A Saturday side was formed in 1989 at their current home of Inkersall Road, they finished runners-up in the Chesterfield Amateur League in their first season. In 1991 the club moved up to the Sheffield County Senior League. They won Division Three, then Division Two in consecutive seasons. Staveley by passed Division One and were welcomed into the Central Midlands League in 1993. They finished 3rd in 1996-97 and were accepted into the Northern Counties East Division One in 1997. In their first season they finished runners-up, and claimed their place in the Premier Division. After three seasons of struggling, they were relegated back to Division One in 2000–01, having finished bottom of the table. They finished bottom of Division One in 2002–03, but were re elected. Several seasons of mediocre league finishes followed until 2010–11 when the club won Division One to return to the Premier Division.
From Nottingham Victoria the Red Arrow (every hour) will take you to the terminus at Chesterfield, Beetwell Street. From stop B6 on Beetwell street a 77 bus heading for Worksop will drop you off at Market Street, Staveley. After getting off continue in the direction the bus was going but turn right onto Inkersall Rd. Walk along Inkersall Rd and second right is the ground. Buses return from the stop the other side of Market Street.
I got to the ground early and was one of the first inside. Took a few photo's and noticed that terracing had been extended all along the far end. Also from the seated stand that is centred on the halfway line either side now has terracing going up to the corner flag.
Dunston (wearing White shirts) had a 1-0 advantage from the first leg and started this game off brightly, they were particulary good attacking along the left flank. But in the sixth minute it was Staveley who took the lead. From a free kick the ball was worked to the left edge of the Dunston area where the ball was rifled across the front of the keeper and into the net. Dunston continued to attack down the left wing and a cross was narrowly headed wide of goal on eight minutes. The Dunston left winger was hacked down around fifteen minutes and from the resulting free kick to the far post the ball was headed back into the box and booted into the net. 1-1.
It was a good contest and Staveley were beginning to get the upper hand. Dunston were struggling to keep Staveley at bay and were resorting to giving away too many free kicks. On the half hour the referee had enough and the red card was shown for a rash challenge. Five minutes later Staveley took the lead after a flowing move along the 18 yard area, a shot was going wide until a Staveley player ran in to score from 12 yards out. 2-1.
Dunston came back with an attack just before half-time. Staveley defenders hesitated clearing the ball from the area, this gave the Dunston left winger the chance for a shot on goal, luckily for Staveley a player had covered and cleared the ball off the line.
HT 2-1
As in the first half it was the visitors who started off brightly. Staveley lost their first half momentum and one of their influential midfielders to injury and were still struggling to stop attacks along the left wing. To make matters worse for Staveley they too had a man sent off. This for a fierce challenge in the visitors area. In the melee that followed the Dunston keeper clearly headbutted the Staveley substitute, the incident was brought to the attention of the referee by the lino but no action was taken.
Dunston began to take the initiative and from a long throw the ball flew across the front of the Staveley goal, but there was no Dunston player there to finish. The game became scrappy for a period until almost inevitably Dunston scored in the 85th minute. The ball was played wide to the left of the 18 yard area and the ball was centred for a forward to hit the ball into the roof of the net for 2-2. The visitors held out for the remaning minutes for a visit to Wembley and the final.
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Mickleover Royal British Legion FC were formed in 1967. The first team currently play in the Midland Regional Alliance Division One, whilst the Reserve Team play in Division Two. In 1983-84 they were Founder members of Central Midlands League. In seasons 1989-90 and 1990-91 they were Central Midlands League Premier Division Champions. In 2001 they Left the Central Midlands League to join the Derby based Midland Regional Alliance.
From Nottingham Victoria Red Arrow buses leave every 10-20 minutes to Derby bus station. From Derby bus station a Mickleover Red stops near or a Mickleover Blue stops outside the British Legion. Cross over and go up to the end of Poppyfield Drive and you see the RBL and pitch alongside. The pitch is surrounded on three sides with white metal barriers, the fourth side behind the goal has hedgeing. There is a small section of hard standing infront of the clubhouse and all along the dugout side opposite. There is also a small covered stand close to the dugouts. On the first floor of the RBL is a bar and balcony area overlooking the pitch.
The visitors were first when it came to goalscoring opportunities when their right back fired in a shot that was tipped over by the RBL keeper.From the resulting corner an overhead kick flew just wide. Both sides were guilty of not putting their foot on the ball and lots of high and long balls were evident. Slightly against the run of play Mickleover took the lead. A Chellaston midfielder booted a high ball back to his keeper, the ball rebounded off the keepers chest to a RBL striker who blasted the ball into the net. After the goal there wasn't much between the sides up to the half time whistle.
Both sides were playing the ball on the ground in the second half. Five minutes in Mickleover hit the post but ten minutes later from a direct free kick on the edge of the 18 yard area the ball ended up in the top right hand corner of the goal. A couple of minutes later the Chellaston keeper sliced a clearance to the corner of his area and the ball was vollied back forcing him into a good save. On seventy minutes Chellaston pulled a goal back. From a freekick out wide the ball was flicked on to the far post where the centre forward prodded the ball into the net to make it 2-1. Mickleover responded well and were now passing the ball and creating more chances. A surging run from midfield led to a pass across the 18 yard area for a forward to strike the ball home 3-1.
Chellaston's centre forward saw a sweet volley heading for the top corner of the Mickleover goal saved by the keeper, and on 80 minutes Chellastons number 11 beat several players, run into the area and lay the ball off for a team mate who blasted wide. Five minutes from time Mickleover made the game safe after a long ball played up to the left wing was crossed in and finished from twelve yards out 4-1. Chellastons misery was complete on 90 minutes after Mickleover cleared the ball upfield. The substitute chipped the keeper from 25 yards out, the ball hit the bar and landed inside the goal.
Bulwell FC were formed in 2006 and played their first two seasons in the Notts Amateur Alliance (NAA), winning the Premier Division title two seasons running. A promotion to Division 1 of the NSL followed and another league title followed as they won the division at the first attempt. Promotion was granted to the Senior Division but only after Basford United allowed them use of the main pitch at Greenwich Avenue as the other pitches did not meet the required standard of the Senior Division. This season they have been playing at nearby Nuthall using the Basil Russell Playing Field on Maple Drive.
From Nottingham Victoria bus station any Trent Barton Rainbow One (apart from Rapid) will drop you off at the Three Ponds Pub, Nuthall. From there cross over the road and go up Watnall road and after one hundred yards on your left you will see the home venue.
The pitch is roped off on three sides but open on the pavillion side. There are footpaths around three sides of the pitch but the side opposite the pavillion is adjacent to a cricket square.
Bulwell were wearing their Barcelona style kit and were the first team to have a goal scoring opportunity. On eleven minutes a shot was fired a foot over the bar from just inside the area. On twenty minutes, after the Bulwell defence had cleared a Keyworth cross into the area, a fine three man passing move led to Jay Knight scoring from the edge of the area. Connor Carter and John Manders were looking lively upfront for Bulwell but Manders deserved at least a yellow card when he went in with a two footed tackle, the referee just had a quiet word. A Keyworth forward broke free of the Bulwell defence close to half time, the home side appealed for offside in vain. Luckily for Bulwell the keeper was quickly out of his area to boot the ball clear.
Keyworth started brightly at the beginning of the second half. The right winger had a shot go a foot wide after a run into the area and a long range effort flew marginally over. The first half was controlled by Bulwell but Keyworth made a game of it in the second and always looked a threat.But the best two chances fell to Bulwell players. From a corner and goalmouth scramble Jay Knight tried a back heel that was cleared off the line and then close to full time a Bulwell cross was headed onto the bar and out for a goalkick.
FT 1-0
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The two local Universities, The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University compete in the BUCS football competition - BRITISH UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES SPORT. Apart from Nottingham University first team who have already won the Midlands 1A Division (beating Trent Uni on goal difference), the other three Nottm Uni teams will finish bottom of their respective Divisions. Nottm 2nds opponents Staffs 1sts still have a chance of becoming Midlands 2A champions going into todays game.
Nottm Uni's home venue is the Highfields Sports Ground on University Boulevard, across the road from the main campus.The games kick off at 2pm on Wednesday's. A Trent Barton number 5 leaves every 10 minutes from Friar Lane in the city and stops outside.
Nottm Uni were wearing their Bottle Green strip with yellow trim and were playing well against their higher positioned opponents, and they took a deserved lead on 11 minutes. The Nottm centre forward 'Hugo' was played through but his shot was saved and rebounded out to a team mate who stroked the ball past the keeper for 1-0. Disaster struck for Nottm on twenty minutes. The Nottm keeper ran to the edge of his area to collect a ball played over the defence, but he fumbled and was adjudged by the referee to have stepped outside the area, controlling the ball with his hands. He was shown the Red card and dismissed from the field. From the resulting free kick Staffs equalised with a fine strike into the top right hand corner of the goal.
Nottm Uni didn't look disadvantaged as they continued to attack the visitors goal. On 27 minutes from a long throw the ball was flicked on and flew across the face of the Staffs goal, the ball was cleared for a corner. The corner arrived at the far post where a Nottm forward collided with the keeper, the ball fell kindly for a team mate to tap home for 2-1. Staffs players were rightly aggrieved, especially with their keeper needing treated for his injuries. On the half hour Staffs equalised for the second time. The ball was deftly flicked over the Nottm defence and was blasted into the roof of the net.
Ten minutes later one of Staffs impressive forwards Biggs beat three Nottm players in the area before finishing with a great shot past the keeper. HT 2-3
Staffs were playing keep ball along their back four in the early stages of the second half but when they decided to play some football they looked good. A Nottm defender headed off his goal line and a rising shot from 18 yards cleared the bar by a foot. Sixty minutes into the game Staffs got their fourth when the ball was played across the area and thundered home from around the penalty spot. The ten players of Nottm didn't give up and came back at Staffs. Although clearly suffering from an earlier challange the Staffs keeper was forced to pull off a couple of decent saves, but five minutes from time he was beaten when Nottm got a headed goal from a corner. The visitors managed to see out the last few minutes to set up a Divisional decider on Friday. FT 3-4
