Chadderton 2 Castleton Gabriels 1
Vodkat League Division 2
At: Andrew Street
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Attendance: 80
Two days after the trip to Farsley Celtic, I once again ventured up the M6. This time the destination wasa the Vodkat League Division Two game between Chadderton and Castleton Gabriels. It was certainly an exciting time to be a Chadderton supporter as two local businessmen had completed a takeover of the club. ‘Chad’ had also won on the opening day and hoped to make it two out of two against the Gabriels – which they did!
Chadderton’s Andrew Street is what I would call a ground of character. A decent stand with bench seating, banking around several parts of the ground, car parking next to the pitch, etc. I needn’t have worried about obtaining the teams – they were pinned up inside the changing room building and read over the tannoy. Hot and cold refreshments were available and most welcome on what was a sunny evening.
I found the ground without a problem. From the M62 junction 20, following A627(M) towards Manchester. The motorway becomes a dual carriageway and turn left at first major traffic lights (A699) Middleton Road. Take then second left into Burnley Street and and second left by Asda into Andrew Street. The ground entrance is on the right at the end. There is ample car parking inside the ground. The nearest railway stations are Mills Hill and Oldham Werneth.
The 32-page programme with glossy red cover was readily available for £1-20 and contained, amongst other articles, notes from both the manager and chairman. Even though the opening-day match was played barely 48 hours before, there was a match report of that win at Ashton United with up-to-date league table and appearances/scorers chart, admittedly containing just one game.
Just before kick-off, the teams entered the arena to the sound of ‘Rings of Fire’. Chadderton scored the only goal of the first half through Alex Dodd. There was delay to the start of the second half as the net at the changing room end needed to be secured to the base of the left-hand post. Castleton worked hard to get back on level terms but Chadderton doubled their lead in the 58th minute. Late on, Castleton pulled a goal back courtesy of Chadderton’s John Cregan in front of an official attendance of 80.
As a footnote, I was a bit saddened to find out in April 2008 that things hadn’t worked out as planned with the new owners. A news item of the Chadderton website, dated early April 2008, read: “The current owners of Chadderton FC has decided to sell their interests in the Club for the sum of £1.00.”
But good news appeared on the club's web site a month later including: "News from the Club, pre-season training arrangements and friendlies infomation will continue to be posted here throughout the closed season. The committee, managers and players would like to thank everyone for the continued support, particularly through the recent weeks."
I do hope they can pull through and that Chadderton FC and their Andrew Street ground aren’t lost.
