Whitby, the home of Captain Cook and very good fish and chips. Whitby is also the home of Count Dracula, so be warned as April 12th to 14th is the Goth festival, so with all the black and white make up, I doubt they are Rangers fans.

A brief history of Whitby FC sees that around the first world war Whitby was a town with two clubs, both playing in the Scarborough and District League The two clubs amalgamated in 1926 as Whitby United. The new club was admitted into the Northern League and the club’s name was changed to Whitby Town in 1949. In season 1996-97, Whitby won the Northern League and completed the double winning the FA Carlsberg Vase at Wembley, beating North Ferriby United by 3-0. Now in step 4, Whitby won the UniBond League First Division Championship at their first attempt to gain promotion to step 3, and they have now become a consistent Northern Premier League outfit.

Anyhow, back to football. Still trying to get the required points for safety we may have to do something that we have yet to do. That is to win away at Whitby. In 5 visits our best to date have been 2 draws, these being our last two visits, so let’s hope it is an improving run. This game included, all our visits bar one has been at the tail end of the season, games being played in April or May. Last season’s 0-0 draw was the only one to have taken place in the first half of the season. We therefore need to build on the 3-3 draw at home to Whitby on November 24. In that game we took an early lead only to be pegged back by two Whitby goals in a 5-minute spell. We equalised however within a minute. In the second half, Whitby edged ahead again only for us to equalise on 80 minutes.

Whitby currently lie 11th in the league with a home record of won 6, drawn 6 and lost 6, so parity must fail this Saturday, hoping the 7 goes on their lost column. For those traveling by car, the post code for the Turnbull ground is YO21 3 HZ, and you will find the ground high up on the north cliff area of town. I am sure if you had a powerful shot over the bar at one end it could land in the seas. For train travellers, you may as well forget it as Whitby is served by only 3 return journeys each day, and you must get to Middlesbrough to catch one. Or, you can do what many fans are doing this weekend and that is to make a weekend of it. Hopefully as well as coming home with 3 points we hope to have savoured the fish and chips that are on offer on the harbour side. You always know the quality of fish and chips on offer by the crowd of seas gulls that hover over you while eating. Have a good day, or weekend, as we build for that final push.

Games played on April 13th this century.

2002 Weymouth       A             1-0 Southern League
2009 Solihull              H            0-2 Conference North
2013 Blyth Spartans H            2-4 Northern Premier League

Whitby Town V Stafford Rangers Saturday 13th April 2019.

Whitby will be doing their annual Pay What You Like at the gate.

Approach to the ground

On entering Whitby from both the A169 & A171 roads, take the first fork and follow signs for West Cliff, Then turn Left at the Spar Shop/Garage,Go along Love Lane to the Junction of the A174, Turn right and the ground is 600 yards on the Left.

Safe travels to all heading to this match. 

On Sunday 17th March 2019 March Craig Fellows took part in the Stafford half marathon, he very kindly donated his sponsorship money to Stafford Rangers. We are extremely grateful for this; we would also like to thank all the people who sponsored Craig for their support.

Thanks also go to Shaun Reynolds for his fundraising efforts this week, raising money to make up for the loss of income due to the sad demise of North Ferriby United, our thanks also go to all the fans who have supported Shaun’s fundraising ideas. We hope to see you all on Saturday.

Due to the demise of North Ferriby we have a blank Saturday, and therefore hope that our relegation threatened rivals draw a blank too.

Keep a look out for Bamber Bridge v Scarborough, Nantwich v Mickleover and Witton v Workington. Do not forget Workington v Mickleover on Tuesday 2nd. So, our next game is Tuesday 9th April when we travel to top of the table Farsley who lead South Shields by a point. Remember South Shields come to us on 20th April, so we could have a say in the promotion battle if we can repeat our heroic win at the then top of the table Warrington last month.

However, next Saturday Farsley travel to Buxton who are eyeing up a playoff spot themselves, while South Shields entertain Hednesford. It means we may not be playing the top of the league, but in either event expect a tough game as Farsley have only lost twice at home in the league this season to, Hednesford and Witton. If Hednesford can do it then why can’t we, especially if we replicate our second half performance against Hyde.

Sadly, a long midweek journey to Yorkshire may not see the 12th man in a strong position. Last Saturday Farsley had a crowd of 358 for their home game with Stalybridge in the “Celtic derby”. It may be jealousy but if the we were top of the league for this fixture, I would expect the 348 to be our travelling support. If Farsley do gain promotion they may need bigger gates to ensure they do not repeat the scene of 10 years ago,

We have come across Farsley Celtic before, but that side came to an unfortunate end as they entered Administration in June 2009 whilst in the Blue Square North, failing fulfill its fixtures and eventually being expelled from that league early in 2010. Our record with that team was a 0-1 away defeat on opening day 2007 and a home defeat 0-2 in the March. Both sides were relegated from the Conference and met again on the opening day in 2008 but we recorded a 1-0 win but lost 4-0 away in December. 2009/10 saw us draw 2-2 at home but on-going financial difficulties saw the Administrators appointed with the club’s results expunged in March 2010 when the Administrator prohibited the club from fulfilling its fixtures, one of them being our away fixture.

One funny anecdote from the old Farsley was that for the segregated away end at half time two guys lifted out the turnstile and allowed fans out to purchase cans of beer out of a car boot.

Farsley AFC were formed in June 2010 from the embers of Farsley Celtic F.C and were placed in the NCEL Premier Division for their first season which turned out to be highly successful with a league and cup double recorded, it appears mainly due to many of the former players remaining loyal to the club. Promotion to the Northern Premier League Division 1 in 2011/12 saw them secured 4th spot but they failed in the play offs. Consolidation at step 4 then continued until season 2016/17 when they finished runners up to Lancaster and promotion secured. Last season Farsley finished 4th and did the double over us. This season they came to Marston Road in October for the league game and went home with a 3-1 win. They also beat us in the Integro Cup to secure a final spot.

For the hardy traveller the Throstle Nest ground has a post code of LS28 5BE. For those going by train you may forget it as you not get home till Wednesday.

Games played on 9th April this century

2005       Worcester City    H             0-0          Conference North

2007       Aldershot             A             2-4          Conference North

2011       Workington          A             0-2          Conference North

2012       Nantwich             H             1-1          Northern Premier League