1874 Northwich (H) .. Northern Premier League - West

[Del]

Saturday 09 December 2023 .. kick-off 1500hrs

We extend a warm welcome to first-time visitors and away fans, here's what you need to know about Keys Park.

https://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/stadium

Local weather forecasts can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653883
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weat ... /gcqe9zm6y

Admission Prices:
£11 Adults
£8 Concessions – (students, disabled and over 60’s)
£3 Under 16’s
£3 Parking
£2.50 Award-winning programme.

TODAY`S MATCH SPONSOR: tbc

[PitmanKeith]

Official Match Preview

https://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/2023/1 ... XATxJ5VRug

[pitmanpipe]

This is an absolute must win game tomorrow!

They are bottom of the form table, but hoping the new manager doesn't bring a change of fortune for them!

IMO, Danny should of been let go before the Vauxhall & COL games, as the run we've had after was always going to be difficult but feel these are the games Harry will be judged on.

I have full confidence in him to get us 3 points from this game and getting us slowly moving up the league.

[Arrows87]

Does anyone know if we are going to have radio commentry for this one, i have been rostered to work grrr,

Utp

[Perton Pitman]

It's going to rain a lot and I've no idea what condition the pitch is in currently.

Agree that we have to win this one

[jackiemaund]

It's going to rain a lot and I've no idea what condition the pitch is in currently.

Agree that we have to win this one

Friday pm pitch is playable but I’m told we would not want any heavy rain.

[Del]

Does anyone know if we are going to have radio commentry for this one, i have been rostered to work grrr,

Utp

Only usually have PitmenRadio for away games - Twitter updates for home games.

[Arrows87]

Does anyone know if we are going to have radio commentry for this one, i have been rostered to work grrr,

Utp

Only usually have PitmenRadio for away games - Twitter updates for home games.

Thanks for that was unsure on how the radio station worked for the games,

Utp

[jackiemaund]

Pitch inspection Now 10.40 keep your eyes peeled for an announcement

[Lee K]

Game ON lads!

[bix_the_dog]

Wow did not expect that. It's going to be like a bog snorkeling competition.

[sheriff]

absolute garbage again today apparentley

[sheriff]

100 off the attendance today people stating to talk with their feet

[Del]

PITMEN 1 - 1 1874 NORTHWICH

Scorer: Kelly

: Sutton, Kelly

Official : 512

[Glyn]

https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/nort ... ague-table

[Perton Pitman]

Other than the outstanding Jai Verma that was another distinctly average performance. Verma could easily have had a hat-trick as he smashed two shots against the woodwork and their keeper made a couple of fabulous saves. The other players in white were generally lacking in movement, ideas and control. THe front two looked quite static and didn't do much all afternoon and Joe Morley was his usual self. I would have started with Thompson in midfield so as to counter the Northwich threat down the left as they created far too many openings in the first 20 for my liking. Boucher looked unusually shaky and at times we looked like we could easily concede a second goal.

Northwich resorted to some very crude stuff in order to stop Verma and if other times deal with him like this then he is likely to get crocked sooner or later.

This feels like a massive result and the pressure is well and truly on now as we face a tougher game on paper next week before another six-pointer at Trafford.

The signs aren't good as Verma is carrying us on his own.

[Lee K]

What a thoroughly enjoyable time I had today. I’m not going to talk about the football much other than to say that I agree with Perton but overall we were unlucky not to win with the chances we had in the second half. The save their keeper made when he tipped Verma’s curling effort onto the bar was superb. I was watching the second half from the warm comforts of the sponsors lounge and was right behind it. It looked a goal all the way. A mention also to our sub Harry Crook. He hadn’t been announced publicly as a signed player but I have already seen him a number of times for Dudley Town. Whilst it will remain to be seen whether he can cut it at this level he is a tricky winger similar to Verma and has always impressed me when I’ve seen him play at a lower level. He is certainly an improvement to the disinterested Joe Morley.
I took up the £30 Christmas meal option and I had a fantastic day. The food and the service was excellent, nothing was too much trouble with the staff or Terry, and we had the pleasure of being in the company of Brian Horton, Carl Palmer and the owner of Walsall Wood FC, Justin Hodgin. For just a normal fan like me to be able to speak in depth to these people was brilliant. Carl had plenty of stories, we heard that when he signed for us from Rushall he was on £60 a week and Terry then told us that he played so well that he was given two pay rises during his first season with us, which he didn’t ask for and almost refused to accept. He just loved playing football and he was the type of guy the fans used to love because his workrate was second to none. He was honest enough to admit that he wasn’t the greatest technical player but he could run and run and run all game, breaking up attacks when the opponents were tiring and passing the ball to the “better” players. He more than doubled his money when he left us for Redditch.
Brian Horton was a fascinating gentleman to speak to. Born in and played for Hednesford, I’m not old enough to remember him as a player but I remember him as a manager for Manchester City, Hull, Port Vale and Macclesfield. He told us how he gets looked after very well every time he goes to the Etihad, is able to call any of his former clubs to get free tickets to a game, apart from Macclesfield, a club he refused to go back to. He was telling us how he had got Macclesfield into the play-offs the one season, had to sell his 50 goal strike pairing of Jon Parkin and Matthew Tipton (Parkin for £250,000 and Tipton because he was earning too much) and the following season he was sacked after just 8-10 games due to a difficult start. He said: “what did they expect? They took my 50 goal strikers off me and gave me nothing.” He commanded the attention of the room and was a thoroughly nice man. It was also nice to meet Carl’s partner and Brian’s wife.
Finally, it was great to talk to Justin Hodgin, the owner of Walsall Wood. He appears to be a man with plenty of money, he made no secret of the fact that he is heavily funding Walsall Wood at the moment and he is off to Saudi Arabia next week to watch Man City in the Club World Cup. He spoke to me about the inner workings of non-league football clubs that us fans know nothing about and he was a very impressive gentleman indeed. He was adamant both before the game and during the second half that we will not get relegated with Harry in charge. He said that we would need to be patient with new signings because better quality players will be reluctant to come to us because we are not paying a lot and because of our league position. Players such as Verma and Boucher are here simply because they wanted to continue to play for Harry. Harry is only able to sign one player per 28 days from his former club. Hinksy also came in after the game and told us that Harry had given the players a rollicking after the game and he told me that in his many, many years in the game he has never been relegated after I jokingly told him I didn’t want to go to Tividale next season.
It was a great day and if Terry puts any more of these events on then I hope they get the support they deserve because I can guarantee they will be excellent value for money and you’ll have a brilliant time.

[Steve_W]

What a great post and fantastic write up of the day you had.

I only look at the forum occasionally because it's hosted on my server so I just want to check all is well and there are no technical issues.

Whenever I look it seems to be the end of the world after a defeat and going to win the league after a win or at least not have any issues at the wrong end of the table.

I mean seriously, it's only the bottom two that go down this season, not the bottom four as it will be in future seasons due to restructuring... it really isn't a risky prediction to say that Hednesford won't finish bottom two. You don't really need to win many games from now to get out of the drop zone and the team is quite capable of that.

The worry really is the takeover. The current Chairman who saved the club but was 50% responsible for putting it in the situation that it needed saving from, which seems to have been forgotten says he gives it away for £1. So what is the delay?

It can only be the sale of the Stadium and Steve Price moving the goalposts yet again. If whoever the new prospective owners are have agreed a price with Steve Price then the deal should have been done by now. With respect to Ade it's nothing to do with him moving back to England since he is giving the club to the new owners so there is no negotiation needed there.

Maybe I'm missing something???

[sheriff]

if you cant beat Northwich on your own patch its relegation i'm afraid

[Perton Pitman]

What a great post and fantastic write up of the day you had.

Thanks Steve - I thought Lee's post was quite good too

[Perton Pitman]

It would seem that our chances of staying up hinge on the takeover happening quickly enough to allow us to bring players of sufficient quality that are capable of getting us another 28 points from the remaining 19 games.

With what we have the signs aren't great. Verma has improved us no end, but he is only one player and most of the rest will need to go. I'd keep Boucher, Kelly and Griff in the starting XI, but after that we need better players as simple as that.

It is a nerve-jangling time whilst we wait for the takeover to be completed. We have no idea what is going on, but I guess it is mostly to do with the ground as Steve is correct in saying that the playing side is being gifted. We saw a prospective owner walk away at the 11th hour in the Summer and until the deal is done I will remain nervous.

Good to see the commercial side picking up and we had the biggest crowd in the division yesterday so the club has the foundations for a solid future. We just need to get the ground sorted out - easier said than done as we've seen at other clubs

[PitmanKeith]

It would seem that our chances of staying up hinge on the takeover happening quickly enough to allow us to bring players of sufficient quality that are capable of getting us another 28 points from the remaining 19 games.

With what we have the signs aren't great. Verma has improved us no end, but he is only one player and most of the rest will need to go. I'd keep Boucher, Kelly and Griff in the starting XI, but after that we need better players as simple as that.

It is a nerve-jangling time whilst we wait for the takeover to be completed. We have no idea what is going on, but I guess it is mostly to do with the ground as Steve is correct in saying that the playing side is being gifted. We saw a prospective owner walk away at the 11th hour in the Summer and until the deal is done I will remain nervous.

Good to see the commercial side picking up and we had the biggest crowd in the division yesterday so the club has the foundations for a solid future. We just need to get the ground sorted out - easier said than done as we've seen at other clubs

Taken from the statement made by Ade a month ago, why would the stadium be a problem if a fee had been agreed?

Screenshot_20231210_104808_Chrome.jpg

[Lee K]

Harry Harris came into the sponsors lounge to talk to us for a few minutes before the game and told us that Sam Griffiths will be out for 6 weeks.

[sheriff]

a fee had been agreed but under what terms, it can only be used as a sports stadium ?
i have suspicions potential buyers are only interested in the land

[Perton Pitman]

I've always wondered why someone would pay potentially seven figures for the club (stadium) unless they were either a fan or perhaps someone with more sinister motives. As a football ground Steve Price might think it is worth £1M plus, but the reality it isn't as a club like ours will never generate sufficient income to provide a return on the investment. In a sense it is pretty worthless from a footballing perspective , but I suspect it is worth £1M plus if you were able to knock the ground down and develop it.

It will be interesting to see what plans the new owner has should the sale go through - I hope it is a benevolent individual who wants the club to continue for the benefit of the community and not someone who might have alternative plans in mind.

New owners will say all sorts of wonderful things, but they need deep pockets and have to be aware of the problems associated with owning a club at this level.

The club has been on a knife edge for many years since the ownership of the ground fell into the hands of a single individual and this will probably be the case for many years to come. You only have to look at what is happening to clubs up and down the country (as fans of 1874 Northwich can testify)