2006-2007 Review: Player-by-Player Review

GOALKEEPERS
Peter Mellor
Was going to be our Player of the Season until he inexplicably left after the 1-4 defeat at Oldham Town. A miserable bugger, but impressive 'keeper and excellent shot-stopper; more than a handful of Cheadle's points can be accredited to his contribution this season. And he'd just started talking to us and all! We wish him - and his new baby - well.
Danny Smith
Filled Peter Mellor's boots and filled them well. We hope he can get his knee sorted out over the summer so that he's 100% fit for next season.
Robert Massey
Came and went during the latter third of the season. Made an impressive debut against Eccleshall but then had a nightmare at Padiham, and wasn't seen again.

DEFENDERS
James Heath
He's here, he's there, he's every f...ing where. Our hotheaded little pocket terrier has had a great season and scored a 50-yard screamer at Bootle. What a shame we weren't there to see it! An asset to the club.
Barry Cotterill
Another asset in a strong-looking back-four. Very rarely puts a foot wrong. "The most naturally gifted defender we've got" says Polardin.
Ben Roberts
Another one who rarely puts a foot wrong. Got the weirdest sending-off at home to Winsford United when the linesman allegedly "got fed up with him". Reads this blog every day, so he gets our thumbs up!
Adam Roberts
Ben's brother. We don't notice Adam that much to be honest, which is a good sign for a defender because you know he isn't constantly cocking things up!
Neil Logan
Joined us just past the halfway point of the season. Had a bit of a nightmare away to Norton United, but we managed to claw back a 2-2 draw that day, so we'll forgive him! A player who "has a go".
Rob Kempton
We haven't seen enough of him this season as he came and then went over the xmas/new year period. A great centre-half and a natural leader, in our opinion. Who needs Kempes, when we've got Kempo.....
Danny Brokenbrow
Has spent most of the season on the substitutes' bench but hasn't stopped him putting in decent performances when asked. Has made the effort to join the Cheadle Town FC group on 'Facebook'. Feel free to join in, everybody else....
James McDonagh
A defender who enjoys the occasional burst into the box. This paid dividends with three crucial goals that played their part in earning Cheadle seven points this season. Quietly gets on with it on the pitch.

MIDFIELDERS
Andy Lindon
Tough in the tackle and doesn't stop running...oh, and scored an absolute peach of a goal away to Eccleshall for which he gets our Goal Of The Season award.
Arron Riley
Our Player of the Season. 'Daddy Cool'/'The Quiet Man' is dependable, consistent, reliable and doesn't complain or moan; Cheadle Town through and through. Has chipped in with 9 goals. Still gets embarrassed when we ask him to "give us a wave"! Birth of new baby daughter caps a great season.
Rob Brocklehurst
Another tenacious midfielder. Doesn't score tap-ins, that's for sure...!
Johnny Hussain
A regular name on the teamsheet, 'Turk' wore the captain's armband for the majority of the season. Deserves more than the one goal he got all season due to his workrate and passion. Keeps us amused with his occasional insults aimed at opposition players...and sometimes his teammates!
Kristian Powell
A newcomer towards the final third of the season. Has made the leap up from Manchester League to NWCFL2, a leap he adapted to right from the start. We reckon that he'd get about half-a-dozen goals next season if he stays. Looks like Paul Whitehouse, a bit.
Adam Stewart
Come to think of it, we haven't seen "Lil' Adam" for a while. Quick, nippy right-winger. Gets very frustrated at times...which we like because it shows us he cares.

FORWARDS
Dean Martin
Our top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions. Has all the talent and craft of a 30-plus goals-a-season player...which is what he would have been if he would have played more games. One to hopefully see on the teamsheet for next season.
Vinnie Braine
Was proving to be the perfect foil for Deano at the start of the season before he left for New Mills. Did the inevitable and came back to haunt us whilst playing for Padiham, scoring after 15 seconds.
Scott Flanagan
Boy, does he moan...but he works his socks off and chases anything that moves. Chipped in with 3 goals.
Adrian James
Haven't seen much of him this season but has impressed us nonetheless. Jumps like a salmon and makes a right nuisance of himself in the air. Rose like said fish to score a vital equaliser against Stalybridge in the Cheshire Senior Cup to put the match to extra-time.
Stuart Kay
Despite the 1-4 reversal, put in an excellent performance up-front away to Oldham Town. Was rewarded with a place in the starting line-up a week later at home to Eccleshall and got his just reward by scoring the winning goal. One for the future.

2006-2007 Review: Reflection from Polardin

It’s been thirteen months now since I took the plunge and dived "nine below zero". I have to say it’s been a lot of fun right from the start, which was an away game at Daisy Hill last season where 17 spectators saw a fantastic game...and they ran out of pies at half time!

It was a tentative start, but as the upper leagues continue to eat themselves with greed and implode with ineptitude, it was an inevitable and necessary change to my football-following habits. We only caught the end of last season but it was enough to get the bug!!

So what are my personal highlights of my first full season?

A fantastic start to the season! Six goals in the first three games and four wins. With the strike partnership of Vinnie Braine and Dean Martin we seemed to have a magic formula; four of those six goals were scored by the dynamic duo and we knocked the Div 2 champions-to-be out of the Cheshire Senior Cup on their own ground! Even the 2-3 reverse at Runcorn - who would also be promoted - was a fantastic performance.

We'd also progressed in the FA Cup. That was a great day beating Crook Town; so many stories and memories from that day alone. Ok, we lost 0-6 in the next round but it was Alsager after all and they were really good. Then another cup defeat to Stalybridge in the Cheshire Senior'. Sorry I missed this one - sounded like a cracker with Cheadle pushing them all the way.

Then the dark days. No win from September to November.

But even in these times there were some tremendous games and, to the credit of our players, we never gave up. We might have lost our heads at times, but never our belief. Take the Holker away game. Probably the best away-day of the season: breakfast with the players, an epic journey and a game where we were robbed; we could have won 2-0 - all of their goals were gifts! Our away days were - and will always be, I feel - the best. The flags and our vocal chords come into their own.

By December it was sad that we were out of all cup competitions. Probably my biggest disappointment of the season was not having a good cup run, but it wasn't for the want of trying.

We started 2007 undefeated in the whole of January. Some great games with Holker (3-3) and Daisy Hill (3-0).

Oldham Town away: another amazing day. Down to nine men and 0-4 down. A goal from us at that point sums up all that is best about our game - when it is on song we never give up! I’ve never seen us drop our heads. Lose them, yes, but not drop. That should be our motto!

Padiham's 5-0 win and later 3-1 win at Park Road were low points. Vinnie Braine reminding us of what could have been. But what a great team they are.

At the end of the season we seemed to run out of steam, which wasn't surprising when we were down to eleven players and had to face all the top teams in our last fixtures...and we didn’t have a lot to play for.

So, my "top ten" Cheadle moments of the season:
1. The 1-0 win at Winsford United in the Cheshire Senior Cup
2. Holker away - a great day out, despite the result
3. Crook Town (3-1) in the FA Cup
4. Lindon's goal at Eccleshall...in fact the whole trip, the game and the result. One of our best displays of the season
5. Deano's hat-trick at Daisy Hill
6. Trevor's touchline tantrums
7. The 'doubles' over Daisy Hill etc…
8. Ben Roberts' sending off for the reason given by the liner: “fed up of you”!
9. Scoring a goal when we were 0-4 down at Oldham Town and down to nine men. That showed real character. Cheadle character
10. The fact that I only saw one goalless game involving Cheadle all season

My non-Cheadle top ten moments of the season:
1. Having to go to Accrington twice in one day to see Great Harwood v CTFC as the kick-off time had been changed. Okay, this was last season, but I'm sneaking it in anyway.
2. Winsford United v New Mills, Div 2 Trophy Semi-Final 2nd leg and Carlos Meakin's clinching goal
3. The England amateur game at Burton Albion FC - another great away day
4. Marske v Skelmersdale - discovering where Tosin Onibudo had got to!
5. Singing in the rain, Chadderton away
6. The cold at Oldham Town
7. The players that came and went
8. Learning about this league from The Pole and how it works
9. The "league-hoppers" - the people who travel from ground-to-ground as a hobby
10. The lack of diving at this level

We have a real good core group of players and a dedicated management team. Trevor's team talks must be legendary just look at those 2nd half goal statistics. It’s a mad mad mad mad world and I love it!

2006-2007 Review: Reflection from The Pole

If I was going to pick just one word to sum up the season on-pitch, it would be "inconsistent".

Just as we thought Cheadle Town were going to put some sort of a decent, unbeaten run together, they'd stall at the fifth match of the run...and then go on a winless streak of equal length! Frustrating. That was particularly the case in the latter half of the season where the undefeated run over New Year sparked the form that went up and down more times than the 'Grand National' ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

And it was all going so well back in August. Cheadle stormed into the season without defeat in their first four matches, knocking out eventual Div 2 champions Winsford United in the Cheshire Senior Cup on their own patch and booking a place in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup by beating Crook Town 3-1.

It was at Alsager Town - the scene of that next FA Cup tie - where it all started going 'breasts skywards'. The six-nil tanning that Cheadle got that day was to plunge us into a dark run of three months without a win, a run that was to cost them their places in two more cup competitions. The demons had knocked on the door and had been let in to make themselves at home.

Those three months were horrible. For all the decent football that Cheadle were playing, the win just wouldn't come. They played Holker off the park but came away beaten 4-2; even eventual wooden-spooners Castleton beat us 3-1 during this time. Wednesday 22nd November will go down as a crucial date from this season as that was the night that this rather nasty mould was broken with a 1-0 home win over Chadderton. Thank you, Arron Riley - I've not celebrated a goal like that for a long time.

Off-pitch, it's been nothing short of a great experience. Polardin and I spent all last summer wondering what this season would have in store for us in terms of the places and people we would meet. After our first full season following Cheadle Town, we've had all the answers. And then some.

In the main the people we have met and the grounds we have gone to on our travels have been most hospitable. There have been a few incidents of mildly unwelcome behaviour but I'm going to be diplomatic and put that down to the surprise and novelty of having two noisy Cheadle Town fans - with flags and all - turning up.

There is the danger, of course, that the novelty of all of this will wear off next season when we've got to go to the same places (bar three) again, but the fact that we're already looking forward to the "long day out" to Holker and stopping off at "that nice hotel" on the way, hopefully getting to have our "fun day out" in Blackpool this time and talking about visiting Padiham's impressive clubhouse again would tell you otherwise.

Hopes for 2007-2008? On-pitch, a higher league position and a bit of a cup run to get our teeth into. Off-pitch, the same enriching experience we've had this season following Cheadle Town FC....

2006-2007 Review: The Season in Pictures

Before you press the 'play' button on the video below, go and get yourself a cup of tea and a biscuit and then sit back and enjoy an eight-minute compendium of pictures - accompanied by an excellent soundtrack - that I have taken during this season. Enjoy.

2006-2007 Review: The Season In Numbers

In the first of a series of posts reviewing the season that has just passed, I've had the calculator out and done a few sums. I was going to conjure up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with graphs and everything, but then woke up.
(all figures are for all competitions)
Final League Position and Points
12th with 35 points (from 34 games)
Goals Scored
47 in total; 26 at home, 21 away
Goals Conceded
75 in total; 32 at home, 44 away
Goals Scored Half by Half
14 in the first half; 33 in the second - Trevor, your half-time team-talks obviously worked this season!
Top Scorer
Dean Martin, 13 goals - if he'd have played in every match, it could have been 30-plus
Biggest Win
3-0 v Daisy Hill (a), NWCFL Division 2
Heaviest Defeat
0-6 v Alsager Town (away), FA Cup Preliminary Round - the day it all started going wrong...
Biggest Home Attendance
148 v Runcorn Linnets, NWCFL Division 2 - a great turnout by the Linnets fans!
Smallest Home Attendance
A miserable 23 v Ashton Town, Division Two Trophy 2nd Round
Most Consecutive Wins
4 - the first four games of the season
Most Consecutive Games Unbeaten
4 - the first four games of the season, then from Eccleshall (a) to Daisy Hill (a) over New Year and then again from Darwen (h) to Daisy Hill (h) at Easter
Most Consecutive Games Without a Win
15!! - that three-month period from September to November
League 'doubles'
3 - Eccleshall, Darwen, Daisy Hill
League Points Gained as a Percentage of Total Points Possible
An arguably naff 35%
Percentage of League Points Gained At Home
66%
Percentage of League Points Gained Away
34%