Trafford tonight (Thursday 1st Feb) edged their way past Glossop North End to reach the Manchester FA Premier Cup semi-final via a 5-4 penalty shootout success.

0-1 behind at half time, Ally Brown’s deflected shot just after the hour made the score 1-1 on 90 minutes; With the shootout evenly poised at 4-4 as it went into sudden death, Trafford ‘keeper Bruno da Silva saved Bevan Burey’s spot kick, then youngster Jack Donohue showed nerves of steel to slot home the winning penalty!

Dave Law’s full match report will be up here soon…..

The semi-final will be played away at Ashton United next Tuesday evening (6th February).

SO, the new Northern Premier League season kicked off last Saturday (19th September) with a new sponsor: “Pitching In”.

Pitching In is a new Grassroots Sports Investment Programme that has been launched by GVC, the multi-national sports-betting and gaming group which owns Ladbrokes and Coral. The sponsorship deal extends to the Isthmian and Southern Leagues, as well as the NPL. The partnership therefore covers all three leagues that make up Steps 3 & 4 of the National Leagues System, who market themselves collectively as the Trident Leagues.

England footballing legend Stuart Pearce, who played for Wealdstone FC for five years at the start of his long and illustrious career, has been appointed as the official Pitching In ambassador. “Psycho” says:

“I am delighted to be taking up the role of ambassador for Pitching In, as I’m passionate about the importance of investing in grassroots sports and in developing young talent. I started out playing for Wealdstone FC before joining Coventry City so I understand how important funding is to the non-league game. Grassroots football is facing huge challenges at the moment and many clubs are struggling to stay afloat. GVC’s Pitching In investment will help make a big difference to hundreds of clubs and thousands of players across the country.”

Pitching In has been set up with the objective of supporting, protecting and encouraging grassroots sports in the UK through a range of initiatives.

In addition to financial support, a key focus of the partnership will be to facilitate and encourage members of the community to become volunteers, and do some pitching in of their own. A Pitching In volunteering scheme will be established to link GVC’s Ladbrokes and Coral shop colleagues with their local clubs.

In the weeks ahead Pitching In and the Trident Leagues will be announcing further initiatives to provide financial support and opportunities for all the 226 clubs (rising to 240 in 2021).

For more information on Pitching In please visit www.gvc-plc.com/pitchingin

TRAFFORD FC are at home again today (Saturday 9th September). Following last week’s magnificent 1,000+ attendance for the Pitching-In Northern Premier League match versus Bootle, this week’s entertainment is provided via an Isuzu FA Trophy tie at Shawe View against Stalybridge Celtic.

Join us as Danny Caldecott’s team begin the journey which could lead to an appearance at Wembley in the final next May……. Kick off is 3pm; Gates open at 1pm; Shawe View is near Chassen Road, postcode M41 5DL; Admission is £10 adults, £6 concessions, £2 for kids (U16) or buy tickets from Shocal (link below).

Licensed bar, can bar, hot & cold food & drinks; Cheap prices (e.g. pint of Stella £4!) The weather is looking good, we have plenty of seats and standing areas, and there are no rules against standing with a drink whilst watching the game! Be part of it – Trafford in The Trophy!

Shocal Ticket link: https://www.shocal.org/business/event_shop?sid=34

The wheels definitely came off for Trafford this afternoon, with a 0-6 defeat away at Nantwich Town. Trafford were behind after just 4 minutes, 0-3 at half time, and had Jerome Wright sent off in the second half.
Two of Nantwich’s half-dozen goals were penalties, and incredibly Trafford ‘keeper Ollie Culkin saved a third penalty kick! The whole afternoon was a serious blip for Margy’s Men, but we’ll leave it to Dave Law to describe the game in detail via his match report later on this evening……..

Congratulations to our Under 18s who, in their first competitive fixture as a group, came from 0-2 behind to defeat Congleton Town U18s 3-2 away in the opening round of the FA Youth Cup last night (Thursday 17th August).

Trafford FC Youth has grown & grown since its inception just over six years ago, and for the last two seasons we had an U18s team managed by Steve Tobin and Rob Williams with some success. Steve and Rob have now progressed their players to Under 21 level, and Jeff Crewe is in charge of a new U18 group.

Following an excellent opening spell from our boys, a mistake at the back led to Congleton taking the lead on 18 minutes. This knocked the wind from our sails for a few moments, and the home side doubled their lead just two minutes later. Thankfully, Trafford’s lads pulled one back just before the half time break and came out for the second half with renewed vigour, equalising in the 54th minute, and scoring the winner with 20 minutes to go.

Our goalscorers were Gabby Tamakloe with 2, and James McSweeney. Well done everyone!

The next round takes place week commencing 4th September, away at Lancaster City.

TODAY! (Saturday 22nd April) it’s our final game of the 2022-23 Pitching-In Northern Premier League season. Our visitors are Runcorn Linnets, Kick off is 3pm (gates open at 1pm) It’s £9 admission (or less for various concessions) we take cash and cards (or you can beat the queues by buying a ticket through Shocal.org) we have licensed bars, hot & cold food & drink, programmes, a great family atmosphere and good quality semi-professional football on an award winning pitch!
And if THAT lot isn’t enough, Man City’s FA Cup semi final is on in the clubhouse after the game, and after THAT it’s our End-of-Season Awards! What. A. Day!
Be Part of It!!!

Episode Two of Trafford FC’s brand new podcast/radio show, in conjunction with Radio Wishing Well – our community internet station from Trafford General Hospital – is out now! In this episode, Muggsy, Glinks and The Beards discuss Bootle, Congleton, Emley, and chicken & beans!
The show goes out on Fridays at 6pm on radiowishingwell.com or catch up on:
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/4CTamZl1UfKwXHJ6WP6NeB?si=740fdf89c9d848eb
Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/TraffordPodcast/trafford-fc-hit-the-north-podcast-ep2-16th-august-2024/

Shawe View Stadium opens its doors once again a new generation of players in Trafford FC’s end of season Mini Football Festival.

Coaches are urged to sign up their teams of six to 10-year-olds as soon as possible to avoid disappointment, given the strict limit of 16 teams per age group.

The Under-7 and Under-9 six-a-side mini tournaments take place on Saturday 20 May 2023, with the Under-8s and Under-10s doing at all again the following day, Sunday 21 May.

All games will be played on Trafford FC’s award winning, elite playing surface at the Home Estates Shawe View Stadium.

Each team will play a minimum of three matches. The 16-team tournaments will comprise of four groups of four teams, with group winners and runners-up progressing to the knockout stages.

Every player will receive a medal and there will be a trophy for “team of the tournament” at each group level.

The club’s usual catering services will be provided, serving hot and cold food and drinks.

What entering coaches need to know:

– The entry fee is £50 per team and payment must be received via BACS, at least seven days before the event;
– The age groups listed are based on those teams played in during the 2022/23 season. Player IDs are required as part of the registration process;
– Further information and an application form can be obtained from Kevin Burke, on 07748 775 215, or chairman@traffordfc.co.uk.

Trafford FC is delighted to announce the signing of ex-Ramsbottom Utd skipper WILL HALL! The 6 foot 3 centre back, who can also play in midfield, made 34 appearances for the Rams last season, and as we say, he captained the side throughout. Will’s career has seen him on the books of Altrincham as a youngster; Loan spells at Ashton Utd and Ramsbottom Utd led him to sign permanently for his hometown team The Rams.

Needless to say our manager, Danny Caldecott, is delighted to capture Will for the forthcoming season. Our Boss says this of his new signing: “I’ve been chasing this player for two seasons, so when Will agreed to sign for the club I was absolutely ecstatic. Last season he was captain of Ramsbottom and that tells you everything about the character of this young man. Tall, athletic and aggressive to name a few of his many attributes. He’s going to be a big player for us. Welcome to SV Will!”

The man himself says: “Hello everyone! I’m really excited to be joining this great club and I can’t wait to get to work with all the boys & the gaffa, and hopefully have a quality season as I know we will! Can’t wait to see you all down at the club, see you soon. C’mon Trafford!”

The games are coming thick-&-fast for Karl Marginson’s team: Just 48 hours after taking on the league leaders Vauxhall Motors at the Away Day Care Shawe View on Saturday, Trafford travel to Widnes this evening for a Pitching-In Northern Premier League fixture against City of Liverpool FC.
C.o.L play at the Widnes Vikings DCBL stadium, and kick off is 7.45pm.
After three league defeats, the team needs their supporters more than ever to help get back to winning ways, so we hope as many of you as possible can travel this evening!.
Take care!