59 ramsbottom united v halesowen

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rammynewsv HALESOWEN11-04-15

Halesowen Programme_Layout 1 09/04/2015 00:10

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Sat 16th Aug H KING’S LYNN TOWN 2-3 322 Shenton Smalley Pugh Spencer Howson Priestley Hulm Tues 19th Aug A Workington 0-1 415 Shenton Smalley Pugh Spencer * Howson Priestley HulmSat 23rd Aug A Rushall Olympic 4-2 161 Shenton Smalley Pugh Spencer * Howson Priestley Hulm Mon 25th Aug H NANTWICH TOWN 1-4 365 Shenton Smalley Abadaki * Spencer + Howson Priestley Hulm Sat 30th Aug A FC United of Manchester 1-3 1917 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Spencer Howson Warrender Aba Tues 2nd Sept H MARINE 3-2 250 Shenton Smalley + Pilkington Spencer Howson 1 Krou AbaSat 6th Sept H STAMFORD 3-1 357 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Spencer + Howson 1 Warrender AbaWed 10th Sept A Whitby Town 0-2 265 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Spencer Howson Warrender AbaSat 13th Sept A Buxton FAC 1Q 2-3 261 Shenton Smalley Pilkington # Spencer Howson Warrender + AbaTues 16th Sept H WITTON ALBION 3-2 231 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Spencer * Howson Krou 1 AbaSat 20th Sept A Ilkeston 4-2 422 Shenton Smalley Pugh Spencer * Howson Krou 1 Aba Tues 23rd Sept H CURZON ASHTON 1-1 309 Shenton Grayson * Pugh Spencer 1 Howson Krou Aba Sat 27th Sept A Frickley Athletic 2-4 215 Shenton Pilkington Grayson + Stopforth Howson Krou Mot Sat 4th Oct A Trafford 1-0 294 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Sat 11th Oct H BELPER TOWN 4-2 371 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Sat 18th Oct H BUXTON 2-0 470 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Tues 21st Oct H WHITBY TOWN 4-0 237 Shenton Smalley Pilkington Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Sat 25th Oct A Marine 3-1 366 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson 2 Robinson Aba Sat 1st Nov A Whitby Town FAT 1Q 2-1 233 Shenton Smalley * Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Tues 4th Nov H WORKINGTON 1-1 250 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Sat 8th Nov A Halesowen Town 0-2 358 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Rob Tues 11th Nov H WEST DIDS Lancs Cup 3-0 132 Shenton Smalley Pugh Spencer 1 Robinson + Krou Aba Sat 15th Nov A Nantwich FAT 2Q 3-1 238 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Will Sat 22nd Nov H GRANTHAM TOWN 3-1 351 Shenton Smalley 1 Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Will Tues 25th Nov H BURSCOUGH Lg Cup 5-1 140 Shenton Williams Piacentile 1 Slaven Howson 1 Krou AbaSat 29th Nov A Banbury United 3-0 235 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth + Howson Krou 1 Will Tues 2nd Dec A Salford City Lg Cup 3-1 189 Shenton Smalley Dean Stopforth Howson Krou AbaSat 6th Dec A Matlock Town 1-1 257 Shenton Smalley Pugh Stopforth Howson Krou Will Mon 8th Dec A Atherton Collieries Lancs 1-2 120 Shenton Smalley Grayson Stopforth Howson Pugh Will Sat 13th Dec H STOCKPORT COUNTY 3-0 907 Shenton Smalley Grayson + Stopforth Howson Krou Will Sat 20th Dec A King’s Lynn Town 1-2 510 Shenton Smalley Grayson Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Sun 28th Dec H SKELMERSDALE 0-3 372 Shenton Smalley * Grayson Stopforth Howson Krou AbaThu 1st Jan A Nantwich Town 2-3 285 Shenton Hulme Grayson Stopforth Howson Krou Aba Tues 27th Jan H NORTHWICH VIC LgCup 3-1 158 Shenton Grayson Pugh Harrop Krou Jones AbaTues 10th Feb H HARROGATE RA LgCup 3-1 131 Shenton Slaven Grayson Kuba-Kuba Jones Pugh 1 Laz Sat 14th Feb A Stamford 1-1 319 Shenton Bowyer Grayson Harrop Frost Pugh Broo Tues 17th Feb H RUSHALL OLYMPIC 2-3 223 Shenton Bowyer Pugh Burke Heron Jones Aba Sat 21st Feb A Witton Albion 1-2 349 Shenton Bowyer Pugh Harrop Frost + Jones # AbaTues 24th Feb A Blyth Spartans 0-2 364 Shenton Bowyer Pugh Slaven Robinson Harrop AbaSat 28th Feb H ILKESTON 1-2 290 Shenton Harrop Pugh Burke + Robinson Jones AbaSat 7th Mar A Skelmersdale United 0-3 229 Shenton Harrop Pugh Edghill + Frost Neville WillTues 10th Mar A Stourbridge 2-1 230 Shenton Harrop Neville Edghill Frost Ayres Aba Sat 14th Mar H STOURBRIDGE 0-1 261 Shenton Harrop Neville Edghill + Frost Ayres Aba Tues 17th Mar A Buxton 1-1 197 Shenton Harrop Neville Burke Ayres Bowyer Will Thurs 19th Mar H BLYTH SPARTANS 3-3 234 Shenton Harrop Neville Burke Ayres 1 Bowyer Will Sat 21st Mar A Belper 2-1 221 Shenton Harrop Neville Burke # Ayres Bowyer Broo Tues 24th Mar H BARWELL 0-1 182 Shenton Harrop Neville Burke # Ayres Bowyer BrooSat 28th Mar A Grantham Town 1-0 191 Shenton Harrop Neville Bennett Ayres Bowyer BrooSat 4th April H FC UNITED OF MCR 0-2 2104 Shenton Harrop Neville * Bennett Ayres Bowyer KubMon 6th April A Ashton United 0-1 237 Shenton Bowyer Neville Burke Ayres Frost Aba Weds 8th April H FARSLEY LgCup SemiFinal 1-2 189 Shenton Pilkington Robinson Bennett + Ayres Jones Aba Sat 11th April H HALESOWEN TOWNTues 14th April H ASHTON UNITEDThur 16th April A Curzon AshtonSat 18th April A BarwellTues 21st April H FRICKLEY ATHLETICThur 23rd April H TRAFFORDSat 25th April H MATLOCK TOWN


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ey Hulme 1 Burton Gaskell Robinson 1* Dean + Pilkington Slaven Abadaki + Ahmadi * Cookey Hulme Burton Gaskell Robinson + Dean # Pilkington * Slaven + Abadaki Ahmadi # Cookey Hulme 1+ Burton Robinson 1# Pilkington Dean 2 Abadaki * Slaven + Ahmadi # Cook Williamsey Hulme Burton Robinson 1 Pilkington Dean Williams Slaven Cook * Krou + Morleyder Abadaki + Slaven Robinson * Hulme 1# Dean Williams + Krou * Cook # Morley Johnson

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robbo

Hello everyone, and welcome to the HarryWilliams Riverside Stadium for today’sleague game against Halesowen Town, whodid a fine job of humbling us down in theMidlands earlier in the season. I’d like toextend a warm welcome the match officialsas well as everyone associated withHalesowen - I hope you enjoy your shortvisit to East Lancashire and that you have asafe journey home after the match.

On paper Easter Weekend was not a goodone for us. Defeat at the hands ofChampions Elect FC United, followed byanother loss at play-off hopefuls AshtonUnited left us unable to post any morepoints on the board, which was verydisappointing. Although so much offootball is about the quality of yourperformances, the points are all that matterat the end of the day. at said, and I’m surethat the fans who travelled the shortdistance to Tameside will agree, it’sincredible just how different our twoperformances were.

I did a very poor job of hiding myannoyance at the lack of commitment by anumber of our players during the FCUnited game on Saturday. Yes, it isunderstandable that a 2000+ crowd willhave an effect on the lads, but I felt that toomany were playing the occasion rather thanthe game. If we are to get the pointsnecessary to keep this club in the EvostikPremier then we need to see a level ofcommitment that was lacking against FC.

ankfully, the game on Monday wasalmost the exact opposite! eperformance was absolutely superb: weworked hard, were industrious ineverything we did, and if we had convertedour chances then could have easily won thegame. Sadly it’s the nature of football thatboth games count equal - it’s about puttingthat ball in the net at the end of the day.

We did pick up a few niggles at Ashton.Luke Heron is suffering with a tighthamstring at the moment, and GeorgeBowyer rolled his ankle. Luke will hopefullybe available today after a few days’ rest, butwe will have to wait and see with George.Lee Neville is carrying a bit of a knock too,but as he is cup-tied I’m hoping that acouple of extra days rest will help.

On the flip side, it was excellent to seeAlex Frost back in the side and firing on allcylinders on Monday, and we should bewelcoming Tom Williams back very soon.Callum Jones is also now fully fit andavailable to play, which is very good news.

I don’t think there is anyone at Rammywho’s not been impressed with thecommitment and work-rate of David Kuba-Kuba. Since returning from his loan spell hehas been inspired in the middle of the park,and I’m really delighted for the lad as he’shad to bide his time more than most. Asyou can imagine, I’m always impressed withsomeone willing to give blood, sweat andtears for Rammy and David Kuba-Kuba fitsthe bill perfectly.


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Welcome to the Harry Williams RiversideStadium. A special welcome to today’smatch officials, and of course, our visitors,Halesowen Town.

A visit to the West Midlands earlier inthe season saw our “old team” put on apretty woeful performance, and we dulyreturned home with nothing. Let’s see howthe “new team” fare against today’sopponents as we look to pick up thosevaluable points that would help usmaintain our status in the PremierDivision.

Printing deadlines mean that I have towrite this before our semi-final tie againstFarsley on Wednesday night.

Did we win? Obviously at this point Ihave no idea, but as you read this we areeither in a position to look forward to aCup Final and with it the potential tosecure some very welcome silver-wear, orwe are able to concentrate on digging out

those vital league results and with it themuch-needed points. Although winningany cup competition is always a welcome

distraction, for me, it has to be the leagueevery time. Wouldn’t Wigan Athletic

have preferred to stay in the obscenePremier League rather than win the FA

Cup a couple of yearsback? Considering their

current plight, youbet they would!

Same here.

To have reached this position in thefootball pyramid would have been a pipe-dream not too long ago. Having receivedthe necessary Ground Grading for thislevel of football a couple of weeks back,confirming how the club has progressedoff the field as well as on it, the last thingwe want is to return from whence wecame.

ere are signs that the lads arebeginning to gel after all the mid-seasonupheavals. We weren’t embarrassed by thechampions-elect, and we so nearlyreturned from that other “in-form” side,promotion-chasing Ashton United, with atleast a point, so gradually performancesare starting to reflect the fact that the newplayers are finally becoming used toplaying together.

Results over the last week or so haveseen struggling sides suddenly finding theirfeet. is always happens as the end of theseason draws closer.

No-one likes to see a whole season“rewarded” with relegation. Belper Townand our neighbours Trafford have alreadygone, leaving two places still open for anyclub losing form.

Strange results will occur, and not just inthis league. Stalybridge gained their thirdwin in four under the guidance of newboss Liam Watson at promotion-chasingGuiseley, whilst relegated Hyde went overto championship hopefuls AFC Fylde and

tony cunninghamand the wonderful world of

non-league football


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secured a point in an unexpected 0-0 draw.Doomed Padiham produced a remarkable4-1 win in the east Lancashire derby atClitheroe, whilst higher up the ladder, whowould have seen Bury succumb toMorecambe, having previously won eightout of nine?

ere will be many a surprise in storebefore the season ends, and whilst one ortwo strugglers will suddenly put on a spurtand escape the clutches of relegation, therewill always be a club or more that finds thecomfort of mid-table security whippedaway from beneath them.

It’s always a fascinating time of year as theseason draws to a close, and it’s not just thisDivision which keeps my interest, butvirtually every league in the country (well…within reason) that will play out somedramatic final fixtures, creating somefascinating twists and turns.

We may still have a game or two in handover the others, but they are worthlessunless we pick up some points.

With respect to everyone who has madethe journey up the M6, let’s hope we canpick up three of those points this afternoonand secure our place here for next season.

Enjoy your non-league football!

The Champions Elect didn’t haveit all their own way last week


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A good number of the Rammy faithfulbreathed a huge sigh of relief whenRobbo announced the signing ofthrough-and-through Rammy playerMark Ayres just a couple of months ago,and already his presence in centraldefence has been not just a stabilisingfactor to stem the steady leaking of goals,but has also contributed further upfield,even bagging a goal himself.

Although a relatively late addition tothe squad which launched Rammy intothe Evostik North, Ayresy embodies apassion and commitment to the causethat rivals that of Gaskell and evenRobbo - you just know that if you cut thelad in half then, like a stick of Blackpoolrock, you’d find the letters ‘RammyUnited’ running right through him.

We caught up with him just after hescored a goal of the season contenderduring the 3-3 draw with Blyth Spartans,and asked him first of all how it felt as adefender to curl the ball into the topcorner from a very tight angle, andwhether it had been intended as a shotor was just a crap cross...

“No way! I definitely meant it. Ithought that I’d give it a go, even

though it felt like a bit of astupid idea at the time, but

then I’ve hit it, and theball went straightinto the top corner! I

don’t score goals like

that normally, I’m up for corners andnearly every goal I’ve scored has beenwith my head.”

Ayresy’s original spell with Rammycame about after a particularly longdrinking session in the clubhouse after agame between Rammy and Salford City.

“I’d known Bernard from playing five-a-side with him, and he’d tried to get medown a few times to help out whenRammy were short. I was playing forSalford at the time and stayed on for afew beers after the FA Cup gamebetween the two teams back in 2011, cosI only live up Walmsley Road. I think thatby about 3am I’d more or less decidedthat I was signing for Rammy, and I mademy full debut against Alsager in theOctober.”

Prior to Salford, Ayres played at Irlam,FC United and Flixton, being part of theFlixton team which were the first to beatthe original FC United at Gigg Lane,ultimately taking the second promotionspot behind the rebels. It was a verysuccessful spell for Flixton, and Ayresspent three years there with the likes ofFranny Vaughan, Graham Vaughan, JoshMitten and Alex Mortimer. With acouple of older players retiring, thepromotion-winning team started to fallapart and the manager got the job atSalford in their Great Escape year, soAyres ended up there for the first of threespells.

the returning herogetting stuck in with mark ayres


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s

As a plumber, predominantly workingdown in Stoke, it has always been areal challenge juggling work andfootball though.

“I ended up leaving Rammy due tothose work commitments - meaning itwas going to be a struggle with all thetravelling and whatever. It is alwaysdifficult for non-league players as we haveday jobs to consider. For me, because Ican’t use the works van for non-work stuff,even if we were playing down near Stoke,I’d have to drive back up to Rammy afterwork then get in the car and drive backdown there for the match. It’s reallyawkward, and I’d expected it to get worse,so spoke to Bernard and Johnno about it,and departed Rammy.

“First stop for me was Atherton LR, withmy mate Michael Clegg, and then over toDroylsden where my old manager askedme to help him out as they were reallystruggling.

“by 3am I’d moreor less decided Iwas signing for

Rammy”


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“Back to LR and then Radcliffe Borough, though I endedup having a big disagreement with the Radcliffe managerearly-doors this season, after the friendly with Rammy,and so that’s when I ended up with Atherton Colls who’vejust bagged themselves promotion.

“I really enjoyed playing at Colls. ey have a very goodteam spirit, which reminded me very much of whatRammy had when I first arrived here. Everyone got on,everyone went out together, and on the pitch they allplayed as a team, they’d all die for one another. I reallyloved my time at Colls. Cleggy’s done an incredible jobthere with a very tight budget, and with very young lads.ey’re playing a standard of football which is miles abovewhere they are, comfortably beating top teams, and evenembarassing Rammy in the cup game over there.

“Colls’ pitch always makes games a challenge for teamsthough, it was even hard for us to play on it and we knewour way around the hills and divots and things. You canimagine though, for a team that’s got used to trying toplay football on that pitch, when they go away from homeit’s just so much easier to knock the ball about. ey’vealso got one of the best strikers about in Mark Battersbywho’s scored 56 goals. I don’t care what league you’re in,if you’re scoring 56 goals in a season then there’ssomething seriously good. He reminds me a bit of LeeGaskell, he does some outrageous stuff with the ball andscores the extraordinary goals.

“For me, coming up three divisions hasn’t been a greatchallenge. ings are a bit faster, and you have less timeon the ball, but you raise your game to accommodate it.Even in the Nortwest Counties, when Colls played teamslike Rammy, the whole Colls side would up their game.You just have to make sure in this league that you’re onthe top of your game all of the time, rather than taking iteasy now and again when you’re facing pooreropposition.”


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“Robbo has a real challenge on his hands at themoment. What’s happened here over the last few monthsis always going to be difficult to recover from, and it’s stillproving difficult to get a settled lineup, particularly indefence. In fact, across the whole pitch, with playersgetting tired and games coming thick and fast, it’s thedepth of the squad that gets you through times like this.Players are still getting to know each other, and I thinkthat’s coming across very much in the performances. It’stough.

“He asked me to come almost as soon as he took overthe managerial job, but it was just the wrong time withthings that were going on with work so I wasn’t sure I’dbe able to make the commitment. But once I managedto change things around a bit so that I could get out ofwork a bit earlier then I gave Robbo a shout, and here Iam, back at Rammy!”

e 29-year-old six footer has always had tighthamstrings and a bad back to content with, but we askedwhether he’s getting to the stage where age is becomingmore important and whether recovery times are startingto increase.

“Robbo will tell you, I hate missing football, and I’ll playeven through injuries. My wife hates it because evenwhen we get a game called off, I’ll go out trying to find amatch somewhere to play in. I’ve done it since I was sevenyears old. Even my little lad’s the same! To be honest, Idon’t know what I’ll do with myself when I get to thatstage where I have to pack up, it means that much to me.

“I’ll be honest though, my game isn’t really about pace,it’s about positioning and agression, and not being afraidto put my body on the line to win personal battles. I havebeen lucky though, as I very seldom pick up injuries. eonly times I haven’t played at Rammy have been when Igot dropped.”

After Ayres had spent a season filling in at left-back, anddoing a pretty successful job of it, injury-plagued IanFlannery was finding it difficult to maintain his matchfitness, giving Ayres his long-awaited chance in his bestposition of centre-back.


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back in blue - scoring against BlythSpartans a couple of weeks ago


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scoring against Trafford back in the NorthwestCounties days when Ayresy looked 12 andopposition keepers were overweight

“Flanners got injured pre-season, and I gotto start the season at centre-half, but Iremember that I was alongside Pilkie for thefirst game in the Evostik North as Dawsonpicked up a knock pre-season. Me and Dawsstruck up a really good partnership thatlasted throughout the rest of the season untilmy form started to drop off for the last fewgames with both Flanners and Dawsondropping in and out through injury.

“at was when I found out about somechanges that were going on at work, meaningthat I’d probably have to pack up at the endof the season - I’d have to work away all weekand it wouldn’t have been fair on my wife andlad if I worked away all week and thendisappeared off to play football at theweekends. I also wouldn’t have been able toplay Tuesday or make training on ursday,which is no way to be - you can’t play footballwith that level of commitment. I kept it quietbecause I didn’t want to mess up our chancesof making the play-offs, but maybe having

that in the back of my mind affected mygame performances.”

Now that he’s back at Rammy, and playingwith a team that’s very much finding its feet,and for a manager with little experience, weasked Ayres what it feels like to be part of theNew Rammy Family.

“Robbo’s great - he’s got a real bad temperon him, but I’ve played against him since I was17-18, and I’ve known him for the best partof ten years. He loses his temper, but hedefinitely wears his heart on his sleeve. Healways gives it 100%, and he expects everyoneelse to do the same. As a player he’s horribleto play against, he’s always getting at you andthrowing his arms around. He’s good in theair, strong, and he can score. It’s great to playfor him because he knows what I’m aboutand what I’m capable of so he’ll tell me to justget out there, lead us and just do what you’redoing. Edgy’s a bit different, he’s the calminginfluence, a bit like Bernard used to be forRammy.


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“Robbo’s dead fair. He gives everyone achance to show what they can do, but whereRammy lie at the moment he can’t afford tohave people not pulling their weight orcoming in and out of games, he needspeople to be working hard, and he’s broughtin some brilliant players. Kyle’s excelling atthe back, Burke’s passing ability isfrightening, and Lee Neville’s not put a footwrong since he joined us. en there’s Bennoand the rest, these are good players who arewilling to work hard for the cause and digdeep. We need everyone to do that.

“Loyalty and passion is what Rammy needsto be about. Football isn’t all about money -if you start throwing money around likesome of the other clubs then all you get isplayers who are after the money. Robbowants and expects more than that from hisplayers and he’s definitely the kind of personwho can get more than that out of us.

“Our confidence is improving game bygame, and performances are really startingto get there. We have the makings of a reallygood squad here, so I’m sure there is apromising future for Rammy.”

in action last week against FC United

“Robbo always gives it 100% and heexpects everyone to do the same”


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halesowen townthe midlands delivers yet another team

Records show that Halesowen Town wereformed in 1882, although there are claimsthat the club started life back in 1973 underthe name James Grove Factory Team, whichwould make it one of the oldest teams in thecountry. ey initially played in theBirmingham Combination before joining theBirmingham and District League in 1946.

e Yeltz first notable achievement camein 1955, when they reached the FA Cup FirstRound proper, eventually losing to Hendonfour two at e Grove. During the 1960’s,Halesowen regularly competed in theBirmingham League, where they becameknown for their goal scoring explots. For ninesuccessive seasons the team scored between96 and 126 goals in all competitions. By theend of the decade, many of their local rivalsmoved over to the newly founded SouthernLeague, but unfortunately for Halesowentheir fortunes took a downturn.

e team really struggled during the 1970’s,finishing bottom of the West Midlandsleague on three successive occasions. Itseemed that the only person, who waskeeping the club going, was Harry Rudge,who fulfilled a number of positions thatincluded player-manager, grounds man andsecretary. However, at the start of the 1980’sthe Yeltz started to move in the oppositedirection under manager Paddy Page. e1982/83 season saw them win the WestMidlands League for the first time and theyalso reached Wembley in the FA Vase Final,where they were beaten by VS Rugby.

Halesowen’s disappointment did not lastlong, as two years later they yet gain reachedthe FA Vase Final and on this occasion theydefeated Fleetwood, a feat they achievedagain the following year by beating Southallat the home of English football.

e 1986/87 season finally saw Halesowentake their place in the Southern League. isonly became a reality after extensive work one Grove, having been denied promotionfour years on the trot, due to the ground notbe up to scratch. For seven consecutive years,from 1985 to 1991 they reached the FirstRound proper of the FA Cup, losing four tiesto Football League clubs Southend United,Brentford, Cardiff City and Tranmere Rovers.

1990 saw Halesowen Town continue theirrise up the Non-League pyramid after theywere promoted to the Beazer Premier Leagueafter winning the Midland Division. eir stayin the Premier Division was to last elevenyears, although their relegation started a ‘yo-yo’ effect, as they bounced back up and thendown and then back up again in 2003. Aftera number of near misses, the Yeltz finallymanaged to reach the Southern LeaguePremier Division Play-Offs in April 2008,where they were beaten by a last minute goalfrom Team Bath in the Final.

e following seasons saw the onset ofleague struggles and financial problems,which ended in the club being placed inadministration and a ten point deduction inAugust 2009. Halesowen never reallyrecovered from this and after staving


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relegation the previous year, they lost theirPremier Division status in May 2011, after adisastrous season.

With the club being taken over bybusinessman Steve Lynch, they had anencouraging start to the 2011/12 season,back in the Southern League Division OneSouth and West. Early exits in both the FACup and FA Trophy seemed to knock theYeltz and they eventually finished their leaguecampaign in twelve place.

e following season saw Halesowen Townmoved to the Northern League Division OneSouth; a new manager in John Hill wasinstilled, after a successful stint in charge ofTipton Town. e new manger had a poorstart, but with an upturn in form in the newyear, results improved and Halesowenfinished in seventh place, just missing out onthe Play-Offs by goal difference.

e Yeltz carried their form from theprevious year and improved as the 2013/14progressed. After hitting the summit of theNorthern League Division One South,Halesowen held onto this position going intothe final week of the season. With an awaymatch at Belper, they knew this was a mustwin game to ensure a finish above Coalville.Two goals from influential striker Ben Haseleysealed the win and promotion, as Championsto the Northern League Premier Division.

With John Hill adding Neil Mackenzie andIyesden Christie, both of whom have Footballleague experience, to his squad, HalesowenTown have made an encouraging start to lifeback in step 3 of the Non-League pyramid.ey currently sit eleventh in mid table,consolidating their status in the PremierDivision and will certainly hope to build onthis for next year. (words by Gareth Bird)

Aaron Daniels clobberedduring the 1-1 home drawwith Trafford in March


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Lyesden Christie (Striker) Aged 38Previous Clubs; Mansfield Town, LeytonOrient, Kidderminster Harriers, Rochdale,Stevenage Borough, Torquay, Kettering Town,Farnborough, Coventry Sphinx, AFC Telford &King’s Lynn.A vastly experienced striker who has hadplenty of experience in the Football Leaguewhich spanned 14 years, before he droppeddown into the Non-League pyramid. Christiehas scored goals wherever he has played andhis time at Halesowen been no different. So farthis season the striker has netted on no lessthan 16 occasions.

Aaron Forde (Midfielder) Aged 21Previous Clubs; Wolverhampton Wanderers,Walsall, Redditch United, Hinckley United,Rushall Olympic & Bedworth United.After breaking his leg and overcoming the longterm injury while he was a member of Walsall’syouth team, this talented midfielder fought togain a place on the bench for the first team.After his release by Walsall, Forde went ontoplay for a number of teams before signing forHalesowen during last season. Forde is a strongmidfielder, with plenty of drive, who can creategoals for his team mates. He has made 34appearances so far this season, scoring once.

Ben Haseley (Striker) Aged 29Previous Clubs; Great Wyrley & Heath Hayes.After scoring 107 goals in 172 appearances forhis former club Heath Hayes, striker Haseleysigned for Halesowen in January 2012. He tookjust 10 minutes to score on his debut and wentonto score 48 goal in 2012/13, his first fullseason for the club. Since then he has notstopped scoring and before the start of thisseason he had notched 92 goals for the Yeltz.Forms a deadly partnership with Christie andthis season so far he has found the net 12times.


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Lyesden Christie celebrates theopening goal in November’s 2-0win over Rammy


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Can you talk us through the lastcouple of results please.

Following a magnificentextended run, there followed afrustrating phase where the teameither lost or drew. Most wereagainst the sides in the top five orsix in the league, so our poor runcomes with a health warning. Inreality, the team is doing littledifferently, when you comparethe two runs but as in mostsports, success or failure isdetermined by fine margins.

For you who are the players towatch at the moment, and why?

ere are a number of players inthe Yeltz squad, who have earnedtheir fair share of man of thematch awards but ask supportersand they’ll argue, which evereleven are selected, they play as ateam. erefore, to single outindividuals would be wrong, fansare proud how our playersperform as a team match aftermatch.

How long have you been asupporter?

Halesowen Town began toprogress as a Club in the early1980’s and as with many Yeltzfans, would say that’s when Ibegan following the team weekafter week but my first game wasin 1980.

What are your most memorabletimes with the club, and whatsticks out for you this season?

ree trips to Wembley in theFA Vase final would be tough toargue against but then there areeight FA Cup first round games toconsider and three promotions aschampions to consider too.However, for me the memorabletimes came when a group ofsupporters came together todevelop our ground. Our Club isnot simply about watching theteam play, it’s about being part ofits development. Watching fanstoil, summer after summeraround the Grove is anexperience I’d never forget.

is season has beeninteresting. Highlights; beatingBlyth Spartens in the FA Trophywhen they were taking all beforethem in the FA Cup, two fantasticencounters against FC United ofManchester and finally there wasCurtis Tilt’s wonder goal away atStourbridge.

How would you change the clubif you won the lottery?What a brilliant question.However you view your Club, ithas to develop and be able tosustain itself when and if themoney disappears. I’d have a tenyear plan or longer, to increasemoney put into the Clubgradually but there’s no pointdeveloping the team, withoutbuilding the structure around it.Money in football is necessarybut as much as a blessing alottery win could be, it canquickly change into a curse too.


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How would you describe your supporters?Yeltz fans can be the best in the land but as with every

football supporter alive, occasionally are guilty of leavingtheir brains at the turnstiles and can be infuriating.Having said that, I’ve grown up with a significant numberof them and consider them as my extended family.

How would you describe the town for any visitors, andwhat one word would you use to describe the groundcatering?

I’d argue that Halesowen is ‘Gods country’ but John Hill,our Manager was deluded enough to suggest thataccolade goes to Tipton. It’s a good job he’s a brilliantManager because it helps us forgive such comments. Weare saddled with living in the shadow of Birmingham buthistory proves that the city is insignificant by comparisonto our town. We live on the doorstep of the Clent Hillsand my recommendation to any interloper is to take awalk to the top. Considering we live in a county with alarge population, the view allows u to forget where youare.I’ve never eaten anything that the Grove catering offersbut the smell is intoxicating and judging by the waistlinesof those who do partake, my assumption is it must befantastic.

What's the best pub for a pre-match / post-match pint,and why's it a good one?

Either the Yeltz Bar on Hawne Lane by the Ground orJames Grove Bar in the ground, are the places to go preand post match. e drink is very good and you can shareyour view and debate the match.

What's your connection with the club?I am Rob Edmonds but most, if not all Yeltz fans wouldknow me as Cripcrap. It’s a nickname which came aboutbecause I’m disabled and in a wheelchair. Cruel, arguablybut more about my sense of humour or maybe just thatI write rubbish in our matchday programmes. I beganfollowing the Club because one of my brothers wascaptain and later was asked to help write programmesand then edit is as I do now.


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with all eyes on the FA Cup,Halesowen dispatched Blythfrom the FA Trophy


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goal

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We’d like to thank the following people who havealready pledged to sponsor the team for every goalscored for the remainder of the season.

Trigger £2 Stephen & David £2Ste, Angie & Ethan £4Maria £1Mr & Mrs Darkside £2TobyTrotter £1Little Katie £1smiffylad £1Rammy Blue £1Chris S £2Johnno & Bernard £2Tony Cunningham £1Lui Delverto £1Rob Moss £2John Ayers £2Richard Isaacs £2Emma James £2Ian McCool £2Frank Crook £2Paul Gaskell £5Tanners Croft £2

If you’d like to join in (you get your name in theprogramme and receive your very own signed teamphoto as a thankyou) then please make your pledgeon the club forum, email [email protected] orcall Rob on 07944 038512

e Fans Fund total currently stands at £623


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Luke Heron

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Luke Heron


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Luke Heron


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1. Kevin Wilson has been told that he will lose his job as manager of which Evo- Stik club at the end of the season?

2. Who was sacked as manager of Wrexham immediately after their FA Trophy defeat?

3. In which county are Concord Rangers based?4. Which colours do Southport play in?5. What is the nickname of Matlock Town?6. Chris Cheetham is goalkeeper for which local club?7. Which club is champion of Evo-Stik Southern League S&W Division?8. Name the three former Football League sides currently battling it out at the

top of the Vanarama Conference?

9. Which two sides will contest the Welsh Cup Final?

10. In which League do former NPL club, South Liverpool play?

ANSWERS: 1. Ilkeston 2. Kevin Wilkin 3. Essex 4. Gold and Black 5. e Gladiators 6. Radcliffe Borough 7. Merthyr Town 8. Barnet, Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town 9. Newtown and TNS 10. West Cheshire League

tony’s teasers


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ANSWERS: 1. Ilkeston 2. Kevin Wilkin 3. Essex 4. Gold and Black 5. e Gladiators 6. Radcliffe Borough 7. Merthyr Town 8. Barnet, Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town 9. Newtown and TNS 10. West Cheshire League

If your face is featured then congratulations, you’ve just won yourself a cup oftea and a Mars Bar courtesy of Rammy United Supporters Club. Visit the teabar now to claim your magnificent prize!


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rammy in exilesky sports statto richard isaacs

Good afternoon one and all and I hope youare all well and enjoying the wonderfulsunshine (providing the forecasts were allcorrect over the last few days). Ahhh yes,sunshine .... I am back down in the tropicalsouth and its a glorious day here which mustmean that the cricket season is edging evercloser.

Which also means that the football seasonis reaching its climax and for the first time inthe years I have been supporting the Rams,we are facing the flip side of the emotionsthat we are used to. Over the last few seasons,we have been treated to a rollercoaster ofhigh emotion - the promotion from theCounties, the oh-so-near at Skelmersdale andthen the incredible night of Darlington andafternoon of Bamber Bridge. But this season- well, it has been a season to remember for awhole heap of different reasons.

Monday's game at Ashton United was atough one. Endeavour, yes. Opportunities,yes. Goals ... no. Again! And I left Hurst Crossand headed back south with a heavy heart.

And a fearful one as well. It'snot sitting comfortably with

me. I have read on the forum thatwe are all pretty much of onemind in feeling that we will besafe. But time is running out, wehave just seven league games leftto play of which five are at homeand we just have to hope thatwe gain enough points from

those to stave off any fears of slipping back tofrom whence we came. It is concerning - veryconcerning. Most of us thought that we haddone enough in 2014. Since 'it' happened, wehave played 17 games and won just 5, losing9 with 3 draws. When you put it like that - itis not that bad but we have scored just onegoal in the last four league games and that, inany language you wish, is not a good recordwhen the relegation trap door creeks openand sucked in Belper Town and Trafford andis waiting for two more to join.

We have faith - we always will. And we stillhave 'games in hand' but those games arefading fast and we absolutely have to turn insome performances in the next few weeks,otherwise it will be back to Harrogate,Lancaster and Clitheroe again and ourwonderful endeavours of April and May 2014will be just a distant memory. And that willhurt our club. Hugely. I don't want us to gobackwards again, we have reached this levelthrough serious hard work. OK, those whorode the Rammy Rollercoaster with us overthe last few years have gone but sinking backwould be unimaginable. It wasn't that longago we were talking of "what might be" andchecking our ground will be good enough forthe next level up. Now, we are wondering"what might be" in completely a difficultsituation.

Robbo and Edgy and Shents as skipper - wehave every faith in you. Bring it home for us,please!


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Today we welcome Halesowen Town to theHarry Williams Riverside Stadium. e awaymatch in the West Midlands was one of thegames that I saw, enroute back south after aweek in the north and we were afforded avery pleasant welcome, very nice ground andpleasant surroundings. I am certainly hopingthat the atmosphere in the ground today isso much better than it was last Saturday.Apologies for my rant in the last programme- as you could probably tell, I was still prettyupset at the goings on and the sheerdisrespect that their small minority of'followers' afforded our ground.

ey are still moaning and griping now Inotice on our Twitter page, Facebook pageand through emails, mainly centered aroundthe match report from that game. However,I really don't think it would have matteredwhat we put in the report - there was alwaysgoing to be a section of their support whowould criticise it as they have been bullying

us for the last two weeks, throwing theirample weight around in a "We are FC Unitedof Manchester, we can do whatever the hellwe like and you will just have to deal with it"kind of way. No, we don't actually!

So where will I be today? It's the final roundof rugby fixtures down here and a local derbybetween Tottonians (from Totton nearSouthampton) and WInchester (from .... errrWinchester!). Dad and I will be having lunchbeforehand and then will probably head overto South Wiltshire Cricket Club in Salisburyto catch the end of my club's first pre-seasonmatch of the season. Yes, that time is hereonce more - the sound of leather on willow,not withstanding my already packedschedule of Indian Premier League matchesthat I will be working on from home.

But, you know full well where my attentionwill be this afternoon. Come on you Rams ....today is the day for three good home pointsand a step closer to salvation.

don’t be fooled by the cheekysmile, this man turns into a maniacif you try peeing on his daffodils!


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returning from suspension, centre-backAlex Frost was solid and clinical in defence


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1 - 0Hurst Cross6th April 2015Att: 237Rammy Goals: Ashton Goals: Pilkington (70)


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Vinny Mukendi came closest to scoring for the Rams, seemingto freeze when he found himself through on the keeper


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With a third defeat in their last four outings, RamsbottomUnited have been drawn inexorably back into the relegationmire following their narrow 1-0 loss to promotion-chasingAshton United on a warm, spring day in Tameside.

Whilst there was a considerable amount of endeavour fromthe Rams, sporting four changes from the 2-0 home defeat onSaturday, the end product continued to be a telling factor -proved rather systematically by David Kuba-Kuba's goal atGrantham Town nine days ago being the only time the net hasbulged for Rammy in the last 360 minutes of action.

And their cause has certainly not been helped by victories forfellow strugglers Marine (1-0 against Skelmersdale United) andStamford, who thrashed local rivals Grantham 4-1, meaning justthree points now separate Jon Robinson's men and the fourthseat in the unwanted relegation slide.

Played at a fairly frenetic pace throughout, both sides had theirchances. Luke Heron curled a shot wide within the first threeminutes before the home side, sitting pretty in fourth place inthe table, began to create a handful of opportunities, none ofwhich tested the Rammy skipper Grant Shenton. ere are stillspells of indecision in and amongst the Blues defence whichalmost allowed the hosts to break the deadlock after 20 minutesbut, thankfully, Shenton was on his guard.

e Rams best chance of the game came on 38 minutes whensome excellent play from Osebi Abadaki saw his shot palmedaway by Paul Phillips in the Ashton net. What followed was atouch of comedy as players from both sides slipped and slid tothe ground but the ball finally fell to Mukendi, who only had topick his spot for the easiest of goals as he stood one-on-one withthe keeper, who was led on the ground. Unfortunately for thevisitors, he chose to shoot straight at the prone stopper.


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Both sides went into the break with plenty to consider but itwas the Rams who came out the brighter in the second periodand had two decent chances through Alex Frost's header and ashot from Abadaki which skipped wide of the post and thenDavid Kuba-Kuba, a substitute for Heron who limped off late inthe first half, teamed with Ian Bennett and provided a beautifulthrough ball but found no-one in the box to fire home.

All of those opportunities could have come to something hadthe right player been in the right place with the right ball. Butthey were closed down quickly and were frustrated throughoutby a side with high hopes of being a part of the end of seasonplay-off shake up.

And those hopes were given a huge boost when, from aRammy attack, Ashton cleared up field and Martin Pilkingtonjust about kept the ball in play on the right touchline andsprinted to the by-line to feed Chris Baguley in the centre whotook great delight in scoring against the club he played forbriefly a month or so ago.

It was heartbreak for the Rams, who continued to battle but,yet again, with little to show for it. Lee Gaskell and Jon Robinsonwere both introduced in the final quarter in an attempt to eeksomething out of the game but, try as they might and alongsideMukendi, who showed signs of excellent skill and also periodsthat left the travelling support in anguish, the home sidegrabbed all three points to leave the Rams with plenty to thinkabout as they head into Wednesday night's Doodson Cup semi-final against Farsley.

Ramsbottom United have much bigger things to think aboutright now and time is running out to pick up the vital points tosteer them clear of danger. ere are seven league games to go- five of which are at home. It is going to be a very nervy, tenseand nail-biting conclusion to this difficult season.

Robbo strikes from range tryingto salvage a point for the Rams


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a free-kick just on the edge of thebox, but God Knows it was close!


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e town of Grantham in Lincolnshirewas only previously on my radar for beingthe birth place of Britain’s first femalePrime Minister, and friend of all usworking class Northerners (well, maybenot), Margaret atcher. So loved was sheby people round these parts that Burnley’spremier punk band, Not Sensibles,penned the classic ‘Im in Love WithMargaret atcher’ in homage to her backin the late 1970’s

Oh Margaret atcher is so sexyShe's the girl for you and me

I go red when she's on the tellyCos I think she fancies me

UkePunk, How about working that littleditty into your set, mate ?

Anyway, with the Rams promotion tothe Northern Premier League, Granthamwas back on the radar and a couple ofweeks ago I, and a few other members ofthe Rammy Ultras, made our first visit to

this infamous, littletown. I had missedthe previous week’sjaunt to Belper, as Iwas moving out ofmy Garden CourtPalace and intoDawn Darkside’s,Kay Brow residence(without putting aring on her fingerthis is about as

official as a relationship can be and theclosest I can get to making an honestwoman of her). With missing the Belpergame, and victory, I was really lookingforward to this game and another ride onthe Rammy Rocket (who needs theRammy Rattler, when you’ve got theRammy Rocket, eh?) although for a varietyof reasons it was a pretty small turnoutcompared to previous away days. Joiningthe Darksides were the ever presentCarlsberg, Chairman Harry, Sophie, AndyEdmunson and, of course, the players.

We arrived at Grantham’s, SouthKesteven Sports Stadium for 1.00 andrather than go straight into theground/sports complex we decided tohave a walk and find a nearby hostelry.Unfortunately with the stadium being amodern construction it was also out ofthe town centre and we found ourselveswandering around a local estate until wefound a pub, which in this case was ePriory. Now, I’m not saying this was arough ‘n’ ready watering hole but we keptwaiting for Frank Gallagher, fromShameless, to appear and tell us that he‘knew how to throw a paarrrttty’. Oncethe young lad behind the bar had finishedfannying around on his mobile phone (amore than sackable offence in Darkside’sbook) we got served our muchanticipated beers. With no real ale on tap,or in bottles, we were never going to stay

from the darksidedarren comer reports on the latest

rammy ultras adventures


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from the darkside

long amongst the local, but friendly odd-bods (think e Oaks at last orders on aTuesday night) and were soon headingback to the generically monikered, SouthKesteven Sports Stadium.

Back at the ground there was somedecent beer on offer but, as with someother modern grounds we have been tothis season, the price was over £3.00 apint. Better value for money came withthe catering on offer and although I wasnearly tempted into the posh pie, Ieventually decided on the home madechilli and chips which was certainly oneof the finest meals I have tasted this, orany other, season. As always, thestaff/unpaid volunteers were veryhospitable and deserve a special mentionas up and down the country these arethe people who many non-league clubscould not exist without. After a quickchat with some of the other travellingUltras, including Roger who was going forhis Grandfather of the Year award bybringing Young Jake along, we made our

way out onto the ground just before 3.00to welcome the team onto the pitch.

Now, no disrespect to Grantham Townbut I did not like their stadium, mainlydue to it having a running track aroundthe perimeter, although it was light yearsahead of the Don Valley Stadium inSheffield where Rotherham United usedto play for a few seasons. e far side ofthe stadium had a large terrace runningthe length of the touchline and we madeour way over to it with our flags, bannersand horns to cheer the lads on to a,hopefully, much needed three points.e Grantham fans gathered on thatterrace had a number of flags, so once wehad the Ultras flag and Lancashire redrose flying it made for quite a colourfulsight.

e terrace at Grantham wasreminiscent of the one we stood on atKings Lynn a few months ago, the onlydifference being that the Granthamsupport was friendly and welcoming,rather than abusive and vindictive.

straining to see the pitchaway off in the distance, thehard-core Rammy Ultras


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e first half was spent waiting for a gameof football to begin as both teams struggledwith the wind that was blowing around thestadium. Rammy were kicking against thewind which made it very difficult to get anyflowing football going and Grantham, withthe wind behind them, never reallythreatening the goal that Shents was in. I hada good chat with Little Katie and Karol,apologising for my outburst at Maria at therecent Supporters Club meeting (I told her tozip it, when she accused me of not being atrue supporter). Paul ‘Cream of the Crop’Cropper was also stood with us which always

helps when the game is a little drab as thesaying ‘there’s never a dull moment’, wasprobably first spoken with him in mind.

When the half time whistle blew we madethe long walk back to the bar for anotheroverpriced pint, albeit an overpriced pintthat was served with a smile. As we watchedthe half time scores coming through onGrandstand we found out that ourneighbours, Bury, had their home gameagainst Southend United abandoned afterfive minutes due to a waterlogged pitch (I betthere were some mightily peed off Shrimperssupporters at Gigg Lane). It was a good job

from the darksidedarren comer reports on the latest

rammy ultras adventures

Rammy won and Harry got acheap raffle prize - happy days!


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from the darkside we were away on the day as our ownRiverside Stadium would certainly havebeen unplayable which would have addedto the congested backlog of matches wealready have ahead of us.

With the wind behind us in the secondhalf, there only ever looked like being onewinner and that was to be Rammy. e onlygoal of the game came early in the secondhalf from the ever impressive, Kuba-Kuba,and how it only remained 1-0 at the finalwhistle was a mystery to all.

Although, Rammy should have had moregoals, we could have easily conceded a lateequaliser when one of the Granthamforwards mishit a shot with only Shents tobeat, which was the cue for the usualcircus/clown tune from the Mutton Army.

As the referee blew the final whistle therewas the usual uproar from the Rammysupport as we celebrated a much neededthree points towards our relegation fight.‘We Love You, Rammy…. We Do’ rangaround the ground, backed up byCarlsbergs horn and Andy Massey’svuvuzela (e Masseys had travelled upwith the Gaskell Family as Andy had anengagement that evening and wasauditioning for a part in the remake of theold television show, ‘CHiPS’, but more aboutthat in my Ashton United column). On a side note, has anyone else seen Hilaryrunning around Ramsbottom? Stop it,Hilary ! I feel unfit enough as it, withoutseeing you haring up and down BridgeStreet in the morning.

In the bar after the game we had a pintwith some of the Grantham supporterswho seemed quite chipper to say they hadjust seen their team defeated. e reasonfor their good mood was the news thatBelper had been relegated from the NPL

that day. It would seem they had sufferedthe same fate as us earlier in the season, inlosing their manager and several players toBelper, so I’m sure we could all sympathisewith their plight and appreciate the goodmood they were in. e Granthamsupporters were a great bunch and I willlook forward to reacquainting thefriendship next season. e Granthamsponsors were giving out the Man of theMatch awards which went to Ian Bennettfrom the Rammy side, a decision most ofthe travelling support agreed with, althoughit was a close run thing with several playersputting in superb performances on the day.Ian won a bottle of champagne as hisreward, which was soon in ChairmansHarrys hands for a princely sum of £3 andheading to being a raffle price at a futuregame at e Riverside. Non-League football,you’ve just gotta love it.

Another wonderful trip home with theusual consumption of booze and renditionsof Rammy Ultras standards (check outCarlsberg’s classic montage on the forum orYouTube). is continued back at theCricket Club with several players staying onand buying us drinks as an apology for theperformance at home to Stourbridge earlierin the week, which were gratefully receivedby us. We even had an appearance from acouple of former Rammy legends, JordanHulme and Steve Howson, later in theevening which only added to the goodmood.

Everywhere we goEverywhere we go

It’s the Rammy boysMaking all the noiseEverywhere we go

a big thank you to Carlsberg for the photos


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1 - 2Harry Williams Riverside Stadium8th April 2015Att: 189Rammy Goals: Abadaki (32)Farsley Goals: Grant (15), O’Brien (52)


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in a bizarre Suarez type incident,Callum Jones gets his hair pulledby the Farsley captain


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I’d like to take this opportunity to say abig thankyou to everyone who’s providingcontent for the Rammy programme. Nofewer than fifteen people have providededitorial content for today’s issue (andthat’s not even considering the peopleinvolved in printing it), and it is largelydue to them that we can produce such agreat programme that I know is the envyof many a club. Most important is thatthese people are solid, committed andreliable, because the work involved ingetting these things written, laid-out, andprinted for this month’s quite terrifyingset of home fixtures is pretty non-stop.

I’d like to say a particularly big thankyouto those who go the extra mile, and arelargely unsung. It’s pretty obvious thatDarren, Shents, Tony, Richard and Robbocontribute, and normally there’s an Edgycolumn in amongst that lot, but it’speople like Ste ‘Carlsberg’ Heard andGareth Bird who really help to keep theprogramme as good as it is. Ste is afantastic member of the team as he has agreat eye for capturing photos of the dayout, not just of the action on the pitch.Coupled with the scribblings of Darren‘Darkside’, these photos capture thethings that are most memorable andmost important to us supporters. At theend of the day, the result is just a numberon a page or a match report in anewspaper (no disrespect intended to SirPaul Cropper there - his match reports are

honest, literate and highly entertaining toread) but we as fans most value theexperience. We may remember theperformance and the goals at Whitby, butit is the fancy dress and the pub and thegoths that will stick with us forever. Stehas a great way of spotting and capturingthose moments, and so I’m really gratefulto him.

Gareth Bird is probably unknown tomost folks at Rammy, but it’s him we haveto thank for the four pages in eachprogramme about the opposition club, aswell as making sure we have a pretty upto date team sheet for our visitors on theback cover. Some clubs are excellent withthe information they provide, but formany it’s quite an ordeal getting hold ofsome up to date text. Gareth religiouslydelivers this stuff on time and in a formatthat I can more or less copy and pastestraight into the programme.Unfortunately his involvement came afterI’d had the page printed which listseveryone (I got 2000 copies of this printedto save money), much to thedisappointment of his lovely other halfAnna, and so I hope they’ll both forgiveme that fact by accepting my thanks here.

I know that it’s often quite difficult toget hold of a programme at somematches, and I’d like to have a chat withHarry over the next few weeks to see ifthere’s something we can do about thisfor next season. It’s always disappointing

a word of thanksfrom the programme editor


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This isnot

a word of thanksfrom the programme editor

to produce an80-page full-colour glossything that we allbelieve is worthreading, only for it tobe sold out well beforekick-off. I know that someclubs have schemes whereyou can reserve programmes,which we will perhaps lookat, or there is thepossibility of getting asubscription for theseason (though postageprices are getting ridiculousnow). Ideally I’d like to try andreduce the print costs without losingany content - this will mainly be down tothe amount and value of advertising that’sincluded. Currently the adverts printed inhere are just about breaking even across theseason, which is a ludicrous state of affairswhich has to change as a matter of urgency.If we can bring in a decent amount ofmoney from adverts then I’d like to hopewe can find a way of subsidising some ofthe printing costs in order to help us getmore copies printed, while also providing agood, healthy income for the club. I’d reallylike to avoid having to put the price up,because football is expensive enough foreveryone already.

e best thing you can do to help is tokeep buying copies of the programme.

While wecontinue to sell outwe are showing that the programme isgood quality and is worth getting printedin higher numbers. We are also showing thelarge team of people involved in producingthis programme (including Terry down inRushall, the 4 Colour Digital team in PortTalbot South Wales, the Fairprint team inEdinburgh and all the editorial peoplementioned earlier) that their hard work isvalued and very much appreciated.

And so to finish up, I’d like to say thanksonce again to everyone for all your hardwork continuing to make Rammy’sprogramme one of the best around.

- Rob


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ram

my


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halesowen


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p520

Matthew SARGEANTKristian GREENAaron GRIFFITHSCurtis TILTAaron FORDEJoseph HULLAsa CHARLTONomas TONKSIyesden CHRISTIEBen HASELEYDaniel BRAGOLISam PEARSONAaron DANIELSElliot TURNERAaron LLOYDDaniel WATSONNeil MACKENZIELawrence HEARD

Manager: Jon ROBINSON Manager: John HILL

Referee: Joe HullReferee’s Assistants: Scott Healey, Ian Mcguinness

Next home game: Tuesday 14th April 7:45pm, Rammy v Ashton United

Grant SHENTONKyle HARROP

Lee NEVILLEJamie ROTHER

Alex FROSTMark AYRES

Osebi ABADAKIMatty BURKELee GASKELL

Vinny MUKENDIDonal McDERMOTT

Ian BENNETTGeorge BOWYER

Tom WILLIAMSLuke HERON

Malachi SLAVEN Callum JONESTom BROOKSPhil EDGHILL

Jon ROBINSON


59 ramsbottom united v halesowen

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