Official CTFC Press Release

Cheadle Strike Up Partnership With Local Junior Team

Just before the 3-3 draw with Darwen last Saturday I was handed an official press release by Cheadle's chairman Chris Davies. It makes interesting reading and seems to herald the long (and much-needed) road to development at Park Road. It reads as follows:

Cheadle Town are pleased to announce that they have formed a partnership with Inter Cheadle Junior Football Club. The partnership will allow Inter Cheadle the use of the facilities at Park Road Stadium for some of their seven teams.

Inter Cheadle run teams from under-8 to under-13 and are a progressive club that was formed just eight months ago by Peter Hartley.

The partnership will assist Cheadle Town in their application for funding in relation to the planned new development at Park Road.

Liam Edge, Chairman of Inter Cheadle said "all our players come from the Cheadle area and to have a base at Park Road is really appropriate. With the development of the ground and the new astro turf pitches it gives us the opportunity of getting in on the ground floor of an existing project".

Cheadle Town chairman Chris Davies welcomed the move saying "we have been wanting junior football at Park Road for some years now and this seems to be the perfect partnership. All the Inter Cheadle players live in Cheadle and it will be good for the community that they have a ground in Cheadle which they can be proud."

The partnership will start in the next couple of months and come to fruition fully when the development work has been completed.

The future's bright. The future's Cheadle!

The Great Fixture Hunt...Is Over!

At last I've managed to get my hands on the fixtures for next season. Thanks to the kind soul who posted them on the nonleaguezone forum - you know who you are.

It's potentially a tough start for our very own Cheadle Town as they face an away trip to Padiham on the first day of the season (Saturday 11th August), the scene of a rather disastrous five-nil thumping last season.

Then we host the division's two newcomers as Stone Dominoes come to Park Road on Wednesday 15th followed by Kirkham & Wesham on Saturday 18th. An away trip to Darwen on Saturday 25th (the first game I'll miss because I'm at a wedding) precedes the cup ties that then signal the start of September.

Other matters of note:
* an early midweek away-night at Leek CSOB on Tuesday 11th September
* the possibility of playing Ashton Town three times in September, depending on cup results
* not playing New Mills on Boxing Day and/or over Easter; Bootle are our opponents on December 26th this time around
* we like our midweek away-nights on this blog, but it's always a relief seeing that the away trip to Holker Old Boys falls on a Saturday (9th February)
* our last game of the season is away to Blackpool Mechanics! A day on the seaside for the Pole and Polardin!

The full fixture list can be seen by clicking here.

The Great Fixture Hunt

Out there somewhere are the fixtures for the forthcoming season.

The NWCFL website isn't going to be updated for another week (presumably with the new fixtures), yet some clubs on the message boards have started to announce their opponents. Ever the impatient, I decided to trawl the websites of the other teams in Div2 to see what I could gleam.

And this was just about it:
Wednesday 15th August 2007: Stone Dominoes (home)
Saturday 17th November 2007: Stone Dominoes (away)
Saturday 12th January 2008: Ashton Town (home)

I couldn't quite work out when we had Ashton Town away because the fixture list on their website got a bit confusing, but those are the three definites for the time being. Ah well, I suppose three is better than nowt.....

Pre-Season News - UPDATE

The news of pre-season matches seems to be rolling in a bit thicker and faster now; thanks to our full-back extraordinaire Ben Roberts and "I hope he's fit for next season 'cos what we've seen of him he's not a bad player" David Carpenter for the news.

Cheadle's first pre-season match will be on Saturday 21st July, away to Styal. The only other confirmed fixture date-wise is the already-mentioned away trip to Glossop North End on Saturday 4th August.

Apparently there's an away match at Burnage Metro to fit in and the club are still waiting on Stockport County to come back to them about the usual friendly fixture at Park Road. If the County match goes ahead, I should imagine that it will take place on Saturday 28th July.

By then we should know how Cheadle's league fixtures are going to pan out - they are released on (the ridiculously late) July 22nd.

Pre-Season Friendly News

What's that I hear? Is it the faint rumblings of a pre-season friendly?

If blog regular Craig's tip-off is anything to go by, then yes it is. Internet forum mill has it that our very own Cheadle Town will be travelling to Derbyshire on Saturday 4th August to play Glossop North End.

We played GNE in last season's pre-season programme, notching up a comfortable 3-0 victory at Park Road. If I remember rightly, that fixture was supposed to be in Glossop but got switched back to Cheadle...something we're hoping doesn't happen this time because we like our days out!

Just 32 days, by the way, to the start of the new season........

FA Cup & Vase Draws

Here we go - the draws for the two main FA cup competitions that Cheadle Town will be entered for this season....

In the FA Cup, a bit of a surprise as I was expecting to find Cheadle in the Extra Preliminary ties. Alas, our ball must have been one of those left in the bag as we've got straight through to the Preliminary Round, a home tie against either Ashton Town or Ramsbottom United, with the match to be played on Saturday 1st September.

For the Vase it's another home tie, this time against NWCFL Div 1 side St Helens Town. This match will be played the week after on Saturday 8th September.

If successful....
Should Cheadle win their FA Cup tie, then it'll be an away trip to either Bacup Borough, Rossington Main, Abbey Hey or Atherton Collieries on the 15th September. Success in the FA Vase match will mean Ashton Town yet again, at home, on 22nd September.

Cup Draws

It looks as though some balls were put into a fancy felt hat and drawn whilst I was away as Cheadle Town know their opponents in two of the cup competitions for next season. Actually, I wonder if the NWCFL's budget stretches to a fancy felt hat and wooden balls to do their cup draws...you know, like what the FA used to use in the "good ol' days" before they got celebs to pluck the balls out of a plastic cauldron that jiggles them about a bit. Perhaps the NWCFL just use folded up pieces of paper with the teams written on them, all strategically placed into and subsequently drawn out of an IKEA mixing bowl.

I digress.

I had mixed emotions all round when I saw the two cup draws. In the Division Two Trophy, Cheadle Town have been given a home tie but have been pitted against their bogey team par excellence, Holker Old Boys. Cheadle enter that competition at the second round phase with that tie being played, weather permitting, on Saturday 22nd December.

The League Challenge Cup has sent us away to Eccleshall, scene of a quite remarkable away match last season where Cheadle claimed a 2-1 win in a torrential downpour and in two inches of mud. Again, Cheadle enter this competition in the second round with the tie being played on Saturday 10th November. I'm already ruled out of this one as I'm at a wedding.

This leaves the FA Cup, FA Vase and Cheshire Senior Cup ties to be sorted out. Polardin and I have discussed our "wish list" for these and it's "a good, long journey and day out", "somebody easy at home so we can have a bit of a cup run" and "Altrincham away" respectively.

Minutes from a Meeting

As well as seeing some of the CTFC players collect their awards, last Saturday's presentation evening was the chance to have more lengthy chats with manager Trevor, his assistant Steve and chairman Chris Davies, which yielded some interesting tidbits:

* Our mild surprise at CTFC coach "Howsey"'s footballing skills when he came off the bench away to Holker last season shouldn't have been any surprise at all - according to Steve, Trevor and Terry Musgrave [club secretary], he was quite a player in his day!

* the long-awaited redevelopment of Park Road should begin towards the end of 2008-2009 season

* there'll be no return for Cheadle's traditional colours of white-black-white just yet; the current kit has got at least one more season in its lifespan!

* Steve is very passionate - and extremely knowledgable - about grassroots football

* although Polardin and I never come into regular contact with him, the clubhouse barman is leaving for pastures new; we wish him all the best

CTFC Presentation Evening

It was the presentation evening at Park Road on Friday night with a handful of awards being dished out to various members of the first and reserve teams.

The 'Players' Player of the Season' was defender Barry Cotterill, who sadly wasn't able to attend the ceremony to pick up his prize. The 'Manager's Player of the Season' went to midfielder Andy Lindon; here he is picking up his prize after a few kind words from Trevor:

There were awards for the reserve team and all. It was good to see first team occasionals Stuart Kay and Andy Street picking up awards.

Thanks to all involved for a great evening and extra thanks to chairman Chris Davies and Trevor Howard for giving us a mention during the proceedings!! That's that now for the season just gone - this blog is going to close the book on it and move on....

Up, Down & Nowhere To Go

My sources tell me that a few promotion and relegation issues were settled yesterday at a NWCFL meeting.

The long and the short of it is that only Winsford United and Runcorn Linnets were granted promotion from Div 2, which is bad luck on Padiham and New Mills who were hoping - because of league restructuring in the Unibond - of a "four-up" situation. I'm sure both of them will be there or thereabouts at the top of the table next season.

Only one team was relegated from Div 1 - as expected, this was Stone Dominoes, which means a new trip down the M6 to Staffordshire next season. If you do the maths, you'll see that this leaves Div 2 a tad short of teams. Enter Kirkham & Wesham who were granted promotion from the West Lancashire Combination to make up the numbers after initially having their application rejected! If you've been on the train to Blackpool North, then Kirkham & Wesham will ring a bell with you - you've probably stopped there on the way.

It's the end-of-season presentation at Park Road tonight (6.30pm) which Polardin and I will be attending. I'll put some pictures on here of the night and then that'll be it for the season reviews. Time to move on to the summer ramblings and next season.....

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: 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%

Fixture Change

The blank weekend that was Saturday 11th November is blank no more.

The away fixture against Ashton Town has been brought forward from its original date in February/March of next year. Both clubs were at loose ends on this date because both were knocked out of the League Challenge Trophy at the first round stage.

Exit Stage Right: Vinnie Braine

As it turns out, Vinnie's no-show on Saturday is because he has left Cheadle Town and returned to his former stamping ground of New Mills.

This blog would like to thank Vinnie for providing us with goals to cheer and the occasional nod towards us during the away matches. We wish him all the best at New Mills FC.

See you on Boxing Day, Vinnie!

Fixture Change!

An otherwise blank matchday on Saturday 7th October has now been filled with the away league trip to Leek CSOB (originally planned for Easter Monday 2007!).

England v Macedonia or Leek CSOB v The Mighty Cheadle - my pick is already taken...

New Players @ CTFC

This blog would like to extend the warmest of welcomes to three new players that recently joined the Park Road ranks.

Paul Barrow - at the Blackpool match I overheard somebody stood outside the club bar saying that he was "a new signing". After asking Trevor who it was, he informed me that it was Paul Barrow who is apparently a signing from Mossley (currently in the Unibond League Division One). Haven't seen him play yet.

Adrian James - came on as a substitute in the Stalybridge match and nodded in the last-minute equaliser, so we're already well-aware of him!

David Howes - have to do a bit more homework on him....!

We hope you enjoy your stay at CTFC. We're "the ones with the flag" at the away matches, by the way....

Runcorn Linnets Away

The Runcorn Linnets away fixture that had to be shifted from last week because of the CSC match against Winsford will now be played on Tuesday 29th August, kick-off at 7.45pm.

Cheadle Town FC Entry in Wikipedia: Updated!

Just to let you know that I've updated the entry in Wikipedia. I've corrected the kits to include the new "Argentina" home kit and the "old" yellow and blue as the away colours.

I've also put a new section on there that tables Cheadle Town's league finishes since they joined the NWCFL way back in 1983 - all information for this was gleamed from the excellent RSSSF Statistics website - and there's also a picture of the main stand at Park Road to boot.

Have a look at the updated Wikipedia entry by clicking here.

Fixture Change

"Fixture Change" - gonna be saying that a lot this season and all! Cheadle Town's (and hence our) first away match of the season will be in the Cheshire Senior Cup Preliminary Round away to Winsford United on Wednesday 16th August, kick off 7.45pm, we presume. This means that the away league encounter at Runcorn Linnets has already been filed under "to be re-arranged".

Some thank-yous to lay out before I finish. First of all to Steve Brok (Trevor's assistant at the club) who left a comment on the blog last night - it's always nice to know that the club recognise your efforts - and also thanks to Stuart Crawford (CTFC webmaster) who has now put a link to this blog on the Cheadle Town official website.

Cheshire Senior Cup Draw

Cheadle Town have been drawn away to Winsford United in the Preliminary Round of the Cheshire Senior Cup. The date for this tie is supposed to be the week commencing the 12th August, which is the week that Cheadle Town are supposed to be away to Runcorn Linnets.

So, whatever happens, our first away match will be in Cheshire!