Buxton Preview

Feb 24, 2020 | Club News

Next Saturday we venture into Derbyshire to play Buxton. Always a pleasant trip over the Roaches, but only if the weather is fine. Buxton took home a point from our recent encounter at Marston Road and will be looking to take all three on a surface Stafford Rangers never do well on. Last Saturday Buxton picked up a very creditable draw at table toppers South Shields, so a side who a few months ago looked to be one of our relegation colleagues, now lead Rangers by 10 points. Buxton are currently on a 5-league game unbeaten run although many have been draws. However, in that run they lost 3-1 away to Newcastle Town in the Integro Cup. Okay we may not know the strength of Buxton line up for the cup game, but it was played out in front of only 75 fans. As we soon travel to Newcastle for a Staffs Senior Cup game, could it be that despite our current plight, we may take more fans to that game than the home team.

At home in the league Buxton have won 3, drawn 5 and lost 7. Out of the 3 wins they include a 7-0 over Grantham and a 5-0 over Scarborough. They did however lose 1-2 at home to Atherton, the side directly above us. Therefore, it appears the game could go either way, but while 3 points are up for grabs, then we must take them and put to rest our hoodoo on synthetic pitches.

Situated 1000 feet above sea level, the Silverlands is the highest ground within the Pyramid of soccer. We have played Buxton many times in the old Cheshire League, but they gained entry into the Northern Premier league in season73/74, and we met each season in the seventies till our move up the leagues, whereas Buxton dipped down with two relegations to the Northern Countries east in 1997 and 1998. They returned to the Northern Premier fold with promotion to NPL 1 in 2006

Our paths met up again from season 2011/12 and since then there have been 6 NPL fixtures between Buxton and Stafford Rangers with Rangers winning 1, drawing2 and losing 3, a run we certainly need to turn around.

Travelling fans need to use Sat Nav SK17 6QH, but street parking is the only choice amid residential streets and the police headquarters. Train travellers beware as you must go to Stockport to change for a Buxton train.

Games played on 29TH February this century.
February 29th only comes around every 4 years and as such we have yet to play a game on this date this century. Therefore, I look at games played either side, on February 28th and March 1st.

Feb 28th
2004 Crawley H 0-1 Southern Premier League
2006 Woking H 2-4 F A Trophy round 4 replay
2009 Burscough A 0-2 Conference North
2012 Northwich V H 1-1 Northern Premier League
2015 Sheffield H 0-0 Northern Premier League Division 1

March 1st
2003 Folkstone A 2-1 Southern Premier League
2005 Gainsborough H 2-0 Conference North
2008 Farsley H 0-2 Conference
2011 Redditch A 1-0 Conference North
2014 Stamford A 0-1 Northern premier League

Morpeth Review

Feb 20, 2020 | Club News

This Saturday we welcome Morpeth for their first ever visit to Marston Road. This must be the longest journey Morpeth have had to make for a league game. Historically the traditional Northern League side were happy to play in the North East with the odd trip to Wembley in the FA Vase. Now, with promotion to step 4, many of the progressive ex Northern League sides are seeing the benefit of playing in the pyramid and they now wish to emulate Spennymoor and South Shields. Marske and Dunston are currently flying the North East flag in Division 1. Last season Morpeth won division 1 with a 12-point margin over second placed Pontefract and are certainly holding their own this season. The ex-Northern League sides at first found traveling a big problem but this season Morpeth on the road in the league have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 6, showing signs very much of a comfortable min table side, supported by their current 10th place in the table.

On the road they can count a victory at Warrington as their best performance and in the main they have beaten most of our relegation rivals so Saturday’s game cannot be seen as an easy ride for us. With the exception of Bamber Bridge their defeats have all come at top sides. Morpeth come into the fixture with current form of 2 wins, a draw and 2 defeats, again cementing their mid table placing.

Morpeth was established in 1909. In 1936 they joined the Northern Alliance in 1936. They won that league in 1984, and when becoming champions again in 1994 they were promoted to the Northern League division 2. Promotion was secured in their second season, but relegation followed 2010. 2013 saw them regain their spot in division 1. The 2015–16 season saw Morpeth reach the final of the FA Vase at Wembley Stadium, where they defeated Hereford 4–1 to win the competition. After finishing as runners-up again in 2017–18, they were promoted to Division One East of the Northern Premier League at step 4, wining that step to join us in step 3

Although a small own, several famous people came from Morpeth. The great sailor Admiral Lord Collingwood, who was Admiral Nelson’s second-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar, came from Morpeth. He lived in Collingwood House, which is now marked by a plaque. A more controversial figure was Emily Davison, who campaigned for women to get the vote in the early 20th century. She was killed at the Epsom Derby in 1913 when she ran in front of the king’s racehorse. She was buried in Morpeth, and her gravestone can still be seen. Morpeth survived World War II relatively unscathed, though several pillboxes were built to defend the river crossing and the main road north. The closest the war came was when a Heinkel 111 German bomber, crashed close to Howburn Wood. Morpeth also lies on the main London Edinburgh main line and trains have to slow to negotiate a very sharp curve near the station. Sadly, there have been two serious rail disasters here. Can we derail Morpeth to get 3 much needed points on Saturday?

Games played on February22nd this century.

2014 Blyth H 2-2 Norther Premier League