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Northern Ventures
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NVNG 101 - Christmas EditionPart of an ever-growing band, Mick Cooper sets out every Saturday for an Arngrove Northern League match. His journey's rather longer than most, however he lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, a 500 mile round trip away. "It's never a problem because on the way up I'm looking forward to it so much, and on the way back I know that I've had a good day and a warm welcome," he insists. "The Northern League is truly unique." Mick wrote to the Non League Paper earlier this season praising the League's "magical" clubs grounds, playing standards and friendliness. When NVNG100 reported the NLP letter, Mick read it at Whitley Bay - and got in touch after heading back down the A1. Since the season's first game, at Crook, he has only missed one Saturday, and vows to keep coming back for more until hell, or at least the A1, freezes over. "Everything I said in my Non League Paper letter was true. Without exception the visits to ANL grounds have been marked by friendliness and by good games. I've watched a lot of Step 5 football elsewhere, and the Northern League compares favourably to any of it. "The Conference is becoming too much like the Football League and too powerful for the good of the non-league game. Leagues above step 5 have become too officious for the good of the clubs and the nearer you get to London the less friendly they are. I can hardly believe the welcome in the North-East." A former fixtures secretary of the Herts County League, Mick - now a self-confessed hopper – has ticked off grounds in many other leagues. This time, however, he reckons the ANL is for keeps. With the League chairman, he watched Shildon v Horden on November 19 and was again overwhelmed by the welcome. "I can't tell you how much it means. Shildon treated me like royalty and I'm sure that happens to everybody. In my long experience of non-league football, there's simply nothing like it. No hesitation, I'll be back."
Jet-set referee Dave Roberts made a flying visit from Singapore to England in the hope of taking charge of a couple of ANL matches - and found that in the NorthEast, it's always the monsoon season. Dave, who holds a pilot's licence, is perhaps best remembered for flying his two assistants from Teesside to Newcastle airport for Newcastle Blue Star's game with Tow Law in August 2002 - he charged mileage by car. Then he was Sky Sports' man up here, now he works for Sky in Singapore - and recently refereed the Indian FA Shield, the world's second oldest cup competition, in front of a 120,000 spectators at the stadium and millions more on television. Dave was wired for sound throughout the match, believed to be the first time it's happened on a football field. Back here on holiday, he was given a League Cup tie at Crook and a League game at Morpeth – and both, like Dave, went the journey. "I was really looking forward to meeting some old friends and to comparing gates of 100 to gates of 120,000" he said. "I hope to be back again next year, if only we can find a dry spell." | |||||
