News

Ashton Athletic v Eagley Thursday 30th July 7.30pm Ko........ Daisy Hill v Atherton Lr now confirmed as Saturday 1st August

Up to and including last nights results (Monday) away teams had scored 6 more goals than the home sides (Home 20, Away 26)

CELEBRATIONS gave way to organisation as officials of Stoneclough began preparing to make the most of their success in reaching the Goldline Trophy Final.

The village club, which has only been in existence since 1986, beat West Lancashire League rivals and Goldline holders Euxton Villa 1-0 at Chorley’s Victory Park on Monday night to book a date with Atherton LR in the April 6 showpiece at the Reebok Stadium.

The decisive strike came 10 minutes from time when Steve Harrison’s 40-yard free kick struck the underside of the bar then hit the side netting before bouncing clear of the goal. It was a heart-stopping moment before the assistant referee signalled that the ball had crossed the line and the celebrations began.

Stoneclough were underdogs, having twice lost to Euxton this season, and were grateful to goalkeeper Craig Tebay who pulled off a remarkable save at nil-nil. But the team managed jointly by Trevor Ball and Andy Tight were good value for a win that paves the way for a huge financial windfall.

Previous Goldline finalists have cashed in by as much as £4,000 – a fortune for a club like Stoneclough. So the work has already begun to maximise the opportunity and the prestige of playing at the Reebok Stadium.

There are match tickets and corporate hospitality packages to be sold – clubs having the incentive of being able keep the profits of their marketing initiative – so there is much to do before they go head to head with LR of the NW Counties League.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to generate some income to take this club forward,” said secretary Peter Conroy, one of half a dozen survivors of the original group who formed the club just over two decades ago.

“We’re a Bolton team and we’ll be playing at the Reebok. It’s going to be a great occasion. All finals are but because of Bolton Wanderers this one is extra special.

“You really can’t describe what it means for a club like us. We had a burst pipe in the cold snap and need to do some work on the ceiling in the showers. Some of the money will go towards that and maybe we’ll try to get a new tractor.

Harrison’s goal had a value added element for his team-mates, securing Stoneclough the distinction of being the higher scorers of the two finalists in the latter stages of the competition and with it, the privilege of claiming the home dressing room for the final.

EUXTON VILLA: Baxter, Davies, Bolton, Chambers, Dickinson, Cooper, Kirkpatrick, Dunn, Farrer, Craddock, Atherton. Subs: Clitheroe, Woodman, Bingham, Heald, Gibbs

STONECLOUGH: Tebay, Vandenberg, Heenan, Howarth, Newton, Hill, Bentley, Lucas, Harrison Ralph, Truffas. Subs: Deane, Rainford, Makin

Once again for the 5^th time the weather is the winner in the Semi final between Stoneclough v Euxton at Chorley with the pitch still frozen and the outlook to get worse the decision has been made to call it off today rather than wait till tomorrow lunchtime.

!Due to the Platinum Suite not being available for corporate hospitality on the original date, the final has now been changed to Monday 6th April with a later kick off at 8.00PM

Mon 26th January Atherton Lr v Charnock Richard 7.30pm Kick off at Chorley Fc

MATCH OFF once again the weather has beaten the Goldline Semi Final between Stoneclough v Euxton Villa an expected heavy downfall of snow has caused the game to be called off.

New dates for the Semi finals have now been agreed with Chorley Fc as follows :-

MATCH CALLED OFF...... The semi final between Stoneclough and Euxton Villa was called off as the players were warming up, in the interests of players safety the Referee and match committee officials decided it was better to postpone the match and will now be played in January along with the Atherton Lr v Charnock game.

After a Football League Referee called off Chorley's home game tonight because parts of the pitch are still frozen, and with the weather forecast to freeze again over night the decision has been made to call off tomorrow night's Semi Final between Atherton Lr and Charnock Richard, a new date will be announced as soon as possible

!!!!!!!!! NEW DATE FOR STONECLOUGH v EUXTON VILLA now MON 15th DECEMBER at Chorley Fc 7.30pm KO

Stoneclough v Euxton Villa on Monday 1st December 2008 ( postponed due to Frozen Pitch)

SEMI FINAL DRAW !!!!!!!!!!!!! Stoneclough v Euxton Villa ....... Atherton Lr v Charnock Richard

Charnock win 3-0 with goals from Dashti, Roberts and Sanderson against Atherton Town to go into Semi Final

ATHERTON LR reached the Semi Finals with a derby victory last night. LR’s encouraging start to the season continued when they reached the last four of the Goldline Trophy with a penalty four minutes from time. A much-improved Colls were eventually sunk when Andy Walker brought down Phil Howard in the box and Paul Crompton stepped up to score from the spot. This was Colls seventh straight defeat, but they can be encouraged by their positive performance in a scrappy, hard-fought clash. The local rivals were evenly matched in a game of few chances, even after Colls striker Alex Dunne was sent off for a second bookable offence 25 minutes from time.

A Paul Crewe goal sees victory for Atherton Lr against Chorley in FA Cup which means the Goldline Qtr final will go ahead on Monday night against Colls at Alder House 7.45pm Ko

The Quarter Final between Atherton Colls v Atherton LR is Monday 1st Sept 7.45pm Kick off subject to Atherton Lr not needing a replay to Saturdays FA Cup game at Chorley.

The Quarter Final between Eagley v Stoneclough finished 6-4 to Stoneclough after coming back from 4-2 down with goals from Truffas 3, Hill (pen), Ralph and Lucas, Eagley goals by Darby 2, Cover, and Murray

The Quarter Final between Atherton Colls v Atherton LR has now been confirmed as Monday 1st Sept 7.45pm Kick off

The Quarter Final between Charnock Richard v Atherton Town has now been confirmed as Thursday 4th Sept 6.15pm Kick off

Euxton Villa became the first team to reach this years Semi Final with a 4-2 win over Tempest

Who will be the first team into the semi finals as Euxton Villa and Tempest do battle on Wed night 6th Aug 6.30pm Kick Off

Only a win would see Breightmet off the bottom of the group in the final group to be played when they play Bolton County away on Wed 6th Aug 6.30pm Kick Off

All the four quarter finals have now been decided and can be seen on the results page or fixtures page the dates for the Charnock and the Atherton Colls date are still to be decided.

At half time Hindsford led 2-1 with goals from Andy Grainger and Jonk Morris despite Prestwich taking the lead through Matt Jolly. In the second half though Prestwich stepped up a gear and a penalty from Matt Jolly and a well taken goal from Sam Smith saw them home.

Hindsford v Charnock Richard will now be played at Charnock with a 6.30pm pm Kick off on Monday 28th July

Hindsford v Atherton Lr will now be played at Lr with a 7.45pm Kick off on Wed 23rd July

See Results link for fixtures dates and kick off times for this years competition !

On Tuesday 27th May the draw was made for the 2008/09 Goldline Trophy. This competition, started in 1998 for clubs in and around the Bolton area, has proven itself to be the premier non league cup competition in the north west, this season's final attracting only just short of three times the attendance gained for the Lancashire Trophy final between Chorley and Southport, and that was for two West Lancs League sides - Euxton Villa and Charnock Richard - who provided a highly entertaining final. The record attendance was 2,400 in 2004 when Atherton LR met Blackrod Town in the final. The high attendances are in no small part due to the games being played at Bolton Wanderers Reebok Stadium.

The Wanderers supported the competition from the start, initially helping out behind the scenes with such things as printing the tickets for the finals, the first two of which were played at Leigh RMI's Hilton Park ground. Since then, all the finals have been at the Reebok Stadium, with Radcliffe Borough and Chorley usually able to help out by making their grounds available for the semi-finals.

The popularity of the competition draws famous names to the final, apart from the invited guests. Amongst the many well known faces spotted in the crowd in 2008 was ex- Manchester City, Sunderland and Leeds manager Peter Reid.

Other Football League clubs have come to the Wanderers to look at the competition to see if it would be possible to arrange something similar in their own areas, but the success of the Goldline Trophy is down to hard work by the clubs involved, a hard working committee and the full support of Bolton Wanderers and their back room staff, many of who give their time free of charge on the day of the final to support local football.

The competition is organised on a group basis, with all the group games being played pre-season. The top two from each group qualify for the quarter finals.

The strength of the clubs involved and the seriousness in which the competition is taken is shown by the finalists. In the ten finals so far, with twenty finalists, North West Counties League sides have only appeared five times, with West Lancs League side Charnock Richard chalking up the most appearances, winning twice and being runners up three times. Atherton LR remain the only club to have won the Trophy three tims. Group matches are due to start on 19th July when Bolton County take on Breightmet United and Prestwich Heys meet Hindsford. Holders Euxton start on 21st July at home to Stoneclough.

Below are the 16 teams who have accepted the invitation to this years competition

A memorable week for Euxton Villa Football Club as they added the Goldline Trophy to the Lancs Amateur Shield they won the previous week.

Villa dominated the first half with goals coming by the way of an own goal by Charnock’s Graham Keenan and a coolly struck effort from David Heald,

Euxton Villa giant keeper Ross Baxter who was outstanding all through the game pulled off another remarkable penalty save to deny Charnock in the second half. Charnock pressed hard in the 2nd half but the Villa back four remained resolute and were outstanding on the night. A very big thank you goes to all the 1,829 traveling supporters from both clubs who remained very vocal throughout the game and cheered both teams on.

203 people enjoyed corporate hospitality in the Platinum Suite and were thoroughly entertained by Premiership Referee Mark Halsey and former Bolton players Tony “Zico “ Kelly, and John Thomas.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Tempest Utd	Bolton County	Prestwich Heys	Ashton Ath
Atherton Colls	Elton Vale	Stoneclough	Daisy Hill
Atherton Town	Charnock Rich	Euxton Villa	Atherton LR
Breightmet Utd	Hindsford	Ashton Town	Eagley