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With a temporary rainfall cessation the world was my oyster card today and I
ventured to foreign climes. Being Wales they spoke in a strange tongue, known
locally as "Scouse". Everybody I met came from Liverpool, with the
notable exception of the home secretary who was Scottish, and I would imagine
the Connahs Quay chapter of the Welsh Language Society could comfortably hold
their meetings in a phone box without undue overcrowding.
F.C. Nomads is a 25 minute walk from Shotton station. There is an hourly bus
from outside the ground that goes back to Chester. Eventually. The ground is
situated at the entrance to Wepre Country Park, a local beauty spot that was
very popular even in the middle of February and well worth exploring if you
have the time, which I didn't. It's fully enclosed and railed with the dressing
rooms 40 yards away up a small incline. Indeed some people chose to watch the
game from a higher vantage point outside the ground. For the hungry hopper, 100
yards on is the Park café which does full blown meals at reasonable prices and
is close enough to get a half time cuppa.
F.C. Nomads are currently well clear at the top of the league, but have played
considerably more games than any of their rivals, and if they maintain top spot
they intend to be in the Cymru Alliance next season. Their current ground won't
cut the mustard but they will be playing at the 3g pitch adjacent to Gap
Connahs Quay which the ground grading committee has inspected and a path round
the pitch is all that will be required to bring it into line with a higher
level, it already has floodlights and covered seating. This is worth bearing in
mind in the unlikely event we get some wet weather next winter. The Nomads have
already played a number of games there during the rainy season hence why they
are so far ahead with their fixtures, and today's match was the first one back
"home". Their opponents today from the lower reaches of the league
come from the model mining village of Llay. The whole place was built by the
colliery in the '20's and at it's height the mine employed 3,000 people. What
do they all do now I wonder? F.C. Nomads have been around for 5 years and are a
breakaway team from Connahs Quay Nomads whom I seem to recall were mired in
controversy when they changed their name to "Gap".
The home secretary very kindly gave me a lift back to Chester, and while he was
a bit vague as to his actual destination, I got the impression he was going
some way out of his way to drop me off. He was with Connahs Quay Nomads for
many years before becoming one of the founders of the new club. Before that he
was a referee up to North West Counties League standard, and before that he had
a very impressive playing CV which encompassed three years as a semi-pro
in South Africa as well as lengthy spells with Alloa Athletic and
Hamilton Academicals. A man steeped in football.
A routine home win for the league leaders with LLay's very young keeper doing
well to keep the score down, the game finished at 3.43pm. Ah the nostalgia.
Thanks to the secretary's lift to Chester I got back home to my Broadstairs
dacha much earlier than anticipated and indeed the only downside to the day was
getting home to find the postman had left all of my Valentines cards back at
the sorting office. Again!
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