Post by hawleybootboy on Dec 30, 2023 17:44:08 GMT
Whilst H&W aren’t the closest to us, you can’t fault the pairing too much, nor with the others in the division, but in the Conference North there was one that defied all logic:
Boxing Day saw Spennymoor, who despite being beyond Newcastle have 4 clubs within 30 miles of them and Chorley, who have a team within 15 miles and half the division within an hour’s travel, were paired with each other. That’s 120 miles as the crow flies between them!
Rather than a bumper crowd for a local derby at home on Boxing Day, Spennymoor hosted the grand total of 34 away fans!
The return fixture today saw a couple of coaches of Spennymoor fans (plus other solo fans) drive all the way to Chorley as part of a crowd of 1966 to see the game abandoned after 75 minutes (Chorley were 1 up). To be fair it was the sensible call by the ref thanks to a monsoon since the end of the first half and there were puddles on parts of the pitch in the second and the ball was having trouble rolling with 3 players going off injured by then.
It’s just an utter rubbish situation for Spennymoor and their fans having been robbed of a proper Boxing Day game to have to drive almost 300 miles to not even see a full match. Shocking admin by the conference over this pairing and both clubs have demanded answers as to why they were handed these fixtures which defy any logic.
Boxing Day saw Spennymoor, who despite being beyond Newcastle have 4 clubs within 30 miles of them and Chorley, who have a team within 15 miles and half the division within an hour’s travel, were paired with each other. That’s 120 miles as the crow flies between them!
Rather than a bumper crowd for a local derby at home on Boxing Day, Spennymoor hosted the grand total of 34 away fans!
The return fixture today saw a couple of coaches of Spennymoor fans (plus other solo fans) drive all the way to Chorley as part of a crowd of 1966 to see the game abandoned after 75 minutes (Chorley were 1 up). To be fair it was the sensible call by the ref thanks to a monsoon since the end of the first half and there were puddles on parts of the pitch in the second and the ball was having trouble rolling with 3 players going off injured by then.
It’s just an utter rubbish situation for Spennymoor and their fans having been robbed of a proper Boxing Day game to have to drive almost 300 miles to not even see a full match. Shocking admin by the conference over this pairing and both clubs have demanded answers as to why they were handed these fixtures which defy any logic.
