Saturday 18 September 2021 - Kick-off 3.00pm v Prestwich Heys 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 Prestwich Heys 15:00 Barnoldswick Town v Vauxhall Motors 15:00 Longridge Town v Irlam 15:00 Lower Breck v Winsford United 15:00 Macclesfield v Litherland REMYCA 15:00 Northwich Victoria v AFC Liverpool 15:00 Padiham v Congleton Town 15:00 Runcorn Town v Burscough 15:00 Skelmersdale United v Wythenshawe Town 15:00 AFC Darwen v Atherton LR 15:00 Chadderton v Campion 15:00 Daisy Hill v Bacup Borough 15:00 Garstang v Bury AFC 15:00 Holker Old Boys v Nelson 15:00 Ilkley Town v St Helens Town 15:00 Pilkington v Golcar United 15:00 South Liverpool v AFC Blackpool 15:00 Steeton v Cleator Moor Celtic 14:30 Stockport Town v FC Isle of Man 15:00 Abbey Hey v West Didsbury & Chorlton 15:00 Abbey Hulton United v Cheadle Heath Nomads 15:00 Brocton v St Martins 15:00 Cheadle Town v Stafford Town 15:00 Maine Road v Ellesmere Rangers 15:00 New Mills v Eccleshall 15:00 Rocester v Barnton 15:00 Sandbach United v Cammell Laird 1907 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 September our first prize won £225! 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 Managers : Jay Foulds & Dougie Pitts 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 Dougie Pitts Jay Foulds Daz Mullen A warm welcome to all of our friends from Prestwich Heys. I hope you enjoy your afternoon at Brocstedes. This afternoon’s match gives us an opportunity to return to winning ways. A couple of weeks ago we looked as though we were turning a corner as we strung together a number of good performances against top quality opposition. However, recently our form has dropped as we have not recorded a win in our last three matches. It all started in our last home league fixture against Runcorn Town. We approached the match full of confidence. Unfortunately we made a poor start to the match and found ourselves two goals down within the first ten minutes. I can’t stress enough the importance of making a good start to each match and starting on the front foot. This was an issue for us at the start of the season where we often found ourselves a goal down very early on in a match. Against a determined AFC Liverpool team on Tuesday evening we made a fast start and it was us that took the lead. This gave us a good foothold in the game and we held on for a desrved draw. Hopefully we can make a fast start again this afternoon. The future’s bright, the future’s yellow. Dougie and Jay Tuesday 5 October 2021 Kick-off 7.45pm v Longridge Town The North West Counties League Premier Division Premier Division P GD Pts 1 Macclesfield 8 7 20 2 Wythenshawe Town 9 7 17 3 Congleton Town 9 8 16 4 Skelmersdale United 7 10 15 5 Charnock Richard 8 14 14 6 Northwich Victoria 9 5 14 7 Longridge Town 9 3 14 8 Winsford United 9 -4 14 9 Avro 8 4 13 10 Irlam 8 3 13 11 Lower Breck 9 -3 13 12 AFC Liverpool 8 -1 12 13 Vauxhall Motors 9 -6 12 14 Barnoldswick Town 7 3 11 15 Burscough 9 1 11 16 Runcorn Town 9 -2 10 17 Squires Gate 7 1 9 18 Prestwich Heys 9 -8 9 19 Ashton Athletic 10 -15 8 20 Padiham 9 -5 7 21 Litherland REMYCA 10 -22 0 NEXT UP at Brocstedes Table as up to Monday 13 September 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 The origins of Prestwich Heys A.F.C. can be traced back to February 9th, 1938 when a meeting was called at the Music Room of the Heys Road Boys School at which Elgar Lumsden put forward the idea of forming an Old Boys Association. Attending that first meeting were messers Bridge, Stott, Foster, Taplin and Alan Proctor Bell, who was to become a central figure in the Club’s history and whose progress he was to report on in the Prestwich Guide under the guise of ‘Touchliner’. Despite the onset of the Second World War a year later, the Association flourished under the Chairmanship of Bell, who also acted as Secretary of the football arm, known as Heys Old Boys AFC and was acknowledged as one of the region’s best. The team went on to win its first honours in 1943 in the Prestwich and Whitefield League with the Woodward Shield - a success which was repeated for the next three seasons. The team gradually progressed through the Bury Amateur League and in to the South East Lancashire League claiming Championships in 1960, 1961 and 1964. Under the guidance of Peter Gilmour in the sixties, Heys won the prestigious Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1967 followed by the one and only Lancashire Combination Grand Slam in the 1970/71 season with Heys bringing all four trophies available back to Grimshaws. (left) The club also changed its name in 1964 to Prestwich Heys AFC, an acknowledgement of the fame achieved by the club as they proved one of the nation’s top amateur clubs. Thousands flocked to see Heys play, and beat, the likes of Sutton United, Ferryhill Athletic, Finchley and Highgate United in the FA Amateur Cup with the clubs best run taking Heys to the last 16. The victory over Sutton United in 1969 ranks as one of Heys most famous moments, attracting nationwide coverage, coming a week before their opponents were due to meet Leeds United in the FA Cup. These were heady days but with the seventies came the onslaught of professionalism and the club struggled to maintain its winning ways. After claiming the Manchester Amateur Cup in 1972, the trophy cabinet remained bare as Heys negotiated the gradual restructuring of semi- professional football, moving from the Cheshire County League in to the newly formed North West Counties League in 1982. Ground grading problems saw the club drop in to the Manchester Football League in 1986 but the club went on to gain its first trophy for over a decade when the First Division title was claimed in 1988. 1991 saw Heys relocate from their Grimshaws home on Heys Road for a new base at Sandgate Road, just over the border in Whitefield. After relegation in 1996, the club bounced back with the Manchester League double of First Division Championship and Murray Shield built on the back of a record 19 league wins from the start of the season. After finishing runners-up to champions Royton Town in the 2003/04 season, the 2004/05 season saw Heys finally take the major prize of their first Manchester League Premier Division title. They followed this up by retaining their crown the following season with a 2-0 victory in their penultimate game of the season at Hindsford. In 2006/07, Heys made it a hat-trick of Premier Division titles and also lifted the Goldline Trophy after defeating Charnock Richard on penalties at the Reebok Stadium. However, on the Eve of the 2007-08 season tragedy struck when Chairman and Manager Adie Moran died whilst on holiday in Sri Lanka at the age of 43. It stunned the football community and left Heys reeling. Indeed, the following four years were marked by decline and successive relegation battles before, in 2011, Heys turned to former player Jon Lyons, who had played under Moran to resurrect their fortunes. Bottom of the table they collected 25 points from the last fifteen games to again stave off relegation. Our Opponents Today Prestwich Heys Current Position 19th P W D L F A Pts 10 2 2 6 14 29 8 Current Form 14th P W D L F A 6 2 2 2 8 9 LAST SIX MATCHES Date Opponent Score 14/09/21 AFC Liverpool (A) D 2-2 11/09/21 Abbey Hey (A) L 0-1 07/09/21 Runcorn Town (H) L 2-4 04/09/21 Macclesfield (H) D 1-1 30/08/21 Lower Breck (H) W 1-0 28/08/21 Congleton Town (A) W 2-1 Current Position: 18th P W D L F A Pts 9 3 0 6 15 23 9 Current Form: 11th P W D L F A 6 3 0 3 10 11 Last Six Matches: Date Opponent Score 14/09/21 Wythenshawe Town (A) L 1-4 11/09/21 Lower Breck (H) W 3-1 03/09/21 Vauxhall Motors (A) L 1-2 30/08/21 Avro (A) W 1-0 28/08/21 Winsford United (H) W 4-1 21/08/21 Warrington Rylands 1906 (H) L 0-3 Heys continued to make steady progress re-establishing themselves amongst the area’s leading clubs culminating in a glorious record breaking 2015-16 season. At a club with an illustrious history the clubhouse at Adie Moran Park is adorned with the names and faces of legends of Heys past. However, the class of 2016 now proudly sit alongside those greats after delivering the most successful season in the club’s history. A first team treble and Reserve team double brought five trophies to the club, capped by achieving the long-held dream of a return to the North West Counties League after a 30-year absence. Heys won the Manchester League Premier Division by 13 points. More glory followed. The Bolton Hospital Cup was secured with a 1-0 at the Macron Stadium over Atherton Collieries. Then, despite a weary performance, the League and Cup double was secured with a 1-0 win over Manchester Gregorians in the Gilgryst Cup Final. It was an example of the resolve that ran though the squad throughout the season. For all the plaudits for their football, they scored 91 goals in the League, Heys had an underlying grit. They conceded only 29 goals in 30 league games and kept a club record for consecutive clean sheets when their goal was not breached in their last seven matches. So, the 2016-17 season saw Heys take their place in the North West Counties League years. For a long time, it looked as if promotion was possible but a crippling fixture list and mounting injuries saw Jon Lyons side ultimately finish eighth. 2017-18 however saw the club win their first ever honour at semi-professional level as the LWC Drinks 1st Division Cup was won with a thrilling 2-1 win over Cammell Laird in the Final. A stunning 91st minute goal by John Main was to prove decisive. This compensated for the main aim of promotion being narrowly missed. Heys came third in the table with 91 points and having finished top scorers with 124 goals. Defeat in the play off semi-final to Cammell Laird ended their hopes of making the step up. The following season saw Heys finish in fifth position in a very strong Division One North, but had the compensation of seeing our return to the FA Cup after a thirty-five year gap marked with a BBC- televised home tie with near neighbours Radcliffe before a bumper crowd. Last season started with high hopes, but with Heys on the fringe of the promotion race in December, Club legend Jon Lyons stepped down as manager after eight successful years, with former player Matty Barnes taking over until the 2019-20 season ended prematurely. 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 Sat 25/09/21 Squires Gate A 15:00 Wed 29/09/21 Litherland REMYCA A 19:45 Sat 02/10/21 Skelmersdale United A 15:00 Tue 05/10/21 Longridge Town H 19:45 Sat 09/10/21 Avro H 15:00 Sat 16/10/21 Padiham A 15:00 Sat 30/10/21 Irlam H 15:00 Sat 06/11/21 Northwich Victoria A 15:00 Sat 13/11/21 Barnoldswick Town A 15:00 Currently fixtures are only available to 13 November 2021. Fixture lists are being re-arranged in the light of COVID-19 restrictions. Fixtures and Results Credit- @Peester79 Appearances Goals Cards MOM Player Start Sub Start Sub Red Yellow Charles Akande 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 Ben Ascroft (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 James Aspinall (GK) 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 Christopher Bandell 6 0 3 0 0 1 0 Ethan Beckford 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 Lewis Boyd 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 Millen Brown 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 Ben Cartwright 12 0 0 0 0 1 0 Tom Douglas 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Foulds (GK) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Declan Gallagher 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Hatton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Samuel Houghton 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 Bram Johnstone 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 Oredi Kibombo 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dale Korie-Butler 10 2 2 0 0 1 0 Andy Mandjoba 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cian McDermott 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Charlie Middlemore 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Joseph Nicholson 9 0 1 0 1 1 2 Joshua Nicholson 11 1 2 0 0 0 1 James O’Hara 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 Martin Pearson (GK) 0 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 0 0 0 1 1 0 Andrew Thomas 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 Neil Weaver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nathan Whalley 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 Joe White 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 Harvey Whyte * 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 Dimeji Willan (GK) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Calum Wilson 7 2 0 0 0 1 1 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 Managers: Jay Foulds & Dougie Pitts Prestwich Heys Manager: Matty Barnes James Aspinall Matthew Reid Andrew Thomas Ben Cartwright Declan Gallagher Joseph Nicholson Joshua Nicholson Calum Wilson Dale Korie-Butler Christopher Bandell Bram Johnstone Ethan Beckford Charles Akande Andy Mandjoba Joe White James O’Hara Cian McDermott Neil Weaver MATCH OFFICIALS REFEREE TBC ASSISTANT TBC ASSISTANT TBC NEXT UP AT BROCSTEDES PARK Tuesday 5 October 2021 Kick-off 7.45pm Longridge Town Ryan Livesey Joe Rothwell Nathan Emery Scot Cullen Adrian Bellamy James Dwyer Oscar Campbell Samuel Dickinson Jack Coop Bradley Sixsmith Niall Sultan Taylor Share Oliver Scott Krisel Prifti Ryan Shenton Sean Cookson