WEST END FC (Pryderi Park)

WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO,
WEST END 1-0 ABERDARE TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 37 (h/c)

This weekend I headed to South Wales to watch the mighty blues of Everton in action against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, but with the game kicking off at 5.30pm, it afforded me the chance of an aperitif as West End were hosting Aberdare Town in the Welsh League.



West End play their home games Pryderi Park, which is in the Townhill area of Swansea. I made the decision to walk from the city centre and I was a little breathless upon arrival as its a bit of steep trek up Constitution Hill to the ground. No wonder there were a few guffaws from other groundhoppers when I said I was walking to the match!

 Constitution Hill 

The club was formed in 1964 by a group of local enthusiasts in a local public House, The Wellington, which was situated in the West end of Swansea, hence the name.

After winning the Swansea Senior League, and the FAW Trophy in 2005 and 2006, the club made the step up to the Welsh League in 2005. They won promotion from Division Three at the first attempt and their rise up through the leagues was rapid and, within four seasons, West End were in Division One, the second tier of Welsh Football.

The club won the Welsh League in 2013 but they were not granted a domestic licence in order to gain promotion to the Welsh Premier League. This led to an exodus of management and players and the following season the club finished bottom and were relegated.

West End have been in Division Two since, however this season they looked in danger of slipping back to Division Three. They look set to finish the season in the bottom three but with Barry Town winning promotion to the Welsh Premier League, and no southern team coming down to replace them, the knock on effect means there will be only one relegation spot from Division Two this season.

Nonetheless, with two home games left to play I am sure West End would like to finish the season on a high, starting today. After a pretty even opening 45 minutes, the closest there was to a goal was in stoppage time when Aberdare smashed an effort against the crossbar.

However in the second half, West End played a superb counter attacking game and, on another day, it could've been three or four nil. Aberdare's goalkeeper though played an absolute blinder, making a series of fine saves. The game was won courtesy of a solitary strike by West End's Nikki Pavin midway through the second half. Aberdare applied late pressure but the home side held on to claim the victory.

On the final whistle I made my way to the Liberty Stadium, which fortunately was all downhill this time! Swansea did themselves a huge favour in their bid to avoid the drop by beating Everton, thanks to a Fernando Llorente header, as the Blues put in another insipid end-of-season performance.

I previously 'blogged' about a visit to the Liberty Stadium in 2012 and, if you click here, you can read all about it!

PRESTWICH HEYS (Adie Moran Park)

NORTH WEST COUNTIES LEAGUE DIVISION ONE,
PRESTWICH HEYS 1-2 WHITCHURCH ALPORT, ATTENDANCE: 113

It was the final Saturday of the regular North West Counties season so I decided to re-complete my visits to all of the league's grounds by heading to Greater Manchester.

Prestwich Heys were hosting Whitchurch Alport in their final home game after returning to the league after a 30 year absence.

Prestwich Heys were founder members of the North West Counties League back in 1982 but left in 1986, due to ground grading issues, and joined the Manchester League. They remained in this league until 2016 when, as champions, they returned to the North West Counties for this season. 

There were no problems with ground grading this time around as in 1991 the club relocated to a new home on Sandgate Road in Whitefield.

The ground is now named in tribute to former manager Adie Moran who, after leading the club to three successive Manchester Premier League titles in the noughties, sadly died on the eve of the 2007/08 season.

It has been a successful campaign, with the club guaranteed 8th place in the table, regardless of the result today. Up until a few weeks ago the club were firmly in the mix for promotion but a backlog of fixtures in recent weeks finally took it's toll and they have faded away.

Whitchurch on the other hand had already secured their play-off berth so in reality there was nothing but pride resting on this game. Both teams played to win though and produced an decent encounter to watch.

After a goalless first half two Alex Hughes strikes (48 & 65) put the visitors in command. A Lee O'Brien penalty three minutes from time halved the deficit but, despite late pressure, Prestwich couldn't find an equaliser.

The Mayor of Bury was also in attendance this afternoon, I hope he enjoyed the match as well as I did! 

WEST HAM UNITED (London Stadium)

PREMIER LEAGUE, WEST HAM UNITED 0-0 EVERTON, ATTENDANCE: 56,971

Today I made my way to that there London and my first taste of West Ham United's new home at the London Stadium (née Olympic Stadium). As it was my first ever first visit to E20 I thought I would add my two penneth worth by doing a brief write up on my day out.

This is The Hammers' debut season at their new surroundings after leaving their beloved, and intimidating, Boleyn Ground after 112 years at the end of the 2015/16 season.

I made my way to Stratford, from Euston via underground to Highbury & Islington then overground to Hackney Wick. The ground is a fifteen minute walk from here but, naturally, I went via the excellent Howling Hops Tank Bar and it's equally good next door neighbour, The Crate Brewery.

The London Stadium was built as the centre piece for the 2012 London Olympic Games and was obviously designed primarily as an athletics venue. Part of the post games legacy was the use for future events, with the stadium being converted into a multi-purpose stadium capable of hosting football, athletics and other non-sporting events. 

There was a bidding process to become the tenants of the London Stadium and West Ham were awarded, controversially in some eyes, a 99 year lease. The official capacity for football is around 60,000 (down from the original 80,000 capacity) but the club have currently capped this at around 57,000, of which approx 50,000 are season ticket holders. 

From the outside the ground is aesthetically pleasing and inside the views are unobstructed, there is plenty of legroom in the seats and the facilities are decent (even if they did run out of pies at half time).

However with the stadium still being an athletics venue, this has meant the installation of retractable seats to cover over the running track, this has created a huge gap between the supporters in the lower tier and those in the upper tier.

Today I was in the upper tier behind the goal, close to the back of the stand, and it felt like I was miles away from the action. My eyes are not the best anyhow so it was not a good match watching experience at all. Also with that aforementioned gap, the atmosphere was seriously affected, not that there was much to excite. 

The game was utter, utter dross. The Toffees did not register a shot on target in the entire 90 minutes. West Ham did create a few half chances, so they will probably more disappointed with the draw, but the match was not a good advert for the so called best league in Europe.

Post match I was directed towards Stratford station and, despite my best attempts to find the Tap East which is somewhere in the adjacent Westfield Shopping Centre, I soon made my way back Euston for a couple of more beers (in the Euston Tap and Bree Louise) before catching my train home.

Overall an enjoyable day in the capital, from a social perspective, but from a football point of view I didn't think much of the ground as a viewing spectator. Hopefully any future developments may improve things.

If I was a West Ham fan though I would feel very disappointed having left the Boleyn Ground for this place but that's modern football I suppose and I would imagine I am in the minority. I won't, however, be in any rush to revisit the London Stadium.

Cheers!

TIDESWELL UNITED (Tideswell Sports Complex)

CENTRAL MIDLANDS LEAGUE NORTH DIVISION,
TIDESWELL UNITED 1-3 CLAY CROSS TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 87

For my Easter Monday football fix I decided to stay a little closer to home (anywhere under 100 miles is closer to home these days) and head into the Peak District for arguably the Central Midlands League's match of the day.

Fourth placed Tideswell United were hosting league leaders Clay Cross Town with, starting today, the visitors needing just four points from their final three league matches to wrap up the title and promotion to the Northern Counties East League.

Tideswell is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District with a population of less than 2,000. The nearest major town is Buxton, where incidentally we stopped en-route for some liquid refreshment at the superb Ale Stop.

Tideswell United play their home games at the Tideswell Sports Complex, which is located on the grounds of Bishop Pursglove. The ground is superb for this level of football. You never know what to expect at a step 7 ground but the pitch is railed off, has a small covered stand and floodlights. There is also an elevated viewing area behind one of goals which gives a great view of the action and also the surrounding dales. The welcome from the club officials was also warm and friendly. Throw in the admission for the bargain price of £2 and what's not to like? 

This is Tideswell's debut season at step 7 having joined the Central Midlands League from the Hope Valley League in 2016. The club have had no trouble adapting to the higher league and look set for a top half finish.

The game this afternoon lived up to it's top billing with both teams producing a very entertaining game of football, with both teams getting the ball down and trying to play. The the visitors from Clay Cross though showed their credentials and just had enough to see off a spirited Tideswell side.

The game was end-to-end but it was Ant Lynam who broke the deadlock after 26 minutes to give Clay Cross the lead, when his low drive from the edge of the box found the bottom corner of the net (pictured below).

Goal! 1-0.

Tideswell had chances to level but it was Clay Cross who doubled their advantage after 58 minutes when the ball was finally fired home by Lee Clay, after initial efforts were saved. The home side set up a grandstand finish when substitute Daniel Hopkins drove home a tremendous dipping volley after 85 minutes but Lynam's second goal, in stoppage time, secured a vital three points for The Millers and put them within touching distance of that league title.

An enjoyable afternoon out and a visit to Tideswell United comes highly recommended.