The epic Vase semi final ties

Glossop’s trip to Wembley for the Vase final once again gave us the opportunity to experience the tremendous atmosphere and excitement that ensues when one of our clubs reaches the final of the main national competition at our level of football.

As with AFC Fylde/Kirkham & Wesham last season, the Hillmens’ cup run threw up some tremendous action, especially in the two legs of the semi final and I consider myself fortunate that I was able to climb on board the bandwagon and enjoy the excitement at first hand.

In the corresponding NWSS at the end of last season, I wrote a piece about Kirkham’s win at Needham Market in the semi final, and how it must have felt from the home side’s perspective, being knocked out on your ground when a Wembley cup final was only touching distance away.

That being the case, when the semi final draw threw up Needham Market or Chalfont St Peter v Glossop North End, it was difficult not to think back to the game 12 months earlier as it threw up the prospect of another trip to Suffolk, although there were a few differences.

Firstly, I had already been back to Needham Market in January of this year for the Fourth Round tie against AFC Fylde as they are now, and of course comparisons were never going to be 100% accurate when on this occasion the second leg was going to be at Glossop.

None the less, despite having met the Needham Market people twice in the space of a year and enjoying their company, for selfish reasons I did feel slightly relieved that Chalfont St Peter overcame them thanks to a penalty shoot out in the quarter final.

Having seen them knock out Fylde, the Suffolk side were obviously a decent side and although Chalfont would obviously be no mugs, I couldn’t help feeling that any team who were knocked out in the semi final last year would be well and truly up for making sure that they didn’t suffer the same fate again – as Whitley Bay proved in the other semi final.

On top of that, although Needham Market is a pleasant place and the Bloomfields ground is a nice neat ground, three visits in the space of one year is a bit much, and from purely an experience point of view, the prospect of going somewhere else was a bit more appealing.

So once the result of the replay was confirmed in early March, it was time to hit Google and find out a bit more about Chalfont St Peter. From my time of living in London in the 1980s I had an idea that the area was at the end of the Metropolitan tube line, and that it was a bit posh.

This was borne out by the Wikipedia description, which stated that “Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Peter have a reputation for being upmarket and exclusive, with house prices being considerably higher than average. Located in the commuter belt of London, the village is the most expensive postcode to purchase a property in the country outside of London.”

Wikipedia also states that the area is also known as mini Hollywood with many celebrities residing there due to the close proximity to London and Pinewood and Elstree film studios. Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud apparently lives there now, and John Laurie, the Scottish actor best known for his role as Private James Frazer, in the BBC’s Dad's Army series, was also a famous resident.

I’m sure there will be those who would say that a town associated with a miserable and cantankerous Scotsman was an entirely appropriate destination for me to visit (I might as well get that in before anyone else mentions it).

Anyway, on a bright sunny day at the end of March, it was off in the car down the M6 and M40 to Buckinghamshire. Stopping on the way at Warwick services, my visit coincided with the arrival of a couple of coachloads of Glossop fans, decked out in replica jerseys, ridiculous curly blue wigs and carrying the usual array of scarves and flags bearing the club name and the Hillmen nickname.

It was the same day as England were hosting Slovenia in a friendly at Wembley, and there were also a number of supporters decked out in England gear, one of whom was a middle aged lady who unwittingly provided me and a number of Glossop fans with a good laugh.

As she stood in her England top at the entrance to the services, she watched a colourful and cheerful group of Glossop supporters make their way towards her, and she was obviously bewildered at the sight of football supporters whose allegiance wasn’t obvious to her.

As the Glossop lads drew level with her, she stopped them and said: “Excuse me, but who are the Hitmen?” Amidst sniggers and stifled guffaws from his colleagues, one of the Glossop lads politely corrected her before giving her a brief run down on who they were and where they were going.

Anyway, back on the road and once I found Gerards Cross and followed the signs towards Chalfont St Peter, it was obvious that the Wikipedia description of an affluent area was spot on. Smart coffee bars and restaurants line the Gerrards Cross High Street, and some very nice houses lined both sides of the road between there and the Chalfont St Peter ground.

It didn’t particularly strike me as an area that was a hotbed of football, and there was certainly no evidence of shops or pubs decked in the Chalfont St Peter colours of red and green, as you might have expected for a tie of this importance.

Far more in evidence as I approached the ground were Glossop supporters, who had taken over a pub called The Greyhound just down the road from the ground, and dozens of blue clad supporters were sampling the local brew as I drove past about 1 o’clock.

The ground itself is just off a main road, and tucked back behind a community centre, in front of which runs a small stream. The genteel setting is maintained as you approach the ground, which has houses backing on to the far side of the ground, and a car park behind one goal, but the club house side of the ground and the far end goal are surrounded more or less by open countryside.

It’s a ground very much suited to its tranquil sounding name of Mill Meadow, and on a sunny afternoon it was a very pleasant setting to watch a game.

Before hand, there was the usual mix of home officials and FA blazers in the hospitality area, and I found out that a busy chap who was cheerfully at the centre of hustle and bustle inside and outside the clubhouse was the Chalfont St Peter chairman Dennis Mair. The rather off the wall pen picture of him in the programme read as follows.

“Took over the reins (as chairman) in 2001. At the time considered to be a Denzil Washington lookalike, but eight years on now considered to be a cross between Morgan Freeman and Nelson Mandela – that’s football for you“. Alongside the more mundane descriptions afforded to the Chalfont players and management team, this was one of the more entertaining offerings, and I would observe it was 100% accurate in terms of its descriptive merits.

On the subject of the match programme, I imagine that the Chalfont committee must have experienced a very bad moment when they were delivered ready for sale. It was a decent sized issue with plenty of content and a few pictures – but the pre printed colour cover had been stapled on the wrong way round.

There will be those who might mock an error like that, but speaking as someone who had a few heart stopping moments when producing 1500 copies of a programme for the game between Ashton Town and FC United in 2005, my reaction was one of sympathy, and I overcame the urge to ask one of the Chalfont people how it had happened and what their reaction was when they realised.

As kick off approached I took up position on the far side of the field from the clubhouse, just on the halfway line, which transpired to be just in front of the High Peak Radio commentary team who were covering the game live.

I would later see Ben Price and his colleagues at Wembley on 10th May, and the commentary position was, it’s fair to say, better than the concrete stump at the base of a floodlight pylon that they perched on precariously at Mill Meadow as they described the action.

A tense first half saw both sides look a bit edgy, and after two goals for Chalfont in the opening half hour, everyone with leanings towards Glossop heaved a sigh of relief four minutes from half time, when Jay Gorton headed in from Jamie Kay’s corner kick to pull Glossop back into the game.

The half time whistle blew and I headed for the hospitality area in the clubhouse once more. At the corresponding first leg last year between Kirkham and Needham Market, Jimmy Armfield had been the guest of honour at the game, and I had managed to get an interview with him for the league website. Another opportunity presented itself at half time in the Chalfont club house.

Just to set the scene, in the 1980s I lived in London in two separate spells, the second of those being from 1986 to 1990. 1986 was the year that Wimbledon rose to the top flight of English football, and indeed stayed there for a good few years.

Always a fan of an under dog, I followed them closely for that four year period, the last two years of which I actually lived in Wimbledon itself, a ten minute walk from the ground at Plough Lane. This was in the bad old days of membership cards (remember them?) and I became a club member, which guaranteed me two tickets at Wembley when the Dons won the FA Cup in 1988 against Liverpool.

Anyone of a certain vintage will remember the likes of Dave Beasant, Nigel Winterburn and Vinnie Jones playing for Wimbledon, and one of my own personal favourite players from that time was Dennis Wise, who had a good few years at Wimbledon before moving to Chelsea. You can imagine my reaction therefore, when I walked into the Chalfont clubhouse, and saw Dennis Wise standing just a few yards away talking to a guy from the FA.

What an opportunity – a chance to interview a big name player, who I had enjoyed watching for years from the terraces. My mind ticked over as I thought of questions to ask, how to keep our chat short but concise, and how to open the conversation.

Almost immediately, my chance came. I was standing next to the table where tea and coffee was laid out, and the man himself came over to pick up a cup. This is the chance, let’s open with a friendly one liner…..

“What brings you here today? We don’t normally associate you with non-league football”. Not a bad opening remark I thought. Dennis Wise, however, obviously thought differently. “I know Dennis” was his response, barely making eye contact with me before picking up his cup and walking over to the other side of room.

Call me pessimistic or accuse me of being easily put off if you like, but I took his reaction to mean that an interview was unlikely to be on the cards, then or at any other time.

It also took a moment or two to get my head round what he actually meant, but as the Chalfont Chairman is called Dennis, I guess that was who he was referring to. A few days later Mr Wise was relieved of his duties as Director of Football at Newcastle United – perhaps worries about his job security had had an adverse impact on his willingness to converse with strangers.

Anyway, the second half at Chalfont began badly for Glossop as they conceded an early goal to go 3-1 down, but a fine late rally saw Dave Hodges and Tom Bailey score in the last 18 minutes to earn a valuable draw.

The afternoon ended on an unsavoury note when a group of yobs appeared apparently from nowhere at the end of the game and started to act in what can charitably be described as a less than welcoming manner towards the Glossop support.

An incident that was totally out of character with the afternoon, and with Chalfont’s normal crowds averaging around 65 for league games, it is safe to assume the individuals concerned were not regulars at Mill Meadow.

Aside of that, it had been an exciting game with an outcome that set up a fascinating second leg at Surrey Street a week later. The following Wednesday I took up a long standing invitation from High Peak Radio’s Ben Price to pop down to the studios in Chapel-en-le-Frith and appear on the stations’ Football Fantime Show.

With New Mills going well in the league and the Vase semi final, there was plenty to talk about, and it only served to put me even more in the mood for the second leg. It was also great to see the phones ringing like fury when Ben announced a competition where the prize was two tickets for the semi final. I ended my on air stint by drawing the winner out of the hat before heading for home.

Saturday came quickly enough, and as we now know, what an afternoon of drama unfolded. After arriving at Surrey Street about ten to two, I chatted to a wide range of familiar and not so familiar faces, before I unexpectedly found myself on the pitch before the start of the game. Glossop had won the team of the round award for their quarter final win over Marske United, and the commemorative plaque had to be presented and photographed.

I accompanied John Ward of the FA, who is Vice President of the Vase Committee, on to the pitch along with the FA photographer, and Glossop assistant manager Terry Hincks and Dave Young joined John for the obligatory photo.

John is a nice chatty guy, and he raised a smile when he handed over the plaque with the words “This must be the last thing you feel like doing right now”.

As we walked off the pitch I suggested to Terry that it might make sense to take the plaque into the clubhouse rather than leave it inside the dug out, so I set off on a mazy walk through the crowd and handed it over. I emerged out of the clubhouse door just in time to see Rick Bailey’s shot hit the back of the net after 97 seconds to put Glossop one up, and had to check afterwards on how the move had unfolded so I could accurately report it.

The match report on the game is still on the league website, so there’s no need to reproduce it here, but anyone who was at the game will remember only too well how the game unfolded. Chalfont equalised, the game went into extra time, Chalfont went ahead, and as the game moved into stoppage time, it looked like the game was up for Glossop.

But then Kelvin Lugsden popped up to smash home an equaliser and spark off wild scenes of celebration. It was a fantastic moment and a goal that will live long in the memory of everyone who was there on the day. It was Kelvin’s birthday and his first goal of the season. What a great story.

There’s no such thing as a penalty shoot out that isn’t nerve racking, and when it goes to sudden death, even more so. After Ash Gotham made a brilliant save to set up Glossop for the win, Rick Bailey walked up slowly to the spot, and slotted home the winning penalty with admirable calmness to set off the inevitable pitch invasion.

Last year, I made it on to the pitch at Needham Market with camera in hand to take some pictures, and I was lucky enough to be able to do the same again. It was a great experience to be out there in the middle of the celebrations. Grown men were hugging one another, kids were running about, Glossop players were being hoisted shoulder high.

Amidst the bedlam I managed to grab a quick word with Rick and shake his hand before the camera crews got to him.

I stood back for a while and just took in the scene, as the celebrations between players and supporters continued apace, and as the crowds finally began to thin down I started to grab a few interviews. It really was a pleasure to do after match interviews in such circumstances, and they are also still on the league website now.

Kelvin Lugsden explained what had gone through his mind when the last gasp chance landed at his feet, Rick Bailey talked me through the moments leading up to taking the winning penalty, and as the crowds finally began to disperse I managed to grab a quick word with manager Steve Young, who had just about run out of superlatives to describe the afternoon’s events.

Most games I attend, I usually hang around after games to get interviews and chat generally to people, but it’s not often that I’m leaving a ground at 7 o’clock in the evening after a game as I did that day.

It was, however, no ordinary day, and one that I wanted to savour for as long as possible, talking to as many people as I could. I have no connection with Glossop North End other than through my work with the league, but it was very difficult to drag yourself away from the celebrations and such a positive upbeat atmosphere.

Like the game at Needham Market 12 months earlier, I’ll remember Saturday 4th April 2009 at Surrey Street for a long time to come.

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