Wakefield v Woodley Sports - UniBond Division 1 North

Monday 28th September 2009, UniBond League Division 1 North
College Grove, Wakefield

Wakefield (1) 1 (Frogatt 20)
Woodley Sports (0) 0

Admission £8. Programme £1.50. Free Teamsheet

On approaching the entrance my travelling companion told me he'd seen on the official 'Wakey' website that admission tonight was £8 and that included a free programme, but you could also buy extra copies for £1.50
I thought £8 was a bit expensive for this division but figured if it included the programme it was standard for the level Wakefield played at.
However when I paid to get in, I was charged extra for my programme - so I asked about there being one included in the price and was told "No, it's £9.50 altogether ... please!"
So I handed over my hard earned ... and my mate said he must've been mistaken.

Hmm, the following is cut and paste from the WFC website:
"A matchday programme will be produced for every home match. The cost of the programme is free with entry. Season ticket holders also receive a free programme upon entry. Additional programmes are available at a cost of £1.50 each."

So maybe Wakefield should either amend their website with immediate effect or inform their turnstile operator about this offer.

Clubhouse view ... the windows need a wash ;-)

The guy behind the bar was friendly, welcoming and polite and the young bloke out of the office printed off some extra team sheets for us, so the small matter of a mix up at the entry was soon forgotten.

Over behind the dug outs, there are a few steps of wooden terracing that are apparently popular with the vocal youngsters who follow 'The Bears' who call themselves the 'Dug Out Crew', tonight they seemed to be amusing themselves in the curious little covered standing area at the opposite end of the pitch to the club house which is effectively, a scaffolding and sturdy polythene sheeting affair.
The main stand at College Grove is as good as anything I've ever seen at this level though and much better than the facilities at a lot of current Unibond Premier League grounds too.

A little bit of history.

In the beginning there was Emley FC, who after a long proud history relocated to Wakefield and ground shared at Belle Vue with Wakefield Trinity Rugby League, where they were renamed Wakefield & Emley FC. Their reserves still played at Emley FC's old ground in their own village though.
However nowadays there is no Wakefield & Emley FC, there are two clubs:
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/wakefieldfc/?primary=theclub&secondary=history&third=history

and
http://www.afcemley.co.uk/id18.html

I couldn't possibly comment on the politics of it all, my knowledge of the bigger picture and all of the facts is very limited, but these two links make interesting reading.
I used to enjoy trips up to Belle Vue with it's quick and easy access via the A1, A638 route.

I'm not sure if the catering at College Grove is done by outsiders or the club themselves, but 60p for a hot drink seemed very reasonable, until it appeared in a thimble sized cup ... that particular 'taste sensation' was over in a matter of seconds, thankfully, because the coffee was bloody awful.

I didn't have anything to eat, for the most part I don't eat football ground food unless I'm really hungry - the look on my friends face, as he tried digesting an horrible looking chip butty, kind of demonstrated why I have this abstinence stance.

The game itself was a tight affair. Jon Frogatt put the home side ahead, but the goal was disallowed. So to make amends he put them ahead again a few minutes later, when he beat the keeper in a tussle for the ball after it appeared he had been thwarted and made no mistake of sticking home his second 'reprieve' chance.

There was no further scoring, which was a surprise because Wakefield, managed by Ronnie Glavin (who some of you may just about remember from elsewhere) created several really good chances and Woodley Sports grew stronger as the game went on and they pushed for an equaliser that wasn't forthcoming no matter how hard they tried.

The diminutive Gary Gee in the visitors midfield showed a lot of composure and some good touches and seemed to be at the engine room of most of their better passages of play.

But the player who stood out the most for me was Wakefield's goalkeeper Jan Zolna.

I'm not sure which country he originates from, but his accent was quite indecipherable at times. That didn't stop him commanding his area very well and calling out rapid fire instructions to his team mates though. He had a very good game ... and carried on his non stop chuntering even when all the other players were down the other end of the pitch (quite possibly because they were getting a headache). All the best goalkeepers have always been a little bit crazy.

Zolna fits the bill on that count.

A draw would have been a fair result, but Wakefield chalked up their fifth success in a row and even their animated keeper won't be complaining at that.

the66pow