SQUIRES GATE PREVIEW
Oh we do like to be beside the seaside …. and we will be on Saturday when we take the trip to Squires Gate for another key match in the North West Counties League, and somewhere were the Rams haven’t won since October 2010.
MATCH: Squires Gate v Ramsbottom United
VENUE: The Brian Addison Stadium, School Road, Marton, Blackpool, FY4 5DS
COMPETITION: North West Counties League Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 25th January 2025
KICK-OFF: 3:00pm
ADMISSION: Adults £7, Concessions £4 ,U16’s £2, U5’s Free
OVERVIEW:
Have you ever heard the great Stanley Holloway song/poem about The Lion and Albert? “There’s a famous seaside place called Blackpool, That’s noted for fresh air and fun, And Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom, Went there with young Albert, their son”. It is a wonderful tale about Albert being eaten by a lion at Blackpool Zoo. Look it up if you haven’t heard of it before!
The tale of that story hopefully won’t be re-enacted with Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom United’s team getting eaten by a struggling Squires Gate lion.
The Rams returned to winning ways after their Lower Breck slip with a moderate comfortable 3-2 win over Charnock Richard in midweek which saw them return to the top of the table with 14 games left to play, a point clear of Bury having played the same amount of games, although there is very quiet threat coming from sixth place with Padiham, with four games in hand, just 12 points behind and on a 12-match winning run.
However, our attention turns to Squires Gate on Saturday, a side who very much belied their lowly league position just post-Christmas when it took Harvey Whyte’s 96th minute winner to finally see the Rams over the line 2-1. It was one that manager Steve Wilkes was mightily relieved at the end. “Fair play to Squires Gate who I thought were excellent and manager Luke Evans has nothing to worry about if his team keeps putting in performances like that,” he said post match.
Unfortunately for Gate, they have lost their four games since that one at the HWRS, which takes their record to 13 losses in succession which continues to leave them down in 22nd place, just a point clear of the relegation zone where Colne and Prestwich Heys reside.
That said, as was mentioned above, that means absolutely nothing at all when it comes to this game, especially those that travelled to the Fylde Coast back in April last year to see the Rams slip to a 3-2 reverse (Theo Butterworth pictured above) and who can forget 2 January 2012 when the Rams lost 1-0 to Benedict Fishwick’s strike on the hour – more famous for the Lee Gaskell “forgot the game was on” incident!
This is not a game that will be taken lightly considering what we saw in December, nor Squires Gate’s current plight at the foot of the table. 3pm kick off over in Blackpool – time for fish and chips, a ride on a donkey before watching the Rams!
HISTORY:
This will be match number 34 between the sides since the historic first ever for the Rams in the North West Counties in 1995 on this very ground at School Road, which the Rams won 3-1 with goals from President Phil Rose, Mark Isherwood and Steve Johnson. But that is one of just five wins that the Rams have had in this part of West Lancashire with the scoreline being five wins each and six draws.
As mentioned above, the Rams have lost their last two games on this ground and haven’t won since Mark Drew’s 70th minute winner saw the Rams to a 1-0 victory in October 2010.
The Rams have only ever failed to score three times in the previous 33 meetings, the last time being that famous Gaskell game in January 2012 – the season that the Rams did get promoted. It is always a real treat coming to Squires Gate – let’s hope the result goes our way this time.
STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“It was great to get back to winning ways again on Tuesday night after the disappointment of Lower Breck but we need to keep that sort of performance going against a really difficult opponent in Squires Gate on Saturday.
“They showed what a good side they were just a few weeks ago at the Riverside and we know that we will have to play well to beat them. They are on a terrible run of results but, like our good run, that will come to an end soon. That is why we need to be on our guard in this game.”
