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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Harrogate Town Women vs. Wigan Athletic Ladies - 2023-24 Women's FA Cup, Third Qualifying Round

Sunday 22^nd October 2023
Third Qualifying Round
Harrogate Town vs Wigan Athletic

The next ‘Another Place’ turned out to be Harrogate – arguably the poshest place in Yorkshire (alongside Emmerdale, obviously). In 1858, Charles Dickens described the spa town as ‘the queerest place with the strangest people in it, leading the oddest lives of dancing, newspaper reading and dining’. In 2023, I would describe it as containing ‘plenty of mature people, in flashy walking gear, masses of greenery and tea shop queues reminiscent of the chippy on a Friday night’. Big Charlie and I are clearly cut from the same cloth. This is the first time in the competition that I’ve had to wait for the draw to be made (what with the second qualifying round being drawn at the same time as the first one) and I’ve never been here before, so I’m thankful for this opportunity presented by the Third Qualifying Round draw that sees Wigan Athletic and I travelling here for new experiences.

Discovering new and interesting places through watching games is a massive attraction of football for me. Aside from the unique stadiums you see and the different crowds you can melt away in, you get to explore a new place, soaking up local culture and perhaps even learning something new. Some of these places are well-tread areas of the country, others wouldn’t be visited at all if it wasn’t for their football team – and the great thing about the FA Cup is that each round throws up a lottery of where you might go next. You can plan months in advance for league fixtures, but you’ve got a matter of weeks (if even that) to plan for a cup game. With the draw being unseeded and nobody guaranteed a home tie (which isn’t all that common in cup competitions elsewhere in the football world), your team could end up anywhere, adding an extra layer of excitement and anticipation. The downside to this for a supporter is that you’re often rushing to arrange travel, with costs so often the sticking point. The costs aren’t too bad for me with Harrogate, but even with a 2pm kick-off, I can only catch two services to get there in time. And let’s just say train travel isn’t exactly reliable, and it’s a Sunday…it’s a lottery alright!

Thankfully I arrive with no issues whatsoever (well, aside from getting a rail replacement to
Manchester to make my connection, anyway!) Despite it being a Sunday morning, Harrogate is bustling with people of all ages (but mostly the mature walkers in fancy gear). There are several tea shops with queues snaking out of the door and down the street. Yes, tea shops – not your Starbucks, Costa Coffees or any other chain shop you might see in every town across the country, but ye olde tea shops that have doubtless been there since the 19^th century, unchanging except to abide by contemporary health and safety regulations. The main one I pass belongs to Bettys and Taylors – the company that owns several brands, including the much-celebrated Yorkshire Tea. When you come from (and visit) towns that look identikit – what with their glass shopping centres and betting and vape shops outnumbering the people that hang around them – seeing a unique place such as Harrogate, with its busy Sunday crowds, ornate stone buildings and wide-open spaces, takes you back a bit.

Despite the demand for spa towns diminishing throughout the mid-late 20^th century, Harrogate has remained a cultural jewel in the North Yorkshire crown. As touched upon, greenery and gardens are massive here – both in a literal and figurative sense, persevering the town’s character. The Valley Gardens is considered the town’s ‘main park’, Harlow Carr gardens are managed by the Horticulture Society, while The Stray is protected by an Act of Parliament (the Stray Act 1985) that states if any part of the gardens are changed because of development purposes (such as widening roads), then whatever is removed must be replaced by an equivalent area of land elsewhere in the town.

The arts are well-represented here too, with the Harrogate International Festivals attracting tourists with its wide-ranging roster of events. The most notable artistic event here came in 1982 – following Buck Fizz’s skirt-tearing win for the UK the previous year, the brand-new Harrogate International Centre was chosen as host of the Eurovision Song Contest. 17-year-old Nicole Hohloch (known as ‘Nicole’) won for Germany with the ballad ‘Einbißchen Frieden’ (‘A Bit of Peace’) – an apt winner of a contest held in a town that is celebrated for its calm and serene demeanour!

With the weather being somewhat chilly today, I give all these cultural delights and tea shop queues a swerve, instead electing to go for a drink and a sit down in the nearby Wetherspoons. In keeping with the rest of the town that I’ve seen so far, even this edition of the cheap-and-cheerful pub brand is grand. The pub takes up a large portion of what was the town’s former Royal Baths – after entering through the doors, you have to descend a quite extravagant twin stone staircase to get to the bar. Imagine going up one of these after a few pints! Not long after I got a drink in, its status as a ‘fancy place’ is confirmed in my mind as I witness a young woman pose multiple times on the balcony with a glass of prosecco and a cheeky grin as her friend took photos for her Instagram or Myspace or whatever. I’m only mentioning this anecdote because, rather amusingly, just before this incident, much of the Wigan team – decked out in their club tracksuits – pass me, ascending the staircase. Hopefully, they’ve been on the spa water and not the booze! More minerals, less Magners, that’s my fitness tip.

Harrogate Town Women play on the main 3G pitch at Rossett Sports Centre (curiously, sharing the same name as Marine’s ground in the last round!) – the community facility is a part of Rossett School which is located just over a mile from the town centre. England Lionesses star, Rachel Daly, used to go to school here and appropriately enough, the main pitch was named in her honour just a couple of weeks ago – so today’s match is being played on the ‘Rachel Daly 3G Pitch’! Aside from the main pitch, there’s an indoor centre, as well as several smaller 3G pitches that are hosting some lads training, as well as some other scratch games. I time my arrival to perfection – I’m just walking through the car park in front of ‘The Rachel Daly’ as the players go off and line up for their ‘FA Cup entrance’.

Formed in 2006, Harrogate Town Women play in the Premier Division of the North East Regional League, the fifth tier of women’s football in England. Affiliated to the men’s side, the women’s section have their own dedicated player development centre, providing opportunities for young girls to play and train alongside first-team players and coaches at the same time. A smart idea that will doubtless help to inspire and improve players, creating an attachment to the club in the process. ‘Growing together’ seems to run through this football club, as it’s only been within the last decade that the men’s side has turned professional. Playing in the National League North, Harrogate Town decided to go full-time from the start of the 2017-18 season – immediately paying off as they won promotion to the top division of non-league football that same season. By 2020, they were playing in the Football League for the first time in their 101-year history and have since established themselves in the fourth tier. With the growth and progression of the men’s side and the catchment area around this part of North Yorkshire, I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that we could see Harrogate Town Women also grow into a strong club in the years to come.

As I take my place at the side of the 3G pitch, I must admit that it doesn’t feel like an 'occasion' that a cup match should be. With the women’s side being officially affiliated to the men’s club, I half-expected this match to take place at Wetherby Road, the men’s ground on the other side of Harrogate. I think it would have been the perfect opportunity to showcase the women’s side, getting more home supporters down to cheer them on in the effort to reach the first round. Imagine how inspiring that would be to the players? Instead, we’re all squeezed behind a barrier on one side of the pitch, looking out on the artificial pitch that’s surrounded by fences. The Wigan supporters (parents) are here in full force, so I take my position with them around the halfway line and clap enthusiastically as the teams enter the enclosure. Despite what I just said about this not feeling like ‘an occasion’, the Harrogate players have a mascot apiece to walk out with, so perhaps I was a bit hasty!

The match officials led out the teams and they’re one number lite – only one assistant walked out with the ref. Instead, someone who I presume is a home club official takes up the other flag and positions himself at the side where we’re stood. As the game kicks off he’s asked by someone in the crowd about the missing assistant ref, ‘gone to the toilet, I think’ he answers. Lo and behold, the actual linesman turns up a few minutes in, apologising to and thanking his temporary replacement, looking sheepish while flashing a grin at everyone. You won’t get this in the WSL! As it happened, the temporary linesman officiated over a good spell for the home side – they look good at moving the ball around and play two through-balls beyond the Wigan defence but are just overhit.

After responding to the early pressure with the first clear-cut chance of the match that’s hit just wide, Wigan take the lead on 12 minutes. A through-ball splits the defence, an attacker rounds the onrushing goalkeeper but still with a lot to do, the visiting forward has to brush off the pressure from a couple of defenders before smashing the ball in from a wide angle. It’s been a great opening, very good football with passes crisscrossing between players, everything played on the ground – and now both keepers are called into action, both making good saves. First, Harrogate have their first shot on goal that looks every inch a goal, but the Wigan goalkeeper positions herself well to punch the ball over the bar. Then Wigan find themselves in the clear once again, but the shot from just inside the area is tipped over by the home goalie.

In what is a recurring theme in these early rounds, the parents have been trying to referee the game – and on one occasion, they’re probably in the right! It seems that Wigan win a corner, the parents obviously shout for it – and so does our late linesman friend. The (actual) referee gives a goal-kick, however, which riles up the parents who shout at him – nothing too bad, no bad language, thankfully, just a ‘come on ref’ or ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’! Immediately, one of the parents questions the linesman about the corner, ‘I know, I told him’, he says, indicating his flag. It turns out he’s got this James Bond flag that has a button on it which communicates with the ref (which I learned later is a ‘buzzer’). I can’t help but feel that it was quite concerning that he was just ignored. Does this happen at professional level?

It remains one-nil to Wigan as the ref blows for half-time, and while Harrogate have had most of the ball, the difference here is how quickly each side is passing the ball about. Wigan are quicker all over the pitch, with their attackers constantly looking to find space on the break, the home side doesn’t look half as swift upfront. I also don’t think the pitch is helping – I very rarely watch matches on 3G pitches but I’ve noticed today that the ball is moving around slower than it would on grass. I’ve enjoyed the competitiveness though, so it’s all to play for at The Rachel Daly as the crowd heads down to the indoor sports centre to warm up.

I also go inside the sports centre at half-time to use the toilet (but mostly to have a nosey around) and as soon as I’m through the doors I’m met with a long queue, everyone waiting for the receptionist to make hot drinks from the machine behind her. It’s a far cry from the long queue I passed outside the posh tea shop earlier! I also fancy a brew, but I also need a wee, so I elect to spend my half-time doing that. When I make my way back to The Rachel Daly, people are standing in my spot, with the steam of their brews warming up their faces. Brewless in 8-degree weather, I now have to stand behind some training goals that have been rolled to the side of the pitch. The walk back allowed me to get a good look at how many people are here though and there’s probably more than I thought, perhaps pushing 80 or so. There’s no way of knowing for sure as there was no entrance of any kind, so we all just sauntered in.

Wigan make a good start to the second half, dictating the pace of the game instead of sitting in and letting their opponents have the ball. Early on, they should score – ‘Gracie’, the No11 is put through, she takes a heavy touch but manages to get a shot away – the ball going over the keeper and hitting the bar, before bouncing to safety for Harrogate. The home side put on a bit of pressure with a couple of set pieces, but it’s Wigan who are creating the clear-cut chances – a through-ball sees a forward through again, but the keeper makes a great save by rushing out and smothering the ball. The keeper – who I learn from the Harrogate Women’s Twitter is Claudia Sandford – makes three more saves within the next five minutes; rushing out to save in a similar manner to the last chance, before producing two saves from point-blank range. You could say that she’s keeping them in it here. Sorry.

Harrogate have switched to playing the long ball – they simply don’t have the legs to get beyond the Wigan defence. While pace played a part earlier on, now fitness is becoming an issue – the proliferation of chances for the visitors in the last few minutes indicating the struggle they’ve got at keeping up with the attacks. Wigan finally do get that elusive second goal not long later – for what seems like the fourth time, No14 finds herself through on goal and even though she’s sent wide by the last defender, she picks her spot and strokes the ball past Sandford and into the corner. The parents know how crucial this goal is and cheer wildly, the Wigan coach isn’t as enthused though as he tells his players ‘We need more’.

An issue with watching football at this level is not knowing players’ names – it can’t be helped, what with these clubs being volunteer-run and parent-supported, so creating teamsheets or posting about it on social media will be way down the list of priorities, but I still feel bad that I can’t give these girls credit. One player who has impressed me in this FA Cup run so far is Wigan’s No7, who I deduced later (thanks to parents shouting and the squad list on the FA website) is Casey Green. (although with the Scouse accents, they could have been saying ‘Gracie’, as I believe there are two Grace’s, so I can’t be sure). She’s a classic pacey, tricky winger; right-footed but playing on the left – and the majority of attacks have come through her. Here now, she cuts inside, beats a couple of players and smashes the ball into the corner for what has to be the best goal I’ve seen so far in this competition (and there’s been quite a lot!)

With the third goal the manager was looking for in the bag, Wigan go on to dominate further, scoring two more goals. First, Gracie finds herself through again and with enough time to control the ball, she lifts it over the keeper and in – clearly taking no chances after seeing a few of her shots smothered by Sandford today! The goalscoring is wrapped up by No11 who is put through on goal, and despite a defender getting something on the ball, it bounces fortuitously for the forward to smash home. There’s even time for a late booking – yes, a booking! I haven’t seen a yellow card branded in the competition before today, but after a frustrated Harrogate player gives the ref some backchat, she goes into the book.

It’s been a great performance from Wigan at The Rachel Daly, reaching the first round proper of the Women’s FA Cup for what I believe is the first time. It’s been well worth the trip, seeing these girls represent my home town with such class, so I can only imagine how proud their parents must feel. Hopefully, they’ll get a home draw in the next round and a decent crowd down to watch them, because the football they play is fantastic. Harrogate too were decent – it can be easy to look at a scoreline and say that it was easy, but it was very competitive for an hour. Tactically, there wasn’t a huge gap between the teams, Wigan just possessed the superior physical attributes that allowed them to run riot for the last half an hour. In all honesty, I’m excited for the future of English women’s football if this is the standard we’ve got in these ‘lower leagues’ – hopefully more girls around the country (and boys, for that matter) will be able to take advantage of facilities like the ones here in years to come.

I’m now off to warm up somewhere. Anyone know where I can find a cup of tea?

Harrogate Town 0

Wigan Athletic 5

Next round: Wigan Athletic vs. Chorley

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Marine Women vs. Wigan Athletic Ladies - 2023-24 Women's FA Cup, Second Qualifying Round

Sunday 1^st October 2023
Second Qualifying Round
Marine vs Wigan Athletic

Crosby is one of North West’s hidden gems. Located 6 miles away from Liverpool city centre, the coastal town lies just north of Liverpool Bay where the River Mersey flows into the Irish Sea. With its beach offering a wide view of the area – the gentle waves, the shipping lanes and the multitude of dogs pissing about, running on the sand, it’s a welcome, relaxing stop-off point on the way to Wembley for this uptight football traveller. It’s the second qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup and I’m here to see local side Marine host our winners in the last round, Wigan Athletic.

Another intriguing feature about the beach is the one hundred naked men standing in the sand – no, this isn’t a bizarre dream I had after eating too many jelly sweets last night, it’s an art installation. ‘Another Place’ is a sculpture piece by Antony Gormley, consisting of 100 cast iron figures that look towards the sea. Modelled on his own naked body, they proved somewhat controversial since their initial unveiling as a temporary exhibition in 2005, but have since been made a permanent fixture here, apparently helping to increase tourism.

Gormley says that Another Place ‘harnesses the ebb and flow of the tide to explore man’s relationship with nature’ – and the seaside is the perfect place to do this. The point is that the tide and everything it brings can’t be altered by humans, so whatever these iron men experience will be a true reflection of nature. Indeed, biologists from the University of Liverpool studied the colonisation of the figures by intertidal organisms – barnacles and such – showing that, in true Jurassic Park fashion, life will indeed find a way. I’ve wanted to see these figures for a while but unfortunately, the tide today is swallowing up most of them, with just a small amount of beach walkable. You still can easily see them from afar though – just stood there, standing still and pondering life, surrounded by the sea. Reminds me of a few defensive lines I’ve seen on the football pitch over the years.

Located a 15-minute walk away from the beach, Rossett Park (today known as ‘The Marine Travel Arena’ for sponsorship reasons), is home to both the men’s and women’s sides – the men playing in the Northern Premier League (seventh tier) while the women play in the Liverpool Women’s & Youth League (also seventh tier). The club was formed in 1894 by a group of local businessmen and former college students – the name coming from the place where the initial meeting to create the club took place, The Marine Hotel.

Notable in recent years for playing host to a COVID-era FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur, one of the more interesting fixtures at Rossett Park saw the Nigeran national team play Marine on their first-ever international tour in 1949 – as many as 6,000 are believed to have packed the ground to see the match. Despite all but one of the team playing barefoot, Nigeria won 5-2 – Len Carney, the Marine captain, later remarking that ‘their feet were harder than our boots!’ I watched the newsreel footage (no pun intended) of the match on YouTube for myself – it’s quite interesting to watch the silky skills of the Nigerians impressing the big crowd. After the final whistle, spectators flooded the pitch and carried them shoulder-high to the dressing room, with the club donating the gate receipts of £200 (£5,800 in 2023) to the Nigeran Football Association as a way of appreciation.

After a brisk walk from the beachfront to the ground, my eyes are attracted to the smart social club (sorry, bistro) that’s located within the compound that comprises the ground and car park. Named 1894 (when the club was formed, of course), the bistro is the legacy of that Spurs FA Cup tie 2 years ago – a fixture that sold the most tickets in the club’s history, with nobody actually attending. With crowds still prohibited from attending games due to COVID restrictions, Marine hit upon the idea of selling ‘virtual tickets’ for the televised game. Ostensibly a donation to the club, locals, Spurs supporters and football fans across the world snapped up 30,000 of these virtual tickets – 1000% more than the capacity of the ground! Although Spurs would run out 5-0 winners, Marine did themselves great credit on the night, as well as raising some actual credit – the bank they made from the virtual tickets and the BBC providing some much-needed funds to turn the old social club into the bistro, as well as make some improvements to the ground.

The investment certainly looks like a wise one to me, as I enter and have a nosey around the stylish eatery – it balances the need to be a bar (for your match attendees) and an upmarket restaurant (for locals). The importance of venues like this can’t be underestimated for football clubs, especially ones at the level that Marine are at – as an income stream and event space for the club and a gathering space for the community that surrounds it. Instead of spending that windfall on some short-sighted effort to go up the leagues, they’ve invested in the long term instead. People will be attracted to this place, coming here for a bite to eat with family, friends, colleagues – perhaps they’ll even grow an affection for the club, even attend a game from time to time or put a kid through one of the youth teams? Despite the vibrancy of the place suggesting I should drink something more sophisticated, I decide to get a pint of lager and drink it on one of the tables outside, watching people going into the ground. I’ll tell you what, though – if you’re a young Crosby person reading this, you could do worse than take a date (or your mum) to this place for a meal. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about when it comes to impressing with a menu that is essentially a poncy burger and chips.

After supping up my reasonably-priced bistro lager, I make my way to the turnstile on which I pay my first entry fee of the FA Cup run - £3 which includes a four-page programme (a piece of folded A4 paper, basically). ‘You can read that when you get bored’, the gateman guffaws at me. If I’ve learned anything from watching women’s football in the last few years, it’s anything but boring! The interior of Rossett Park is nice and clean, although smaller than I expected – the ground is very tight, and houses are packed in on both sides. There’s one small, seated stand behind one of the goals with the rest (aside from the side I’m stood on, which is roofed) being uncovered.

One of the other major investments of that FA Cup money was the pitch – last summer saw the installation of a ‘FIFA-Quality Pro 3G pitch’ at Rossett Park. I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of artificial surfaces because regardless of what proponents say, the bounce of the ball is different to grass and sliding on it can lead to increased frictions and abrasions. The consistency that the pitch offers only works to give the home side even more of an advantage too, as not all 3G pitches are the same. And then there are those annoying ‘black bits’ that get everywhere too – I’m still finding some in my gym bag despite not having played football for nearly a decade! However, all that being said, I fully understand the need for any semi-pro/community-based club to get one – not only do they virtually eliminate the chances of waterlogged pitches (which cause schedules to become congested and not to mention, costs to rise), they can also be hired out for use too. This creates an additional income stream for the club and provides a sporting facility that all the community can use – I suppose it’s simply a case of what you have available. Some clubs have a ground and additional land around it to develop in support of the community, some don’t – so I can’t say it’s wrong for them to have a 3G home pitch either way.

My programme lists the Marine squad and has a short bit about today’s game – also mentioning that the team was formed as recently as 2020. Further investigation later tells me that they effectively replaced Crosby Ladies (who were the senior team of Crosby Stuart FC) and took on many of their players while providing a pathway for Crosby Stuart youngsters to progress into the team when they reach the age of 16. The connection between the two clubs is certainly an interesting one – Marine get a women’s first team at very little cost, while Crosby Stuart maintain their youth sides while now being able to offer their players an opportunity to play senior football at a facility as good as Marine’s once they’re old enough. The hope being that young players will stay in the game long enough to progress through and once they’re there, who knows the levels they can reach? It’s easy to forget, what with the rapid growth of the women’s game in recent years, that there is still very little (if any) money in the lower leagues for existing men’s clubs to create and maintain a women’s club too – this community-driven initiative between the two local clubs offers a great solution.

The two teams enter the field to a scattering of applause from the 100-or-so spectators in attendance – there’s probably more than that here, as I’m assuming the mascots and some of the parents probably didn’t come through the turnstile! Most of them are sat in the stand, while I take my place under the covered terrace alongside the Wigan parents. And barely a minute has gone when they’re cheering as Wigan take the lead! From what seemed like a non-threatening throw-in near half-way, the ball is headed on and bounces; a Wigan attacker picks the ball up and runs towards the penalty area before placing her shot past the goalkeeper and into the corner. What a start! Then just a few minutes later, it gets even better for the visitors – some neat build-up play gives a forward an opportunity to run towards the penalty area, she takes a step-over and another placed shot finds its way into the same corner. Absolutely quality play – this isn’t them taking advantage of slip-ups in defence or just hitting and hoping their shots go in, they’re passing the ball short, creating space and placing their shots. It’s great to watch! I’ve got a feeling that this could be a long game for Marine – their coach shouts that they ‘need to do better'. Sage advice there. In fairness, there’s nothing much they could do, Wigan have been too good from the first whistle.

Marine, wearing a strip of white with black shorts, do look spritely on the break whenever they’re able to get the ball. One such counter sees them win a free-kick just outside the Wigan penalty area, but the resulting shot is hit straight at the Wigan goalkeeper, who catches it. The warning signs are definitely there – and the sign of a good team is when they heed such signals and ramp up the intensity of their play, which Wigan do. More neat, short passing allows a Wigan attacker to be slipped through; she rounds the goalkeeper before laying the ball off to a teammate at the far post who smashes home.

It remains three-nil to Wigan at half-time, who continue to dominate without adding to their lead. They’ve been a bit wasteful on several occasions – a one-on-one being hit straight at the keeper, as well as being caught offside a few times when they really shouldn’t have. Marine do look half-decent, but there’s nothing much they can do to stem the tide of attacks but wait and hope to hit Wigan on the break. It’s a question of whether Wigan can keep their intensity up – a single goal could conceivably get Marine back in this tie, so I’m not putting them out just yet.

I decide to sit in the stand at half-time – and make an immediate decision to go back to where I was for the second half! There’s netting in front of us, restricting the view which I find distracting. There’s netting like this at the other side of the pitch, understandable as it’s there to prevent balls from smashing the back windows of the houses behind (one ball even slipped through the netting earlier, funnily enough!) It seems somewhat unnecessary behind this goal, however – people are sitting here watching the game, so they’ll be prepared for flying balls!

I've always enjoyed looking at advertising boards at grounds – especially at lower league and non-league grounds where you have adverts for local companies and their ‘unique’ services. It continues that community aspect of non-league football – people who attend this ground are already supporting an asset to the local community, so they’re more likely to connect with a local business or service too. Free marketing tip for you businesspeople out there – sponsor your local football club! However, at this ground, my favourite one isn't a local company but an advert for the computer game – Lawn Mowing Simulator. The irony of it makes me laugh, considering the pitch here is a 3G! But hey, the advert has worked as I make a note to check it out on Steam when I get home. The wonders of non-league advertising.

The second half kicks off and is only two minutes old when we get a goal – and it goes to Marine! Told you this wasn’t over! A long ball is played upfield and a Marine attacker takes control, finds space to turn before chipping the goalkeeper from the edge of the area. Despite her getting fingertips to the ball, it still had enough on it to drop into the corner. Marine are buoyed by the early goal and use it as an opportunity to commandeer the ball – they win a free-kick close to the area a few minutes later, the resulting shot of which is palmed onto her bar by the keeper, the ball bounces to a Marine player who can’t quite turn it in and is eventually blocked for a corner. They continue to pile on the pressure, probing around the visitors’ penalty area – but Wigan deal with it and end up creating the clinching goal. Marine have it close to the area, but they can’t find a way through – a pass is blocked and bounces to a Wigan attacker on halfway. She proceeds to take the ball, sprint past a couple of defenders – driving between the two centre-backs – before slotting past the goalkeeper. Absolutely against the run of play, but it exemplifies the difference between the two sides here – Wigan are quicker to ball, whether in a defensive or attacking situation.

The Marine ultras – a group of young girls with football kits on (they must have played in a pre-match game here) – are doing their darndest to get behind their team. Sat in the stand, they’ve been chanting what sounds like 'Come on Marie' throughout the second half. They’re quite impressive – their chanting goes on for about 3 minutes without interruption, which far exceeds what you hear from supporters of Premier League clubs! Intrigued by the support they’re showing to this particular player, I look in the programme and there's nobody called Marie? It later hits me that they’re chanting ‘Marine’ and I simply don’t understand the local accent!

Despite what must have been a morale-damaging moment, Marie (or Marine) continue to dominate the ball after the goal; Wigan being 4-1-up, are happy to let them have it. The Wigan keeper is busy – making a great save after a Marine forward finds space to get off a shot, while also seeing another shot go wide. Wigan are managing the game expertly, though – organised and compact, they’re constantly looking for opportunities to pick up on a loose ball, and it’s not long before they get a fifth goal. After being awarded a free-kick in shooting range, it’s hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper, bounces off her and Wigan captain Emily Melvin is on hand to turn the ball in (finally, we’ve got a name!).

The crowd have been somewhat good-natured – supportive of their kids, rather than wanting to play the game themselves. However, throughout the second half, the sound barrier has been increasingly pierced by a screechy woman – she’s got a daughter playing for the home side and has been making what I can only describe as cringeworthy comments. Every other word is a ‘fucking this’ or ‘fucking that’ and curious looks are shot in her direction. While I can understand the need for ‘passion’ in supporting your club/daughter, I like to remind you that she’s got a daughter playing here! She must be mortified at her mum because nobody else here is behaving like this. One aspect of watching football that I’ve not enjoyed in recent years is this unnecessary ‘passion’ that turns people into raving lunatics – which I think has gotten worse since COVID lockdowns were lifted a couple of years ago. Whatever happened to creative chanting and trying to encourage your team louder than the other set of supporters do? And why is shouting absolute nonsense inundated with swear words considered ‘passion’, anyway? It’s a shame because, with a voice as high as hers, she’d do a great job as the leader of the Marie Ultras behind the goal.

Sadly, her passion is all in vain as Wigan close out the game with two more goals. The first sees the free-kick taker from the last goal brilliantly place the ball into the corner – avoiding the goalkeeper this time! Marine are tiring and giving away fouls all over the place and with a handful of minutes left, they give away a penalty. Wigan’s pace sees them go clear again, a defender simply can’t keep up and has to stick out a leg. Captain Melvin steps up and places the ball beyond the goalkeeper’s reach – the scoreline seems harsh on Marine, considering how well they’ve done in this second half, but Wigan just possess a range of different qualities in their side that sets them apart. They should even be further ahead as the game reaches its end – they have TWO one-on-ones in the last couple of minutes, which the goalkeeper does well to smother.

In what must be injury time – I haven’t seen a board, nor were there any announcements, so I have no idea – a nasty injury occurs close to where I’m stood. A Marine player goes in for the ball, goes to ground and falls awkwardly on her arm. 'I've broken my arm' she immediately says, as calm as you like. Not sure if it's broken or dislocated, but I can see it from where I am, and it's bent out of position. People rush on to help, and with it being near the end of the match, the ref decides to blow for full-time. She seems relatively okay, in fairness to her, as she's made comfortable for the arrival of the ambulance.

Everyone files out to allow the medics to get on, and all that’s left is to reflect on another exciting Wigan performance. It’s clear to me that the women’s football pyramid is nowhere near as settled as it should be – this Wigan side should be playing at a couple of levels above where they are and judging by the results of games elsewhere today, it’s not uncommon for sides from supposed ‘lower leagues’ to trounce opponents from higher levels. So, where next? Unlike this round where I knew beforehand where I’d be going after the first round, I have to wait until the draw to see who's next. As such, I’m looking forward to knowing where that next Another Place will be!

Marine 1

Wigan Athletic 7

Attendance: 101

Next Round: Harrogate Town vs. Wigan Athletic

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