Saturday 27 November 2021 - Kick-off 3.00pm v Squires Gate The North West Counties Football League Premier Division Official Matchday Programme ASHTON ATHLETIC ASHTON ATHLETIC HELP KEEP THE FANS AT THE GAME, FOLLOW THE RULES TO ENSURE WE CAN ALL ENJOY FOOTBALL www.nwcfl.com HOW YOU CAN HELP: WASH HANDS REGULARLY STAY HOME IF YOU HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS SOCIALLY DISTANCE & MASK ON REQUEST 1m+ MATCH DAY 15:00 Ashton Athletic v Squires Gate 15:00 Barnoldswick Town v Burscough 15:00 Charnock Richard v Runcorn Town 15:00 Congleton Town v Prestwich Heys 15:00 Irlam v Winsford United 15:00 Longridge Town v Avro 15:00 Northwich Victoria v Macclesfield 15:00 Padiham v Wythenshawe Town 15:00 Skelmersdale United v Vauxhall Motors 5:00 AFC Blackpool v AFC Darwen 15:00 Atherton LR v Garstang 15:00 Bacup Borough v Pilkington 15:00 Holker Old Boys v Ashton Town 15:00 Ilkley Town v Daisy Hill 15:00 South Liverpool v Campion 15:00 St Helens Town v Golcar United 15:00 Steeton v Nelson 15:00 Abbey Hey v Cheadle Heath Nomads 15:00 Alsager Town v St Martins 15:00 Brocton v West Didsbury & Chorlton 15:00 Cheadle Town v Abbey Hulton United 15:00 Ellesmere Rangers v Barnton 15:00 Maine Road v Eccleshall 15:00 Rocester v Cammell Laird 1907 15:00 Stockport Town v Stafford Town 15:00 Wythenshawe Amateurs v Sandbach United 18:30 FC Isle of Man v New Mills Premier Division First Division South First Division North JOIN OUR 300 JOIN OUR 300 CLUB! CLUB! Raise money for our club! Win Cash Prizes In the first week of October our first prize won £200! Saturday 27 November Welcome to Brocstedes Park Year Formed: 1968 Life President: Jimmy Witherington Club President: Bill Bohannon Club Chairman: Jimmy Whyte Club Secretary: Jimmy Whyte Club Treasurer: Brad Reid First Team Manager : Jay Foulds Assistant Manager: David Tickle Physio: Amy Benson Development Squad Manager: Paul Piert Under 18’s Manager: Carl Vieri Programme Editor: Bernie Johnson Ground: Brocstedes Park Address: Brocstedes Road, Wigan, Lancashire, WN4 0NR Telephone: 01942 716360 Website: www.ashtonathletic.co.uk Twitter: @AshtonAthletic Facebook: www.facebook.com/AshtonAthletic The Entity: Unincorperated Members Club Midweek Home Games: Tuesday Registered Outfield Colours: Yellow Shirts, Blue Shorts & Socks Registered Goalkeeping Colours: Green Shirt, Shorts & Socks Alternative Colours: Blue shirts, Blue Shorts & Socks Highest Attendance: 610(v Chorley 30/09/17) County Affiliation: Lancashire FA Honours: Atherton Charity Cup: Winners: 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09 NWCFL Challenge Cup: Winners: 2013/14 Wigan Cup: Winners: 2014/15 Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy: Winners 2016/17 Jay Foulds Daz Mullen A warm welcome to all of our friends from Squires Gate. I hope you enjoy your afternoon at Brocstedes. This afternoon’s match against our visitors is a vital one for both sides, as we sit just one place behind Squires Gate in the table. We gained a good away victory over them earlier in the season and we will be striving very hard to achieve the double. We enter today’s match in good spirits buoyed by our great comeback in midweek against Burscough. I thought the boys showed great character going two nil down to eventually get a point. A sloppy goal from our point of view summed up a poor first 45 minutes. We then gave ourselves a mountain to climb conceding a penalty early in the second half. Calum Wilson got us back in the game with a fantastic finish. We then created some pressure on the Burscough defence and found an equaliser courtesy of Richard Brodie who came off the bench to score the first of what we hope to be many goals for the club. The final minutes were end to end but neither side could find a winner. A great result against a tough team, meaning we extend our unbeaten run and look forward to this afternoon’s encounter with confidence. The future’s bright, the future’s yellow. Jay Saturday 11 December 2021 Kick-off 3.00pm v Northwich Victoria The North West Counties League Premier Division Premier Division P GD Pts 1 Skelmersdale United 22 24 45 2 Macclesfield 20 18 44 3 Charnock Richard 21 21 39 4 Wythenshawe Town 21 19 38 5 Burscough 21 11 35 6 Avro 21 8 35 7 Northwich Victoria 21 9 34 8 Lower Breck 21 7 32 9 Barnoldswick Town 21 3 30 10 Congleton Town 21 6 29 11 Winsford United 22 -4 29 12 Irlam 21 -6 29 13 Longridge Town 21 -2 28 14 Prestwich Heys 21 -12 25 15 Vauxhall Motors 21 -14 25 16 AFC Liverpool 21 -7 24 17 Squires Gate 21 -6 23 18 Ashton Athletic 21 -17 23 19 Padiham 21 -6 21 20 Runcorn Town 22 -16 17 21 Litherland REMYCA 20 -36 10 NEXT UP at Brocstedes Table as up to Wednesday 24 Novemberr 2021 To book an award winning mental fitness session at your club, email Elaine.Prendergast@stateofmindsport.org www.stateofmindsport.org STATE OF MIND SPORT IS PROUD TO BE THE official CHARITY PARTNER OF THE NORTH WEST COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE. State of Mind Sport is a charity that harnesses the power of sport to promote positive mental fitness, to improve performance among our sportsmen and women, fans and wider communities, AND to ultimately prevent suıcide. State of Mind Sport raise awareness of the issues surrounding mental fitness and deliver education on the subject to all levels of sport, business, education and community groups. A Brief History... Ashton Athletic Football Club was founded in 1968 and playing in the Wigan Sunday League – winning every Division in consecutive seasons and many cup competitions before switching to the Warrington League on Saturdays where similar success was sustained. The Club developed Brocstedes Park and was admitted to the Lancashire Combination, before becoming a founder member of the North West Counties League when the Combination merged with the Cheshire league in 1982. Unfortunately, financial constraints prevented the required ground improvements to be completed, and the Club was relegated into the Manchester league Division One in 1986. The drop of two leagues resulted in the majority of the playing staff moving to other club’s and for numerous years the club endeavored to re-build. Players came and went, lacking the Club loyalty that had brought success to the Club in the 1970’s and early 80’s until the Committee embraced an ambitious youth development policy in 1999. The Club is now at the end of a ten-year development plan to enhance its recreational facilities and expand the Club, in particular its junior section. Eight years ago, the Club had two teams, 50 members, one mediocre pitch with dilapidated clubhouse and changing rooms. Since then the Club members have worked tirelessly to progress the Club within its means, and with some help from external grant sources. Assistance from the Football foundation, Awards for All programme, and Wigan Council enabled a series of improvements to be completed. The main pitch was re-drained, a second pitch acquired/improved, new changing rooms and Clubhouse built, disabled access provided and other improvements made to the grounds. More recently the ground has been brought up to the necessary Ground Grading for re-entry into the NWCFL, in time for the start of the 2006/7 season and further inprovements have provided additional seating. The 2008/09 season also saw further progression of the Club, having been promoted to the Premier Division of the Vodkat North West Counties League. We were again able take to the national stage, having been accepted in the FA Cup competition after last season’s debut in the FA Vase which proved very lucrative for the Club, progressing through 3 stages and beating 2 teams from higher leagues in the process. The previous season also saw cup success for the Club retaining the Atherton Charity Cup at the end of the season. Following an impressive 6th place finish in the 2008/09 season, the Yellows struggled in the league for the next 4 seasons, finishing in the bottom three of the league in three of the next four seasons. 21st (09/10), 22nd (10/11), 14th (11/12) and 20th (12/13). Jimmy McBride, who took over the reins midway through the 12/13, left the club when the season ended and the club took the unusual step in bringing in a trio of managers, Jay Foulds, Ben Kay and Dougie Pitts. Jay and Ben were brought in from Wigan Robin Park and Dougie came in following a break from the game. The trio needed to completely rebuild the squad for the 2013/14 season and made an excellent start to their managerial careers creating club history with a 6th place finish and beating Maine Road 1-0 to win the League Challenge Cup at Curzon Ashton. More club history was made in the 2014/15 season with a highest ever 5th place finish in the league, conceding only 38 goals and losing only 7 league games that season and the Yellows were successful in the Wigan Cup, beating Newburgh Harrock United 5-1 in the final at Brocstedes Park. The 2015/16 season saw the retirement of Jay Foulds and he was replaced in the Ashton Athletic goal by Martin Pearson. Unfortunately, there were no cup heroics in that season but there was a solid 7th place finish in the league. The 2016/17 saw another top 10 finish with the club ending the season in 9th place, but the club made history in the cups reaching the 2nd qualifying round for the first time ever, losing 5-0 against Halifax Town and winning the Lancashire Cup for the first time, coming from a goal down to win 2-1 against Radcliffe Borough. Lee Vaughan scoring the winner in the final minute of the game. With the impact the management trio have made at the club in the 4 seasons that they have been in charge of the first team, the success was noticed from clubs at a higher level and following the 2016/17 season, Ben Kay left his role as joint manager to take up the role as assistant manager to Simon Howarth at Clitheroe FC, where he will link up again former Yellows captain, Ian Rowlands. A new vision for the Club is under discussion to further develop the Club and these will include plans for improvements to the access road, new junior changing rooms, additional playing fields for the junior section and a proposed girls/ladies section. The main ground is also scheduled for enhancement works with additional covered spectator areas. The Club is a voluntary organisation run by a Committee of 14 alongside approximately 25 coaches and managers. Any money raised by the Club has been ploughed back into improving the facilities and developing the youth section. The Club now has a total membership of more than 400. We have 9 junior teams consisting of approximately 160 children who take advantage of the improvement of our now excellent facilities, whilst hundreds of children and adults from opposition teams also benefit from the continually improving facilities. The Club is keen to maintain the pace of development of the club and future plans will enable increased activity at the Club, additional Junior teams and a much safer and secure environment in particular for spectators and Children. The Club was awarded the FA Charter Standard in 2013. F O O T B A L L L E A G U E T H E N O R T H W E S T C O U N T I E S nwcfl.c m For the latest League & Club News & Info, Fixtures, Results, Cup Info, Stats & Archives Follow us on social media Search ‘North West Counties League’ on Twitter and Facebook Official Website of The North West Counties Football League oFFICIAL GoALKEEPING PARTNER oF THE NoRTH WEST CouNTIES FooTBALL LEAGuE. prouD SpoNSor oF THE GoALKEEpEr oF THE MoNTH AND GoALKEEpEr oF THE YEAr AWArDS www.reusch.com www.facebook.com/ReuschUK www.twitter.com/ReuschUK For more information, visit Blackpool & District Amateur League: 1958 to 1961 Squires Gate were formed in 1948 as Squires Gate British Legion FC and competed in the Blackpool & District Amateur League. They won the leagues Rawling Shield in their first season. The name of the club was changed to Squires Gate FC in 1953. They won the leagues First Division in 1955-56 and 1956-57; also the Blackwell Cup in 1958-59 and 1959-60. They spent the 1960-61 in the Fylde District League, winning the Fylde Cup and losing finalists in the Bannister Cup. West Lancashire League: 1961 to 1991 The following season they moved up to the West Lancashire League where they spent the next thirty years. From 1961 until 1980 they were in Division Two and were promoted in 1981 as champions. In the 1986-87 season they won the Richardson Cup. North West Counties Leage: 1991 onward They were elected into the North West Counties Football League for the 1991-92 season, joining Division Two for the 1991- 92 season. Squires Gate won the leagues Fair Play Award for the 1993-94 season and were losing finalists in the 1997-98 Division Two Trophy. They won the 2001-02 season Division Two Trophy and then the following season they missed the runner-up spot on goal difference but were still promoted to Division One following the demise of Stand Athletic who had originally been promoted as Division Two champions. They reached their highest league placing in the 2005- 06 season also reaching the quarter finals of the FA Vase then last season, under the Management of Andy Clarkson, Gate improved still further on their best ever placing, finishing sixth in what is now the Premier Division. On 10 March 2007 Squires Gate played a home match against FC United of Manchester at Curzon Ashton F.C.s ground. The club had approached Blackpool F.C. about playing the game at Bloomfield Road but the ground was not available. And so they played the match in Ashton-under- Lyne, as it was felt that FCUM fans were more likely to attend with the match being staged in the Greater Manchester area. A crowd of 1,650 saw Squires Gate lose 0-1 and Squires Gate earned about £7,000. To cap a very impressive 2007-08 season, Squires Gate were delighted that no less than nine of their members were honoured with long service awards: Albert Hamer, George Diggle, Roy Westhead, Brian Hugill and Brian Addison all collected Football Association Order of Merit mementos for 50 years service; and Steve Bellamy, Mick Farrer, John Maguire and Tony Hornby received 30 years awards from the Lancashire FA. All these stalwarts are still active in the service of their Club. Groundsman Brian Addison was judged the best at our level in the Northern Region, and a magnificent third nationally at the FA Groundsman of the Year presentations in London last September, and his pitch is clear evidence of his commitment. As Chairman Stuart Hopwood said, “ We believe in a sure and steady programme of improvement of our facilities, and we now feel that with an award winning pitch, dressing rooms which are amongst the best in the League, and a pleasant, air-conditioned Clubhouse, we have a lot to be proud of, and the future looks good for Squires Gate FC. Our Opponents Today Squires Gate Current Position 18th P W D L F A Pts 21 6 5 10 38 55 23 Current Form 10th P W D L F A 6 2 3 1 12 14 LAST SIX MATCHES Date Opponent Score 23/11/21 Burscough (H) D 2-2 20/11/21 Runcorn Town (A) D 1-1 17/11/21 Longridge Town (A) W 4-2 13/11/21 Barnoldswick Town (A) D 2-2 06/11/21 Northwich Victoria (A) L 1-7 30/10/21 Irlam (H) W 2-0 Current Position: 17th P W D L F A Pts 21 5 8 8 34 40 23 Current Form: 15th P W D L F A 6 1 3 2 11 16 Last Six Matches: Date Opponent Score 23/11/21 Vauxhall Motors (A) D 2-2 20/11/21 Barnoldswick Town (H) W 4-2 16/11/21 Lancaster City (A) L 0-3 13/11/21 Wythenshawe Town (H) D 2-2 06/11/21 Winsford United (A) L 2-6 30/10/21 Northwich Victoria (H) D 1-1 Dave McCann was appointed manager towards the end of the 2012/13 season and has endured premier survival since taking charge. He is assisted by Richard Thomas. Season 20014/15 was the most successful in the NWCFL finishing in 6th place with a record number of points. Due to an indifferent start in the 2015/16 season, club captain Danny Penswick took over as player manager and ensured survival with a memorable last game victory at Ashton Athletic. Danny also ensured Premier Division status in 2016/17 thanks to a late surge including a victory at home to Runcorn Linnets; this was despite losing the potent strike force of Ric Seear to Colne and Ryan Riley to Bamber Bridge. Andy Clarkson took over in October 2017 and guided the club to a creditable 8th place finish and improved again in 2018/19 season with another 8th place finish. After a difficult start to the 2019/2020 season Luke Evans was appointed manager assisted by Shane Hudson. Form Guide Date Opponents H/A KO Score Goalscorers Sat 31/07/21 Wythenshawe Town H 15:00 0-1 Tue 03/08/21 Burscough A 19:45 1-3 Houghton Sat 07/08/21 Squires Gate (The Emirates F.A Cup EP) H 15:00 0-2 Sat 14/08/21 Charnock Richard A 15:00 1-9 Brown Tue 17/08/21 Winsford United A 19:45 0-3 Sat 21/08/21 Vauxhall Motors H 15:00 4-5 Brown, Joe Nicholson, Bandell (2) Sat 28/08/21 Congleton Town A 15:00 2-1 Bandell, Josh Nicholson Mon 30/08/21 Lower Breck H 15:00 1-0 Beckford Sat 04/09/21 Macclesfield H 15:00 1-1 Beckford Tue 07/09/21 Runcorn Town H 19:45 2-4 Korie-Butler, Boyd Sat 11/09/21 Abbey Hey (The Buildbase FA Vase 1Q) A 15:00 0-1 Tue 14/09/21 AFC Liverpool A 19:45 2-2 Boyd, Korie-Butler Sat 18/09/21 Prestwich Heys H 15:00 3-4 Boyd, Nicholson, Beckford Sat 25/09/21 Squires Gate A 15:00 4-2 Beckford, Weaver, Nicholson, Korie-Butler Wed 29/09/21 Litherland REMYCA A 19:45 1-3 Beckford Sat 02/10/21 Skelmersdale United A 15:00 1=3 Beckford Sat 09/10/21 Avro H 15:00 4-0 Beckford (2), Boyd, McDermott Sat 16/10/21 Padiham H 15:00 3-2 Korie-Butler, Nicholson, Beckford Sat 30/10/21 Irlam H 15:00 2-0 Beckford 2 Sat 06/11/21 Northwich Victoria A 15:00 1-7 Nicholson Sat 13/11/21 Barnoldswick Town A 15:00 2-2 Ellis 2 Wed 17/11/21 Longridge Town (Lancashire Challenge R2) A 19:45 4-2 Ellis, Nicholson, Boyd, Brough Sat 20/11/21 Runcorn Town A 15:00 1-1 Boyd Sat 23/11/21 Burscough H 19:45 2-2 Wilson, Brodie Sat 27/11/21 Squires Gate H 15:00 Sat 04/12/21 Longridge Town A 15:00 Sat 11/12/21 Northwich Victoria H 15:00 Tue 14/12/21 Longridge Town H 19:45 Sat 18/12/21 Avro A 15:00 Mon 27/12/21 Skelmersdale United A 15:00 Sat 15/01/22 AFC Liverpool H 15:00 Sat 22/01/22 Vauxhall Motors A 15:00 Sat 29/01/22 Congleton Town H 15:00 Sat 05/02/22 Lower Breck A 15:00 Sat 12/02/22 Prestwich Heys A 15:00 Sat 19/02/22 Winsford United H 15:00 Sat 26/02/22 Litherland REMYCA H 15:00 Sat 05/03/22 Padiham A 15:00 Tue 08/03/22 Charnock Richard H 19.45 Sat 12/03/22 Macclesfield A 15:00 Sat 26/03/22 Barnoldswick Town H 15:00 Sat 02/04/22 Irlam A 15:00 Fixtures and Results Appearances Goals Cards MOM Player Start Sub Start Sub Red Yellow Tosin Abioye 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 Charles Akande 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 Ben Ascroft (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 James Aspinall (GK) 15 0 0 0 0 0 5 Christopher Bandell 7 1 3 0 0 1 0 Ethan Beckford * 10 3 11 0 0 0 4 Lewis Boyd 14 3 6 0 0 0 0 Richard Brodie 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 Ethan Brough 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 Millen Brown 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 Regan Brown 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ben Cartwright * 12 1 0 0 0 1 0 Michael Conlon 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Cook 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tom Douglas * 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Matthew Edwards (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Gabriel Ellis 6 0 3 0 0 0 0 Jason Foulds (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jamie Frost 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Declan Gallagher * 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Hatton 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Oliver Hawkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Samuel Houghton 10 5 0 0 1 0 0 Ahmed Ibrahim 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bram Johnstone 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 Harry Jones 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Oredi Kibombo * 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 Anthony Knowles 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Dale Korie-Butler * 14 3 4 0 0 2 0 Andy Mandjoba 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 Cian McDermott 6 0 1 0 0 2 0 Charlie Middlemore 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 Niall Moran 9 0 0 0 0 2 1 Joseph Nicholson * 10 1 1 0 1 2 2 Joshua Nicholson 23 1 7 0 0 0 2 James O’Hara 12 4 0 0 0 4 0 Martin Pearson (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Marcus Perry * 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 Fenton Reeves * 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Matthew Reid 6 1 0 0 1 1 0 Andrew Thomas 8 5 0 0 0 0 1 Neil Weaver * 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 Nathan Whalley 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 Joe White 15 3 0 0 0 3 0 Harvey Whyte * 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 Dimeji Willan (GK) * 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Calum Wilson 19 2 1 0 0 3 3 Dean Winnard 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Sean Yeldrem 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gregor Zabret 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Player Appearences Ashton Athletic Manager: Jay Foulds Squires Gate Manager: Luke Evans James Aspinall Ethan Brough Andrew Thomas Niall Moran Joe White Calum Wilson Joshua Nicholson Charlie Middlemore Ethan Beckford Cian McDermott Lewis Boyd Christopher Bandell Oredi Kibombo Samuel Houghton James O’Hara Dale Korie-Butler Richard Brodie Tosin Abioye Harry Jones Gabriel Ellis Michael Conlon Anthony Knowles Regan Brown MATCH OFFICIALS REFEREE TBC ASSISTANT TBC ASSISTANT TBC NEXT UP AT BROCSTEDES PARK Saturday 11 December 2021 Kick-off 3.00pm Northwich Victoria Michael Hale Isaac Abankwah Jacob Higham Daniel Gray Luke Holden Joshua Westwood Ryan Riley Christopher Webster Jack Iley Mosopeoluwo Awe James Boyd Alex Welsh Saad Mekkaoui-Abouzaid Joshua Pollard Jonathon Hothersall Max Rogers