Nelson v Darwen 2013-14 by John McKiernan

THE ADMIRAL Official Matchday Programme

£1

NELSON FC Vs AFC Darwen NWCFL Division 1

Sat 11h January 2014

Today’s Match Sponsors….

WELCOME TO LITTLE WEMBLEY—HOME OF ‘THE HISTORY BOYS’

WELCOME Little Wembley, Nelson, BB9 7BN

Victoria

Park,

Lomeshaye,

Web: Twitter:

www.nelsonfc.com @nelsonfc1

Manager: Assistant: 1st Team Coach’s: Dev Squad Manager: Dev Squad Assistant: Head of Youth: Goalkeepering Coach: Physio: Sports Therapist: Scouting:

Mark Fell Tim Breaker Andy Hill Kal Hafeji Darrell Slater Smith Michael Worthington Danny Finch Kevin Jelley Ryan Tweed Emily Giles Graeme Holden

Chairman: Club Secretary: Groundsman: Media Officer: Photographer:

Fayyaz Ahmed Abdul Rauf Khan Trevor Stanworth Vacant Mark Wilkinson

Honours Football League Third Division

1922–23

Lancashire League

1895–96

Lancashire Combination

1949–50, 1951–52

NWCFL Division Two Trophy 1996–97 LFA Challenge Trophy

1907–08, 1954–55

Lancashire Combination Cup

1949–50, 1950–51, 1959–60

Bridge Shield

1975–76, 1981–82

George Watson Trophy

1978–79

Green Bank Shield

1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92

Jim Towler Trophy

1990–91

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Victoria Park for the East Lancs derby against AFC Darwen. Last season Darwen were the pace setters, they did the double over us, coming from behind on both occasions. But our neighbours missed out on promotion as their challenge faded at the death. This term they’ve been unable to recapture that form in a league that has got significantly more competitive. They have had a great LFA Challenge Cup run and we wish them all the very best when they play Chorley in the Semi-Finals. December was a mixed month for the Admirals, a heavy league defeat to Formby and a cup exit at AFC Fylde, they followed those disappointments up with back to back away wins to keep the Blues top of the tree. Today’s edition has a focus on the ‘run-in’ for the top 5, the league is very difficult to predict! As always hot and cold food is available from the bar along with a selection of alcoholic and soft drinks. Can I take this opportunity to remind people that alcohol can only be consumed in the bar.

The Admiral—Editor.

Keep up to date with all things Nelson FC by visiting the official website

www.nelsonfc.com Contact the club on info@nelsonfc.co.uk Main Club Sponsor

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Match Sponsor

The Gaffer... Mark Fell Good Afternoon….. Welcome to the East Lancashire Derby part 1. Kenny Langford and his Darwen side are very welcome to Victoria Park and may I take the opportunity to congratulate Kenny on his December manager of the month award. Darwen will be a tough challenge today, they’ve affectively nothing to play for in the league so can go about their business without any pressure, we know how they play and will have to match the physical and psychological aspects of their game to allow our quality to shine through. Our 13 cup finals are now 12, and we are ticking them off one by one. No game will be easy, we know that, especially a difficult trip to Ashton Town next week, and then the visit of Atherton Colls who are in the promotion mix with us. This league has a habit of kicking you if your not at the races and we nearly learned that last week against Daisy Hill, yes our performance wasn't to the standards we expect, and we conceded some awful goals—but the fact is we won, not pretty, but we won and its results like that that will win you a league. As always I appreciate some supporters making the trip to Bolton last weekend, and hope we swell the numbers today. It was our first game without Ritchie Allen who made the return back to AFC Fylde, I’d like to go on record thanking Ritchie for his hard work over the last few months, he departs on excellent terms and there is no reason why we would not see him play again for the club in future. I’ve no immediate plans to replace Ritchie, we’ve a very good squad of attacking players here so it creates and opportunity for one of those.

Having said that if the right players comes along, who makes us better, then we are always interested. On the player front the news on Matty O’Neill’s ankle was worst than first thought, he wont feature today and is unlikely to be back this month. Nat Taylor is seeing the specialist on Thursday next week and we are hoping he can return to training after that. We added several staff to our team in the past week or so. Darrell Slater Smith arrived as Development Squad Head Coach following the departure of Sam Heap. He will be assisted by Michael Worthington, both will be here today so feel free to say hello, these guys are excellent coaches and I’m sure they will help our younger players development up to the standard of the NWCFL and beyond. I’ve added Kevin Jelly to our management team as goalkeeping coach, we’ve been without one since Andy Rohman left and I do feel it important that Ben and Michael have that specialist training and monitoring. I urge you all to get behind the lads today, we all have to accept we will always have areas for improvement, but I can guarantee our work is tireless in pursuit of success for this club, its been 59 years since Nelson Football Club won a league title, and 17 years since we won anything! Lets appreciate our position and support the lads rather than picking holes in performances on internet forums. It will undoubtedly be a difficult game and a full blooded derby, make sure your support is heard for the boys in blue.

Enjoy the game

Mark

NFirst Division GD Pts

Nelson

Han ley Tow n

187 4 Nort hwic h

Ath erto n Collieri es

+10

In Town Today AFC Darwen THE FORMATION OF AFC DARWEN At the end of the 2008/2009 season Darwen Football Club ceased to exist after the club was wound up due to bad debts. One of the previous owners had systematically destroyed the club financially but, also discredited its reputation within the town which resulted in lower attendances and a reduction in the number of volunteers that gave up their valuable time to help keep the club running. With debts in excess of £60.000 it was inevitable that the club could not survive; fortunately the team managed to fulfil all of their fixtures in the 2008/09 season before the club was wound up. It was decided that Darwen still had the desire to field a town team, and although various people had left the club; meetings began to take place to discuss the future of Darwen Football Club. Derek Slater, former club secretary and reserve team manager of Darwen FC, had already set the ball rolling by forming AFC Darwen, a not for profit organisation. The lease was then secured back from the local council and AFC Darwen rose from the ashes. THE WEST LANCASHIRE FOOTBALL LEAGUE The F.A. instructed that AFC Darwen would start life at step 6 in the football pyramid, so their inaugural season began in the West Lancashire Football League. The aim of the club was to gain its place back in the North West Counties League, and go on to compete at a higher level. The club now had a good solid foundation, with 13 youth teams representing the club; which out of those 10 played on a Sunday in the East Lancashire Alliance and 3 teams competed on a Saturday in the Accrington and District Football League. With the age range from 7 to 15 year olds and with new teams to follow the infrastructure of the club was in a sound position to move forward. The club is now in the hands of people that live and breathe football, but more importantly understand what it takes to run a club at this level. AFC Darwen’s first ever competitive game took place at the Anchor ground on Saturday 11th July 2009 in a pre-season friendly against AFC Liverpool from the North West Counties League. With Darwen winning 3-0 things looked bright for the future. With high expectations of a good season AFC Darwen soon realised that life in the West Lancashire football league wasn’t going to be easy. Results over the first few games were inconsistent up until October 2009, after which the team went on a disastrous run of 8 straight defeats. With the realisation that the team was not progressing as expected, it was decided that a change in the management team was required. The difficult decision to replace Dennis Hill was made and Kenny Langford took over the reins as the first team manager. Results immediately picked up and although the title was out of reach, at least the team could push on and try and finish in a respectable position. AFC Darwen finished 8 th, with a record of 13 wins, 3 draws and 14 defeats, goals scored 42, conceded 54.

In In Town Town Today Today THE NORTH WEST COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE. At the end of the 2009/10 season AFC Darwen gained re-election back into the North West Counties Football League after achieving the required ground grading standards to compete at that level. The main aim of the club back in the NWCFL was to steady the ship and cement their place in the league. AFC Darwen finished 13th,, with a record of 9 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats, goals scored 37, conceded. 62. A respectable position for their first season. During the close season before the start of the 2012/13 campaign the structure of the club changed. Due to personal reasons and business commitments Derek Slater decided that he could no longer run both the senior and junior sides.. It was decided that Kenny Langford would become the sole director of AFC Darwen The structural change resulted in Kenny taking over the day to day running of the club, and the responsibility for the first and reserve teams. This allowed Derek the time to focus on the development of the junior teams within the club.

Last Time the Teams Met AFC Darwen 3 - 2 Nelson FC NWCFL Division 1 - Easter Monday 2012/13 Season Nelson twice relinquished a lead to suffer defeat in the East Lancs derby. Tom Anderton had put the Admirals in front on 10 minutes before Bobby Langford equalised 5 minutes before the break. Nelson were back in front on 68 minutes when debutant Andy Eaton headed in an Anderton free kick. But a Ryan Steele brace on 78 and 83 minutes meant Darwen took all the points.

League Round-Up Nelson bounced back from their Formby disaster with back to back away wins that took them 4 points clear at the top of the table. The five way scrap at the top should become clearer by the end of the February when some of the heads to head have been played. The real movers in the league are Rochdale who have jumped from 16th to 9th with an impressive run of form led by former Nelson youth striker Callum Smith. Team

Pts

NELSON

1874 Northwich

Atherton Collieries

Nelson

Form Guide Last 6 league games

WWLWWW

Formby

Scored 25 conceded 12

Hanley Town

Darwen

Atherton LR

-3

Scored 11 conceded 7

Widness Vikings`

-1

Irlam

-7

Rochdale Town

Chadderton

-8

Cheadle Town

-2

Ashton Town

-4

Holker Old Boys

AFC Darwen

-5

Oldham Boro

-21

Leek CSOB

-4

Daisy Hill

-42

Eccleshall

-21

Northwich Flixton Villa

-43

DWWWLW

Quick Stat! AFC Darwen have come from behind to win 3 of the 4 last meetings between todays teams.

League Round-Up

Atherton LR

Formby

Irlam

Leek CSOB

Nelson

Northwich FV

In other non-league newsâ&#x20AC;Ś The local sides have all been busy of late. Whilst Nelson Widnes Vikings were winning 4-3 at Daisy Hill, Colne were beating Alsager by Eccleshall the same score-line in a game that saw Colne keeper Chris Holker Old Boys Thompson save two penalties. The win keeps them 8th in the Chadderton Premier League with Barnoldswick 14th and Bacup AFC Darwen 19th just a point above the drop zone. Daisy Hill

Oldham Boro

Atherton Colls

Rochdale Town

Ashton Town

NWCFL Division 1 Fixtures 11/01/2014

Padiham continued to find life difficult in the Evo-Stick league, a home defeat against Salford left them 17th in the table.

League Top Scorers

There have been two applications to join the NWCFL P Wright Nelson 20 next season, Cheshire League M Russell Chadderton 20 side Barnton have applied along with Liverpool County T Stair Hanley Town 20 Premier League team P Atherton Atherton Colls 17 Litherland FC, with two up and two down from the Premier League it could result in a 21 team Division 1 next season. M Brandon

1874 Northwich

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Match Sponsors

Ritchie Allen Striker Returns Home

Nelson’s joint top scorer Ritchie Allen has made a return back to his spiritual home of AFC Fylde. The former Fleetwood forward played 20 games for the Blues this season, scoring a goal a game and turning out some outstanding performances to woo the Victoria Park faithful. Allen burst onto the Nelson scene in his debut at 1874 Northwich, providing the cross for the winning goal scored by fellow debutant Peter Wright. Allen and Wright became the NWCFL’s hottest partnership, putting on 40 goals in 20 games together. Ritchie’s return to Fylde came last week when he turned a Man of the Match performance to help the Coaster’s beat Worksop and stop a run of 5 straight defeats. Ritchie’s twitter feed saluted the Blues last week

Ritchie’s Top 3 Nelson Moments Ritchie Vs Chadderton Allen simply destroyed Chadderton when the Admirals visited in September, scoring 2 and setting up 4 in a 7-1 away win. His second goal started with him having the ball in his own half, beating three men before smashing home an unstoppable strike. Thumping strike at Holker After a tense and tight first half, the former Fleetwood pro drifted in from the left with the ball after Nelson broke from a corner, after playing a neat one-two with Ed O’Neill he wrapped his left foot round the ball sending it spiralling into the top corner. ‘That’ winner against Colne! Picture the scene, a Lancashire derby, LFA Cup, dying moments of injury time. The game about to go to penalty kicks with the score at 3-3. A Nelson shot is parried by the Colne keeper and Allen is quickest to react, slamming the ball home to win the tie, sparking wild celebrations as he runs down the line to the dug-out, embracing the management team to conclude a magnificent derby day win for the blues.

Wright Delivers on Time Daisy Hill 3 - 4 Nelson FC Nelson striker Peter Wright scored a 91st minute winner to seal all three points for the Admirals, just hours after assisting in the birth of his daughter! The Blues, sitting top of the table had the chance to go 4 points clear with neither 1874 Northwich nor Atherton Colls playing, and Mark Fell welcomed Robert Grimes and Sakeel Abdullah into the side at the expense of the suspended Ian Kilford and Jonny Hession. On a heavy pitch the usually fast starting Admirals looked slightly sluggish and they were punished through a set play on 4 minutes, Daisy Hill centre back Craig Flowers evading George Melling to head in at the near post. The goal clearly shook the Admirals who struggled to gather any momentum during the first 10 minutes. Indeed Nelson were made to wait until 25 minutes in to get level, a corner from Hodgkiss from the right converted by an unmarked Danny Finch for his 6th of the season. The goal made the difference as Nelson were transformed and suddenly kicked into gear. Five minutes later Grimes marked his return from the Christmas break with a trademark pulsating run after good work from Sakeel Abdullah and Peter Wright, Grimes made no mistake with a right footed drive past Wolfe from 8 yards. The second period started as the first had ended, with the Admirals dominating. The travelling Admirals support would have wondered if they would be made to pay for their missed opportunities. True to form the did, 70 minutes on the clock when Daniel Gregory burst into the box, glided past Finch and cut the ball back beyond an onrushing Ben Woodhead for Tom Allcroft to convert into an empty net. The drama wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t over yet, in a frantic last 15 minutes the game saw three more goals, the Daisies were level for less than a minute before Lydon Hodgkiss hit a stunning free kick that dipped over Wolfe to restore the Blues advantage. If not for Wolfe the game would have been effectively over a few minutes later, substitute Jonny Hession combining with Wright to tee up Hoskin whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s low shot was wonderfully saved to keep the hosts in the game. But there was more to come and the home side thought they had nicked a point on 85 minutes, Daniel Gregory getting the better of the Nelson back line before slotting past Ben Woodhead much to the Admirals frustration who were seeing a crucial two points dropped. But the stage was set for Wright to steal it, Hession, who had made a great impact as a substitute winning the ball back from a Nelson corner and sweeping a cross into the Nelson striker who reacted to his own acrobatic effort that was saved by John Wolfe to pounce on the rebound and give the Admirals a vital away win, the thumb sucking celebration a tribute to his daughter who wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even 12 hours old. A big three points for the Blues against a much improved Daisy Hill side and attention can now turn to a massive East Lancashire derby at Victoria Park next Saturday as Nelson host Darwen. Full Report at www.nelsonfc.com

Proud sponsors of Nelson FC

FIXTURES & RESULTS SEASON 2013/14 Date

Opponent

Result

Attendance

03/08/13

Leek CSOB

W 4-0

07/08/13

HOLKER OB

W 3-2

103

10/08/13

CHADDERTON

D 2-2

113

12/08/13

Atherton Collieries

L 1-2

121

17/08/13

1874 Northwich

W 3-1

394

24/08/13

CHEADLE TOWN

W 2-1

28/08/13

Formby

W 3-1

31/08/13

IRLAM

L 2-5

07/09/13

Hanley Town

L 0-3

184

11/09/13

ROCHALE TOWN

W 6-1

14/09/13

OLDHAM BORO

W 8-4

21/09/13

Consett (FAV Q2)

W 4-3

24/09/13

Chadderton

W 7-1

28/09/13

ATHERTON LR

W 5-1

05/10/13

Formby (LC)

L 0–4

12/10/13 Sat

NORTHWICH FV

D2-2

16/10/13 Wed

COLNE (LCT)

W 4-3

19/10/13 Sat

Jarrow Roofing (FAV R1)

L 0-2

22/10/13 Tue

Atherton LR

W 3-2

26/10/13 Sat

HANLEY TOWN

L 3-4

02/11/13 Sat

Daisy Hill (FDT R1)

W 3-0

09/11/13 Sat

Irlam

W 2-0

16/11/13 Sat

ASHTON TOWN

W 5-1

19/11/13 Tue

Lancaster City (LFA R2)

W 3-1

23/11/13 Sat

IRLAM (FDT R2)

W 6-1

30/11/13 Sat

Cheadle Town

W 3-2

Date

Opponent

Result

Attendance

07/12/13 Sat

1874 NORTHWICH

W 3-1

176

10/12/13 Tue

AFC Fylde (LFA QF)

L 2-3

113

14/12/13 Sat

DAISY HILL

W 8-0

21/12/13

FORMBY

L 0-4

26/12/13

Holker Old Boys

W 2-1

101

04/01/13

Daisy Hill

W 4-3

11/01/14

AFC DARWEN

18/01/14

Ashton Town

25/01/14

ATHERTON COLLIERIES

01/02/14

HOLKER OB (FDT QF)

08/02/14

Widnes Vikings

15/02/14

Oldham Boro

22/02/14

ECCLESHALL

01/03/14

WIDNES VIKINGS

08/03/14

Eccleshall

29/03/14

LEEK CSOB

12/04/14

Northwich FV

21/04/14

AFC Darwen

26/04/14

Rochdale Town

Home fixtures in BOLD. Key:

LC—League Challenge Cup, FAV– FA Vase, LCT—LFA Challenge Trophy, FDT—1st Division Trophy

Player Spotlight George Melling Name

George Melling

Age

Position

Central Defender

Former Clubs

Altringham, Kendal, Northwich Victoria

Nelson Appearances

Nelson Goals

Club Supported

Manchester United

Favourite player

Peter Wright

Most Memorable Football Movement

Being promoted to the conference with Altringham

Best Goal

For Alty against Morecambe that same season

Football superstitions

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any

Who do you travel to games with?

Peter Wright, Lydon Hodgkiss and Ian Kilford

Pre match meal:

Beans on toast

George is available for player sponsorship, contact info@nelsonfc.com or speak to a member of staff today!

Nelson Merchandise The Nelson club shop has the following items back in stock... 2013/14 Season home shirt (Sizes Kids to Adults XL)£24.99 Nelson's traditional Blue shirt, as worn by the players this season. Made by Spanish sportswear giant Joma.

2013/14 Season away shirt (Sizes Kids to Adults XL)£24.99 New for this season, the orange away shirt as worn by the players. Made by Spanish sportswear giant Joma.

Nelson FC Winter Hat £5.99 Made by Joma, the warm at is available in black, with the Joma logo on the front and the Nelson crest on the back. Nelson FC scarves are expected early in the new year.

All items are available from the bar on Match-days, or can be ordered via email to info@nelsonfc.com

Slips, Trips & Fall Occupiers Liability Claims Industrial Deafness Claims Accidents at Work Road Traffic Accidents Industrial Diseases

Talk to a solicitor:

0800 193 88 88

The Run In... 5 teams are in it, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the lowdown on fixtures each team has left to play, with the head to heads highlighted. Nelson

1874

Ath Colls

Formby

Hanley

Current 1st

Current 2nd

Current 3rd

Current 4th

Current 5th

Ashton T (a)

N Flix Vil (h)

Darwen (h)

Rochdale (h)

Chadderton (a)

Ath Colls (h)

Eccleshall (h)

Leek (h)

Chadderton (a)

Rochdale (a)

Widnes (a)

Darwen (a)

Nelson (a)

Eccleshall (a)

Ashton (a)

Oldham B (a)

Leek (h)

Rochdale (a)

Hanley (h)

Formby (a)

Eccleshall (h)

Holker (h)

Cheadle (h)

Chadderton (h)

Oldham (h)

Eccleshall (a)

Ath Colls (a)

Hanley (a)

Cheadle (h)

Ath Colls (h)

Widnes (h)

Daisy Hill (h)

1874 (h)

Ath Colls (a)

Widnes (a)

N Flix Vil (a)

Ath Colls (h)

Formby (h)

Rochdale (a)

Ath LR (h)

Darwen (a)

Ath LR (h)

1874 (a)

Darwen (h)

Daisy Hill (h)

Rochdale (a)

Formby (a)

Widnes (h)

Leek (a)

Oldham (a)

Leek (h)

Widnes (h)

Ath LR (h)

1874 (h)

Darwen (h)

Hanley (a)

Formby (a)

Holker (a)

Eccleshall (a)

Cheadle (a)

Ath Colls (h)

Holker (h)

N Flix Vil (h)

1874 (h)

Leek (h)

There will be other key players in the mix as well, Widnes have to play every top 5 team other than Formby so will definitely have a say in the title. Holker and Rochdale also look more than capable of taking several points as they are involved in 8 games with the top 5.

Blues Brainteasers

Take our weekly quiz from around the football world 1) In What year did Man Utd last lose 3 games in a row 2) Who is the top scoring midfielder in the Prem so far this season 3) Which championship club play at a ground named after a credit card 4) Who is the only team to be presented the FA Cup by the King of England 5) Which Nelson player represented Preston NE, Accrington Stanley and Macclesfield Town at YTS level? Nelson Anagrams: Three Nelson personnel are scrambled into the words below, can you get them right?

SIK SON DOD GHYL DA MAN HA DEN DAN YET REW

Answers are in the bar on the Admirals Noticeboard

Development Squad & Youth News

Youth Team 6 - 0 Lammack u18 - Sunday 5th January 2014 The match was played at Accrington & Rossendale College due to poor weather conditions preventing the use of Victoria Park. However it was the Blues who took the lead on 20 minutes following some neat passing that provided space in behind the Lammack defence and allowed Daniel Moss to use his pace to attack the box, finishing the move with a tidy strike across the keeper. Moss turned provider to make it 2-0 on 27 minutes through some good work down the right wing before providing a cross to the back post which was headed towards goal before taking a deflection and going down as an own goal. The second goal made the difference and allowed the young Admirals to have more of possession and take control of the match. A perfectly weighted through ball from Leech released Deedat behind the Lammack defence. His first touch took him into the box before slotting past the keeper on 34 minutes to make it 30. The blues hadn't finished there and made it 4-0 before the break of half time through a well struck shot from the edge of the box by Robinson. The second half started as the first half ended with the young admirals dominating possession. Despite having a lot of the ball, chances on goal were limited and it wasn't until 70 minutes when the fifth goal was scored. Deedat attacked the by line on the right wing before turning and setting the ball to Kane on the corner of the box. Kane didn't hesitate but to strike the ball across the keepers left hand side & into the top corner of the net. There was more to come and on 85 minutes it was 6-0. The captain for the day Clarkson controlled the ball in the centre of defence before continuing his run through midfield playing a one two pass with Gallagher and shooting from distance which the keeper spilled into the goal. A big three points for the Young Admirals which moves them up to second in the league and only three points behind the leaders Padiham FC but with the Blues also having two games in hand. Attention now turns to next weeks fixture away at Whalley Juniors FC who currently lie in third.

Spot the Ball

Answer is revealed on the Admirals Noticeboard in the bar

The History Boys Seedhill Stadium This week we look at Nelson’s previous home during the Football League era. The Seedhill Football Ground was home from 1905 until 1968. Nelson originally played its home matches on a pitch behind the Golden Ball pub moving to the Park Ground by the 1890s. They moved to Seedhill around 1905 where the club had a small wooden stand and a small covered enclosure behind one goal, with grass banking around the rest of the ground. In 1922 a large 2,000 capacity wooden ’Carr Road’ stand was built with concrete terracing on the lower half and a wooden covered upper area with bench seating. There was another single storey stand with just earth and cinder flooring behind the goals at the park end, which was called the scratting shed, and the team changing rooms were behind the town end goals. Two spectator banking's were situated on each corner - the one nearest Carr Road had a wooden building at the top which was called the 'Alpine Bar'. The club's highest attendance at the stadium was 14,143 for a Third Division North match at home Bradford Park Avenue on 10 April 1926. Nelson played their final home game at Seedhill on Sunday 28 March 1971 when a crowd of over a thousand gathered to witness the first Sunday fixture at the stadium, they were duly rewarded with an eight goal thriller as Clitheroe were beaten 5–3. Seedhill, having hosted the Nelson Admirals speedway team between 1967 and 1969, latterly became a well known stock car venue before its eventual demolition around 1980 when the M65 motorway cut through the area, ironically the stadium itself would not have been

The History Boys Seedhill Stadium affected by the route and could have been saved. The site of Seedhill remains clearly visible today and in 2009 there was discussions about a potential return to the site. Nelson later moved to Victoria Park and the original ground site, situated near to the Seedhill Cricket Ground, currently the home of Lancashire League cricket team Nelson Cricket Club, and the perimeter red brick wall is still visible on the Cricket Ground and Victoria Park sides. The stadium was also used for Speedway and Stock car Racing from 1966, and was promoted by Mike Parker Promotions. The speedway team Nelson Admirals eventually moved to Bradford in 1970, though the stock cars remained until the demolition. Nelson are currently examining options to develop Victoria Park as they hope to climb the non-league pyramid, and who knows, at some point, the opportunity may arise for a return to the clubs spiritual home.

Player Sponsorship Mark Fell Tim Breaker