that St Helens would hold on for victory, however this wasn’t the case. With 7 minutes on the clock, a cross found Carlisle substitute and manager James Tose who headed the away side level. Flashbacks to the opening day and panic in the St Helens Town team ensued, as Carlisle continued to surge forward. 1 minute from time, a long ball up field was resulted in a flick on which sent assistant manager through on goal. Not to be outdone by his boss, he lobbed the ball over Gage Walsh to send the men from Cumbria on their 114 mile trip home in jubilation. FT: St Helens Town (Gillespie, 32) (Webster, 41) (Edwards, 49) 3 – 4 Carlisle City (Taylor, 21) (Greenslade, 58) (Tose, 83) (Allen, 89)

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Photo Gallery

Town 3-4 Carlisle City Hallmark Security League 1st Division Saturday 15th October 2016

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Manager’s Notes Good afternoon and welcome to today's game against Daisy Hill FC in the Reusch First Division Cup 1st Round North. I’d like to welcome their players, staff and supporters and hope they enjoy their day here at Prescot. It's been a tough two weeks since Nick has left the club and I would like to thank Nick personally for all he has done for the club in his time. We have had 4 games since the last programme notes and we have had a mixed bag of results. A 4-3 defeat to Carlisle in which I believe was two points lost. Next was a 3-2 defeat to Oswestry in where the best team won, We then went to Bacup and should have come away with all three points but some poor decisions from the players and officials the result may and should have come our way.

Last week away at Eccleshall we probably played the best 45 minutes of football we have played since I've been at the club. We need to put that 45 minutes into a full 90 minutes. On behalf of myself and Andy I would like to thank everyone involved with the club for all the good luck wishes and messages of support during this time and would like to assure everyone that we will give our all until Alan returns. Enjoy the game. . . . Lee and Andy

Toast Café - Training kit sponsors Pictured left to right: Will Threlkeld, Andy Presho and Andy Gillespie

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League News 1874 Northwich manager Ian Street believes that good summer signings and better luck with injuries are the main reasons for his side's good start to the season. The Greens have been in the top four right from the start, and Ian is naturally happy with the way the campaign is going, and in particular with the impact the summer arrivals have made. "Pre-season. I pretty much got all the players I was looking to bring in", he said. "I knew a couple of lads were leaving, such as Matty Beadle, so I made a list of targets and got them all so I was pleased how that worked out. "A couple of those guys have been injured, the likes of Mark Jones didn't start the season, but he's getting back again now and I am quite happy with the squad at the moment. We were never really setting the pace in the last couple of seasons, although in the first season we were kind of finding our feet. Last season we suffered horrendously with injuries in September, and when we got it back together, we had dropped off the pace a bit. "But this time we are up with the pace, if not setting the pace, and I think one of the differences is the quality and the mentality of the new signings, and that was the reason for me having them as targets in the first place. I felt we needed some guys with a bit more mental toughness, and that is proving to be the case at the moment, so we have been fortunate with how that has worked out, but there is a long way to go". As we approach the midway point in the season, only a few points separate the top five in the Premier Division at the moment, and Ian's s expectation is for that state of affairs to continue. "I expect to go right to the wire, to be honest. Everyone seems to be dropping points and taking points off other teams. I hope that continues for everyone else except us! We've had 18 league games now, so give it a few weeks and we are halfway through the season. We would love to be at the top with maybe a six or eight point gap, but it isn't the case, and I suppose that is good for the league in general as it keeps more clubs involved". Although promotion is a major target, Ian is also keen to emphasise that the FA Vase is very much part of the plan for a successful season, and the Greens face Atherton Collieries in a Second Round tie a week on Saturday. He admits, though, that it wasn't a tie he would have chosen. "The Vase is massive for us. The League and the FA Vase are the two competitions we really want to do as well as we can in both, and I don't mean that disrespectfully to the other competitions, but we really want to stay in the Vase as long as possible. I'd love to do a Glossop, where we manage to stay in contention in both competitions for as long as possible, and we will be going all guns blazing for the Vase, just as much as we will for the league. "It's a tie I didn't want, not because it's Colls, but in the sense that I didn't want anyone from our league.

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League News Looking good all round for Colls A quick glance at the Premier Division goal stats suggests that it's looking good in all departments for Atherton Collieries right now. They have the third best goals scored ratio and the best goals conceded ratio in the division, and overall those are the best all round stats of any of the promotion chasers in the top five. Unbeaten in eight games, Colls are tucked in nicely behind league leaders Runcorn Town, and once again look a good bet for success this season. Cobbydalers break losing streak in style If there was one result on Saturday that threw the form book out of the window, it was Silsden's 8-2 win at New Mills in the Macron Cup. The Cobbydalers travelled to Church Lane to face their Premier Division opponent on the back of five straight defeats, and although they do have a bit of form in high scoring games away from home - as a 6-6 draw at Oswestry a few weeks back would confirm - it's fair to say that Saturday's result was not one that many would have seen coming. With two more cup ties coming up in the next week, manager James Gill will be looking for more of the same from his side. Abbey on song One team starting to run into a bit of form are Abbey Hey, who followed up their midweek 4-0 win over Cammell Laird 1907 with a 3-1 win in the Macron Cup at Ashton Town on Saturday. It's now five wins in six games for Luke Gibson's side, and although they have a tough looking fixture schedule in the next few weeks, manager Luke Gibson will be heartened that they go into it on a decent run of form. Yellow fighting spirit On these pages last week we gave a shout out to Ashton Athletic's goals coring prowess of late, and while that continued in midweek with a fine 4-0 win at Darwen, they showed qualities of a different kind at Runcorn Linnets on Saturday. Two goals down away from home with 15 minutes to go is no great position to be in, but the Yellows turned it around to end up winning 3-2, showing that fighting spirit and a never-say-die attitude is in their armoury along with goal scoring firepower. Chaddy away day goal power There's something about away trips that seem to galvanise Chadderton into goal scoring mode at the moment. Already this season they have scored five on the road at St Helens Town, and four in games at Stockport Town, Cheadle Town and Widnes, but they topped that on Saturday with a 6-3 win at Holker Old Boys in the Macron Cup. They may be in the bottom half of the First Division at the moment, but that sort of goal scoring form suggests that Chaddy will be a force to be reckoned with on any ground this season.

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League Tables First Division Table as at Wednesday 02/11/2016 First Division

W D

A GD Pts

Whitchurch Alport

19 14 1

48 21 27 43

Charnock Richard

18 13 2

50 25 25 41

City of Liverpool FC

19 12 2

50 26 24 38

Alsager Town

16 11 3

39 19 20 36

Sandbach United

17 11 1

38 22 16 34

Litherland REMYCA

16 10 3

45 29 16 33

Prestwich Heys

15 8

39 22 17 26

Widnes

15 8

37 30

Daisy Hill

16 7

31 35 -4 24

Stockport Town

15 7

43 38

FC Oswestry Town

16 6

31 30

Carlisle City

17 6

35 41 -6 21

Holker Old Boys

16 6

27 29 -2 20

Silsden

15 6

33 31

Bacup Borough

17 5

19 27 -8 19

Chadderton

15 5

31 36 -5 18

Cheadle Town

16 5

34 45 -11 18

St Helens Town

16 4

33 40 -7 17

Atherton LR

18 4

11 25 46 -21 15

AFC Blackpool

17 1

12 17 43 -26 7

Eccleshall

15 1

11 21 55 -34 6

Ashton Town

14 1

13 12 48 -36 3

St Helens Town Player Sponsors 2016-17 Anthony Whelan Focus Windows & Doors Limited Luke Edwards Airborne Bathroom Services Andy Gillespie Arcoframe Danny Greene Danny’s Window Cleaning Jake Ball Kiera’s Occasions Andrew Presho Total Building Care Eddie Pegler Gibney’s Jewellers Lee Novak Howdens, Leigh

Phil Williams Kreative Kirsty Ste Rigby Kealshore Ltd Hamish Falconer Live Wire Electrical Alex Gillespie Walton Carpets Dom Whelan Walton Carpets Will Threlkeld Beer Engin, Whiston Stu McDonald MLR Heating Supplies Andy Webster Johnsons Toyota Liverpool We are still looking for a number of additional Player sponsors. Contact John McKiernan on 07713 339 682 for further details

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Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

League Tables Premier Division Table as at Wednesday 02/11/2016 W D

Premier Division Runcorn Town

18 14 0

47 23 24 42

Atherton Collieries

19 12 4

50 22 28 40

Runcorn Linnets

18 11 4

42 17 25 37

Bootle

18 12 1

49 28 21 37

1874 Northwich

18 11 4

West Did & Chorlton 18 9

A GD Pts

36 20 16 37

48 36 12 29

Hanley Town

19 8

41 29 12 28

AFC Liverpool

17 8

36 30

Abbey Hey

19 9

36 34

Irlam

18 7

26 31 -5 28

Padiham

17 8

32 29

Ashton Athletic

17 7

40 35

Maine Road

16 6

37 28

Congleton Town

17 6

40 43 -3 22

Winsford United

14 6

22 26 -4 21

Squires Gate

18 6

37 44 -7 21

Barnoldswick Town

16 6

31 29

AFC Darwen

19 3

10 19 50 -31 15

New Mills

17 3

Barnton

19 4

14 22 61 -39 13

Nelson

17 2

11 19 37 -18 10

Cammell Laird 1907

19 0

14 16 63 -47 5

30 41 -11 14

Saturday 5th November 2016 The Reusch First Division Cup 2nd Round North Carlisle City v Atherton LR Charnock Richard v Chadderton The Reusch First Division Cup 2nd Round South City of Liverpool FC v Cheadle Town Sandbach United v Stockport Town Whitchurch Alport v Alsager Town Widnes v Prestwich Heys The Reusch First Division Cup 2nd Round North Holker Old Boys v Silsden St Helens Town v Daisy Hill

Premier Division AFC Darwen v New Mills Barnton v AFC Liverpool Cammell Laird 1907 v Barnoldswick Town Hanley Town v Bootle Irlam v 1874 Northwich Maine Road v Congleton Town Padiham v Winsford United Runcorn Linnets v Nelson Squires Gate v Runcorn Town West Didsbury & Chorlton v Ashton Athletic First Division Eccleshall v AFC Blackpool FC Oswestry Town v Ashton Town Litherland REMYCA v Bacup Borough Monday 7th November 2016 Premier Division Barnton v Winsford United Lancashire Challenge Trophy 2nd Round Daisy Hill v Holker Old Boys Tuesday 8th November 2016 First Division City of Liverpool FC v Ashton Town Lancashire Challenge Trophy 2nd Round AFC Blackpool v Clitheroe AFC Fylde v AFC Darwen Ashton Athletic v Charnock Richard Nelson v Atherton LR Squires Gate v Chorley West Didsbury & Chorlton v Padiham

Celebrating 70 years, 1946-2016

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