A Fan With A Pen

 

During the lockdown months off work between 2020 to 2022, Rob A. Clark, a committee member and the club historian of Grantown-on-Spey based football club Strathspey Thistle (in the Highlands of Scotland) kept himself busy by digging out his paperwork as Club match day reporter from the clubs first nine seasons of 1993-94 to 2001-02 and beginning detailed research into the history of football in his hometown.

What he discovered is an amazing few stories dating back to the late 1800’s and how Grantown-on-Spey individuals and teams played a role in the development of football.

In the next few months, the book of over 180 A5 pages entitled “A fan with a pen!” will be published by Thomson Partnership of Inverurie and Rob is inviting people to pre order a copy of the book retailing at £12.50 UK Sterling plus additional postage and packing costs depending on where the book – when it is available around late July to early August - is heading.

A donation from each copy of the book sold will be donated by Rob to the UK Charity “Teenage Cancer Trust” in memory of his cousins' son who died aged just 15 years old of blood cancer.

Please contact Rob directly to order a copy or for more information by e-mail to; afanwithapen@gmail.com or by post to; 34 Cairngorm Avenue, Grantown-on-Spey, PH26-3EX, Highland, Scotland.

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Strathspey Thistle have upcoming home games against Huntly on Wednesday 8 March and Keith the following Saturday.

Admission prices at Seafield Park are £10 adults, £5 concessions and free for accompanied under-12's.

As at all grounds across the Highland League you'll find a warm welcome, hard-working volunteers, competitive football and some stunning backdrops.

A Deal At 'Dale

Proud members of the Football League since 1921, when many others have had spells out of the league (with some never making it back), Rochdale AFC continue to be a focal point for the local community and also the inspiration for some fantastic books, such as 'Kicking in the Wind' by Derick Allsop and 'The Overcoat Men' by Mark Hodkinson who has also a new book out now, called 'The Longest Winter' which details the 1973/74 season at Spotland against the backdrop of inflation, industrial unrest and more (so very timely).

With many of their near neighbours in the Premier League and Championship set for a winter break once the World Cup begins, 'Dale are offering four games for the price of three between the visit of Mansfield Town on Saturday 12th November and the Boxing Day game against Hartlepool.

Harrogate Town also have a ticket offer for upcoming matches against Leyton Orient on the 12th and Mansfield on the 19th of November and Northampton Town on 10th December.

The 'Festive Football 3 for 2' deal does exactly what it says on the tin and lets supporters watch the third game for free.

The Lincs Page

A nice move from Lincoln City, following the postponement of their upcoming League One game with MK Dons due to international call-ups, to schedule a double-header of action at the LNER Stadium this coming Saturday (September 24th).

The Imps' Under-18's will take on Huddersfield Town before Lincoln City Women against Newcastle United in the FA WNL Cup.

Tickets are on sale now, costing £5 for adults and £1 for concessions.

Sincil Bank will, of course, feature in Pilgrims' Patch, a new book on the football grounds of Lincolnshire, published by Steven Penny of the @LincsFootie twitter page.

Scottish Non-League Football Review

A mention for an upcoming book which may be of interest, The Scottish Non-League Senior Football Review 2021, to give it its full title, which is available to pre-order now.

Reflecting the increasingly inter-connected structure of the game below the SPFL, Niall Harkiss has brought together the North of Scotland Football Review and Lowland League Football Review into one edition for 2021.

A truncated season it may have been but there will still be plenty to pore over in the book in terms of stats while the future of the Scottish Football Pyramid will also be looked at, a hot topic after the news that Old Firm 'B' teams will be entering the Lowland League next season, supposedly for one year only.

As supporters begin (more cautiously, as has been the way in Scotland throughout the pandemic) to be allowed back into matches north of the border, it is also great to see the excellent Scottish Football Fixtures website back up and running with a daily guide to matches at all levels of the game.

From Saints to Druids

An advert for the above-titled book, in this month's When Saturday Comes, caught my eye and tied in with something I'd been meaning to write about for a while, namely the Welsh (Cymru) Premier League.

Michael Grimes visited all 12 clubs in the top-flight during the 2019/20 and his discovery of Welsh football is chronicled in a book, available to order here.

During the past year of, mainly, closed-door football I've taken a closer eye on the televised offerings from Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland's Championship and made a mental note to travel to some of the more interesting grounds, The Oval in Belfast, Cappielow in Morton and The Rock, home of Cefn Druids, among others.

The Welsh Premier League as a whole has always fared well in surveys of affordability, something Michael confirmed when he was kind enough to answer a few questions from me earlier this week.

I also asked him how the idea for the book came about;

'I knew nothing about the WPL, it was as a result of a conversation I had with the editor of Football Weekends magazine, where by he asked me to cover some Welsh teams. I did 3 in a long weekend, then decided to do the whole 12 WPL clubs.'

That first weekend was clearly a productive trip, leading to 'From Saints to Druids' and a warm welcome on his travels for the author.

As an aside, the current April issue of Football Weekends has a nice piece on a recent trip, made by one of its contributors, to a couple of Highland League grounds.

As for a favourite ground amongst the 12 in Wales that he visited, Michael told me;

'Probably Newtown, the ground has an old school charm about it, probably helped by the fact that it wasn't raining...a lot of rain on my trips!'

For coverage of the top divisions in men's and women's football, Cymru Football has plenty of news and stats.. 

Below the top level it has been a very difficult year for the game in Wales, without even the intermittment action that managed to sustain grassroots followers in England, but hopefully clubs have been able to weather the storm as much as possible and are looking forward to the 2021/22 season.

Y Clwb Pel-droed is an excellent website that covers all aspects of the game.

Grounds for Optimism

Amidst hopeful talk of a 'return to normal' by spring, for clubs below 'elite' level in England there is an earlier date to focus on.

With current restrictions due to end on 2nd December leagues around the country are making plans for a resumption.

Having shown that matches can be staged in a safe, secure environment, even in areas under Tier 3, the hope is that the current break will not have too detrimental an impact on the campaign overall.

Lots of ifs and buts remain, of course, but the optimistic football fan can at least think about those grounds tbat he or she either want to get back to or visit for the first time.

Of help in that regard may be a new coffee table book, British Football's Greatest Grounds, by Mike Bayly that has caught my eye on twitter.

I asked six well-known fans to comment on one of their favourite grounds in the book. First up, @camsell59 offers some warming words about @Towlawtown's Ironworks Road.

Order @PitchPublishing to read more about this wonderful British football venue. https://t.co/YwNeKwIA5G pic.twitter.com/G08rIyG92B

— 100GroundsBook (@100GroundsBook) November 9, 2020

The above tweet was a timely one as Harry Pearson's new book 'The Farther Corner' came through the post recently and will take me on an affectionate tour of Northern League grounds over the next few weeks before, hopefully, the football can begin again.

Good Value in The Far Corner

There are plenty of contenders for my favourite football book of all time but there is a clear winner for the one that I have re-read more than any other.

Harry Pearson's The Far Corner is the author's story of his travels around grounds in his native North East of England during the 1993/94 season.

To me it deserves every superlative ever given to it and like many other people I've often wondered whether there would ever be a follow-up.

The Farther Corner is the answer to that and although its publication has been delayed by this year's events it will be gratefully received when I do get my hands on it.

The Northern League provided the main focus of the original book and, at a time when it was still relatively affordable and easier logistically to watch Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, the author has since said (in an interview with Mundial) that looking back it was perhaps the lowest ebb in the fortunes of Non-League football locally.

Harry was in melancholy mood after a visit to once-mighty Willington and pondered at another point how so many clubs had shown the resilience to survive in an area continually battered by economic storms.

Survive they have, however, and thrived in many cases as people seek out a cheaper, more enjoyable matchday experience.

In common with so many clubs all across the UK there has been a big fundraising drive over the past few months and an astonishing response from supporters (of the clubs themselves and the game in general).

Having hopefully now come through the curtailment of the 2019/20 season, attention is now slowly turning towards a 2020/21 campaign that may yet look familiar in terms of its length and spectators being allowed to watch.

Season ticket offers that I have come across in the North East so far include £25 at Middlesbrough Women, £35 for an adult at the re-born Newcastle Blue Star (of the Northern Football Alliance and whose classic black-and-white kit is selling very well) and a discount of £15 for Sunderland season ticket holders from the current campaign at Seaham Red Star.

Barcelona to Buckie Thistle

This would usually be a busy time on the blog and, especially, on twitter with lots of clubs signing off the season with free admission or ‘pay what you want’, finalising pre-season plans for the summer and also selling season tickets for 2020/21.

Almost all of that is on hold, of course, so it has been a time to catch up on some reading, The Non-League Paper providing an invaluable weekly source of information and When Saturday Comes continuing to delve into areas of the game that others miss.

I’ve also recently finished ‘Barcelona to Buckie Thistle - Exploring Football's Roads Less Travelled,’ the third book from author Mat Guy and one which takes the Highland League as its core theme while also shedding light on the football culture that exists in some of Europe’s smallest nations, from the Faeroe Islands to Andorra.

Mat has been kind enough to answer a few questions from Affordable Football. He can be found on twitter and his new book, published by Luath Press is available from Waterstones.

Mat, can you tell us a little about your new book, ‘Barcelona to Buckie Thistle’ and your inspiration for writing it?

Barcelona to Buckie Thistle: Exploring Football’s Roads Less Travelled tries to prove the premise that every football institution, be it large or small, is a precious thing. The sense of belonging, identity, and meaning found by the supporters of clubs in the Highland league in Scotland or The Primera Divisio in Andorra is just as powerful as it is with the supporters of the world’s biggest teams.

It aims to be a celebration of all that is great about football away from the television cameras. That football in the Faroes, San Marino, or up in Wick and Fort William is a vibrant and exciting experience. I hope that the book shines a light on these places and proves that they deserve to be on everyone’s bucket lists along with Camp Nou or the San Siro.

The inspiration for the book came when someone at a book signing told me that writing about the Highland League would be ‘a waste of time’. That the league was ‘not worth the bother’. It was a red rag to someone like me, who prefers the lower leagues and lesser lights of the beautiful game. Personally, I have found such a rich vein of amazing stories, people, clubs and nations that I no longer have the time to watch the Premier League!

Was your close family connection to the Highlands one of the reasons why you wanted to explore the area’s football scene a little more closely?

I knew I had a family connection – my grandmother was born in Aberdeen and had lived a nomadic childhood between Inverness and the granite city – but she never spoke of her life up there. It was extremely moving to learn about her life as I travelled around the Highland League. A journey of discovery on two fronts that took me to some unexpected places and some mind-blowing revelations!

The Highland League has been quietly doing what it does for many years now and you clearly found with many of the clubs you visited that they were a really important part of the towns and communities they served?

These teams are the lifeblood of the communities they serve. One is ingrained in the other and has been that way, in some instances, for more than 125 years. Winning is important but being a focal point for friends to gather on a Saturday afternoon is more so. That said, it is also a league of great skill and endeavour, proudly representing some of the most remote places on mainland Britain. I’ve yet to see a poor game in the Highland League.

Do you see the Highland League managing to cope with the gradual loss of teams such as Cove Rangers to the SPFL and being able to bring in new teams from the other leagues in the area.

In the past the league has lost Peterhead, Elgin City, Ross County, as well as Inverness Thistle and Inverness Caledonian when they merged to form Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Every time, new clubs have stepped up to keep the league vibrant and competitive. With the loss of Cove, it opened the door for Brora Rangers, Inverurie Loco Works, Buckie Thistle, Fraserburgh and the like to take centre stage. Football is such a passion up there, and there are some very good teams still in Junior football like Banks O’Dee. There is more than enough to keep the league at the top of its game.

Which club in the area left the biggest impression on you?

Fort William and Wick Academy stood out. They are the two most remote teams in the league and have to overcome even more than their counterparts. Both are amazing communities who love their team and are so friendly and welcoming. I can’t wait to get back up to both, as well as some of the teams I’ve yet to visit, as soon as I can

Looking at the international part of the book, you found a passion for the game amongst the players in Liechtenstein, San Marino and Andorra but was it the Faeroe Islands where you really found a football culture?

I think the football culture in the Faroes is more akin to what we understand that to be. Face-painted ultras, choreographed songs and dances, drums and the like. But I think the football cultures of Liechtenstein, Andorra, and San Marino are just as fascinating and captivating because they are different to the norm.

In Liechtenstein they are quite reserved and quiet – but don’t let that fool you into thinking they don’t care. Their football culture is born out of facing down Alpine snowstorms and bone chilling temperatures to support their nation. A goal for Liechtenstein is an event to cherish and savour. It just doesn’t come with all the flares and whatever. But I found it to be every bit as humbling to experience the Liechtenstein national anthem, to see a team fight for their flag just as you would find at Wembley or Hampden.

It’s really refreshing to see the way other nations consume their football – and how that is interpreted on the terraces and stands. Variety is the spice of life, and I’m so glad that they do things their way.

You are very enthusiastic about the Nations League and the benefits of regular competitive football for the smaller nations. Do you worry that the big clubs and leagues will use the current crisis to try and squeeze the international calendar?

I think the Nations league is here to stay. It serves a purpose for those at the top and bottom. For me it is the best football tournament in the world! Where else could you watch European minnows playing one another? I was so excited for this second edition of the Nations league. I had a notion to return to Liechtenstein and Andorra. Sadly, I think we will lose this 2020 edition, but I have no doubt, when equilibrium returns to the football calendar that it will too. It is such a fascinating concept, and its great to see other confederations going down the same route.

On your web page it says you write for the Gibraltar national team’s matchday programme. How did that come about?

My reputation for loving the more obscure corners of the beautiful game flagged my name to the producers of the Gibraltar programme. I loved getting random emails asking for 500 words on the Estonian or Armenian national team and their history! I just loved doing the research, and then seeing my work in an international programme. I’m never asked to write about Italy or Spain, just Liechtenstein and Georgia – and I am perfectly fine with that!

When you are not travelling to football around the globe where can you normally be found on a Saturday afternoon?

I love a trip up to Accrington Stanley. But closer to home its Salisbury and Blackfield and Langley in the Southern League

And where’s next on your list? Is there a particular ground or country that you really would like to see?

In a perfect world where money is no object I would love to watch the Oceania World Cup qualifying groups with the likes of Tonga, Fiji and American Samoa. I’d also love to go back to Bhutan in the Himalayas, and I’d like to visit Palestine to watch an international game.

More realistically, I’d love to write something on the Highland Amateur Cup, which is a competition run through the summer, where teams from Shetland, the Orkneys, the Outer Hebrides, as well as other remote points in the far north. I hear some teams travel by trawler to away fixtures. Now that sounds like my cup of tea!

Virtual Game of the Week: Cowdenbeath v Stenhousemuir

As clubs up and down the land face up to the reality of no football for the foreseeable future (and those below the National League left to contemplate the - truly - gobsmacking decision of the FA to void the entire 2019/20 campaign) ,many are looking at ways in which they can keep some income coming in to stave off the threat of proud histories being similarly expunged.

I like the idea of virtual admission, where supporters pay what would they normally would on a matchday if at all possible, such as at Cowdenbeath this coming Saturday for what would have been a home game at Central Park against Stenhousemuir, one of four remaining home fixtures in the Scottish League Two campaign.

An excellent article on the club website recently sums up the challenge involved in keeping Cowdenbeath afloat, an ongoing task that has been accelerated by recent events while for anyone looking for a slightly different book for the days and nights indoors then I can heartily recommend Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil by Ron Ferguson.

Cup Football Around The Counties

I was weighing up an article on the various County Cup competitions that form part of the fabric of the game across the country when I saw an excellent piece in today's Non-League Paper from Nige Tassell, author of the excellent 'The Bottom Corner' book about the game outside of the Football League.

He sings the praise of such competitions (and the various League Cup knockouts that each of the various Non-Leagues have) and rightly sees them as a great opportunity for players of all levels to experience both the thrill of lifting silverware and potentially playing against league opposition and/or at a major ground, especially if they reach the final.

This week's calendar is packed full of County Cup matches across England and there's plenty of affordable football in there too, including Football for a Fiver at Hendon and Colchester United and £3 Adult admission at Barnet.

Check out your local club (or local FA) website to see if there's a match near you this week.

Tividale to Wembley

The title comes from a book I read and re-read when I was younger, Brian James 'Journey To Wembley', an odyssey through the rounds of the FA Cup in the 1976/77 season.

He chose Tividale as his starting point with the Black Country club being located in the middle of the country and, as he admitted, because he hadn’t heard of them before.

The warmth with which he was received at The Beeches makes for an excellent start to the book. James travels on the team coach with the players and learns a lot about them as they progress towards a tie against a Telford side managed by Geoff Hurst, an old friend of the author.

From there the journey moves on to Matlock Town, Carlisle United and Liverpool, the eventual finalists in the competition where they were beaten by Manchester United at Wembley.

Encountering the Anfield men early in the competition was a situation the author wanted to avoid but the contrast with 40 years on is that he had almost as easy access to the Liverpool team and management as he had at Tividale.

Anyway, it’s pleasing to see that Tividale still play at The Beeches ground and that is where the road to Wembley begins this Saturday with an FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie against Highgate United.

Admission is priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under 16’s with a paying adult.

The tie is one of 185 taking place across the weekend with a full list on the FA Website.

FA WSL Hoping For Boost From England Women

England Women start their European Championship campaign against Scotland in Utrecht, Holland, on Wednesday evening.

The game is being televised live on Channel 4 at peak time, therefore giving more valuable exposure to the Women’s game and on a different platform to the BBC where it can usually be found, although as an aside I find the choice of Clare Balding to host the coverage slightly strange when there are many excellent female broadcasters out there whose main focus is football.

England are one of the favourites to lift the trophy and hand a boost to the FA Women’s Super League which kicks off its new season in September, the era of ‘summer football’ having ended and a winter schedule having being introduced for the 2017/18 season.

Helping the national team and those clubs in the Champions League are the headline reasons for the change but, on an everyday level it is also hoped that a more regular schedule of matches throughout the season will lead to an increase in attendances.

The WSL features regularly on these pages and our Twitter feed, matches are affordable to watch and provide a family-friendly environment in which to do so.

But the 2016 season was a disjointed affair with a ‘feast or famine’ schedule of games which sometimes saw teams play two home matches in quick succession and then have a long gap until their next one.

I’ve just finished reading Carrie Dunn’s excellent ‘The Roar of the Lionesses’ book which, for all of the England stars on the front cover, covers many aspects of the Women’s game and the challenges that it faces to build on the huge strides made in recent years.

Positive headlines from Euro 2017 will certainly help in that regard.

£110 (Hopefully) To Celebrate Rochdale's 110 Years

I wrote recently about Rochdale, looking ahead to a League One fixture against Port Vale where admission for all was £1 (the match was postponed and will be played on Tuesday 4th April with the same prices applying), that these are 'good times at Spotland, or the Crown Oil Arena as it is currently known, with Rochdale pushing for promotion from League One and in a healthy financial position that was boosted recently by a sell-on fee received from the sale of Scott Hogan by Brentford to Aston Villa.'

Competition remains fierce in the local area, from the big boys of Manchester (and the never-ending diet of live, televised action) to the thriving Non-League scene but, from a distance, Rochdale seem to be in a good place to survive and thrive whatever division they may be in.

It is a far cry from the hand-to-mouth existence of the mid-1990’s as the club board and staff toiled endlessly to keep football alive in the town, a period chronicled superbly in the book ‘Kicking In The Wind’ by Derick Allsop, which went behind the scenes at Spotland for the 1995/96 season.

So it also seems like a good time to launch a season ticket offer that could see the 110th anniversary of the club being celebrated with prices that could reach as low as £110.

From tomorrow (Monday 27th March), supporters will be invited to put down a £50 deposit on a 2017/18 season ticket, the final cost of which will be staged as follows.

Over 2,000 season ticket sales - £250
Over 2,500 season ticket sales - £200

Over 3,000 season ticket sales - £150

Over 4,000 season ticket sales - £110

There's some more devil in the detail, which can be seen on the official Dale website but at first viewing it is an innovative offer.

When I see something like this, I like to dip into a fans forum and get more of a gauge of feeling.

Fan Network has a detailed thread on the subject which is extremely positive about the very fact that the club is making the effort and broadly supportive about the offer itself, albeit with some reservations about the details being both well-argued and well-meaning.

League One Football For £1 At Rochdale

Good times at Spotland, or the Crown Oil Arena as it is currently known, with Rochdale pushing for promotion from League One and in a healthy financial position that was boosted recently by a sell-on fee received from the sale of Scott Hogan by Brentford to Aston Villa.

Competition remains fierce in the local area, from the big boys of Manchester (and the never-ending diet of live, televised action) to the thriving Non-League scene but, from a distance, Rochdale seem to be in a good place to survive and thrive whatever division they may be in.

It is a far cry from the hand-to-mouth existence of the mid-1990’s as the club board and staff toiled endlessly to keep football alive in the town, a period chronicled superbly in the book ‘Kicking In The Wind’ by Derick Allsop, which went behind the scenes at Spotland for the 1995/96 season.

To gauge interest in a special season ticket offer for next season, Rochdale are offering admission to all, home and away supporters, for just £1 when Port Vale visit on Tuesday (28th February) for a League One fixture of importance at both ends of the table.

West Auckland Town FC

Founded as West Auckland FC in 1893, ‘West’ have a greater claim to fame than most clubs having won the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in both 1909 and 1911 to become unofficial world champions.

The competition was one of the first international tournaments to be held and while there is some doubt as to why West Auckland were invited there is none at all about their triumphs.

Taking part came at a financial cost and the club were reformed in their current guise in 1912. 

Recent seasons have brought two trips to Wembley for the FA Vase finals of 2012 and 2014.

I’ve not managed to see as much football as I would have liked in the North East but West Auckland, like many clubs in the area, feel familiar to me from Harry Pearson’s brilliant ‘The Far Corner’ in which he documents his travels around the region’s grounds in the 1993/94 season.

Season tickets, if purchased before 1 July, are priced at just £60 Adults and £40 Concessions and these include entry to all pre-season friendlies.

Plenty of these are scheduled, starting with the visit of Willington (who also feature in Harry Pearson's book) on Friday 8th July, Easington Colliery on Saturday 9th and Darlington RA on Tuesday 12th.

Individual pre-season admission is priced at £3 and £1.50