Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

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Doncaster Rovers Belles v Chorley Women, Sunday 12th October 2025, 2pm

November 28, 2025

This game came about because Jen was attending a Sunday afternoon talk in Sheffield about murder. Jen and I get on great, but if ever we don’t then I doubt she would need to bother with a divorce. She knows all about which poisons are hard to detect, for example, and the multiple ways to dispose of a corpse.

As a way of keeping on her good side, the previous two days had been spent at gigs, Jeffrey Lewis in York and the Twisterella festival in Middlesbrough.

The Jeffrey Lewis gig was at The Crescent in York on the Friday evening. We stayed over on what was a busier day than it might have been due to the races being on. By the time we got to town, most of the population were staggering around pissed. Maybe there is some benefit in knowing how to feed people to pigs.

Lewis terms himself as ‘anti-folk’. I’ve no real thoughts on whether that really is a thing or not, but he put on a good show in a small venue.

Saturday was Twisterella, a music festival based mainly at Teesside University. With three stages within about twenty yards of each other it was very easy to see bands in quick succession. Some I liked, others I was less keen on, but the ones that weren’t for me provided an opportunity to go out to the terrace and catch up with people for an outdoor drink on a day when it was just warm enough to do so.

Later on, we wound our way down to Baker Street for a George Bailey pop up set at the Twisted Lip and that might have been my favourite part of the day.

My plan for occupying myself whilst Jen was doing her murdering lessons was to go to watch Sheffield Women play at their Home of Football stadium. Unfortunately, it was a fixture that had been rescheduled for some other date and neither Futbology nor I had properly checked. A quick search revealed that there weren’t any new ground options available, but there was a game at Rotherham’s old ground, Millmoor. I headed there instead.

I’d last been inside thirty-nine years ago in our third division promotion season, although I had mooched around the outside when taking in a game at the nearby New York Stadium a couple of years ago. Rotherham moved on from Millmoor in 2013, but it seems longer, both in my memory and from the way the stadium looked.

I parked across the road from the ground, although if I’d driven on for fifty yards, I could have left the car at the ground itself. After initially just wandering in through an open door, I went back out and re-entered via a turnstile having handed over four quid. Only two stands were open. The main stand was fenced off, and it looked like seats had been removed. I don’t know whether that was just to recycle them or whether it was part of a pending demolition process.

It was like going back in time. Millmoor was quite an old-fashioned ground in the eighties and the current layer of dust across the stadium just added to the feeling that I was back in a bygone age. The only modern day quirk was a ‘No Vaping’ sign. I got chatting to a steward and he mentioned that prior to taking the job it had been fifty years since he was last inside the ground, as part of a half-time marching band.

Chorley were the better side. They took an early lead from the penalty spot and added a second before half-time. At the break I nipped out for an egg and bacon sandwich from a van before watching the second half from various vantage points in the stand along the side of the pitch. There were no more goals and Chorley took the points.

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Grangetown Boys Club v Sunderland West End, Saturday 4th October 2025, 3pm

October 26, 2025

Quite a few games were being called off due to the effects of Storm Amy, so I didn’t really want to travel too far just in case I turned up at a ground an hour away with a postponed sign on the gate. Fortunately, I’d still to visit the Northern League’s Grangetown Boys Club and so I decided to make the short trip to their Trunk Road ground.

The night before, Jen and I had been at Coulby Newham Cathedral to see John Bramwell. It’s quite a modern building for a church and it solves the problem of sitting on hard wooden pews by hiring out cushions. The gig was good, but as it’s the fifth time we’ve seen him this year, I know his anecdotes word for word.

Grangetown’s ground proved harder to find than I’d anticipated, as I’d left my phone in the house by mistake. The sat nav in the car isn’t the best, but my old-skool technique of just driving around Grangetown until I saw the pitch worked in the end.

It was a fiver to get in and I bought a programme and a chip butty from the food kiosk behind one of the goals.

Grangetown Boys Club dates back to the 1940’s with most of their time having being spent in the now-defunct Teesside League. They gained promotion from the North Riding League in 2024 and so this is just their second season ever in the tenth tier. The visitors, Sunderland West End, have been in the Northern League for a few seasons now, but haven’t ever really looked as if they might reach Division One.

As Grangetown haven’t been long at this level, their ground is still developing. There was a fifty-seater shipping container stand along one side of the pitch with two covered ‘bus stop’ type sheds providing somewhere to shelter when it rains. There was also a portacabin bar that seemed popular with a bunch of older fellas who looked to be on some sort of jolly.

The Northern League has a rule that spectators can only stand in areas where there is hard standing and not grass. This meant that half of one side of the pitch and the area behind one goal were out of bounds. Some concreting preparation was going on, so hopefully it won’t be long before there are views from the full perimeter. It could also do with some fast-growing trees planting between the pitch and the trunk road, to reduce the risk of wayward clearances hitting cars.

The attendance was announced as eighty-four. In addition to the jolly boys, there were a few fans from West End, many of whom might have been unselected players and their Mams. I spent the first half of the game in the container stand picking up snippets of info from some of those in the know.

For the second half I moved to the rail on the far side. The hills provided a better backdrop than the road.

The wind made play difficult and neither side had many clear chances on goal. West End upped their game in the second half and took the lead with around twenty minutes to go. Grangetown had a few chances afterwards, but the visitors held on to take the points.

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Middlesbrough v Stoke City, Tuesday 30th September 2025, 7.45pm

October 2, 2025

The Boro’s draw at Southampton had kept the unbeaten start to the season going but opponents Stoke have also shown good early form and were one of those teams sitting four points behind us in the table. I wasn’t expecting an easy game.

Away from football, Jen and I had been out at gigs the two previous nights. Firstly, Martin Stephenson at the Waiting Room. He put on a decent show, with as much time spent on anecdotes as songs. I was chatting to him afterwards and he mentioned that he doesn’t have a setlist and just plays whatever comes into his head. Nice bloke.

The other one was Edwyn Collins. He’d announced a farewell tour, and we nipped down to Buxton for it. He had a stroke twenty years ago and so he doesn’t play the guitar on stage anymore but instead sits in a chair and sings. Whilst his speech wasn’t as flowing as it might once have been, his singing voice seemed spot on. He played both his hits and went down very well with a crowd happy to see him one last time.

Harry and I got to the game in good time, but Tom didn’t arrive until five minutes after kick-off. There’s an ongoing problem with the turnstiles and not only did his season card fail to work, but the replacement paper ticket didn’t either. He had to return to the West Stand office for a second replacement ticket, which eventually allowed him to get in.

Despite playing with wingbacks all season, Rob Jones sprung a surprise by starting with a back four. This allowed us to add Alan Browne to the established Hackney/Morris midfield and play with a 4-3-3 formation. A very early injury to George Edmundson meant that Sammy Silvera had to play almost the whole game in the unfamiliar position of right full back. He did ok and I thought the extra man in the middle meant that we looked more threatening when we had the ball.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t break them down and didn’t come any closer to scoring than having a decent penalty shout denied. We were solid at the back though and held on for a nil-nil. It’s a game that we might very well have lost last season under Carrick. The point maintained the four point gap to Stoke, who moved into second place behind us. So, eight games in where are we? I’ll tell you. We are top of the league, say we are top of the league.

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North Ormesby v Redcar Town Reserves, Saturday 27th September 2025, 2pm

September 28, 2025

The day’s main event was the Gathering Sounds music festival in Stockton, which starts early afternoon and goes on until late evening. I’m not one for knocking back the beer for hours on end these days and so thought that if I took in game with a two o’clock kick-off first then I could be in town for around 5pm. It all went to plan, and Jen and I saw a few bands before meeting up with friends a couple of hours in.

Most of the early bands that we saw were ok, but nothing special. O’Phantom in Arc2, Risco in Ku Bar and End Credits in The Social Room. Highlight of the day for me was The Kairos, I’ll certainly look into them a little more. Paul had come primarily to see a young Sheffield band, Cruz. I thought that a couple of their songs were foot tappers, but they didn’t really grab my attention. Mark steered us back to The Social Room for Carsick, a band that I’ve seen before, and thought were decent last time. I was less impressed with them on this occasion, maybe they’ve changed direction a little.

We ended up in The Georgian, primarily for their tables and chairs than for any of the bands, and it was a good end to the evening.

The football earlier in the day was in the eleventh tier Premier Division of the North Riding League. North Ormesby were hosting Redcar Town Reserves on the far pitch at the Unity City Academy. That’s a school in old money. The North Riding League is a feeder to the Northern League. Despite the trek across the fields and the lack of any seating or even hardstanding, thirty-five people had turned out to watch.

One of the linos was late and so we had the unusual situation where the one who had turned up just loitered by the halfway line until the other one arrived. The Redcar manager seemed to have the ear of the ref and regularly persuaded him to make North Ormesby move their free-kicks back a few yards. This infuriated the home side, but I suspect that they would have achieved similar results if they had agitated for them in the same way. Instead, they spent their time shouting on the ‘doggy boys’ with rallying calls such as ‘doggy organise’ or ‘doggy focus.’

The standard was poor and maybe ‘doggy shite’ was more appropriate. I doubt that any of the players on show would have looked comfortable one step higher. Very few moves lasted more than a couple of passes before breaking down and it seemed for a while that neither side would even get a shot on target.

The Doggy Boys broke the deadlock just before half time with a penalty. They looked as if they might hold on to their lead, but a Redcar equalizer five minutes from full-time gave the visitors a share of the points.

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Bridlington Town v Mossley AFC, Saturday 6th September 2025, 3pm

September 9, 2025

I wasn’t a cool kid. I’ve never been cool as an adult either, not even in that ‘so uncool that you actually are cool’ kind of way. As a thirteen year old and when my cool mates were listening to punk and new-wave, I was listening to The Beatles, Mott The Hoople and Darts. Yes, Darts, a doo-wop revival combo.

They were the first band that I ever saw live. Possibly because The Beatles and Mott The Hoople had already broken up. It was at Middlesbrough Town Hall in June 1978 and, as it was half-term, I even popped along to Debenham’s in Stockton for a signing session earlier in the day. The nine Darts members signed my album and singles and didn’t complain when I rejoined the queue and got them to sign a paper bag as well.

Forty-seven years and three months later, Jen and I went along to Cottingham Civic Hall where I saw Darts for a second time. They played all the songs I’d liked as a thirteen-year-old. Four of the nine who had signed my Debenham’s bag were on stage, two others were dead and three had moved on from their doo-wop revival days. It went well. I doubt I’ll see them for a third time, but it was an enjoyable evening of uncool nostalgia.

Cottingham is close to the start of the Yorkshire Wolds Way and as we were staying in the area we took the opportunity to begin yet another of the National Trails. We recently finished the Cleveland Way, a mere thirteen years after starting it, and currently have Hadrian’s Wall and the West Highland Way in progress.

We set off from Hessle and over the course of two days covered fourteen miles walking to Welton and back. The wildlife highlight was a vole that was so fat to be virtually round. I’ve no idea if they hibernate, but if they do, it looked ready.

There were plenty of options to see a game in the eleventh tier Humber Premier League, but instead I chose to drive forty minutes north to Bridlington for a First Qualifying Round tie in the FA Trophy. Bridlington Town of the eighth-tier Northern Premier East Division were taking on Mossley AFC, who play in the equivalent West Division.

The East Division is the league that most Northern League teams are allocated to if they achieve promotion, so I was interested in seeing the relative strengths of the teams. It’s no more than a rough guide though, especially since Bridlington are second in their division, whilst Mossley are towards the bottom end of theirs.

I’d read that there was plenty of parking at the ground, but a quick circuit of the car park suggested that we’d arrived too late. There were plenty of spaces in the nearby streets though and we were soon in the turnstile queue for the Mounting Systems Stadium.

It was nine quid admission and, whilst most of the 455 attendees were already inside, there were plenty of seats in the main covered stand.

In addition to a covered stand that ran the entire length of one side of the pitch, there was also a covered standing area behind one goal and a kind of bus stop structure opposite the main stand. Brid, as their supporters seem to refer to them, had a small group of ultras with a drum, whilst Mossley were supported by around forty fans at the far end.

At half-time I queued for a baked potato at the opposite end and was joined by the Mossley fans who had switched locations to stand behind the goal that their team were now attacking. That sort of flexibility is one of the things that I enjoy about football at this level.

Football-wise, Brid took the lead within the first minute of the game. I wondered if we might expect a rout, but the contest was fairly even after that. The early goal was enough though as the home side held on despite nine minutes of frantic added time efforts from visitors.

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Askam Utd v Crooklands Casuals, Saturday 23rd August 2025, 11am

September 5, 2025

The August Bank Holiday weekend is rapidly becoming associated, for me at least, with Sea Power’s Krankenhaus Festival. This will be the fifth one that they’ve held at Muncaster Castle and Jen and I have been to them all. The first one, back in 2019, had fewer than four hundred attendees and probably many of them were gatecrashers who had been alerted to the complete lack of security.

This year the capacity had reached fifteen hundred and that’s as high as I’d like it to go. Part of its charm is the lack of crowds and, whilst I appreciate the need for it to at least break even, it was very full inside the barn for the higher profile bands.

Despite the increased capacity, the festival was still a success. Hamish Hawk was very well received, as he had been last time he appeared. I can’t really understand how he isn’t bigger. There was a short performance from Stewart Lee, prior to him introducing The Nightingales. I wondered if he might struggle a bit as most of his humour relies on slow burning build ups and looping back to previous references. I needn’t have worried, as he nailed it.

The highlight though was Sea Power. It always is. For their Friday night performance, I started off a few feet from the stage, but it got too hot and after being clonked on the head by a surprisingly heavy wooden owl that was being dangled from a fishing rod, I moved to the colder air outside the barn and watched the rest of the set from there.

We stayed offsite, in a small place near Santon Bridge. It was ideal for a Sunday morning walk along a Forestry Commission path to Mitterdale. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife other than a few sheep and I’m not sure that they count. As you’d expect, the views were great. When the path became boggy, we called it a day and turned around, but the six-mile stroll with plenty of ascent was worth doing.

Unsurprisingly, I took in a football game. I’d originally planned to head up to Whitehaven, but their 3pm kick-off would have meant missing Hamish Hawk. For an alternative I found a game that was kicking off at 11am as part of a groundhopping weekend. It was at Askham and involved an hour-long drive down some country lanes that were barely wide enough for one car, never mind two.

It was a fiver to get in and that included a programme and a team sheet, something that a lot of groundhoppers regard as essential to their experience.

Inclusion on a groundhopper tour significantly boosted the attendance. There were close to four hundred people there, mostly blokes on their own and of a similar age to me. The club had pulled out all of the stops to provide facilities and hopefully make a few bob from the day.

There was a small stall with Askam merchandise, including shirts that were presumably last season’s match kits. Further along, someone had two full tables of pin badges. He also had replicas of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup trophies. Selfies could be taken with the trophies at a pound a pop. An outdoor bar sold cans of beer and soft drinks but I resisted all of the spending opportunities until I reached the food stall where I spent my cash on a bacon and egg roll instead.

The Duddon Road ground doesn’t have any stands or seating, although there were a few picnic tables along one side of the pitch. There are houses along two sides of the pitch and some picturesque views of the sea behind one goal and the hills behind the touchline with the picnic tables.

It was a grass pitch and after the summer that we’ve had was mainly yellow and in need of some rain. It would have benefitted from some levelling too, with one section in particular sloping upwards towards the corner flag.

The fixture was in the twelfth-tier Division One of the West Lancashire League. According to the programme, Askam hadn’t been doing too well so far this season, but they had most of the early possession and better chances.

Crocklands took the lead against the run of play a quarter of an hour in, when a third effort was driven home after the keeper had beaten out the previous two attempts at goal.

Askam stepped up the pace in the second half but despite the pressure couldn’t force an equalizer. Most of the crowd moved on to Dalton for their second game of a three match Saturday itinerary, whilst I headed back up the road to Muncaster with sufficient time in hand for Hamish Hawk’s afternoon set.

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Silsden v Ramsbottom United, Saturday 16th August 2025, 3pm

August 30, 2025

This weekend started off with a drive across to Barnoldswick. It’s a route that I’d taken a few days earlier for a game at Emley and it’s a pleasant enough journey, particularly once you get out into the countryside.

Jen and I were there for a gig at the Music and Art Centre, which sounds quite grand but is actually just the basement of a small bar. Russell Hastings was playing ‘with friends’. He’s the fella who played with Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton in From The Jam, but these days is keeping the flame alive without them.

It was a good show. He’s clearly a passionate Jam fan and as he pronounces his words much better than Weller ever did, I’ve realized how many of the lyrics I’d got wrong for all those years.

Next morning we moved on to Keighley and spent the morning at East Riddlesden Hall. It’s a manor house dating back to Tudor times. I joined the National Trust recently but hadn’t got around to using the cards before this visit. It was quite interesting, with some well-informed volunteers. There was a decent garden for wandering around in too, and as I get older I find that sort of thing increasingly enjoyable.

After the history lesson we drove on to Silsden for a game in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. Silsden, of the eighth-tier East Division of the Northern Premier League were hosting Ramsbottom United of the ninth-tier Premier Division of the North West Counties League.

It was a tenner to get in to the Angel Telecom Stadium, which brought home how much of a bargain the similar prices are at the Boro for a Third-Round tie. I bought a programme and we started off in the covered main stand, near to a fella who was doing a radio commentary. That’s got to be a niche audience.

As well as the covered seats, there was also a standing area behind the goal to our left. That was mainly occupied by some baby ultras with a drum. They looked about twelve and spent the game exchanging chants with a handful of Ramsbottom supporters who had taken up a position alongside the stand.

I watched some of the game from nearby and impressive as the fans were, the best thing was a cross-bred dog with the head and face of a pug and the body of a labrador. Hopefully the combination will catch on.

Silsden took the lead after a quarter of an hour when a well-weighted through ball sent its recipient clear. He rounded the keeper and finished cleanly.

At half-time I initially joined a queue for refreshments in the clubhouse only to discover that it was cold drinks only. We later found the hatch for coffees next to a café style area outside. There were plenty of food choices and if there was nothing that we fancied in the café, we had the option of a separate outdoor burger stall or an ice-cream van.

Silsden never really seemed comfortable with the single goal lead and Ramsbottom pressed for an equalizer throughout the second half. Their reward finally came three minutes into added time when a striker beat the keeper to a floated cross and glanced his header home to the delight of the travelling fans.

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Middlesbrough v Doncaster Rovers, Tuesday 12th August 2025, 7.30pm

August 29, 2025

I’ve been doing well for gigs lately and after seeing Weathership and The Undertones on the previous Thursday and Saturday nights, Jen and I nipped over to a Sunday afternoon show in Manchester. It was John Bramwell at the Night and Day Café.

On the plus side, it was Bramwell. Even better, he had his Harmonic Convergence band with him so we got the full versions of new stuff and a bigger sound on classics that he more often than not plays solo. It was also interesting to hear his stories about his time working in the venue and that it features in the lyrics to Over Your Shoulder.

Less good was the number of people who had turned up primarily for a yapped catch up with their mates. He should only play to ‘quiet’ audiences. The shape of the venue was odd as well, with the stage at one end of a long and narrow room. But I suppose you work with what you have. Anyway, it was a worthwhile trip.

Two days later it was time for the second game of Boro’s season, a first round Carabao Cup game against third-tier Doncaster Rovers. I’d got tickets for Tom, Harry and I in the West Stand Lower, which I’d picked partly for novelty value but also so that I wouldn’t have to stand all evening as is the practice in the South Stand.

After Saturday’s win over Swansea, I was hopeful of a good result. Particularly as Boro fielded a strong side, albeit with Hackney, Morris and Fry held back on the bench. Doncaster made a full eleven changes from their league line-up and included Billy Sharp up front. He must be a similar age to me.

It didn’t start well and we were two goals down early on. The fella to my left was a right pain in the arse with his non-stop instructions to the players followed by criticism when they didn’t do as he suggested. I was hoping that he might storm out if a third goal went in.

Events took a turn for the worse in the second half, despite us emptying the bench. Doncaster added a further two goals for an emphatic 4-0 win. It’s just as well that they didn’t bring their first team.

The silver lining to the walloping was that the ground was virtually empty by full-time and so we could get through the underpass without queueing. There’s always a positive if you look hard enough. I also liked the way that Rob Edwards reacted without throwing any of the players under a bus. He hinted that there would be some changes to the squad before the window closed so I suppose we will just have to hope for some players good enough to go straight into the starting eleven.

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Middlesbrough v Swansea City, Saturday 9th August 2025, 3pm

August 28, 2025

The Boro’s first league game of the season took place on the same day as an Undertones gig at Stockton Arc. Jen and I were joined by a few mates for an enjoyable performance. Afterwards we called into the kebab shop opposite and bumped into the bassist. They didn’t have pizza on the rider and so he had to sort out his own post-gig scran. He seemed a decent bloke and he chatted away to Jen about all kinds of American and Irish stuff.

Earlier in the day I’d made my way to the Riverside with quite low expectations. I’d been to a few of the pre-season games and, whilst some of the performances were ok at times, we hadn’t managed a win or ever looked like a team that would create too many chances.

Harry and I have moved seats to the South Stand, next to Tom. He was working though and so Alistair came along instead. Harry must be pushing six foot now, but Alistair is younger and shorter and so he spent a lot of the game standing on his seat.

New signing Brittain was making his debut at right wing back, but we were still filling in with Silvera on the left. There was no sign of van den Berg with his move to Cologne appearing imminent, but Hackney started in midfield after knocking back an approach from fellow Championship side Ipswich.

It all went better than I’d expected. There wasn’t much between the teams in the first half, but I felt that we took control of the game after the break. A rare Dael Fry goal was enough to take the points and get the campaign off to a solid start.

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Emley v Silsden, Friday 8th August 2025, 7.45pm

August 27, 2025

I’ve been making reasonably progress at ticking off the grounds in the East Division of the Northern Premier League, mainly due to the efforts of Northern League clubs in gaining promotion to it. As I had a Friday night with nothing planned, I thought I’d head down to Emley for their opening game of the season against Silsden.

In an update of other stuff, Jen and I had been to the Old Courtroom at Middlesbrough Town Hall the night before to see local band Weathership. They were ok, but I preferred one of the livelier support bands.

The drive down to Emley was more complicated than it needed to be with multiple road closures. Nevertheless, I made it on time to the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground and handed over my tenner admission just as the teams were walking out. There was a decent programme for a couple of quid.

Emley were favourites for the win having just missed out on promotion last year whilst Silsden were playing their first ever fixture as high as the eighth tier. I watched for a while from behind the goal, then found myself a seat in the main stand where I ended up in conversation with a fellow groundhopper about some of the other grounds in the division.

Next to the main stand was a cabin with a rooftop viewing area. This was where the people who had opted for the thirty pounds hospitality package watched the game from. The stands behind the goal looked as if they had all been erected at different times with little regard to an overall design. I liked the look of it though, it was a sort of shanty town.

The game went as expected, with Emley two up inside twenty-five minutes and then adding a third midway through the second half. A fair few of the near five-hundred crowd were from Silsden and their team showed enough to suggest that, despite the result, they will do ok this season.

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