First outing for my vuvuzela*

Ooh, Curzon Ashton v Manchester United XI. Or as they’re better known, Manchester United Reserves. This was the first of Curzon’s friendly matches and it was a joy to watch. The Man United squad showed why they play for Man United. Technically brilliant and fantastic to watch, I’m sure we’ll be seeing many of them in the Manchester United first team in the very near future.

As a first outing for the new Curzon squad they were quite impressive. They played like a team, which I suppose they should considering all but two of them used to play together at Mossley.  Unfortunately, the only other player from last season, Chris McDonagh, was unable to play as he'd picked up an injury in training. It was great to see so many children being brought to the match by their parents. It's a pity they don't continue to come and watch their local team when there isn't a big name to draw them in.

I’m not sure anyone would have been expecting Curzon to win this match. And of course they didn’t. They were beaten by four goals to one in what was, I suppose, a bit of a David and Goliath match. Except Goliath won. But it was still a very entertaining match and it provided a glimpse of what is possible for the season for the Curzon players.

The award for the most irritating person of the night went to the PA announcer. His inability to speak properly makes me think that possibly he’s not the right person for the job. He constantly gets his words jumbled up and is unable to say more than four or five words without an ‘err’. His problems pronouncing the Curzon players names even after they’ve been playing all season mean that visiting team players don’t stand a chance. As for the club sponsors, PP Plasma, well, how difficult is that to say? Apparently, it’s very difficult. They were repeatedly referred to as PP Plasna all evening.

So the positives for the next season - the pitch is looking very nice and springy, the squad is looking like they will settle in quite nicely and the ticket prices are the same as last season. The negatives – well, let’s just see what happens, shall we.

*Not really

And we're back

Saturday was the first outing to a match in ages.  Well, several weeks at least. Abbey Hey FC v New Mills AFC was the first of a few friendlies lined up in the next few weeks. And it didn't disappoint.

Abbey Hey have a nice ground and a very pleasant clubhouse. The pies were particularly popular.  The match began with a minutes silence for Abbey Hey’s kit manager who had tragically died a few days earlier. What should have been a poignant moment was reduced to farce as the announcement was made in a spectacularly dreadful fashion through the club’s terrible PA system which rendered it undecipherable.

Your ball.....

However, what followed was an entertaining, fast moving game, with both sets of players eager to display their talents, presumably with the hope of securing a place in the first team at the start of the new season. The crowd was quite interesting too with a disturbing number of spectators enthusiastically snapping away at the action.  There were more cameras on display than in a Jessop’s shop window. Some of these photos can be seen on the Abbey Hey website if you are at all interested.

The mystery of the day was trying to figure out why Abbey Hey’s ‘Killer’ was so named. A club official told us it was because of his surname.  Not quite sure how you get 'Killer' from Martin Pilkington. The mystery continues.

Rushing home to catch the start of the England v France game in the Women’s World Cup (shouldn’t have bothered), I missed the end of the match but later learnt that newly promoted New Mills had beat Abbey Hey in a five goals to three scoreline.  I would have been looking forward to see Curzon Ashton playing against New Mills this season. Unfortunately, New Mills have been placed in the Evostik Division One South League. Obviously.

Curzon is the new Mossley

The new season is almost on us and I, for one, can’t wait. Saturday afternoons are just plain pointless when there isn’t a match to go to. I haven’t yet found anything to replace football that doesn’t involve going shopping. And I’m not a huge fan of shopping.

Since the end of the football season, we’ve been hearing rumours about transfers, and then of the countless millions paid for, in some cases, very surprising transfers to clubs whose monthly wage bills would keep a non league club going for many, many years.

Non league football also has the excitement of moving players at the end of each season and you never quite know who you’ll be paying to watch for the next nine months. The Curzon Ashton website (*rolls eyes*) is beginning to drip feed information about the new team. I say new team because that is essentially what it is. Only two players remain from last season’s squad. Luckily, one of those two is top goal scorer, Chris McDonagh. The rest have been spirited away by local rivals. Or just been spirited away. Of course, there’s always movement at the end of every season.  But this feels like a whole new beginning for the team.

The new Curzon squad appears to consist of, well basically, the old Mossley FC team. John Flanagan obviously had a good relationship with those players during his short time managing Mossley and has confidence they are the right people to form the new Curzon Ashton. I’m hoping his confidence is not misplaced.

And what of the local rival teams squads? Well, the new Mossley team seems to have much of last season’s Youth and Reserve members. Maybe the rumours about the problems with money there are true. Not sure how the good folk of Mossley are going to take this.

Woodley Sports FC, which had been the new Mossley (are you following this?) since Chris Wilcock. another ex-Mossley manager, took charge in February are not saying very much at all. Just that information is ‘coming soon’. Maybe the spirited away Curzon players will be seen on the pitch there next season. Who knows?

And who knows what impact these changes will have on the League tables. Last year, and for a fair few years before that, Curzon managed to get towards the top of the table at the end of the season and had to endure nail biting play off games. Teams with a much bigger fan base and consequently much bigger budgets (probably), always managed to pop the promotion dream. 

This season, there aren’t any Halifax Town’s or Chester’s or Chorley’s in the Evostik First Division North. I daren’t even dream that this could be Curzon’s year. I mean, winning isn’t everything is it? But it beats losing.

In with the new

The stage is set

If you'd asked me to guess how many people would turn up to a 'Fans Forum' at Curzon Ashton I wouldn't have predicted very many. Well, as it turned out, on Thursday night there were a few more than I anticipated. Of course, we were still outnumbered by committee members but that's only to be expected at Curzon. 

The evening began with an awkward last minute dash to find a microphone. Good planning. Then John Flanagan, the new Curzon manager gave us his background that almost went back to his CSE results. Finally, the floor was thrown open for questions. I asked a couple as did a few others. He told us about his management style, which players have gone and who was staying.  Interesting. We were introduced to his new assistant, "I'm Steve, I'm 29" (I never did find out his surname), who has joined Curzon from Leigh Genesis. The Forum ended with a positive feeling for the future of the club. A new beginning, if that isn't too dramatic.

We learned a few things about the coming season, and I learnt a few more, off the record, over a drink later. But it was more than that. This really is a positive start for those of us who turn up week after week with sometimes only the 'How many balls will get kicked out of the ground?' game to keep us entertained. A manager who is keen to engage with supporters is definitely something new and to be encouraged.

I'm looking forward to the coming season. I always do. Now, I could use my psychic super-powers to discover how the season will unfold thus potentially avoiding many Monday nights watching dire football in the freezing cold. But then what would be the fun in that? 

Out with the old

So it’s the end of an era. Gary Lowe and his assistant Martyn Booty have moved on.  In their place we have John Flanagan who was manager at Mossley for a short while, and an as yet unnamed assistant. Mossley folk (as they like to call themselves) hold Flanagan in high regard and he did have success while he was in charge.

Lowe and Booty (sounds like the name of a bad ‘70’s cop show) were vociferous in their frustration with players when Curzon were on the pitch. It sometimes appeared to us spectators that they had worked out prior to kick off who was going to be that day’s target and the poor player would not be able to do a thing right throughout the game. Neither of them were known for their expressions of praise, either for players or spectators. Having said that, Curzon have made it to the playoffs for the last few years, so they must have been doing something right.

So now we have John Flanagan. What we don’t know as yet is who will be playing for him. Shifting managers tend to have a magnetic touch. Hopefully, Flanagan can build a side which can take Curzon on to greater things,

Whatever happens, I’m hoping for a quieter season as I sit in the seats behind the dugout.