A Letter from Nantwich

May 2006

Nantwich Town are the champions

CONGRATULATIONS to the Dabbers (Nantwich Town F.C., if you prefer) in bringing the F.A. Vase to Nantwich. They made history on May 6 when they beat Hillingdon Borough 3-1 in the final of the 32nd F.A. Vase final at Birmingham F.C.'s ground, St Andrew's.

A total of 3,286 saw the game which was described as ". . . the biggest game in the club's 122-year history . . . " by the Nantwich Chronicle. The success means the Dabbers are the first Cheshire side to bring the trophy to the county.

   Despite its name, the Vase is a cup of reasonable size. Not quite as big as the F.A. Cup, maybe, but something well worth having in the Dabbers' trophy cabinet.  

   To say they reached the final was to understate their achievement - the competition began with 493 teams in contention for the title, and finally it was down to just two . . .

  Fortunately there was no need for a penalty shoot-out - which I always think is an unsatisfactory way of deciding a match (but what else can you do?). Goals came from Andy Kinsey (in the 14th and 68th minutes) and Stuart Scheuber (in the 30th).

  Unfortunately, Kinsey (captain for the day) dislocated his shoulder as he threw his shirt to the crowd to celebrate his goals.

o  The whole town was surely behind the Dabbers on Saturday, whether they are  

Above: The Dabbers celebrate their victory (Picture by ardent Dabbers fan, Gareth Roberts.

 club supporters, sports fans in general - or not.

   I must admit that I put myself in the last category - although I always like to know how the team (and, yes, Crewe Alex) are doing.   

lThe pictures of the three young Nantwich fans - Matt Simpson, Matt Roberts and Matt Clarke - (above) and fans, Ian and Maureen Parker (right) were taken by Gareth Roberts. My thanks to him for letting me use them.

lThe picture of the FA Vase and the logo are taken - with permission - from the Football Association's website: www.thefa.com.

lCongratulations to player-manager Steve Davis on being named manager of the month for April in Division One of the North West Counties Football League.

TOP confectioners, Chatwins of Nantwich, ("family bakers since 1913") were behind the Dabbers to the extent that they introduced a range of cakes to mark the occasion.

   This included the large cake front centre of this window display in their Pepper Street shop - and gingerbread men wearing the Dabbers' green strip.

   It was a great gesture for the fans to get their teeth into. 

   John Chatwin (a director of the company) is a fervent Dabbers fan - as are many of the staff.

It was a (too) busy week for the Dabbers

THE Dabbers' success in the F.A. Vase has been marred somewhat. They had three games to fit into five days which club officials say has made it hard to improve their position in Division One of the North West Counties Football League - and promotion to a higher league. They said the three games on top of the Vase final was too much for the players who have jobs to go to. Other clubs are not under so much pressure, they claimed.

    Needing to win all three games to pass Alsager Town, they only managed a 1-1 draw

against Salford City on the following Monday (Beasley scored in the fourth minute of the game) and a 0-0 draw against Congleton Town on the Wednesday.

   However, watched by 46 in an away game on the Friday, they beat Bacup Borough 4-1 (half time, 0-2). Kinsey scored three [3, 20, 52] and Beasley got the fourth in the 80th minute).

   The Dabbers finish in fourth place in the league table. Club officials were hoping that the top four - it was previously the top three - could move on.

Table from the North West Counties Football League's website: www.nwcfl.co.uk