Tuesday 29 January 2013

08 January 2013 - Stocksbridge Park Steels v Blyth Spartans


Competition : Doodson Sport Cup - Round 3
Result : Stocksbridge Park Steels 3 v Blyth Spartans 5 (after extra time)
Attendance : 32

The Main Stand
Blues & Yellows

Bracken Moor - Under The Floodlights

Katie Perkins
Katie sets out the SPS "club shop" table in the warmth at a bitterly cold Bracken Moor.

Women Of The Steels .... 

Angela and Jenny.

The Food Bar at Steels, on this particular evening match, when SPS played in front of their lowest crowd of the season, only 32, was kept busy by the girls preparing and making the after match food for both clubs and officials.  Both working at the club at night after a full days work, club's like Stocksbridge Park Steels and many others in the world of non league football, are indebted to the service these ladies provide. We at No Clash Of Colours will be proposing a "Women In Non League Football Day of Celebration" in the 2013/2014 season.

SPS goalkeeper, Adam Billard punches through a crowd of players as a Blyth Spartans corner comes to nothing.

Match Action

Richard Haigh and Chris Bettney (Stocksbridge Park Steels) give chase to a Blyth Spartans attack.

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The players entrance at Bracken Moor.




Half Time Discussion 
In the Main Stand at Bracken Moor


The Main Stand
Bracken Moor


Ballboy At The Cricket Pitch Gate



Goal Post Architecture
Every goalpost at every ground has it's own unique character.  We're fascinated by the design of each one we see, from the netting used to the framework structure.  The character of the goalposts change with the light, look at any at a daytime match and then go back and look the next time you're at a night game.  


Away Team Dugout - Bracken Moor

Bracken Moor - Stocksbridge Park Steels

The following photographs capture the atmosphere and essence of Bracken Moor on a bitterly cold January evening. A sparse crowd are entertained to an eight goal thriller, which Blyth Spartans eventually run out 5-3 winners after extra time.







Extra Time : The Match Cameraman

Father & Son
Season ticket holders at Stocksbridge Park Steels.

Full Time At Bracken Moor

*****

Links

Match Report


All Photography : ©fotografica137

Click On Any Photograph To Open A Slideshow

Saturday 26 January 2013

Know Your Place And Be Proud!

The following article is written by Dave, Castlecroft Ranger's Chairman.  "It's written from the heart, a little insight into my head. It may not be everyone's cup of tea" says Dave.  Whether it is or isn't, that's for you to decide. To leave comments and thoughts, you can email us at our primary contact address (see side-panel) or drop a few words into the comments box, below the article.

Know Your Place And Be Proud!

Its a dog eat dog world out there and to survive you need to know your place. Take nature for example, the sparrow knows he’s one up on the pesky earth worm but has always got one eye looking back, just in case a hawk should appear. And, that’s the way the world has worked since the "Big Bang" (or creation if that’s your thing) and will continue to work until us humans finally manage to destroy this once beautiful Planet Earth.

So what’s this crazy Bill Oddie inspired ramble got to do with football? 

Well of course...nothing...on the face of it. Football does have its hierarchy though, the big boys at the top, the little guys in the middle and us the amateur game at the very bottom. Seldom, if ever, does a team rise from the ranks of amateur football any higher that the lower echelons of the EvoStik, of the top of my head I can think of very few beyond Causeway United and AFC Wulfrunians in our local area.

A very good friend and esteemed groundhopper Graham Yapp once described our level of football as "Level 42" and he is exactly right. No way up and no way down! We don’t have crowds really, we have friends, family and the occasional passer-by. Your season ticket holder at the Molineux or the Hawthorns doesn’t really understand us but respects our commitment and passion for the beautiful game.

If you don’t renew your season ticket with the big boys they simply replace you with another body willing to pay the astronomical yearly tariff. Down here at "Level 42" if you stop paying your subs, stop your fundraising efforts and lose interest the club ceases to exist. You are not simply part of the club you are the club, now this is good but also very very BAD.

Any organisation where its employees are also its clients is bound to fail in the long term : what, when we are all too old, too married, too caught up in taking the kids to...? We must look to a sustainable future. There is a model in American Sports although it is not an exact fit. I strongly believe that the future of clubs like ours relies on developing a feeder culture as seen in North American Ice Hockey.

A number of clubs run junior football only. The clubs finish at 18 or 21 and players are simply released many leaving the game altogether. Teams like us without youth set ups should look to teams like this as they have done much of the hard work for us and bring the talent through into the adult game. Likewise as the talent develops and matures we have a duty to give these guys a shot at football at a higher level and so should feed players into the semi-professional ranks and provide game time for those at that level currently not making it onto the park. The seasoned veteran still wanting a game can also find a home with us too and at the same time provide ‘money-couldn’t-buy’ experience for younger players.

We must act soon though, for there is a bigger demon waiting for us all, like the asteroid that did for the dinosaurs. Short sided football on plastic pitches on a weekday night soaks up talent. As it becomes more organised and teams have proper names and kits etc, more will be sucked into this new form of the game.. Players are spared the headache of being away from home over the weekend or can go to the pub with their mates and watch Soccer Saturday and before you know it Amateur Football is no more.

But we are not going to let that happen are we.

#grassrootsfootball #twitterfc

Friday 25 January 2013

My Hero - My Inspiration : Darren Norton


Our latest feature is written by Darren Norton. Father of three, a regular down at Grange Lane (North Ferriby United) and a Bridlington Town programme contributor. Married to Adele, in his spare time, Darren has worked for the Royal Mail for over twenty years. 

These are Darren's words ...

.........

BOOTHFERRY PARK
My first thought was that this would be a pretty daunting task, especially on the hero front. As I fast approach forty , I’ve watched football from every level , professional to pub league. Over that time I must have seen hundreds, probably thousands of players. A few names sprang to mind straight away. Dalglish, Platini, Rush, Baresi, Zico, Zidane, all played the beautiful game the beautiful way. Skill in abundance, they dominated their respective positions and era’s. Player’s like Butcher, Reid, Adams, Souness also came to mind but more for their influence and passion, a key ingredient in any sport. But the more I thought, the more my earlier influences came back to me. I grew up on the terraces of Boothferry Park, then home to Hull City, from the age of seven in 1980 and that’s where I discovered my first hero, flying winger Brian Marwood. 

BRIAN MARWOOD
Marwood graduated through the youth system in 1978 and made a total of 191 appearances for the Tigers before being sold to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday in 1984. He would later move onto Arsenal, where he earned his first and only England cap. For five years the diminutive Geordie terrorised the old Third and Fourth Divisions with his pace and trickery, almost single-handed carrying the Tigers to promotion in his final season with them. As an impressionable kid, this crowd pleaser certainly caught my eye, so much so that despite playing right back for my junior teams I insisted on wearing his trademark "Number 7" shirt. The coincidence that we also played in amber and black was not lost on me either. For those ninety minutes on a Sunday morning, I was "Brian Marwood." 

As for inspiration, well I guess I’m in a fortunate position. As a kid growing up, I didn’t need encouraging to play football. I got my early football fix watching my brother and cousin play for a team that my Auntie founded. Flamborough Seabirds FC were a village team playing in the district league on a Saturday afternoon. My cousin, Tony Grand, was captain and centre half. As a player he was a fearsome sight, tall , long hair, with his two front teeth missing, a player that took no prisoners. Years later when I played open age football, I would like to think that he and I shared certain similarities. Not always the fastest or most skillful, we both made up for it in passion and endeavour. Today, he’s a family man in his mid fifties, but his name is still remembered in local non-league circles.

*****

Links


Thursday 24 January 2013

My Hero - My Inspiration : Tony Greenall

Tony Greenall was born within half a mile of the nearest football pitch, grew up even closer to another one and now lives within a wayward free kick of Doncaster Rovers home, the Keepmoat Stadium.


He will probably end up dropping dead on a halfway line somewhere.


Thanks Tony for that introduction .. 

*****

It's a truth the world over that as a  child, sporting influences like so many others will come from the parents. It's no less true in my case. My Mum is a big sports fan, she played hockey for Yorkshire, was a scorer at a local cricket club & her father was a Tic-Tac man at various racetracks.

However, it was my Dad who started my love of football at all levels. He had played himself for a number of Yorkshire League clubs including Bentley Victoria and Doncaster United before going on to coach successful local junior clubs and refereeing both on a Sunday morning and in local Saturday Senior leagues.

I would travel with him and watch as he became the focus of abuse from players and fans alike. I'd keep quiet in case anyone spotted I was the ref's kid, then we'd laugh about the comments and discuss the game on the journey home. The faces and characters of local football felt almost like an extended family. A walk through town rarely passed without an "Hello Bill" or "'Ey up George" to some player or club official he knew, as they mulled over the latest events on the field.
  
Feethams
Dad took me to watch Doncaster Rovers from an early age. I was barely five years old when my first away trip to Darlington beckoned, The late lamented Feethams still holds a strong place in my memory. Though my father doesn't visit the Keepmoat Stadium so often, Rovers is a passion I hold to this day, one I have Dad to thank for.
  
Tales of obscure, often ramshackle grounds played at during his Yorkshire League days also instilled in me a love of Non-League football which has grown greater as time goes on. We would regularly watch local sides such as Brodsworth, Rossington Main and Bentley, eagerly looking out for their results each weekend. Their oddly named opponents from curious sounding towns seemed from the other side of the world. Now I know they're not so far away and have visited many of them too.
  
Today it's at the Non-League clubs I find the football my Dad introduced me to. A truly beautiful game with a purity rarely found among the big boys on television, playing for the love of football, running clubs selflessly for communities, being a part of something important and ensuring it survives for future generations.
  
My own son will be of an age to go to games soon, he already shows an interest in the mysteries of where I disappear to on a Saturday afternoon. I only hope he can take something of what my Dad gave to me and find that love of Football himself.

Maybe he'll even write about it.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

My Hero - My Inspiration : Rob Hornby

Born in Nottingham in 1962. Rob spent a great part of his youth in Birmingham. Currently married to Hazel, they have an eight year old son, Shawn. Rob also has three sons from a previous marriage.

At the age of 27, Rob fought and beat the disease, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. 

In his own words, Rob describes himself as "a very positive person, who lives for today”

These are Rob’s words, this is Rob’s hero and inspiration.


*****


DEREK TRANTER

Being raised at a early age from a one parent family was hard, in fact so hard that when I was just two years old, my mum returned home from work to find our house burgled and my bed slashed. This was when my mum broke down and I nearly ended up in care, as she couldn’t cope. In the 1960’s people were looked down on as being one parent mums, but my dad had legged it when my mum became pregnant.

My Grandad and Grandma lived in Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and asked my mum to move from Nottingham and they took me under their wing, whilst my mum could go out to work.

My grandparents did everything for me, bought my school uniform, took me on holiday and when we went on holiday every year my Grandad would take me to see Rhyl FC.

When I was eight, my mum met my step dad who would turn out to be “My Hero and My Inspiration“, always guiding me the right way through school and also taking me to West Bromwich Albion every week as a season ticket holder.

Bob Hazell (Wolves)
I was also in the Boys Brigade and played in goal on a Saturday morning, centre forward was Bob Hazell (left) who went on to play for Wolves & QPR. My step-dad Derek would turn up on the bus to every match and though I wasn’t the best of keepers would never moan at me but encourage me to do better the next week.

At the age of fourteen, his advice stood me well, as I went on to become the Birmingham Boys Brigade goalkeeper for two seasons, going to places like Northampton, London, Sheffield.

When I left school, he helped me find a job, but I wanted to return to Nottingham to try and find my real dad. I think it was a matter of wanting to know who I was. Sadly it didn’t turn out too well, as when I tracked him down, he told me to “clear off” in certain words as he had other kids and didn’t want to know me. This was a hammer blow to me, but Derek was there to pick me up.

In 1990, at the age of twenty-seven, I fell very ill with Hodgkins Lymphoma and with two sons aged three and one, it was very frightening as the survival rate at the time was  only 15%, in fact Marti Caine passed away whilst I was going through chemotherapy. Derek and my mum would travel fifty miles every week to see me and see that my kids were okay. It was whilst on chemo, that Derek told me to go out and get fresh air, even if only going to a football match. Whilst in hospital, he bought me up a newspaper and Dunkirk FC were at home in the FA Vase that Saturday, so we went.  I kept going and became Programme Editor and then went on some of the “Northern Groundhops” and then “SWPL Groundhops” meeting  some great people and having a superb time.

The cancer left me having three Grand Mal fit’s a week, which I still have to today, which has become part of everyday life to me.

When in 1999, I got divorced, my mum and step dad helped me a lot and when I met Hazel in 2001, they would drive me from Lichfield to Mansfield to see her before I moved in with her.

When we announced our wedding for 2003, Derek knew that Hazel’s parents were no longer with us, so he got out his cheque book and took Hazel and her two children and got them kitted out for the wedding.

I was asked to go on to the Central Midlands League Committee and wasn’t too sure about it to be honest, but Derek was there for  advice when I needed it again. I went on to the CMFL Committee and he said, “as you go on the 'groundhops', why not set one up yourself, I’m sure they would be popular..”

I was a bit unsure but took the idea to the meeting and was asked if I could guarantee crowds of 100 at each game, I said I don’t know unless we try.  The first match on the Saturday morning was at Greenwood Meadows with a crowd of 302 which is still a ground record for them today.

The 'Groundhops' became more popular and Derek was always keen to know how they were going.

Four years ago, Derek sadly passed away. He had been on a kidney machine for the past twenty years and had four transplants, although they were rejected by his body, they gave him that extra few more years on this planet.

At 'groundhops' I do always try and give two minutes thought towards Derek, as he was the one who backed me to give it a go. As I am organising the Notts Senior League Groundhop this season, I wasn’t sure how popular it would be and only time will tell, but the coach is full and advanced ticket sales are going well. Hopefully we will get more tickets sold before the event, which takes place on the 19th & 20th April. 

Rob finally adds, "I feel and believe that I am being “watched from above” by someone and I think you can see now why Derek was My Hero and My Inspiration".

*****

Tuesday 22 January 2013

My Hero - My Inspiration : Geoff Howard



Geoff Howard – 1st Team Manager : Oldham Hulmeians – 2nd Division - Lancashire Amateur League



Geoff Howard, 38 year old teacher who is currently in his tenth year working at a Special Needs school in Oldham. Holding an FA Coaching badge, Geoff has in the past coached a diversity of sports, cricket, rugby league, fencing and lacrosse. A fanatical Oldham Athletic supporter, he currently lives with a “fantastic partner” who, in his own words describes as, “being totally understanding about his football passion and supports me with the time I spend with Oldham Hulmelans“. Into his third season as first team manager after winning promotion as manager of the reserve team in his first season.  Although his  Influences are documented below, Geoff adds, “it is down to the support, effort and hard work of his mother and father why I am able to be in such a lucky position today - Working with some fantastic adults week in and week out on the football pitch.”

These are Geoff’s words, these are Geoff’s heroes and inspirations …

*****



OLDHAM HULMEIANS
I am now into my third season as first team manager of the respected Oldham Hulmeians. A club founded in 1926, we still have four adult teams playing in the highly respected Lancashire Amateur League. Still managing the ‘odd game or two’ i've played for our ’B’ team this season, this took me to my twenty-sixth season as a player, since my Dad (also Geoff Howard) first took me to my first football club Royton All Stars as a naive, raw, eleven year old full back. 

As staunch Oldham Athletic supporters, my mother and father were both regulars for years at Boundary Park and gave me my first slice of the ‘real deal’ at the tender age of seven years old – An experience that would shape my passion for a sport that still plays a huge part in my life.

All I Wanted To Do Was Play For Oldham Athletic. 

Mark Robins
As I grew into my teens, playing for illustrious local junior clubs such as Boundary Park Juniors, where I was managed by Gordon Robins, the father of the current Coventry City manager and former Manchester United professional, Mark Robins 

I played for my Town and County, the highlight playing for Oldham Boys against a certain Ryan Wilson – now known throughout the world as ‘Giggs!’  I trained with Bury FC as a schoolboy for twelve months and earned twelve  months as a schoolboy with Stockport County, training under the legendary Danny Bergara – seeing him keeping up a 10p coin from foot to foot, before flicking it into his shirt pocket, a particular memory.

Nothing ever came of my early jaunt into professional football, a fractured bone in my back whilst sledging at the age of sixteen, putting paid to that. After this I then went into non league football at a senior level with Chadderton FC (NWCL), representing them in the FA Youth Cup against a very good Blackburn Rovers side containing David May (Manchester United) and Jason Wilcox (Leeds United and England) and although we lost 4-1, had the distinction of scoring in both ends!

Wise Words

All the while, the wise words of “practice makes perfect – get out there with your ball”, bellowing from my dad's throat, continually encouraging me to use my ‘shed wall’ as a team mate to pass to and receive and an opponent to “block tackle“! Yes I learned to “block tackle” against a wall!! Wherever I played, my old man (though not so old) would come to watch, quietly offering me advice and pointers as I went through the game. Any “bollockings” would be saved for the privacy of the car on the journey home. It was this constructive tone that I try to use today, knowing I always respected it. After three seasons with my local club, I moved onto playing for Hollinwood FC in the South East Lancashire and Manchester Leagues, where I played for a number of seasons under probably my greatest non related influence Peter Bird. 

Peter Bird

He was a man whom had been in the amateur game for what seemed like “donkeys years“, a raw, passionate manager – no heirs or graces, he had a passion and desire to win football matches and to do it with a group of enthusiastic young men. He had a way of earning respect through honesty and trust and he paid back that same respect tenfold for those who had the opportunity to play for him. He trusted you and we certainly trusted him.

I suppose as I really get stuck into this ‘managing lark’ and as an FA Coach, many of the words, actions and traits that both my Dad and Peter have always shown, will be exchanged by me into today’s’ currency. 

The game has changed in the last twenty years and the players certainly have. It seems to be a thankless task, trying to raise a consistent squad available every week, whilst fighting back the lures of Sky TV, the pub, the missus and our newfound love for six-a-side football four times a week.

I am determined to continue to offer my advice, knowledge and experience of many happy years playing to local young guys in an adult environment on the pitch. Hopefully setting the right examples in my expectations of them as players and as men. Some may never have the opportunities that many have had in progressing, but to have the opportunity in being part of a club that can facilitate this continues to fill me with a passionate pride.

Looking at the way we are going this season so far, we seem to have struck the perfect balance. 

Links



Monday 21 January 2013

My Hero - My Inspiration : Manisha Tailor

To those of you who have been following No Clash Of Colours, Manisha Tailor will need no introduction.  Her first feature for us, "Teacher and Football Coach : Different Or The Same" has had now well over 1000 hits, there's a link at the bottom of the article for those who are involved in either or both.

For those who are new, Manisha is a primary school teacher from London. Supports Arsenal with a passion, is involved at a voluntarily level with the London FA and Middlesex FA, The London Playing Fields Foundation and is an Ambassador for the FA's "Football Needs You" campaign.

These are her words, this is her inspiration, her hero.

*****

MY BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN THE GAME


How I Fell In Love With “The Beautiful Game’

Since the age of 8 years old, my twin brother and I together ate, drank and breathed football – which at times got us into quite some bother at school! Our parents were not always impressed with the lack of attention spent on our school work, as for us, spending time organising lunchtime matches was far more important – primary school was awesome! Joint at the hip, quite literally, until secondary school that is (mum and dad intentionally sent us to separate secondary schools) – our love for the game both playing and watching continued. He however, influenced by my dad, became a Liverpool follower – they never did manage to convert me, I am a Gooner through and through!  My twin – the reason I fell in love with the beautiful game we know as football.

Left With A Broken Heart – Quite Literally

Our joint love for football continued until we were 18 years of age. Unfortunately, as a result of a series of traumatic events, my twin became depressed – and 14 years on, continues to suffer from the taboo word in football ‘mental health’.  So, as some know me as having two jobs (teaching and coaching), the honest truth is I don’t, as I am also a carer accumulating that to three.  The reason for me mentioning it though has significance – as despite on one hand feeling broken, it is this very situation that gives me the strength, motivation and will power to continue as an individual and move forward within the professional game, as it is something special that we once shared.

My twin is the reason I became engaged in football – and, despite the circumstances, continues to be my inspiration in wanting to do well in all aspects of the game be it coaching, playing, mentoring or linking it to education.  The say ‘god gives his battles to his strongest warriors’ and in some respect, without the mental strength, carrying out many roles and responsibilities would be extremely challenging for me. 

Football : A Powerful Tool

My message is that if you can show great strength in character, everything is doable.  Being able to use the power of football as a vehicle to overcome difficult situations is a wonderful thing – something that I have done and continue to do.  I am a huge supporter of the work carried out by Elite Welfare Management (EWM) who are providing a platform of support as well as being pioneers of addressing the taboo within the game.  

For me, my journey and professional development in football will continue, so that on full recovery, my twin can say he is proud of his sister – my greatest influence on who I am today, both in and outside of the game. 

*****

Link


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06 January 2013 - Sheffield Ladies FC v Blackburn Rovers Ladies FC

 Sheffield FC Ladies
The Coach & Horses Ground, Dronfield.
2013 sees SFC Ladies celebrate their tenth anniversary.

 Competition : FA Women's Cup 2
Result : Sheffield Ladies FC 2 Blackburn Rovers Ladies FC 1
Attendance : Not Given

Jack Hall, Hannah Forster, Paul Matthewson, Carla Ward, Luke Tomlinson
Pre-Match : Captains & Officials




Sheffield FC Ladies were formed in 2003.  Starting at the very bottom of the women’s football pyramid, they have achieved three promotions in the past five seasons. This phenomenal rise has seen the Ladies FC achieve status in the FA Women’s Premier League.  Ranked as the highest women’s team in Sheffield, they are second only in South Yorkshire to Doncaster Rovers Belles.


*****

Match Action

Lisa Giampalma


Sheffield FC Ladies go on the attack as the Blackburn Rovers Ladies defence holds on in the first half at The Coach and Horses.

Blackburn Rovers Ladies goalkeeper receives treatment after saving a certain goal.

Kerry Parkin


Lisa Giampalma

1-1
Lisa Giampalma celebrates after equalising for Sheffield Ladies in the first half.


Kerry Parkin tussles with Hannah Forster

2-1
Sheffield Ladies take the lead thanks to a goal from Suzanne Davis

Anxious looks from both benches as Blackburn Rovers search for an equaliser.

Full Time
Sheffield Ladies FC 2 Blackburn Rovers Ladies FC 1

Sheffield Ladies progress through to the third round of the FA Women's Cup, where they face Manchester City Ladies FC at the Regional Athletica Arena, Manchester on Sunday 03 February with a 13.00 kick off.

Sheffield Ladies FC
Flying The Flag as Sheffield's Premier Ladies Football Club

Ben Webster
Sheffield FC Photographer

Ben Webster and Emma Hornsby (Match Day Volunteer)

Sheffield FC Ladies player, Jodie Michalska gets a hug and a kiss from her young daughter at the final whistle.

Andy Harper (Match Day Volunteer)


John Shepherd
The longest serving SFC Ladies supporter, John has been supporting the team from 2004



Tommy Molloy (Match Day Volunteer)

Sheffield FC - The Food Bar

"BOOTS FOR AFRICA"
For The Love Of The Game
(see link below for more information)


Sheffield FC - 1857
The World's First Football Club



Spot The Mistake!!

*****

Match Reports



All Photography : ©fotografica137

Click On Any Photograph To Open A Slideshow

**Special Thanks to Sheffield Ladies FC Manager, Helen Mitchell for additional information**