Liverpool Women vs. Everton [Women]

International break weekend (at least for us hipsters who support teams in the top two divisions), is a welcome respite from the constant worrying about your side and instead offers you the enjoyment of a different kind of football – not just the internationals, but the opportunity to go and see local games in the lower leagues too.

This one is slightly different, however. As it’s the (men’s) international break, the FA are using the opportunity to promote the Women’s Super League, as part of a ‘Women’s Football Weekend’, with a few of the games taking place at the homes of the men’s teams. Playing in these big stadiums allows clubs the opportunity to promote their women’s sides, with attractive ticket offers aimed at families. So I’m at one of world football’s most illustrious venues, to see one of England’s most premier derbies – I’m at Anfield to see Liverpool Women take on Everton.

I say the international break doesn’t provide worries but there’s usually a sense of trepidation whenever England are involved – thankfully, the men’s side comfortably qualified for Euro 2020 with a 7-0 win against Montenegro on Thursday, rendering the game later today in Kosovo, a dead rubber. Whilst the men’s team are, according to some people, ‘going through the motions’ at the moment (yes, apparently a 7-0 win can be ‘boring’!) there has been some criticism levelled at the women’s national team recently, more specifically, at head coach Phil Neville. Since the semi-final defeat in this year’s World Cup, England have won just 2 games in 7 – the latest win coming earlier this week against the Czech Republic.

In a funny way, I think this can be seen a positive for the women’s game in this country – their performances are being scrutinised, pitched against their previous form and that of their peers. No longer are they receiving patronising praise, as if poor form ‘doesn’t matter’ because ‘it’s only the women’s game’ – they’re top professionals and being treated as such. Neville has come out swinging, defending his players and his own position, as you might expect, but (and without getting into the details of what may or may not be going wrong), it is heartening to see the press take him to task.

So with the national team receiving pelters for tepid performances and domestic sides playing the odd game in a big stadium (England’s recent friendly against Germany attracted a crowd of over 77,000), Women’s football is in a good place at the moment. Today’s derby can be said to be a ‘homecoming’ for both sides as neither Liverpool or Everton actually play their usual home games in the city – Liverpool play at Tranmere Rovers' Prenton Park over the water on the Wirral, whereas Everton currently play in Southport (although they are due to move to a new purpose-built ground at Walton Hall Park, a mile from Goodison Park, any time soon – ‘early next year’ is the latest news).

Formed in 1989 as Newton LFC, the club that would become Liverpool WFC would first change its name to Knowsley United in 1991, becoming founder members of the National Premier Division; a league organised by the WFA. The WFA, incidentally, was a football association, independent of the FA, which was formed in 1969 to offer women’s clubs more opportunities for organised football – women’s teams were still barred from playing on FA-associated pitches at this time. Knowsley went on to reach two Wembley cup finals in consecutive years – in the 1993 Premier League Cup against Arsenal (which they lost, 3-0) and in 1994’s FA Women’s Cup against Doncaster Belles (a 1-0 defeat).

The summer after their defeat in the FA Cup Final saw Knowlsey link up with Liverpool FC, adopting their name and colours. The club spent the early part of the 21^st century playing in the second tier of the Women’s Premier League system, but they would find themselves becoming founder members of the Women’s Super League in 2011 – a new division designed to professionalise and grow the women’s game, with clubs having to apply for licences to join.  It didn’t start too well for Liverpool, as they ended up finishing bottom of the 8-team division in its first two seasons – thankfully for them, relegation to the second tier (now called The Championship) didn’t exist at this point.

After more-or-less signing up an entirely new team, they went on to achieve another double – WINNING the Women’s Super League in 2013 and 2014. Their first title win was relatively comfortable – with only 14 games to play, they won the league by 5 points from Bristol Academy. The second title win was a little bit closer – they ended up winning it on a goal difference of 2 from their nearest rivals, Chelsea.

Whilst Liverpool were in the midst of winning their second WSL title, Everton were struggling – winning zero games and drawing four; their season of defeats saw them relegated to the second tier in 2014. Despite their success, Liverpool nearly followed them the season after – they finished second-bottom, avoiding the drop by 5 points, again, from Bristol Academy. Since then, Everton won promotion back and Liverpool have been mostly mid-table in what is now a 12-team league – so I’ve now got even less of an idea of what to expect at today’s match.

I think it can go without saying what a great ground Anfield is – it was Everton’s move from here in 1892 that led to the formation of Liverpool Football Club and since then, it has grown to become one of sport’s most iconic venues. I’m sat in the Kenny Dalglish Stand (formally known as the Centenary Stand) and I have to say that it’s tighter than what old Scrooge would usually be next month. All tickets for the game have been sold or allocated, but the ground is (by design) half-full, leaving plenty of room to move around in the concourse – though I can imagine it being somewhat difficult to navigate through when it’s full. There isn’t much room between the rows too – at 5ft 10’, I’m no Peter Crouch, but I felt like him, having to manoeuvre my legs into an unnatural position to find comfort (luckily, there was nobody sat at the side of me).

In recent years, I’ve noticed a number of female teams changing their suffixes from ‘Ladies’ to ‘Women’ (apparently ‘Ladies’ is outdated) – Everton have taken this to a new level by dropping the suffix altogether. Simply known as ‘Everton’, the move is designed to create a ‘one club’ with the men’s team – which makes absolute sense, as they are part of the same club! Formally, they will still be referred to as ‘Everton Women’ to avoid confusion with the men’s side – I’m predicting now that the formal suffix ‘Men’ will be used for male teams soon, as more clubs from around the country form female sides and the women’s game grows. It’s only fair after the women’s game was hindered for so long, I guess.

The two teams enter the field to the atmospheric ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ (they play it twice, in fact – just before they entered and as they entered) – even in a half-full ground, the lyrics still make the hairs on the back of your arse stand up; ‘Walk on, walk on. With hope in your heart. And you'll never walk alone’. A couple of scarves are held aloft, pleasantries in the middle of the pitch are performed and the game begins.

Liverpool are the better side for the vast majority of the first half; they dominate the ball without creating much in the way of clear-cut chances. The best oppotunity fell to Kirsty Linnet, who headed a penalty area-pinball towards goal – Everton custodian, Tinja-Riikka Korpela, doing well to get across and claw the ball wide for a corner. Linnet had another sight of goal not long later, but her long-range shot went comfortably wide.

The supporters, though encouraging to the team, have been largely quiet in terms of generating a collective atmosphere – which is understandable, with this being the first opportunity that many inside Anfield today have seen the women’s team play. I do find it bizarre that (both) clubs cannot find a suitable ground in Liverpool or at least somewhere a little closer than the Wirral and Southport – I get that both clubs may have strong support in these places, but being away from the city they represent has to inhibit opportunities for them to grow a regular supporter base for the women's team in some way.

There’s a couple of Everton fans here in the ‘home’ ends (one is sat directly in front of me, with his Everton bob-cap), but the majority are seated in the away section of the Anfield Road End, behind the goal – they’ve made most of the noise (with chants of ‘Everton, Everton’), but there’s none of the ‘poison’ of the men’s derby. On one hand, this is fantastic as you can relax and just enjoy the game in front of you, on the other though, it makes writing about my experience of the crowd difficult! Here’s hoping for a bit of ‘banter’ between the two sets of supporters in the second half.

Just as I was using the 1 minute of injury time to take a picture for the blog, Everton score! The Blues are passing the ball about nicely in midfield, but after a defender cuts out a forward pass, the ball falls to Lucy Graham around 25 yards out; she takes a touch, shoots and Anke Preuss in the Liverpool goal makes a hash of the catch, virtually dropping the ball into her net (the photo above is the moment she attempts to field the ball!) It’s a disastrous end to the half for Liverpool, who were looking good in possession – but as the old adage goes, it’s what you do with the possession that matters.

The Reds, as you might expect, came out for the second half with more urgency, typified by the introduction of pacey winger, Rinsola Babajide from the subs’ bench. She’s quick and tricky, immediately causing problems for the Everton full-backs, switching wings to get at both of them. A few of her crosses into the area had to be cleared in last-ditch efforts; Liverpool lacking a real striking presence in the forward positions.

A few more clearances lead to corners and it’s during these that I notice an interesting occurrence; with (how can I say this politely) women corner/free-kick takers not being able to match the kicking power of men (I failed), the ball hangs in the air for longer from a delivery. This delay creates time for a roar of expectation to air from The Kop; encouraging shouts from (mostly children) behind the goal, directed towards the ball, commanding it to find its way onto a Liverpool head. Sadly for them, it doesn’t.

In fact, it’s Everton and their counter-attacking football that nearly produces a goal; Molly Pike putting a late chance wide after a breakaway led by Graham. It didn’t matter in the end, as her team hung on for the win – an Everton win at Anfield. A rare thing to say, considering it’s not happened since 1999! The win moves them up to 4th in the WSL, whilst Liverpool are bottom – just 1 draw in the opening six games for them. It's still early in the season, mind, so there's plenty of time to turn it around – the team that lies immediately above them (on 3 points from 6) is, funnily enough, Bristol City (formerly, Bristol Academy!)

It was another interesting experience, watching a women’s game at the ‘traditional home’ of the corresponding men’s team – again, plenty of families were able to attend for cheap (a fiver for adults, free for children with an attending adult), as they got an opportunity to visit the ground, sing along to YNWA and cheer on a side wearing the shirt. I think Liverpool should have this arrangement in place more regularly – not only to get the team playing in the city but also because families like these here today, I'm sad to say, continue to be priced out of the men’s game. The women's game needs to keep pushing this advantage.

I make my way back via Sandhills station, get off at Liverpool Central and slip into Sanctuary (craft ale) Bar before my train home from Lime Street. It’s a decent place for beer ponces to stop-off just after/before catching a train – I sit in the homely-atmosphere downstairs and indulge in a nice pint of ‘Golden Warrior’ by Empire Brewing. Even on a Sunday night, the nightlife in Liverpool is bustling – karaoke sounding from the many Irish pubs in the short walk between Central and Lime Street stations. Apparently, there’s another bar called ‘The Sanctuary Tap’ near James Street station, about half-a-mile away. Looks like I’ll have to come back one day – here’s hoping Everton [Women] get that ground built soon! 

Liverpool Women 0

Everton [Women] 1

Attendance: 23,500

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What If Dogs Formed A Football Team?

Great people have had their great thoughts whilst lounging under an apple tree, bathing in a tub of water, even whilst sat on the toilet. Now I’m not saying that I’m a great man (I’m more of a toilet), but whilst I was going about my business the other day, I saw a dog chasing around a plastic bag.

Aside from worrying about the impact that another helping of single-use plastic would have on the environment, I was impressed by how quickly the dog chased down the bag and brought it under its control. Imagine that dog playing in midfield, I thought.

Then another thought popped into my head – imagine a FOOTBALL TEAM of dogs. Dogs with their individuals strengths and abilities, creating the best football team that ever lived. So I did.

This blog will detail the team of dogs that I have created – not only will this help football fans who don’t understand dogs, to understand dogs, it will also help dog fans to understand football a bit better too.

It’s the article that you didn’t know you needed, but truly deserve. Or something along those lines.

A Dog XI

(Formation: 4-2-3-1) 

Goalkeeper 

1. Great Dane

Big, a Great Dane can keep a lot out with those massive paws.

Right-Back

2. Husky 

 

 A Husky has got great stamina. Can bomb down that touchline, providing options and is able to press the opposition all day-long. 

Left-Back

3. Spaniel 

 

A Spaniel has got a good engine, has the physique to withstand pressure, has good left foots too to swing a ball in from deep. 

Centre-Back

5. Dalmatian

A Dalmatian is long and elegant, can bring the ball out with relative ease and confidence, whilst having the height to contest high balls. 

Centre-Back

6. Bulldog 

 

A Bulldog is tough and rough, provides muscle against opposition forwards. The lack of height is made up by the strength on the ground. We need a well-matched centre-back partnership – A Dalmatian and Bulldog fit the bill. 

Central Midfielder

4. Yorkshire Terrier

 

A Yorkshire Terrier is nippy, can get involved in a scrappy tackle, pressing the opposition and not giving them a moments peace. 

Central Midfielder

8. Jack Russell 

 

Also nippy, a Jack Russell can get involved in a scrappy tackle, though slightly more energetic than his midfield partner-in-crime so can be employed in a box-to-box role. 

Attacking Midfielder Right

7. Greyhound

 

A Greyhound has lots of pace, can run down that touchline and whip in a cross or cut inside at speed, leaving the opposition full-back for dead. 

Attacking Midfielder Left

11. Whippet 

 

A Whippet has bags of pace, can terrorise the opposition defence all day, cutting inside and leaving space for Spaniel the left-back to operate in. 

Attacking Midfielder Centre

10. Border Collie

 

Playing the No10 role, A Border Collie is just the right size to be slippery, has a great low-centre-of-gravity too. Quick and clever, one can slip a pass through the opposition defence easily. 

Centre Forward

9. Labrador Cross (more specifically a Labradoodle)

 

A Labrador Cross is unpredictable and therefore will give the opposition defence a nightmare. Playing as a False Nine, one will link up well with the Greyhound and Whippet out wide, and the Border Collie behind. Can also drop back into the midfield to provide some defensive solidity if needs be too.

So that was my Dog XI. If you have any suggestions (such as alternative dogs for any of these positions, a name for the team or just want me to get a life), leave them in the comments below or Tweet me @pints_pies.

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Scarborough Athletic vs. Stafford Rangers

I’m writing this on holiday; with some time off to spend I decided to combine a week of restful recuperation, sight-seeing and boozing with some groundhopping. One of my favourite areas in England to visit is the North East coast; being on the opposite coast to me, I always find that the region offers a new perspective to how beautiful (and different) our little island is. 

From miles upon miles of exquisite coastline, historical monuments that have been fashioned by ancient peoples, bars that sell Baileys and cherryade...it's an ideal place for me to go and have a mooch about in. So after a bit of research, I find out that both Scarborough Athletic and Whitby Town are playing at home in the same week. I didn’t hesitate to book my trip. 

I had planned to see the Scarborough game on the Saturday and the Whitby game on the following Tuesday – although Whitby were also at home on the Saturday and Scarborough were also at home on the Tuesday! In hindsight, I made the wrong decision as last week, Whitby battled through to the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup after a 3-1 replay win away to National League North, Gloucester City. It was a fantastic result, not only if you consider Whitby play one level below, had to travel 420-miles for the game (Gloucester City play in Evesham, Worcestershire, at the moment) but also because they only had 14 fit players available for selection – three of them being goalkeepers!

As a result, Whitby’s Northern Premier League, Premier Division fixture against Mickleover Sports on Tuesday was postponed to allow them more time to prepare for next weekend’s FA Cup Fifth Qualifying Round tie at home to Stourbridge. With a place in the First Round Proper at stake, it’s fully understandable that the part-time team were allowed the time off – it just left me cursing my luck that I didn’t swap the fixtures around (as well as being unable to extend my stay past the weekend so I can see the FA Cup tie!) Oh well, maybe another time for Whitby – let’s get into Scarborough.

Scarborough Athletic (also playing in the Northern Premier League’s Premier Division), can be said to be a ‘continuation’ of Scarborough FC; the town’s former Football League club that were liquidated in 2007. In their strive to grow and progress up the football pyramid, Scarborough Athletic are supporter-owned – determined not to repeat mistakes made in the past, running the club for the community, rather than simply profit. After spending the first ten years of their existence playing 16 miles away in Bridlington, the club moved ‘home’ in 2017, into a stadium constructed as part of Scarborough Sports Village – the eye-catchingly-titled ‘Flamingo Land Stadium’. 

I start the day, in the pub. Not really the ideal place to be for someone who had only got out of bed at 12pm because they had ‘one too many’ the night before, but as The Lord Rosebery is the town’s designated Wetherspoons (named after the former Prime Minister who opened the building as a Liberal Club in 1895), I could at least treat myself to a spot of reasonably-priced brunch (they would have stopped serving breakfasts by the time I got there). Despite the genteel, old worldly charm this area exudes, it’s also an attraction for stag-and-hen-type parties from across Yorkshire and the North East – and to typify this, I entered the pub after a group of women; all of whom were wearing Victorian bathing suits and carrying large (inflatable) balls.

Scarborough’s development as a seaside resort began in the 17^th century when, whilst out on a walk, a Mrs Thomasin Farrer discovered a spa after noticing an inland-flowing stream, bubbling out from some cliffs. With water treatment solutions being many years away, spa water was highly valued and Scarborough’s spa quickly attracted visitors from across the local area. It was the publication of Scarborough Spaw by Dr Robert Wittie in 1660 that promoted the ‘healing waters’ on a national scale – leading to people from across the country to visit the town to indulge in the newly-created spa bathhouse.

With an influx of visitors, profiteers quickly got to work, establishing other ventures in which people could partake in – horse racing on the beach and sea bathing proving particularly popular. This is what (is widely believed) to have made Scarborough England’s first true seaside resort – as travel became easier in the next two centuries, more people were able to enjoy the seaside scenery, the historic castle and the ever-growing parade of shops and amusements.

Anne Bronte loved the place; the youngest of the Bronte siblings made a return visit in 1849, despite ailing from tuberculosis, hoping that it would aid her recovery. She sadly died during her visit – and was buried here. Her sister, Charlotte, electing to have her interred in St, Mary’s churchyard, rather than the family home of Haworth.

For those of a certain vintage/musical taste, Scarborough’s medieval history was brought to an international audience in the 1960s, thanks to Simon and Garfunkel’s version of the ballad ‘Scarborough Fair’. The song references the (unusually long) 45-day fair in which traders from across the country (and abroad) would descend on the town to sell their wares.

The ballad is a tale of man who instructs a third party to tell his former love (who lives in Scarborough) to perform a number of impracticable tasks (such as making him a shirt without a seam and no needlework, then washing it in a dry well), adding that if she were to complete these tasks, she would be taken back into his affections.

It is often performed as a duet, with the woman giving the man equally impossible tasks (such as buying her an acre of land between the beach and the sea and ploughing it with a ram’s horn), and if he so does, her heart is his. Now to our contemporary eyes and ears, it may sound like an odd love song – but the average Facebook feed will throw up similar tales of jilted love (only more incomprehensible). How things change.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she was once a true love of mine.

-          First verse of ‘Scarborough Fair’ (Traditional)

All Day Brunch demolished (basically a Full English Breakfast with chips), I make the mile-or-so walk to the stadium. Mentioning chips here is quite apt as Scarborough F.C’s former home, The Athletic Stadium, was known for the last era of its life as ‘The McCain Stadium’, thanks to sponsorship from the UK arm of frozen foods giant McCain (whose head office is in Scarborough). Located just across the road from where the new stadium stands, the old club attempted to sell ‘The Theatre of Chips’ to a housing developer, whose offer would, apparently, have been enough to clear their debts (which amounted to around £2.5m), as well as build a new ground on the outskirts of the town.

The problem was that the area had a covenant on it that instructed the land could only be used for sporting activities. Despite discussions with the local council to find a solution, time ultimately ran out for the club to convince the council of the viability of the deal and on 20^th June 2007, Scarborough F.C were wound up after 128 years of business.

Looking in from the outside (and therefore, running the risk of being wildly inaccurate or stating the obvious), I think that the original club’s demise can be traced back to their relegation from the Football League in 1999 – a relegation sealed when a GOALKEEPER scored a last-minute goal to send them down. Playing for Carlisle in a match against Plymouth, Jimmy Glass’ volley after the ball bounced to him in the penalty area from a corner, was enough to keep The Cumbrians in the league. Heartbreakingly, Scarborough’s match had already finished well before Glass ran up for the corner – the supporters were celebrating on the McCain Stadium pitch when the news came through. Talk about ‘pissing on your chips’.



(Good documentary on Jimmy Glass. It’s 25 minutes long though, so make sure you read the rest of this first!)

Before the seriousness of Scarborough FC’s financial situation became apparent, the supporters had moved to form a trust, The Seadog Trust, to gain representation on the club’s board. With the debt proving too large to manage, the trust instead found themselves forming a new football club – Scarborough Athletic FC; the suffix taken from their old ground’s original name. The new club was accepted into Division 1 of the Northern Counties East League in June 2007, ground-sharing at Bridlington’s Queensgate Stadium, as there was no suitable ground in Scarborough.

The formation of Scarborough Athletic wasn’t popular with all supporters of the old club, however. From what evidence I can dig up, it’s alleged that the supporters had broadly agreed that an ‘AFC Scarborough’ would replace the old club but a ‘breakaway group’ created Scarborough Athletic instead and applied to join the NCEL. Those left holding the AFC Scarborough 'baby' were said to be furious and also applied to join the NCEL – but the league insisted that there could only be one and eventually, AFC dropped out.

The liquidation of the old club didn’t affect their youth set-up, however. Rescued by a local sports college, ‘Scarborough Academy’ eventually grew a senior side that was dubbed ‘Scarborough Town’ – the new club starting life in the Second Division of the Humberside League; the highest level the club could play at with the facilities they had left in the town. These facilities were the pitches ran by the McCain Foods Sports & Social Club, located in Cayton, 3 miles from the centre of Scarborough.

Rather than be a ‘rival’ to Athletic, Scarborough Town’s committee stressed that their club’s aim was to give their young players a ‘stepping stone’ through to higher levels of the game (although many of those disaffected supporters of the old Scarborough club doubtless got behind them because they weren’t Athletic). Town went on to be a huge success in their first few years – winning three league titles (and two league cups), saw them knocking on the door of the NCEL. Sadly for them, they couldn’t develop their ground to suit league requirements, and crowds dipped from around 400 to ‘a couple of dozen’ quite quickly. They quietly folded in 2013, leaving just the one club to represent Scarborough (although they were playing in Bridlington).

That was soon to change though. Despite rumours about what the local council wanted to do with the land that was once home to Scarborough FC (which they later purchased from the liquidator), they stuck to their word and invested in the construction of a ‘Sports Village’, providing a home for a higher education facility (ran by Coventry University), health and fitness facilities for the community and the centrepiece, a stadium for Scarborough Athletic.

Sponsored by the local zoo-theme park attraction, The Flamingo Land Stadium has two small seated stands at either side of the pitch – the main stand (pictured above) housing the conference facilities, offices and crucially, the bar. There’s a food outlet in the shape of a van near to where you emerge from the turnstile, otherwise, you can move freely about the ground (aside from taking a seat in the stand – apparently, this costs extra).

Speaking of the cost, it’s £12 on the gate – whilst I’m not begrudging any club (especially one that is member-owned) the money, it does strike me as a bit steep for this level (considering I paid £8 to get in Atherton Collieries, in the same league, earlier this season). Also, it’s Non League Day today – the perfect opportunity to attract new supporters, which clubs across the country are trying to do, with special offers for entry (such as reduced entry for families, kids and season ticket holders of other clubs). I didn’t see any offers advertised for today’s game, which I think is a bit counter-intuitive, to be honest – there’s a fairly big crowd (for this level) at the game and it could have been so much more, with the extra attendees making up their reduced entry fees by buying refreshments, etc.

I take my spot opposite the main stand, on the steel terrace, just to the right of the other small bank of seating (which I don’t sit in. Honest). Looking around, there is plenty of room for expansion if the club were to progress – this terrace is only temporary and can easily be replaced. Perhaps an issue for the club, if they were to reach The Football League and do well, is the lack of space behind one of the goals, where a small standing area lies in front of (what I believe is) the Sports Village’s leisure centre. At the moment, there are a handful of Stafford supporters stood there but I can’t see it being suitable for Football League hoards. I may be jumping the gun a bit there, but that is only 3 promotions away and with over a thousand people here today, it’s not like the club lack any ambition. Just a marketing department (I’m available for hire, by the way!)

The home side have had a mixed start to the season; lying in mid-table, so they’ll be hoping to chalk up a win against today’s opponents (who are rock bottom of the NPL Premier) and get themselves back up that table. Their side start well, on the 3G pitch – I *think* this is the first game I’ve ever seen on an artificial surface and it takes a while for me to get used to it, especially with all those ‘black bits’ that jump up from the surface whenever the ball bounces.

Cards on the table, I’m not a big fan of 3/4G pitches – despite what proponents say, it IS very different from grass and you can see that from the way the ball bounces, so it must be a big advantage for the home side (what with them being used to this type of pitch). Having played on similar surfaces myself, it’s very impactful on the body too – at least a muddy pitch can break a fall or allow you to do a knee slide without it being sliced open. Then again, I understand that such pitches are vital for the financial stability of non-league clubs – not only can they not get waterlogged but they can be hired out during the week too (which Scarborough do). So what else can clubs at this level do?

Scarborough start well and despite the steep (!) ticket prices (and no special offers for Non-League Day!), there’s a young boisterous support stood with me on this terrace. It's heartening to see – there’s plenty of teenagers here who were NOT EVEN BORN when their town had a Football League club. Mad to think about, when you’ve reached an age when 22 years doesn’t seem that long ago! (I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about YOU. Boomer).

The supporters have something to shout about on 23 minutes as Michael Coulson slid home a cross at the near post. It was no less than Scarborough deserved after dominating the first twenty minutes – Lewis King (wearing a skull cap) in the Stafford goal had to rush out to smother a chance earlier on and just after the opening goal, had to make a save low-down to prevent a second.

With things looking good for the home side, I nip to the bar just before half-time. Now, in order to get to the bar, you have to walk up (what felt like) a billion steps at the side of the main stand and on arrival at the top, I see that there’s a rather large queue, so in the end, I didn’t bother to ‘whet my palate’. I had enough beer last night, to be honest – and there’s more to come tonight.

To be fair to the club, they run a slick operation here – staff wear ID lanyards and everything; even the ballboys have them on. Before I make my way back down the stairway from heaven, I spy a sight of the pitch and the view looks fantastic – I even see a Scarborough forward make a ridiculous dive in the area just before the whistle went. It doesn’t stop everyone in the stand from claiming for a penalty, of course!

Back in my spot, I get a great view of the best moment of the second half (for the home supporters, anyway), as King clashes with home striker, James Walshaw. I’m not sure what went on – there seemed to be a few crossed words and a ‘coming together’ – but the referee books them both. King is then subjected to ‘You’re just a shit Petr Cech’ by the boisterous Scarborough teenagers around me, on account of his skull cap.

I mentioned that incident was as good as it got for the home support, as despite dominating the half again, their side could not create any decent cleat-cut chances (plenty of wastage in the final third). When domination like that occurs without a goal, you can probably guess the consequences – the other side score. With most of their men pushed forward, Stafford smash the ball upfront, one missed defensive header in midfield and Brad Grayson finds himself running at goal. A couple of bounces later (thanks, surface) he’s clear of the last defender and volleys the ball from the edge of the area past home keeper, Thomas Taylor, and into the corner of the net.

The 'banter' with the away keeper ceases, as the home support turn their frustration towards their side. I have to remember I’m watching a game in the seventh tier here, as the atmosphere has been very-much reminiscent of The Football League at times. Sadly for them, their side are out of ideas and the game finishes 1-1.

I’ve really enjoyed my visit to the Flamingo Land Stadium – the set-up is fantastic, the support is there (and vocal) and they’re already charging National League prices; they just need a team that can finish their chances (and a marketing department. Call me).

As mentioned, I’m on holiday, so forgive me for the lack of detail in the match report – thankfully, the club are organised enough to film highlights, which you can view here. I’m off to get pissed and forget everything I've just written.

Scarborough Athletic 1

Stafford Rangers 1

Attendance: 1027

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Done The 92

Saturday saw me complete a five-year journey to see every single Premier League/Football League ground – I visited the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, bringing to a close a run that started (97 games ago, actually) at Preston North End’s Deepdale.

Chronicled in my doing the 92 book series ‘Playing Offside’ (available on Amazon Kindle for a very reasonable price – the final part with the Tottenham game released in the next few months!), along the way I’ve tried to delve into the history and current standing of each club, their hopes and aspirations and what effect they have on their local communities. I’ve met many interesting people, heard some very interesting things and almost been assaulted by a mascot.

With Bury sadly being expelled from the EFL and Coventry playing their games at Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s, it’s been more of a ‘doing the 90’ this season – but my point all along was to visit all of the current grounds in the top four leagues, so I’ve achieved that at least!

As there are two relegation places that feed into the National League, teams and their grounds were always going to be passing each other during the last five years – but I think I’ve done okay on that account. Throughout the series, the grounds that have disappeared from the 92 (that I already went to) include four clubs who have gone down into the National League (Barnet, Chesterfield, Notts County and Yeovil Town), one club who have gone down to the National League and since returned (Leyton Orient), Coventry’s Ricoh Arena that they no longer use and Bury’s Gigg Lane, of course.

This journey should have ended at the end of last season but as the months grew on-and-on and ground-after-ground was ticked off, Tottenham still hadn’t completed their stadium – considering it was supposed to be opened in September 2018, the constant delays caused a sense of frustration amongst their supporters, let alone myself! In my own selfishness, I was sort-of hoping that they would delay the opening until the start of the 2019/20 season – that way, I could complete the 92 in 2018/19 by visiting their ‘temporary home’ at Wembley Stadium. But no, they opened the new ground in April and I was left to contemplate another month-or-two’s worth of Groundhopping at the start of this season!

In the end, I didn’t mind that the end of this 92 was slightly delayed – along with a visit to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, I would need to go to National League play-off winners, Salford City (which is a local club to me anyway) – I had already seen National League champions, Leyton Orient, in 2015 meaning that I would only have to do two grounds to complete the 92. Except during the summer, Coventry ended up moving to Birmingham and Bury dropped out – but as a raging completist, I went to see Coventry play at St Andrew’s last month so I completed the ‘91’ for this season!

I won’t be going into my experiences of the new Tottenham Stadium here (you’ll have to get the book for that!) but needless to say it was a great experience. I’m not just talking about the aesthetics and the numerous amenities the stadium has, nor the way in which crowds are marshalled after the game to allow easy and timely access to public transport links, but just the way journeying to this new stadium would have felt the same as it would a hundred years ago when people made their way to the old White Hart Lane.

Okay, the stadium being built in the same place as the old one is probably a big help with that (!), but with the sheer size of the new stadium, you might have expected it to have a major impact on streets for miles around. But no, without the football shirts on display, anyone new to Tottenham High Road would assume that walking down it with these throngs of people would be your average Saturday. When you do arrive at the stadium, it seems to be part of rows of buildings you’ve been passing for the last half-an-hour, even despite it's look and sheer size – it’s part of the community, is what I’m trying to say. Like EVERY football club should be; which is a very rare thing to say about a football club’s new stadium, especially one of our top clubs!

You will be able to read more about this in Volume Five of Playing Offside, which will be in early 2020 – stay tuned to the blog's Twitter account (and this blog itself!) for updates.

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Manchester City Women vs. Manchester United Women

Like many people it seems, I was enamoured by this summer’s Women’s World Cup. I watched every England game, gripped by the quick and exciting forward play of The Lionesses  – the strong-running of Lucy Bronze, the midfield-controlling of Jill Scott, the shithousery (and goals) of Ellen White. It was great to watch – so I need to go and see this ‘women playing football spectacle' for myself.

To be honest, I said the same thing four years ago when I stayed up late to watch England’s heartbreaking injury time defeat in the Semi-Final against Japan. But I’m going to do something about it this time – I’m actually going to put some effort in and watch a women’s game in person. Coincidentally, Manchester City are opening their Women’s Super League season against ‘new’ rivals Manchester United – with the match moved to the Etihad Stadium to take advantage of a big crowd. I snapped up a ticket straight away – they were only £7 a pop, after all. 

I’ve long been puzzled as to why it’s taken women’s football so long to establish itself because it’s not like they can’t play. I can only convey my feelings through personal experience; when I was about 8, I played in a team on Saturday mornings on a windswept Wigan school field where even dogs daren’t roam. One week, a girl turned up to play for us – and she was brilliant. Quick and skillful, she caused the opposition lads some real problems down the wing. Being a deep-lying midfielder (before such things were popular – okay I was lazy and didn’t want to run), I just kicked the ball out wide to her and she ran with it, creating several goals. Sadly, she never played for us again (I seem to remember her saying that she wasn’t *usually* allowed? At 8 years old???). 

Anyway, since that brief experience of playing football with a girl, I’ve not been a subscriber to the ‘girls can’t play football’ adage, as they clearly can. Since then, growing up (well, that's debatable – ageing up) and learning more about the game, I was always intrigued by the lack of girls who played football – my child's mind just assumed they didn't want to get dirty.

The reason why women’s football hasn’t established itself (until recent times, at least) was due no in small part to the FA ban on its members clubs from hosting women’s games on their pitches. Despite attracting huge crowds during the First World War, the game was deemed ‘unsuitable’ for females in 1921 by the governing body and a ban was swiftly put out. It took 50 years for it to be lifted and during that time, the men’s game had established itself as England’s leading professional sport. Women had a lot to catch up on.

One of the major criticisms aimed at the women’s game recently (that I’ve seen, anyway) is that it's being promoted ‘beyond its quality as a product’. Whether you think the ‘product’ is any good is a subjective opinion – expecting it to contain the same skill, speed and physicality as the men’s game is ridiculous, in my opinion. It's the same game, yet different. To many, though, women's football simply isn’t ‘as good’ as the men’s game, so isn’t worthy of their attention – but do most people just watch football for the high levels of skill on display? If that was the case, nobody would watch (men's) lower-league games – football does not need to be 'good' to be exciting; being excited is the feeling that we all want to experience when watching games, surely?

I think that the supposed 'over-promotion' of the women’s game can be put down to three points:

• (The obvious one) women’s football needs to catch up after spending half-a-century in the wilderness, so the apparent over-promotion is designed to give an 'artificial boost' to the game.
• The ongoing push for women to achieve equality in society has led to women’s football being marketable. Rightly or wrongly, companies see women's equality as an opportunity to gain brand credibility for a relatively small outlay.
• In competition with the internet and on-demand services, television and media companies are struggling to attain rights to show the world’s most popular sports. The BBC, especially, do not have many major sports to televise beyond football World Cup’s, European Championships, Wimbledon Tennis and Olympics Games. Certainly not enough sport to bring back Grandstand, anyway.

With any popular subject in society these days, it’s the 'not taking the time to understand each other’s points-of-view' that’s the centre of the problem, I feel. I followed social media extremely closely during the World Cup and the number of cheap shots on both sides was something to behold. Comments on every post regarding the tournament were generally ‘don’t care’, ‘it’s shit’, ‘get in the kitchen’, etc.  Understandably (but mistakenly), those on the women's football side nibbled at the bait, sent abuse back and swiftly closed down the avenues for any meaningful conversation.

The BBC then didn’t help matters with clickbaity posts and articles with headlines such as ‘Five Ways Women’s Football Beats Men’s’ – whilst the article itself makes some good points and backs itself up with facts, do they really think click-driven headlines like that will help to educate and change the mind of the football fan who’s already suspecting that the women's game is getting some 'undue coverage'?. No – they’re going to think there’s ‘an agenda’ to over-promote women’s football and ‘do down men because it’s fashionable’. Regardless of whether there’s a trickle of truth in that, I’m with Timmy Thomas on this one – why can’t we live together? Why can’t we enjoy football mutually without resorting to these cheap shots? Why can't we have a reasonable discussion without abuse and blocking? This way, common ground can be sought and when you've got that common ground cleared, you can create a path to walk down together, hand-in-hand to watch the game we all love.

(By the way, fellow Alpha's; this is not me ‘white knighting’ – going out of the way to be all ‘progressive’ to impress women so they’ll like/take pity on me – as I said, I’m perfectly fine with just laying the ball off and letting a woman do all the work).

Speaking of living together, today’s ‘first professional women's Manchester derby’ is being held at the Etihad Stadium – one of a few WSL games to be held at men’s first team grounds on this opening weekend. Clubs are attempting to allow as many people as possible an opportunity to see women’s football for the first time in order to capitalise on the World Cup. Usually, City’s women play at The Academy Stadium – the 7,000-seater stadium across the road from the Etihad that was built for the club’s various youth sides. I’ll be honest here, although I fully understand (and support) the decision to host a big game such as this in a big stadium, I’m slightly disappointed that it’s not being held in The Academy Stadium so I can tick it off the groundhopping list!

It isn't just hosting the bigger games at men's stadiums that's new this season in the WSL; matches will be shown live on BT Sport and at least one a week on the BBC Sport website. This summer also saw the league sign its first overseas television deals – covering Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Highlights will also be made available on the new 'FA Player' – so they're at least getting all the building blocks in place to expand the reach of the league.

The Etihad (or ‘The City of Manchester Stadium’, as it used to be known) is located roughly a mile-and-a-half from the centre of Manchester, so is easy to get to by all forms of transport. On the way into Piccadilly train station, my own train from Wigan is delayed on route by about 40 minutes, so on arrival I’ve got half-an-hour to kick-off. ‘No problem’, thinks I, ‘I’ll get the tram’. On reaching the Metrolink station under Piccadilly, I’m met with a massive queue that snakes around the back of the station – nearly all of them going to the game, from what I can tell.

Despite it being 7 minutes until kick-off by the time I get to board the tram, I somehow manage to still get into the ground and into my seat just before the game starts – I’ve never sat in the Colin Bell Stand before, but if you are and you’re going via the tram, get off at Etihad Campus as it drops you right outside the stand. What immediately hits me about the crowd around the stadium (who are not making a move to actually get in for kick-off!) is that it’s mostly families – not just Mum’s with daughters, as you might automatically expect, but Dad’s with daughters, Dad’s with sons, Mum’s with sons, Mum’s and Dad’s with sons and daughters – the whole Brady Bunch.

The top tiers of the stadium are closed but the rest of the ground looks fairly packed – there’s a mix of City and United supporters dotted around, with the main bulk of United supporters behind one of the goals in the usual away end. As the match starts, it’s immediately noticeable how different the atmosphere is – there’s no thunderous roar on kick-off, it’s mostly children doing the shouting and singing. Yes singing – for some reason, I expected the game to have an atmosphere of the average men’s friendly; bits of shouting, attempts at starting songs, but nothing prolonged and tuneful. Thought I was in the audience for The Voice Kids, at one point.

Both sides start in a cagey fashion; having periods of possession, getting a feel of the ball without creating much. What I do notice is how tactically good the players are; they stick to their positions and individual roles without straying too far and leaving gaps. As I’m surveying my surroundings, I see that there are ads, placed around the stadium, denoting the club as being ‘One City’ – it’s all the same club, rather than two separate entities. With all kinds of families sat around the ground, you’d imagine that this is the sort of ‘crowd’ that women’s football needs to appeal to and attract – this 'One City' promotion clearly aimed to allow them support 'Manchester City', despite the cost of watching top-level men's football becoming increasingly unaffordable for the average family. I just hope that, if it does grow to anywhere near the level of popularity as the men’s game, women’s football continues along these lines and not go down the path of grabbing as much money as it can. The memories that football can give you, when you’re experiencing it with friends and family, is worth more than money – and everyone should have the opportunity experience it.

United were the better side in the first half – their best chance falling to Jane Ross; stood on the penalty spot, she receives the ball from the left, shoots first-time and somehow, Ellie Roebuck (in for the injured England No1 Karen Bardsley), sticks a hand out and deflects it wide. The 19-year-old is called into action again just before half-time; another ball in from the left sees it bobble around in the 6-yard area, United’s Jessica Sigworth is unable to get a decent connection which allows Roebuck to pounce upon it.

What has struck me about the atmosphere so far is that it’s friendly – no venom spat from the stands at the players, no abuse for the referee, no swearing whatsoever. I’m not sure how to feel – on one hand, hearing all of that at a football game makes me embarrassed (and often angry at the utter rubbish some people say), on the other, I can’t deny that it all adds to an intimidating atmosphere that may help to give your side an edge.

Half-time allows me an opportunity to leaf through the programme; a very interesting landscaped-A5 effort for £3. There’s an intriguing read about the first ‘competitive’ meeting of Manchester City Women and the previous incarnation of Manchester United Women in September 1990. With both sides being amateurs, they played on a field in the grounds of Manchester University in front of a crowd of around 150, City edging a thrilling game, 4-3 (is there any other way to describe a 4-3?!). Whilst the City side would go on to morph into the leading side they are today, Manchester United disbanded their women’s side in 2005 – only bringing the team back last season when they easily won The FA Women’s Championship. The re-establishment of this fixture has undoubtedly created much interest going forwards; it just needs time to grow as its own ‘rivalry’, and not as simply a mirror of the men’s fixture. (I just hope it’ll be a 'friendly rivalry' – I don’t want to see H&M-wearing teenage girls throwing shade at each other, like the Stone Island-wearing teenage boys do near men’s football grounds). 

City start the second half more urgently – ensuring they’re quicker to the ball and moving it at a faster pace. It becomes apparent that they’re technically the better side – and they’re immediately rewarded for their approach. Two minutes of the second half have been played as City probe around their opponents penalty area, United clearing away a loose ball – but it’s cut out on the left by Caroline Weir who proceeds to take another touch to bring herself inside, before firing the ball from almost 30 yards – and into the corner of the net. It was a strike worthy of any seen at this stadium in recent times and it’s quite rightly met with exuberant, youthful cheers from the H&M Ultras.

The attendance is announced as being over 31,000 – a record crowd for a regular women's league fixture, producing the biggest cheer of the day (bar the goal, of course!). In the week (as well as in the programme), the club said that they were expecting 20-25,000 to turn up (perhaps this explains the queues for the tram earlier?!), so it’s great to see those expectations exceeded.

As the game grows older and City frustrated at United’s well-organised defence, the threat of them being hit by a sucker punch, whilst searching for that clinching goal, is always hanging over them – and it nearly happened. United midfielder, Jackie Groenen does well to nip a long ball away from City’s centre-back, Gemma Bonner, and as the Dutch international reaches the penalty area, bearing down on Roebuck, she loses control of the ball – it falls to City right-back Aoife Mannion to clear, which she does – right onto Groenen’s foot! Fortunately for Mannion, Groenen couldn’t control the ball, it hit her foot and rolled back off the post and into Roebuck’s grateful mitts.

It was United’s best chance of the second-half – and their last. City did enough in the end, but United
did themselves credit, considering this was the first match at this level for many of their players. With some big players to come back for City – including new signing Ellen White, I’d expect them to start converting their quick, attacking play into goals before long. The crowd are appreciative, many staying to applaud them off.

I enjoyed the occasion, even if the game wasn’t high on chances – I’ve seen much worse in the last year alone. I’ll definitely be back at a women’s game soon, if only to tick off some more grounds! In the end, from my vantage point (and poor eyesight, to be fair) it just seemed like light-blue shirts were playing red shirts. And that's all that matters – men, women, boys, girls, it's still football we're watching, it’s still the game we all love – so let's work together to make it better for us all.

Manchester City Women 1

Manchester United Women 0

Attendance: 31,213

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