MATCH: Padiham v Ramsbottom United
VENUE: Ruby Civil Arena, Padiham, BB12 8LE
COMPETITION: Pre-season friendly
DATE: Saturday 10th July 2021
KICK-OFF: 3.00pm
DISTANCE FROM RAMMY: 13 miles, 20 minutes
TICKETS:
Pay on the gate at Padiham FC. Adults £4, concessions £2, under 16s FREE
OVERVIEW:
It has been 253 long, long days since the Rams’ last fully competitive fixture against Prescot Cables on October 31 (not including the behind closed doors friendly Stockport Town in December). And players have left the club to seek their football elsewhere. But the joy to have football back, even in the form of a pre-season friendly, marks a significant moment in the ‘post-Covid’ times – lets just hope that we can get everything back to normal as the season edges ever closer, with the league fixtures being announced next Wednesday (July 14).
HISTORY:
This will be the first time that the Rams and Padiham have met since 22 February 2014, when we returned from the Arbories with a 4-1 victory in the NPL Division One North with a brace of goals from Jordan Hulme and one each from Lee Gaskell and Phil Dean seeing the Rams to a comfortable victory, a result as part of an outstanding run to the end of that season that would ultimately see us promoted to the NPL Premier Division through the play-offs.
However, the Storks do have the better of the head-to-head record against the Rams with six wins to our five – although we have scored more goals 23 to 19, probably courtesy of two back-to-back 4-1 wins in 2013/14 – the other coming in the LFA Trophy at the HWRS when Hulme bagged a hat-trick.
TEAM NEWS:
This is anyone’s guess but with this being the first game of pre-season, expected to see the much travelled ‘A Trialist’ named on the team sheet! Reports have indicted that we currently do not have a single player ‘signed’ for the 2021/22 season and the management do keep their cards close to their chests but we do know that Sefton Gonzales, Tony Donaldson, Mason Fawns and Luke Thompson – who we could be seeing in the opposition – have all left the club. Will certainly be interesting to see if any familiar faces and many looking to make an impression.
Ladies and Gentlemen, FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!!!! OK, there’s Euro2020 and the hugely anticipated final on Sunday but, as a Rammy supporter, Saturday July 10 has been a date that we have ALL been looking forward to!
Come on you Rams!!!!!!
