L&C president raring to go on return to action
ANDY Rowlandson, the President of the Lancashire and Cheshire AFL, and a stalwart of AFC Oldham FC, is looking forward to a busy and exciting end to the season when Grass Roots football can return to action.
Andy said: “My biggest honour to date in football is for this season by being asked to become the Lancashire & Cheshire League President for the 2020-2021 season a position my late father Bob Rowlandson would be very proud for me to hold and I know he’s watching down on me with his pipe in his mouth guiding me along.
“I do hope that things get back to normal soon so I get to fulfil my role as President as I should be doing as I haven’t been able to do much in this current climate.
“My earliest memory of Amateur Football was being brought to watch my dad’s football team Clarksfield FC as a young whipper snapper – probably about five or six years old – I used to love going with my dad to watch the game and hopefully get a kick around at half time or after game when players were getting changed.
“I remember one Saturday a few years later my dad asked me if I had any spare boots or shin pads as a few of the team had cried off and we were unable to get a bare eleven out – I only had mine (as I wore them every week whilst watching. I remember hearing my dad telling the then manager ‘Our Andy will be ok - he’s quick enough to avoid the bad tackles – and if he’s not – he soon will be’
“And that was that - I was 13 years old and I was about to make my footballing debut, with a depleted side against one of the best local teams around at the time, and to make things worse, my dad had to start the game as we only had ten men!
“He borrowed my white basketball trainers, some tatty old shin pads we found and he had to tape his glasses to his head with insulation tape!
“Not really sure what happened but we managed to win 1-0 and from then on I was involved every Saturday mainly as a substitute until I was 16 and playing regularly.
“After the club became Clarksfield St. Edwards and we joined the Lancashire & Cheshire, I played with the third team for a few years as a left winger / left back – although I didn’t like defending too much.
“As the seasons passed and I was in my early 20’s - I moved up front due to my height and pace and was able to put the ball in the back of the net – with a fair bit of help from my team mates.
“I played Saturdays for Clarksfield St. Edwards, Sunday mornings for my local pub team and also Sunday afternoons for a team which was run from the local Ukrainian club in Oldham – where I managed to get into the Inter-League side.
“My real love was Saturday football and being around some of the older players really helped me and other young players develop and grow in confidence – after a few seasons playing up front, I was asked to step in at centre half for a game as we were a player down – I played at CB for the rest of that season and formed a great partnership with one of the older players in the middle of the defence.
“In 1996-1997 season in Division 3 we managed to win the league and get promoted to Division 2 with a mixture of young and old players – the celebrations after the match in the dressing room will stay with me forever, remembering the manager Jeff Platt and my dad getting drenched in lager and cheap champagne!!
“I continued to play for Clarksfield St. Edwards until 2005 when we became AFC Oldham and I continued to play until around 2016 when a combination of my job and my body told me to walk away from playing – it was one of the hardest thing I’ve had to do as I could never see my not playing football – but I continue to be part of this great club as a non-player now only making guest appearances in charity games.
“I still get a buzz going to the football on a Saturday but now as a spectator and the clubs development officer – making sure the players all have the same club gear and kits on and making the club look smart whether on the field or off the field.
“Finally I would like to praise the League Committee for all the hard work and tough decisions that they make though out the seasons and have to deal with on a daily basis – each and every one of them is doing their utmost to make sure we stay safe and make this season work one way or another.
“I hope everyone connected with every club in the Lancashire & Cheshire and at Grassroots football manages to stay safe and we can all see these bad times through and look forward to getting back to doing what we all love to do.”
COUNTY laboured to a goalless draw with Aldershot Town at Edgeley Park in the National League on Saturday, with talisman John Rooney seeing a late penalty saved to take all three points for The Hatters.
On a blisteringly cold afternoon in Stockport – with temperatures dropping below zero – Simon Rusk opted for three changes from the line-up that had started at EP in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Yeovil a week earlier.
Attacker Tom Walker went straight into the starting line-up following his return to the club on loan to the end of the season, with James Jennings and Lois Maynard also recalled to replace the trio of Ryan Croasdale and Connor Jennings (both of whom had picked up knocks during the week), as well as defender Jamie Stott.
Despite a largely dominant performance by way of both possession and chances against an Aldershot side which had won four in six prior to their trip to Edgeley Park, the main concern on the day for Rusk and company would have been County’s failure to convert some golden opportunities on goal, with another positive performance somewhat undone by County’s lack of clinical finishing on the day.
In a first half devoid of real attacking quality, striker Richie Bennett came closest to opening the scoring when he latched onto the returning Tom Walker’s cross only to see Shots ‘keeper Mitch Walker save superbly from close range.
Bennett’s near miss was to be the only big chance in a first half played in the same freezing conditions which swept across the borough last weekend – before the same man came even closer immediately after the restart.
The former Port Vale’s forward strike partner Alex Reid fizzed a low cross in from the left, only for Bennett to see his close-range effort skew wide of the unguarded goal.
Ash Palmer headed straight at the increasingly busy Walker in the visitors’ goal as The Hatters continued to press, before Reid fired just wide of the near post as the tie passed the hour mark still in the balance.
Will Collar entered the fray with fifteen minutes remaining for the new boy’s County debut, having joined the club from Hamilton Academical last week – and almost had the perfect impact, as the 24-year-old midfielder crossed perfectly for John Rooney, only for Rooney’s header to fly straight into the arms of Mitch Walker once again.Collar’s cameo performance may provide a crumb of comfort to Rusk, with the former Brighton youngster looking composed and assured in the centre of a difficult surface.
With time running out, Rusk’s side were handed a glorious opportunity to win all three points when Dinesh Gillela handled Rooney’s cross and conceded the penalty – only for Mitch Walker to guess correctly and dive low to save Rooney’s penalty kick with just five minutes remaining.
The Shots successfully saw out three minutes of stoppage time, with The Hatters unable to muster a further attempt on the visitors’ goal after Rooney’s late miss.
The frustrating stalemate sees The Hatters drop to fourth in the National League table, albeit still with games in hand over wobbling league leaders Torquay.
County’s fixtures have continued to go ahead, with Tuesday’s trip to Maidenhead set to be played as The Express went to print before the long trip to Eastleigh on Saturday – despite uncertainty over the National League’s vote on how to
conclude the season.
Clubs in all three National League divisions have until the 28th February to submit their vote on whether to continue the season or not, but with the fate of the National League campaign still up in the air, controversy continued to reign at the weekend as National League outfit Dover Athletic furloughed their entire squad and refused to fulfil any further fixtures until a conclusion is reached.
County are keen for the season to continue and have regularly lobbied their fellow sides to vote against curtailment. COUNTY (4-4-2): Hinchliffe; Southam-Hales, Palmer, Hogan ©, J. Jennings; Walker, Rooney, Maynard, Williams; Reid (Collar, 72), Bennett.