Date: 04.09.2018

Ground: 43

Match: 10 (67)

Venue: Walshes Meadow

Teams: Stourport Swifts V Boldmere St. Michaels

Competition: Total Motion Premier Division

Admission: £7

Final Score: 1-1 (H/T 0-0)

Referee: Paul Tyler

Attendance: 84

Mileage to venue and return: 45.8 Miles

Programme: £1

Introduction

Stourport Swifts Football Club are based in the town of Stourport-on-Severn, I headed here to Walshes Meadow for my 10th game of the 2018/2019 season.

From my HQ in South I enjoyed a pleasant journey to Walshes meadow, passing through various village on route and also the picturesque town of , arriving in Stourport-on-Severn at 7:15pm.

Stourport-on-Severn

Stourport-on-Severn often shortened to Stourport is a town and Civil Parish, the town is situated in the Wyre Forrest District of North .

Stourport-on-Severn lies on the River Severn, 4.7 miles from Kidderminster and 3.6 miles from Bewdley, following the 2011 census the population of the town was recorded as, 20,292.

The town has a relatively short history compared to others, the area first came into being amongst the Canal Basins at The River Severn Terminus of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal which was completed in 1768.

By 1772 Stourport-on-Severn was recognised as one of the major distributing centres for goods being brought to and from the West Midlands area.

The actual terminus of the canal was constructed on meadowland to the Southwest of the hamlet named, Lower Mitton.

The terminus had various names, firstly – Stourmouth, then Newport and finally the name Stourport was settled upon in 1771.

During the decade of the 1760’s, Stourport had a very small population of only 12 people, by 1795 the population rose to 1300.

In 1771, the English Cleric and Theologian, John Wesley (1703-1791) dubbed Stourport as a ‘well- built village’

Wesley, along with his brother Charles (1707-1788) who himself was a writer of over 6,000 hymns, and, the fellow Cleric, George Whitefield (1714-1770) founded Methodism.

By 1788, John Wesley noted the following:

“where 20 years ago there was but one house; now there are two or three streets, and as trade increases it will probably grow into a considerable town”

Those words that were spoken by Wesley were indeed to become true as by 1790 he found that the town had become double the size as it was, two years previously.

With the completion of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal in 1816, the revenue of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal plummeted rapidly. From 1812, the population of the town barely rose and in fact many workers decided to leave the area.

The Cast-Iron Stourport road bridge across the River Severn was constructed in 1870. Today it carries the A451 road and underwent refurbishment in 2007.

The town has been and still is a very popular inland tourist destination both for day trips and longer breaks. This is due to the beautiful setting on the River Severn.

The now restored Canal Basins are home to more than 100 boats, the vibrant town centre boasts a wide range of shops catering for all needs.

Stourport Swifts Football Club

The Swifts were founded 136 years ago in 1882, they are the oldest football club in the whole of Worcestershire.

During those early days, club members used to meet regularly for practise sessions on a field near the Station Hotel. The promoters of the club back then gave the team the name of the Swifts. Following the arrangement of many practise sessions, the club moved venues too Bewdley Road, this was where the first matches were played. More ground changes occurred before the Swifts moved to, Olive Grove in 1906.

The club grabbed their first honours during the 1912/1913 football season by triumphing in both The Worcester and Charity Cup competitions.

The Swifts managed to reach their first ever county cup final just before the outbreak of The First World War, losing 3-1 in the final to the talented, Badsey Rangers.

A few years after the First World War had ended, they triumphed in the Worcestershire County Cup on three consecutive occasions, 1925, 1926 and 1927. Again, they won the same competition twenty years later and reached the 1982 final, losing 2-0 too Metal Box.

During the early eighties the club moved to their current home of, Walshes Meadow.

By 1986 the club were competing in The West Midlands Regional League Division 1, the first season at this level was something of a struggle for the Swifts, they finished the season second bottom in the league table, narrowly avoiding relegation.

If that first season was a struggle, the following season could not have been more different, the club finished as runners-up to Champions, Rocester and gained promotion to The West Midlands Regional League Premier Division.

In the 1991/1992 season, the club finished in a highly creditable third place in the league, the following season they lifted both The West midlands Regional League Premier Division Cup and The Worcestershire Senior Urn.

They went one better in the league during the 1993/1994 season by finishing second, again they were triumphant in The Worcestershire Senior Urn and claimed The Worcester Infirmary Cup, beating Bromsgrove Rovers in each final respectively.

Another third-place league position was achieved for the 1994/1995 season and again they won the same cups as they did in the 1993/1994 season.

Fifth place was secured in the league in the 1995/1996 season and they retained The Worcester Infirmary Cup.

The 1997/1998 season proved to be a very successful one, the Swifts finished as runners up in the league, thus gaining promotion to The Midland Football Alliance, yet again they claimed the Worcestershire Senior Urn and The Worcester Infirmary Cup.

The club managed another promotion in the 2000/2001 season by lifting The Midland Alliance Championship, this great achievement meant that they were now promoted to The Southern League, enjoying ten years in this the highest level of football that the club had competed in. Following the re-organisation of The Non-League Pyramid, the club were placed into The Midland League Premier Division.

At the start of the 2015/2016 season, the Swifts welcomed Hereford FC to Walshes Meadow for a league fixture, in front of a record crowd for the ground of 1,321 the beat their visitors 2-0.

The club won The Worcester Infirmary Cup last season for the first time in 19 years.

Before the day of my first visit, Stourport Swifts were in 15th place in the 20 team Total Motion Midland Football League Premier Division, with a record of Played 7, won 1, drawn 2, lost 4 leaving them on 5 points.

As already mentioned the club play at the, Walshes Meadow Ground, information and pictures of Waleshes Meadow are next.

Walshes Meadow

Full address:

Stourport Swifts Football Club

Walshes Meadow

Harold Davies Drive

Stourport-on-Severn

Worcestershire

DY13 0AA

I really liked the look of, Walshes Meadow during my visit – from the main road, I turned left onto Harold Davies Drive and travelled a short distance before entering the car park just outside the ground. Nearby I could see facilities for the town’s Cricket and Rugby Club and walking towards the football ground I could see a sign for the Stourport-on-Severn Boat Club.

The football ground was pointed out by a sign in the car park, the sign was positioned very close to where I parked my car.

As I followed the directions given by the sign and as I got closer to the ground I observed a very neat, ‘Welcome to Stourport Swifts FC’ Banner which was situated on a large gate.

After entering the site, I turned right and came to the turnstiles by which I entered the ground and purchased my programme from, a good programme too.

On my left was the very impressive club house, one of the nicest that I have seen since I started ground hopping in July 2016. What I thought was a nice touch, was that the team sheet for both teams was displayed on the outside of the club house. For ground hoppers and bloggers like myself information such as a team sheet is always more than handy to have.

I turned left and followed the hard standing provided outside the club house, the changing rooms were next and within the same complex as the club house.

By the corner flag was the club’s snack bar, and to the right of the this was the Physio’s room with an old set of unused turnstiles close by.

I walked back from the way I came after taking some photographs and walked all the way along the hard standing behind the goal nearest the club house, turned left and I had a look at the impressive covered stand complete with what I would estimate to be 200-250 seats.

The dugouts were directly opposite the stand on the far side of the pitch, I decided to watch the first 20 minutes or so, standing just to the right of the stand. I then decided to move on round a little and took my new position behind the other goal where I watched the rest of the first half.

Half-time came so I took the opportunity to walk further, behind the goal and took another left where I was now on the same side as the dugouts where I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the ground from a different angle. I also stayed on this side of the ground for the second half action.

Team Line Ups and Match Statistics

Stourport Swifts Boldmere St. Michaels

1. Zach Jeacock 1. Lewis Fenney

2. Joe Hanson 2. Conor Wright

3. Ben Priest 3. Reece Mitchell

4. Rudy Misambo 4. Cameron Gayle

5. Shaun Griffiths 5. Harry Craven

6. Matt Fulloway 6. Craig Milligan

7. Jack Downing 7. Parez Bromfield

8. Joe Billingham 8. Ryan Shaw

9. Nick Macpherson 9. Rikardo Reid

10. Drew Canavan 10. Owen Parry

11. Matt Hanson 11. Kieren Westwood

12. Luke Molloy 12. Brandon Williams

14. Lewis Platt 14. J’Cee Abraham

15. Ashley Parsons-Smith 15. Ryan Andrews

16. Jim Hanson 16. Ryan Brooks

17. Mark Danks 17. Sean Butler

Statistics

Goal Log: Downing, 85 Goal Log: Parry, 51

Substitutions: Substitutions:

8 off – 12 on, 80 7 0ff – 16 on, 76

9 off – 17 on, 71

11 off – 14 on, 66

Attempts: 10 Attempts: 15

On Target: 7 On Target: 5

Corners: 3 Corners: 4

Offsides: 2 Offsides: 2

Yellow: 1 Yellow: 1

Red: 0 Red: 0

Match Report:

This Midland League Premier Division encounter was a real game of two halves. The first half was quite quiet for the most part, with the second half, much more exciting and a good watch.

Boldmere Started the game well and created the first chance of the game on three minutes, Westwood provided a delightful cross which was headed over the bar by Reid.

Stourport created a decent opening on six minutes, their number 7, Downing, who looked a really good player and a threat all evening, on a season Long Loan from AFC Telford United, produced a brilliant cross from the right flank which flashed across goal, nobody in a Swifts shirt could capitalise on his good play.

Three minutes later Boldmere were awarded a free-kick, Reece Mitchell provided a great curling effort which struck the bar, Craven then almost immediately, struck a long range shot of his own which went over the Stourport bar.

On 12 minutes, Stourport created a good chance, a long cross field ball was delivered from left to right, Joe Hanson crossed the ball into the danger area, the ball was met by Macpherson who directed his shot just wide of the post.

This was the last piece of real goal mouth action for around the next fifteen minutes – on 28 minutes, the away side struck the frame of the goal for the second time. Milligan delivered a long ball from the back to the front which found, Kieren Westwood, Westwood shot left footed and was unlucky to see his strike come back off the post.

A chance for both teams came in the dying embers of the first half – a goalmouth scramble inside the Swifts penalty area ended with the Mikes number 7, Parez Bromfield striking the ball just over the bar. The Swifts chance came next, Downing cutting in from the left wing, seeing his shot well saved at the near post by Fenney. This was the last of the action for the first period and the players went into the changing rooms with the game goalless.

Second Half

With the Swifts ending the first half with a chance, they started the second half with another opportunity. Two minutes after the resumption of the game, patient build play on the Stourport Right flank, resulted in Drew Canavan producing a fierce cross shot which was well pushed away by Fenney.

Four minutes later, Boldmere took the lead with a fantastic goal and the best goal I have seen thus far this season. A free-kick was awarded a good distance away from goal, Parry stepped up and curled a beautiful shot into the top left hand corner of Jeacock’s goal, an absolutely unstoppable shot which two goalkeepers would have struggled to save.

On 52 minutes the away side gave some strong appeals for a penalty, handball in the area, which were waived away by the man in the middle.

On 57 minutes the Swifts responded to going a goal down with a good effort at goal. Number 9, Macpherson found himself one on one with the goalkeeper, shooting straight at the custodian whilst being put under pressure by the Mikes centre half, Fenney was able to save the effort quite comfortably in the end.

Boldmere almost made the game 2-0 three minutes later, a corner from the right was swung in, Rikardo Reid was unfortunate to see his header cleared off the line. On 63 minutes, the Swifts very nearly grabbed their equalizer, a cross by Canavan found Macpherson in the Mikes penalty area, his header striking the post with the ball being cleared away.

Stourport made a couple of substitutions on 66 and 71 minutes respectively to try and get back on level terms.

More appeals for a Boldmere penalty were waived away on 72 minutes, this time for a push, again the referee was not interested.

With ten minutes remaining The Mikes number 10, Parry, tried his luck with a well-controlled volley which was well saved by the Goalkeeper, Jeacock, who, incidentally is on loan from Birmingham City.

Four minutes from time the Swifts made the game all square, a great cross from the left was headed home powerfully by my man of the match Jack Downing.

The scores remained the same when the referee blew his whistle for full time. All in all, I think a draw was a fair reflection of the game.

Summary

I enjoyed my first visit to Walshes Meadow, I thought the ground was very good with a lovely charm about the place.

I have mentioned in my previous reports over the past couple years that one of the reasons why I love the hobby of ground hopping so much is because you never know who you might meet at different grounds. During this game I enjoyed a nice chat with, Paul Procter a fellow groundhopper from the Portsmouth area. Paul told me that he had amassed around 1350 ground visits since he began hopping. Paul also happens to be the secretary at Fareham Town Football Club