CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS (The Heath, Norbreck Avenue)

NORTH WEST COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP 1st ROUND,
CHEADLE HEATH NOMADS 3-1 LITHERLAND REMYCA, ATTENDANCE: 50

Today was the first of two successive Saturday evenings out in Manchester so I had to find something close to the city centre in order to be back in town for 7pm. A visit to League newcomers Cheadle Heath Nomads fitted the bill perfectly.

The restructuring of the pyramid last summer led to another division in the North West Counties League being created with the single division One being expanded to two divisions, a north and south. This meant for me nine brand new grounds (of the 17 new clubs this season) to visit in a league I had previously completed. Fantastic!

So, after the restructuring, Cheadle Heath Nomads took the opportunity of promotion from the Cheshire League to join the first division south.

The club was originally formed in 1919 and played amateur football in the Lancashire and Cheshire League until 1994 when they joined the Mid-Cheshire League.

Meanwhile Linotype FC, from Timperley, were founded in 1949 and played in the Mid-Cheshire League throughout their existence.

In 2004 off the field circumstances of both clubs led to the Nomads merging with Linotype and forming Linotype Cheadle Heath Nomads FC . This club played in the Cheshire League up until May 2017, and were champions as recently as 2015.

After the merger the club continued to play at The Heath on Norbreck Avenue, which has been home since the original Cheadle Heath set up base there in 1921. The ground is currently known as the ProSeal Stadium for sponsorship purposes.

Recent work on the ground has brought it up to the required standard for Step 6 football. There is hard standing on three sides and a new seated stand has been added on one side of the pitch. Floodlights have been installed on they were debuted last Tuesday when The Nomads beat Wythenshawe Town 2-0.

At the beginning of this season the club reverted back to the original name of Cheadle Heath Nomads ahead of celebrating it's centenary in 2019.

Cheadle Heath have made a good start to their debut campaign at this level and are currently in the top five of the Division One South table, however today was all about the League Cup and they were facing premier division opponents from Merseyside in the form of Litherland REMYCA.

George Donnelly (15 mins) gave Litherland the lead before Isaac Graham (21) levelled for Cheadle Heath Nomads (pictured below) to make it all square at the interval.

The home side had the better of the play in the second half and took the lead through Richard Tindall (69) before Tindall netted his second goal after 79 minutes to wrap up the tie for Cheadle. The Nomads will now travel to another league newcomer Rylands in the next round.

An excellent afternoon's football and a visit to Cheadle Heath Nomads is very much recommended.

Pie and Peas? Get in there!!

The ground is on the flight path into Manchester Airport.
Based on my rudimentary timings a plane flies over around every 90 seconds.
Definitely a ground for all you plane-spotters out there!

LITHERLAND REMYCA (Litherland Sports Park)

NORTH WEST COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE, LITHERLAND REMYCA 1-2 STOCKPORT TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 41

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.

Litherland did pull a goal  back on 88 minutes when Chris Tyson shot home (pictured left) but it was too little too late for the home side.