Best Bits - A Hopping Review of 2005-06 

21/05/06 from Mike Latham: FOOTBALL GROUNDS IN FOCUS AWARDS 2005/06

 

GAMES SEEN 2005/06: 194; GOALS: 574; NEW GROUNDS VISITED: 89

 

BEST GAME:

Kilmarnock 2-3 Rangers (SPL); Dunfermline Athletic 1-8 Celtic (SPL); Wrexham 3-3 TNS (FAW Premier Cup Semi-Final); Great Harwood Town 3-5 Nelson (NWCLD2); Burton Albion 0-4 Morecambe (Conf); Middlesbrough 3-2 Fulham (Prem)

 

WORST GAME:

Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Blackburn Rovers (PL); Bolsover Town 0-0 Rainworth MW (CML hop); Preston North End 0-0 Sheffield United (Championship); Evesham United 2-0 Aylesbury Town (SLPrem); West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Bolton Wanderers (Prem)

 

BEST FOOTBALLING TEAM:

TNS; Celtic; Farsley Celtic; Workington; Zenit St Petersburg; Northwich Victoria

 

MOST ATMOSPHERIC GROUND:

Mossley; Gresley Rovers; Spartans; Halesowen Town; Worcester City

 

BEST LEAGUE WEBSITE:
Unibond League

 

BEST AMBIENCE:

Padiham in autumn; TNS in winter; Stourport Swifts in spring; Ramsbottom United in summer

 

BEST REAL ALE:

Bamber Bridge’s Irongate usually has three real ales in the clubhouse

 

BEST PIES:

Meat & potato (with peas and gravy): Nelson (NWCL)

Cheese & onion: Colne (NWCL)

Pasties: Nantwich Town (NWCL)

 

BEST TEA BAR:

Northallerton Town

 

BEST CATERING ARRANGEMENT:

Padiham’s ‘reserve a pie for half-time’ service to supporters

 

BEST SERVICE TO SUPPORTERS:

Handing out complimentary team sheets to the crowd at Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics

 

CLUBS ON THE UP:

Chasetown; Retford Town; Winterton Rangers; Annan Athletic; Blyth Spartans

 

AMBITIONS REALISED:

A trip to Swansea City’s new ground to re-complete the 92

 

BEST PLAYERS SEEN:

Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic); Steve Evans (TNS); Jody Banim (Radcliffe Borough); Ivan Campo (Bolton Wanderers); Thierry Henry (Arsenal); Jimmy Bullard (Wigan Athletic)

 

SORRY IS THE SADDEST WORD:

Bruno N’Gotty’s free transfer from Bolton Wanderers after five years of class defending

 

BEST MONDAY NIGHT EXPERIENCE:

Droylsden; Nelson; Great Harwood Town at Accrington

 

BEST THURSDAY EXPERIENCE:

Bacup Borough for their brave decision to stage home midweek games on a Thursday- appreciated by an elite few

 

BEST CHANT:

“You Watt, you Watt etc”: Heriot Watt University players after lifting the East of Scotland League Cup

 

BIGGEST LET-DOWN:

Celtic 0-0 Rangers (SPL)- poor game and flat atmosphere, nothing like expected

 

BEST NEW GROUND:

Coventry City

 

MOST DEPRESSING EXPERIENCE:

Seeing Runcorn FC Halton struggle on at Prescot- a far cry from their atmospheric Canal Street home; seeing Bishop Auckland end 18 years in the Unibond Lge in exile at Shildon

 

MOST PICTURESQUE VENUES:

Pickering Town (NCEL); New Abbey (South of Scotland Lge); Gedling Town (NCEL); Ramsbottom United (NWCL)

 

BEST CLUB PROGRAMMES:

Rushall Olympic (SLge); Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics (Northern Lge); West Bromwich Albion (Prem)

 

BEST MAGAZINE:

The monthly Northern League magazine- outstanding

 

BEST NEW VENUE

Barrow Rugby League Club’s historic Craven Park ground that staged Holker Old Boys v FC United (NWCLD2)

 

FRIENDLIEST WELCOME:

Boston Town (UCL); Winterton Rangers (NCEL); Biddulph Victoria (MidLge); Bala Town (Cymru Alliance); Pelsall Villa (WML)

 

BEST COMMENT:

“You need to improve your first touch, mate”: urchin handing ball back to a Welling player after it had bounced away from his foot during a pre-match practice

 

WORST COMMENT:

“The programmes are sold out,”- gateman at Pontefract collieries fifty minutes before start of an FA Vase tie/ “No programmes today,” –too many Northern League clubs to mention

 

BIGGEST GRIPE:

Apart from clubs not issuing programmes, the unwillingness of some clubs to impart team line-up information; PA announcers who rush through the teams; indisciplined players and club officials; supporters who take football too seriously, particularly at non league level

 

AMBITIONS FOR 2006/07:

Visit the new league grounds at Arsenal etc; see Accrington Stanley in the Football League; visit more Scottish junior games; see more games than this season with more goals and no ‘0-0s’; take better photographs; continue to enjoy a wonderful hobby. 

updated 28/05/06