WYTHENSHAWE TOWN (Ericstan Stadium)

CHESHIRE LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, WYTHENSHAWE TOWN 1-0 CREWE FC, ATTENDANCE: 32 (h/c)

The poor weather forecast made me abandon my original plan of a trip north of the border so I opted to keep it local-ish today. A couple of groundhoppers I know said they were heading to Wythenshawe, so I thought why not join them?

A quick tweet to the club around midday confirmed all was well and the game was on so I made my way along the M56. Unbeknown to me my fellow groundhoppers had also been in touch earlier on when the confidence of the club was not so great, so they diverted to the sunnier climes of South Wales. I was already parked up at the ground when I got the message. Oh well another time then.

Wythenshawe is a town south of Manchester, which became part of the city in the 1930's, but historically the town was part of Cheshire. At one time it boasted the largest council estate in Europe. One of my all time musical heroes, Johnny Marr, was raised in Wythenshawe.

The football team play at the Ericstan Stadium on Timpson Road. The ground is named Ericstan as a tribute to Eric Reynard and Stan Orme who were prime movers in Wythenshawe's early days. Without doubt Wythenshawe are a club on the up.

In 2014/15 the club transferred from the Manchester League to the Cheshire League where they won the quadruple of Division Two League Title, League Cup, Altrincham FA Senior Cup and the Manchester FA Amateur Cup. The club were promoted once again in 2016 and are now in the Cheshire League Premier Division.

Speaking to a club official and he said if the club are in position to accept promotion to the North West Counties League this season then they definitely make the move up. The club have already had an informal meeting with the NWCFL ground grading chairman and know what work needs to be done.

The ground already has two stands on each side of the pitch so the only additional work needed would be enlarging the dugouts and the erection of floodlights. There is a large social club at the ground, though this afternoon there were probably more people inside watching the Burnley v City game on TV than outside watching the game.

It was bitterly cold but, thankfully, frost and fog free. Well it was fog free at kick off but boy did the mist descend as the game progressed.

The game was a full blooded encounter with some very robust challenges being made, but the referee kept things in control.

Both teams had opportunities but the game was settled on the hour when Cyril Owalabi was played in to fire home for Wythenshawe. The home side had further chances to extend their lead but in the end it was a solitary goal that separated the two teams.

This was my first ever dip into Cheshire League and thoroughly enjoyable too. I will almost certainly be taking in more games in this league!

Spot the ball!