Football Grounds visited by Richard Bysouth: Tadcaster Albion FC

Saturday 30 March 2013

Tadcaster Albion FC

Saturday 30th March 2013 Kick off 19:30

North Counties East Premier League

Tadcaster Albion FC 5 v 1 Barton Old Boys FC
2 inspire Park
Ings Lane,
Tadcaster
LS24 9AY

Attendance: 288
Weather: Cold as usual
Customer Service: Really helpful.
Ground hop game 8 of 8

Hey, does the Tadcaster programme cover remind you of a 70's TV programme - Time Tunnel by any chance?

The Albion were formed in 1892, and the ground is situated behind John Smith's brewery - therefore not surprisingly their nickname is the "Brewers".

This was a very strange game, it was on course to be a dour nil nil job - when a Tadcaster player was dismissed for foul conduct - stamping on an opponent - though no one else saw the stamp - not even the local postman - only the ref. The dismissal, caused Tadcaster to up the pace and they went onto demolish poor old Barton.

The steps of the clubhouse double up as a terrace, and the over hanging roof provides some shelter from the rain.

Meet Hector who is a Bury Town supporter and arch rival to Horace the "ground hopping" Dog. You remember him surely from Hemswoth now,,,dear or dear forgotten already have we? He will be very disappointed, especially as he is the North West's "top dog" .....woof...woof.

Now you are probably wondering what is that ? Can I drive that on my licence ? Does it need a NOVA notification? Okay then, none of these ridiculous questions, well for those who are curious it is a mobile grandstand. Now there's a story behind this, the item was purchased on eBay from someone called ryanthfc - ring any bells now? Well the "welds" turned out to be rather weak , so the edifice is shrouded in scaffolding until remedial action can be taken. I hope the buyer left negative feedback!

Here's another shot of that dodgy eBay purchase - unbelievable what people will sell on the bay these days. Anything from antique vases to boxes for slides apparently.

The classic concrete bus shelter - circa WW II. As luck would have it this one survived the bombing by the Fokkers.

Is this the stamp reported earlier on this in report?

Another bitterly cold night hopping.

This week's spot the Pieman competition ....the winner wins a mobile grandstand in full working order. Well that's the "hop" over for another season folks - but before we go - I would like to share with you some "other" pictures to show the last few days were not all about eating pies and watching football. For your perusal below are some pictures of the Yorkshire countryside - but first some football!!

You may remember, the first game at Emley was PP and Atherton Colls bravely stepped into the breech and what a marvellous job they did. Well in the spirit of "investigative journalism" your roving reporter decided to establish the facts behind the PP for you. On my way back to the smoke, I took a little detour, and despite the main gates being locked I found a side entrance and was thus able to take sneak a few pics for you readers.

As you can see, there is still a lot of snow in the ground since Maundy Thursday - and this picture was taken on Sunday. Therefore, even if the pitch could be cleared, the surrounding area would have been difficult for pedestians and transport to access.

This is a picture of Emley Moor TV transmitting station, standing at 1,084 feet it is the tallest free standing structure in the UK and the 7th tallest free standing structure in the EU. It was erected in 1956 to provide independent television broadcasts to the Yorkshire area - transmitting Granada TV (Coronation St) during the week and ABC TV at the weekends. On March 1969, a combination of strong winds and ice brought the structure crushing down across Emley Moor. The tower was re erected at a cost of £100,000 - I wonder how much would that cost now?