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Winter Warmers

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Cold Evenings at County Cup Ties. Action from Shirebrook Town v South Normanton. More and more I find myself saying “I’m not the right age for.....” and then insert the latest thing I feel I shouldn’t be doing. Gardening was probably the first, circa 1990. Then there was the time, just a couple of years ago, when I did a cartoon styli slip on an icy car park and fell horizontally on my back. The latest is midweek winter football, as I stand at the side of the pitch taking photos wondering if it’s warmer anywhere else in the ground and thinking “I’m not the right age for this”. Considering this thought has been in my head every time I’ve attended a midweek game in the cold this season I’ve managed 13 midweek games since the beginning of November. I never was very good at taking advice. A few of these cold evening games have been in the Derbyshire Senior Cup, which is a competition I really like. As with all the senior cups throughout the country, it’s played in deepest winter so the
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Cheeseburgers & Cup Tie Football at Shirebrook Town.

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  Derbyshire Senior Cup 1st Round Shirebrook Town (red & black) v Clay Cross Town. 174 days after Buxton lifted the Derbyshire Senior Cup this season’s competition gets underway. Like most County Senior Cup competitions the Derbyshire version is mostly midweek, which does create an atmosphere under the lights but it doesn’t help with the action photos, though that could be a training need. Two of the three 1 st round ties started on October 10 th , South Normanton Athletic hosted Belper United in a reversal of last season’s 1 st round tie, and the game I chose to attend, Shirebrook Town at home to Clay Cross Town. Two clubs linked to coal mining and, by coincidence, the hosts were formed in 1985, a landmark year for the mining industry. I’ve been to Shirebrook a few times but I always need to refer to the sat nav to get me there so it’s out with the trusty Non-League Club Directory for the club address and off we go. Langwith Road. Originally named Shirebrook Colliery the c
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From Cricket to Rugby - The Homes of Darlington.

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While writing an article for the Alfreton Town v Darlington programme I had more images and information than a 2 page spread in a match magazine can take, so if you read my article in the Alfreton programme, thanks for logging on here. Feethams. Darlington played at Feethams from their formation in 1883 until forced to leave due to financial problems in 2003. Football had been played at the ground from the 1860’s and Darlington's formation came about after a number of local clubs got together to pool their resources into one club. The ground’s development took place in the early 1900’s with the West Stand being built, the South Terrace was constructed in 1905, this was also known as the cricket pavilion. Around the same time the Town End was terraced. The Town End Terrace at Feethams For me the beauty of grounds like Feethams is the little quirky bits, as well as the lovely old stands of the time. To get into the football ground you needed to go through the twin towers at the m
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