AFC Liverpool from Yesteryear

We had absolutely trounced Eccleshall 7-0 in their backyard on a beautiful autumn day earlier in the season.  The one blight on an otherwise perfect day six months previously was Aaron Stafford being carried off injured, and needing to go to hospital. On this day we took control with a 2-0 first half lead, courtesy of 2 Aaron Stafford goals.  The first was a header following a precise cross by James Thomas "Smiler" from the left.  On scoring his second, Stafford got caught by a defender, and was forced off, echoing shades of the previous meeting. We could not add to the scoring in the second half.  Our best opportunity was probably when Smiler shot over when played in down the left hand side.  The visitors had an opportunity to get back into the match early in the second half, but were denied by an important Michael Christopher save with his leg.  I can't really recall them having any threat of note since, as we were able to see this mat...

My first visit to the valley (as they said in the matchday programme) took 2 trains and a bus ride via Preston and Burnley.  I had my directions written down on how to get to the ground.  When I saw the ground signposted as the bus arrived in Bacup, those instructions were confined to the dustbin. I found a pub by the side of the turn-off to the Cowtoot Lane Ground.  It was a bit of a bummer to find no Real Ale, despite the sign outside suggesting the contrary.  It did have Newcastle v Liverpool on the box though.  As the match progressed, Kenny appeared.  Frank and Dave followed in soon afterwards. Newcastle v Liverpool ended 2-2, and it was time to head to Cowtoot Lane up a steep hill for Bacup and Rossendale Borough v AFC Liverpool.  Despite AFC having a few decent attempts from distance, a scrappy first half ensued.  The main highlights were off the field really, as a couple of naughty kids kept complaining about the rattles, despite making th...

After a few weeks of postponements and the odd week at Anfield instead, it was great to reacquaint myself with everybody in the AFC congregation once again.  How the Boxing Day fixture against Bootle even managed to survive was a bit of a mystery.  The rain didn't half start to dance down during my drive between Warrington and Prescot. But what a start.  Muktar Mahama headed home after just three minutes from Peter Doran's cross to give AFC the lead.  The visitors were soon level.  The name on the scoresheet was Paul Byrne.  And Byrne scored for me one of the best goals I ever saw during the "AFC at Valerie Park" era.  It was a long range beauty. Despite there being no further goals in the first half, it was the Reds who were producing the better football.  With the better football, we were creating some good chances.  With one effort which came back off their post, we were especially unlucky not to be at least 2-1 to the good at half time. I...

With the exception of two pre-season friendlies at Marine and Formby, this was my first AFC Liverpool away trip.  Meanwhile, it was derby day back home.  And for me it was a baptism into the pitfalls of travelling a distance by public transport. I had planned to get close to the Blackpool Mechanics Ground in plenty of time to find a pub and watch the derby.  Unfortunately it did not work out that way as I had to endure a long winded rail replacement bus service to Preston.  Then upon arriving at Preston, I had just missed a connection to Blackpool South. When I finally did arrive at Blackpool South, my first perceptions were of a basic station without a taxi rank.  So I had to walk following directions obtained from the internet.  It was a bit of a painful walk, due to a leg strain I was enduring.  The walk was made a bit easier by a couple of texts from my brother back in Liverpool, informing me of each Torres goal in the Reds' 2-0 win. I finally ente...

For a number of years, I had more than the odd occasion public transport adventure in following AFC Liverpool away from home.  The trip to Rhosymedre in North Wales involved a crowded train to Chester, due to the races.  Then it was a not so crowded train to Wrexham, followed by a bus to Rhosymedre.  In fact due to meeting two Cefn fans (a father and son) I ended up taking a different bus to the one I had planned.  The guy saw me in Wrexham Bus Station with my AFC shirt on, and realised I just had to be heading to the match. The match itself saw us go into a 2 goal lead courtesy of goals by Ste Jones and Ste Edwards.  Edwards'goal was a tap in after the Cefn goalkeeper made a handling error following a Darren Torpey cross.  There can be absolutely no doubt that Jonesy made his mark on Cefn.  A year later he became a Cefn player, before returning for his third spell at AFC. Cefn pulled a goal back through an outstanding long range effort before the brea...

It was a match on the opening day of the season which summed up the two sides of John Lawless, the Reds' talisman.  Over at Anfield, the big brother had a new Manager in Brendan Rodgers.  It appeared that little brother was also trying to follow in the Rodgers philosophy of dominating possession. For the first quarter of an hour or so we probably did have something like 80% possession.  In that spell new frontman Lee Maden showed great vision to catch their keeper off his line, only to see his superb effort come back off the bar.  The big problem though was that some of our possession was dangerously done in and around our own penalty area, and the visitors twice went close after we surrendered possession. Silsden did take the lead in bizarre fashion as Steve Williams passed the ball into his own net.  For a while the home side were on the back foot, but that man Lawless changed all that.  His first goal was a brilliant chip into the top corner.  And L...