It's Christmas Time!

Date : Saturday December 22nd, 2018
Match : Stamford AFC vs Stocksbridge Park Steels
Squad : Bowen, Quincy, Richo, Laddso, Laddsy, Beebs, Kenny, Carol (plus non cap winning appearances from Tracey Bird, Caroline Bird and Amie Bird).

Let's go somewhere for Christmas we said. Let's go somewhere local we said. Let's wear Christmas jumpers we said. Let's invite the girls we said. So that's why we had Christmas time in Stamford.

Stamford is always a favourite destination for birthday drinks, anniversary drinks, let's have a drink drinks. So it was an easy choice of venue for the Christmas trip. First up after a taxi ride (no trains for most of us) was the lunch stop.

Tatum's Bistro has not been open a year but was offering a tasty looking Christmas menu at a very reasonable price. So we pre-ordered and turned up hungry. Tatum's is just off the High Street, through a courtyard and into a lovely old character building. We were seated upstairs in a mezzanine type area with lovely decor and character.

It's a sign

Lovely courtyard

The trouble with pre-ordering is that there is always someone who forgets what they ordered and then there's always someone who's changed their mind. However it all seemed to pass swimmingly. Personally I started with a lovely thick butternut squash soup, then had the Christmas dinner which was beautifully done. I think everyone else enjoyed as much - a step up from the normal fare on a footy day out.

On a beer note we were treated to Adnams Ghost Ship - from a bottle and a tad cold but all the same there's never a bad Ghost Ship (or Goat Shit to give it it's proper name).

After a lovely meal it was a stomp down the hill to Paten & Co -  a smart place in the modern rustic wood style. Great beers on tap too so a swift but very enjoyable pint there. Then it was on to the square to find a couple of taxis.

The very narrow Paten & Co

Inside Paten & Co

Stamford AFC have a long history having been formed in 1896 and even had a stint in the Peterborough League. They are called the Daniels after the fattest man in England Daniel Lambert - something I guess all Stamford folk are happy with.

The ground these days is on the way out of town towards Ryhall. it's a modern sports complex, with the main ground plus a 3G and grass pitches behind. There's a covered stand to one side and covered terracing at one end. All in all a nice looking tidy ground.

Man with no friends watches football

"Come on you fatties"

Stocksbridge Park Steels hail from the Stocksbridge area of Sheffield and were formed from a merger of two other clubs in 1986. They were famously the springboard for a young Jamie Vardy in his early career and even Chris Waddle played for the Steels once (no actually just once).

Some say Christmas spirit, some say low self esteem...

As for the football that wasn't at all bad. It was a lively, if scrappy affair with both teams forging chances and testing the opposition keeper. Some people had already retired for a smooch in the bar when the game's one moment of quality occurred. Ryan Seal was put through and smashed the ball past the Steels keeper. Luckily you can see it here....

Ryan Seal's goal for the benefit of Laddsy and Kenny

A half time pint was welcomed and then back out for the second half. Considering the time of year the weather wasn't too bad - cold but ok.

The 2nd half continued in a similar vein and both sides huffed and puffed but to no avail. We took a tour around the ground, enjoying as always the banter around the dugouts - always so polite and respectful!
Ultimately a decent game with one great goal and lots of effort.

So back to the bar to watch the results and the Club Christmas draw. Richo forced a beer down him despite obviously the worse for the debilitating man flu. From there it was taxi back into town and onto No12 All Saints.

Number Twelve

"Beer sir? We're out of that one."

No12 is a strange little place. A little bit all over the place to be honest, defintely rustic and friendly enough. The beer menu is pretty good. Unfortunately they seem to only stock a couple of each so we had pretty much exhausted the menu pretty quickly. Also it's not cheap.
Still we did manage to get a great photo of the team in there.

Next Year's Christmas Card

To finish off we headed to The Stamford Post, the obligatory 'spoons offering. Some good beers on tap and much cheaper than pretty much anywhere else. It was a decent end to a very good day.

Stats
Match
Northern Premier League Division One East

Stamford  1 Stocksbridge Park Steels
Stadium – The Zeeco Stadium. Capacity – 1,500
Attendance – 265

Pubs - 4 plus football club
Best  - Paten & Co
Worst - No12 All Saints
Lunch - Excellent (Tatum's Bistro)
Dinner - n/a
Pies - n/a

Marks
Ground  - 9/10
Match - 7/10
Beer - 7/10
Food - 10/10
Pie         - 0/10

Enjoyment Factor  - 9/10 - Merry Christmas

Go On, Show Us Your Ossetts

Date : Saturday November 17th, 2018
Match : Carlton Town vs Ossett United
Squad : Bowen, Quincy, Richo, Laddso, Laddsy (5th cap).

After our trip to the Midlands it was time to head north again. This time we were heading to the Nottingham suburb of Carlton in the borough of Gedling. An early start was the order of the day getting us to the station ready for the hour and a half train ride to Nottingham.

Once in Nottingham there were a number of pubs on the list, the first of which was to be the Vat and Fiddle. Trouble was we were early so like proper beer heads we awaited opening time. Now the Vat & Fiddle is no ordinary pub - it's actually the tap room for the Castle Rock Brewery so promised much.

The Vat And Fiddle - Castle Rock Brewery

Promised much....and delivered. A staggering array of ales on tap and based on our sample, most of them were damn good. Castle Rock own and other guest ales, light beers, dark beers, all beers. Beer heaven in short. Friendly staff also, a good looking menu - we could have stayed there all day. However other things were calling....darn it.

Beer mmmm

So onwards and back past the station towards the town centre. And into the Fellows Morton & Clayton. First impressions were decent - not loads of beers but a few decent choices.

Fellows Morton & Clayton

We chose, sat and perused the menu. A burger and a load of pies later and it's film time.
Which is lucky because there is a film star in town. Yep - none other than the legend that is Clint Eastwood (or maybe it was some other cowboy).

Keeping the streets of Nottingham safe

Next stop - the Canalhouse. And wow.................the beer day was just about to get even better. On entering you realise that there is actually canal in the pub - must be dangerous when the beer is flowing (Richo would defo be in there). And choosing what to drink was an issue with so much choice - so we had two paddles amounting to 11 different beers.

Quincy is excited!

Each glass had the name of the beer written on it so it became a big tasting session after which we concluded that all beer is good and Laddsy is fussy.

Done with beer (as if) we trundled off to find a taxi and head out to today's ground. It's approximately a 4 mile trip out to the Stoke Lane ground. On arrival we find another low rise out of town ground.

Let me in

The ground itself is tidy enough. A warm clubhouse and a snack window is all a man needs after all. Later as the sun starts to go down we find ourselves much in need of that warmth too.

Where the referee was concerned the bench never let the crowd get a word in edgeways 

As the temperature dropped we managed to forage some chips and a few cups of Bovril. We also purchased some raffle tickets and were rewarded amply when Quincy managed to snaffle the first prize. A tin of Celebrations - some of which we ate - the rest of which we stuffed into pockets to feast on during the second half.

Quincy's joy was shortlived as the Leather Finger was about to strike

As for the match itself, the goals were at either end of the game. Joe Wilkinson put the visitors in the lead in the 5th minute and in all honesty it was Ossett that made all the running for the first 70 minutes. However they were unable to build on that lead and paid for it as Riece Bertram equalised for Carlton on 90 minutes.
Most of what was in between the two goals was fairly low standard stuff - the ball in the air a lot and the pitch did not seem to be helping the teams either.
At the conclusion of the game we headed back into the bar for a warming beer and a chat with the club's Commercial Director before heading back to town.

Next stop on the Nottingham beer odyssey was the trusty and ever good Brewdog. You can trust a Brewdog, Quality beer, quality food, prices to match....but hey there's a price on quality right?
Anyway the beer was very good.

Can you see me now?

What about now?

We still had time for some chips and a last beer in the Barley Twist. A small bar....next to a chip shop. That's the extent of my memory of that one.

Then it was back to the station for the journey home. An all round great beer day.

Stats
Match
Northern Premier League Division One East

Carlton Town  1 Ossett United 1

Stadium – Bill Stokeld Stadium. Capacity – 600
Attendance – 108

Pubs - 5 plus football club
Best  - The VAT and Fiddle but all were good
Worst - The Barley Twist (I can't remember it so by definition not memorable
Lunch - Good (Fellows Morton & Clayton)
Dinner - Chips
Pies - None

Marks
Ground  - 4/10
Match - 3/10
Beer - 10/10
Food - 7/10
Pie         - 0/10

Enjoyment Factor  - 8/10 - the beer carried it through