Glyn Jones’ Programme Review 6 . . . Blast from the past PRESTWICH HEYS v ST. HELENS TOWN – Lancs Comb Challenge Cup Final, 1st leg – Monday, 10th May 1971 Town met Prestwich Heys in their first appearance in the Final of the Lancashire Combination Cup at the end of the 1970/71 season, a tie played over two legs but, just as they did against Accrington Stanley three years later, they proved to be losing finalists. This game was played at the old Grimshaws ground, off Heys Road in Prestwich, not the same ground as Town played at in their pre-season friendly on 30th July this year, Heys produced a 4-page foldover programme, the covers to which were pre-printed in red and white with club details and adverts and further adverts appeared on the top of the inside pages. The editorial content and team lines were typewritten and printed off on a duplicating machine, very common in those days. The covers must have been printed some considerable time earlier, as the price was stated to be 3d, but the UK had “gone decimal” on 15th February that year. Town were represented by Weekes, Rawsthorne, Hegarty, Wellens, Atherton, Pugh, Marr, Diggle, Ledsham, Lesbell and Tuft with Peake named as substitute. The programme noted that Town had won only 8 games from 30 played in the Combination that season but, of course, Town did go on to finish as League Champions the following campaign. On a level playing field SQUIRES GATE v ST. HELENS TOWN – NWCL Premier Division, Tuesday, 13th September 2011 A well-presented programme with colourful covers and plenty of photographs in its 16 pages, the £2 price tag was on first sight rather high, but closer examination revealed that by tearing off the corner of the back page, the purchaser could have a free hot dog and a free hot drink. There were plenty of statistics in the programme and although some of the items on the visitors and league matters had been downloaded from the websites, they were supplemented in Town’s case with a photograph of former St. Helens legend Bert Trautmann. All-in-all a good read, presented in an attractive manner. The facilities at the School Road ground are very good. It was a great shame that the game itself was played in a howling gale, keeping the crowd down to a disappointing 68. They’re in a different league ASHTON TOWN v ST. HELENS TOWN – Liverpool Senior Cup, First Round, Tuesday, 20th September 2011 On paper at least, this was home from home for St. Helens – landlord v tenant at Edge Green Street. Ashton produced a superb programme to mark the occasion, reasonably priced at just £1.20, running to 32 pages, including the full colour cover. There were lengthy articles from the home team’s manager and chairman, articles on the club history, including features on former players of the original club formed in 1903, who went on to play for Liverpool and Manchester United. There was even a guest address from visiting chairman John McKiernan. I particularly enjoyed the two-page interview with John’s opposite number, Mark Hayes, in which Mark reveals how he came to persuade the stars of Hollyoaks to turn out in a charity game which drew a crowd of 1200 to Edge Green Street and how he almost managed to persuade Martin Kelly, now a regular at Anfield, to turn out for a trial at Ashton Town. There were further updates on the reserve and youth teams, an article by player Neil Unsworth and a couple of photo-quizzes and some weird and wonderful football facts. The only negatives which sprang to mind was a lack of a fixture list with results to date and the printing of the teams on the glossy rear cover, which rendered alterations in ball-point pen very difficult to read. However, overall this was an excellent effort which put most NWC Premier Division clubs, as well as many more highly-placed clubs to shame.
NWCFL Premier Division Season 20102010-11 Programme of the Year
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