Monton | Manchopper's Ventures

Result: AFC Monton 4-3 Elton Lib Hargreaves (Lancashire Amateur Cup 3rd Round)

Venue: New Alder Park (Saturday 27th November 2021; 3pm)

Att: ~15.

Storm Arwen had passed but, with the damage already done and left in its wake, my venue for the final Saturday afternoon in November was up in the air. I awoke with next to no idea as to where I’d be heading, with my initial hope of travelling over to Whitby absolutely a no-go and alternatives by rail dropping like flies by the moment. Yes, be it trees, speed restrictions, line damage or signal failures, it seemed like it truly was a perfect storm.

However, I did come across a few games that would enable me to stay local – these being namely: revisits to Ashton United and AFC Monton, or a new venue out at Bolton Borough. However, Ashton soon became a victim of the weather and with Bolton being based out of the Wanderers’ training ground and this fact being allied with me not being bothered enough to look into the possibility of getting into it, I settled on a revisit across the Ship Canal.

I’d visited AFC Monton a few years back, before their sabbatical from football for a year or so and the refurbishment of their clubhouse and facilities. Also, I’d neglected to head around the town’s fine establishments and with it being an easy venue to get to on a difficult day, it all lined up nicely. As another footnote, I’d be seeing a Lancashire Amateur Cup game on Lancashire Day. It was a done deal…if it was on.

You see, there was no confirmation at all that I could come across that the game was 100% (or any other percent for that matter) on, but I set off for the Trafford Centre bus station in blind hope that I’d be rewarded for my gamble. As I retraced my well-trodden route from the cricketing summer across the canal and into the City of Salford, I was at least guaranteed a decent day out and about in the fine town of Monton. “It could be worse”, I thought, as I tried to settle the mini-tantrum that was brewing within!

Arriving in Monton

Inside my first stop of the day; The Park

Whatever the case was going to be, I was delivered to Monton high street by one of the numerous buses that run this way from the Trafford Centre and quickly dipped into the first planned stop of my day – The Park. This was a modernised Joseph Holt’s place, with the usual selection from the brewery on the go. Having had my fill of Crystal Lager on my days out in Prestwich and Radcliffe from the last month, I decided to mix it up with a pint of one of my old favourites, the Bootleg Brewery American IPA (£3.55). It’s always a decent pint and this was no different.

Unfortunately, the Monton Tap across the way seemed closed at this point of the afternoon and so I continued on down the right-hand side of the road and to the Blind Pig. This was the most expensive visit of the day, with a pint of Brewdog’s Pale Ale setting me back a full £5.30. However, it was a nice place to sit and enjoy a quiet drink – although what seemed to be a DJ booth in the corner gives the impression it may not always be as such, later in the evenings!

Anyway, it was soon time to move on once more and this time it was around the corner to the Blue Bell. Sitting opposite Monton Green, the Blue Bell is a pub I’ve rode past whilst en route elsewhere on many occasions and, as with many in the same category, it’s nice when you can tick it off on the list of pubs I’ve visited…though that’s about as long as the distance from my house to Monton at this point!

The Blind Pig

The Blue Bell

I headed inside and was soon in possession of a pint of J.W. Lees’ Manchester Craft Ale (£4.65); you see, I felt like I had to bravely represent my home city in this far away land. Anyway, after my usual sneezing fit within an 18/19th century pub had come and gone and I could get back to polishing off my pint, I figured I had just enough time to pop into my last planned pre-match stop of the day, the canal-side Waterside.

Monton is a suburb of Eccles, within the City of Salford. Historically a part of Lancashire, Monton was administered by the municipal borough of Eccles, prior to its abolition in 1974, when it became part of the wider Metropolitan Borough of the City of Salford. Its name is of Saxon origin, coming from the name of Anglo-Saxon warrior Mawinga (who likely lived and owned the area in the 1200’s) and later being named Mawnton, prior to the current name being taken on.

Monton is home to a conservation area including Monton Green, the Unitarian chapel, an old schoolhouse, plus a lodge and clubhouse built for the Earl of Ellesmere’s estate in 1875. 1930 saw the construction of the Veterans Shelter – locally known as “Old Man’s Shelter” upon the Green, where ‘Veterans of Industry’ could meet if the weather wasn’t up to scratch…which was probably more often than not, knowing the usual weather in these parts! Monton Green is now largely a laid out area of gardens and lawns, surrounded by roads.

Monton

The Monton Green shelter

After the act of Uniformity in 1662, Edmund Jones, Vicar of Eccles, was an ejected minister, but both he and his congregation continued to meet and hold services around the Eccles area. This was until they were found out and he was imprisoned, with his congregation reported to the local magistrates. Crazy times…you’d never get anything like going against silly, unsubstantiated rules nowadays now, would you…oh.

In 1715, during the Jacobite Rebellion, over 100 supporters of the “Old Pretender”, James Stuart – son of King James II (VII) of England – ransacked the local chapel, having already destroyed Cross Street Chapel in Manchester. Not too much came from this though, with locals gaining compensation for the government to repair it. The local parishioners eventually became Unitarians, via the Non-Conformists Act of 1844. Their church lasted to 1875, when the present building was constructed.

Looking across the Green

Monton

There was once a railway station within Monton, known as Monton Green. This stop stood on the Tyldesley Loop Line, which ran through Eccles, Roe Green and Worsley and through to Leigh and was joined by tram services in 1905. It was closed during the Beeching Cuts of 1969, having been in service for over 80 years. The station itself was situated on an embankment, just off Monton Green and ran alongside the Bridgwater Canal – though all traces of the stop have long gone.

The canal does now have a lighthouse, a later addition and the loop-line itself is now a part of a cycleway. Monton is now served by stops at Eccles and Patricroft, (the canal and railway holding the honour of being the first and first passenger commercial respectively) as well as the Eccles Interchange Metrolink and regular bus services.

Marching beyond Monton Green and up and over the bridge across the canal, the pub/restaurant is reached by a small footpath down the side of the roadway. Again, this was one I’d travelled past on a number of occasions and so it was nice to get inside and see what it was like. In short, it was decent enough, although it did seem more of a restaurant than a bar – though there is a few tables laid out in the bar area. I made use of one of these, deciding to leave the far more behaved lunching peoples of Monton to their peace!

The Waterside

The aforementioned lighthouse!

Having had a little less time than I’d originally planned in The Waterside than I’d originally planned, due to the aforementioned fit of sneezes in the Blue Bell, I was, therefore, left with the task of playing it safe with a bottle in 15 minutes and giving myself time to get to the bus stop for the service to the ground, or to sink a pint in that time. Well, with me still none the wiser with regards to the status of the game, I figured I needed all the alcohol I could get as to limit the pain that may be just around the corner (no pun intended!).

Well, I did manage the latter and after polishing off the pint of Madri (£4.85), I was soon back at the main road where the bus eventually turned up and dropped me off at the ground a couple of minutes after the scheduled start of the game. However, I think the whistle blew just as I stepped off the bus, as it turned out, so I didn’t miss any action. Indeed, this was confirmed by the fella I asked as I entered the ground proper who, it turned out, was the Monton chairman.

Arriving at the ground

Welcome…

After a quick chat about the ground updates and the information that there was food and drink available indoors, I set my sights on the game and ground itself. Obviously, I’ve been to New Alder Park before and, bar the facilities having been updated, there hasn’t been much else to speak of. The other two pitches here have also been barred off since my first trip here some five years ago now, but otherwise the whole pitch is just open standing, with little in the way of firm standing areas to speak of. The car park is likely your best bet in this regard!

Elsewhere, the facilities are all located at the rear of the car park and are now all within a smart-looking, lodge-like clubhouse. The main highlights of the ground are the power lines that cross above the pitch, the small stream that can be crossed by a piece of wood that serves as a bridge and the motorway to the far side – the transport using it giving some nice silhouettes against the setting sun, later in the day. That’s the ground in a nutshell and this is the story of the Ammies of Monton…

History Lesson:

AFC Monton was formed in 1916, initially as a schoolboy team and playing wartime friendlies on the hallowed turf of Monton Green. In 1922, the club became a founding member of the Eccles and District League and moved ground to Worsley Road in Winton. However, their stay in the league would be a brief one and, after just two years, they moved into the Lancashire and Cheshire League, where they would remain through until 1985 – a spell which saw the league title won on eight occasions, the league’s Aggregate Trophy three times, as well as numerous other cup trophies.

Just prior to the outbreak of World War II, 1936 saw the club move grounds once again, this time to the Clevely Playing Fields, which would remain Monton’s home through to 1969, when they were forced to move due to the construction of the M60 motorway. Now playing out of Brooklands Playing Fields in Eccles, the Ammies enjoyed their golden years through the ’70’s, as they won no less than eighteen trophies during the decade – including the Lancashire Amateur Cup title with a victory over Liverpool side St. Dominic’s at Wigan Athletic’s old ground, Springfield Park.

AFC Monton

Eventually, though, the club’s ambition to secure their own ground finally came to pass and they secured a lease on a site by the name of Salteye in Eccles, which has since been redeveloped into the A.J. Bell Stadium. Sharing with the forerunner of Irlam, Mitchell Shackleton FC, Monton moved into the Manchester League for the 1985-’86 campaign, where the first team was promoted from the Division 1 at the end of only their second year there – following the second’s first year promotion trick. They narrowly missed out on a piece of cup silverware that year too, losing out in the final of the Manchester Amateur Cup.

Now playing out of the Manchester League’s Premier Division, Monton won two Open Trophies in 1990 and 1992, ahead of their move to their current home at New Alder Park in 1995, after the ground at Salteye was sold to Salford RLFC. The new ground didn’t have to wait long for its first piece of glory either, as the league’s Gilgryst Cup was won in 1998. Unfortunately, the initial clubhouse was the victim of an arson attack the next year, though this damage was tempered somewhat by the offer of facilities by neighbouring Winton Cricket Club – who, incidentally, I paid a visit to in the summer!

In the clubhouse

Eventually, a replacement clubhouse was sourced from another local cricket club, Weaste, which was made up of an all-metal structure. Updates on the access to and to the pitches themselves followed, but on those same fields, the club would soon suffer disappointment as they were relegated in 2007 and back to the Manchester League’s First Division. However, they remained a strong outfit in the second-tier and after three close calls with promotion back to the Premier Division, the club secured their return in 2011.

A strong season in 2014 eventually ended in disappointment in the trophy stakes, as the Ammies finished runners-up in the Premier Division and in the final of the Gilgryst Cup. The club celebrated their centenary season in 2015-’16, but 2018 saw a finish of second bottom in the Premier Division precede the club’s one-year sabbatical from football, before they returned for the 2019-’20 season in the Manchester League’s Division 2. They were in 2nd position when the year was wound-up early and after the largely non-event of last season, they remained in the division for the current campaign, where they currently sit 4th at time of writing.

A view of the trophies!

With the game in the early stages, Elton saw the first sight of goal early on in the piece, before Monton responded by forcing the visiting ‘keeper into an early save. The yo-yo-ing of the tie continued as Elton’s “Ben” clipped the top of the crossbar, but it would be the hosts who would grab the opener around the half-hour. Some poor defensive play by the Lib Hargreaves defence allowed #7, Lewis Devenport, to get in on goal where, despite likely being fouled by his marker, managed to shrug him off and finish. 1-0!

Elton’s #11 then saw a free-kick kept out as they looked to quickly get back on level-terms, whilst Monton’s #8, Jamie Baguley (one of three brothers in the Monton side, no less), fired straight at the ‘keeper when in a good position to double his side’s advantage. However, the second strike would arrive just before the break, as a corner was met by the head of Mitchell Arron Nolan and he directed his header into the back of the net.

Match Action

Monton find the net

Match Action

Half-time duly arrived shortly afterwards and I headed on into the smart club building for a very decent pie, peas and gravy for just £1.50. Not too bad at all and that’s without factoring in the free programme that was laid out on each table! Monton, you know just how to get the top marks, don’t you?! Anyway, the sides soon returned to the field, as is the norm at these levels of the game, and I watched the first ten minutes or so of play from through the windows – taking full advantage of the warmth afforded by the clubhouse.

Elton’s stopper made a tremendous double save shortly after the restart – especially the second stop to deny #17, Adam Campbell, – but would soon find himself on the scoresheet. An attack reached the penalty area, where it was stopped in its tracks – but at the cost of a penalty kick, which the same man converted confidently from the spot. 3-0 and it looked like game over.

Indeed, this likelihood was rammed home a few minutes later, when the tall substitute, #19 Aaron Dyce, grabbed himself a goal to make it 4-0 Monton. But this seemed to spur Elton into action and they looked like a completely different animal to the one who’d played the first hour or so. It wasn’t all too long after Monton’s fourth that Elton grabbed a deserved goal, as a wind-assisted free-kick helped #8, Zak Galbraith, to evade the defence and coolly slot home.

Match Action

From out in the brush!

I was pleased for the visitors to grab themselves a goal, as their play had definitely merited it, but I didn’t expect what was to come! It would be another free-kick that would supply Lib Hargreaves’ second goal of the afternoon, as the set-piece was flicked on against the far post by #16 (I think!), Leon Pickersgill, with the ball rebounding into the net. 4-2 and, from nowhere, it was game on and the Lancs and Cheshire League side were right back in the tie!

A shot flew narrowly wide as Elton went close to number 3, before a bit of a set-to followed (the reason for said “brawl” I missed out on) with Dyce being sent off and an Elton player being initially sin-binned, but then seemed to just be subbed off. It was hard to follow! But this threw another spanner in the works for the final quarter-hour or so of the clash, though Monton nearly regained a three-goal advantage, when #7’s driven effort was well tipped over by the impressive Elton #1.

However, it would be Elton who’d net a third with about ten or so to play, when a ball into the middle was finished smartly by #15, Finlay Preston, and all the momentum was with the visitors. But, having said that, it appeared that this goal re-focused the Monton side and they didn’t have too many scares from then on in – despite the pressure applied by the visitors. Indeed, it was the hosts who nearly grabbed a fifth late on, but #18 somehow contrived to fail to find the net after a one-on-one with the ‘keeper.

4-tree

A blinding game!

#11 also went close, firing just wide, but it mattered little, as Monton would survive the fightback and progress into the next round, the quarter-finals, of the Lancashire Amateur Cup. What a game and credit to all the players for the entertainment provided – though I’d imagine the managers would have enjoyed something a little more comfortable!

Post-match and with the first throes of the winter weather beginning to bite once again, I made a hasty exit to the couple of pubs in the neighbouring town of Worsley, which is actually the closer of the two towns to the ground. Anyway, my first post-game stop off was the Barton Arms, which proved to be quite the popular spot at this point of the afternoon. Dogs had a strong showing in here, including two of a breed that looked so alike that the two couples of owners had to have a conversation about it, whilst their canine friends went about the usual sniffing activities…and I thought this was a family establishment?!!!!

Barton Arms

Into Worsley

In all seriousness, the Barton Arms had a really nice atmosphere to it and it was a fine place to gain back some warmth whilst supping away at a fine pint of Camden Hells Lager (£5.05), before I forced myself back into the winter, as to squeeze in a few pics of Worsley before it got too dark – all the while feeling like I was channelling the spirit of Captain Lawrence “Titus” Oates, of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic Expedition.

Falling just short of uttering his infamous premonition-like line, I headed on out into the winds of Worsley and went about completing my task, before returning to the shelter of the camp tents…or to be more accurate, the warm embrace of the Bridgewater Hotel. I entered and headed on around to the far end of the bar, where a guy was just heading off with a few of his drinks, leaving one behind for now. “You can take that one, if you like?” I was unexpectedly asked from behind the bar, before the realisation soon came upon the barmaid that I wasn’t quite the same guy!

The Bridgewater (my camera doesn’t do dark!)

Worsley

I went about explaining why that probably might not make our unawares friend not all too pleased(!), I ordered a pint of the Ice Breaker Pale Ale (£5.45) and sat down to watch the end of Soccer Saturday, with the first result I saw come in seeing the end of my bet’s chances of success. Superb scenes and things only got worse as Boris decided to needlessly re-introduce the wearing of those useless things that you stick on your face for next to no reason. Luckily for me and regardless of my views towards them, I just so happen to have an exemption from the bloody things, so I don’t have to suffer through them as I had the first two times, when putting myself out for the greater good. It just isn’t required this time.

Anyway, I’m not going into the Covid tangent again – I’m pretty sure my views on all that are easy to find, should you wish! Anyway, the main entertainment here was the toddler, who was also doing its best channelling of unfortunate British soldiers – this time those involved in the Great Escape! He or she had numerous attempts at the escape, including one which saw a fair bit of success, until the villainous siblings got involved. How terrible.

Again, the bus stop was calling and I headed out for the service back down towards the motorway bridge and the Egerton Arms – which was closed earlier in the day. However, one thing had perturbed me somewhat and that was the fact the front door looked more akin to one you’d find on a house than a pub. As such, I wasn’t all to surprised to find it was still closed as I arrived upon it, but didn’t try and open it as another fella did shortly afterwards. Having both been bested in our attempts to pay a visit, we headed off on our own respective ways once again – with my next stop being back where I started – at the door of the Monton Tap.

The Monton Tap to round off a fine day

Again, upon my arrival, I found a busy, popular drinking hole that had the kind of selection and range of ales and the like you’d expect from a place that has the suffix ‘Tap’ in its name. As for me, I eventually settled on a pint of the brilliantly named Juice Springsteen and set up shop on the shelves that face out onto the road and watched the great and the good of Monton going about their business, as I waited about for my planned bus back homewards.

It soon became time to leave and I didn’t have to wait all too long on this occasion for the bus to turn up. As it was, I thankfully had a trouble-free journey back home and so ended off a bit of a rollercoaster day. I’d awoken unsure if I’d even go to a game, before finding one, setting off not knowing if it was on, arriving not knowing it was on and watching a game that appeared to be a one-sided romp, turn into a 4-3 thriller. Phew!

I’ve found Monton to be a decent place and club to visit on both my visits here and the added bonus of a free programme gives them extra credit! As already stated, the game was brilliant to watch, the ground is is a nice setting and all the pubs and the like all were great to visit in their own way – a nice variation…oop, best not use that kind of word! Variants. Yikes. Quick, panic buy now! But in all seriousness, a day that could have been a bit of a disaster ended in a superb day out, only a few miles away from me. These are the trips winter football throws up and why I love it! Just not next week too, please…

NB: The scorers may not be in the right order, but they’re the right names!