Gresley FC VS Kidsgrove Athletic In The NPL Division One South (07/04/2018)

Gresley FC were formed in 2009, after the demise of Gresley Rovers due to financial difficulties, Gresley FC had been at step 4 football since their promotion from the Midland Alliance in the 2010/2011 season. Both Gresley FC and Kidsgrove Athletic have had difficult seasons this year with Gresley FC sitting in 20th, and Kidsgrove in 18th in the NPL Division One South. Gresley Fans are another great set of supporters at this level, and were very welcoming as well.

The Moat Ground (Former of home of Gresley Rovers) has been on my to do list for some time due to it being a traditional non league ground set in among terraced housing, and the fact, the club are planning to build a new ground in the future that will be very different to the Moat Ground as well.

My Visit To The Moat Ground

Fortunately the heavy rain forecast did not happen, and the club volunteers worked very hard and deserve a lot of praise for getting the game on, and i managed the short drive from Burton to the Moat Ground despite getting lost on the way!.

The club shop at Gresley FC is small, but well stocked with Gresley FC, Gresley Rovers and other non league programmes along with various football and cricket books, it also had a wide range of merchandise which included Mugs, Tea Towels, Ties, Caps, Football Shirts, Hats etc. It also had Gresley FC pin badges, key rings, NPL 50th Anniversary badges, car stickers and scarfs as well, the gentleman in the shop made me feel very welcome, even though i wasn’t a regular to the Moat Ground or from the local area.

The social club (Harry’s Bar) had a wide range of drinks (Including Pedigree!), i had to have a pint of Pepsi, which was reasonably priced as well, it also contains memorabilia, newspaper articles, and trophy’s that Gresley Rovers won in their long and illustrious history (1882 to 2009), it also had a welcoming and homely atmosphere, and after finishing my drink, i took my position on the terraces for the start of the game.

The First Half

Kidsgrove Athletic were by far and away the better side in the first half, and to be honest they could have scored more, but the opening goal was created by a really good cross by Rhys Thompson and was scored by Lee Cropper, although he was helped by poor marking by the Gresley defense.

Kidsgrove went close on the 13th minute when a hard hitting shot by Eric Graves was superbly saved by Callum Hawkins. Gresley created few chances, and to be honest looked like a team of individuals lacking direction and inspiration, whereas Kidsgrove looked organized and looked dangerous on the counterattack.

The Second Half

The second half started, and followed the same pattern as the first half, and on the 55th minute, Kidsgrove deservedly doubled their advantage, when Jonathan Beaumont headed in from a free kick, again it was not helped by poor defending yet again. Gresley failed to respond to this latest setback and failed to create any clear cut chances and were punished again for poor defending from a free kick in the 75th minute, when Rumenio Valido Barai put in a very good cross from the left hand side, which allowed Timothy Sanders to slot pass Callum Hawkins for the third goal.

It was a very timid performance by Gresley FC and a very controlled and composed performance by Kidsgrove which belies their league position (18th), Gresley’s day was made worse by the sending of Alvin Jarvis for an alleged elbow, this was disputed by the player and the Gresley fans who saw it! (I did not see the incident),

Gresley’s only shots on target came in the last 10 minutes, and the best chance was a free kick (in the 90th minute) which was heading towards the bottom corner, but was saved by Dave Parton, it was a disappointing conclusion to a very poor performance by Gresley FC, and left the majority of the 161 fans going home disappointed and not happy at all.

Final Thoughts on the Match

It seemed to me that Kidsgrove wanted it more throughout the match and were prepared to work hard for the full 90th minutes, whereas Gresley FC did not do this, and did not have the quality or the resilience to bounce back from going behind in the 10th minute. Also it is a bit surprising on this performance that Kidsgrove are near the relegation zone as well, but on the day, they deserved the three points and maybe should have scored more too.

Prices at Gresley FC

Admission- A reasonable £8 for me (Adults) and £5 for concessions.

Programme- Taken As Red £1.50, this was a very interesting programme which contains articles called A View From The Chair, Hannah Speaks, Meet The Gresley Lads and information on their opponents, the work the club do in the local community, upcoming fixtures, form and fixtures tables, and a segment on the history of Gresley FC, which was a nice feature, it is 24 pages long and is good value for £1.50

Club Shop- The Glory Game by Hunter Davies (A season with Tottenham Hotspur in the 1970’s), Kicking In The Wind ‘The Real Life Drama of a Small-Town Football Club (2009-2010 season following Rochdale’s first promotion in 41 years) and ‘Moatmen’ (Gresley Rovers Programme from Saturday 29th October 1994 VS Leek Town), the gentlemen allowed me to have these items for free, despite me going to pay for them!, Gresley FC Small Keyring-£1, Gresley FC Pin Badge- £3, and the NPL 50th Anniversary Pin Badge-£3

Food and Drink- I had a pint of Pepsi which was £2, half a pint of lemonade which was £1 and a reasonably priced cup of tea which was 90p. I had a beefburger and a portion of chips which came to £4.00, the beefburger and chips were very nice, and i would have them again!

Attendance Figure For This Match

The Attendance for this match was 161, and was bettered by attendances at Corby Town FC, Sheffield FC, Basford United, Belper Town FC, Cleethorpes Town FC and Spalding United on the weekend of 7th April 2018.

Final Thoughts On My Experience at Gresley FC

Despite the poor season Gresley FC are having at the moment, i would encourage the people of Castle Gresley, Church Gresley, Swadlincote and Burton-On-Trent to watch Gresley FC and experience what real football is like, you will be guaranteed an warm welcome, a friendly atmosphere, value for money and to be valued as a supporter as well, which is not the case in the higher echelons of the game in my opinion, and you will come away with the non league bug and come back again!!.