“Orange Juice and Benilyn, you don’t look like a football fan?” said the lady sat in my seat as boarded the 09.05 Virgin train to London Euston.  It’s Saturday morning and my shirt and tie have been called into action for the weekend as Counties Podcast is headed for Wembley! The occasion is to cover Glossop North End in the final of the FA Vase.  As ‘smart’ as I’ve attempted to present myself I actually feel like death warmed up as the previous week has spent in bed trying to fight off a dreaded chest infection that’s hampered since Bonfire night, literally.

Having already missed the MEN United Cup final through illness I’m not about to miss the opportunity to report on a game LIVE from Wembley Stadium and I’m even happy to give up my seat on the train as I plan to rendezvous with the Podcast team members Martin and Gary in London. Sadly, Zach is unavailable for selection due to exams.

The train was relatively full, facilitated by the number of people from Glossop heading to the capital. It was a strange but pleasant sensation to see so many recognisable people from various NWCFL clubs upon arrival at London Euston. After a little wander around London and, thanks to a combination of signal failure and driver mix up, three tube rides later I disembarked at Wembley Central.

I knew plenty of people heading to the game and the unofficial meet is a Whetherspoon’s on Baker Street. However being unwell as I was I wasn’t in the mood for beverages and I had this suspicious feeling that rocking up to the media entrance at Wembley half cut might not be the best of ideas.  Having been to Wembley seven times since 2011 with Manchester City I must confess that I’m spoilt on Wembley and having visited the area roughly twice a year  for the last four years I can honestly say I was happy to be walking to the ground 2 hours before kick-off.

What had been a grey, cold and windy morning in Manchester had become a bright, warm and sunny afternoon and the grassy area outside the TGI Friday’s became a virtual who’s who of NWCFL alumni as I bumped into Martin with his Runcorn Linnets pals in tow before spotting John and Jeff from St Helens Town. The chairman of St Helens Town was resplendent in his-not-quite-as-good-as-the-year-before-St Helens-home-shirt.  Having been 1987 winners of the FA Vase, you could tell that Wembley was still a special place for John and Jeff despite their season woes.  In the middle of having a lovely chat I’d forgotten about poor Gary who was waiting for me outside the media entrance.

Fortunately Gary didn’t hold my lateness against me and upon entrance he, Martin and I were each given a welcome pack with a meal voucher and press lanyard (half of which I must have seen on Facebook the next day) whilst we had our bags inspected by security.  The first major result of the day was the complimentary match programme which, Podcast recording aside, was the primary objective of the whole trip and its Gary was just as happy as I was to get his hands on a Wembley freebie.

Once we’d been led into a lift and walked through a maze of corridor’s we found ourselves in the plush pressroom of Wembley Stadium, rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of Football journalism.  Actually, we didn’t recognise a sole there until league press officer Ian Templeman showed up.

First thing we need to do was to find our seats for the afternoon and the ticket we were handed placed us at the back of the press box with a lovely padded seat, a spacious desk and room to spread out.  The spacious desk was needed as Gary possesses one of the largest laptops I’ve ever seen whilst I made do with my iPad Air and Bluetooth keyboard, nothing but the best for the podcast crew.  Then it came time to log into the Wi-Fi and, I hope our new chairman takes this idea on board, but was an actual IT technician on hand to help us log into the network.  Think about that for a second, Wembley actually employ a guy to come round and help people log into their computers and get them connected to the internet.  In turns out he was needed as I discovered I couldn’t spell the word Daffodil (thanks spell check).

Once Gary and I were setup we decided to explore the press lounge and the second result of the day came with the free lunch! The journalists’ were being fed burritos with wedges before the match, which was great value for money as it was FREE! However Gary and I were more interested in the beverages on offer as we tucked into the fridge (admittedly switched off) of soft drinks as we helped ourselves to a couple of bottles of Coke.  I couldn’t have been happier if there had been free beer on tap as I returned to the fridge several times throughout the afternoon to ensure I stayed well topped up.  So if FA Vase final tickets increase next season I would like to apologise in advance.

Once we’d eaten and had a chats with both Ian Templeman and Jonathan Haggarty from Glossop it was time to take our seats.  As for the match itself you can read the match report HERE but the most notable thing was the volume of noise. The crowd was just over 9,000 and it was certainly up there with recent visits to Wembley involving the, supposed, biggest teams in England in terms of atmosphere.

After the match it was a dash down to the mixed zone where we had the unenviable task of trying to interview players who’ve just lost the biggest game of their lives whilst Martin attended the press conference.  Glossop goalkeeper earned his way into the future Podcast Hall of Fame by snubbing ITV to talk to us first! He then proceeded to give a superb account of himself whilst he had every right to walk straight onto the coach without comment.  I temporarily lost my Mancunian cool whilst Buxton hero Mark Reed walked past and probably committed the biggest journalistic faux pas by having my photo taken with him.  If it had been Sergio Aguero I’d probably have just nodded to him, but this was MARK REED, Buxton hero!  Finally there was an interview with Lee Blackshaw that was so poor on my part I begged Martin not to use it in the podcast and for that I can only apologise Lee.

Extra time and penalties had set the whole day back an hour so we made the decision to race back to Wembley central before all the players came out and head back to Euston Station.  The beauty of London transport was that just having missed a train back to Manchester there was only a short wait for another and filled the time paying an ungodly sum for a burger.  I said goodbye to Martin with his Runcorn mates in tow and Gary to find an unoccupied drivers cabin to stow away in as they headed for Liverpool.  Having boarded the train with my burger I subsequently found myself surrounded by the only three North Shields fans on the train (they were heading back to Nuneaton). They turned out to be top blokes as we whiled the hours talking about the best British television such as Phoenix Nights and Early Doors.

As I approached Manchester I found myself talking to a Glossop fan who really summed up the beauty of non-league football as he told me; “I’ve grown up and lived in Glossop all my life, I thought I didn’t know anyone left in this town as people have moved away or passed on but when I went down to Surrey Street for the quarter final, I saw people I’d known for years and realised I still had friends in this town!”

A terrific day and one where the effort of the players and the spirit of the fans won’t let the result overshadow the memories.

Rob

Episode 31 of Counties Podcast is our first live podcast. Rob McKay, Martin Fallon and Gary Langley are at Wembley Stadium for the FA Carlsberg Vase Final between Glossop North End and North Shields.

We talk to Glossop supporters before the game, bring you updates every 15 minutes throughout the match, with Jeff Voller even making a cameo! We also bring you Glossop’s Post Match Press Conference in full as well as interviews with Greg Hall, Mark Reed and Jonathan Haggart.

A few days after Wembley we also caught up with Glossop Captain Dave Young to get an update after he was forced out of the match due to injury. We also speak about the build up to the Final from the teams perspective.

It was a second Wembley FA Vase final heartbreak for Glossop North End as they failed to complete their historic dream of a treble with a 2-1 extra time loss to North Shields.

Chris Willcock’s side began the game brightly, not seemingly overawed by their surroundings, as they were backed by a huge vocal support who’d travelled down from Derbyshire. It was the Hillmen who created the game’s first chance as Michael Bowler raced down the right hand side, curled in a brilliant cross and Kieran Lugsden out-jumped his marker but headed straight into the keepers hands.

At the other end North Shields first chance came from a corner as a close range header was cleared off the line by Kieran Lugsden. Set pieces would be a key theme of the game as on 35 minutes as the North Shields goalkeeper flapped at a GNE corner, the ball felt to Dave Young who’s clipped effort from 6 yards just cleared the cross bar.

Glossop continued to press in the final minutes of the first half as Bowler, a constant threat in the first half saw another low cross blocked out for a corner. Sam Hare had Glossop’s best chance of the half but he headed a tame effort to the keeper.

The best chance of the first half, however, fell to North Shields as leading goalscorer Gareth Bainbridge ran through the middle of the Glossop defence and goalkeeper Greg Hall made a brilliant save low and to his left. Even more impressively, the replay showed that Hall had been unsighted when the ball was kicked.

At the other end the North Shields goalkeeper Christopher Bannon was called into action once more as he saved a low shot smartly with his legs from Kieran Lugsden to ensure that the sides went into the half all square.

Glossop kicked off the second half attacking the end filled with the noisy Glossop ultra’s.   It was the Northern League side who started the brighter as first a swerving shot from range cannoned off the top of the Glossop crossbar. Shields would go close again as Hall was forced to tip another effort onto the roof of the net.

On 55 minutes Glossop took the lead, a set piece was the break through, with the corner whipped in, Young headed it down, it was half cleared to the edge of the six yard box to Kieran Lugsden, he crossed it low back across the six yard line and Tom Bailey stabbed it over the line to send the Glossop supporters into delirious raptures.

Glossop were forced into their first change on the hour mark as Eddie Moran, who’d played the entire first half with an injury, was forced off with a knock, and replaced by Daniel White. Glossop buoyed by their goal almost doubled their lead on 68 minutes as Bailey whipped in a wicked cross to the near post, Kieran Lugsden head just wide at the near post from 6 yards out.

Glossop were forced into a second sub through injury as Ben Richardson replaced Lee Blackshaw. Despite the enforced changes Willcock’s men continued to be in comfortable control of the game.

However North Shields still continued to press and won a corner after Shields worked the right hand side and Hall couldn’t prevent the corner. From the corner, the in-swinging cross was met by Bainbridge at the near post, un-marked and headed home at the near post to the delight on their fans. With just 8 minutes reminaing it was a killer blow for Glossop who hadn’t looked like conceding and was the first set piece they’d conceded from all season.

As with the end of the first half, the end of the second was just as frantic with Glossop creating multiple chances to win it as they first had another chance blocked from a corner but the North Shields dropped another corner only for the shot to be hit straight against him whilst he was on the floor. Eight minutes of stoppage time couldn’t separate the two sides and extra time was greeted with both sides feeling the effects of playing such a high energy game on the huge playing surface.

Neither side could find the breakthrough and it would require extra time to produce a winner. As both sides received their extra time instructions it was notable how many players appeared to be stretching out cramp.

The winning goal came on 95 minutes, with virtually extra time’s first attack, as the ball reached the North Shield Denver Morris on the right hand side, he raced down the wing and his low cross evade the entire Glossop defence but found Shields sub Adam Forster at the far post who pulled his shot back across goal and into the bottom right hand corner.

A double blow was to come as Dave Young received a solid elbow to the chin and hit the deck without moving. After more than a minute unconscious ‘Youngy’ was able to sit up and eventually get to his feet. He returned to the action but moments later he was ordered from the field by the referee after the stadium doctor told him that he could not continue. As the half time whistle blew Young and the Glossop management team were still upset with the decision as they were forced to play the last 15 minutes with only 10 men.

The second half began with a much slower tempo with both teams feeling the affects of the high intensity game. The last 15 minutes produced fewer chances but were no less dramatic as North Shields did their best to kill the game whilst Glossop did their best to level despite their man disadvantage. In fact the last two minutes of the game saw Greg Hall play as an emergency striker, however with both teams literally out on their feet the referee called an end to an absorbing game as North Shields were crowned FA Vase winners for 2015.

Despite the harsh manner of the defeat everyone at Glossop North End can be proud of the way they performed, giving everything they had, and the way they represented the NWCFL.

Counties Podcast Man of the Match: Greg Hall

Welcome to Episode 24 of Counties Podcast, hosted by Rob McKay alongside Martin Fallon and the returning Zach Pierce (Yay!)

This week we are pleased to welcome new Alsager Town manager Will Ryder to the podcast. We find out his background, how useful it was watching his team before being appointed, the remainder of this season and his plans for next season. We are also joined mid show by Glossop North End captain Dave Young, who decides to ring in to say hello!

Its another bumper edition as we discuss Glossop reaching Wembley in the FA Vase, Colls and Darwen reaching the Reusch Cup Final, plus we talk about the few games in the NWCFL that survived the weather!

(Thanks to Uwdi Krugg at Where’s the Tea Hut for the Alsager image!)

Welcome to Episode 21 of Counties Podcast, hosted by Zach Pierce with Rob McKay and Martin Fallon.

This week we speak to Glossop North End’s Jonathan Haggart. After Glossop’s Quarter Final win in the FA Vase, could we have got anyone else? We speak about the Vase, the logistics of organising a game in Cornwall, how the run is affecting Glossop’s league chances, and much more.

We also cover all other games from last weekend and midweek, pick our Game of the Week, plus find out whether Zach has manage to track down The Helsby Giant as requested by Rob Clarke!

Welcome to Episode 15 of Counties Podcast, with Zach Pierce your host this week. Fellow regulars Rob McKay and Martin Fallon join him discuss all of the latest results in the North West Counties Football League plus the FA Vase campaign of Glossop North End and Chadderton.

Joining us for this weeks interview is Glossop’s captain Dave Young, who recently reached 400 games for his club. He talks about Glossop’s win in the FA Carlsberg Vase at Worksop, the next round against Dunston UTS, playing catch up in the league to Runcorn Linnets and much more.

Welcome to Episode 9 of Counties Podcast, which is our very first Christmas Special!

Zach is your host this week and he is joined by Martin. Rob is helping Santa for presents, and we have not one, not two but THREE big names for you from around the NWCFL.

First is former St Helens Town and Ashton Athletic manager Jimmy McBride, who talks us through his current role with Runcorn Linnets. Next up is Jay Foulds, a third of the current management team at Ashton Athletic, and he talks us through the role and the exciting times at Ashton. Finally is Glossop North End media man Jonathan Haggart who shares his views on the Derbyshire club before taking on Martin in this week’s predictions!

Welcome to the latest episode of Counties Podcast, with Zach Pierce, Martin Fallon and Rob McKay. Rob Clarke joins us on this weeks episode, the Stockport Sports Programme Editor, Atherton Collieries Photographer and Warrington Town supporters helping us to delve into last week’s FA Vase and league fixtures as well as taking on “Martin versus The World”. Plus we hear from Glossop Manager Chris Wilcock after their FA Vase win.