Friday, 22nd August 2008

News Archive

23rd February 2008
Review Of The Week

Having lost their 100% home record last week Premier Division leaders WITTON ALBION resumed normal service with a 3-0 success over WHITBY TOWN for whom it was a fourth defeat on the bounce and they dropped in to the relegation spots as a result.

In the big game of the day second place FLEETWOOD TOWN lost at third place GATESHEAD whilst BUXTON cemented their fourth spot with their sixth win in seven games when beating ILKESTON TOWN who are now just one point away from the relegation zone.

The last play off place is still held by MARINE despite a home defeat by GUISELEY who are now just two points adrift of the Mariners with three games in hand. Sandwiched between the two are EASTWOOD TOWN who made the last four of the League Challenge Cup in midweek only to lose on Saturday at MATLOCK TOWN for whom it was a first win in six.

At the bottom there were significant away wins for FRICKLEY ATHLETIC and KENDAL TOWN at LEEK TOWN and NORTH FERRIBY UNITED respectively whilst PRSECOT CABLES enjoyed a first win in eleven at the expense of STAMFORD. Elsewhere HEDNESFORD TOWN beat WORKSOP TOWN whilst two teams looking over their shoulders at the drop zone, ASHTON UNITED and OSSETT TOWN finished with a stalemate.

After two away defeats it was a good week for First Division North leaders SKELMERSDALE UNITED who maintained their unbeaten home record with a win over bottom club RADCLIFFE BOROUGH in midweek and then doubled up with an easy success over next to bottom BRIDLINGTON TOWN.

The big game in this Division was the visit of FC UNITED of MANCHESTER to BAMBER BRIDGE but it ended goalless enabling both CURZON ASHTON and BRADFORD PARK AVENUE to make up ground with home wins although Avenue had been held to a draw in midweek by CLITHEROE.

At the bottom CHORLEY continued their fine run under new manager Tony Hesketh and RADCLIFFE BOROUGH finally produced their cup form in to league action to hit LANCASTER CITY for five and close the gap on Bridlington.

First Division South leaders RETFORD UNITED were held at SHEFFIELD who have now won only one of their last seven games and CAMMELL LAIRD'S win against SHEPSHED DYNAMO enabled them to close the gap at the top to five points with a game in hand.

Third place GRANTHAM TOWN hit four at COLWYN BAY to put some distance between themselves and GOOLE who lost at CARLTON TOWN. A home win for BELPER TOWN put the "Nailers" within a point of the play-offs but NANTWICH TOWN lost ground when they were held at next to bottom KIDSGROVE ATHLETIC.

Ossett Take Billy On Loan

Ossett Town have signed 35-year-old Chris Billy on loan from Farsley Celtic. The midfielder has more than 500 appearances in the full time game under his belt having started his career with home town club Huddersfield Town for whom he went on to play around a century of games.

He clocked up another century for Plymouth Argyle before returning north to become a regular with Bury where he doubled his tally of games with his previous two clubs before finishing off with almost another century at Carlisle United.

Ossett have also landed Danny Davidson the two goal hero of Harrogate Railway Athletic's live televised FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town.

Phillips Becomes Number Twenty

Bradford Park Avenue made the shock announcement this week that they had parted company with manager Benny Phillips who had taken over during the last close season. Philips' backroom team of Lee Coathup and Wayne Porter have also left leaving goalkeeping coach Karl Leneghan in charge of team affairs until next week when an appointment is expected to be made. Phillips becomes the twentieth managerial change of the UniBond season and the fifth since the turn of the year. The parting of the ways came after three games against Newcastle Blue Star, Bamber Bridge and Clitheroe had seen Avenue drop seven points.

Chairman Bob Blackburn said: "We need to win the title and avoid the lottery of the play-offs but recent performances have suggested we will struggle to win it. This has been the hardest departure for me to announce in my working life but the decision has been made and we have to move on. With fresh impetus there is still time to win the title".

Colwyn Bay To Host England Games

Colwyn Bay were delighted this week to be informed that their ground at Llanelian Road has been chosen by the FA of Wales to host two games in this season's semi-professional Home Nation's Tournament with both games featuring England. The first match will take place on Tuesday, 20th May with Gibraltar, who are featuring in the competition for the first time, providing the opposition to England who then face Scotland in their second fixture on Thursday 22nd May with both games kicking off at 7.00pm.

The matches further cement the vastly improved relations that Colwyn Bay now enjoy with the FA of Wales which, of course, hit an all time low in the mid-nineties when the FA of Wales were forming the League of Wales causing a long legal stand off between the two parties. The full fixture list is as follows -

Tues, 20th May - Wales v Scotland at Rhyl and England v Gibraltar at Colwyn Bay

Thurs 22nd May - Wales v Gibraltar at Rhyl and Scotland v England at Colwyn Bay

Sat 24th May Wales v England at Rhyl and Scotland v Gibraltar at Oswestry (TNS)

Colwyn Bay are hoping their close proximity to the North West will encourage followers of the semi-professional game from that area to make the relative easy journey to Llanelian Road to see the England side in action.

Stoke Give Leek A Helping Hand

Leek Town have boosted their squad with the acquisition of three Stoke City trainees on Work Experience. Stoke Director of Football John Rudge had recommended the three youngsters although only two of them can appear on any one team sheet due to FA rules governing work experience.

Defenders Jack Watson and Kenny Keys along with striker Dean McCormick all have Reserve team experience with Stoke and are expected to be joined shortly by a fourth "Potters" trainee in central defender Andrew Owens who also has played Reserve team football.

However, as well as turning to youth Leek are tempering it with a bit of experience having also signed this week defender Gary Scott from Altrincham. The 29-year-old began his career with Tranmere Rovers but made his Football League debut for Rotherham United in 1997/98 and made around twenty appearances in the full time game.

Prestige Friendly For Garforth

Sheffield FC have led the way this season with prestige friendly games against some of Europe's biggest names to celebrate their 150th Anniversary but now another Yorkshire club, Garforth Town, have joined in with a friendly against one of America's top sides Columbus Crew on 4th March. The Crew, who play in the Major Soccer League in which David Beckham plays, are coming to England to train and contacted Garforth for a friendly with the UniBond League newcomers only to happy oblige as they had no game that midweek.

Bloor Retains England Spot

North Ferriby United teenager Matty Bloor has retained his place in the England Schools Under 18 squad to take on Northern Ireland at Glenavon, Belfast on 10th March. Seventeen year old Bloor, who has been a regular in the UniBond Premier Division this season and captained England in their recent 2-0 victory over Australia at Shrewsbury said: "All the hard work I have done with Ferriby and in the England set-up has paid off for me so far but just because I captained the side against Australia and have been included in the squad for the Northern Ireland game doesn't mean I will take anything for granted. I shall be giving 110% to try to make sure I get in the squad for the remaining three games".

Avenue Announce Plans For New Stadium

In the same week as they parted company with their manager Bradford Park Avenue announced plans for a new purpose built stadium which they hope to have up and running within two years. The Club Chairman Bob Blackburn has bought a 36 acre site which is currently a golf course and leisure complex and has been on the market for £1m through his company Kelvic Holdings which will also fund the development although he is hoping grants will also be available.

The plans include outdoor and indoor training facilities via 3G pitches and will also boast cricket facilities, five a side pitches and tennis with other facets being a Conference centre and the ability to stage concerts and such like events. Mr Blackburn said: "In addition to providing a home for Bradford Park Avenue I want to put something back in to the community".

Farquharson Hat-Trick Impresses

Nantwich Town's nineteen year old on loan striker Nick Farquharson so impressed the Nantwich management team with his hat-trick that sank Sheffield FC on Wednesday evening in what was only his second game for the club that they imemediately contacted his parent club Crewe Alexandra to extend his loan spell, which wasn't due to finish until next week, to the end of March.

Lancaster Land Nowland

Lancaster City this week landed the signature of Adam Nowland who has made over one hundred and fifty appearances in the full time game having started his career with Blackpool for whom he made his debut in 1997/98. The midfielder, now aged 26 played around seventy games for the "Seagulls" before moving to Wimbledon for whom he featured more than fifty times. He also had spells with West Ham United, Gillingham on loan, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End prior to signing for Lancaster.

Curzon Ashton To Stage Euro 2008 Action

This summer between 20 July - 2 August, The FA are hosting the 2008 European Learning Disability Championship in the North West of England, with UniBond League club Curzon Ashton playing host to seven fixtures, including a Semi-Final.

England, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Portugal, Hungary and Poland will be drawn into two groups of four, with England's first group game to be played at Curzon's Sport City Stadium on Sunday 20 July. Oldham Athletic, Hyde United, Springhill (Rochdale) and Stalybridge Celtic will also host fixtures during the tournament, with Curzon Ashton set to host England's second group game on Wednesday 23 July, and a semi final on Wednesday 30 July. The final will be played at Boundary Park on Saturday 2 August.

The captain of the England team is 26 year old Ronnie Watson. A painter and decorator, he was a trainee at Spurs for six years, playing alongside Ledley King, Peter Crouch and Jonny Jackson (Colchester United). After he was released at 16, he played for a number of Non League teams in the South East, and in 2002, he was part of the England team which won the Learning Disability World Cup in Yokohama in front of over 25,000 spectators, where only three months before, a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil had beaten Germany in the mainstream World Cup.

Ronnie recently moved to Cheshire and, to help him get fit and ready for the tournament, he will train with Oldham Athletic's first team on Thursday 28 February. John Sheridan and Lee Duxbury will then assess Ronnie's fitness and ability with a view to helping him obtain a short-term contract to the end of the season.

The FA, Manchester FA, Cheshire FA and the five participating clubs will be working to provide local youngsters and volunteers across the North West with the chance to get involved in a variety of capacities during the tournament. Organisations such as The Regard Partnership, Mencap, Tameside MBC, Link4Life, Salford Community Leisure & Manchester City Council are also going to be heavily involved.

Curzon Ashton secretary Graham Shuttleworth said: "It's a great honour for the club to be offered the opportunity to host so many of the group games, of which England is one, as well as the second Semi Final. This is a tremendous opportunity for people in Tameside in particular and the North West in general to watch an international tournament and I hope they take the opportunity."

UniBond League Television

Forthcoming Games

Sat 23rd Feb Bamber Bridge v FC United of Manchester Match of the Week
Sat 1st March Stocksbridge PS v Cammell Laird Match of the Week
Tue 4th March Leek Town v Whitby Town Live Game
Sat 8th March UniBond League Challenge Cup Semi Finals
Eastwood Town v Frickley Athletic Match of the Week
Skelmersdale Utd v Gateshead Match of the Week

All games can be accessed through the banner link on www.unibondleague.com and are subject to change.

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