Damage in the Box!: FRICKLEY ATHLETIC (Westfield Lane)

After all the hassle of last weekend it was a relief to wake up to glorious September sunshine and the latest step on the road to Wembley. The weather was still brilliant as we arrived in Yorkshire and at the ground of Selby Town for their game with Guiseley. However the notice on the door of the turnstile soon turned the smiles to groans it was GAME OFF. Oh dear. Due to the bright sunshine it never even occurred that this match would be off and it never even entered ones mind as a consequence to make a phone call to check. Groundhopping rule number one...always check!!

It was a quick scan of the paper and the nearest game to Selby was Goole v Quorn. This was a run of the mill league game and therefore did not appeal. It was FA Cup day and an FA Cup tie it had to be. Pickering was next to be considered, but given it was fast approaching 1.30pm it would be cutting it a little fine. Next on the list was Frickley Athletic v Skelmersdale United, an all Unibond league clash but it was Premier v Division One. A higher ranked team that was struggling against a lower ranked team that was unbeaten. It had the making of a classic cup tie. A quick phone call to check the game was on, yeah wise after the event I know, and it was a quick dash to South Elmsall.

South Elmsall is a former mining village, near Wakefield, that was brought to its knees, like most mining towns of Britain, by Thatcher in the 1980’s. Its local team, Frickley Athletic is named after the colliery. The ground is located on Westfield Lane close to where the old mine used to be and the landscape is dominated by a slag heap, which towers over the terrace on one side of the ground. The other side of the ground is a huge wooden stand which gives you great views of the aforementioned slag heap, oh and the pitch as well!

In fact, the ground recently made it into, ironically, a Daily Telegraph list of 50 things we love about Britain. I quote “16.Frickley Football Club is renowned for having the bleakest football ground in the country. It’s overlooked by a slag-heap which dominates the ground much as Mount Vesuvius does Naples-albeit rather less picturesquely. In the depths of winter, though, with snow dusting its summit, it’s a remarkable sight. Visiting fans are often found taking more photographs of the slag heap than the football.” I can vouch for that!!

It was £8 to enter the ground and a further £1.50 for the programme. Another £2.80 bought you the delightful combination of steak pie, chips, mushy peas, gravy and mint sauce. As I’m watching my figure I declined this offer. Honestly. They had a social club in which you had the chance to wash down the local cuisine with a couple of beers, if you so desired!

The game itself though was hugely disappointing and never really sparked to life until the last quarter. Skelmersdale dominated the play but alas the final ball into the box was poor and they never really created any clear chances. Frickley looked very nervous, you could tell they were a team very low on confidence and nobody wanted to take the responsibility of driving the team on. It was a complete shock when Frickley took the lead on 72 minutes, but it was in very dubious circumstances. There was a handball in the box, which only the linesman interpreted as deliberate, as the defender was very close to the ball when it was fired in and didn’t really have any chance of getting out of the way. You could say “I’ve seen them given” but it was harsh. Danny Walsh still missed the penalty as it was well saved, but he fired in the rebound to atone for his original error. You could see the confidence lift in the Frickley team and despite Skelmersdale continuing to push for an equaliser, Frickley now looked very dangerous on the break. However, despite 5 minutes of stoppage time Frickley held on to go into the hat for the next round.