WOMBWELL TOWN (Recreation Ground)

SHEFFIELD AND HALLAMSHIRE COUNTY LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, WOMBWELL TOWN 3-1 DENABY MAIN, ATTENDANCE: 224

As we reach the business end of, thankfully, a largely uninterrupted season games that actually have something riding on them start to become few and far between. However if you dig a little deep, for example at step 7 or below, then you can find some crackers. My game of choice today was no exception.

I crossed over the Pennines to South Yorkshire for a massive game in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League. It was 3rd vs 4th in the First Division (which sits at step 8 in the non-league pyramid) where Wombwell Town needed to avoid defeat to gain promotion to the Premier Division, whilst opponents Denaby Main needed to win the game, then hope Wombwell slip up somewhere in their remaining games in hand, thus allowing them to overtake the Wellers and snatch a promotion spot. It was certainly all to play for this afternoon.

Wombwell is a former mining town around 5 miles from Barnsley. There were once two collieries in operation, Mitchells Main and Wombwell Main, but these closed in 1956 and 1969 respectively.

There have been numerous football clubs over the years that have represented the town. The first Wombwell Town,  founded in the 1890's, won the inaugural Yorkshire league and were the first Wombwell team to enter the FA Cup. This club folded in the early 1900's. Next was Wombwell Rising Star who lasted a season around 1904. Another Wombwell Town was formed in 1920, and reached the 1st round of the FA Cup in 1930, before folding in 1934. The fourth team to represent the town was the one that lasted the longest. Wombwell Athletic was founded just after the second World War and lasted over 50 years, until the millennium. This club played in the Yorkshire League before becoming founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982 before they joined the Central Midlands League in 1988. They were in the Sheffield and Hallamshire League, and known as Wombwell Town, when they were dissolved in 2000.

The latest Wombwell Town incarnation was founded in 2018 by former Barnsley FC professionals Karl Rose and Doug O’Connor. The home ground is the Recreation Ground, where the last Wombwell Town had previously played. The club were placed in division two of the Sheffield and Hallamshire League and they won this at the first attempt. The following season the club were on course to make it back-to-back promotions but in March 2020 the Coronavirus pandemic struck and the season was abandoned. Season 2020/21 was also a write off, with just 5 games being played, so finally after two years the club were now in a position to finally clinch that promotion.

It was not a good start for The Wellers as Denaby took the lead after 20 minutes when Christian Baxby raced through to score. Brad Kerr equalised for Wombwell after 37 minutes to ensure it was all square at the break.

Will Harling put the Wellers in front after 69 minutes before Kerr netted his second after 85 minutes to wrap up victory and with it promotion. It was a well deserved victory and I offer my congratulations to The Wellers. All that is left for Wombwell to do now is to win seven points from their three remaining games to clinch the title. Good luck!

CPD Y FELINHELI (Cae Seilo)

ARDAL LEAGUE NORTH WEST, CPD Y FELINHELI 0-1 CPD PORTHMADOG, ATTENDANCE: 420

There were few options for a new ground 'tick' this Friday evening, so I decided on a revisit to Cae Seilo, the home of Y Felinheli. 

So why the revisit?

Well, my previous visit was back in September 2004 for a Welsh Cup game against Mynydd Isa. The score was 1-1 at half time but he first half was played in torrential rain. The grass was slightly long and the rain washed away the pitch markings. The referee therefore had no option to deem the pitch unplayable and abandoned the game.

It's only taken 18 years but I returned to see a full 90 minutes!

Since my last visit in 2004, a seated stand has been
erected at Cae Seilo.

Y Felinheli is a Welsh speaking village on the banks of the Menai Strait, situated between Bangor and Caernarfon. It is famous for it's harbour which is a hub for sailing and pleasure boating. The football club was founded in 1977 as Port Dinorwic FC (the English for Y Felinheli) before changing to the Welsh language name in 1978.

The club joined the Caernarfon and District League, and were champions in 1982 and 1983 before becoming founder members of the Gwynedd League in 1983 and inaugural champions in 1984. The club joined the Welsh Alliance before dropping back down the leagues. The club were back in the Welsh Alliance by 2016 and they were declared champions on points per game in 2020. When the restructuring of Welsh football took place in that year, the club were placed in the Ardal League North West, the third tier of Welsh football.

There was a huge crowd at Cae Seilo this evening, most of whom had travelled up the A487, to watch Porthmadog earn a vital three points as they attempt chase down Denbigh and Mold Alex at the top of the table. The homesters had nothing to play for, but they made it extremely difficult for Porthmadog.

The solitary goal came after 21 minutes courtesy of Rhys Alun. Porthmadog had enough chances to win this game more comfortably but Guto Hughes in the Y Felinheli goal was in inspired form and made a number of tremendous saves.

He did get away with one in the second half when he must have thought a wayward cross was going over the bar and he let it go but it dropped under the bar, and clearly over the line, and the ball bounced out. The officials missed it and waved play on much to the fury of the Porthmadog fans behind the goal.

There was a few familiar faces in attendance and it was good to chew some fat whilst enjoying a great game in a wonderful setting. This is what groundhopping is all about. Da iawn!

BRERA CALCIO (Arena Civica Gianni Brera)

FENIX TROPHY GROUP STAGE, BRERA CALCIO 1-3 FC UNITED of MANCHESTER, ATTENDANCE: c500

Let the Fenix fly!

Our final match of our short break, and what was the starting point for this whole trip being undertaken, was the Fenix Trophy Group game between Brera Calcio.

The Milan club were the brains behind the competition, established to promote the "experience of cultural exchange" between 8 non-professional clubs chosen for their "exceptional social, historical and cultural distinctiveness". My mate who was us jokingly (I think) remarked "What about Chester FC then?"

Anyway, the 8 clubs contesting the trophy are from 7 countries and split into two groups of four. Group A consists of HFC Falke (from Hamburg in Germany) AS Lodigiani Calcio 1972 (Rome, Italy) Cuenca-Mestallistes 1925 (Valencia, Spain) and Prague Raptors FC (Prague, Czech Republic).

Group B consists of Brera (from Milan in Italy) FC United of Manchester (Manchester, UK) AFC DWS (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and AKS Zly (Warsaw, Poland).

Tonight's game concerned group B leaders FC United against Brera Calcio. A win would ensure the Mancunians would top the group and play in the final in Rimini in June.

Brera Football Club was founded in 2000, with the club's first ever coach being Italian goalkeeping legend Walter Zenga. After relegation from Serie D the club have spent the last couple of decades flitting between the tiers of non-league football. They are currently at level 7 in Italian football. It is where they play their home games though that is the most interesting aspect.

There are not many grounds you can go to where you actually get a historic feel for the place, but the Arena Civica is definitely one of those places. How many grounds still in use have a direct connection to Napoleon? 

In the shadow of Castello Sforzesco, the Arena Civica was built at the request of the aforementioned Napoleon Bonaparte, who declared the city needed a venue to celebrate and showcase its wealth. Originally named Arena del Foro Bonaparte, it was inaugurated in 1807. 

Built by Luigi Canonica, it was used for chariot racing and it's design also allowed it to be flooded with water from nearby canals in order to stage mock sea battles. It became the Arena Civica in 1870 after passing to the Milanese municipality.

Both Milan clubs used the Arena Civica for homes games in their early years, but Inter played here permanently between 1930 and 1947, where they won the Scudetti in 1937/38 and 1939/40. Afterwards both clubs eventually made the San Siro their home, which was built by AC in 1935, after ownership of that stadium also passed to the municipality. 

The combination of war damage and growing attendances forcing the hand of I Nerazzurri into moving to the San Siro. The San Siro is officially named after Giuseppe Meazza, who played for both clubs but is considered an Inter legend as player and coach. He scored 240 goals for Inter, most coming at the Civica. 

Inter continued to play sporadically at the Civica after 1947 and played their last game at the Arena in 1958, beating Lyon 7-0 in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup. In 2002 the Arena was dedicated to the memory of Gianni Brera, journalist, and writer, who died ten years earlier. Brera Calcio have played here since their formation.

Despite the history of the stadium, I have to confess that the view for spectators of the match was quite poor and I, like the other fans in attendance, was well away from the action. Though, as it turned out, there was not a lot of action to see. A largely forgettable match, the second half being especially drab, was won by United to put them within one point of the Fenix Trophy final.

The game was a tale of three penalties. Paola Catalidi (18) gave the homesters the lead from the spot, after a handball, before running the length of the pitch to give it the big one in front of the United fans. They weren't in the lead for long as Charlie Ennis (21) equalised for United, also from penalty spot, after a trip in the box.

United went into the break leading thanks to a strike from Ali Waddecar (34) and wrapped the game up in the in 89th minute with another penalty, tucked home by Regan Linney.

That concluded our brief Italian tour, it was great to be on a football trip once again. Just a shame it couldn't be for a little bit longer. Hopefully next time...

Thanks to Markus, James, Barney and Jim for use of the photographs.

PARMA CALCIO 1903 (Stadio Ennio Tardini)

SERIE B, PARMA CALCIO 4-3 COMO 1907, ATTENDANCE: 5,310

Our first game of the day took us to the city of 'ham and cheese' for an afternoon encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. 

Parma is, of course, the world famous home of Parmaesan cheese and Parma ham. Indeed these are protected designations of origin for foods and, under Italian and European law, can only be called so if produced in the provinces of Reggio Emilia . Therefore is was only right and proper that prior to the game we headed to the famous 'La Prosciutteria'  shop in the city to sample the delights!

  "Say cheese"  

There was also time for a few local ales at 'Casa Ducato' before making the 20 walk to the stadium. Parma have certainly have an interesting history to say the least, especially in the recent years.

Originally founded in 1913, the club was declared bankrupt in 2015 and liquidated. The club reformed in Serie D and achieved three successive promotions to return to Serie A before dropping back to Serie B last season.

The financial problems originally went back to the turn of the millennium. After a decade of unprecedented success in which Parma won eight major trophies between 1992 and 2002 - four Coppa Italia, one Supercoppa Italiana, two UEFA cups and one European Cup Winners Cup.

These teams featured legendary players such as Tomas Brolin, Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla, Dino Baggio, Hernan Crespo and Gianluigi Buffon,  who is still going strong at the age 44 and recently signed a new 1 year contract extension at Parma.

The success in the 1990's was funded by Calisto Tanzi, who was the founder of Parmalat, a multi-national dairy and food company, but he was found guilty of one of largest frauds in European history, leading to the company's collapse. This led to the club going into administration in 2004 before it's eventual demise in 2015.

The Stadio Ennio Tardini has been home to Parma since it's inauguration in 1923, and is named after the former club president. It was he who drew up the plans for the stadium but died before completion. The ground was reconstructed in the 1990's, when the club was promoted to Serie A, to incorporate the requisite number of seats required for top flight football.

Parma were hosting Como this afternoon and with both teams having nothing to play for expectations of a classic encounter were low. However, with no pressure comes freedom and both teams served up a brilliant game to watch. There were chances galore for either side but in the Parma ran out winners by the odd goal in seven.

The teams entered the field to the strains of the Triumphal March from Aida, by the Parma born Giuseppe Verdi, indeed when Parma formed they were originally named Verdi FC in honour of the famous composer.

Franco Vázquez (31) gave Parma a half time lead before substitute Ettore Gliozzi equalised on the hour mark. Gliozzi's second of the match (67) gave Como the lead before two stunning free kicks from Adrián Bernabé (77 & 81) put the home side 3-2 up. A fourth goal from Gennaro Tutino (85) effectively sealed the victory but a late penalty from Gliozzi, to complete his hat-trick, did set up a grandstand finish but Parma held out.

Match highlights can be found by clicking here