A bonus ground for me this Saturday, as I was not expecting to visit anywhere new this weekend. However, whilst perusing the Non League Paper on Friday, the fixture of Litherland REMYCA v Stockport Town caught my eye. I decided to go for it!You see, as well as being a groundhopper, I am a season ticket holder at Everton, so naturally I was heading to Goodison Park for the early kick off as The Toffees took on champions Chelsea.
A superb Steven Naismith hat-trick (header, left foot, right foot) ensured a great, and thoroughly deserved, victory for Everton, which meant I was absolutely buzzing as I drove along the A5038 Southport Road.
Admittedly my legs were aching as I drove as I had to run (not I easy feat for me these days, I can tell you) to my strategically parked car, after leaving Goodison right on 90 minutes. Litherland is just over 3 miles from Goodison Park. Fortunately the traffic was very kind too and, with a few minutes to spare, I was walking through the door from reception into the Litherland Sports Park, the home of Litherland REMYCA.
The club were founded in 1959 as St Thomas FC and they spent their early years in local Church leagues. The name was changed to the distinctive REMYCA United in 1967, having been created through combination of elements from the names of two organisations closely connected with the club; the REM Working Men's Club, who helped finance the club, and Bootle YMCA, who provided a base and training facilities.
The club progressed to the I Zingari Amatuer League and effectively stayed there for the next three decades, apart from a switch to the Liverpool County Football Combination in the mid 1990's. A merger between these two leagues led to the formation of the Liverpool County Premier League, with REMYCA being placed in the Second Division of this new structure. The club went on to claim the title in its debut season before another promotion, this time to the top flight, was achieved in 2010.
The club changed it's name once more in 2013, to Litherland REMYCA , in order to identify the club with its local area. The club applied to join the North West Counties Football League and were accepted, starting 2014/15 season in Division One, where they finished in a very respectable 9th position.
Litherland's pitch at the sports park is in the middle of a six lane athletics track, with a couple of pre-fab stands on the halfway line. There is a small booth selling food and drink and I am happy to report the pies were excellent!
If I am being completely honest, the game was far from excellent, though it wasn't the worst I have seen this season by a long shot. In mitigation, the blustery conditions didn't help matters.
Stockport took the lead after just three minutes when Sean Mills fired home from 20 yards. Litherland had a few long range efforts at goal but Stockport doubled their lead with ten minutes remaining when Nathan Neequaye raced onto a through ball and who slotted past the on rushing Remy goalkeeper.
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