Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 3-0 Leeds UFCA, Saturday 18th April 2026

Worsbrough Bridge 3-0 Leeds UFCA, Northern Counties East League Division 1 semi-final play-off, The Totally Training Stadium (Park Road), att. 460

Sometimes I’m actually quite grateful that Sky like messing around with the 3rd division (League 1) fixture schedule. Today is one of those days. Barnsley v Bradford City (approximate number of empty seats: 9,000) is on telly at 12:30, for those folk too lazy to actually attend themselves. This means that, as long as I park cleverly, I can get away from Oakwell, jump in the car and head down Sheffield Road for a 3pm KO at The Totally Training Stadium. The plan works to perfection.

I am parked up and outside the ground with 10 minutes to kick-off. It’s a Northern Counties East League Division 1 play-off semi, 2nd placed Worsbrough Bridge Athletic against 5th placed Leeds UFCA. Who they? Students? Does the ‘U’ stand for ‘University’? (Yes it does. Leeds University Football Club Association.) No wonder all their players look like teenagers. There are no programmes. Disappointing.

Other escapees from Oakwell enter through the turnstiles, inc Waddington, and Waddington junior. Junior points out how we could watch the game for free from Sheffield Road. Yes, we COULD, but that’s not the point. Anyway, we have a great view, just to the right of the goal. We’re behind a small grassy bank, looking down on the goal.

To our right is a...mezzanine patio, with a few picnic tables. They’re busy today, the sun beaming. Grass banking continues around the corner. Fans stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the flat standing above, while a few laze around on the bank itself. A hamburger van behind was doing brisk trade. It MUST be a big game. This wasn’t here last time I came.

A traditional old main stand with a lovely fascia stands astride the halfway line, and it looked pretty full today. It was also packed outside the adjacent social club. Of course, one area where it WASN’T packed was behind the far goal, the cricket pitch. No-one’s allowed on here. A reminder of the old days, when the likes of Bramall Lane, Northampton’s County Ground and Bishop Auckland’s Kingsway all had 3 sided grounds to house both sports.

Mind, it’s arguably two and a half sides here. There is a small standing enclosure on the 4th side, on the halfway line and no-one stood beyond this stand. The stand itself is surprisingly empty. Or not. Nobody wants to stand with the youth, who’re allowed space to chant about going up the league while unleashing the occasional smoke bomb.

The youth have good reason to celebrate though. The Briggers win comfortably, 3-0, and it could have been a lot more, but for the students’ goalkeeper, who is their MOTM. Next Satdy is the final, 2nd placed Worsbrough having home advantage v 3rd placed Wakefield, who’ve crept thru on pens after coming from 2 down to draw against Harrogate Town. It promises to be a corker. Hopefully there’ll be an even bigger crowd as Barnsley play away at Luton. Come on you Briggers!

The Damage:
£5 ent
= £5

Cheadle Town 0-0 Stockport Town, Wednesday 21st August 2024

Cheadle Town 0-0 Stockport Town, North West Counties League Premier Division, The Ground Up Solutions Stadium (Park Road), att. 272

I am all excited. I have acquired a new (‘previously loved’) car and I am blasting out the tunes. It’s good to have a working sound system again. After the last one gave out, Audi quoted me £4600 for a new one. ‘Well, that’s not happening.’ ‘No, I guess not.’ Anyway, a part-ex later and here I am. Same make, same model, same colour (has to be red). I am a happy bunny once again. Let’s ignore the fact that if I don’t find that damn V5 form it’s gonna cost me another £500. It’s fine, I’ve narrowed the search down to 40 boxes in my house/loft/garage.

I drive via Ashton to pick up Kev, fresh from the Darlo’s defeat at Buxton the nite before. Hopefully he can enjoy tonite’s game. ‘Should I take my car?’ he asks. What? On my first drive out in my new car? No chance. I hope he likes The Prodigy. No need to use the satnav, Kev finds us there on his own and we park up in the lane to the ground and return to the main road to find a pub. Handily, there;s one just down the street, though it’s a ‘Robinsons’. The last time I saw that name, I was in a dismal pub in Barrow-in-Furness where time had stood still. I was not hopeful. However, the Red Lion turned out to be a cracking pub, just the right ambience and a half decent choice of ales.

Tonite is the big Stockport derby – Cheadle Town v Stockport Town, in the North West Counties League Premier Division. Both sides have made promising starts in their opening 5 games, though I note 2 of Cheadle’s 3 wins were narrow victories over the bottom 2. 9 pts after 5 games, they’re a point behind the visitors, newly promoted but looking to press on. An exciting game is in prospect.

Ah, prospect. We walk down the lane towards the ground as two young lads discuss one’s taste in women. ‘You do love a blonde’. Who doesn’t? We enter the turnstiles and as you turn to your right, the ground is dominated by the main stand, a tall, yet thin structure in the halfway line. It looks huge, but there’s only about 100 seats in it. The back few rows are terracing though, with the highest steps I’ve ever encountered. It’s like when you come across some ancient Roman amphitheatre. After getting a beer from the social club (a half for me) we climb to the back of the stand. What a grand view this is, if we ignore the two pillars at either side holding the roof up. At no point can both of us see both goalposts, but there’s plenty of space to crane a neck, shuffle along, etc.

The game is not a classic. The effort is there, but a goalless draw is summed up by two crosses, one from a free kick, that barely reach the first defender. This is never mentioned in punditry, amongst the superior technique, or physique, of the professional footballer, but the higher up the leagues you go, the harder they can kick a ball, the further they can kick a ball. This is the 9th tier and it showed. I remind Kev of the rules. ‘If it’s a goalless draw it doesn’t count. You have to come back.’ ‘I’d come back here. I really enjoyed it.’

The Damage:
£8 ent
£2.50 prog
£6.50 some pale ale or other
= £17

The Tunes:
Their Law (Prodigy)