TREHARRIS ATHLETIC WESTERN (The Athletic Ground)

WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION THREE, TREHARRIS ATHLETIC WESTERN 0-2 CWM WELFARE, ATTENDANCE: 47 (h/c)

The seeds of today's trip were sown when a posting appeared last month on a very popular non-league forum. It was posted by someone who had made the trip to South Wales previously and had picked up a copy of the Treharris programme.

The poster then went on to quote a line from the club secretary's introductory notes "Whilst this has been our home for the past century, we know we are running out of time at this venue"   I know quite a few groundhoppers who speak very, very highly of Treharris' Athletic Ground, so this meant a trip to South Wales needed to be made sooner rather than later.

Treharris is a small town in the Taff Bargoed Valley, just south of Merthyr Tydfil. Like most communities in this part of the world it was once dominated by the coal industry but the local pit closed in 1991.

The football ground certainly fits the description of a proper old fashioned ground. I am of the old school that believes grounds like these should be cherished, not condemned. The ground is basically one-sided, with a large covered stand dominating the ground.

The stand has no seats, which is a bone of contention with the Welsh FA, and is packed right up against a tight narrow football pitch, which is another bone of contention.  There is a viewing balcony which you cross to get to the tea bar but the club politely ask you not to stand on said balcony. As someone at the ground said to me "yes, this ground is a sh*thole, but it is OUR sh*thole" before giving a passionate defence of the Athletic Ground. Absolutely no need to convince me!

There is a lot of hostility towards the ground, from both the Welsh FA and opposition teams, probably because they don't like the tight compact pitch and the fans being right on top of you, or even next to them as players have to walk up the steps next to the stand in order to reach the changing rooms. All this has led the club to the decision to seek pastures new. 

There are plans to move to Parc Taff Bargoed, the former home of the now defunct Trelewis Welfare, though this still could be a while off as the ground needs bringing up to Welsh League standards. Speaking to someone at the club, they are still in process of securing funding to complete all the necessary work.

The club have had a long and illustrious history. Indeed the club call themselves "the pioneers of South Wales football" and the club programme proudly highlights some of the clubs achievements over the past 125 years. Here is a brief overview;

The village was formed around the Harris Navigation Colliery, which began mining in 1873. Football was brought to the village by members of the workforce. The club were founder members of the South Wales League, wining the first ever championship in 1891. The club dominated the South Wales League around the turn of the century and this led them to being one of the first clubs to play over the border in England when they joined the Western League in 1906. The club won the Western League in 1910 and, along with Cardiff City, entered the Southern League.

In 1905, a new league, the Rhymney Valley League, was set up of which Treharris were also founder members. This league became The Welsh Football League in 1912 and fast forward 110 years and Treharris were seeking to maintain their unbroken membership of this league.

This was Treharris's last home game after a season of disappointing results which have left them hovering near the foot of the table. After a 4-0 win in midweek, they followed that up today with a 2-0 defeat to their visitors from the Rhondda Valley, Cwm Welfare. Both goals came in the first half and were scored by Lewis Jenkins and Rhys Williams. 

As it happens, this result may not matter in the grand scheme of things as it is looking increasing unlikely that there will any relegation from the Welsh League this season due to clubs folding and/or not willing to make the step up from the county leagues.

It was an enjoyable afternoon and one of Wales' most iconic football grounds. I implore anyone with a love of proper old historic grounds to put a visit to Treharris on your groundhopping bucket list post-haste.

I will leave the last words to ex-Treharris player, and record goalscorer, Kevin Bounds who in an article in the match day programme says the following "wherever we go we will eventually call home, but it won't be The Athletic Ground and it won't make your spine tingle"

MANCHESTER CITY WOMEN'S FOOTBALL CLUB (City Football Academy)

FA WOMEN'S SUPER LEAGUE 1, MANCHESTER CITY WFC 0-1 ARSENAL LADIES, ATTENDANCE: 1,167

Today marked the first ever Women's Super League game at the City Football Academy. The campus was officially opened in December 2014 and a 7,000 capacity stadium, which is used predominantly for youth and women's football, is part of this £200M training complex.

The ground is a short walk over a newly constructed bridge which links the both the Ethiad Stadium and Campus.

With Manchester City playing West Ham in the Premier League before this game, today's match was heavily promoted as a chance to watch two games in one day. The result was a crowd of over 1,000 at The Academy.


After originally being formed in 1988, City joined the elite women's set up in April 2013 when they became members of the Women's National League.


When women's football was re-organised into two 'super leagues' for the 2014 season they were, controversially in some eyes, promoted to the newly formed top tier at the expense of Doncaster Belles.

Just like their male counterparts, City boast an array of star names such as Jill Scott, Toni Duggan (both signed from Everton) Karen Bardsley and the heroine of the 2012 Olympics, Steph Houghton.

Having said that, Arsenal too have plenty of quality within their ranks and it was the Gunners who ran out victorious courtesy of a goal from Chioma Ubogagu after 36 minutes.

Both sides hit the woodwork but City's attempts to find an equaliser were not helped by Jill Scott being given a straight red card for a head butt on Arsenal's Lianne Sanderson.

ESH WINNING (West Terrace)

NORTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION TWO, ESH WINNING 1-2 SOUTH SHIELDS, ATTENDANCE: 123

For the second part of my Northern League double, I headed further North to the former mining village of Esh Winning. The village was founded in order to service a mine which was originally opened in 1866. It was closed between 1930 and 1942 before being reopened, but the mine was closed for good in 1968.

Esh Winning, who are currently battling for survival near the bottom of Division Two, play in the adjacent village of Waterhouses.

A famous footballing son, Sir Bobby Robson, grew up in another neighbouring village, Langley Park, and for a time was educated in Esh Winning. A local park has been named in his honour.

This was an enjoyable game. After being 0-2 down, the homesters could/should have got at least a point out of this game, but couldn't hit the proverbial. This maybe explains why they are struggling near the foot of the table.


Esh had already squandered a couple a good opportunities before Stephen Ramsey (32) headed home for South Shields. It was Ramsey who scored his, and Shield's, second goal on 76 minutes.


Skipper Luke Thompson pulled a goal back for the Esh with five minutes remaining before Ramsey picked up a second yellow card and was sent off.

Despite piling on the pressure in the remaining time, Esh could not find an equaliser and this result will leave them looking nervously over their shoulder as the season draws to a close.

West Terrace is another quirky Northern League ground and once again this league did not disappoint. A fantastic day all round.

GUISBOROUGH TOWN (King George V Ground)

NORTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, GUISBOROUGH TOWN 1-2 MARSKE UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 476

Easter wouldn't be Easter without some Northern League action!!

It was an early start as I made my way to North Yorkshire for the first leg of a double header. Guisborough Town were taking on local rivals Marske United in a championship six pointer.

The game had all the ingredients for a cracker. It was a big Derby with Guisborough top of the table (P39,83) and Marske close by in second place (P37, 77). 

The game attracted a bumper crowd and there was a good atmosphere, especially from the travelling Marske fans who set up base, along with their drum, in the covered terrace on one side of the ground.

In reality, though games like this are rarely open expansive affairs. It was tight game which, in all honesty, could have gone either way. You still couldn't take your eyes off it for a second though.

Luke Bythway gave Guisborough the lead after 6 minutes before Glen Butterworth equalised for Marske in first half stoppage time.

In the second Marske hit the bar before Jamie Owens scored what proved to be the winner after 73 minutes. The homesters had a late chance to grab a point but they too were denied by the woodwork.

This defeat may have cost Guisborough the chance of the title as Marske are now 3 points behind them with 4 to play. Guisborough only have 2 games left to play. Shildon and North Shields are also in the mix with games in hand on both teams, so I'm sure there are still plenty of twists and turns to come.

CHIPPENHAM TOWN (Hardenhuish Park)

SOUTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE, CHIPPENHAM TOWN 1-0 POOLE TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 413

After spending Good Friday night across the border in South Wales, today seemed a perfect opportunity to visit a ground that has been on my "to do" list for a few years.

Hardenhuish Park has been home to Chippenham Town since 1919 and has a quirky mix of stands and a sloping pitch which make for an interesting visit.

There is the main stand, for which you had to pay and extra £1 to sit in, covered terrace alongside one touchline, and open terrace behind one goal and a pre-fab terrace behind the other goal. However, the club have made this their own by incorporating it into the old terrace and fixing crush barriers, so it does actually feel part of the ground rather than just plonked down.

Founded in 1873, Chippenham reached the Southern League in 2001, after spending most of their history in the Western League. They achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2002 and have remained there ever since.

Today they were taking on current high fliers Poole Town in front of the largest crowd at Hardenhuish so far this season. The home fans were rewarded with a hard fought victory.

It was Poole who looked every part the league leaders as they took the game to Chippenham but they simply couldn't find the finish. As the game progressed Chippenham gained confidence and came more and more into it.

They had an effort that hit the post before, five minutes from time, Ashan Holgate fired home the winning goal. A fine victory for the homesters but with games in hand the defeat shouldn't really dent Poole's promotion hopes that much. We shall see.