FA Cup First Round Memories
Wed 31st October 2012 | FA Competition News | By Ian Templeman
This Saturday sees four former NWCFL clubs competing in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
For AFC Fylde, Accrington Stanley, Fleetwood Town and Bradford Park Avenue, prize money and a further chance of nationwide publicity and cup glory awaits them, if they emerge victorious and progress to the Second Round.
Our past association with those clubs is the only remaining link our League can claim to have to the competition at this current stage, but although it may seem a tall order these days to expect a team from the NWCFL to reach the First Round of the competition, since the League began in 1982 it has in fact happened on six occasions.
The most recent instance was in 1996, when Newcastle Town’s run in the competition was ended at the hands of Notts County, in a game played at Stoke City’s then home ground, the Victoria Ground.
Two familiar faces who have a long association with our League were involved with Newcastle Town that day, and experienced at first hand the excitement and national exposure that a place in the First Round Proper can bring.
Town’s Club Secretary at the time was John Cotton, now General Manager at Norton United, and the Match Day Secretary was Ray Tatton, who these days still retains the position of Club Secretary at Newcastle Town, which he held when they left our League as Champions in 2010.
Sixteen years on, both John and Ray can still remember vividly the events of the time.
Ray recalls: “It was only when we drew Frickley in the Third Qualifying Round that we realised how close we were to the First Round. Victory after a replay on a wet night by 2-1 saw us play Bamber Bridge with the winners going into the First Round.
“We thought it would be difficult but a goal inside 15 seconds by Dave Ritchie calmed the nerves and Castle ran out comfortable winners by 4-0. We didn’t have to wait long for the draw as it took place at 5.25 pm that night and Sky Television were there to film us watching the draw.
“We were no strangers to Sky as the weekend after the Frickley game, they appeared at Daisy Hill where Newcastle were playing a cup game, and filmed us carrying the bags from the bus, down the street and into the ground.
“We all crowded into the boardroom. It took ages, as we were drawn out towards the end – and getting drawn against Notts County at home saw a big cheer”.
John also remembers the excitement of being drawn against a Football League club.
“I remember in the boardroom when the tie was drawn, the whole place erupted, and the Sky cameras were filming our reaction.
“As soon as we knew we had a big game on our hands, we swung into action and I remember Steve Clark from the FA telling us fairly quickly we couldn’t play at the Lyme Valley Stadium. But our President Ken Wilshaw had contacts at Stoke City, and within a matter of hours we had agreed that the game could be played at Stoke’s Victoria Ground, which sorted out any issues with ground grading and segregation”.
The next couple of weeks naturally brought plenty of media attention, not to mention hard work, for everyone at the club.
“With only a couple of weeks to organise everything, it became a bit of nightmare for all the committee members”, said John. “There was a lot of co-ordinating with Stoke City and the police, and I remember we worked hard on making sure that there were seats in the directors’ box for everyone we wanted to be involved on the day.
“It was a lot of work for a group of people to undertake when we all had day jobs too”.
As for the day itself, an impressive crowd of 3976 turned up at the Victoria Ground on the afternoon of Sunday 17th November 1996 for the game, and the Newcastle Town officials had made sure that the team were properly prepared.
“We had a pre-match meal at a hotel, and then boarded a coach to take us from the hotel to the ground”, said Ray. “We had a police escort and the streets down to the ground were filled with people applauding us all the way. At the ground itself as we stepped off the coach, we were applauded in by about 500 Notts County fans”.
Those present at the game who bought a programme as a souvenir of the occasion can’t fail to have been impressed with what was an excellent 44 page publication priced at £1.
Features included a message from Sir Stanley Matthews , who talked about the “many enjoyable times” he had had with Newcastle Town, and also a page was given over to good luck messages that the club had received, among them one from the NWCFL Secretary Mike Darby, who stated that reaching the FA Cup First Round was “a wonderful achievement for everyone connected with Newcastle Town and also for the North West Counties League”.
A glance at the pen pictures of both teams also reveals some familiar names. In the Town squad, but unavailable for the game because he was cup tied, was Dean Gillick who was a Town stalwart throughout their years in the NWCFL. Dean, the son-in-law of Leek CSOB Programme Editor Stan Lockett, retired from competitive football in 2008-09 and is now a prison officer, but still does a bit of scouting for Newcastle Town.
The Town reserve keeper on the day was Steve Sutton, who played in the game against Bamber Bridge, and whose son now plays for Norton United’s Under 14s team.
The Notts County squad included many players who enjoyed long professional careers, including Chris Wilder, Gary Strodder, Graeme Hogg, Steve Finnan, Shaun Derry, and Tony Agana.
Also in the squad was Ian Baraclough, who has just managed Sligo Rovers to the Airtricity League Championship title in the Republic of Ireland, and Gary Martindale, who began his playing career in the NWCFL with Burscough before joining Bolton Wanderers, and had a spell as player-manager of Formby a couple of years ago.
As for the game itself, Town did themselves and the NWCFL proud, putting up a great display.
“In the first half we matched our league opponents and at half time the game was goalless”, said Ray. “Surely the dream wasn’t going to come true - or was it?
“Early in the second half John Burndred skipped round Steve Finnan (later of Liverpool fame) and hit a screamer that looked to be bending into the top corner until Darren Ward in the County goal brought off a tremendous save.
“Two goals in the final fifteen minutes ended the dream but Castle still went close in the dying minutes through Shaun Wade. A standing ovation from both sets of fans brought tears to the eyes”.
John also remembers how well the team played on the day.
“We put up an excellent display, we had a good side at the time and had chances when it was 0-0, and everyone played well. We got good local support too. There were Notts County fans there, but the vast majority of the crowd were supporting us.
“I remember afterwards that Jimmy Sirrell, who was the Notts County General Manager at the time, was full of praise for us, and said that we had handled ourselves extremely well both on and off the park.
“It was a memorable day for everyone involved. We had a lot of hassle and hard work in the lead up to the game but it was worth it, and gave us all a bit of a glimpse of the big time. I remember we all had a good booze up in Hanley afterwards as well!”
But Ray admits he often wonders what might have been, had Town won on the day.
“Although we lost, we did ourselves and Non-League Football proud. But if we had won we would have been at home to Rochdale in the Second Round, in a game that would have been played at The Lyme Valley Stadium. And the winners of that game went on to play – Liverpool at Anfield. What an experience that would have been”.
Images of the front and back cover of the match programme from the Newcastle Town v Notts County game are shown on the left of this page.
Note for statisticians – the other five occasions that a club from the NWCFL has reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup are as follows:
November 20th 1982 – Blackpool 3
Horwich RMI 0
November 19th 1983 –
Penrith 0 Hull City 2
November 17th 1984 – Frickley 2
Stalybridge Celtic 1
November 17th 1984 –
Penrith 0 Burnley 9
November 14th 1987 – Northwich Victoria 1
Colwyn Bay 0
Thanks to Frank Clayton for providing a copy of the match programme, which was the inspiration for this article.
FA Cup First Round Memories
Wed 31st October 2012 | FA Competition News
By Ian Templeman
This Saturday sees four former NWCFL clubs competing in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
For AFC Fylde, Accrington Stanley, Fleetwood Town and Bradford Park Avenue, prize money and a further chance of nationwide publicity and cup glory awaits them, if they emerge victorious and progress to the Second Round.
Our past association with those clubs is the only remaining link our League can claim to have to the competition at this current stage, but although it may seem a tall order these days to expect a team from the NWCFL to reach the First Round of the competition, since the League began in 1982 it has in fact happened on six occasions.
The most recent instance was in 1996, when Newcastle Town’s run in the competition was ended at the hands of Notts County, in a game played at Stoke City’s then home ground, the Victoria Ground.
Two familiar faces who have a long association with our League were involved with Newcastle Town that day, and experienced at first hand the excitement and national exposure that a place in the First Round Proper can bring.
Town’s Club Secretary at the time was John Cotton, now General Manager at Norton United, and the Match Day Secretary was Ray Tatton, who these days still retains the position of Club Secretary at Newcastle Town, which he held when they left our League as Champions in 2010.
Sixteen years on, both John and Ray can still remember vividly the events of the time.
Ray recalls: “It was only when we drew Frickley in the Third Qualifying Round that we realised how close we were to the First Round. Victory after a replay on a wet night by 2-1 saw us play Bamber Bridge with the winners going into the First Round.
“We thought it would be difficult but a goal inside 15 seconds by Dave Ritchie calmed the nerves and Castle ran out comfortable winners by 4-0. We didn’t have to wait long for the draw as it took place at 5.25 pm that night and Sky Television were there to film us watching the draw.
“We were no strangers to Sky as the weekend after the Frickley game, they appeared at Daisy Hill where Newcastle were playing a cup game, and filmed us carrying the bags from the bus, down the street and into the ground.
“We all crowded into the boardroom. It took ages, as we were drawn out towards the end – and getting drawn against Notts County at home saw a big cheer”.
John also remembers the excitement of being drawn against a Football League club.
“I remember in the boardroom when the tie was drawn, the whole place erupted, and the Sky cameras were filming our reaction.
“As soon as we knew we had a big game on our hands, we swung into action and I remember Steve Clark from the FA telling us fairly quickly we couldn’t play at the Lyme Valley Stadium. But our President Ken Wilshaw had contacts at Stoke City, and within a matter of hours we had agreed that the game could be played at Stoke’s Victoria Ground, which sorted out any issues with ground grading and segregation”.
The next couple of weeks naturally brought plenty of media attention, not to mention hard work, for everyone at the club.
“With only a couple of weeks to organise everything, it became a bit of nightmare for all the committee members”, said John. “There was a lot of co-ordinating with Stoke City and the police, and I remember we worked hard on making sure that there were seats in the directors’ box for everyone we wanted to be involved on the day.
“It was a lot of work for a group of people to undertake when we all had day jobs too”.
As for the day itself, an impressive crowd of 3976 turned up at the Victoria Ground on the afternoon of Sunday 17th November 1996 for the game, and the Newcastle Town officials had made sure that the team were properly prepared.
“We had a pre-match meal at a hotel, and then boarded a coach to take us from the hotel to the ground”, said Ray. “We had a police escort and the streets down to the ground were filled with people applauding us all the way. At the ground itself as we stepped off the coach, we were applauded in by about 500 Notts County fans”.
Those present at the game who bought a programme as a souvenir of the occasion can’t fail to have been impressed with what was an excellent 44 page publication priced at £1.
Features included a message from Sir Stanley Matthews , who talked about the “many enjoyable times” he had had with Newcastle Town, and also a page was given over to good luck messages that the club had received, among them one from the NWCFL Secretary Mike Darby, who stated that reaching the FA Cup First Round was “a wonderful achievement for everyone connected with Newcastle Town and also for the North West Counties League”.
A glance at the pen pictures of both teams also reveals some familiar names. In the Town squad, but unavailable for the game because he was cup tied, was Dean Gillick who was a Town stalwart throughout their years in the NWCFL. Dean, the son-in-law of Leek CSOB Programme Editor Stan Lockett, retired from competitive football in 2008-09 and is now a prison officer, but still does a bit of scouting for Newcastle Town.
The Town reserve keeper on the day was Steve Sutton, who played in the game against Bamber Bridge, and whose son now plays for Norton United’s Under 14s team.
The Notts County squad included many players who enjoyed long professional careers, including Chris Wilder, Gary Strodder, Graeme Hogg, Steve Finnan, Shaun Derry, and Tony Agana.
Also in the squad was Ian Baraclough, who has just managed Sligo Rovers to the Airtricity League Championship title in the Republic of Ireland, and Gary Martindale, who began his playing career in the NWCFL with Burscough before joining Bolton Wanderers, and had a spell as player-manager of Formby a couple of years ago.
As for the game itself, Town did themselves and the NWCFL proud, putting up a great display.
“In the first half we matched our league opponents and at half time the game was goalless”, said Ray. “Surely the dream wasn’t going to come true - or was it?
“Early in the second half John Burndred skipped round Steve Finnan (later of Liverpool fame) and hit a screamer that looked to be bending into the top corner until Darren Ward in the County goal brought off a tremendous save.
“Two goals in the final fifteen minutes ended the dream but Castle still went close in the dying minutes through Shaun Wade. A standing ovation from both sets of fans brought tears to the eyes”.
John also remembers how well the team played on the day.
“We put up an excellent display, we had a good side at the time and had chances when it was 0-0, and everyone played well. We got good local support too. There were Notts County fans there, but the vast majority of the crowd were supporting us.
“I remember afterwards that Jimmy Sirrell, who was the Notts County General Manager at the time, was full of praise for us, and said that we had handled ourselves extremely well both on and off the park.
“It was a memorable day for everyone involved. We had a lot of hassle and hard work in the lead up to the game but it was worth it, and gave us all a bit of a glimpse of the big time. I remember we all had a good booze up in Hanley afterwards as well!”
But Ray admits he often wonders what might have been, had Town won on the day.
“Although we lost, we did ourselves and Non-League Football proud. But if we had won we would have been at home to Rochdale in the Second Round, in a game that would have been played at The Lyme Valley Stadium. And the winners of that game went on to play – Liverpool at Anfield. What an experience that would have been”.
Images of the front and back cover of the match programme from the Newcastle Town v Notts County game are shown on the left of this page.
Note for statisticians – the other five occasions that a club from the NWCFL has reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup are as follows:
November 20th 1982 – Blackpool 3
Horwich RMI 0
November 19th 1983 –
Penrith 0 Hull City 2
November 17th 1984 – Frickley 2
Stalybridge Celtic 1
November 17th 1984 –
Penrith 0 Burnley 9
November 14th 1987 – Northwich Victoria 1
Colwyn Bay 0
Thanks to Frank Clayton for providing a copy of the match programme, which was the inspiration for this article.
