NEWS ARCHIVE JAN 08 to JUNE 08

30 Jun Liam Watson returns as manager and is bringing several players with him including Kiheeney (I will have to learn how to spell that name now) Exciting times ahead.

Life is starting to get back to some sort of normality after probably the most hectic period in my life. I have never known things to happen like they have over the past month. Book, trust, managers, health issues and work related problems have made it a stressful month. There is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully a calmer period ahead, I hope!

I would like to thank every single person who has contacted me. I hope I have replied to everyone. At times I had mails galore in my inbox, if I have missed replying, please accept my apologies. I am hoping to spend some time at the weekend doing some much needed work on the site. The fixtures should be out so I can start to put things in place ready for the new season.

29 Jun Trust In Yellow Shoot Out at Veterans Day in Princes Park 11am to around 5pm if the weather holds! Yet another soaking for the volunteers who turned up to run the shoot out, one day we will get a nice sunny one. We packed up around 3.15 as the heavens opened. It then brightened up into a glorious sunny late afternoon. The Shoot Out will next be out on 10 August, anyone with anything planned for that day can be guaranteed rain!

28 Jun Interesting goings on at Burscough with Liam Watson resigning and Joey Dunn taking over as manager. I'm sure we all wish Chris Lloyd a speedy recovery.

Full Statement from Burscough Official Site:-

The illness of chairman Chris Lloyd and the current economic situation affecting the proposed new ground development plans, has resulted in the board of directors having to make financial adjustments to safeguard the future of Burscough Football Club.
It is with much regret that manager Liam Watson has kindly resigned and is replaced as manager by Joey Dunn, Liam's assistant for the past two seasons.
The club is currently reassessing all financial aspects both off and on the pitch. The board is saddened at having to take such measures but the priority is to safeguard the future of the club.
We wish chairman, Chris Lloyd, a speedy recovery from his illness and would like to thank Liam Watson for his tremendous contribution to the club, not only in bringing recent success, but in dealing with this current situation admirably and professionally.
The board of directors have the utmost respect for Liam and wish him well in his future management career.
The focus of the board is to fully support the new manager, Joey Dunn, with the development of a squad of players which will be up to the challenge of maintaining our Blue Square North status.
The proposed new ground development also remains a major priority. It is essential for the clubs future sustainability and development that the proposed new West Lancashire Community Sports Academy is built, which will provide a much needed grass roots football development facility for the children of Burscough and West Lancashire.
We continue to work with our professional advisors, including Bryan Robson's sports consultancy company, who remain in discussions with the relevant sports national governing bodies who continue to support this grass roots sport community scheme.
It is critical at times such as these that every supporter of the club gets behind the team and we ask the community of Burscough and West Lancashire to give as much encouragement and support as they can.
The board of directors is pleased to have the full support of the supporters club chairman, Dave Aindow, and their members.
Burscough football club has enjoyed a very succesful period of football since winning the F.A. Trophy in 2003 and now playing in the Blue Square North, the highest level of football in the club's history, which we will endeavour to maintain.
Our first pre season friendly is against Manchester United on Saturday July 12th, kick off 3p.m. at Victoria Park. Your support would be very much appreciated.
Finally, the board of directors would like to thank everyone involved with the club for their contributions and support. Further announcements will be made as and when required.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
 

23 Jun Gary Brabin is appointed manager at Cambridge United after just seven games in charge and 76 days at Haig Ave. Reports seem to suggest an illegal approach from Cambridge. A contender for the shortest ever NL manager reign? George Ross runs him close I think but will need advice as to exactly how many days it was. It doesn't help those of us trying to write a book.

22 Jun Book almost done. Back from publisher, being proof read so life (and the website) will soon return to normal!

Rumours abound re Gary Brabin and his future at the club, hopefully whatever is going on will get sorted quickly!

19 Jun Trust In Yellow Meeting 7.30pm Grandstand Club.

17 Jun I will soon be able to turn my attentions back to the website as the book nears completion. Today is book deadline day, there will then be some proofing to do and then I will set to at getting the site back up to date.

The book launch is on track for August all being well. Full details of the launch date will be announced as soon as we hear from the publisher/printer.

9 Jun Season Tickets go on sale, we have ordered numbers 1 and 2 for the ground!

8 Jun Looks like we will have the joys of playing Redditch again next season as Nuneaton, Halifax and Boston are demoted. Boston are appealing against the decision but on the face of it they look likely to go down a league. Vauxhall also seem to be getting a reprieve. It really is getting out of hand all this nonsense about who plays where. The football season seems to be irrelevant these days it's all sorted out at AGM's. Time to have a serious look at the whole structure of Non League football and the people involved at clubs?

5 Jun I again apologise for the lack of updates to the site, the book deadline is fast approaching and there is still loads to do. I have also been a bit preoccupied with one or two other pressing matters in the last week. I would like to thank everyone who has contacted me in the last week, I hope I have replied to everyone but for some reason I do have a problem replying to hotmail on occasions. Furthermore and by far the worst,  I face a spell on the sidelines as I have to go into hospital for an operation on my ear to try and sort out a balance/dizziness problem I have (Menieres Disease) and this will see me out of action for a while and will probably result in me missing some matches! If I am seen at games, wobbling a bit, fully covered up and in disguise it will mean I am still signed off from work! Not sure of the date of this yet but it could impact on the updating of the site. I will ask my wonderful wife to advise on here when I am out of action.

There is a problem with the Trust In Yellow website at present. It will be fixed a soon as it can be.

3 Jun Club AGM at 7pm

31 May Closing date for subscriptions to Trust In Yellow's Complete Non League History book.

30 May Book subscriptions now stand at 262, tomorrow is the last day to subscribe.

29 May TRUST IN YELLOW AGM 7.30PM.

28 May PLAYER LIST INDEX The player lists have all been converted to pdf docs.

25 May Apologies for the lack of updates to the site, I am spending a lot of time on the book which is nearing deadline day with a lot of work still to be put in! Once the book is complete the site will get my full attention and a number of changes will be made, mainly converting a number of the larger files to pdf docs to free up space and make downloading things quicker and easier.

24 May Congratulations to Hull City who make it to the Premiership for the first time in their lives. I may actually get a few Premiership grounds crossed off next season if the fixture list is kind and they play locally on a day that we don't have a game. I have one very happy father tonight! Bolton and Wigan are the target grounds I need.

22 May Nuneaton won't be in Conf North next season after going into Administration. Boston also look like they may have a problem. This really is getting crazy now. I have every sympathy with the fans of all these clubs but it just goes to show how badly run some of them are.

18 May Final reminder for subscribers to The Complete Non League History Of Southport Football Club. The closing date to be a subscriber to the Trust In Yellow NL History book is getting close, 31 May. Subscribing is the only way of guaranteeing a copy of the special limited edition. Only 500 copies are going to be printed. To subscribe you can e-mail rob@southportfcstats.co.uk or write to Rob Urwin(TIY), 19 Hillsview Road, Ainsdale, Southport, PR8 3PW  including a cheque made payable to Trust In Yellow, with your name and details. The subscription fee is £5 which ensures your name goes into the book, the balance of £7.95 to be paid on receipt of the book.

Exeter are promoted to the Football League.

17 May 10 years ago today (to the date) we were playing at Wembley in the FA Trophy Final. DVD's are still available at £9.95. Contact me for details.

15 May Season Ticket prices are frozen and will be on sale from Monday 9th June. Secondary school pupils can purchase a season ticket for just £50. Main stand prices are adults £210 concessions £142.80.
Ground adults £184 concessions £126. Sales times are Monday and Wednesdays 10am-8pm. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 10am to 4pm. Season ticket holders get into pre season home matches free. Credit Card Payments can be made this season.

Composition of Conference North is confirmed subject to final ratification at the AGM. Just the one new ground for me, Farsley. It's a shame we won't be playing Redditch again!

Mark Houghton on his way to Leigh is bad news to me. I think he has immense talent if given a chance and he is a Southport lad who actually supports the club. I suspected Liam and Paul would go so was resigned to that but Mark going seems a total waste of the time we have put in to his development.

11 May Ron Ellis reports on Port Chat that Liam Blakeman has signed for AFC Telford. Also sounds like Paul Barratt is on his way to Northwich.

9 May Just watched the DVD of the Stalybridge away game for the first time.....it's taken this long to be able to face it again! The challenge on Drench is a shocker and it is a lovely own goal from Sykes. As for the pens Rick never looked like saving one and the save by the Stalybridge keeper was illegal but they usually are in penalty shoot outs aren't they. We had some chances but over the whole game Stalybridge deserved the victory.

FINAL SCORE FROM BURTON-BARROW 1 STALYBRIDGE CELTIC 0

As it stands tonight the make up of Conference North is below but as usual the final composition will depend on whether it is Kings Lynn and Boston to go South or Redditch and Worcester. It also looks like Altrincham are in line for another reprieve at the expense of Halifax who face demotion to the Unibond which will mean Hucknall stay in Conference North. One day a league will be decided by what happens on the pitch.

7 May The site will have a full update over the coming weeks and a few changes made. I am currently working flat out on The Book and I am into my second week of leave with still lots to pull together so that is taking priority at the moment. It still isn't too late to subscribe to the book. We now have 200 subscribers which will leave just 300 going out on general sale as it is a one off 500 print only Limited Edition. The only way you can 100% guarantee a copy is by being a subscriber.

The confirmed official away attendance (standing) was 393 on Sunday. There were an estimated 100 sitting in the stand.

I have another thread on Port Chat! Someone (Piper?) thinks I'm an old moaner and doesn't seem to like my anti Liverpoo "ravings" TOUGH! They will be ongoing throughout the lifetime of this site because I can't stand them! Having seen the way the thread has gone do people now understand why I rarely post on there?

FAR MORE IMPORTANT THINGS, FROM THE OFFICIAL SITE

GARY BRABIN APPOINTED SOUTHPORT MANAGER AS CLUB CONTINUE FULL TIME

Southport Football Club are pleased to formally announce the appointment of Gary Brabin as full time manager. After discussions with Gary Brabin it has been decided to retain a full time playing staff for next season in Blue Square North. Chairman Charlie Clapham said " I am delighted to announce Gary Brbin as our new manager and we both believe we have exciting times ahead. We have continuity by retaining both Gary and our full time status which shows the clubs ambitions. Our early decision also gives plenty of time to prepare for next season.

That is great news and early confirmation is just what we needed.

5 May Congratulations to Paul Aird of Southport who wins the PREDICTION LEAGUE after a three way play off. I will be in touch to arrange presentation of the trophy.

The morning after the day before and it still doesn't feel any better. Trying to look for some positives is hard, they are there but at this moment in time they all seem a bit too trivial.

There's actually some well reasoned debate going on on Port Chat for a change about yesterday's events and the future, almost felt like joining in but managed to stop myself at the last minute! Still some cringeworthy stuff from our fans on the Conference North Forum.

Earlier this season I was accused of being too anti-Burscough on here.  If you read the Burscough forum the one person who posts, and replies to himself seems to be obsessed with Southport. Maybe he should be a touch careful with what he posts, you never know just what may be around the corner in football do you?!!

APPEAL If Neil Goatman reads this or if anyone knows Neil and has a contact number for him could he please get in touch. I have lost his address and have a Stalybridge programme for him!

4 May Away Stalybridge Celtic Play Off Semi-Final 2nd Leg-Kick Off 3pm.

11.30am Apparently it is pouring with rain in Stalybridge but they don't envisage any problems with the game going ahead. Memories of NYD 2005?

STALYBRIDGE 2 SOUTHPORT 1 AGG 2-2 STALYBRIDGE WIN 5-3 ON PENS

I always have disliked penalty shoot outs in play offs but even more so now! They are such a cruel way to decide a whole season and the sooner they are done away with the better. I know we would still be out under my way of deciding it, the higher placed club going through, but it doesn't put the pressure on one individual. It's the first shoot out I have seen, that matters, with Southport and I never realised before the anguish you feel if you lose but it hit home today when I saw Liam break down at the end of the game.

What a game, both goalkeepers substituted, it looked like the Stalybridge keeper overdid his celebrating of the goal a bit and landed awkwardly. Maybe his ott antics caught up a bit with him. Drenchy had concussion and was subbed at half time. I haven't seen the DVD yet but the feeling from our bench after the game was the player concerned should have had a straight red card. Matt Hocking also stretchered off, a bizarre own goal to send the game into extra time and the drama of a penalty shoot out which went the wrong way. Add to that the ref having to be replaced after Liam smashed the ball into his face, accidentally I may add, and all in all it was a highly entertaining game. We eventually got away from the ground at 6.45 after we had got the manager interviews out of the way.  Pens scored by Paul Barratt, Neil Robinson and Tony Gray.

Good luck to Stalybridge in the final, I for one hope they go on and win it. I know some felt they were over physical and compared to the two league games when they looked a much better side than just the physical side we saw in the last two games I still think they deserve to go up.

Big few days coming up I think with lots of decisions to be taken on the future and only 97 days to go until the new season starts, if the 9th of August is the correct start date.

It will be just the one new place to visit next season for me, Farsley Celtic. There is of course lots still to sort out with either Barrow or Stalybridge getting promoted, Alty probably gaining yet another reprieve, at the expense of Halifax, and, if Halifax do get demoted into The NPL then, Hucknall would be saved. There is also the issue as to which clubs would have to move south with Redditch (won't we miss them) and Worcester looking likely favourites.

3 May Congratulations to Gateshead who are promoted to Conference North. FCUM are also promoted, to the Unibond Prem which I am sure we are all delighted about, surely they will soon have to have their own ground if they wish to progress any further?

As at 9pm there are just two seats remaining on Coach 3.

2 May I will again be in the Club Shop 4.30pm to 6.30pm. Please call in and pick up a bargain or two ready for Sunday or book your coach places.

The fun goes on between Barrow and Telford fans. Isn't it great not having to worry about getting tickets, no threats of violence and MOST people being what true football fans are all about. I'm sure whether it will be us or Stalybridge we will be heavily outnumbered in the final, does it matter? It may be worth reminding one or two Barrow fans just what the gates had dropped to before they all crawled out of the woodwork again, it may also be worth reminding them where the ground is by the sound of it.

Stalybridge have announced that the game will now be segregated and we will be under cover which given the forecast for Sunday is a relief. Admission is £10 and the programme will be £2.

1 May Having watched the DVD, still think it could easily have been a pen and the challenge on Princey was a yellow card at the least. The passage of play leading to our goal saw the ball in play for nearly two minutes before the ball hit the net which is rare at this level. The attendance of 1361 was half that of the Barrow v Telford(2701) game but it is around the figure I predicted would turn up given the game on TV. Interesting to see how many we take on Sunday. Two coaches are full and bookings being taken for a third, could be 300 or so. I was hoping the game would be segregated to keep everyone together but it seems to suggest that it won't be at this point. It's going to be a tense 90 minutes. I still thought Stalybridge looked a good team despite their fans not being overly impressed, it will be tough!

Very much looks like our game is being seen as "the other semi-final" with Barrow having to request more tickets and taking 900 to Telford in a gate expected to be around the 5000 mark. Do we care? The end result will be the same, a final at Burton on 9th May for either us or Stalybridge. Telford and Barrow can brag all they want we will just get on with our game in pleasant surroundings at a great club. My idea of not deciding play off games on penalties but allowing the team who finished highest in the league to go through still stands if the scores are level after 90 minutes even though it would work against us this Sunday. Much fairer than a whole season being decided on five spot kicks in my view.

30 Apr Home v Stalybridge Celtic Play Off Semi-Final 1st Leg Kick Off 7.45pm. Weather is fine as I type at 14.10, pitch was immaculate yesterday, and the forecast rain for tonight should make it ideal as long as there's not too much! Don't forget to book on the coaches for Sunday's game in the Trust Office tonight or by phoning either Alan on 07980-911693 or myself on 077900-41514.

SOUTHPORT 1 STALYBRIDGE CELTIC 0 ATT 1361.(210 Standing Stalybridge fans) A great night with us winning and Liverpoo going out of Europe, what more could a man ask for. A super Liam Blakeman strike after 36 minutes gives us a narrow lead against an impressive, pacey looking Stalybridge Celtic team who I'm sure will come out with all guns blazing in the second leg which is set up nicely for Sunday. The second coach is almost full so please book now if you intend travelling by coach so that we can organise a third coach if it is needed. Robbo spurned a couple of good chances to increase the lead and I thought we had a dead on penalty with the handball but alas not. Chris Holland and Neil Prince must be doubts for Sunday, both going off with what looked like serious injuries. Unbelievable that the ref took no action against the Celtic player responsible for Princey's injury, maybe it wasn't as bad a challenge as it looked from a distance and without my glasses on!

THE PREDICTION COMPETITION has gone to a play off to decide the winner with the three concerned predicting the scores in the 4 BSN play off games. Paul and Howard have predicted the same scores in 3 of the games as well!! It could be decided on the Barrow v Telford game tonight.

 29 Apr Had an hour at the club taking a few photos and watching a bit of training, the atmosphere was brilliant with every single player having a smile on their face and thoroughly enjoying the session. Vibrant is the word I would use!

28 Apr Just had a look at the potential make up of the leagues next season and the mileage totals. 8524 if we get promoted to BSP against 3874 if we are in BSN dependant on which teams are where. It's only a rough guide and subject to a number of assumptions but it is quite a difference. Most people know my desire for regionalised football at the lower levels, I want to be able to get to every game we play. You would have to be full time to meet the BSP travel commitments and can most of the clubs at that level honestly sustain full time football? The four true part-timers have been relegated this season which speaks volumes. Time for a re-think?

27 Apr Wembley Reunion Match v 1992/93 squad Kick Off 1.30pm. 

26 Apr Away Vauxhall Motors 3pm. Coaches depart Haig Ave at 12.30, The George at 12.35, The Crown at 12.40 and The Arion at 12.50, note reversal of departure places. First coach is full and the second is almost.  The fare is just £5 to TIY members £8 to non members.

VAUXHALL MOTORS 1 SOUTHPORT 2-Made hard work of that one didn't we but it was a well deserved win against a team who you actually wonder how they survive. The gate of 583 must have had no more than 100 VM fans in it. 2 up after 10 minutes it should have been cruise time and it surely would have been if we had made the most of the glut of chances we created in the first half in which we played some super football. Whether we took our foot off the pedal in the second period, I don't know but it was "squeaky bum" time for those final 15 minutes. The result means we meet Stalybridge at home on Wednesday (another clash with Champions League on TV) and away next Sunday. It will be interesting to see how many turn up on Wednesday hopefully a gate of 1200 which without the "counter-attraction" could have been around the 1700 mark. We shall see.

As for the PREDICTION LEAGUE. It has ended in a three way tie which is my worst nightmare as I hadn't planned on what to do in the event of a tie. I shall contact the three concerned, Howard Birch, Paul Aird and Ken Bridge to make arrangements for a play off!

Harrogate v Workington, Stalybridge v Redditch, Burscough v Telford and Barrow v Worcester.

25 Apr I will be in the Club Shop 4.30pm to 6.30pm. Coach bookings can be taken and souvenirs including flags etc can be bought for the trip to Vauxhall.

SFCSTATS END OF SEASON VOTING

Player Of The Year-1st Kevin Lee, 2nd Chris Holland, 3rd Chris Lever

Best Home Match-1st Hucknall, 2nd Hyde, 3rd Vauxhall

Best Away Match- 1st Telford, 2nd Nuneaton, 3rd Hyde

Best Goal-Neil Prince (Setanta Shield) 2nd Mark Houghton v Hinckley

Best Team Played-Stalybridge Celtic

Worst Team Played-Redditch!

Best Ground Visited-AFC Telford.

Thank you to everyone who voted, more votes this year than ever before.

23 Apr Just watched the goals from last night again. I hadn't appreciated just how good Tony Gray's goal was and even the Leigh Keeper applauds it.. Anyone wanting to order a copy of the DVD can do so via myself. They are £8 and made to order. E-mail me at rob@southportfcstats.co.uk

22 Apr Home v Leigh RMI 7.45pm.  Tamworth v Harrogate 1-1

SOUTHPORT 2 LEIGH RMI 0 A comfortable win, in the end settled by two excellent first half goals by Liam Blakeman and Tony Gray. Fourth game in a row without a booking for us. Liam Blakeman's goal was our 1800th in NL football. Excellent referee as he was last time he came for the Blyth game when he again went the 90 minutes without booking anyone.

19 Apr PREDICTION COMPETITION is going right down to the wire and could well be decided on the finishing position of Southport FC!

Not the best set of results for us today but we started the weekend in 6th place, we went up overnight to 4th before finishing back in 6th. However I'm sure the result at Nuneaton has given everyone a boost, things would have been grim without that win, it's in our hands and we have games against two teams already relegated. I think we would have taken that back on August 11th.

Matches left that affect us. Tamworth v Harrogate Tuesday 22 April, Barrow v Worcester City, Harrogate v Workington and Stalybridge v Redditch on Saturday 26th.

18 Apr Away Nuneaton-Friday 7.45pm. Coach departs Ainsdale 3.10, The Crown 3.20, The George 3.25 and Haig Ave at 3.30pm. Fare £13 to TIY Members £18 Non Members. Membership Cards must be produced when booking or if you pay on the coach to qualify for members prices.

NUNEATON 0 SOUTHPORT 2-A great night, once we got there! Whoever decided to have a Friday night game in Nuneaton? The motorway hassles were soon forgotten as we took an early lead and in honesty rarely looked threatened. It was a strangely subdued Nuneaton crowd who were obviously affected by rumours of off field problems. The vocal and extremely encouraging travelling Sandgrounders(102 counted including those I saw in the stand and down the side) gave excellent backing throughout the game. If only we could get that going at home, hopefully Tuesday night everyone will put aside their moans and really turn out and support the team. It's a pity that some may see a counter attraction (I'd rather watch Morecambe Reserves than that) on TV as more important but those that do turn up need to rally round and get behind the team. I know how much it meant to the players last night to hear the backing and Gary Brabin was truly appreciative of those who travelled the distance on a Friday night. It's in our hands to lose it now. What on paper look easy games won't be and nothing is won on paper. Well done to all the players last night, you performed well when it mattered and gave us all a sense of pride back. My MOTM was Neil Prince but I could have gone for Liam, Matt Hocking, Chris Holland, Chris Lever or Robbo. By the time we'd done the interviews with Brabs after the game it was 10 o'clock when we left and with hold ups and a quick stop at Keele on the motorway it was 12.45 when we got in but it was worth the late night. Just no more Friday night football that involves the M6 please.

17 Apr Certainly the biggest game of the season tomorrow, let's hope we rise to the occasion and avoid defeat. It's going to be a tense night, hopefully with it being an away game everyone will respond and get behind the team and back the players from start to finish.

If the official player of the year voting is anything like I have had on this site, it is a four player race with Chris Lever, Chris Holland, Kevin Lee and Mark Duffy all neck and neck. In each year I have run this vote there has been one stand out player, this season virtually every player has received a vote.

The goal of the season is pretty clear cut this time around, I'll not say which one it is but 95% of the votes cast have voted for the same goal.

15 Apr Home v Alfreton 7.45pm. SOUTHPORT 1 ALFRETON 0. I think this goes down as an ugly win but a vital one if ever there was one. We rode our luck but as we've said so often this season it's about putting the ball in the net and Micky Rae came up with a super strike to bring the points home. It was a nerve racking last 10 minutes which seemed to drag on forever but it was a win and that's what counts. I found it hard to believe some people were having a go at the ref, I thought he was one of the best we have seen at Haig Ave for a while. He could and perhaps should have booked a player from each side but he was trying to keep the game going and a few harsh words did the trick, I wish more refs were like him. I always laugh when people say a ref is rubbish just because he doesn't give your team everything? People continually knock the poor old refs, but with the exception of Mr Dowd, I don't think they have been that bad this season and even he only lost it in the face of brutality from Redditch.

Barrow draw at home to Kettering (in front of a very impressive 2086 fans) which puts qualification for the play offs back in our own hands. Our gate of 757 is our lowest of the season. Burscough beat Workington 1-0.

13 Apr PREDICTION COMPETITION UPDATED and it is now a tie. I hadn't really given any thought to what I'd do in the event of a tie so I hope it changes.

12 Apr Home v The Champions, Kettering 3pm. Hopefully Kettering will bring a few to keep the gate around the 1000 mark.

SOUTHPORT 0 KETTERING TOWN 1 A goal after 64 minutes by Anthony Robinson (Why did I promise him a DVD) condemns Brabs to a first match in charge defeat. A game that we dominated from start to finish but just lacked the killer ball and finishing touch. There certainly appeared to be more harmony in the team, we even had a team huddle before the start of the game! Kettering didn't look that bothered, why should they, but still we couldn't get a win at home which means it is 108 days since our home only followers saw us win.

9 Apr Interesting looking at Tony Kempster's latest possible league make ups below, King's Lynn in the north with Worcester and REDDITCH in the south, now that would be a bonus not having to play Redditch again! There are of course lots of assumptions being used in these and not one new ground for me. King's Lynn is much further to travel than Worcester and Redditch mind you.

STEP TWO
Northern		Southern
Team	From	Team	From
AFC Telford United Alfreton Town Altrincham Barrow Blyth Spartans Boston United Burscough Droylsden Fleetwood Town Gainsborough Trinity Halifax Town Harrogate Town Hucknall Town Hyde United King's Lynn Nuneaton Borough Solihull Moors Southport Stafford Rangers Tamworth Witton Albion Workington	CONFN CONFN CONF CONFN CONFN CONFN CONFN CONF NPP CONFN CONF CONFN CONFN CONFN SLP CONFN CONFN CONFN CONF CONFN NPP CONFN	AFC Wimbledon Basingstoke Town Bath City Bishop's Stortford Bognor Regis Town Braintree Town Bromley Cambridge City Chelmsford City Eastleigh Fisher Athletic Hampton & Richmond Havant & Waterlooville Hayes & Yeading United Newport County Redditch United St Albans City Team Bath Thurrock Welling United Weston Super Mare Worcester City	ILP CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS ILP CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFN CONFS SLP CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFN

8 Apr Barrow's late goal against Workington puts them up to sixth and we drop to seventh. Leigh beat Burscough 2-1. Stafford and Droylsden are relegated and things are looking bleak for Halifax. Alty also look favourites for the drop having played more games than the others in the lower reaches. That is unless there are more off field shenanigans to save them again.

7 Apr Peter Davenport is sacked as manager and Gary Brabin takes over. I'd like to thank Dav for all he has done at the club and his support with the programme and giving me access to players etc.

6 Apr Goal scoring hero Tony Gray is 24 today.

Interesting goalkeeping stat (well I think it is) Whiteside Played 20 Conceded 19, Smith Played 2 Conceded 3, Drench Played 15 Conceded 26. Also I think I am right in saying that since Drench arrived we have conceded 6 pens in league games having not conceded any prior to his arrival. Not sure what to make of this but the defence has stayed pretty much the same in the same period.

PREDICTION COMPETITION UPDATED-Barrow's surge up the table has brought about a few changes at the top and if they go sixth on Tuesday it will change even more as we will drop to seventh and that will impact on quite a few scores.

5 Apr Away Solihull Moors.

SOLIHULL MOORS 4 SOUTHPORT 1-The only bright spot for me as a statto is Tony Gray now holding the club scoring record for goals in successive league games beating the record held jointly by Phil Ashworth from our Football League days and Steve Haw in Non League.

Kettering are well deserved champions and have their best gate of the season whilst Burscough and Boston both have their lowest gates. Thankfully Nuneaton only draw but Barrow's incredible run continues and look to be a real danger. Could AFC Telford be about to blow it? We are still right in the mix but on today's showing we can forget about any play off chances and accept that the 26th April will be our last game of the season.

2 Apr Lancs Junior Cup Final Southport v Chorley at Leyland 7.45pm.

CHORLEY 1 SOUTHPORT 4 Goals from Tony Gray with two, Michael Powell and a Mark Duffy penalty. If only all games could be as straightforward as this. I don't think I have ever seen a side run so much as Chorley did in the first half hour but we commented that if they keep going at that rate they would be dead on their feet in the second half. The dead on their feet came earlier than predicted, they had gone after 40 minutes! Good game, good pitch, pleasant night and nice to win a pot.

1 Apr Some interesting voting going on in the end of season awards. It's going to be a close run thing in the Player Of The Year Award stakes with four players attracting an equal amount of votes at the moment, early days though.

29 Mar Home Boston United 3pm-An update on the Trust In Yellow pledges will appear in today's match day programme. It is possible that Kettering could actually win the title today if all the results go their way.

SOUTHPORT 2 BOSTON UNITED 2-Tony Gray equals the club record of 7 successive scoring league games. Thankfully Nuneaton only drew but Barrow are coming up on the rails and could still have a shout in there.

Just watched the DVD of the game (available for £8 from The Club Shop to order!) It was a blatant handball for Boston's first goal just before the cross came in but it was blindside of the ref. How the near side liner didn't see it though I don't know. The equalising goal saw Terry Smith impeded at the corner but the ball should have been hoofed clear by Kevin Lee rather than mis-kicked for the corner. Having watched it again I have changed my MOTM from Tony Gray to Chris Holland. You don't always realise just how much work Chris gets through and how many times he sets up play. No complaints overall, a draw was the right result over the 90 minutes.

24 Mar-Home Workington 3pm.

SOUTHPORT 1 WORKINGTON 1-It was definitely a case of after The Lord Mayor's Show. Workington were fully deserving of their point in a game in which we simply never got going. Tony Gray's 12th goal in 7 games salvaged a point. Tony has now scored in 7 successive games, 6 in league matches. A dreadful game in all honesty. Nuneaton beat Telford but Stalybridge lose at Tamworth. Harrogate win at Vauxhall and an impressive 665 Kettering fans make the journey to Boston to see them win 1-0. Our visitors on Saturday have now lost 4 on the spin. Hopefully Mark Duffy will be fully fit for Saturday, we do miss him in home matches when teams need breaking down.

PREDICTION COMP Updated after today's games inc Hyde v Gainsboro tonight.

23 Mar Burscough's game at Leigh tomorrow has already been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

The gate of 2351 at Telford was the highest we have ever played in front of in NL football outside of Conference Games. The previous best being the 2230 for the home game v Frickley when we were presented with the NPL Championship in 1993.

SFC STATS Player of The Season voting in conjunction with Trust In Yellow will be launched shortly. The other categories this season will be Best Home Match Of The Season, Best Away Match, Goal of The Season, Best Ground Visited, Best Team Played and Worst Team Played.

22 Mar Away AFC Telford.

AFC TELFORD 1 SOUTHPORT 5-Where did we pull that result from? After all the gloom and doom of last week to go to Telford and hammer them 5-1 was beyond my wildest expectations. What a great day! Two more goals from Tony Gray one a pen, two from the highly impressive Michael Rae and a Robbo strike put us in dreamland. The gate of 2351 was the highest we have played in front of this season and included 102 standing SFC fans who were in good voice throughout. It was actually more than 102 as I know some had to use other turnstiles to gain Over 60's prices and others came in via the stand turnstile an came into the ground.   A very impressive showing against a strong and physical Telford side. One of those days when it all goes right, I can't really remember their keeper having a shot to save, he just had to retrieve the ball 5 times from his goal.

Elsewhere, Kettering beat Nuneaton, Harrogate only draw at home to Leigh and Burscough draw with Blyth to move up to 7th.

21 Mar Marine v Witton and Mr Dowd is the referee, yes, he of Redditch fame. Witton win 2-0 in front of Marine's best league gate of the season 563. As for Mr Dowd, it was a damp squib of a game and he had little to do and in all honesty Marine didn't look as though they were bothered about and accepted defeat from early on. We didn't even hear any of the infamous, Marine, Marine "chants" As for Witton, they looked good but if they are the best in the Unibond Premier, there is a big gap between Conference North and that league. The two centre backs, ex Port player Brian Pritchard and Tony Barras have a combined age of 72 and what must be a combined weight of 30 stone, they read the game well but there is no way they would make the step up to Conference North. Tony Evans started up front for Witton and Mark Peers came on as sub with Darren Brookfield playing for a depleted Mariners.

16 Mar Everton Ladies v Leeds Ladies. Women's FA Cup Semi-Final at Haig Ave 3pm. Leeds win 5-4 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.

Kettering beat Hyde 3-0.

15 Mar Home Stalybridge Kick Off 3pm.

SOUTHPORT 2 STALYBRIDGE 3-A disappointing result but in all honesty we didn't deserve anything out of this. Stalybridge looked ordinary in the first half but came out a different team in the second period and completely dominated to get a well deserved win. We usually play well against teams that let us play football but we didn't today. It wouldn't surprise me to see Stalybridge go all the way in the play offs. Ollie James somewhat surprisingly started up front and scored after 13 minutes. Prince and Powell missed great chances in the first half to give us a decent lead. Two goals in two minutes for Stalybridge in the 53rd and 55th put them in control before a third after 63 minutes killed us off. Mark Houghton was fouled in the box for a definite penalty which Tony Gray despatched for his 12th goal of the season. We looked lightweight today and rarely looked like pulling it back.

Harrogate lose whilst Nuneaton draw. Telford score an added time winner to beat Redditch 1-0. Burscough win 1-0 at Boston. Hyde play Kettering tomorrow.

Yet another new leader in the PREDICTION COMPETITION

Just been reading the Burscough forum, they seem to be getting in a right state about our Lancashire Cup game having been brought forward a day with more posts in this thread than the normal two and calls for Frank Parr to resign! they really have got a bit worked up over it.

14 Mar Programme well worth buying tomorrow, a very good edition although I say it myself! Just realised we haven't won at home in the league since Boxing Day which on the face of it sounds bad but we haven't played that many games. Even so, a home win is overdue.

13 Mar I wonder what the odds will be on a draw in the match on Saturday. Stalybridge don't do away draws and with a record of 12 wins and 6 defeats and 37 goals for with just 20 against it promises to be a tough one. At least I think it should be a good football match if the game at Bower Fold is anything to go by. I expect they will bring a few with them as well which will help.

12 Mar Site slowly getting back to normal. All the regular pages will be updated after the match on Saturday.

11 Mar Another new leader in the Prediction Competition after tonight's games which see us slip to 6th. We do have games in hand over Nuneaton, Harrogate, Stalybridge and Telford and of course we play three of them.

Workington, Vauxhall and Tamworth all have their lowest gates of the season.

10 Mar MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH WEB SITE gradually getting sorted out, what a nightmare it has been. Some features may be missing for a while. I could do with a day off work to get everything sorted out but unfortunately not possible this week so it will be a gradual process. It has been a bad few days! Apologies to my regulars but it really has had me up the wall, hopefully not too much has disappeared, if you notice anything unusual please let me know.

Lancs Junior Cup Final will now be played on Wednesday April 2nd.

8 Mar Away Tamworth

TAMWORTH 1 SOUTHPORT 3

Another fairly comfortable win and another hat-trick from Tony Gray. It was the first time we have ever had 2 away hat-tricks in successive games. Tony is back on form, lets hope he can stay clear of the injuries that seem to dog his career and become a regular goal getter. His third goal was a classic training ground routine that Kevin Lee claims to have come up with. Not sure if we believe that one!

4 Mar Home Leigh RMI Lancs Junior Cup Semi-Final.

SOUTHPORT 4 LEIGH RMI 0

A comfortable win with all the goals coming in the second half from Kevin Lee, Mark Houghton, Tony Gray and Josh Hine. The final will be against Chorley who surprisingly beat Burscough. Final initially set for Thursday April 3rd but under discussion.

3 Mar Any night owls trying to visit this site between 11pm and 5am won't be able to as the host is upgrading the server. I may have to switch over from Front Page over the next few months but I am waiting to see exactly what some of the changes the host is making mean, they may as well be talking in Japanese to a non tech like me!

Gary Whild the Redditch manager has made interesting comments but one suggesting that IF any of his players have stepped out of line they will be dealt with is good. Have a look at the DVD Gary, I think you will have 5 players to "deal with" one or two of whom should never ever be let loose near a football pitch again. Come back and tell us all what you have done.

2 Mar The morning after the day before and the debate rages on about the events of yesterday. I have reproduced Ron's reports from Non League Today and The Champion below. The one pleasing thing coming out of it all is the apparent acceptance by most of the Redditch fans that it was all their teams fault, most are not trying to defend the actions of their team which is to their credit, I'm not sure how they could but somehow I thought they might.

I have to admit to laughing at the fact that Neil Prince failed a fitness test just before yesterday's game. What's the betting he took one look at their team and thought twice about playing! A wise choice!

SOUTHPORT 1 REDDITCH UNITED 1
BY RON ELLIS
This game was marred by the most disgraceful scenes I have seen on a football pitch, instigated by Redditch United who, having had four players booked and two sent off in stoppage time, went on the rampage after the final whistle. As away spectators bawled obscene chants from the stand, stewards had a hard job defending themselves and the home players as a mass brawl broke out until the Redditch players were finally corralled into the tunnel and held there until the police arrived. Even Southport’s elderly chairman nobly ran onto the pitch to the defence of his players and staff.
Southport’s attempts to play pretty passing football team were no match for the physical threat of the visitors who thundered around the pitch like marauding Neanderthals although Southport took the lead in the 18th minute when Tony Gray’s shot from the edge of the box flew into the top corner past a bemused Danny Lewis. Gray might have had a second on half time but Lewis fisted out his shot from the edge of the area. Neil Robinson had a goal disallowed for offside in the 52nd minute as Southport had most of the possession but Redditch got back into the game with a 68th minute penalty by Liam Daly after Kevin Lee was deemed to have fouled Damian Markman.
The Sandgrounders went all out for the winner but, having failed to punish heavy fouls in the first half, referee John Dowd had lost control of the game and in the seven minutes of stoppage time, having issued four yellows, he dismissed Exodus Geohagan and captain Lee Downes plus the Redditch assistant manager/coach, Heggs. When Paul Barrett was hacked down after seven minutes of injury time, the referee blew the final whistle.  The draw meant Southport dropped out of the play-offs for the first time this season but there was only relief that there were no serious injuries on the battlefield although two Southport players left the field with bleeding heads.

We have not heard the last from this match

SOUTHPORT 1 REDDITCH UNITED 1 by RON ELLIS

Southport drew 1-1 with Redditch United at Haig Avenue on Saturday but the result was of little importance for this game was marred by the most disgraceful scenes I have ever seen on a football pitch, instigated by Redditch United who, having had four players booked plus two sent off in stoppage time, went on the rampage after the final whistle.
From the start, the Worcester side relied on brutality and intimidation which went unpunished by a disgracefully inept referee who had totally lost control of the game by the second half. The fact that Redditch had seven yellow cards, two reds and the assistant manager sent off, whilst not one person from Southport was booked tells its own story.
Mark Duffy was taken out of the game by a vicious challenge, which led to him being carried off, and similar treatment was given to Mark Houghton. Both were clearly sending off offences but on neither occasion was a red card shown. Liam Blakeman had stitches in a facial wound and, at the end of the game, when Paul Barrett was cruelly scythed down, the referee (John Dowd, remember the name) bottled out and, instead of reducing Redditch to eight men, he spinelessly blew the final whistle.
As he did so, a mass brawl broke out as the Redditch players and bench went for the Southport players and officials. The stewards raced on to the pitch to try to protect the players and even Charlie Clapham and Sam Shrouder ran down from the stands to bravely confront the marauders.
The Southport players commendably refrained from retaliating other than to defend themselves and it is to the credit of the Southport fans that not one of them encroached on the field of play. Eventually, the Redditch team were forced down the tunnel and locked in the dressing room until the police arrived
If there is any justice in football, assault charges should be brought against the offending Redditch players (naming them is easy, the evidence is on DVD) and Redditch United should be thrown out of the league, which will send a lesson to other clubs that such outrageous behaviour will not be tolerated. Make no mistake, this was no ‘fancy handbags’ but a full-scale riot in which somebody could have been seriously hurt. The police should be encouraged to prosecute. How embarrassing for travelling Redditch fans to have to witness their team behaving in such a way.
Southport’s attempts to play passing football team were no match for the physical threat of the visitors who thundered around the pitch like savage Neanderthals. Yet it was Southport who took the lead in the 128th minute when Tony Gray’s fine shot from the edge of the box flew into the top corner past a bemused Danny Lewis. Gray might have had a second on half time but Lewis fisted out his shot from the edge of the area.
Blakeman just failed to connect to a pinpoint Duffy centre on the restart and Neil Robinson had a goal disallowed for offside in the 52nd minute as Southport had most of the possession but Redditch got back into the game with a 68th minute penalty by Liam Daly after Kevin Lee was deemed to have fouled Damian Markman. A borderline decision at best.
The Sandgrounders went all out for the winner but Redditch held on. Seven minutes extra time were played in which Exodus Geohagan and captain Lee Downes were dismissed as was Heggs, the Redditch assistant manager/coach, Then Barrett was hacked down, the whistle blew and the balloon went up.
Unfortunately, other results went badly for The Sandgrounders with leaders Kettering Town destroying Vauxhall Motors 6-0 and the other 5 teams in the top 6 all winning. Southport thus dropped out of the play-offs for the first time this season although they can overtake Stalybridge and Hyde with their games in hand.
Manager Peter Davenport confirmed that his players had aches and pains and cuts after a match which was unlike anything he had seen in 25 years of football.

1 Mar Home Redditch

SOUTHPORT 1 REDDITCH 1-If that's the way a team wants to play "football" then the game is at its lowest point ever. That wasn't football from Redditch that was sheer unadulterated thuggery that has no place on a football pitch. I've certainly never ever seen scenes like it in all my Southport watching days and hope we don't have to again. They came to stop us and I'm sure tonight they are travelling home happy, lets just hope the appropriate punishment is forthcoming with a points deduction that will see them relegated to the Worcester Sunday League were that type of behaviour belongs. 5 bookings, 2 Red Cards for Redditch plus the Assistant Manager sent off and there should have been a further red as the final whistle blew. No cards to us. As for the football, we scored first through a lovely Tony Gray goal, Redditch equalised from a penalty, the fifth against us in 6 games having not conceded one in the first 25 games we played. I am sure we will be hearing more about this game in the next few days. All the top teams win apart from us so we are down to sixth which is almost being forgotten in the furore about the events at the end of the game. Even Mike Braham has registered on the Conf North Forum to condemn Redditch for what went on today. It will be interesting to see what will happen. You get the horrible feeling that we will end up worse off. As the home club, could we be charged with failure to control things and face a points deduction. Does having a video of the game make it better or worse. Most clubs don't bother so just because we have one will that aid or go against our case. Could it be the case of the guilty party getting away with it. The referee's report will make interesting reading. He couldn't possibly see everything that went on. Was the attack on the ref's assistant spotted and who did it? Lots of questions, I hope someone has the bottle to do something about it.

I won't be posting any of the photos, taken at the end of the game, on here until any investigation into events is complete.

29 Feb I will be in the Club Shop 4.30 to 6.30, sorry for anyone who called in to find I wasn't there, delayed at work.

28 Feb Trust In Yellow meeting at the Grandstand Club 7.30pm.

26 Feb After this evening's games the Predictions Competition has been updated and there is a new leader and it's not a fix honestly!!  Burscough beat Leigh 5-2 and the two good results see Harrogate lose at home to Blyth and our opponents on Saturday, Redditch beat Hyde 3-1 to move second in the 6 match form table with 15 out of their last possible 18 points, Burscough being top with 16 out of 18.

25 Feb Neil Sorvel has returned to Morecambe after 6 games. We really are a bit short on numbers, hopefully replacements are on the way. I make it 17 players with 2 goalkeepers included and that includes David Prout and Josh Hine who are "on the fringes" Neil failed to make much of an impression with me although he did get very close to the penalty box on Saturday. He soon retreated to his safe haven of the centre circle though!

Robbo's booking on Saturday was his fifth whilst with us. I'm never sure how suspensions work at this point in the season but I think he was suspended whilst at Burscough as well so I guess he will be in line for a ban.

23 Feb Away Hinckley-New ground, number 166.

16 Feb Home Nuneaton. SOUTHPORT 2 NUNEATON 2. A late Neil Prince goal salvages a point after Nuneaton had come from behind with a penalty (awarded 3 mins 8 seconds into 3 mins of added time) and an own goal. Robbo gave us the lead with his 33rd career league goal and moves up to joint 7th place in the all time scorers list. We should have won this one. I can't remember too many chances that Nuneaton created whereas we spurned chance after chance to win the game. It's all about putting the ball in the net though and we didn't do that enough times! Two points out of 15 isn't good enough. We now have two must win games coming up before a visit to the improving Tamworth. I said last Sunday we would know more about our fate by 5pm today. I don't think we do!

The one thing to brighten up the day was the defeat of Liverpool by Championship side Barnsley in the FA Cup, now that does make the day a whole lot better. Considering the verbals I received from the mouthy Liverpool fan who continually criticises every single thing anybody does towards helping the club, I did particularly enjoy that score line, stick to Anfield, you deserve each other!

If anybody wants a copy of the poster from the centre pages of today's programme signed by the scorer, Mark Duffy, they are available for just £1. Thank you to everyone who commented on the centre page spread today it was hugely popular and I am very grateful to Kappa Sports Pictures who gave me the photos to be able to put the sequence together.

PREDICT COMP is updated and a serious challenge is being mounted in second place and as Tamworth continue to climb up the table I am confident that the leader will be put under more pressure!

15 Feb I will be manning the Club Shop from 4.30 to 6.30 today and will have copies of the Kettering DVD available to purchase without ordering. All those who have ordered and paid for a copy have been sent out. Still available to order for just £6. DVD's can be ordered for all home games this season at the normal price of £8.

Northwich seal their relegation spot by bringing in Mike Marsh. How long shall we give him? 37 days or is that too generous.

Just watched the You Tube of the Blyth game from last weekend and I'd forgotten that we did have a few chances in the second half after all. It also reminded me just how good Mark Duffy was. Also, the free kick award for the Blyth goal is a dreadful decision. I suppose like I always say when Andy Gray harps on about referees the ref only sees it once and doesn't get the chance to watch it a few times like I have. Having watched all the DVD's this season Duff's percentage of goals created is incredible.

14 Feb Taken from the excellent Tony Kempster site and based on league positions at 9 February. If it was today you would need to take out Telford and add back Harrogate assuming the second palced team goes thorugh via play offs. Tony has made the assumption that Worcester will be the team realigned to Conf South from the North. That would mean only one new ground for me, Farsley. If we were to be promoted at say the expense of Harrogate that would be three new grounds, Histon, Eastbourne and Lewes. Is Harrogate's ground ready for the Conference? I wouldn't have thought so but I can't find any confirmation anywhere. All supposition at the moment, there is a long long way to go yet so it's all academic.

I would think Northwich v Witton would possibly be the most local of local derbies of all time!

STEP TWO
Northern		Southern
Team	From	Team	From
AFC Telford United Alfreton Town Barrow Blyth Spartans Boston United Burscough Droylsden Farsley Celtic Fleetwood Town Gainsborough Trinity Hucknall Town Hyde United Northwich Victoria Nuneaton Borough Redditch United Solihull Moors Southport Stafford Rangers Stalybridge Celtic Tamworth Witton Albion Workington	CONFN CONFN CONFN CONFN CONFN CONFN CONF CONF NPP CONFN CONFN CONFN CONF CONFN CONFN CONFN CONFN CONF CONFN CONFN NPP CONFN	Basingstoke Town Bath City Bishop's Stortford Bognor Regis Town Braintree Town Bromley Cambridge City Chelmsford City Eastleigh Fisher Athletic Hampton & Richmond Havant & Waterlooville Hayes & Yeading United King's Lynn Maidenhead United Newport County Staines Town Team Bath Thurrock Welling United Weston Super Mare Worcester City	CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS ILP CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFS SLP CONFS CONFS ILP SLP CONFS CONFS CONFS CONFN

13 Feb Nuneaton drew with Worcester last night to stay in 5th place and set up a 4th/5th place showdown for Saturday!!

It's Urwin Milly, not Unwin!

PREDICT COMP UPDATED

12 Feb Away Stalybridge 7.45pm. Coach Departs Haig Ave at 5.30pm £8 TIY Members £13 Non Members or if you travel to Blyth and Stalybridge it will be just £25 for the two games. Coach is nearly full, book early to avoid disappointment.

STALYBRIDGE 2 SOUTHPORT 2-A highly entertaining game which saw us come from behind twice and we could and perhaps should have gone on to win with both Michael Powell and Robbo missing very good late chances. An early pen gave Celtic the upper hand before a penalty to us levelled it up. No arguments about either of the penalty awards from me, both clear cut. Roca put Celtic ahead with a super strike, probably one of the best goals scored against us this season. The second half was 2 minutes 40 seconds old when a floodlight failure delayed proceedings for 30 minutes. We looked lively after the restart and Mark Houghton on as sub cost me another fiver with a bundled in equaliser. It was an end to end game which could have gone either way but the points ended up being shared. Injuries to Matt Hocking and Mark Duffy saw them subbed early. Duff's looked serious at the time but I understand it was a back spasm and he was up and walking around in the second half. Great to see the supporters getting behind the team tonight, we may have been fairly small in number but that is the kind of support the players respond to and I know it was much appreciated by the players and manager.

GOALSCORERS
12-Feb-08	Lge Goals	Cup Goals	Total
Tony Gray	4	6	10
Mark Duffy	4	3	7
Liam Blakeman	4	2	6
Kevin Lee	5	1	6
Neil Prince	5	1	6
Mike Powell	5	1	6
Karl Noon	2	2	4
Neil Robinson	3	1	4
OWN GOALS	4	0	4
Mark Houghton	4	0	4
Chris Lever	3	0	3
Joel Byrom*	2	0	2
Adam Dugdale*	1	1	2
Chris Holland	2	0	2
Paul Barratt	1	0	1
Sean Newton*	1	0	1

11 Feb From Millster on the Burscough forum "Another pleasing thing was seeing the man and wife wearing their Southport colours applauding with vigour when the linnets left the pitch at the end - good job they came to Victoria park - they would not have seen a victory in 4 games following Southport where it appears to be going all wrong.
The natives are already restless on their message board!"

Maybe they were applauding with such vigour because Burscough had just beaten one of our play off rivals? The natives are permanently restless on Port Chat Millster, you should know that by now!

Hinckley beat Alfreton 1-0.

9 Feb Away Blyth Spartans 3pm.

BLYTH SPARTANS 1 SOUTHPORT 0-This was our 3800th First Class match and a goal 6 minutes from time settled it. After a promising first half when we should have been 3 up we didn't appear for the second half which was an absolute shocker from our point of view. Even so we still had a chance to win it via an own goal. It was not to be and there was an air of inevitability when the Blyth goal went in. Too many off days with Neil Sorvel having almost a Rigoglioso-esque performance, apart from his missed open goal I didn't notice him on the pitch for the remaining 95 minutes of the game. It clearly doesn't work having him, Chris Holland and Michael Powell in midfield. We were lacklustre in the second period with too many going through the motions. A decent following considering the distance of around 60, The Blyth fans say they were impressed with the numbers of about 80 but that seems a bit high to me. Onwards to Stalybridge on Tuesday and with Nuneaton to come next Saturday we have two tough games on the bounce. I'm sure we will know a lot more about our fate this time next weekend.

7 Feb The DVD from the Kettering game is now available at a discounted price of £6. You can e-mail me or ring me to order a copy. Thanks to everyone who has placed an order so far, copies will be despatched over the weekend.

2 Feb Away Kettering-KETTERING 5 SOUTHPORT 2. What a day this turned out to be. A game that had everything except a Southport win. Twice in the lead, the linesman getting injured and being replaced (with our agreement) by the Kettering Managing Director, the first penalty scored against us this season, a Kevin Lee own goal, the save of the season from Steve Drench and it was our 1250th Non League league game. The scoreline certainly flatters Kettering who despite being the better side looked to have run out of ideas until a debatable penalty decision and the own goal put their tails up and in the end you could only see one side going on to win the game. Goals in the 92nd and 94th minute make it look worse than it was. 118 Standing Southport fans-Official.

The MD linesman was a major talking point. I understand if we hadn't agreed to the switch the game would have been called off. Thankfully for his sake he didn't have that much to deal with but surely it shouldn't have been allowed in such an important game as this. Imagine the outcry if he had been involved in anything controversial.

We have also seen an outstanding talent today in the shape of Jean-Paul Marna. I can see why he is touted as one of the best players in NL football. Absolute class.

I think we have to accept that after that display the title will be heading to Kettering and probably by some margin. We really have to bounce back at Blyth next Saturday to keep us up in the play offs. I expect the moaners and I told you so's will be having a field day today but I am not that despondent, we were 2-2 with 4 minutes to go away from home against the best team in the league having twice taken the lead. All is not lost!

1 Feb We will have played just two home league games in 2008 by the end of February.

30 Jan Looks like it's weather watch time again for the weekend with a pretty grim forecast. I'm sure the fact that Kettering have players injured and suspended will have no bearing on any decision to call the match off. On one hand they would probably welcome a postponement but on the other they are guaranteed a decent gate for a Saturday game, how many would make the trek on a Tuesday night?

29 Jan Gainsborough pull off a shock 3-1 win against Kettering.

27 Jan HIDDEN NAMES 

We had a fantastic response to the hidden names competition that appeared in the programme and was copied on here and on the official site. We received 38 entries with just 4 people spotting all 32 players names. First name out of the hat was Andrew Davies of Birkdale who on being told of his win very kindly put the prize back in the pot as he had won a signed ball the previous evening at the quiz in the club! The next name drawn out was John Greaves who takes the prize. Thank you to everyone who had a go. There were a few names included from pre 1991 that were disallowed. Dean Howell kept cropping up (check the spelling) and it took me a while to work out where Jimmy Aggrey came from! The most missed names were Livens and Davis.

The answers were: 

There was only myself and a visitor from Selkirk up in Scotland at the table. He was anxious to impress how well an expert like himself could enliven some otherwise mundane occasion. The bottle of Chablis set the tone, though he dismissed the main course as the sort of hash crofters eat. “But you can’t top rice pudding for dessert” he claimed “How right you are” I agreed.

“Try another of these nuts” he cried as he proceeded to grab a kernel and devour it. “You could open many bottles before you found a wine as good as this-it’s the one you have chosen I ordered.”

He told the same tale over and over again. “I had a shocking experience in India once: I was fleeing from some natives when I felt a cobra bind itself round my leg and then an arrow landed right behind me”

His vehicle had broken down, “hardly the car you’d pick for driving across Asia” he added “but in those post war days it was all you could get. The gizmo one yearned for was Satnav!”

To think I’d had to cancel a meeting to endure this: I’d found out the hard way how late a lesson can be learned. I would have to warn older residents to prevent repetition.

At last one of the group (banjo, electric guitar and drums), who had been sitting, huddled in a shawl, on a wooden form by the window, came over. Some bright spark enquired “Do you play every night?” “Only on Saturdays” he snapped, obviously bored with old enquiries.

Earl Davis, Dan Kirkup, Chris Lane, Tony Livens, Luther Blissett, Lee Ashcroft, Chris Price, Peter Wright, Tim Ryan, Carl Baker, Jon Penman, Jon Senior, Leroy Dove, Matt Hocking, Kevin Lee, Gary Brabin, Steve Rowland, Syd Pickford, Brian Ross, Derek Ward, Kevin Mooney, Lee Elam, Shaun Teale, Ian Arnold, Danny Ventre, Danny Stone, Steve Joel, Steve Haw, Kevin Formby, Simon Parke, Darren Lyons and Steve Holden.

This weeks programme competition was a quick quiz question.

Name the six current Premier League grounds where Southport have played a competitive first team game.

£10 Club Shop Gift Voucher again for this one, closing date 16 February.

Entries can be dropped off at the club or e-mailed to rob@southportfcstats.co.uk

26 Jan Home Worcester City 3pm Kick Off. It was 76 years ago today that our ground attendance record was set.

SOUTHPORT 0 WORCESTER 1 A disappointing result! First half we looked good with the bar coming to the aid of Worcester twice and Tony Gray, Robbo and Duffy all missing good chances. Second half we hardly threatened and even though Worcester offered very little going forward you got that horrible feeling that they would score at some point and they sure did. Neil Sorvel makes his debut to become player number 578 in NL football.

Elsewhere Kettering and Telford both win but Harrogate lose so we drop to 3rd. Stalybridge get the wheels back on with a super 3-1 win at Barrow.

PREDICT COMP UPDATED

There are only 3 places left on the coach to Kettering.

24 Jan You go away for a couple of days and return to find all sorts going on. I'm disappointed to see that Liam Blakeman has been transfer listed. At least if he goes it will stop having to listen to those who seem to have targeted him this season for abuse. Karl Noon is also in talks with Bangor City whilst Neil Sorvel has signed on a months loan.

22 Jan Away Marine Liverpool Senior Cup. GAME ON.

MARINE 2 SOUTHPORT 1-Full site update will take place at the weekend. Southport score first through Tony Gray after 13 mins but the nemesis that is Cumiskey equalises on 33 and Hussey puts Marine through with the winner after 57 minutes. Rick Whiteside also saves pen.

21 Jan Thanks to everyone who has submitted your best ever X1 for the book, I have had a lot of entries. It's a two horse race for the keeper and one midfielder has appeared in all but one team submitted so far. The defenders being selected are numerous as are the strikers.

Can anyone recall who our player of the season was in 97/98, 00/01 and 02/03? If you know please get in touch via e-mail.

20 Jan PREDICT COMP is getting very close now with joint leaders and a closing pack. Those of us that had Stalybridge up there are now closing in as Hyde drop away. It is so close I may have to start thinking about what I'll do if it's a tie!

PROGRAMME COMPETITION

Despite getting a lot of people having a go at the Hidden Names competition that appeared in the Burscough programme we didn't receive any entries. I know at least a dozen people who were doing it but nobody submitted an entry. I have decided to repeat it on here for a wider audience with the prize of a signed SFC ball still on offer. I will close the competition on 26 January.

In the piece which follows I have hidden the names of quite a few Southport players of the last few seasons: by way of example. The phrase “the well is only half full” can be seen to contain the name “Ellison” which, incidentally would only be allowed to count once although we did have both Kevin Ellison and Lee Ellison turning out for us in the late 1990’s.

Most of the players are from the period 2000-07, though there are some from further back the earliest player only dates back to 1991 so it gives most supporters a fair chance.

We’ll award one point per name correctly spotted and we’ll deduct a point for each which either isn’t there at all or is not the name of a Southport player, so don’t go making names up or it will cost you!

Here goes:-

There was only myself and a visitor from Selkirk up in Scotland at the table. He was anxious to impress how well an expert like himself could enliven some otherwise mundane occasion. The bottle of Chablis set the tone, though he dismissed the main course as the sort of hash crofters eat. “But you can’t top rice pudding for dessert” he claimed “How right you are” I agreed.

“Try another of these nuts” he cried as he proceeded to grab a kernel and devour it. “You could open many bottles before you found a wine as good as this-it’s the one you have chosen I ordered.”

He told the same tale over and over again. “I had a shocking experience in India once: I was fleeing from some natives when I felt a cobra bind itself round my leg and then an arrow landed right behind me”

His vehicle had broken down, “hardly the car you’d pick for driving across Asia” he added “but in those post war days it was all you could get. The gizmo one yearned for was Satnav!”

To think I’d had to cancel a meeting to endure this: I’d found out the hard way how late a lesson can be learned. I would have to warn older residents to prevent repetition.

At last one of the group (banjo, electric guitar and drums), who had been sitting, huddled in a shawl, on a wooden form by the window, came over. Some bright spark enquired “Do you play every night?” “Only on Saturdays” he snapped, obviously bored with old enquiries.

Entries can be sent to Rob Urwin (Club Shop) Southport Football Club Haig Avenue, Southport or you can e-mail them to rob@southportfcstats.co.uk by 26 January.

19 Jan Away Hucknall Town. Coach Departs Haig Ave at 11am £12 TIY Members £17 Non Members but if you travel to Hucknall and the big game at Kettering on 2 Feb the combined cost will be just £20 for the two games.

Updated: Hucknall report no pitch problems at 8.30am and the game is on.

HUCKNALL TOWN 1 SOUTHPORT 2-It's the result that counts at the end of the game and to come away with the 3 points is what mattered. Thankfully another half time team talk looks to have done the trick. We were easily second best in the first half against what I thought were a decent Hucknall side particularly the lively Mayman. Even though we never reached anything like our best we still carved out a win with goals from Neil Prince and Mark Duffy. The gate of 421 included a counted (by Len) 120 travelling Sandgrounders. Just a quick word about the Hucknall keeper, Greg Smith, what a great guy he is giving and taking the friendly banter as he normally does. His reaction to Collo telling him that Fearns was coming on in a minute was brilliant "he put 3 in the top corner past me last time" Considering I didn't think we had a chance of a game today with the amount of rain that has fallen, the pitch held up well and a good journey there and back. At half time today we faced the prospect of being 11 points behind Kettering if they had gone on and won, they didn't and we did so we ended up 5 behind. It's still all to play for.

Elsewhere Kettering lose to dark horses Stalybridge, Hyde lose and Harrogate draw. Telford hammer Leigh 6-1.

GOALSCORERS
19-Jan-08	Lge Goals	Cup Goals	Total
Tony Gray	4	5	9
Liam Blakeman	4	2	6
Kevin Lee	5	1	6
Neil Prince	5	1	6
Mike Powell	4	1	5
Mark Duffy	2	3	5
Karl Noon	2	2	4
Neil Robinson	3	1	4
OWN GOALS	4	0	4
Mark Houghton	3	0	3
Chris Lever	3	0	3
Joel Byrom*	2	0	2
Adam Dugdale*	1	1	2
Chris Holland	2	0	2
Paul Barratt	1	0	1
Sean Newton*	1	0	1

18 Jan It looks like the game stands a chance tomorrow. We will be advised at 9am in the morning by Hucknall as to what the position is. I guess its then in the lap of the gods and we hope there isn't too much rain up until kick off but at present it sounds pretty promising.

17 Jan Another weather watch for Saturday with more rain forecast. Two Saturdays on the run without football? I'll be having withdrawals, if we hadn't had a game on Tuesday goodness knows what I would have done. No attractive alternatives either over the weekend, Liverpoo are at home on Monday........as I said no attractive alternatives!!

16 Jan Fixture changes with the Leigh game (LJCSF) now on 4 March meaning the Alfreton match has been put back to 18 March.

15 Jan Home v Rossendale United Lancs Junior Cup QF.

SOUTHPORT 3 ROSSENDALE UNITED 2-Full update to site on Wednesday evening. Scorers were Michael Powell and a brace for Tony Gray putting him on 9 in all games for the season. I might be easily pleased but I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Five goals, goalmouth scrambles, bookings, missed pen, injured ref, dreadful weather again, what more could you ask for. Beats a night in front of the TV watching Liverpoo. A disappointing gate of just 162 but on a shocking evening and with what some may see as a counter attraction on TV I guess we shouldn't have expected too many to turn out.

The one game in BSN sees Barrow win 3-2 at Blyth and it's amazing what one game can do to the league table and the prediction competition, we now have joint leaders and the pack are closing in.

Winners home to Leigh RMI in semi final which is scheduled to be played w/c 3 March. We have a league game against Alfreton on the 4th so if we get through not sure which has priority. I have a feeling that for some strange reason a County Cup game does!!

13 Jan Looking at the BBC weather forecast for the week ahead it looks likely to be a touch wet with heavy snow forecast for Thursday! When did Southport last have heavy snow? The same forecast is in place for Nottingham (nearest I can find to Hucknall) so yet another week of uncertainty about a game being on or off on Saturday.

12 Jan Kettering win 2-0 to go 8 points clear at the top. The good news is that Harrogate and Telford both lose, Telford somewhat surprisingly at Solihull. Stalybridge move up to sixth following their win over Harrogate. The Nuneaton game appears to have been abandoned in the 83rd minute with Nuneaton leading Worcester 2-0, a win that would have taken them up to fifth place. Burscough lose at second bottom placed Hinckley. The three form teams Kettering, Stalybridge and Nuneaton are, interestingly, the three teams we have yet to play.

PREDICT COMP UPDATED

8 Jan New fan profile added to Fan Zone

5 Jan Away Gainsborough Trinity

GAINSBOROUGH 0 SOUTHPORT 3. After a dire first half we came to life in the second period and ran out comfortable winners in the end. I can only assume there was a half time team talk! We played some lovely football at times in the second half and could easily have doubled our tally. Robbo once again lead the line well and was my MOTM. Goals from Neil Prince who had come on for the injured Paul Barrett after just 20 minutes, Michael Powell a towering header from a corner and a Duffy pen after great work by Robbo gave us the points. It was Duff's first league goal of the season. The gate of 404(exactly 1000 less than at Burscough) included 64(counted) Southport fans. A cold but pleasant afternoon. It was an important win today as we now don't have a league game for a fortnight so to go into the break in second place is a decent position to be in.

Kettering beat Harrogate 3-1 in the days match of the day and are now 5 points clear of us in second place and they have a game in hand. Telford draw at home and Hyde are beaten at homer by Blyth. Team of the moment Stalybridge win again 4-3 at Alfreton with Chris Hall getting all 4 goals to take him joint top of the scorers chart with Gareth Seddon of Hyde on 13 goals.

4 Jan Fixture changes for the Rossendale and Marine games-see new dates above

1 Jan Away Burscough. BURSCOUGH 1 SOUTHPORT 1. A bumper gate of 1404 which I guess must be Burscough's best league gate for some considerable time beating the 1249 at our last meeting saw the home fans outnumbered as you would expect. The impressive Kilheeny (how much would he cost?) gave The Linnets a 13th minute lead before Robbo equalised after 24 minutes.  Robbo did have a great chance to give us all three points but in the end a draw was a fair result. It was Burscough's first ever point against us.

The walk went really well and we completed it in around 2 hours 20 minutes if you take off the stop at Heatons Bridge. Thanks to all my sponsors the total sum raised will be announced in due course.

SPONSORED WALK Trust in Yellow are welcoming in the New Year with a sponsored Walk to Burscough departs Haig Ave at 10.00am travelling to Burscoughs' Victoria Park for the 3 o'clock kick off stopping at the Heatons Bridge Pub en route. Fancy dress is optional. All funds raised will go towards Trust in Yellow activities. PLEASE SPONSOR ME! A coach will be organized at a flat rate fare of £5 to everyone. Only one coach will run so it will be first come, first to pay, first served. It will leave Ainsdale at 1.30pm, Birkdale at 1.40pm, The George at 1.45 and Haig Ave at 1.50.