COBBLERS UP, CREWE DOWN.

It's been an interesting day for football fans. Barnsley, JPT winners lost and Oxford United, beaten by Barnsley last Sunday, bounced back with a terrific 5-1 win in the league. How angry must they have been!

I had a look at AFC Penistone Church (the Reserves) playing against Athersley Recreation Reserves and also Pensitone Over 35s v Hemsworth, a 0-0 draw! Was it worth leaving the gardening for?

As the afternoon drifted past, two "nice " clubs appeared on the ticker tape thing at the bottom of the TV screen; Crewe Alexandra and Northampton Town. Both have had their difficulties and for Crewe, the Railwaymen, a few more issues have emerged since they lost today and are on their way to Division Two after a spell of 4 years in Division One.
Playing local rivals Port Vale, two snippets came to mind. Crewe is one of two clubs in the Football League with an X in their name. There was a time when there were FIVE and Crewe was the hardest one to get (name the others) and Port Vale is not a place!

That's another trivia question as PVFC play in Burslem, the name of the original club when they first played Crewe in 1892 was Burslem Port Vale. (Both clubs joined the new FL Division Two in 1892).

Today, Port Vale won 3-0. Crewe may cheer themselves up by holding on to the record set by their lovely one time manager, Dario Gradi, a Surrey man, who managed them with nothing but a youth policy from 1983-2007 and then again in 2009-11. He was a fantastic coach and real gent, surviving on youth not lashings of cash.

Northampton Town, the Cobblers, were in dire straits not too long ago and now they are jumping for joy, as they won promotion to Division One this afternoon with a 2-2 draw against Bristol Rovers. Faced with HMRC demands over unpaid taxes, there was a petition served not too long ago for administration and they had to ground share their newish stadium, Sixfields, with Coventry City who were also in the financial doldrums. Sixfields has a capacity of 7653, their club record is 7557 when Northampton played Manchester City in the league Div 2 in 1998. Today they raised 7579 Cobblers fans who saw them win promotion. The Division Title is next in line.

Having mentioned Crewe's "famous" manager, did you know that Herbert Chapman managed Northampton between 1907-12? He was cutting his teeth in the Midlands, having played for the club originally, before starting his remarkable career at Leeds, then famously at Huddersfield Town in the late 1920s and then Arsenal.