Download pdf - 67 Ramsbottom United v Sutton Coldfield Town

05.09.15

Sutton Coldfield Main Programme_Standard Programme 03/09/2015 08:49 Page 1

Good afternoon everyone, and welcometo the Harry Williams Riverside Stadiumfor this afternoon’s game against SuttonColdfield, this is the very first encounterbetween our two clubs. I’d like to extend awarm Rammy welcome to our match offi-cials as well as the players, managementand officials of Sutton Coldfield - I hopeyou enjoy your visit today, and have a safejourney home.The last couple of games in particular

have been really disappointing for all ofus, and I consider them to be a step in thewrong direction. We have quite firm ideasof how we’d like to see the team play, andwe’ve been working towards achievingthem, but our lack of belief and some realnaivety in our defendeng have been themain issues, and this is where we aim toimprove most over the next week or two.Injuries have added enormous pressure

on top of everything else, with our defencedecimated. Without a solid defence anyteam will struggle, but to lose Dawson,Rother, Pugh, Jones, and now Meaney inthe middle has been a real disaster. KyleHarrop has valiantly stepped in to give usa bit of experience in there, but he’s by nomeans a centre-half.The good news on the injury front is that

we hope to have four of those five playersback available for today’s game, whichshould give us a real boost. Alex Meaney picked up a severe dead

leg in the game at Workington, and thesecan be quite nasty. We’re hoping he’ll beavailable today, but won’t know for sureuntil the last minute. Alex has been aninspiration for us in the midfield, and it’ll bevery difficult if we have to manage withouthim.I’d like to commend the supporters once

again for their understanding over the lastfew weeks. It’s easy to support a teamwhich is winning every week, and just as

easy to shout abuse at a team that are los-ing, but it takes real commitment to findthe strength to encourage a team which isstruggling to find its form, or which is notquite up to the job at hand. A number ofplayers apologised to the fans for our per-formance at Workington, and no-one feelsthe disappointment more than them, so tohave your support means a hell of a lot.There will be a change of results over thenext few games, I have no doubt aboutthat, and we will finally get this seasonkick-started.After a lot of thought we’ve decided to

get out and bring in some new signings.We have identified a few very weak areasover the last couple of matches, and aftertrying one or two things we’ve decided thatwe just don’t have the strength that weneed in this squad. The paperwork is inthe process of being signed as I write this,so fingers crossed there should be 2-3new names appearing on today’steamsheet. This, coupled with the otherlads’ return from injury, will hopefully trans-form our fortunes.I’d like to say one final word about Grant

Spencer, who’s been a Rammy player fora good few years, putting in over 140 per-formances for the club. This season he’sbeen struggling with a long-term injurywhich has seriously affected his ability totrain and therefore his fitness. He’ll be thefirst to admit that he’s been not doing jus-tice to himself and to the Rammy faithful,and so has decided to take a break. Onhis day Spenno is an incredible playerwho can create chances and goals out ofnothing, so I’d like to take this chance tothank him for the time he’s spent atRammy and wish him well for the future.Enjoy today’s game, please get behind

the lads, and fingers crossed we canfinally get this season turned around. jo

n ro

bins

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Welcome to the Harry WilliamsRiverside Stadium for this afternoon’sgame, and a warm welcome to ourmatch officials, and, of course, ourvisitors, Sutton Coldfield Town.This is yet another “first meeting of

our clubs”. We seem to have experi-enced such occasions many timesover the last two years, so from ourperspective, moving up the leagueshas certainly seen us travel much fur-ther and meet many new friendswithin the football fraternity.Sutton Coldfield are no exception,

and I hope they enjoy their visit toEast Lancashire – officials, player,management and supporters – andreturn back to the midlands with fondmemories (That does not include thescore-line of course!)The experience we have enjoyed

as a club over the last two seasonsvery much reflects all that is goodabout non-league football. No matterwhere we travel, we always seem toreturn with a feeling of gratitude to ourhosts for the warm welcomes wereceive. That is particularly pleasingwhen, for many of these hosts, theyhave never met us before.In the NWCFL days, and to a cer-

tain extent in Evo-Stik North, it wasthe usual merry-go-round of trips tofamiliar grounds. Occasionally thepersonnel may have changed, but wewent to many places expecting to seefamiliar figures who we had grown toknow over the years.Going up to new territories had us

all wondering whether the cama-raderie would be the same, and I’mdelighted to report that it is.I may not have the opportunity to

travel to many away games, butthose I can manage have always leftme with a welcoming feeling. Those

I’ve missedhave, by allaccounts, lookedafter our party inthe usual man-ner, whichmerely empha-sises the beautyof non-leaguefootball.

In my earlyyears of watch-ing football, theonly games Iever went towere FootballLeague. Being aBury seasonticket holder, inmy youth I fol-lowed theShakers all overthe country. Oneof my first jobswas as a salesrep, going allover the BritishIsles. You’d beamazed howmany towns andcities I used to visit just as Bury hap-pened to be playing an away gamethere! Indeed, in those days, awaytravel did not seem to be quite soprevalent, and I’ll swear I was theonly Bury fan in the kop at Birming-ham City when we won 1-0. I doremember someone punching mefrom behind that night, and me, ratherfoolishly turning round and threaten-ing to smash whoever had done it.Rather worrying to turn to see thou-sands of eyes staring down at onerather stupid lone supporter, but I gotaway with it!I also saw them win 4-2 at Fulham,to

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and there was just me and two otherBury fans in the ground.But it’s a totally different experience

at professional level. I still go down toGigg when I get the chance, but ingeneral at this level, parking is diffi-cult, fans are jostled in and out ofstadia, and there’s a lack of connec-tion with the club other than during agame.

Whereas at one time if I had aloose Saturday afternoon or Tuesdayevening, I’d scour the FootballLeague fixtures for a game. Now Inever bother. A non-league match is much more

appealing, and it’s amazing howmany times I roll up for a game as aneutral and find someone there that Iknow.That’s the beauty of football at this

level. My young grandson was mas-cot against Frickley, and as a result, anumber of people turned up to seehim and experience non-league foot-ball for the first time. It may not havebeen a classic, but each and everyone of them commented howmuch they had enjoyed theafternoon.Case proven!

Robbo scoring on just one of manyrainy away days at Flixton on the


Tell us about Monday's game atWorkington, and talk us through the goals please.For me it was a very bad day at theoffice and a very frustrating 90 min-uets. Each goal was poor on our partand each goal could have beenavoided.

We're struggling with injuries now, ontop of everything else. Do you knowwhat happened to Alex Meaney, andhow far off Dawson and Jones are from fitness?Alex Meany suffered a really baddead leg but his knee has swollen upso we’re not sure how long he willtake getting back. Andy and Callumshouldn’t be too far off, but at themoment I'm not sure how they’redoing.

How are the players feeling? Stillmanaging to remain positive?I know I always stay positive and canalways get mentally ready. I can't talkfor all the lads but they will get theright team talk from the managementand from me, and it’s up to them oncethey cross the white line.

We like Workington's lovely oldground. Is it a good place to play? Do you get a go in the big bath after-wards?I was saying on the way to the gamethat I love the old grounds and this isone of my favorites, maybe along withHalesowen. And nope, they areshowers now. That being said I don'tthink any of the lads would have gotin with me anyway.

I know that you, and a few other play-ers, apologised to the fans forMonday's performance. What did yousay to them?I thought it was up to me as captain tosay sorry to the great fans who travelto watch us when we put on a per-formance like that. So I know I had tosay sorry - it just seemed to me likethe right the thing to do.

It seems that Grant Spencer haswandered off from the club again. Did he speak to you before leaving?He did and as before I'll continue totalk to him once he's gone as he is avery good friend of mine. He madethe decision and I understand whyhe's gone.

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What kind of thingsare the squadworking on at train-ing at the moment?Wayne is workinghard with thewhole team so thatwe all know our jobson the pitch. We have ayoung squad so heworks hard to get themthe experience theyneed to take into games.

There was some criti-cism of the short cornerson Monday, but with a rela-tively short squad is there muchpoint banging it in onto the heads of their big centre-halves?When perfected they will be very dif-ficult to defend against. From akeeper’s point a view a direct crossinto the box is much easier to dealwith than a cross from a littledeeper.

Where do we go from here?To our next game and fingerscrossed our first 3 points.



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1879The FootballClub associ-ated withSutton Cold-field formed.

After finishing in 6th place and missingout on the final play-off spot the previousyear, the Royals were hoping the 2014/15Division One South season would bringthem better luck.They started the campaign with three

wins in their first four league matches andcarried their unbeaten league start throughSeptember with a further five wins to leavethem amongst the early front runners atthe top. The Royals’ spirits were slightlydampened with an FA Cup First QualifyingRound exit away to Halesowen Town.

October brought a first defeat in theleague, when they lost 1-0 on their travelsat Coalville Town. This was followed upwith two further draws, before they gottheir revenge on Coalville beating them 2-0 at home. The Central Ground faithfulsaw an unbeaten home league start cometo an end at the close of 2014, when visi-tors Tividale came away with a 3-1 win.

The new year started with a victoryagainst tenants Romulus FC, but Sutton

Coldfield’s form started to dip by the end ofJanuary as they suffered four defeats inseven games. With only two games playedin March, due to a number of postpone-ments, they seemed to move into a highergear as they went on a five gameunbeaten run winning four and drawingone.With a fourth place finish in the bag they

had finally managed to earn themselves aPlay-Off place. A tricky Semi-Final waswon 3-1 away at Newcastle Town, a teamwho had finished a place above them inthe league. Division One South runners-upLeek Town awaited the Royals in the final,but a tremendous 2-0 away win with goalsfrom Darren Taylor and Dan O’Callaghanwon them promotion to the Evo-Stik Pre-mier Division.The 2015/16 season has so far been a

struggle for Sutton Coldfield as they adaptto the higher level of football. To date theRoyals have managed two draws and twolosses in their opening four league games.

1920The clubmoved totheir presenthome theCentralGround inColes Lane.

1940Joined theWalsall Sen-ior Leagueand won thechampionshipin their sec-ond season,dropping only7 points.

1979Won the Mid-landCombinationin successiveseasons.

1981Moved to theWest MidlandsLeague; wonthe champi-onship andthe LeagueCup in theirfirst season.Reached 1stRound of theFA Cup.

1983Becamemembers ofthe SouthernLeague andwere pro-moted to thePremier Divi-sion in theirfirst season.


1984Relegatedback to thesecond tierof the South-ern League.

1993Againreached the1st RoundProper of theFA Cup losing 2-1away atBolton Wan-derers.

1999Won the DrMartensLeague Cup.

2005Reached the3rd Round ofthe FA Trophywhere theylost to More-cambe.

2011Moved to theEvo-StikNorthernPremierLeague Division OneSouth.

2011Won BirminghamSenior Cupfor first time.

2015Promoted tothe NorthernPremier Division afterwinning theDivision OneSouth Play-Offs.

The Metropolitan County of the West•Midlands was formed in 1974 makingSutton Coldfield part of Birmingham.

In 1528 King Henry VIII gave the town•the right to be known as ‘The Royal townof Sutton Coldfield’ hence the club’s nick-name The Royals.

Their home Central Ground has a 3G•playing surface.

A report in 2007 by Mouseprice.com•placed two of the towns streets amongstthe 20 most expensive in the country.

Up until last season the club had•missed out on the play-off positions byone place 5 times out of the last 6 sea-sons.

Sutton Coldfield is mentioned in•Shakespeare’s play Henry IV Part 1, Act4, Scene 2.

They share their ground with Romu-•lus FC who play in the Northern PremierLeague Division One South.

Former Aston Villa owner Doug Ellis•and actor Sir Roger Moore have residedin the town.

Other notable residents past and•present include actor Dennis Waterman,engineer and inventor John Wyatt andJames and Oliver Phelps who played theWeasley twins in the Harry Potter flms. The club was named Sutton Town•

from the second world war until 1964. did

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chNeil Tooth (Manager)Previous Clubs; Rushall Olympic,Sandwell Borough, AtherstoneUnited, Blackheath FC, RossingtonMain, Retford United & ChasetownFC.The former Retford United coachstepped up from assistant managerto take the Sutton Coldfield hot seatin September 2012 after long servingmanager Richard Keough resigned.Tooth had a pretty successful firstseason in charge taking the Royals tothe Birmingham Senior Cup Final, butagonisingly they missed out on aplay-off spot on goal difference. Hewas able to end the run of play-offnear misses last season, as Suttonfinished fourth in the league andgained promotion to the NorthernPremier Division after winning theplay-off final at Leek Town.

James Wren (Goalkeeper)Age: 22Previous Clubs; Walsall, BurtonAlbion, Tamworth, Stafford Rangersand Nuneaton.The young shot-stopper started hisfootball career in the youth ranks atWalsall, before he was snapped upby Burton Albion after a successfultrial. His stay with the Brewers wasbrief and he was released at the endof his one year deal. Wren’s nextmove took him to Conference sideTamworth, but he left the Lambs,without making an appearance aftertheir relegation. James has onlyrecently signed for the royals afterpreviously turning out for NuneatonTown. He is a good goalkeeper and itis hoped that he will provide stiffopposition for the club’s other keep-ers.

Justin Richards (Centre Forward)Age: 34Previous Clubs; West BromwichAlbion, Bristol Rovers, StevenageBorough, Woking, PeterboroughUnited, Kidderminster Harriers, Chel-tenham Town, Port Vale, OxfordUnited &Tamworth.Richards started his career comingthrough the ranks at West BromwichAlbion, after making a single appear-ance he was signed by Ian Hollowayat Bristol Rovers. He had limitedopportunities with the Pirates andmoved onto Stevenage Borough andthen Woking where he scored 35goals in 79 appearances, earning amove to Peterborough United. Hisstay lasted a year before he hadanother goal-laden spell with Kidder-minster, where he had a record of agoal every three games. He had fur-ther Football League experience withPort Vale, Burton Albion and Oxfordbefore he dropped into non-leaguewith Tamworth. The experiencedstriker signed for the Royals at thebeginning of last season and he hasalready netted on two occasions sofar in this campaign.

Malcolm Melvin (Midfielder)Age:20Previous Clubs; Aston Villa, NottsCounty, Hednesford Town & BarwellThis highly rated Scottish midfielderstarted out in the academy at AstonVilla before signing a short-term dealwith Notts County after his releasefrom the Birmingham club. He wenton to gain further experience at Hed-nesford Town and signed fromBarwell during the summer. He isquick and strong and never backsdown from a challenge, which reflectshis boxing roots - his father was a


professional boxer. Malcolm comes tothe Royals with a big pedigree havingrepresented Scotland at Under 17’s,18’s and 19’s internationally.

Philip Trainer (Midfielder)Age: 34Previous Clubs; Crewe Alexandra,Northwich Victoria, Tamworth, OxfordUnited, Telford, Nuneaton & Hednes-ford Town.Experienced midfield man Trainerbegan his career with FootballLeague club Crewe Alexandra. Afterhis release from the Alex he droppedinto the non-league pyramid wherehe has made over 200 appearancesfor various National League Premierclubs. He joined Hednesford Townfrom Nuneaton during the summer,but has now joined the Royals on ashort-term contract. He has alreadyhad a major impact scoring two goalsin his first two appearances.

Joe Fitzpatrick (Midfielder)Age: 18Joe Fitzpatrick (Midfielder) Aged 18Previous Clubs; WolverhamptonWanderers & Mansfield Town.This exciting youngster was snappedup by Mansfield Town from theWolverhampton Wanderers academy.He made his professional debut forMansfield in February of this year in adefeat away at Morecambe and hehas made three full appearances intotal for the club. Fitzpatrick hasjoined Sutton Coldfield on a threemonth loan spell, which is a dealthat both clubs hope to benefitfrom. With Mansfield looking forFitzpatrick to add to his develop-ment, Sutton have got a youngplayer with huge potential tohelp fight their cause in theNorthern Premier Division.

Midfielder Phil Trainer


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nThe Royals’ Vice-President and Foot-ball Secretary Bill Worship tells us alittle about his beloved club, its sup-porters and recent fortunes...

How long have you been a supporterof Sutton Coldfield?Over fifty years!

What is your best memory?Playing Bolton Wanderers in the FACup.

Which two players stand out in thememory and why?Alan Parsons was a good centre-

half. A very loyal player, he only everappeared for three clubs in his wholecareer. Another was Paul Cooper, a goal-

keeper who ultimately went on to playfor Ipswich.

How did the season pan out last timearound?

Last season was fantastic. Weended up top of Division One Southfor six months, and eventually gainedpromotion through the play-offs.

Give us a couple of key players towatch.Keep an eye out for Joel Kettle in

midfield and Justin Richards who isour leading goal scorer. Both excel-lent players.

Have you been to Rammy before,and if so, what stood out for you?This is my very first visit to Rams-

bottom, as it is for Sutton Coldfield, sowe’re all really looking forward to it.

How would you describe your currentmanager's approach, and that of theteam?Excellent players and manager who

won’t stand being messed about.

How do you think you'll do this sea-son?Mid-table would do me just fine this

season. We expected a big step upand so consolidation would be fine.

How would you describe your fans,and how many do you think will makethe trip to Rammy?Our fans are very loud when the

band gets going, but we’ll probablyonly bring about 30 or so to this after-noon’s game.

What's your ground like? Where's thebest place to park and then have adrink?We have been on the same site

since 1920, adding an old Manches-ter City stand back in the 50s. Thebiggest recent development is theinstallation of a 3G pitch.We’ve got a large carpark inside the

ground and a decent club-house thatsells food and drink.

Any messages for the Rammy sup-porters?We’re really looking forward to vis-

iting Ramsbottom, and to welcomingyou all down in the Midlands.

Tell us a bit about yourself and whatyou get up to.I’m married with three boys and fivegrandchildren. Iretired after 40years workingon the railway,and inbetweenfootball com-mitments I lovemy golf anddoing some gar-dening.

B


Book yourself on the trip of a lifetime...

DARLINGTONv

RAMMYjust £12 return

see Harry Williams for details


WORKINGTON TOWNMcGee (10), Allison (12), Arnison (24,86) 4RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0


RAMSBOTTOM

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Subs: Edghill,Nolan, Robinson*,Woods+, Kuba-Kuba#

ShentonBeadleHeronHaywoodFitzgeraldK HarropMcHaleCliffe*GaskellMeaney#M Harrop+

WORKINGTON

1234567891011

MitchellSimpsonRowntreeMayCalvertEarlAllison 1McLuckieArnison 2McGee 1Tinnion


Despite recording a four goal winningmargin for the first time in almost 200league games, this was far from the com-plete performance for Workington.Nevertheless, it was probably just thegame the Reds needed to get back ontrack after the poor showing at the week-end. They won far more easily than thescore line suggests, turned their negativegoal difference into a positive and, impor-tantly, bagged the three points.Yes, the score might have been doubled

but, having won a one-sided contest insidethe opening quarter of an hour, the Redscould be forgiven for losing their focussomewhat.“Once we got two goals up, we took our

foot off the gas and certainly lacked that bitof urgency in the second half,” was man-ager Derek Townsley’s post match retort.“Had we gone for the jugular, we could

have won by six or seven goals but it wasthe second game in three days so,although pleased overall, we are capableof better.”Any doubt about the eventual outcome

was dispelled after just nine minutes witha fine solo goal from Joe McGee openingthe scoring. Released on the half-way lineby Gareth Arnison’s deft pass, Joe madegood progress into the area then angledthe ball into the far corner of the net for ameasured finish and his first Borough Parkgoal.The scorer turned provider two minutes

later when, despite being outnumbered bythree defenders, his clever footwork set-upthe perfect pass for Scott Allison whodanced round the helpless Shenton beforewalking the ball into the vacant net.

Ramsbottom, currently at the foot of thetable, might have got into the game follow-ing an exciting run from Dominic McHale.He left a couple of Reds defenders in hiswake but his twenty yard strike was com-fortably gathered by Alex Mitchell.The contest was effectively over after 23

minutes when Arnison ended his personalgoal drought with a well-taken effort fromclose range. Josh Calvert returned the ballinto the danger area where Arnison turnedand volleyed home in one sweet move-ment.Phil McLuckie almost made it four when

his attempt just before the break narrowlycleared the bar.Kieran Nolan broke through to bring the

game out of snooze mode and was facedwith a one-on-one situation with Mitchell.Thankfully, the Reds’ ‘keeper stood firm,made a fine save and Rammy didn’t seri-ously threaten thereafter.Allison curled one shot over the bar then

Gari Rowntree was thwarted when histwenty five yarder was pushed away bythe overworked Shenton.Kyle Harrop capped an uncomfortable

personal ninety minutes when his need-less challenge upended Conor Tinnioninside the area six minutes from time. Arni-son’s well-struck penalty was kept out byShenton’s fine save who then blocked Tin-nion’s follow-up shot. The ball reboundedto Arnison who blasted home his secondgoal a few seconds later than he intended.Tinnion’s late strike hit the cross bar and

McGee’s follow-up effort was cleared offthe line as Reds tried to inflict further pun-ishment on beleaguered Rammy.- report provided by Workington Town

WORKINGTON TOWNMcGee (10), Allison (12), Arnison (24,86) 4RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0

31.08.15Att: 484



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ms Blimey, what a week we have in store for

us! We weren’t exactly run out of town thelast time we visited Darlington, but it’d bedifficult to say that we left on the best ofterms after beating them quite convinc-ingly in the play-off semi-final. If you recall,Rammy defender Owen Roberts let theoccasion get to him and went clatteringthrough Darlington’s key midfielder in thefirst minute, requiring the poor lad to besubbed off. Roberts got a booking, whichthe Darlington fans accepted at the time,but as the match went on and the hometeam got more and more out-played, theirfrustrations with the officials and withRammy became, shall we say, a littlefrightening! By far the vast majority of theDarlington supporters are a lovely bunch,as we found the both times we’d playedthem previously, but I think we’ll all agreethat this tie isn’t the one we’ve been relishing.Having been promoted at the end of last

season, along with our old friends SalfordCity, Darlington are currently sitting in thirdplace having beaten high flying neigh-bours Blyth Spartans 2-1 on Monday.They turned over Colwyn Bay 4-2 last Sat-urday, with a 2-1 defeat at Workington justbefore that. They’re a team that looks tobe conceding, but it’s going to be a verytough night for the Rams - with their fansdesperate to see them turn us over inrevenge for something they think we didon that play-off night.Wearing a scarf? Not the best idea to be

honest, and I’m toying with losing the‘rammy united’ car sticker for the evening. An important thing to remember, if you’re

not going by coach, is that Darlington don’tplay in Darlington! They are in negotia-tions to get back to the town, with apossible ground share on the cards withDarlington Rugby Club, but right now theirhome ground is Heritage Park up inBishop Auckland, which is another 20 min-utes or so on the journey time.

The other humdinger of a match thisweek? Out of all the hundreds of possibleopposition teams in the FA Cup whoshould we draw but the exact same clubas we drew last year, and the one weplayed Silly-Beggars with a couple ofweeks ago: Yes, Buxton. The Daily Mirror,Granada Reports, and ultimately the FAhave got involved in whipping up a stormover the shouting and pushing and shov-ing that took place towards the end of theRammy v Buxton game a couple of weeksago. Trial by Twitter ensued after Buxton’sofficial camera bloke and some other Bux-ton fan uploaded their videos, completewith bizarrely inaccurate commentaries toyoutube. Apparently we’ve had an apologyfrom the maniac who could be heard say-ing, “Their manager is kicking one of ourplayers” on the footage - you can see fromthe video that our manager is separatingplayers at the time.Personally I doubt we’ll see any ‘afters’

from the players at the FA Cup game. Theoutburst towards the end of the leaguegame was virtually out of the blue, andreally down to the tough tackle’s proximityto the dug-out and the perimeter wall, aswell as the referee’s lack of response to anearlier challenge. I also think that it wassuitably dealt with on the night.One or two of their fans might have a lit-

tle bit to say about the issue, but they’llvery quickly realise that we’re just a bunchof wooly-backs who aren’t the thuggishlouts that the Daily Mirror and GranadaReports seemed to make out we are.Buxton are currently lying fourth, on the

same points as Darlington, with recentwins against Skem and Nantwich, withtheir only defeats being at the hands ofSalford City and Blyth. A tough start totheir season, and they’re right up there inspite of that. All in all though, this is a definite week

that’ll separate the men from the boys, sobrace yourself!


Jubilation as Jor-dan Hulme tucksaway Rammy’ssecond in theplayoff againstDarlington

Darlington’s LeonScott injured inthe very firstminute by a wildOwen Robertschallenge

The usual kisses and cuddlesas we face Buxton yet again?


DARLINGTON:

There are two main ways toget to Darlington, which aremore or less the same dis-tance - up the M6 beforecutting across t’hills, or overon the M62 towards Leedsbefore heading up theA1(M). The first is probablybetter for Tuesday as youmiss Leeds rush-hour, buttake your pick:

On the M6:

1) Grane Road then M6(N)towards The Lakes.

2) Get off at Junction 38 andfollow the A685 throughKirkby Stephen towardsBrough.

3) At Brough turn right onthe A66, then veer left atBowes onto the A67/A688for Bishop Auckland.

You can’t miss the ground ifyou go that way, as it’s onyour left. We parked justbefore it last year, on StHelen Way, though parkingwasn’t a problem at all.

On the A1(M):

1) M66, then M62 towardsLeeds.

2) At M62 Junction 1 takethe M1(N) which becomesthe A1(M).

3) At Junction 58 (after Dar-lington), take the A68towards Bishop Auckland.

4) After 7.3 miles take aright at the roundabout. Itmight be sign-posted A688Bishop Auckland, but wasn’tlast year!

Again, you can’t miss theground as it’s on the leftafter about 500 yards.

For your satnav, the post-code of the ground is:DL14 9AE

Travelling time is technicallyabout 2hrs 10mins, but Iwouldn’t bank on that atrush-hour!


BUXTON:

Marple or Glossop- which is theworse of the twoevils? Last time wewent via HazelGrove, and arrivedvery late. This timewe’re going to tryGlossop:

1) M66, M60(S&E)to J24, then M67 tilyou hit the mas-sive queue!

2) Left at theroundabout,through Mottram (stillqueuing), downthe hill then right atthe lights at thebottom.

3) At the doubleroundabout, take a right,sign-posted for A6 Buxtonand then, basically, keepgoing for ages until you getto the Morrisons roundaboutin Buxton itself then take aright.

4) Next right onto PeverilRoad, just before the rail-way bridge, and you’rethere (unless you’re a bus inwhich case you’re stuck!)

Post-code: SK17 6QHTime: 1hr 15mins (in theory)


MOLLY 27pts GUESTS 23pts

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Molly: 1-3Guest: 0-3You:












Pit your witsagainst The MightyMolly by trying tocorrectly guess theresults from today’sEvostik Premiergames. Each cor-rect score earns3pts, with correctresults earning 1pt.

today’s guest t

Today’s guest was Sutton Coldfield man-ager Neil Tooth but some idiot sent him thewrong fixtures so we’ve ended up with Rob-bie, the programme editor, makingpredictions. The 42-year-old numpty started out as asubmarine and command and control engi-neer before the stress did for him and hejacked it all in to become a musician. Hehasn’t got a clue about other teams’ results,but is going to give it his best shot.

last week’s pointsLast week Molly scored nine points for thethird week in a row, matched by Karl Rose(Frickley’s manager) who also scored nine,including correctly predicting the Rammy vFrickley result - raising the question ofmatch-fixing so that he could defeat Molly!


match officials

Today’s officials have beeninformed by ‘The Profes-sional Game of MatchOfficials Ltd’ that they do nothave permission to answerquestions for today’s pro-gramme. Hopefully normalservice will be resumed forthe next programme.

1-WHICH CLUB plays at Surrey Street?2-WHO IS THE MANAGER of Blyth Spartans?3-WHICH COLOURS do Sutton United play in?4-IN WHAT YEAR did Rhyl win the NPL Presidents Cup?5-IN WHICH LEAGUE do Walshaw Sports play?6-WHAT IS THE NICKNAME of Salford City?7-WHERE DOES ex-Bury and Wrexham striker Andy Bishop now play?8-WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN Burscough and Skelmersdale United?9-RAMMY LINK: Where is Donal McDermott now playing?10-MISC: Where are AFC Liverpool playing home matches this season?

tony’s teasers

HOW DID YOU DO?10-Non-League guru! 8-9 Non-league enthusiast 6-7 Pretty good, but much to learn4-5 Average, so time to read up on the non-league game 2-3 You must be missing out on the delights of non-league 0-1 Obviously an armchair Premier League viewer!

answers at bottom of page

PAUL HODSKINSON

KEITH MARTINANDREW JOHNSON

ANSWERS: 1-Glossop North End 2-Tom Wade 3-Amber and Brown 4-1984-85 5-Manchester League 6-e Ammies 7-Halifax Town 8-Burscough played their “home” games at Skem a couple of years ago

9-Rochdale 10-Marine


RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0FRICKLEY ATHLETICThomas (15), Williams (80) 2


RAMSBOTTOM

1234567891011

Subs: M Harrop,Spencer+, Cliffe,Knight, Hartley*

ShentonBeadleWoods+HaywoodFitzgeraldK HarropKuba-Kuba*MeaneyGaskellMcHaleHeron

FRICKLEY

1234567891011

Subs: Jeffs, Johnson+, Wood*,Hartfield, Fotko

MalkowskiBruceParkinsonHinsleyCyrusIbleHornsleyLenighanHazel*Thomas1+Williams1


The hard-core Rams’ support whotravel faithfully home and away werestill trying to draw crumbs of optimismafter this defeat, pointing to hard workand effort, but frankly that should justcome as standard. The truth of thematter is that this was a grim displaylacking all of the qualities in terms ofability, organisation and leadershipthat will be needed if there is to beany hope for anything other thanspending the next eight months in therelegation places.The performance was as clueless

as someone trying to speak Mandarin

Chinese on the back of being regularcustomers of Khan's chippy. Therewas a lack of any semblance of com-munication, cohesion or mobility.Attempts at playing the ball out fromthe back were nothing more than asuccession of hospital passes intocul-de-sacs which, at best, resulted ina hurried shuffle of the ball back toGrant Shenton and a directionlesshoof of the ball forward. The midfieldfound space about as easy as a seaton a rush-hour tube train and justabout as comfortable. To be fair a sur-face which varied from grass too long

mat

ch re

view

29.08.15Att: 176

Dominic McHale, battlingin the position justbehind Gassy

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0FRICKLEY ATHLETICThomas (15), Williams (80) 2


to much too long and is nowhere nearthe standard required at this level didnot help the Rams, confounding allattempts to beat a man or move theball quickly. It was from that difficultythat Frickley, having taken the leadafter 15 minutes with an unchal-lenged glancing header, were able toput the game to bed with 10 minutesleft. Dominic McHale was dispos-sessed on the edge of the Frickleybox and, three simple direct passeslater, Tyler Williams was free as a birdinside the Rams’ box to slide pastGrant Shenton.For a period of 20 minutes in the

second half the Rams had managedto mount some sustained pressureand were aggrieved at the denial of apenalty when Lee Gaskell nipped infront of a a defender and was caughtby a lunging boot.

Then Grant Spencerlatched onto agreat diagonalball fromMcHale to runclear into thebox, but hiseffort lacked theconviction tooverly troublethe keeper.Those twomoments werethe closest theRa ms came toscoring and thefinal whistlewas a welcomerelief.

Hard times!

“...a request to the Manager to sitdown,consider your record,have along hard think and then do the rightthing” - ‘Mr Magoo’

“We just need a break for once. Getthe penalty to make it one all and it'sa different game. At times rammyplay some great football. I said it afterthe last match - once it comestogether we'll be fine.” - ‘Heisenberg

“there are certain individuals at theground literally screaming in playersfaces from the side of the pitch, that'sno good for anyone.” - Ukepunk

“ There are lads training and ready toplay for Rammy who aren't getting achance because they aren't 'known'at this level! Favourite's play everygame whether they perform or not.”- ‘Si’ha

ve y

our s

ay

Lee Gaskell’s denied penalty appeal


Many people must have noticedwomen’s football for the first time withthe World Cup in Canada last sum-mer. England did well, coming third,and names like the Beth Houghton,Kas Carney and Eniola Aluko are alittle more widely known. Butwomen’s football has been around for120 years…so why has nobody everheard of it? What follows is a briefintroduction. This article coverswomen’s football until the 1920s anda subsequent piece will take the storyup to the present day.Women’s football in both England

and Scotland got off to a fine start inthe 1890s, with 166 ladies matchesreported in the press during 1894/95.The first match is reckoned to be thatarranged by Nettie Honeyball whofounded the British Ladies FootballClub (BLFC). The players trainedfrom scratch for a North v Southconfrontation at Crouch Endon 23 March 1895. A crowdof 10,000 attended andsaw the satisfying scoreof 7 -1 to the North –although the BLFCfielded both teams.But there is very littleknown about any ofthe players: wasHoneyball a pseudo-nym for instance,who was Hannah

Women Beginnings, Tri


Oliphant or Carrie Bousted, reputedlythe first black player in Britain? The BLFC toured the country, pro-

viding both teams in numerouscontrived contests – the novel sight ofwomen playing football arousinginterest, ridicule and criticism in equalmeasure. Because of course playingfootball was ‘unladylike’. The kitwomen wore consisted of voluminousblouses and ample knickerbockers,finished off with a sort of night capwith a tassle. But this overt demon-stration that women had legs wasfound reprehensible by some moralguardians, and theScottish medicalprofessiondemanded thatfootball amongstwomen should bebanned because itmight do irrepara-ble damage tothem. This preju-dice was a malepoint of view ofcourse, but thenmen ran everything(certainly sport, thechurch and press) and most menwanted it to keep it that way; womenwere to stay at home and be demure.But this frisson of controversyappealed to many and exhibitionmatches continued. Mrs Graham’s

and Miss Hudson’s teams joined thetravelling BLFC circus and the gamescontinued to attract crowds and jokeycomment in the press. The SportingMan, for instance, commented on thenumber of blondes and brunettes in amatch in 1895. But enthusiasm for this novelty as a

spectacle peaked and into the newcentury a limited number of ladiesteams were playing, often advertisingfor matches. But as the Great Warbegan in 1914 two things stimulatedthe sport: the huge numbers of girlsdrawn to highly paid munitions work

across the country, and the ‘welfare’idea. As the numbers of overwhelm-ingly single women in factories grew,‘welfare officers’ were employed tomake sure they were decently treatedand that they remained fit for work.

en’s Football Triumph, Betrayal.

The BritishLadies team in1895, completewith ‘ampleknickerbockers’and ‘voluminousblouses’


This involved innovations such as toi-lets with hot water, first aiders, workscanteens...and sports clubs. Football took off immediately, Lan-

cashire United Transport Company ofAtherton being the first Lancashire

Ladies team to play – in 1915. But itwas Preston’s Dick, Kerr’s Ladiesteam that was, from the beginning,the benchmark of excellence both inplay and money raising potential.Matches were almost all for charity –

The infamous‘kiss’ photo of1920, as Dick,Kerr’s ladiesprepare to kick-off a match inPreston.


there being no league. Their matchagainst St Helen’s Ladies on BoxingDay 1920 had 53,000 spectators atGoodison Park with many locked out.In 1921 Mrs Vizard’s ladies team tookon Dick, Kerr’s at Burnden Park,Bolton. Mrs Vizard, married to BoltonWanderer’s hero Ted Vizard, ran herteam for several years after the GreatWar. The match that April was in aidof disabled soldiers and was a greatsuccess, with over 20,000 spectatorspiling into the ground. The result wasnot so hot for Mrs Vizard, with Dick,Kerr running out 8 – 0 winners. Butlook at Dick, Kerr’s results at the timeand this scoreline does not comparethat badly with others – earlier thatyear they had defeated a ‘Rest ofLancashire’ team 17 – 0. Dick, Kerr’sLadies were the Barcelona of theirage. And by then, although some‘munitionettes’ teams wore more dis-creet leggings, Dick, Kerr Ladieswore shorts, bare knees and all. But the bandwagon was running

into trouble. As munitions factoriesclosed in 1918 many women’s teamsfolded and in 1921, the ‘FA history ofwomen’s football’ reports there beingonly 150 women’s teams in England,mostly in the North and the Midlands.But it also reports that the FA wassuspicious about the ‘financial mis-management’ of matches played forcharity. It describes the famous FAresolution of 5th December as a‘bombshell’: “...the Council feel... that the game

of football is quite unsuitable forfemales and ought not to be encour-aged… The Council are further of theopinion that an excessive proportionof the receipts are absorbed inexpenses and an inadequate per-centage devoted to Charitableobjects.

The Council told FA members not toallow their grounds to be used forwomen’s matches – in effect banningwomen’s football. The Scottish FAswiftly followed suit. The FA havebeen rightly criticised for this actionand the concern about financial mis-management was a crude pretext.But their action was part of generalbacklash against women’s freedomsachieved during the Great War. Notonly were wartime women workers(teachers, office workers and so on)sacked, but amongst the establish-ment there was a feeling that with thewar over and the vote being granted,‘we should get back to normal now –back in the kitchen’. In angry response 25 clubs formed

the English Ladies Football Associa-tion, which immediately held a cupcompetition in which 23 clubsentered. Stoke Ladies beat Don-caster Bentleys 3 - 1 in the final.(Stoke was often known as ‘Len Bet-tridge’s’ team. He not only managedthe team, but three of his daughtersplayed in it!). Sadly the cup appearsnot to have been contested again aswomen’s football, cut off from propergrounds and funding, struggled... andsank... and almost drowned. Thepostscript for this era came on 29thSeptember 1923 just up the road.After a trip to Barcelona, where theybeat a French XI twice, Stoke Ladiestook on the mighty Dick, Kerr at theHorsfield ground in Colne. DaisyBates of Stoke scored the only goalof the game. A triumph...but theyseem never to have played again.From thereon a few exhibitionmatches took place…but women’sfootball became a barely noticeablesideshow. - text provided by Dave Burnham


Good afternoon everyone and Ihope I find you all well as ever. It'salways great to welcome a new clubfor the first time to the Harry WilliamsRiverside Stadium and today it is theturn of Sutton Coldfield Town, whowere promoted last season. Wel-come one and all - I probably sawsome of you on the M6 heading up.Yes, one half of the Southampton

branch of the Ramsbottom United FCSupporters Club (membership: 2 -that will be me and my dad!) will be inattendance this afternoon as I amworking on the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final tomorrow over atHeadingley between Yorkshire andGloucestershire (10.25am on air onSky Sports 2 .... plug!), so have takena slight detour on my journey up tocome and see the team in action forthe first time this campaign.I am really hoping that I can bring

us a little bit of fortune as our recordof Played 6 with just a single point

isn't exactly what we hoped for afteran extensive pre-season. What can Isay about the season so far? Well,not very much really as I haven't seenus play so today is going to be veryinteresting as I watch the players thatyou have seen thus far and make upmy own mind. All I can say though isthat it has been really hard followingthe team after so many years of greattimes and progress to see us startinga season so poorly is particularlyheart-wrenching.But something that has been espe-

cially disappointing has been that thecrowds are down on recent seasons -just about 170 or so for the Frickleylast Saturday. Why? Ok, so we arenot winning and haven't been for awhile. But we are still RamsbottomUnited and we are still in need ofevery single ounce of support that wecan get and to see so many walkingaway from watching us is really dis-heartening.

ram

my

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xile

Robbo - who’d be in thisfella’s shoes right now?


Yes, we haveour loyal fanbase and theyare absolutelybrilliant (youknow who youare - we see youin the pictures atevery singlegame) but it is tothose who flit inand out of watch-ing us that Iappeal to you - come on you RAMS!Now, lets talk about the forum. Our

website forum has gone absolutelypotty just lately and some of it hasbeen pretty nasty. I am not sure if youread my column of recent times butwhen the going gets tough, we needto back our lads. Through thick andthin, we need to back the lads. Notonly the lads but Robbo, in his firsttenure as manager and Edgy, in hisfirst tenure as assistant. What wedon't need is some of the brickbatsthat have been flying around. Robbois doing a pretty damn good job con-sidering what he has had to deal withand the level of football we are play-ing and I know he is and will befeeling the pressure of everythinghappening - who wouldn't!But it is right now, with our poor

record and us sitting at the bottom ofthe table with one point to our namesthat we need to really show ourcolours. I know I will be today for thefirst time this season and I can't waitto shout my lungs out, as per normal,in our cause. Come on everyone, thetime is now!In other news from the south, T20

Finals Day last Saturday was a veryvery long day - 15 hours in fact - butcongratulations to Lancashire, who

finally got the monkey off their backsby being the perennial 'chokers' inknock-out matches and finally getthemselves a limited-overs trophy forthe first time since 1999. And I amsure they partied like it was 1999 aswell ... well, maybe not, beer prices in1999 were a damn sight cheaperthan they are now! It was an enjoy-able day all told really and I waspleased to get it all done and get tothe bar for a relaxing drink after-wards.My cricket season is beginning to

come to its climax now - a couple ofRoyal London One-Day Cup matchesthis weekend (yeah, thanks to thedraw balls, I am in Leeds on Sundayand London on Monday .... brilliant!)and then that might be my lot for the2015 campaign. It hasbeen a very longseason but hugelyenjoyable - but now is thetime to put down the pensand the databases andlook to watch somerugby - and, of course,some more Rammy!You can't get rid of methat easily!COME ON YOU

RAMS!

Hoping to finally get toa Rammy match on theway to Headingley


After making two visits to the lovelylittle East Yorkshire coastal town ofWhitby last season this game waspretty high up on our list of awaygames that we were keenly anticipat-ing this season. Indeed, it would havemade for an excellent weekend awaywith the Ultras but, with Sods Lawworking against us, we were down tovisit a couple of Wednesdays ago.The original plan was for the RammyRocket to be running but, due toneeding a 3.30 departure in midweekit was decided to cancel it as the clubwould have ended up losing a fewhundred pounds. Still, this wasn’tgoing to stop us making the gameand the days leading up to the fixturesaw us arranging travel and lifts sothat we could have a decent followingto support Robbo and the lads

Hackers had kindly offered to driveme in his BMW and we decided on a2.00 setting off time in order to meetup with the other travelling supportersand also take in some of the obliga-tory fish ‘n’ chips at the harbour (fish‘n’ chips really is best eaten at theseaside, isn’t it?). With the sun beat-ing down and no hold ups on the M62(yes miracles really can happen boysand girls) it wasn’t long before wewere heading past York and excitedlylooking forward to our day/night at theseaside. In fact we didn’t encounterany traffic hold ups until we hit theoutskirts of Whitby where we joinedthe holiday-makers and day trippers

(The Beatles reference isn’t on pur-pose there folks, I’ll leave them sort ofshenanigans to Sir Paul Cropper andhis inimitable match reports). The heavy traffic didn’t hold us up

for too long and we were parking upat the train station just after 4.00 andmaking our way down to the harbour.We had arranged to meet up therewith Andy and Hilary Massey and Steand Angie Carlsberg at 5.00, so withtime to spare I suggested me andHackers make our way to The JollySailor (£3.30 for a pint of

Samuels Smiths Best Bitter and a pintof Taddy Lager if you fancy a pint nexttime you’re in Whitby) and wait forthem there. As we made the shortwalk to the pub I got a call from Andyto say they were already in town andhad made the same choice as usmeaning they were already waitingfor us in The Jolly Sailor. Great mindsthinking alike there then. Andy and Hilary had travelled up

the previous day and spent a bit oftime on the golf course up in Wash-ington so I was hoping Mr Masseyfr

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might have been wearing a pair ofthose silly golf trousers but, sadly hewasn’t. Ste and Angie had bookedthemselves a hotel and had taken theopportunity to meet up with a coupleof Mackem friends of theirs. So aftera couple of pints myself, Hackers,Andy and Hilary made our way to anice, little restaurant on the harbourto get our fish ‘n’ chips (£7.90 andworth every penny). After our feastwe had a walk around town where webumped into another couple of mem-

bers from the Mutton Army in TobyTrotter58/Trevor and Sir Paul of Crop-per who were also partaking in somefish ‘n’ chips (us Rammy folk do likeour food don’t we?). After a quick chatwe made our way up to the ground,arriving in plenty of time for a couplemore pints, Black Sheep in this case,before the kick off.With this being our third visit to The

Turnbull Stadium in less than twelvemonths it’s becoming a pretty familiarground to us now, although since ourlast visit they seem to have obtaineda few flags which were proudly dis-played in one section. I do like to see

flags at games, especially at thislevel, as they often show some imag-ination and humour which is oftenmissing with Premiership teams’ sup-porters (one that particularly amusedme claimed “Whitby Town F.C. – No-One Knows Us,

We Don’t Care”). Fairplay to whoever came upwith that one. On the subject of flagswe made our way to the far end of theground to hang up our own oneswhere there was a small group ofyoung Whitby supporters making themost of the school holidays by watch-ing their local team. We got a little bitof light hearted abuse from the youngwhippersnappers, with usual words“sheep” and “arses” being bandiedabout, but we soon shut them up witha little rendition of “We’ve Got MoreFlags Than Fans” which seemed toamuse them.


The game itself gave us some moreevidence that we are beginning to gelas a team and for once we managedto go in at half time with a cleansheet, although we hadn’t actuallymanaged to score ourselves. Weheaded for our half-time drink quiteheartened by the first half display andconfident we would get something outof the game. Carlsberg did a goodKen Barlow impression in the bar athalf time by ordering a half (If Carls-berg is Ken Barlow, does that meanHarry is Albert Tatlock?) in order thathe didn’t miss the start of the second

half. “No problem there, Ste” I saidas we headed back onto the ground“Look, Whitby are only just kickingoff”. Then an announcement cameover the tannoy “The golden goaltime is Ramsbottom United on 46minutes”. Doh, a trip of over 120miles and we miss the goal. We did atleast get to see a Whitby equaliser onthe hour mark, although that was ofscant consolation to us, which nicelyset up the last half-hour to be anexciting and tense affair. The gamecould have gone either way and afterbringing on Dominic McHale for thefr

om th

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last fifteen minutes we looked themost likely team to grab a winner(especially when the Whitby goal-keeper went off injured and wasreplaced by an outfield player). Alas, itwasn’t to be but, we were more thanhappy with the point and the perform-ances.As we headed home over the East

Yorkshire Moors, like a couple of vil-lains in a bad episode of ‘Heartbeat’, Igot a phone call from Rammy TV Rob-bie wanting do an interview with meabout the game (that guy’s enthusi-asm for the media side of things here

at the HWRS really should beapplauded). However, that was easiersaid than done as my phone keptgoing in and out of signal making theinterview pretty much an impossibletask. He did eventually manage to getan interview with Robbo who was trav-elling home in the rather plushsurroundings of Gassy’scar and it was on theRammy website bythe time I landedhome just after mid-night.


Tired of missing out on getting hold of a programme?

Get your copy reserved for the season by contacting Rob on 07944 038512, or by email:[email protected]

Watch the match instyle with our CorporateHospitality Packagesstarting at just £25 per person. For furtherinformation call

07576 390762, or [email protected]


fixtures & results 2015-16

This season we want to hearfirst-hand what our supportersthink about everything, fromteam and player performancesright through to what everyonethought of the pies and the park-ing!

To that end, we’ve had printed aload of ‘Have Your Say’ cards,which you can pick up near thetea-bar. Onto these you canwrite your thoughts and thenpost them into the boxes nearthe exits as you leave. Thesewill be available at every gamefrom now on.

Alternatively, you can use yourphone to text TV444 followed byyour comment to 82055. Thesecost the same as any other textyou would send.

The comments will be given toRobbo/Harry etc, and will beposted to @RammyReaction onTwitter. A selection will be published in the programme.

Ramsbottom United Football ClubChairman: H WilliamsVice Chairman: C WoolfallSecretary: A Cunningham Matchday Secretary: A Edmunson Treasurers: H Williams, C WoolfallCommittee: H Williams, C Woolfall, A Edmundson, K Hitchen, A CunninghamCatering Manager: S Fletcher

Recent Senior Honours: Bolton Combination Div 1 Champions: 1972/73Bolton Comb. Premier Champions 1976/77: Bolton Comb. Div2 cup ru nners up:1979/80,1982/83Bolton Comb. Div2 runners up: 1982/83Bolton Comb. Cup winners: 1976/77, 1979/80,1983/84Bolton Comb. Div1 runners up: 1984/85Bolton Comb. Cup runners up: 1985/86, 1987/88Manchester League Cup Winners: 1990/91Manchester League Champions: 1990/91Yorkshire Cup runners up: 1993/94Northwest Counties Div2 Champions: 1996/97Northwest Counties Div2 Trophy: 1995/96Bolton Hospital Cup winners: 1974/75, 05/06.06/07, 07/08Northwest Counties Premier runners Up 2010/11Northwest Counties Premier Champions: 2011/12Northern Premier League Div1 playoff winners:2013/14

The Harry Williams Riverside Stadium , Acre Bottom, Ramsbottom, LancashireTel: 01706 822799


SUTTON

NUMBER OFWINS

GOALSSCORED

GOALS SCORED PER GAME

CLEAN SHEETS

GOALSCONCEDED

GOALS CONCEDED PER GAME

RAMMY

ATTENDANCES

BIGGEST WIN

WORST DEFEAT

WORKINGTON 4RAMSBOTTOM 0

FORM

POSITION 24th

0 - 2

4 - 0

TOP SCORERSDavid Kuba-KubaMax Harrop

11

ATTENDANCES

FORM

POSITION

2 - 2

4 - 1

1 - 1

3 - 0

TOP SCORERSTrainerDiopRichardsFordePace

32211

BIGGEST WIN

SUTTON 3HALESOWEN 0

WORST DEFEAT

SUTTON 1BARWELL 5

1 - 4

1 - 1


ATTENDANCES EVOSTIK PREMIER DIVISION

SEASON 2015-16 / CAREER STATISTICS

SEASON CAREERSIGNED APPS SUB GOALS APPS SUB GOALS YELS REDS

Clevon Beadle July-15 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 0Jake Cliffe Jan-15 2 2 0 4 4 1 0 0

Andy Dawson Aug-08 2 0 0 174 5 23 25 4Saindou Djanfar Aug-15 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0Andy Fitzgerald July-15 4 0 0 4 0 0 0 0Lee Gaskell Aug-10 6 0 0 184 37 110 10 0Kyle Harrop Jan-15 4 1 0 26 2 0 0 1Max Harrop Aug-15 3 0 0 3 0 2 0 0

Prince Haywood July-15 6 0 0 6 0 0 0 0Luke Heron Jan-15 4 1 0 12 7 2 1 0Callum Jones Jan-15 2 0 0 7 0 0 2 0

David Kuba-Kuba Nov-14 4 3 0 15 9 2 2 0Dominic McHale July-15 5 2 0 5 2 0 1 1Alex Meaney July-15 6 0 0 6 0 0 1 0Kieran Nolan July-15 2 1 0 2 1 0 0 0Jon Robinson Aug-15 0 1 0 169 40 107 48 4Grant Shenton Aug-10 6 0 0 233 1 0 12 1Grant Spencer July-15 3 1 0 145 21 43 20 0Ben Woods July-15 4 1 0 4 1 0 0 0

Lee Pugh July-15 0 0 0 36 7 2 9 2Melford Knight July-15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TEAM P W D L F A GD Pts1 Blyth Spartans 6 4 1 1 9 5 4 132 Matlock Town 6 4 1 1 10 7 3 133 Darlington 6 4 0 2 13 8 5 124 Buxton 6 4 0 2 7 5 2 125 Salford City 6 3 2 1 8 5 3 116 Nantwich Town 6 3 1 2 17 12 5 107 Barwell 6 3 1 2 13 8 5 108 Skelmersdale United 6 3 1 2 10 7 3 109 Ilkeston 6 3 1 2 10 9 1 1010 Rushall Olympic 6 2 3 1 12 10 2 911 Workington 6 2 2 2 7 6 1 812 Frickley Athletic 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 813 Hyde United 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 814 Stourbridge 6 2 2 2 11 14 -3 815 Marine 6 1 4 1 6 5 1 716 Colwyn Bay 6 2 1 3 8 10 -2 717 Stamford 5 2 0 3 16 17 -1 618 Ashton United 6 1 3 2 8 10 -2 619 Sutton Coldfield Town 6 1 3 2 9 13 -4 620 Halesowen Town 6 2 0 4 4 9 -5 621 Whitby Town 6 1 2 3 12 12 0 522 Mickleover Sports 6 1 2 3 5 8 -3 523 Grantham Town 5 0 3 2 9 12 -3 324 Ramsbottom United 6 0 1 5 2 14 -12 1

TEAM Avg1 Darlington 13062 Workington 5523 Salford City 5384 Ilkeston 4725 Stourbridge 4386 Hyde United 4117 Buxton 3978 Matlock Town 3769 Marine 37510 Stamford 37211 Halesowen Town 35612 Blyth Spartans 32413 Nantwich Town 32314 Colwyn Bay 30015 Whitby Town 24716 Ramsbottom United 24617 Frickley Athletic 22618 Skelmersdale United 22619 Rushall Olympic 20820 Mickleover Sports 20621 Barwell 20422 Sutton Coldfield Town 20023 Grantham Town 18324 Ashton United 158


Date of birth: 22/05/92Place of birth: ChaddertonPosition: DefenderHeight: 6ftPrevious clubs: Curzon,Bacup, Trafford, AshtonUnited, NantwichFull back with a greatability to read the game.

Kyle Harrop

Date of birth: 26/05/92Place of birth: RossendalePosition: DefenderHeight: 6ftPrevious clubs: Bury, Hyde,Bacup, Clitheroe, ChesterNo-nonsense hard manwith a huge long throw andmean free kick.

Lee Pugh

Date of birth: 1/07/97Place of birth: ManchesterPosition: Wing-backHeight: 5ft 10insPrevious clubs: Hough EndGriffinsExtremely talented youngfull back with bags of pace,which allows him to wreakhavoc coming forward.

Ben Woods

Date of birth: 28/12/81Place of birth: SalfordPosition: Manager / StrikerHeight: 5ft 9insPrevious clubs: Salford,Flixton, New Mills, BacupA passionate and never-say-die striker who willscore goals by sheerenthusiasm alone. Tookover the managerial reinsin January 2015.

Jon Robinson

Date of birth: 13/09/79Place of birth: OldhamPosition: Manager /MidfieldHeight: 6ftPrevious clubs: Rochdale,Curzon, Hyde, SalfordVersatile midfielder who’shappy anywhere on thepitch. Intelligent, matureand articulate addition toRammy’s management.

Phil Edghill

Date of birth: 28/01/91Place of birth: NewtonHeathPosition: GoalkeeperHeight: 6ft 2insPrevious clubs: MaineRoad, FCUMCharismatic and influentialgoalkeeper whose visionhelps score as many goalsas his athleticism denies.

Grant Shenton

who’s who?meet the rammy squad for 2015/16


Date of birth: 2/04/92Place of birth: Modena,ItalyPosition: MidfieldHeight: 6ft 1inPrevious clubs: Modenese,Stalybridge, Colwyn BayNo-nonsense hard workingmidfielder with bags ofexperience despite his age.

Prince Haywood

Position: MidfieldPrevious clubs: New Mills,Glossop, Runcorn Linnets,Mossley, TraffordStrong and experiencedmidfielder who likes to getstuck in. The Enforcer inthe middle!

Melford Knight

Position: MidfieldPrevious clubs: Stockport,Lancaster, Nantwich,Chorley, Skelmersdale,Curzon AshtonA left-footed attackingmidfielder who workstirelessly and has a greateye for reading play.

Alex Meaney

Date of birth: 22/12/93Place of birth: StockportPosition: DefenderHeight: 6ft 1inPrevious clubs:Manchester United,Blackburn, Stockport,Curzon, HydeHard working full back witha great pedigree.

Andy Fitzgerald

Date of birth: 19/09/85Place of birth: RochdalePosition: Centre-HalfHeight: 6ft 3insPrevious clubs: BlackburnA Rammy favourite andone of the club’s longestserving players.Struggledwith injury for the pastthree seasons, but after aseries of knee operations isback in the squad.

Andy Dawson

Date of birth: 12/01/91Place of birth: SalfordPosition: Centre-HalfHeight: 6ft 1inPrevious clubs:Manchester City, BoltonSkillful young centre backwho’s come through theBolton academy setup.Very brave, creative andhas huge potential.

Kieran Nolan

6


Date of birth: 18/10/98Place of birth: BuryPosition: MidfieldHeight: 5ft 11insPrevious clubs: Bury,BurnleyYoung and nippy midfielderwith great skill, fitness andmasses of potential.

Zac Hargreaves

Date of birth: 14/09/95Place of birth: BuryPosition: MidfieldHeight: 5ft 11insPrevious clubs: Preston,BuryYoung and very promisingmidfielder whoseperformances becomemore outstanding everytime he takes the field.

Jake Cliffe

Date of birth: 28/01/91Place of birth: MiddletonPosition: MidfieldHeight: 5ft 8insPrevious clubs: Oldham,Salford, Bacup, New MillsA very hard-workingmidfielder whose never-say-die attitude makes hima real inspiration in theRammy team.

Jamie Rother

Date of birth: 1/03/95Place of birth: LondonPosition: Midfield/WingHeight: 5ft 8insPrevious clubs: Preston,FCUMA very hard-workingmidfielder who’s skilled,strong and confident on theball. Extremely influentialplayer on the field forRammy.

David Kuba-Kuba

Date of birth: 4/10/91Place of birth: ManchesterPosition: MidfieldHeight: 5ft 7insPrevious clubs: Bolton,Salford, Curzon,Rossendale, HydeA creative midfielder whohas the ability to take onanyone and deliver a greatball. He has an eye for thesensational and is worthalmost a goal a game.

Grant Spencer

Date of birth: 11/11/96Place of birth: RawtenstallPosition: Midfield/StrikerHeight: 5ft 7insPrevious clubs: Blackburn,MostonTough and skillful youngstriker / attacking midfielderwho is a very excitingprospect for the future.

Tom Hartley


Date of birth: 15/09/92Place of birth: BoltonPosition: Midfield/StrikerHeight: 5ft 8insPrevious clubs: Burnley,Bolton, Lancaster, MossleyA creative midfielder andplaymaker with an eye forgoal.

Marley Gough

Date of birth: 24/03/96Place of birth: BuryPosition: WingerHeight: 6ftPrevious clubs: Oldham,TraffordYoung and creative wideplayer whoseperformances are goingfrom strength to strength.

Luke Heron

Date of birth: 07/02/85Place of birth: BuryPosition: StrikerHeight: 6ft Previous clubs: Bury,Morecambe, Trafford,WarringtonTall and classy striker whohas an eye for thespectacular but isn’t afraidto work hard for the cause.

Lee Gaskell

Date of birth: 19/12/95Place of birth: ManchesterPosition: WingerHeight: 5ft 11insPrevious clubs: Trafford,RadcliffeLeggy young andpassionate winger withbags of pace who likes torun at defenders and candeliver a mean cross.

Clevon Beadle

Date of birth: 27/02/91Place of birth: Mayotte,AfricaPosition: StrikerHeight: 5ft 11insPrevious clubs: ChateauxGombert, En AvantGuingamp, Endoume,Luynes Sport, Consolat,CA Plan de CuquesTall and fast striker withgreat technique and whosepotential is frightening.

Saindou Djanfar

Position: CoachPrevious clubs: Barnsley,Crewe, Rochdale, Hyde,Accrington, BuxtonVastly experienced coachwith some great ideas forgetting the best out of hisplayers. Played over 200matches in professionalfootball as a right-back.

Wayne Goodison


Like it or not - and I know there area good number who choose the latter- we find ourselves RamsbottomUnited supporters, and for me thatrequires a few things of us. We alljumped up and down and clappedand cheered when our team won allthose games over the last few years,and rode on the shoulders of Johnno,Bernard and their excellent squad ofplayers while they took the NorthwestCounties and then Evostik First Divi-sion North by storm. We had a greattime, and turned out in pretty decentnumbers to watch and support ourteam. The going was easy, and wehad a fantastic five years... andthen...

...and then we know what hap-pened, we know it all too well. Theresults went to pieces, the perform-ances became pretty awful, and thejourneymen supporters, who’djumped on the bandwagon, began towander off back to the Trafford Centreor watching Everton on BT Sports, orwhatever else they get up to.And what do we have left? Me, you,

him over there, that’s what we haveleft. There really aren’t that many ofus at all, and what we have is splitinto two very distinct camps.Camp One is ‘The Moaners’. The

miserable sods who think that a clubsuch as Rammy ought to be bangingin goals for fun every week, with ateam of top-class players who didn’tquite break through into United’s firstteam and have come to ply their tradefor next-to-nowt at our ‘Tiny Team’.These are the supporters who standon the touchline hurling abuse at thelads who, although perhaps not thebest in this league, are willing to giveit a go. These are the supporters whoshout about letting the side down,about players not being fit to wear the

badge, or lacking in commitment - theself-same ‘supporters’ who the major-ity of us find an embarassment to thename of Ramsbottom United, whothemselves are almost the epitomy oftheir accusations of the players. Theircontribution at this club is worse thanthose who’ve just wandered off -much worse! These are the peoplewho kick our players and manage-ment when they’re already on theirknees. These are the so-called sup-porters whose attitude would see thisclub relegated!We KNOW what is wrong, we can

all see it, and we’ve all been attend-ing football matches for as long asyou have, and paying as much as youhave. We all know! Robbo knows ashe runs around like a maniac trying tomake signings to bolster our defence,and Edgy knows when he’s sitting ina dark room, head in hands. Shentonknows when he mis-times a kick andwatches the ball fall for a striker toside-foot home, and Shelton Payneknows when he decides to call it aday with football. We don’t need youshouting in our ear to know thatRammy United is in trouble, and thatshouting isn’t helping anyone. Maybeit’s making you feel better, but I seri-ously doubt that too!Thankfully, we have Camp Two,

which is ‘The Supporters’. These peo-ple are watching the same game asThe Moaners, and looking at thesame league table. They’re seeingthe same Rammy concede threegoals in the first twenty minutes atWorkington, and are also wonderingwhere the goals and the points aregoing to come from. The big differ-ence is that, although fully aware ofwhere the problems are and whatneeds fixing, they are willing to givethat team of Rammy players 100%su

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support for the full ninety minutes onthe pitch, and continue that supportoff it! These people are the real sup-porters of this club, the ones who willdo their damndest to try and helpkeep this club in the Evostik Premier.These are the supporters who willhelp our players up off their kneesand back onto their feet. It’s easy tobang the drum and clap and cheerwhen your team is winning every-thing, but how much more difficult,and how much more satisfying is itwhen that support HELPS your teamto find its confidence and find thoseelusive goals?Now we’re not talking about rose-

tinted glasses, or finding positiveswhen all hope has departed. Thesesupporters aren’t imbeciles, as someon the forum would like to believe.They are as realistic as anyone, andshare that same awful feeling drivinghome from the horrible defeats, butthey aren’t willing to throw them-selves on their swords or shoutexpletives like some kind of spoiltchild who’s had their toys taken away!

You know if you’re in Camp One orCamp Two or, as I confess that I am,somewhere inbetween, and if youquestion your loyalties and yourmotives then deep down you knowthat you would love to see Robbo,Edgy and Wayne get this club backon the rails. So how about we all grow up? It’s

easy to slag off Grant Spencer forbeing lazy - I know I have. It’s easy toshout at Dominic whose head dropswhen he loses the ball, or GrantShenton if he makes a silly mistake.It’s much more difficult to be bigenough to put your dummy back in,reach down into your gut and find aword of encouragement for some-one who is having an awfulgame. If you find the will todo that then you have theright to call yourself a realfootball fan, and havethe right to be on thefront seat of the band-wagon when it finallystarts rolling once again.

This is the easybit of being afan and theexception, notsome kind ofdivine right!


James WRENAndre GONZALESMatt JACKSONAaron FORDEKyle ROWLEYJoel KETTLEJoe FITZPATRICKPhillip TRAINERJordan NADATMalcolm MELVINJustin RICHARDSJoe BALLINGERReece LEEKMark DANKSTom TURTONLewis GWILLIAMSRyan PACE

Manager: Jon ROBINSON Manager: Neil TOOTH

Referee: Paul HodskinsonReferee’s Assistants: Andrew Johnson, Keith Martin

Next home game: Tuesday 22nd September 7:45pm, Rammy v Stourbridge

Grant SHENTONClevon BEADLE

Ben WOODSAlex MEANEYKyle HARROP

Andy FITZGERALDDominic McHALEPrince HAYWOOD

Lee GASKELLDavid KUBA-KUBA

Luke HERONJake CLIFFE

Tom HARTLEYCallum JONESPhil EDGHILL

Lee PUGHAndy DAWSONKeiran NOLANJon ROBINSON
