Manchester United Women vs. Newcastle United Women - 2023-24 Women's FA Cup, Fourth Round

Sunday 14^th January 2024
Fourth Round
Manchester United vs. Newcastle United

It’s 9.30 on a Tuesday morning, I should be listening to Christmas songs on Smooth Radio while I work, but instead, I’m trying to figure out Instagram (or ‘The Gram’, as what I believe the youngsters call it?) Anyway, the draw for the fourth round of the FA Women’s Cup is being broadcast on the social media website and what with the Fourth Round being the entry point for the top-level Women’s Super League clubs, it’s an exciting occasion. Imagine my elation when the draw is made – Newcastle, the team I’m following now, only get last season’s runners-up, Manchester United away! If you don’t know already, Manchester United play at Leigh Sports Village – but the actual stadium this time! Having seen the First Round match between Wigan and Chorley here from the outside of a cage housing a 3G pitch, it’s quite the contrast.

Regardless of whenever it turns out positively for me, I love the openness of the FA Cup draw – yes, the ‘bigger’ clubs enter at different stages, but unlike other sports, the leading names aren’t protected by a ranking, meaning they can draw anyone home or away. This makes any ‘meaningful’ tie (one against a big/notable club, a local rivalry or anything else) that bit more special – the draw is random and therefore, it must be a fate that this tie has been created.  This is a plum tie for the Magpies, what with their hosts being a leading WSL side, containing several England internationals and last season’s Women’s FA Cup runners up to boot – but it’s also a plum tie for me (and my wallet) because the stadium is a mere 7 miles away from my home! Two quid on the bus. I’m feeling as smug as a peacock in full plumage, let me tell you.

Primarily home to Leigh Leopards Rugby League club, Manchester United use the stadium to host their men’s reserves (since 2014) and women’s teams, since their creation in 2018. The 12,000-capacity stadium is the centrepiece of a council scheme that saw the regeneration of the local area, with other sporting facilities – the 3Gs we’ve already experienced, an athletics track, sports centre, swimming pool – as well as retail spaces, a hotel and the Leigh campus of Wigan & Leigh College. I feel it’s become a trend to deride 21^st-century development schemes as ‘pie in the sky’; poorly-thought out ideas that would never work in reality, but the LSV development has genuinely been a success in its remit to offer top-class sports, health and education facilities. It’s rather heartening then, to see a professional women’s football club and the thousands of people who come and watch them every other week continuing to add to that success.

I get to Leigh about an hour before kick-off, so to while away the time, I decide to get one of my ‘five a day’ (cider) in at The Whistling Wren, the evocatively-named pub/restaurant that sits close to the stadium. There are a lot of people in here already, so I elect to sit outside and take in the stark contrast to when I was last here, during the Euros 18 months ago. After enjoying a previous match in Group C between Portugal and Switzerland (a 2-2 draw), I was fortunate enough to grab a last-minute ticket to see the Portuguese take on Sweden on a sweltering hot day. 7,118 people came to see that final group match that day, as the Swedes ran out 5-0 winners. Pre-match, the immediate area was awash with supporters from all over the place and a real party atmosphere was being enjoyed, as the bright sunlight exquisitely mixed with the different types of people, colours and sounds that swamped the Leigh landscape. I was even wearing shorts such was the occasion – and I only do this in the gym or in Tenerife. Today, it’s not quite as warm, with the weather being something that a polar bear would wear a jacket in. But at least I have my cider to remind me of those halcyon days gone by.

The fact that it took until 2018 for a football club the size of Manchester United – arguably the biggest in the world – to establish a professional women’s team (especially considering all their rivals had already done so, and enjoyed great success), mystified many. There had been unofficial United teams in operation since the FA lifted their ban in the 1970s, but they were described as ‘supporter teams’ and initially played other unofficial teams of other clubs. As the women’s game grew and became increasingly more organised in the 1980s, ‘Manchester United Supporters Club Ladies’ emerged and were founder members of the Manchester & District League. This league would later merge with other regional leagues to become the North West Women’s Regional League (which is still in existence today, occupying the 5^th and 6^th tiers of the women’s football pyramid).

By the early 1990s, the club approached Manchester United for support and formal recognition – which they got; they agreed to let them use The Cliff, United’s training complex at the time, were allowed to use the name ‘Manchester United Ladies FC’ and were even advertised in the men’s matchday programme. It seemed, what with women’s football steadily growing and moving towards professionalism in the early-2000s, that Man Utd would be at the forefront – then new ownership happened. In 2005 – ironically, the year that England hosted the 2005 Women’s Euros in the North West – Manchester United scrapped their women’s side. The sweeping changes brought in as a result of the takeover by the Glazer family saw several cuts made, which included the women’s club. Instead, they decided to concentrate their resources on community coaching for school-age children – but with no organised team to play for at United, girls had to search for a senior side to continue their progress in the game. Apparently, The Manchester United Foundation (the community initiative assigned to youth coaching) would coach as many as 3,000 girls in age groups up until under-16. Naturally, competition for places within other clubs was already high – especially considering they had their own youth players to develop – so with a smaller pool of professional clubs to choose from, it’s not hard to see that a lack of a senior team at United would have been an impediment for many girls to progress further.

As women’s football continued to progress throughout the 2010s, the noise about how the biggest and most well-equipped football club in England not having a senior women’s team was deafening – by 2018, they were the only Premier League club to not have a women’s side. Perhaps finally realising that there was some long-term commercial viability in the women’s game, United announced the formation of a professional women’s club for the 2018-19 season, which was immediately parachuted into the Championship. Appointing former England captain, Casey Stoney, as head coach, United quickly recruited a strong side (which included several players who had played in their youth set-up but had to leave to pursue a career – such as Katie Zelem and Ella Toone). United won the league at a canter, earning a promotion to the WSL and have since grown steadily – last season, now under the management of Marc Skinner, they finished as runners-up to Chelsea in both the league and this very competition – a second-half goal by Sam Kerr separating the teams at Wembley last May in front of a record Women’s FA Cup attendance of 77,390. Clearly, they’re a club on the up – it’s just a shame they couldn’t have formed a decade or so before!

United have made a somewhat slow start to this season – with expectations high after the relative success of last season, Skinner has come under criticism from a section of the fanbase. The supporters’ displeasure at performances has led to cardboard ‘Skinner Out’ signs being spotted at games. Currently, United are points behind leaders Chelsea in the WSL, they didn’t get past the group stage in the League Cup, and they were knocked out of the Champions League in the second qualifying round by Paris St Germain, leaving the FA Cup as their only realistic prospect of silverware. You’d imagine Skinner, whose contract expires at the end of the season, needs to win it to stand a chance of holding back the critics and earning a new deal. In fairness, it does seem he’s been hamstrung a little; he’s had to contend with several injuries to key players and then there’s the ongoing ownership saga at Manchester United, which has undoubtedly affected their ability to recruit and retain players. Alessia Russo – starting striker for England in the World Cup – apparently had a contract offer withdrawn in the summer and so left on a free to sign for Arsenal. Recently, INEOS billionaire, Jim Radcliffe, has purchased a stake in the club and taken over the running of its football operations, with plans for the women’s side not clear as of yet.

Another key part of the United team is goalkeeper Mary Earps, who this week came to national attention once again, winning the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award. Voted for by viewers, it’s the second year in a row that an England Lioness has won, with Beth Mead taking the trophy home last year. This has rather, shall we say ‘upset’, some viewers who have labelled the win as a ‘box ticking exercise’ by the BBC as aside from winning the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper in the World Cup and being a key part of England reaching the final, Earps ‘hasn’t achieved anything’ of note. Personally, I think heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson (who was voted third) should have won it – she did, after all, win gold in the World Athletics Championship that year. But as the award is voted on by the public, it’s only logical to assume that it’s the fact women’s football is more popular than athletics is the reason why Mary won the award. More people are aware of her and what she achieved and voted that way. Maybe critics should bear that in mind the next time they say ‘nobody watches women’s football’?

Speaking of which, over four-and-a-half thousand people have turned up to Leigh on this gloomy Sunday afternoon – a good thousand of them being from Newcastle. On my way to the stadium, I pass several coaches that have driven down from the North East – and Old Trafford. There’s no train station in Leigh, with only a guided busway offering a connection to Manchester. So, to get as many United supporters to Leigh as possible, United’s travel club lay on transport to every game at LSV. Interestingly, I think this makes for a better atmosphere – getting on board with your fellow supporters outside the ground, the coach offers an environment for people to unite in anticipation and camaraderie. A solitary car journey confines people to their own bubble, whereas the coach fosters interaction and connections; views are aired, songs are sung, hopes are declared. When you arrive at your destination, you carry all of that into your seat, as you try and affect the game with your cheers. And some coach providers allow you to take bags of cans on, which I suspect is fuelling many of the Newcastle supporters who are shouting ‘Tooooooooooon’ in the East Stand right now.

As for me, I’m sitting in West Stand and I’m cursing myself for not getting here earlier, as it’s quite packed – I usually like to sit on the end of a row for easy entry/exit so I don’t bother people. However, on this occasion, I’m having to squeeze in between two groups of people and as I turn to the only available seat, I see it has bird shit on it. Typical. Thankfully, it’s dry and as I use an old Aldi receipt to wipe my hands just in case, I’m struck by the realisation that we’re in the fourth round now, with thousands coming to games instead of hundreds. Those times when I could rock up 5 minutes before kick-off are long gone now. Aside from us in here and the Newcastle supporters opposite, there’s a decent number of home supporters behind one goal, while the other (the terracing) is closed – but there are several United flags erected there and somewhat fortuitously, the colour scheme of the LSV itself is red, white and black (which were Leigh RLFC’s traditional colour scheme, before they rebranded to ‘Leopards’ last year). It’s easy to imagine that all this works to provide a ‘home feeling’ for United’s supporters and players, which can only help the atmosphere, driving the team forward – many women’s football clubs don’t have a specific home to call their own – one that they’re able to deck out in their colours – so any perceived ‘home advantage’ will be minimal. Here, everything is in place for them – even the colour scheme.

United have named a strong side for the visit of third-tier Newcastle, which I wasn’t expecting, as England players Ella Toone and BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023, Mary Earps, start. However, they’ve just returned from a mid-season training camp in Malta, with their last competitive game being a month ago, so it makes sense that they’ll want to brush off the cobwebs by naming their regular players in today’s team. Earps is definitely winning the battle for popularity amongst the supporters here too – I know this because there’s a plethora of cardboard signs telling me so. This is a unique phenomenon in the women’s game – the only time I’ve seen signs at a men’s game, it’s usually a bedsheet asking for a manager’s head or of late, requesting a player’s shirt. This has received criticism from the football community, citing ‘fan entitlement’ which has ‘gone out of control’ – and with the women’s game offering easier interactions, it’s been an issue that has reportedly made some players uncomfortable. In fairness, I don’t see any shirt request signs here today – they’re just saying how great Mary is. They’ve used glitter pens and everything, it’s quite impressive.

What isn’t impressive, at least in my opinion, is Manchester United’s mascot, Fred The Red. The anthropomorphic representation of a devil looks like a cartoon character from the 90s, all garish and shiny, complete with a nose and stupid grin on his face. Here he is now, waving to us and slapping his badge to chants of 'Fred The Red' from supporters. I feel sick. He’s wearing number 55 and as I’m Googling why that’s the case, I instead come across an article that says he’s the highest-paid mascot in the Premier League. Allegedly, he gets £70,000-a-year – that can’t be right, surely? Seventy. Thousand. Pounds. Even half that is a fantastic wage to wear a foam head, wave at people and just generally piss about at events. If anyone at United is reading this – I know times have been hard with the billion-pound investment and everything – but I’m willing to help out and do it for just £30k. Meal and travel allowance on top. As for why he wears 55? No idea – even some of the United supporters don’t know. Dan Brown should write a book on it – he likes that mystery numbers coupled with religious iconography and stuff.

Thankfully, the game soon kicks off and Fred goes off to spend his wages on some champagne or After Eights or something, and his WSL team naturally dominate the ball. A few early shots are either deflected wide or skied over the bar from distance as the players work to find their range – already, it seems it could be a long day for Newcastle here. Rather aptly, just as I noted that down, Newcastle come into the game and start to keep the ball and the United defence work. On two occasions, they get close to the penalty area but it’s just that final ball that’s lacking – one was hit too hard and ran out of play, the other wasn’t hit hard enough and was easily intercepted. It’s just a warning for the Reds – as they spend most of their time ripping apart sides in the third tier, Newcastle are very practised in creating chances out of nothing.

Just to endorse what I’ve just said – United nearly take the lead as a shot from just inside the area is tipped onto the bar by Grace Donnelly, then her team collect the ball, go up the other end and just as it seemed they’re bearing down on Earps, United make a last-ditch tackle. It’s exciting end-to-end stuff at the moment and the supporters are slightly uncomfortable – but they do make me laugh, as the way they’re supporting the team is slightly different from what I’m used to. As an example – instead of going absolutely mental over a free-kick and swearing their heads off in front of children, a poorly-taken free-kick is met with some ‘polite criticism’ which went along the lines of ‘Is this the men’s team?’. I can only imagine the amount of salt that would be cried by a social media critic of the women’s game if they heard that. Fair play, that’s good banter!

Newcastle’s resistance lasts for 28 minutes – Lucia Garcia outmuscles her marker on the left, cuts the ball inside towards Nikita Parris; it’s blocked but finds its way to the edge of the penalty area where Toone takes a touch to get away from a defender before shooting and looping the ball over Donnelly and into the middle of the goal. Toone scores against the Toon! United continue to pressure after the restart – they’ve been tested in the last 15 minutes, with Newcastle constantly hitting them on the break but they’re composed now and are keeping the ball again. Toone is involved in the second goal 10 minutes later – from the left touchline, she crosses high, and Parris finds the space amongst a crowd of defenders to head home. The supporters around me think their side have a third in first-half injury time as another long ball into the box is headed in by Parris – but it’s ruled that she came back from an offside position. United are in complete control at half-time, despite having to withstand a spell where Newcastle looked threatening – it just goes to score the importance of making pressure count.

I go down into the stand during the break to try and find a programme seller, as I didn’t see one on the way in – and I’ve got no chance. The queue for food is snaking around the concourse, as is the one for the women’s toilets. This is something that never fails to me chuckle – it’s tough on the women and girls who need the toilet, obviously, but it’s a clear sign of the popularity of women’s football amongst a group of people who have been classically stereotyped as ‘not liking football’. Unfortunately, beyond requisitioning one of the men’s loos, there’s not much that can be done to remedy this issue in multi-purpose stadiums such as this. Maybe have gender-natural versions and assign them depending on the types of crowds that are expected? Naturally, I’ve got plenty of time to ponder all this as I saunter into the near-deserted men’s and take my sweet time, warming my cold hands under the dryer for good measure. I could get used to this luxury, it’s an amazing feeling.

Any hopes Newcastle had of holding off their hosts and get a foothold in the mountain they had to climb were ended just 10 minutes into the second half, as United get a fortunate goal to make it three. Centre-back, Maya Le Tisser, finds herself out on the right wing; she mishits a cross, the ball loops towards goal where Donnelly can only palm it out to Garcia who proceeds to play it across the 6-yard box to Parris and she bundles home. It’s a scruffy goal but those around me obviously don’t care as they sing ‘We’re going to Wembley’.

Feeling the match is done with, Skinner makes FOUR subs on 65 minutes, giving a rest to some of the regular starters and bringing on those who need some game time. One of the players who was replaced was the industrious Garcia and there was a nice moment as she walked around the pitch, giving high-5s to several kids who had lined up by the advertising hoardings. Again, summing up the family feeling this fixture helps – although I suspect it helps being 3-nil up too. One of the sub introductions for United was Rachel Williams, who I learn later is a plasterer by trade – celebrating her 36th birthday last week, she started her career at a time when there was little money women’s football, which shows just how quickly it’s grown to become fully professional. The former England international is quickly involved in the action as she hits a shot that canons off the bar – it falls back to her, and she proceeded to lift the ball over Donnelly to make it four. Dare I say great finish by the plasterer?

With only a couple of minutes left, the away support – who have been constantly singing throughout the game – make one last sign of appreciation of their side’s efforts; ‘Stand up if you love the Toon’ and waving their black-and-white scarves around. It looks great – it should be interesting to see what crowds they attract in the second tier if/when they get there. Their support during this run – the group of people that came to Skem, the crowd at Gateshead and the horde here at Leigh have been in great voice, constantly getting behind their girls. With the backing Newcastle United have, I would imagine more success is on the way for their new Women’s team. Although, I’m not sure why they’re standing up and saying they love the opposition number 7, Ella, though? Great player and all but she’s cost you a place in the next round.

As the added time of five minutes is announced, the United support chant 'We want five' and low-and-behold, they get their wish just a minute later. A corner is swung in and forward, Melvine Malard powerfully heads home. It finishes as an empathic win for United – Newcastle did struggle to keep up for large periods of the second half as their hosts passed around them, highlighting the gap between the divisions. In fairness, as one of the best sides in the WSL, United regularly score loads anyway, so perhaps the gap between Newcastle right now and the rest of the WSL isn’t that large? It’s nevertheless something to build on for the National League side as they look to getting into the Women's Championship. As for United, considering they were finalists last year and are still ranked in the upper region of the WSL table, so I’m already wondering if I'll be following them to Wembley? Let’s see what the draw brings – Leigh again? Can I be that lucky?

Manchester United 5
(Toone, 28. Parris, 37, 55. Williams, 71. Malard, 90)

Newcastle United 0

Attendance: 4,731

Next round: Southampton vs. Manchester United

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Newcastle United Women vs. Stoke City Women - 2023-24 Women's FA Cup, Third Round

Sunday 10^th December 2023
Third Round
Newcastle United vs. Stoke City

I’ve enjoyed watching these games on a Sunday afternoon – getting to and from games is a far more relaxing experience than a Saturday, with its busy crowds, but the downside for those of us who rely on public transport, is the usual timetables are truncated. So, I’m facing a race against time today as in their wisdom, both clubs have agreed to a 1pm kick-off. This means I’ve realistically got only one train to catch at my connection in Manchester to get to make the game in time. That’s the best-case scenario if everything runs on time; the last ten days has seen snow and rain hit the UK harder than the dose of reality you get when you leave school, so delays are probable – and then there’s the question of the game being on at all. Imagine if I get to go to Newcastle and see that the game has been called off. ‘LOL’, as the kids say.

Usually, Newcastle Women play their games at Kingston Park, the ground of Newcastle Falcons rugby union club. However, the Falcons are playing at home today, so the Newcastle Women’s game has been switched to Gateshead, which regularly fills in for when Kingston Park isn’t available anyway. Ironically, the stadium in Gateshead is closer to the centre of Newcastle (a mile-and-a-half, compared to Kingston Park being 5-and-a-half miles away), despite being over the River Tyne, in a different town, so the switch has done me a favour if anything. St James’ Park was also muted as a potential venue by some Newcastle supporters online; it would have represented a great opportunity to showcase the unbeaten women’s team on the larger stage of the men’s ground, as so many WSL clubs have been doing in recent seasons. However, there was another event taking place within the stadium, so Gateshead was left as the best option.

As I’m sat on the train to Newcastle (my original train to Manchester – one of two I could have got to get there to make my connection in time – was cancelled, LOL), I console myself by thinking about the Gateshead International Stadium and its history as one of the country’s premier athletics facilities – it’s surely got undersoil heating, right? Then I thought, why would an athletics stadium need undersoil heating for its field? No, according to The Football Ground Guide, it doesn’t, and after looking at various other clubs on there, undersoil heating is nowhere near as common as I thought it was! In fact, it’s only the Premier League that insists on clubs having it – it was reported at the start of this season that newly-promoted Luton Town have been given special dispensation to play without it. After going down a groundskeeping rabbit hole (no pun intended) as the train powered through Yorkshire and on to the North East, I was left with the impression that pitch coverings were generally the anti-weather protection of choice for most EFL clubs. Here’s hoping Gateshead have some bloody good ones!

Despite all my weather worries and to my great surprise, everything does run on time – I arrive a couple of minutes early and soon as I get to the Metro station underneath Newcastle Central Station, the train to Gateshead Stadium is waiting just for me. I’m sure. Thank you to all on the transport network – you have made this blog happen. So now the reader knows who to blame when they feel they’ve not got their money’s worth!

Formed in 1989, Newcastle United Women were operated independently from the men’s club but would often link up on various projects – one of which being a curtain-raiser to the 1996 Charity Shield, in which they played Manchester United Women, prior to the match between the same men’s sides. While the women would lose 2-0, the men would see a rampant Manchester United put four past them, with no reply – with the game notable for being Alan Shearer’s competitive debut for Newcastle too. The following few years saw Newcastle United Women consolidate themselves within the football pyramid, achieving promotion to the third-tier Northern Combination in 1999, and continuing to grow by creating a youth set-up at the University of Northumbria. Now well-established as one of Northern England’s strongest women’s clubs outside of the top two divisions, the club embarked on a partnership with Newcastle City Council’s Football Development Scheme, which aside from continuing to aid their growth and giving more opportunities to girls to play football, set out a five-year plan to reach the top tier FA Women’s Premier League.

Although they didn’t get to reach the top division in the end (at least not yet), they did win promotion to the second-tier and go on a FA Cup run that saw them a couple of penalty kicks away from a semi-final – drawing 2-2 with top tier Liverpool in the 2006-07 quarter-finals, they lost 9-8 in the shootout. Winning a ‘Club of the Year’ award from the FA for their run, Newcastle continued to develop within the second tier – but a setback arrived in 2017 when they were relegated; picking up just 2 wins in 20 games, shipping 65 goals. A new outlook was needed, and that same year saw the still-independent Newcastle United become part of the Newcastle United Foundation, the registered charity arm of the men’s club – clearly, with women’s football showing huge signs of growth, this was the start of the process to bring them in-house.

It was in August 2022 that Newcastle United WFC were officially made part of Newcastle United, with the club’s new ownership setting out ambitions of reaching the Women’s Super League. The announcement was particularly timely as it followed the first appearance of the women’s side at St James’ Park that May, as over 22,000 saw them beat Alnwick Town 4-0 – and who could forget, mere weeks after England won the Euros. Anyone who knows the game knows what a hotbed of football the North East is – I’m not just talking about its professional clubs here, but there’s a strong non-league football tradition in the area, with clubs commanding relatively big crowds for the levels they play at. So, considering all that, it makes it all the more bizarre that there isn’t a women’s club from this region in the Super League already. Somehow, I think that’ll change in the next couple of years.

Despite being labelled ‘Gateshead Stadium’ the nearest Metro station is about a 12-minute walk away from the stadium, which usually wouldn’t be too bad, but it’s freezing, so the walk feels extra-long. Seeing Geordies wearing bobble hats and big coats just hits home how cold it is. Nevertheless, I get there in one piece and such is the organisation, I get my e-ticket (a very reasonable £5) scanned and I’m straight in the warm bosom of the main stand. And what a nice stadium it is! Aside from athletics, The Gateshead International Stadium is used by Gateshead FC of the men's fifth-tier National League, so it’s fully set up for a football watcher’s experience. Any trip to Gateshead wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory mention of the Angel of North, the massive sculpture that sits by the A1, dominating the landscape. I didn’t see it on this trip but I feel it important to mention because it was designed by Anthony Gormley – the same artist who put a hundred sculptures of himself on Crosby beach, which I saw during my visit to Marine a couple of rounds back. How neat!

Built in 1955 on land previously occupied by Georgian-era chemical works, the Gateshead Youth Stadium was a modest construction, consisting of a cinder running track and an asphalt cycling track, with floodlights and a seating area being added later. By the turn of the 1970s, there was a need to reverse what was described as ‘inner city decay’ in Gateshead, with regeneration of existing structures being identified as a particular area of interest. The Gateshead Youth Stadium was one such building earmarked for regeneration and so in 1974, the council turned to local schoolteacher-turned-athlete, Brendan Foster, to head up a sport and recreation department that would handle the project. After the laying down of a synthetic track, further developments followed within the next decade – including the building of the huge seated main stand I’m sitting in today, with three more following. This allowed the stadium to host international events and thus, The Gateshead International Stadium was born, and further improvements have seen the site incorporate further sporting facilities to cement its place as the North East’s premier multi-sport venue.

With an all-seated capacity just shy of 12,000, the stadium is certainly set up for the Football League – but whether people would enjoy watching games here is another matter. It's easy to dismiss these stadiums because of the running tracks between the pitch and the stands – it doesn't help to boost passion and atmosphere when you're further away from the pitch and thus feel disconnected from the action on the pitch. This is some contrast to August when I stood on the sidelines on a field in Penwortham, where it felt like I were a part of the action! Having seen football games at other athletics stadiums where the view can be difficult, the stand here is steep enough that it offers a decent view of the pitch, so I don’t really mind the rare treat of staring out over a running track to watch a football match!

Today’s sides play in the same division – currently, Newcastle are battling for promotion, while Stoke are mid-table in a 12-team league that, despite it being halfway through the season, is already fractured into three ‘mini-leagues’. Newcastle won the league clash 3-1 at Kingston Park in October, and with the winner of today’s tie going into a draw that will feature WSL clubs for the first time this season, it’s certainly got an extra weight of importance. Resplendent in their traditional black-and-white stripes (it’s Stoke’s – wears of the red-and-white variety of stripes – turn to wear green this time), the Newcastle team walk to hearty applause from the crowd. Despite the venue change, there’s a decent number of supporters here, by far the largest crowd I’ve been a part of so far during this run, but that could have gone without saying! It’s crazy to think about how I was watching a game in a 3G cage in Leigh in the same competition justtwo rounds ago.

The first 15 minutes of the match is pretty even – Newcastle have most of the ball, but without creating any clear-cut chances. They do force a couple of corners which are met with a chant of ‘on the heed, on the heed, on the heeeeeed’, by several people around me, eager for their side to score. A beautiful accent that sounds like whale song, Al Murray’s Pub Landlord character once remarked – I’m sat here, listening to them, feeling like I’m in an Enya song, having sound therapy or something. This attempt at football witchcraft almost worked too – one corner did indeed find the heed of a Newcastle player; she connected well, it heeds towards goal but a Stoke player is there to heed it away.

Much of Newcastle’s play has been coming down both sides of the pitch – full-backs being pushed up high, winning the ball back, often in the Stoke half of the field. On one such occasion, 21 minutes in, Charlotte Potts intercepts a stray Stoke pass, runs up the left before slipping a well-weighted pass towards Bridget Galloway, 10 yards from goal – she shoots, Elizabeth Hobson in the Stoke goal makes a great block with her legs, but the ball spins behind her, and into the corner of the net. Gutting for Stoke – it looked for a second (and it was a second, it took that long!), that Hobson had saved from point-blank range, but the ball squeezed agonisingly past the post. The Newcastle supporters obviously don’t care, they’re too busy cheering with more whale song!

The goal gives the home side renewed confidence and they’re now playing more forward balls in attacking areas, creating more chances. Hobson has to make two good saves in quick succession to keep her side in it – the second of which looks like she saved it with her ‘lower body’ because she spent a minute, doubled up on the grass afterwards (the first save was a more conventional tip round the post!) Just as it looks like Newcastle are about to add to their lead, they almost concede on 40 minutes – a clearance from the Stoke area is played quickly upfield, eventually finding its way to midfielder, Danielle Puddlefoot 20 yards out; she hits the ball first-time on the volley which Newcastle goalkeeper, Grace Donnelly, has to reposition herself quickly to palm the ball wide.

So close to an equaliser – and a warning for the home side that an opposition goal is a mere (in this case, well-crafted) swing of a boot away. It remains 1-0 to the home side and despite a shaky end to the half, it takes nothing away from how much they’ve controlled the game. I expect them to up the tempo in the second half and create more chances – they’ve cut through Stoke at times, but just need a bit more quality in the final third.

And it takes just 10 minutes of the second half for them to notch the long-awaited second goal! After spending half-time under the stand, away from the cold and wet, enjoying the experience of an empty men’s toilets, I return to see a quicker, more penetrative Newcastle. The high pressing continues and after Katie Barker successfully nicks the ball off the Stoke right-back, she runs away with it, towards the area and plays square to Galloway who taps into an empty net. Parker looks an excellent player; a quick forward who likes to run at defenders – and her goal is the very example of that. On 65 minutes, after much more Newcastle domination, Galloway returns the favour and finds Barker in space on the left of the area; she skips inside a defender before shooting over Hobson’s heed, great finish.

The supporters who have travelled here, braving the elements, are enjoying themselves, now ‘olé-ing’ every successful Newcastle pass. They even (I’m pretty sure) persuade their players to shoot from 30 yards out – constant cries of ‘shoot, shoot, shooooooooot’ erupt into the Gateshead sky – and she does shoot! And the ball goes at least 10 yards clear of the crossbar, bouncing on a puddle on the running track for good measure.

Stoke have no answers and are being run ragged – their only chance being a long ball forward that Donnelly had to slide to the grass to collect. Other than that, it’s damage limitation for them, which doesn’t work either, as they concede two more goals in the last ten minutes. First, some quick play in midfield leaves the away side chasing shadows, the ball is played out wide before being crossed into the area – Hobson misses the ball and Anna Soulsby is there to tap into another empty net. With many around me taking the fourth as an opportunity to leave and beat the traffic (I don’t know why, there is ‘only’ 600 people here?!), they miss out on the injury time goal and a second for substitute, Soulsby. Stoke have been too slow in playing the ball out and despite being late on in the game, Newcastle are still pressing – Soulsby presses the last defender on the edge of the area and wins the ball before turning and firing high past the frustrated Hobson.

It's been an entertaining game, an illuminating insight into the difference that being fully-professional makes at this level. Despite playing in the same league and backed by their respective men’s clubs, Newcastle were able to run harder, press for longer and simply look better on the ball. With so few clubs in each division, it’s difficult to get a reading on how good the depth is in women’s football at the moment – that will come in time, of course, as more girls are inspired to play, clubs grow, professionalise and leagues expand.

I must mention the PA chap here who has been entertaining, with his ‘unique’ mic work. He made everyone chuckle as he tried to announce a player’s name but struggled a few times before giving up. He also took the opportunity to announce something every time there was a treatment break, uttering ‘at this unfortunate time…’ before talking about something going on at the stadium in the coming weeks, even inviting us to go and watch Gateshead Ladies who are playing a match on the pitches behind the stadium. Now, he’s passively aggressively chastising the officials for not indicating how much injury time there is. 'I'll let you know when I find out' he tells the crowd, before following it up with '3 minutes', 10 seconds later!

Full-time arrives and the home side are saluted by the remaining supporters. Their ambitious side will be taking their place amongst the best in the English women's game in tomorrow’s fourth round draw. With WSL clubs now added alongside Championship sides, it should be intriguing to see what draw we get – and ascertain how good these Geordie Lasses truly are.

Now here’s hoping the trains don’t bugger up on the way back.

Newcastle United 5
(Galloway, 21, 53. Barker, 65. Soulsby, 83, 86) 

Stoke City 0

Attendance: 654

Next Round: Manchester United vs. Newcastle United

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Chorley Women vs. Newcastle United Women - 2023-24 FA Women's Cup, Second Round

Sunday 26^th November 2023
Second Round
Chorley vs. Newcastle United

With the draw taking place on the Monday after the postponed tie in the last round, we already knew who the winner would face by the time Wigan and Chorley kicked off in Leigh – a plum home tie against National League North (third tier) Newcastle United. The recently-turned professional women’s section of one of England’s biggest clubs are very ambitious and as such, have swept aside the rest of the league this season, with sizeable crowds watching home and away. However, the adverse weather conditions that have plagued the North West for weeks have forced Chorley’s hand – instead of risking it and hosting the tie on grass at their usual home at Coppull United (or indeed, at Chorley FC), they elect to hire the 3G pitch at JMO Park in Skelmersdale for the day, some 20 miles away. It’s great for me, as it’s on the bus route near my house, but I imagine it’s awkward for anyone in or around Chorley who might have fancied a late decision to go along. Even a 20-mile trip isn’t appealing in the cold and wet.

The choice of JMO Park to host a tie in the Women’s FA Cup is an intriguing one – what with the pitch being ruled unsuitable to host men’s eighth-tier football and all. Skelmersdale United had achieved a credible 11^th-place finish in the Northern Premier League Division One West last season, a year after winning promotion via the play-offs. However, the 3G failed a FIFA bounce test – essentially a grading of an artificial pitch’s ability to mimic natural grass during play. As a result, Skem were forced to make alternative arrangements when required improvements were unable to be met, leading them to enter into a groundsharing agreement to play at Burscough’s new ground. However, this hastily put-together facility at the side of the old ground in Burscough was deemed unsuitable to host games at Northern Premier League level and therefore, Skem were demoted back down to the North West Counties League. A massive blow to them, considering they had already spent several years playing at various grounds in the area after being evicted from their previous home, until the JMO Sports Park stepped in to bring them back to the town. So, we’re now left with a situation where the JMO is not suitable to host men’s semi-professional matches but apparently is okay for a Women’s FA Cup second round tie (which, ironically enough, will feature full-time professionals on the Newcastle team)!

This is very reminiscent of a row before the 2015 Women’s World Cup, held in Canada. FIFA were heavily criticised when they confirmed that all matches would be held at venues with artificial pitches, with people saying that it was ‘discriminatory’, as elite men’s team would never be forced to play on artificial surfaces instead of natural grass. Sixty players even put their name to a lawsuit lobbied against world football’s governing body and the Canadian Soccer Association. The two main areas of complaint were their belief that artificial pitches are more likely to lead to injuries, and the difference in the makeup of the surfaces. FIFA responded by saying that the re-laid surfaces were subjected to their stringent testing system and that the same pitches were installed across all venues.

While the tournament went ahead and the suit dropped, for many onlookers it highlighted a double standard within football – and in all honesty, it isn’t a good look for FIFA. To me, it seems like they’re using the women’s game as a testing ground for these systems and surfaces, rather than providing a level playing field for their women’s ‘product’ to grow to the highest standard (no pun intended). So, yes, it’s very odd to be experiencing this second round Women’s FA Cup match here today – not just for the reminder of a double standard, but also because it shows that perhaps, Skem should not have been uprooted and demoted, as well as a local business left without a major client paying rent. All because a ball doesn’t bounce in the correct way – it doesn't do that on grass for many months of the season anyway!

The club that became Chorley Women FC were formed in 1978 by a Mr E. Gardner as ‘Cumberland Rangers Ladies’ for players in the Preston area. Despite this, there were no local pitches for them to play at, so they played in Accrington, later moving to New Longton and changing their name to reflect their locality. With the village of New Longton – birthplace of Blue Peter’s and Doctor Who’s Peter Purves, I was delighted to find out – being 10 miles from Chorley, many of the team’s players came from the town and by 1983, the club had rebranded as ‘Chorley Ladies’. By this point, a bone-fide women’s football legend was turning out for the club, while her husband was the manager – Shelia Parker. First turning out for the famous Dick, Kerr’s Ladies at the age of 13 in 1961, Shelia went on to win every domestic honour in the game, mostly with Preston but quite notably, with Foden’s – a former works team – winning the fourth edition of the Women’s Cup, beating favourites Southampton Ladies 2-1. By this point, Shelia was England captain, having first skippered them in their first international match, a 3-2 win against Scotland in Greenock on 18^th November 1972 – a century (almost to the month) that the first men’s international between the two sides took place. In 2022, she was awarded an MBE for services to football and charity, as well as honoured with a plaque at Chorley FC to mark her achievements and service to the club.

Reflecting on her time as a player, Shelia remarked that there were so few teams to play in those days, but the women’s game did go on to experience a good level of growth throughout the 1980s. This was undoubtedly helped by the FA lifting their ban a decade earlier, giving women and girls local pitches on which to organise teams. By this point, Chorley were playing in the North West Regional League, with their first game being against Manchester City – in what was City’s first-ever league game, Chorley ran out 11-0 winners. They went on to win three North West Regional League championships, eventually earning them a promotion to the Northern Combination – a league created in 1998, to act as a feeder for the top-tier Women’s Premier League. The introduction of professionalism and the Women’s Super League saw the Combination leagues replaced and today, Chorley play in the fourth tier Women’s National League North – one division below today’s opponents, who are reigning champions of Chorley’s division.

Skelmersdale is essentially a Milton Keynes of the North West. All roads and roundabouts, but unlike Milton Keynes, it doesn’t have a railway connection. ‘Old Skem’ was a tiny West Lancashire village that was expanded into a ‘New Town’ during the 1960s, primarily catering for the population overflow from Liverpool – all of which is reflected in the Skem of today, with the accents being off-Scouse (or ‘wool’) and the uniform concrete architecture, which looks like a 1960s dystopian nightmare. Nevertheless, there’s a picturesque quality to JMO Park when I first see it, as I cross the bridge that leads to the facility – the sight of the lush greenness of the 3G and players kicking a ball about is illuminated by the floodlights, standing out amongst the roads that surrounded it, on this dark, dank Sunday afternoon in November.

I follow a couple of Newcastle supporters into the ground – I know this because they’re wearing club gear (if that isn’t a giveaway, they also sound like Les/Lesley off the TV series, Benidorm) – and I’m met with the sight of a comfy clubhouse interior, with plenty of seating and tables, TV screens and more importantly, a bar. There are a couple of ladies in Chorley FC club shirts taking a fiver for entry, so I hand mine over and get a nice glossy sheet of A4 (which is the programme!) While waiting at the bar, I have a quick read and a short message from Chorley Chair, Janet Mitchell, welcomes everyone and throws some, I’m sure, unintended shade at the visitors, pointing out that they’re fully professional while the Chorley players ‘pay a tenner each just to get a coach to away games’. These are sides just a division apart, by the way – they even played each other in the same league last season!

Cold beer in hand (in what my phone tells me is 3-degree weather), I walk through the glass doors (not literally) of the clubhouse and out into the open to take in the ground (or ‘the main pitch’, as there’s another 11-a-side pitch here, along with many other smaller ones). There’s a small, seated stand on one side of the pitch, while the rest is made up of connected terracing – although it looks impressive, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness that no regular team is playing here now. Taking a seat in the stand, I pass by a significant number of Newcastle supporters, two of whom are tying up a black-and-white HOWAY THE LASSES flag at the front of the stand. This got me thinking about how this is the first time on this road to Wembley that I’ve seen people at a game who are actual supporters of a club and not just a family members or friends of the players – again, this shows the huge chasm between women’s clubs, even at similar levels. Newcastle’s camera crew comes to take a position at the side of me, setting up their gear – apparently, the match is being streamed on YouTube, which is another first for me; being at a Women’s FA Cup game that’s being broadcast. Let’s hope I don’t say anything provocative and ruin their stream. No promises. Aside from the Geordies in attendance, there’s quite a good number of (what I believe) are Chorley supporters, so despite the move to Skem and the bad weather, the tie is well-attended and everyone is braced for an entertaining match.

As it turns out, it is! As you might expect, it was the professional players of Newcastle, not the coach-paying players of Chorley, that dominated the ball early on – creating two chances within the first 20 minutes that contrasted greatly. The first was shot straight at Emma Bradley in the home goal, while the other was smashed over – and out of the ground. Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had a passing car on the B5312! With both sides having home colours of black-and-white stripes (and as such, both having the nickname of ‘Magpies’), Newcastle are wearing an away strip of green with black trim. Also, just to underline their higher status, their players have their names on the back of their shirts, while Chorley do not. Speaking of whom, the ‘home’ side are doing okay so far. While not creating any clear-cut chances, they’re giving the smattering of home supporters some encouragement with some good spells of possession; slipping the ball past Newcastle with ease, just without a final pass beyond the away side’s backline.

While Chorley looked relatively comfortable after half an hour, they proceeded to start giving the ball away cheaply, unable to maintain their earlier slick play. On one such occasion, they lose possession which allows Newcastle to slip a ball down the left; it’s crossed in and a forward is on hand to sweep home from close range. The Newcastle supporters around me celebrate, but the flag is up for offside. Thanks to this moment, I’m at least aware of exactly how many away supporters are here now! They’re almost celebrating again not long later as some good play from Jasmine McQuaide sees her find space in the penalty area, she shoots across goal, the ball looks in…but it goes agonisingly wide. Newcastle are getting closer, surely it’s only a matter of time now before they take the lead?

Chorley keep battling, they’ve had a couple of counter-attacking opportunities but once again, they’re just a final pass away. To me this shows the differences between the sides – Chorley simply lack the quality to get behind a well-organised Newcastle defence. Other than that, there hasn’t been much difference between the two – Chorley have moved the ball about well at times and if Newcastle weren’t as diligent with their positioning, chances would have been created. Being a full-time side, it should be interesting to see what influence Newcastle have in the second half – as we’ve seen already, even with two amateur sides playing, fitness has been a major issue for some teams.

Just as it seems the Magpies of Chorley will be going in at half-time on level terms, the Magpies of Newcastle finally make their domination count. A long ball into the penalty area isn’t cleared, it bounces a couple of times to find itself on the edge, where Katie Barker is stood, and she proceeds to carefully sidefoot in. I say carefully because the ball was bouncing around quite elastically – maybe the bounce test was right to fail this pitch, after all?

I retire to the warmth of the function room at half-time – and with room for 140 people, there are plenty of tables to sit down at. I have a proper read of the programme/teamsheet for the first time and see – aside from the names of the away players being placed on the left-hand side of the sheet (which usually indicate the ‘home’, i.e. the most ‘prestigious’ side, the one ‘everyone has come to see’) – that Newcastle are unbeaten in all competitions this season. With 40 goals to their name and 8 clean sheets, it just goes to show what Chorley are up against here. No wonder they’ve put them on the left of the teamsheet! (Although likely an oversight by whoever designed it, I still find it irritating from a football traditionalist point of view!)

It's no surprise then that North East Magpies continue to dominate when the second half kicks off – they have a couple of chances, only for some last-ditch challenges and the ball being smashed over the bar preventing an increase in the scoreline. There’s a moment that makes everyone collectively wince, as a Newcastle player gets smashed on the head by the ball – which must sting a bit in this freezing weather. While she’s being treated, I notice that a group of non-involved Newcastle players have sat near me – I have the camera crew on one side and now a group of players on the other. I’m in the middle. The song lyrics write themselves. Continuing the injury theme of these last few matches, I see that one of the players sat to the side of me is on crutches, with her foot wrapped – I know these players are either professional or semi-professional, but it’s still impressive that they’ve travelled here to see the game when they’re not involved in the matchday squad. If there was any doubt that these girls weren’t professionals that take their jobs seriously, they’re sitting down with tubs of homemade pasta – the fuel for any serious sportsperson. I sip on my beer, which is the fuel for any serious idiot.

Thankfully, no serious injury occurs and the game restarts, coinciding with Newcastle cashing in on their constant pressure. After a cross is half-blocked, the ball loops into the air and forward Bridget Galloway is there to beat keeper Bradley to it, and bundle in from close range. There’s a touch of irony that the long-awaited second goal arrived in such a fortunate manner, considering the number of chances Newcastle have created in the second half. Nevertheless, it virtually ends any hope Chorley have of nicking something and gives the Geordies some breathing space. Not long later, they grab a third after a corner is flicked on by a Chorley defender at the near post, nobody but the far post gets a touch, and the ball goes in off the upright.

We’ve seen a distinct lack of bookings so far during this FA Cup run – this just plays into my observation that the women’s game is less physical, so you’re not likely to see as many heavy challenges – but we’ve got one here! I’m so excited! I mean, I’m disgusted. No need for this in the game. Barker goes on a mazy run, skipping past several Chorley players until she’s unceremoniously tripped 20 yards out. Sharna Wilkinson takes the free-kick, shooting directly at goal – it’s a powerful shot and while Bradley gets a big hand to it, she can’t keep the ball from going beyond her and into the net.

With the tie all but lost, Chorley have thrown off their counter-attacking style and instead decide to try and press for a consolation goal, but one such attack breaks down and is cleared to Becky Ferguson, who’s the furthest Newcastle player forward. She takes a touch around her marker on halfway and sprints towards goal – her marker tries but eventually gives up trying to catch her, and she proceeds to finish past Bradley to make it five. The ref, presumably happy he’s made use of his yellow card, blows for full-time as soon as he restarts. It was a great goal and the large gathering of Geordies lapped it up – a few more shouts of ‘g’wan lasses’ echo off the stand.

It’s a well-deserved scoreline for the away side but once again, I was left with the feeling that there wasn’t much between these sides that a level playing field wouldn’t fix. Just like how the teenage Wigan side looked comfortable last week, despite losing 4-0, there were spells in this game where Chorley looked comfortable too, as they kept the ball well. As the game wore on, they naturally conceded more chances and goals – in fact, three of the second half’s four goals came within the last 15 minutes. Considering left-of-the teamsheet Newcastle are full-time and Chorley have to essentially pay to play, the gap isn’t as big as you might expect.

Hopefully next time, Chorley will be able to host a ‘big’ side at home in this competition – not ‘home’ as in here in Skem, nor even their regular home in Coppull, I mean home as in Chorley, at Victory Park, the men’s ground. Considering the history of their women’s side and their current standing in the women’s football pyramid, more needs to be done to promote them to the town – the men’s side have been in the National League in recent years, with crowds of over a thousand watching on, so there’s definitely scope there to support a women’s fourth tier side. At the very least, their players should be on the left of their own teamsheet and should get their coach paid for by the club.

So, we’re now following Newcastle on this Women’s FA Cup road to Wembley – my travelling is starting to get serious. And winter is here, famously helpful to public transportation systems. Oh dear.

Chorley 0

Newcastle United 5
(Barker, Galloway, OG, Wilkinson, Ferguson)

Attendance: About 100

Next round: Newcastle United vs. Stoke City

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Wigan Athletic Ladies vs. Chorley Women - 2023-24 Women's FA Cup, First Round

Sunday 19^th November 2023
First Round
Wigan Athletic vs. Chorley

My wish for a home draw for a historic First Round tie for Wigan is granted and what’s more, they’ve drawn fourth tier Chorley – the Women’s National League Division One North side are located just 8 miles away, so I’m expectant of a sizeable crowd for the match. Scheduled to take place at Ashton Athletic of the North West Counties League Division One North (situated in men’s tenth tier), the tie was postponed on the day of the game due to a waterlogged pitch. With more heavy rain expected, the club took no chances and instead, arrange for the fixture a week later to take place on a 3G pitch at Leigh Sports Village.

There’s been a little bit of press attention for this match – but not from the outlets I expected. After the win at Harrogate in the last round, I eagerly watched the (official) Wigan Athletic Twitter feed, waiting for a post congratulating the team on their achievement – perhaps it could work to inspire people to go and check out the next round? But there was nothing. I’m not saying they should be taking control of the club or even slipping them a couple of quid (it’s been especially difficult for the club financially in recent years, so that’s completely understandable), but a short piece on the website, a social media post, anything that wouldn’t take up too many resources and yet pay tribute to its representative women’s team for their achievements would be great.

Prior to the original date this fixture was due to take place, I e-mailed the local paper with a short article on the Harrogate win. The paper (or website, as it is these days) usually publishes views from Wigan Athletic supporters each week, so I assumed a piece on the burgeoning women’s team would be an interesting read. Again, nothing. Not published, no e-mail acknowledgement, nothing. There was, however, a very good piece in the Liverpool Echo – knowing how many scousers there are in the Wigan team, I’m guessing that one of the parents was somehow involved in it getting published. In fact, the only Wigan-related media to mention it was a supporter podcast (shoutout to Progress With Unity) – but it’s peculiar that the local press are either not aware or just not interested in publishing news that local football supporters might be interested in.

I can’t feel anything but disappointment, to be honest. Here, we have a young team who have been sweeping all before them in the league and cup, reaching the First Round for the first time and it didn’t even warrant a mention in any publication in Wigan. I understand that they aren’t ‘officially’ part of Wigan Athletic, they’re just allowed to use the name, but would it have been too much bother to make a single post on social media to say congratulations and inform supporters of their existence? What’s the point of them being allowed to use the Wigan Athletic name if Wigan Athletic don’t even acknowledge them? With women’s football in England receiving more attention than ever in recent years, it just feels like a missed opportunity for all involved – the women’s team to get some much-deserved exposure and support, and the football club to inform everyone that their commitment to equality goes beyond the rhetoric on social media and in the matchday programme.

Thanks to the Liverpool Echo, a few gaps in my Wigan Athletic Ladies’ knowledge is filled in – with the backgrounds of the players and the objectives of the club being the focus. After a difficult period, last season’s first team was disbanded and instead of trying to recruit senior players, chairman, Kevin Spencer and manager, Chris Knights, decided to promote their youth players instead. Many of these were released by the academies of professional clubs, with Spencer explaining in the article that the club will effectively act as a ‘way back’ into the pro ranks for these players.

From what I’ve learned about women’s football in recent months, there doesn’t seem to be a huge gap between the lower divisions – we’re still very early in the development of the women’s pyramid, so the standard of teams will vary wildly across the divisions, probably up to as far as the third tier when semi-professional sides and full links with men’s sides come into play. The chairman believes the club can be the ‘missing link’ between grassroots and the top tiers of the game – attracting released players from professional clubs in the North West. If they can build a great reputation doing this, then future recruitment will be made much easier – it’s a strategy that has worked wonders so far, and I’m very excited to see how the club and its players will develop in the next few years.

Regular women’s football watchers may recognise Leigh Sports Village as being the home of Manchester United Women. Built between 2007-2008, the £83m complex is home to several sports, retail and housing developments, with the 12,165-capacity stadium being the centrepiece. However, today’s match will be taking place on a 3G pitch – of which there are bloody many. As I’m walking up one of the streets at the back end of the village, I’m wondering about which of the pitches I need to be at. I can hear the thudding of balls, the clattering of the cages and the utterings of industrial language (‘for fucks’ sake!’, ‘shit!’, ‘what was that, prick?’) – women’s football is certainly catching up alright. Only joking; there’s a couple of pitches being used by over-enthusiastic lads playing scratch games but thankfully, I quickly spot the Wigan Athletic training tops and head towards there.

The caged pitches are neatly arranged in two rows, with a path in between them for ease of access. At the entrance to this, there’s a small hut with a poster attached to it, detailing today’s match and the entrance prices. I hand over my two quid and the home club official looks genuinely surprised to see me – obviously, I’m one of very few non-player-relations here and he greets me with ‘Are you supporting Wigan’? ‘Er – yes’, I reply – I suppose I am, but technically speaking, I’m a neutral for the purposes of this blog – which you already know, as I’ve done such a GREAT job at hiding my allegiances so far. I get handed a programme – a folded A4 – and sent off with a cheery ‘nice one, lad!’. Once again, I feel a sense of regret that more hasn’t been made out of this tie in the local press – these girls deserve more support, and I’m left wondering if more people would have gone to see them at Ashton Athletic if the weather hadn’t intervened?

Saying that, it’s a good job the game was moved to a 3G pitch for today because it’s been raining all day. While it’s certainly a great training facility here, it’s not suitable for spectators – there’s no covered standing and there’s netting all around the pitch, obstructing the view. I do stand next to a friendly dog, so it could be worse. The pitch where we’re at is located at the far end of the 3G gauntlet and instead of another pitch lying opposite, there’s a bar and restaurant that’s attached to the changing rooms. Even I can’t stomach a cold beer in cold and wet weather (at least not yet – there’s a queue), so I occupy myself with the folded A4 programme I was given at the gate. With the insides containing a short welcome note and the squad lists, the back page has a nice message, dedicating the win at Harrogate to club founder, Flo Mather, who retired 18 months ago. I learned from this that the club was created in 1999 – coincidentally, the year Wigan Athletic moved to the now-named DW Stadium.

Kick-off today was supposed to be at a bizarre time of 15:45 but it’s delayed by fifteen minutes, with the rumour going around the gathering crowd that the referee is late. With the teams warming up, waiting for the ref, some Chorley supporters make themselves known – and they have a drum with them. Unless they intend to play ‘In The Air Tonight’ on it, I’m not sure I can bear listening to it, on top of the rain, cold and lack of drink. Thankfully, they produce a couple of half-hearted beats which is met by the giggling parents around me with ‘Wigan!’, and they soon give up. Still, I suppose you can say this represented my first experience of chanting and supporter clashes of this FA Cup run so far!

When the game does finally start, Chorley immediately take control, looking much tidier on the ball – all their passes finding a teammate, whereas Wigan can’t keep hold of it for long when they do gain possession. After ten minutes, Chorley finally make a breakthrough – the ball is played to a forward with her back to goal, she finds enough space and turns to shoot past the goalkeeper. The first time Wigan have been behind in this competition this season – how will they respond?

Quite well, actually. The goal seems to wake them up a bit and they start to string together more passes, but it’s the aggression they’re showing in midfield, against more experienced players, that’s impressive. One such occasion saw a Wigan forward win the ball on halfway, skip past three defenders but as she approached the last, the ball got stuck under her foot and was cleared. The parents around me ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ (the dog next to me just seemed non-plussed, probably wanting a biscuit), sensing that it was one of very few chances their girls might get to score today.

This is the difference I’m talking about– the higher-ranked and more experienced side just use the ball better. I don’t think there’s much difference between the abilities of these players, Chorley just have a heightened tactical awareness that sees them use the ball more effectively. Whether in defence or attack, their experience gives them the ability to sufficiently organise themselves – which allows them to play easy passes, whereas Wigan have to rely on individual players to create chances. All this is exemplified not long later when a simple pass splits the Wigan backline and a defender goes to ground to prevent the attack from getting a shot off – it’s a foul, apparently, penalty. I say ‘apparently’ because it did look harsh – she seemed to have got the ball, but then again, I’m stood further away, watching from the outside of a cage. And you know what they say – you give the ref a decision to make if you go to ground in the penalty area. The penalty is comfortably tucked away, and the young Wigan team have a mountain to climb.

That mountain becomes Everest-sized midway through the half as Chorley make it three – and it’s a well-worked goal. Some neat play down the left sees an attacker scampering towards the penalty area and as soon as crosses the 18-yard line, she shoots, the keeper makes a good save, but an on-coming attacker is there to smash in the rebound. It’s a tad harsh on Wigan who go on and dictate the play themselves for the rest of the half – Chorley comfortable enough to let them have the ball, restricting their hosts to some long-range efforts.

Despite the current scoreline and the freezing conditions, the parents – and the rest of the assembled crowd – are having a good time. The Chorley drum isn’t sounding, but amongst the shouts of support for the girls, animated chatter and laughter dominating the soundscape – I suspect people are being giddy just to keep warm! One chap next to me gets in a round of hot chocolates for his group and they all stand there, unknowingly taunting me as the aroma wafts under my increasingly-wet nose. Something else me and the dog have in common.

The cheerful atmosphere is replaced by one of concern just before half-time, however. Wigan play a ball through and as an attacker challenges the on-rushing goalkeeper, she goes down and there’s a brief pile-on as a couple of defenders get back to help. The referee immediately shouts at everyone to ‘move away’ as it’s clear the Wigan player – who I learn later is Grace Carr – is in some distress. While the physios are tending to her, the consensus around me is that she’s ‘broken her leg’ – not dure how they can tell from here, but again, I’m not a scientist. The referee decides to blow for half-time so she can continue to get treatment and wait on the pitch for the ambulance. I’m immediately reminded of the incident at Marine when the game was ended close to full-time when one of their players went down and broke (or fractured) her arm. When all you watch is professional football, what with games having ambulance crews on hand, it’s easy to take them for granted. We hear that there will be a 45-minute delay, so all that can be done is for club staff to make Grace feel comfortable and cover her in blankets, while the players either stay in the changing rooms or sit in the bar. I notice many of the Chorley players are in the bar, so hopefully they’ll all have a couple of pints each before the start of the second half.

With the players and supporters packing out the bar area, there’s not much indoor space for me to warm up in. Looking through a window, I see that the restaurant seems to be hosting a family party of some kind, and there’s a buffet staring at me, suggestively. Butties, quiche and chocolate cake tipping me the wink, making my empty stomach dance. Maybe I can borrow my doggy friend to cause a distraction? I somehow manage to prise myself away from the potential heist and find some cover from the rain close to the changing room, but I just can’t get the idea of rifling through the buffet out of my head. I occupy myself looking through another window and see some signage and even a couple of trophies that tell me these facilities must be used by Leigh East Rugby League club, so I can only assume this particular 3G must be their home pitch. Suddenly the rugby posts, that sit behind roll-on football goals here, make sense! Still, I’m intrigued how they manage to get crowds here, and after some research, it looks like they take down the fences on this side of the pitch to allow spectators to have a better view. It’s a shame that this game had to be arranged at such short notice and thus not set up for spectating, as it’s been a struggle to connect with the action at times.

As I was looking this information up, I’m stood close to the entrance of the changing rooms, and I overheard the ref tell spectators that it would be ‘up to the girls’ whether the game would continue. When the ambulance arrives and tends to Grace, lifting her in a wheelchair, all the Wigan team come out to see her off – we’re continuing as the Chorley team come out and warm up not long later. Best wishes to her on her recovery (hopefully I’ve got your name right and not confused you with the other Grace!)

The second half gets back underway after a delay of an hour and I’m wondering how Wigan will react, considering the momentum they had been building up and the effects of the incident, of course. They react well, as it happens – just a minute into the half, they have a shot from distance that the Chorley keeper does well to palm wide. They continue to dominate the ball and be aggressive in midfield, maybe this tie isn’t over?

In fairness to Chorley, they manage the game well – again, a clear indicator of their experience at playing at a higher level. Wigan just can’t get beyond their backline – some well-timed tackles on winger, Casey Green, preventing any meaningful penalty area action for Wigan. It’s actually Chorley who get the next goal – again, some simple passing sees an attacker in space and she half-volleys into the corner from inside the area. Totally against the run of play, but that’s what good sides do – finding a goal despite being up against it.

It stays nil-four as the ref blows the whistle on this marathon fixture, bringing the curtain down on Wigan’s historic run in this competition. It’s been a great journey, and they can feel very proud of their achievements – for such a young team, they play some exciting football and have competed well today against a side three divisions higher than them. Hopefully – if any of them aren’t snapped up by clubs at a higher level – the players can stick together, develop even further and rise through the divisions. And hopefully, they’ll be officially recognised by Wigan Athletic at some point!

So, four matches gone and we’re changing our ‘allegiances’ for the first time – we’re now following Chorley on the road to Wembley, so let’s see where we’re going next!

Wigan Athletic 0

Chorley 4

Attendance: About 50, and 1 dog

Next round:Chorley vs. Newcastle United

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