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CURRENT SEASON'S ARCHIVE page |
1 to 9 May, 2003
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1 to 9 May, 2003
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Alty Youth drew 2-2 with Prestwich Heys last night at Wythenshawe Town FC, thanks to a late goal by James Carty. Match report in the Youth Section.
Alty Youth's home match tonight at Ashton Athletic did not take place as Ashton failed to raise a team. Altrincham were awarded the three points.
Ashton United report that "the Board... has offered contract terms to the Team Manager, Gerry Quinn, and Gerry has accepted the offered terms and signed a contract with us. He thus becomes the first AUFC Team Manager in modern times to be placed on a contract". The Club's reasons for this move include the fact that they were "aware that Gerry was feeling unsettled by the sudden departure of former Chairman, Terry Styring". Gerry was Altrincham manager from May 1992 to October 1993.
At Gainsborough Trinity, work has started on upgrading the playing surface at The Northolme. "The pitch will be dug and levelled before the surface is re-seeded and additional drainage is installed", according to the club website.
Stalybridge's retained list for next season includes ex-Alty defender Terry Bowker, as well as Danny Caldecott, Chris Denham, Phil Eastwood, Dave German, Kevin Parr, Gregg Pearce and Colin Potts. However, keeper Craig Dootson has been on trial at Bradford City. Worksop are set to sign Telford's Kevin Davies as he is unable to play full-time for the Conference club.
Alfreton Town's website is well worth a visit. The club was only formed in 1959 when Alfreton Miners' Welfare and Alfreton United merged. Between 1969/70 and 1976/77 they won the Midland League three times and were then Northern Counties East League champions in 1986/87. They became inaugural members of the Northern Premier League First Division in 1987/88. Despite finishing bottom in 1990/91, league reorganisation gave them a reprieve and in 1995/96 they were second to Lancaster City and gained promotion with the Dolly Blues to the Premier Division. They were relegated in 1998/99 and went back down to the Northern Counties East League for season 1999/2000. They regained UniBond First Division status for 2001/02 and, after a fine start to the season in 2002/03, they held on to win the title on goal difference.
Radcliffe Borough also has an excellent website. The club was founded in 1949 and after spells in the South East Lancashire and Manchester Leagues, they joined the Lancashire Football Combination in 1963. In 1965 they joined the Cheshire League, which evolved into the North West Counties Football League. After successive triumphs in the Second and First Division, they joined the Northern Premier League. In 1996-97 they gained promotion to the UniBond Premier Division but were immediately relegated. With Niell Hardy, Scott Wilson and Dickie Landon on their books, they have several familiar faces to Altrincham fans.
The clubs promoted to the UniBond First for 2003-04 were Prescot Cables and Bridlington Town, who replace Trafford and Eastwood Town.
The NW Mail states that new
Barrow boss "Lee Turnbull has made his first transfer swoop. 'It looks as
though we have agreed a deal for Neil Campbell'", he said. Alty fans may
remember Campbell as scoring against Altrincham and being instrumental in
the sending off of Mark Maddox (seen right) when Doncaster won a vital
late-season game at Moss Lane in the Conference in 2000. Campbell ended
last season on loan from Scarborough at Leigh RMI. Turnbull's assistant at
Barrow, Lee Warren, was also in the same Doncaster side at Moss Lane.
Pre-season training at Barrow starts on 1 July.
Frickley have confirmed "their first pre-season friendly ready for the 2003/04 season. Nationwide League Second Division Champions Wigan Athletic will send a side to Westfield Lane on Saturday 26th July". As yet no friendlies have been confirmed at Moss Lane but several irons are in the fire. IC Cheshire reports that Vauxhall Motors' "captain Phil Brazier, has now left Rivacre Park after five years to join Northwich Victoria, following in the footsteps of striker Gregg Blundell, but he clearly goes with the manager's blessing. 'Phil has decided to join Northwich and I wish him all the luck. He's been a great servant to this club. He was a great signing for us'", said Motors' manager Alvin McDonald.
A profile of Brian Taylor has been added to the Alty Legends here. Meanwhile, pictured above by Andy Boyers is a modern-day "legend", Altrincham captain Rod Thornley chipping the Frickley keeper on 26 April 2003.
Alty Youth lost 3-1 to Leigh RMI Academy in the NWYA Open Cup Final at The Robin Park Arena, Wigan yesterday. Alty were reduced to 10 men after only 60 seconds when Michael Bailey was dismissed for a verbal offence, following the award of a penalty against Josh Collins, which was converted. Pictured (left) is Dave Pover awarding a runners-up medal to Mark Griffiths. The cup itself has now been renamed the Mark Pover Trophy as a tribute to Dave's son, who played for both the Altrincham and Leigh youth sides before his tragic death last year at the age of 17 whilst playing in a local match. Report and pictures here.
Alty Youth play Leigh again, away, in the league at Hilton Park on Tuesday (6.30pm) and on Thursday are at home to Prestwich Heys (6.30pm at Wythenshawe Town FC).
The Evening Chronicle quotes Gateshead manager Derek Bell on his club's relgation; "I am ready to take my share of the blame. Some players have let me down - that happens at every level of football - and some of the lads I've brought in have not, after all, been ready for the rigours of the UBL's top flight".
Barrow's new boss Lee Turnbull "has appointed Lee Warren and Ian Arnold as Assistant Manager and player/coach respectively". Both are members of the playing squad at Holker Street. Earl Davis, who played for Stalybridge on loan from Burnley last season has been released from Turf Moor but will be sidelined by injury till 2004.
Whilst Bradford PA used 33 players this season, as many as 9 of these were goalkeepers, according to This is Bradford. Both Bradford and Hucknall finished in their highest ever places in the UniBond Premier League. Town manager Phil Starbuck told Hucknall Today, "We have a good budget but that does not guarantee success... What has pleased us most is that the players we have brought in have gelled". Runcorn Chairman Dave Robertson says next season will be "one of the most important years in the club's long history...because it is likely selection will be made of the clubs who will be part of a feeder league to the Football Conference in the North", according to IC Cheshire.
The Conference are still pushing the FA for a 24-team league which could reprieve Southport and Nuneaton from relegation and are seeking an emergency meeting. They argue that next season would be meaningless otherwise as only one team would be relegated (which is what they want to happen retrospectively for 2002-03 season!).
In an ultimately exciting play-off match this afternoon, Radcliffe Borough squeezed through 4-2 on penalties against Chorley to secure a place in the UniBond Premier. After Jody Banim had put Boro ahead against the run of play (23 mins), ex-Robin, Neill Hardy, scored to make it 2-0 just before the interval. Chorley netted twice in the last ten minutes to prompt extra time which was goalless. Hardy for Boro and Emmett for Chorley were ex-Robins to score in the shoot-out. Above, a Chorley free-kick from far left somehow finds its way into the net to make it 2-1 after 80 minutes. Ex-Alty man Scott Wilson is the blue-shirted Radcliffe no. 7 in the defensive wall.
Alty Youth lost Thursday night's NWYA Premier Cup Final 0-3 to Kingsley United. Above, the nearest Alty came to a goal was when Steve Lunt (hidden by the Kingsley no.8) could only steer the ball wide from a left-wing corner after 7 minutes, when Alty already trailed 0-1.
Report here.
Burscough will use Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground for training in the lead-up to the FA Trophy Final on 18 May, thanks to manager Shaun Teale's connections with the Premier League club. They expect to have two or three thousand supporters at Villa Park.
A report on Alty Youth's win over St Helens on Tuesday night is now in the Youth section. Seen above is the first Alty goal by Josh Collins (no.4). Tonight (Thursday) sees the NWYA Premier Cup Final at Moss Lane between Altrincham Youth and Liverpool side, Kingsley United. Kick off is 7-30pm and admission is £3 including a programme. Under 14s and OAPs will pay £1.00, but if they require a programme that will be another £1.00. The Youth team also have the Open Cup Final on Sunday at the Robin Park Arena, Wigan (next to the JJB) at 2pm against Leigh RMI.
SAM has an upbeat review of
Alty's season by Mike Crockett which says: "The present Board may be weak
in number, but there is no doubt it is strong in ideas. They have declared
that the club must never overspend again, given that previous excessive
generosity is at the root of the club's liabilities. In Geoff Goodwin (right), the
club have a chairman who is a businessman first and a fledgling football
fan second... Grahame Rowley - the only self-confessed Altrincham fan on
the board - deserves special mention. He is a tireless worker for the
club, who can be seen selling 'golden goal tickets' at every home match.
Also, along with manager Graham Heathcote and former director Dave Tracey,
he has written off money owed to him. Director Andrew Shaw lent invaluable
legal advice to the board when they tried to put together a land-based
financial package which at one point seemed to be the only hope of saving
the club... In addition to this, supporters' are doing their bit in a way
rarely seen since the setting up of SAFE, the pressure group which evolved
into the club's supporters' association. Bucket collections, run by Gary
Warrington and his merry men at SAFE, have raised more than £2,000 this
season alone. It's as good as found money - a simple tool, yet so
effective. The supporters trust - STAR - is only in its infancy, but the
early signs are good... With so many positives to smile about, the future
is definitely bright for one of non-league's most famous clubs". For more on this, click the above link to the SAM site.
Barrow's new manager is Lee Turnbull, formerly assistant manager at Holker Street, even though there were "applications already received from interested parties", which the Club said "were of a high calibre". Recently Turnbull has been employed by Scunthorpe United.
After losing their play-off match at Chorley on Tuesday night, Gateshead's website reports that "Life in the UniBond First division is going to be harder than you might think. Gateshead totally underestimated Chorley in this crucial play-off game. After taking the lead the visitors fell asleep and The Magpies swooped in and stole the game". Chorley's equaliser to Gateshead's opener came from Darren Emmett, a former Altrincham player. "Gateshead now have to rebuild their team from scratch and change things dramatically because, with the squad they have at the minute, life in the First Division will be even more unbearable", says the website. IC Newcastle quotes Gateshead chairman Mike Coulson as saying "It is the most depressing result I can remember in football. We are devastated... but life goes on and I will be having talks with Derek Bell (manager) about what lies ahead. The obvious aim is to come straight back up."
Radcliffe survived 9 minutes of added time in their promotion play-off with North Ferriby on Tuesday night due to a bad injury to the visitors' Gavin Knight.
Hyde raised about £1,000 from their celebrity football match involving Coronation Street stars on 25 April. Marine have started work on the next phase of their stadium development which will allow them to retain Unibond Premier League status. It is funded by a grant of £41,000 from the Football Foundation. Whitby report that "The Easter bunny drinkathon on Easter Monday raised an incredible £1551 for the newstand appeal... 1st June sees this year's Treasure Hunt!..... 12th December sees a big Xmas banquet and ball at the Spa... The stand fund is now in excess of £27,000. Only £18,000 to go! The temporary ground improvements need to be finished by the end of May. These include extra seats in the stand and new turnstiles, donated by Darlington FC".
Runcorn FC Halton are offering season tickets for £100 for next season if bought before 15 June. Thereafter they cost £119.
Wakefield & Emley boss Ronnie Glavin told the Huddersfield Examiner, "It has been an extremely frustrating season... Our three main strikers have all been hit by injury and that's cost us dearly... Our defence has remained as good as any other in the League, we just lost that cutting edge up front... and we have a few young lads who have stepped up from the Reserves and Youths and have not disappointed".
Copyright: ©
Compiled by John Laidlar