All the way to Wembley - Part 4b

There are thousands of stories from Glossopians about the final. Whether they travelled on the ‘Hogwarts Express’ from Glossop to Wembley, or gathered in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon, or took one of the many buses that left Surrey Street, or simply nostalgically commuted half an hour from your house having economically migrated down south years ago.

All these stories had one thing in common though – everyone was going to enjoy the day. In the build up to the game the town had gone North End crazy, with merchandise sales hitting unprecedented levels for the club and ‘Wembley’ being the only topic of conversation in local pubs. Chairman Dave Atkinson was ubiquitous, pictured in the local papers more than MP Tom Levitt.

My own personal difficulty over my daughter’s communion was solved by an uppity letter from the school over the clash that so infuriated me I decided I would stick a metaphorical two fingers up at them. Her communion took place a week later at a different church where she made so many new friends she moved to the school shortly afterwards. It was meant to be!

Preparation for the day took up all the spare time and thoughts of everybody connected to the club. Players and management found plenty of demands on their time from various sources as the town and media latched onto the story, and at the same time they had the matter of a compressed season to complete without getting injured. Semi final hero Kelvin Lugsden picked up a nasty knock in a home game with Abbey Hey that put his participation in serious doubt, whilst captain Dave Young was carried off at Squires Gate the week before the final. Ash Gotham had also picked up a knock as the season ended.

The match was set for a Sunday, but the North End bus set off from Glossop on Friday afternoon, waved off by supporters and both the BBC and ITV. The hotel chosen was the same one that the club had used for the semi-final, this time without the Friday night disco thankfully, and after a late evening arrival and a few drinks, preparations were made for Saturday. However, there was one surprise waiting for the club, as on reception a silver salver from Arsenal commemorating the achievement of reaching the final.

On the Saturday arrangements had been made to train where England train – Bisham Abbey. The session went well as spirits were high, but whilst Young and Lugsden came through without problems it was obvious to onlookers that Gotham was struggling.

From there it was off to Wembley Stadium where the FA Trophy final was taking place between Stevenage and York City. They served up a turgid match, giving the Hillmen nothing to live up to the day afterwards, but it did give the players a taste for the stadium…in the posh seats too.

After the game and back at base, High Peak Radio were broadcasting live from the hotel and Ben Price did his best to relax the players with a light hearted quiz and interviews. As the team went early to bed again, you felt that the preparation could not have gone better.

The morning of the game began with a team meeting. Steve Young began by telling the team that Ash Gotham had told him that he wasn’t fit. It would be a devastating blow to Ash and his family, who had been staunch supporters since the beginning of the season, and meant an unexpected opportunity for Matt Cooper, brought in as cover for this precise event. Young announced the rest of his side – Young, Kay, Lugsden, Yates, Gorton, Morris, Hodges, R Bailey, Hamilton & Allen. Subs were to be T Bailey, Balfe, Parker, Whelan & Hind.

Everyone went off to put on their Wembley suits and then gathered on the lawns behind the hotel for photos with friends and family before the time came for the bus to depart. The Wembley arch was soon in view and as the bus headed into the bowels of the stadium a small band of North Enders cheered it into the darkness.

North End had the home dressing room. I say dressing room, but these were so far away from the Surrey Street changing areas to be believed. As you walked in there was a management team dressing room on the right. A bit further along had the showers, baths and mirrors (complete with hairdryers) on the left and on the right were around 10 physio tables. Only when you went through the next set of double doors did you come to the changing room for the team, with its individual overhead wardrobes and fridge full of energy drinks. And then through another set of doors was a warm up area. In short, they were huge.

It was a few minutes before the players were allowed out onto the pitch, so they spent the time having their photos taken with the shirts that carried their names. Finally though, the gates were unlocked and we were allowed into the arena.

Walking out of the tunnel and onto the pitch, you could not help but to be awestruck. From the giant North End badge hanging from the rafters to the images of yourself on the big screen and the 90,000 seats, largely empty but still impressive, everywhere you looked was a reminder of what the team had achieved. However, there was no greater buzz than the moment Steve Young and Terry Hincks led the teams out to line up on the pitch. It is a moment every football fan dreams of but only a select few achieve.

But as we all know, it wasn’t to be a trophy presentation at the end of the afternoon. North End probably shaded the first half - although both sides hit the woodwork through long range shots from Nick Allen and an extraordinary effort from halfway by Adam Johnstone - but Lee Kerr took full advantage of a collision in defence to score from an angle for Whitley Bay, and just before half time Paul Chow scored on the counter attack – David Morris could have scored but for a last ditch block and the long clearance ended up in Chow’s path, one on one with Cooper.

After the break Whitley Bay applied some pressure and probably should have added further goals but eventually they tired. The Hillmen tried to press but could not get that first goal that might have given them the momentum to grab a second. The ultimate goal was just beyond the team, but as they took the applause from the magnificent support from Glossop folk they could, and should, be proud of what they achieved in that glorious journey - from Sporting Khalsa all the way to Wembley.
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NB - apologies for this final piece. Found it oddly hard to write. I think the weekend went so quickly and I tried to take so much in, I absorbed too much of the minutae and not enough of the big stuff - can barely remember a thing about the game.

All the way to Wembley - Part 4a

A 3-3 draw a Chalfont St Peter in the first leg meant the second could not be more finely poised. An amazing day at Surrey Street opened the door for an amazing day in London.

Glossop fans were confident after the 3-3 draw at Chalfont St Peter. Their team had shown impressive tenacity to come back from first 2-0 and then 3-1 down to level, and they felt that the Surrey Street atmosphere would give their team the edge at home. They hadn’t reckoned with nature’s great leveller in football though – wind.

Gusts in the first leg had helped Chalfont more that North End down south. Their game was centred on set pieces, and swirling winds allowed balls into the box to cause chaos. Glossop preferred a game on the floor, and an unpredictable run of the ball was a hindrance. No wonder Chalfont striker Terrell Lewis smiled when he said ‘yep, it’s blowing’ when he walked into the ground – he knew that it was to his teams’ advantage.

The excitement in the town in the week leading up to the game was electric. The Glossop Chronicle paper had a ‘Come on Glossop’ special cover. Mettricks produced blue sausages. And tickets were like gold dust. Sold out before the first leg the club fielded call after call of requests for help with tickets. The only hope was that Chalfont might send some back, and on the day of the game queues formed at the ground before 11am to see if this might be the case. A long way from the pay-on-the-gate against Sporting Khalsa back in early September.

There were crucial and dramatic moments in the game, but in truth they were fleeting. The tension and the weather did not make this a great game for the neutral, but there were precious few of those in the ground. However, Glossop did get off to the best of starts when just two minutes in Dave Hodges fed Rick Bailey and he slid the ball under the keeper to open the scoring.

North End dealt with the aerial bombardment from Chalfont much better than they had in the first leg, but on the half hour both Dave Young and 17 year old keeper Ash Gotham came to meet a deep cross and collided. The ball came loose and Lewis hooked in to equalise.

The nerves took over for the next hour and neither side could carve out chances. Chalfont passed the ball better, but could not break down the sturdy Hillman defence. However, a change in full back had largely neutered the attacking threat of Hodges for North End, and as such much of Glossop’s spark was missing. Extra time seemed inevitable very early on in the second half and so it proved to be the case.

In the extra period, Chalfont had a spell of pressure that finally ended with a goal. Danny Yates was forced to head a ball off the line but shortly afterwards a speculative long shot bounced in front of Gotham and was spilled, and Strutton took full advantage to prod home and give Chalfont the lead.

Glossop immediately created a chance, Hodges heading inches over the bar, but as time ticked on they got more and more desperate. Jamie Kay had a shot cleared off the line but several thought time was up in the 122nd minute when the whistle went. Whilst half the Chalfont bench rushed onto the pitch to celebrate the referee in actual fact signalled a free kick to the home side on the half way line. However, the whole ground knew that this was the last chance for the Hillmen.

The free kick was looped into the box and panic ensued. Hodges had a chance cleared off the line before the ball fell to Rick Bailey, whose shot went over the bar. This time the referee surprised the home side by awarding a corner as few saw a deflection. But from the flag kick Mark Balfe headed back across goal and Kelvin Lugsden, from about 4 yards, turned the ball home with his thigh before wheeling away, circling his shirt above his head. Chalfont barely had time to kick off.

The first three penalties were scored, but when Chalfont missed Jamie Kay changed his mind in his run up and his kick was saved making the remaining penalties were sudden death. Both sides scored two more before Ash Gotham dived full length to push a shot round the post. Rick Bailey, who had been down with cramp towards the end of the game, stepped forward and scored the winning kick, sparking a joyous pitch invasion (for which the club was later fined!). Wembley was going to have to prepare for Glossop North End, they were coming!

All the Way to Wembley – part three.

With Bitton beaten North End had now made the quarter finals, and got a home draw to boot. Could they continue to write more chapters in the club’s history?


As the hangovers from the day out at Bitton began to fade the morning after the night before, a personal nightmare began for your author. It might only have been February, but in an optimistic moment I allowed myself to get carried away and check the date of the final. Discovering that it was to take place on May 10th confirmed my worst fears, this was the same date as my daughter’s first communion, a date that her atheist dad had no understanding of other than it was very special for her. At the moment, this dilemma could be straight-batted with a ‘well, it’s not going to be a problem really is it?’, but what if...what if they did?

The reward for the hard fought victory at Bitton was, in theory, an easier one – a home tie against a team from one notch lower down the ladder. This simplistic outlook though ignored the strength of the Northern League, from where Marske United hailed.

Due to travelling distances involved, Northern League sides are traditionally less willing to be involved in the national league system, which means that whilst sides at Step 5 around Manchester are battling against tens of sides offering a better standard of football (nominally anyway) North Eastern players drop to this level much quicker meaning that there is, in theory, a better standard of player at a comparative level. And besides, Marske were in the quarter finals of the FA Vase, they were clearly no mugs.

The build up to the game was busy, with club officials speculating how many people might turn up. ‘I reckon we’ll get near four figures’ was the most optimistic of guesses, and it was still a regular North End attendance short of the final figure of 1120. Of that number, Marske brought a sizeable following who took over half the scratting shed and with their ringleader – a bulldog mascot – made a noisy build up to the match.

It wasn’t just the crowd that was up for it either – North End blasted Marske from the kick off, Hodges opening the scoring on just two minutes and Bailey tapping in 10 minutes later. As per their billing though, Marske were a handy side, playmaker Glenn Wesson in particular, and they got one back on 20 minutes, only for Bailey to score for the home side again shortly afterwards.

Jamie Kay’s brilliant diving header with half an hour to go seemed to have sealed a semi-final place but within 2 minutes doubt was back as Skelton scored for the visitors. Only as the clock ticked into the final moments of the game did Glossop fans feel able to celebrate and Sam Hind sealed the game with an injury time goal.

The 2-legged semi finals were said to be drawn the following Monday at 11am. From 10:45 fans of North End, Whitley Bay, Lowestoft and Chalfont St Peter were frantically refreshing their browsers approximately every 20 seconds. The draw finally came online on the FA’s website shortly after midday – we were going to Chalfont!

The large crowd for the Marske game forced the Glossop board into action for the 2nd leg at Surrey Street, and the game was made all ticket. They could have still sold the 1500 capacity three times over. But first, there was a very tricky first leg to take on.

The team travelled down to the Chalfont area on the Friday night. A nice quiet hotel had been found for them in Marlow. However, this nice quiet hotel had occasional club nights, and one such evening was scheduled for 27 March 2009. As the North End group sat in the hotel’s lounge more and more club-goers filed into the bar and Terry Hincks’ face got sterner and sterner as he worried about the distraction. He needn’t have – the players all filed off to bed early as professionals would.

As had been the case at Bitton, as the coach entered Chalfont and headed towards the ground there was astonishment on the team bus as the occupants saw just how many fans had made the trip from Glossop to Buckinghamshire. Fans were spilling out of the The Greyhound pub on the main street and carrying their flags to the ground. At the ground the team were cheered off the bus by a throng including one of North End’s greatest supporters down the years – Steve Baran – right at the centre of the commotion as he often was.

It was down to business now though and the players had to calm themselves and deal with some tough conditions – the pitch was hard and rutted and the wind was blowing, neither of which would help the Hillmen’s style of play. This proved to be the case as the home side stormed into a two goal lead in the first half hour, both from set pieces that were not dealt with in the 6 yard box.

However, towards the end of the half Chalfont seemed to tire, and this allowed Jay Gorton to give Glossop hope by scoring from a corner only for the break to galvanise the home side and score again just after half time from another long throw.

Again though, Chalfont’s energy dropped towards the latter part of the half and on 73 minutes substitute Mark Balfe lifted a ball over the defence for Hodges who used the bounce of the ball to lift it over the keeper and into the net.

They weren’t finished there either as five minutes later another ball over the back line put Tom Bailey through on goal. Bailey was on a hot scoring streak in the league, and confidently held off the desperate defence and slipped the ball under the keeper before disappearing into a sea of supporter arms behind the goal. Amazingly, Hind nearly pinched a win for Glossop when he guided a side-foot volley just the wrong side of the post.

It had been a breathless game, and at times there were moments that it looked as though Glossop might not just lose the game but the whole tie on that afternoon. They showed amazing resilience to come back from the almost-dead, and if you suspected they might need all of that tenacity again come the second leg a week later you’d have been absolutely right. This game was only the start of a titanic encounter.

Next time – the story of that amazing second leg and the North End players’ TWO trips to Wembley stadium.

All The Way to Wembley - Part Two

Last time we saw how North End cruised through the first three rounds. However, tougher tests awaited...

Part Two – From Biddulph to Bitton.

Having disposed of Sporting Khalsa, Calverton Miners Welfare and, gloriously, local rivals New Mills in the 2008-09 FA Vase, Glossop North End had been rewarded with a home draw vs Biddulph Victoria.

There was some history between the clubs, Glossop having been Biddulph’s first victory of the season when they knocked them out of the Vase in 2006-07. Revenge was sweet though, as Hodges, Nick Allen and two Martin Parker goals saw The Hillmen cruise to a 4-0 win. The game was most notable for the record of Biddulph midfielder Chris Boast who, having been sent off in the previous two rounds, managed to get himself dismissed again! An unwanted Vase record I’d wager.

It had been nine years since North End had got through to the 3rd round of the competition, so Glossop were heading into almost uncharted waters, but the importance of a football match was put into sharp perspective before the game when news of the death of Steve Young’s father came through. Steve, and his son, Glossop’s captain Dave, were devastated, and quite rightly rushed away to be with their family.

It was a testing game for the Hillmen and their character, especially after brushing aside every team they had played thus far, and Winterton took the lead in the 9th minute, but Darren Hamilton equalised on 22 minutes to give the side impetus. Rick Bailey in particular was on a mission to find the net with numerous shots on goal, and it was he who got the winner on 63 minutes when linking up with David Morris and driving home from the edge of the area.

It was an emotional day for the Glossop team and whilst it might be trite to say that the team had done it for their manager, Steve Young’s father was certainly in people’s thoughts on the day and for the rest of the run.

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It was another home draw in round 4, the furthest North End had ever been in the Vase previously, and the visitors were Corby’s Stewarts and Lloyds. Word was getting around as nearly 400 turned up to the match, many having brought inflatable friends and an intention to sing their team to victory – this game saw the debut of the ‘car of fun’ and the introduction of ‘The Trenches’. Dave Hodges was the hero as he scored in the first and last minutes of the game to seal a 2-1 win.

The victory should have been much more comfortable as Glossop wasted chance after chance after the glorious start they had been given. Stewarts and Lloyds equalised with their only real shot of the game in the 64th minute before the onslaught continued and more chances were wasted.

When the goal finally came, in the second minute of injury time, given his scoring record it perhaps wasn’t a surprise that Hodges notched it...but from a corner with his head? No-one would have predicted that! Not that they cared, they were too busy jumping up and down before a party in the clubhouse with the S&L fans ensued. The visitors left a great impression, and GNE would love to meet them again someday.

The furthest GNE had travelled on the run so far had been Nottingham, but the last 16 draw threw up a difficult trip to Bitton, a small village outside Bristol. Plans were made, coaches were booked and Matt Murray even delayed from moving to Australia so that he could play in the tie...only for heavy snowfall to see it called off on the Friday. On my way home from work I decided to call into The Friendship to pass on the news, only to find the chairman, the manager, his assistant, the captain and the centre forward all enjoying a beer. I was just a touch late with the headline.

Steve Young always cites the moment that the team bus arrived at Bitton a week later as his favourite point of the run. By co-incidence the squad arrived about two minutes after two coach-loads of Glossop fans outside the ground. The crowd parted like the red sea to allow the bus through, cheering and singing at the team all the way to the dressing room.

North End took a magnificent support to Gloucestershire that day, probably half of the 443 crowd, and they, along with the promise of a home draw in the next round, spurred the Hillmen on. However, it was an attritional game.

The weather had made the pitch incredibly difficult to play on, probably unplayable for a league game, and had so much sand on it players said they felt they were running downwards rather than forward and this didn’t suit the Hillmen’s energetic style of play. In addition, they had early adversity to counter when an iffy penalty was awarded for the home side.

Marc Cherry took it but Ash Gotham got down to his right to save. Cherry had another bite, but Gotham saved again and a follow up header looped millimetres over the bar. Glossop took the lead just before half time when Hodges ran onto a cross-field Dave Young pass and blasted it past the keeper.

In the second half, further scares followed, including a header that hit the bar with a follow-up cleared off the line by Yates, before Morris sealed it in the 71st minute, bursting from midfield to latch onto Parker’s pass.

It meant a home game with Marske United was on the cards, but that was for a month’s time. At that moment the celebrations were in full swing in the Bitton clubhouse, to be continued four hours later when they arrived back in Derbyshire.

Next time – Cup fever grips the town as the biggest crowds anyone can remember at Surrey Street cheer The Hillmen onto the final.

All the way to Wembley - The Story of Glossop North End's Vase Run (Part One)

As part of the 125 years celebration, many people have been writing articles on the club. I was asked to do the FA Vase run in 2008-09, but it can't go in the Glossop Chronicle's 'Yesterdays' section, as it's not long ago enough. So it's going in the programme in four parts. Part one was in tonights programme, and here it is...

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Part One – The early rounds.

Prior to 2008-09, to Glossop North End the FA Vase was a competition to win two or three games and a few crucial pounds in prize money. As such, there was no indication of things to come as Steve Young’s Glossop North End team made their first appearance in that season’s renewal, in the 1st Preliminary round, taking on Midlands teams Sporting Khalsa.

The game attracted some interest from The FA’s press department, as Khalsa were an all Asian team; the first Asian side to own their own ground. However, they did play 2 levels lower than North End, and the home side were expected to win easily.

When Khalsa had their goalkeeper sent off in the first ten minutes, it looked a more difficult task for the visitors, and so it proved, with goals from Jay Gorton, Dave Hodges, Rick Bailey, Jamie Kay and Martin Parker sealing a 5-0 win, but bizarrely the crowd went away slightly disappointed – North End could have scored three times as many goals.

The highlight of the afternoon was the Khalsa keeper walking around the ground during the game, apologising for arguing with the referee when he was dismissed. A first for football at any level, I’d wager.

The reward was a trip to Nottinghamshire club Calverton Miners Welfare. Around 40 loyal Glossop fans made the trip and were rewarded twice. Firstly when Rick Whelan, Bailey, Sam Hind and Hodges scored to seal a 4-1 victory, with only a late consolation blotting the copybook. The second reward was that they knew who they would be facing in the next round…a tasty tie against local rivals New Mills in the first round proper.

To many fans of the Hillmen and the Millers this was their cup final. The draw had been made in July, so both teams knew the derby clash was a possibility, and as the straightforward wins for both sides were ticked off, anticipation increased. Duly, on game day, an impressive 490 people turned up to Church Lane and local radio carried live commentary from the match.

Glossop started confidently, and broke through on 22 minutes when Darren Hamilton scored at the near post. But 8 minutes later New Mills levelled when a Meakin free kick deflected into the path of Glossop lad, Josh Howard, and he scored.

After half time though, Glossop were irresistible. Although the breakthrough didn’t come until the 71st minute, they had bossed the match and it was no surprise when Tom Bailey finally scored. Nick Allen and Hind scored further goals to make it a dream day for North End fans and to secure a place in round two.

So far it was three games, thirteen goals and three rounds negotiated. The club was rightly feeling confident as progress had been serene thus far. But no-one could have anticipated the happiness, sadness and drama to come.

Next part – Home draws help the Hillmen, but as the competition goes national, there is long journey and a stern test for Steve Young’s team.