Season review Prestwich Heys 2019/20 the season that never was.

By Rick Barrett

So after a fifth place finish in 2018-19 and a few new signings notably the capture of Adrian Bellamy from Bacup who had the Heys attack in his pocket on a couple of occasions previously the 2019/20 started with optimism especially as the new structure came in from the North West counties that four automatic promotion places were up for grab with no play off structure for this season it was all about a top four finish and could John Lyon's (Joffy's) boys go one better than the previous season?

New summer signing Aidy Bellamy puts pen to paper

3rd August 2019, I always love the opening day of the season, the sun is usually shining its a blank canvas you are confident and looking forward to the new season. The start of this campaign gives us a trip into the unknown, the summer restructure of leagues saw a couple of Yorkshire teams enter the North West Counties Divsion one North.

In this case it was Golcar United three miles from Huddersfield and about seven of us travel by train stopping off in a couple of pubs before had the first of which had more wasps in it than people, Pete lets out a yell as his finger gets stung when trying to swat one of them and in the following pub the 'Vulcan' which was a throwback to the 90's, 90's prices a jukebox that had been on the wall since at least the 90's and clientele that had been sat in it since....the 70's!, they clearly were not used to strangers which made it even funnier as the banter flowed but I was slightly nervous for the game ahead, a new team eager to impress on the opening day against one of the fancied sides to go up?...you get the drift.

Flag up and ready at Golcar away

We arrive at the ground in the middle of a council estate and we are shocked as the locals are out in force, word had obviously got round about Golcar's  debut in the Counties where average gates are not much over 100.Here a large crowd had already formed with a queue for drinks getting longer and longer outside the clubhouse.

The first thing we notice is the state of the pitch, the grass is so thick you cant see the players boots yet a large bald patch is on the edge of the 18 yard box at one end.

Spectators continue to flood in and by kick off, the bar staff are amusingly running to a lock up close by, carrying several crates of beer and cider to keep the bar stocked which they achieve to massive credit, the attendance was 379..impressive.

My fears for the game itself were confirmed as Golcar wanted it more than Heys and ran out deserved 2-1 winners but it has to be saidthat the pitch in the poor condition it was for the opening day of the season was simply not acceptable.

As the old saying goes in footy 'we go again' and the following Tuesday we play Nelson in the first home game but again we slump again 2-0 in a poor display where we looked like we were playing our fiftieth game of the season rather than the second, not a crisis by any means but a cause for concern, this was a much bigger shock than the Golcar result the three days earlier, make no mistake.

Negative thoughts were quickly banished as a 3-1 win at home to Ashton Town saw a very lively clubhouse, not just for the win but a group of lads from Margate on a stag do decided to pay us a visit, sang throughout the game declaring love on our keeper Russ Saunders drank the clubhouse dry bought merchandise and made many freinds...a memorable day.

Margate boys on a stag do at Ashton home game, a top set of lads

Results started to flow Ashton was the start of six unbeaten games, just three goals conceded and three clean sheets in a row for Russ Saunders who is in fine form and notable wins against a fancied AFC Liverpool side in the league and Premier League 1874 Northwich in the FA Vase.

But all the signs of a topsy turvey season  began as we traveled to AFC Blackpool on a Tuesday night a ground where we haven't had much success  in recent times.

Heys normally have a decent away following but not tonight as just three of us,Tony and Gary and myself make the trip in a 4-1 defeat undoing the good work of recent weeks.

Charnock Richard knock us out of  the FA Vase followed by another four goal league defeat at home to league leaders Lower Breck who showed they were top of the pile for a reason.

Brief respite comes in the first round of the Lancashire League Trophy  a creditable 0-0 draw away at Premier League Padiham results in a 6-5 dramatic penalty win.

Division one south side Old Stone Alleynians knock us out of the division one cup 2-1 in what was the most bizzare location for an away game.

Our coach pulled up in what resembled the entrance to a garden centre, we entered the clubhouse which had an all weather pitch located in front of it and presumed this would be where we would be watching the game,but after finishing our beer at 255pm and seeing no one outside we were informed that the pitch we were to play on is a fair walk up the road well away from any of the facilities and because of this I miss Anthony Hall's equaliser for Heys on the stroke of half time as I had a five minute mission to find the toilets...a very strange place indeed.

Old Stone Alleynians away

Despite a 4-0 home thrashing of Pilkington on a Tuesday night we then crash to Holker Old Boys 2-1 the following Saturday making it four league defeats in five games, confidence is low and I first sense that all is not right behind the scene's ,early season confidence is starting to fade but we are still in the chasing pack and hoped we could turn it around.

Next up in October was a break from the from league action as Heys faced Premier League side Winsford United at home in the first round of the Macron Cup  and the game took on extra appeal with the news in the week that Joffy had appointed Matt Barnes as joint manager to work alongside him.

Matt was manager of Premier League side Barnoldswick Town and he left them in a comfortable tenth position.He also had history with Heys having played alongside Joffy previously and brought a wealth of experience and was known for having many contacts at non league level.

So the joint managerial debut was a success as Heys progressed 1-0 and saw an upturn in form as what followed was a five game unbeaten run which included a bizzare evening away at Division One

South side West Didsbury and Chorlton in the 2nd round of the Lancashire League trophy.

With Heys 2-0 down Didsbury suddenly decide to substitute the two best players with about 20 minutes to go. At this point Heys had not been in the game and in all honesty the final whistle couldn't come quick enough, but then after the two changes by the home side Heys suddenly started to get time and space on the ball and encouraged by the rejuvenated away support Brad Sixsmith scores twice in the last four minutes to make the score 2-2 and silenced the home crowd who were already smoking a cigar thinking this one was done and dusted. So penalties it was as in the previous round and again we convert all five with Jacob Holt hammering home the final one for a 5-3 shoot out win.

I finish my twitter commentary totally buzzing and turn to walk out of the ground when I am approached by a man wearing a Didsbury hat and a large dog.Seeing my Heys scarf he stops right in front of me looks me in the eye and shouts 'DAYLIGHT ROBBERY' and promptly walks off.....God i love non league football!.

The away roller coaster continued back in the league the following Tuesday at Garstang when 2-0 up and cruising suddenly we are pulled back to 2-2 in the eighty sixth minute and three home fans who had been quiet throughout decide to give the 21 Heys fans a bit of stick, you know the usual thing? 'your not singing anymore!' etc and comments like 'gone quiet have you Prestwich?' followed by laughter, and so it was with complete joy and jubilation we saw Jacob Holt smash his shot in the top corner of the net a minute from time to seal a 3-2 win and the hilarious sight of me trying to multi task by reporting the winning strike on twitter while jumping up and down like a total loon. Our three taunters run out of the ground quicker than Dick Dastardly chasing that pigeon!...Get in Heys!.

Two more wins follow including a Macron cup 2nd round win at Darwen and firm belief that Matt coming in to work along side Joffy was working and had given a boost of energy to the squad.

Darwen away Macron cup 2nd Round myself and club Photographer Christina make use of the 'facilities'

But again this strange yo yo season was about to take another twist, a massive one at that as Heys form plummeted.We slump to defeat at Holker Old Boys, a ground where we always do so well and enabling them to do the double over us for the season, followed by a 3-0 home defeat to Daisy Hill in late November which for me was the lowest point of the season.

The clubhouse is quiet after the game as many had already drifted off and I sit with Matt and Joffy who are both understandably down and realise some changes need to be made...all is not well.

Despite low confidence and form lacking the Lancashire League trophy again offers respite as we enter December with a trip to Northern Premier Division one side Colne two leagues above Heys. The leagues difference is torn up as Heys turn in an amazing display,a change of tactic to a 3-5-2 formation surprises the hosts who cant cope with our attacking energy and we romp to a 5-2 win, a win few saw coming and two goal Rio Wilson-Heyes was at his unplayable best in this one and a semi final place was booked against Bamber Bridge.

Macron Cup 3rd round action on the Saturday and another another home defeat to high flying AFC Liverpool but it was back to league action on the Monday night with a trip to Daisy Hill we needed halt the slide in the league seek revenge after the 3-0 home reversal just a couple of weeks before.

With Heys struggling to score goals we recruit Zack Dale  from Barnoldswick Town a proven goalscorer who wastes no time at all putting Heys into a 2-0 lead in a first half of total dominance knocking the ball about playing well and went into the break with that two goal lead..it should have been a few more.

I add my half time update making the fatal mistake of writing that the score could be anything Heys want it to be in the second half,or something like that and indeed they did, from 2-0 up to go 3-2 down in the blink of an eye lid in a woeful second half display the confidence just drained and that's how the game finished.

I struggle to sum that up on twitter on the way home after the game, I get home and receive a text message of Joffy apologising  for the second half and saying the fans deserve better, I feel sorry for him because the defeat was nothing to do with tactics, we just didn't turn up for the second half.

The next day I knew something wasn't right and so it proved as after eight years in charge and taking the club magnificently to where we stand today Joffy decides to stand down leaving Heys in twelfth place and after ten games as joint managers Matt Barnes is in sole charge of Prestwich Heys and a new era is about to begin.

As December kicked in so did the winter weather, a series of postponed games meant it was almost three weeks before Matt Barnes could get going in his first game which was to be away versus bottom of the league Steeton.

But it certainly was not quiet  in those three weeks as Heys twitter feed was in overload with news and updates.

Some big name departures were soon to follow after Joffy stepped down and within a couple of weeks the likes of Mark Ayres, Captain Jacob Wood and the White brothers Max and Danny all departed the club after playing over 400 games between them, clearly Matt Barnes was going to do it his way.

As fast as players departed new names were coming in, Reece Lyndon, Nathan Emery, Danny Vinten and Dom Williams were all recruited as fast as the old guard had left.

So after a long wait the start of a new dawn arrived all the pre match talk in the pub round the corner from the ground was how game would go and obviously with some big name departures we were a little tense at the thought of what was to come.

Steeton away left to right Andy James Mike me Gary Conrad front Pete

Pre match drinks carried on the the Steeton clubhouse when the team sheets came round and we see Matt includes six debutantes  in a barely recognisable starting eleven and from my side, after sinking several Guinness before kick off this was going to be fun doing the twitter feed on, so with the away contingent congregating in the stand and team sheets being thrown around like confetti in all the confusion it was time for kick off .

Heys quickly hit the front foot on a muddy pitch and never looked back in a comfortable 3-1 win but late drama as a stamp on Joe Rothwell a couple of minutes from time resulted in a twenty two man brawl not dissimilar to the brawl's of the Manchester United v Arsenal games of yesteryear, though I didn't see any pizza thrown in this one, the fact that six of these lads had never played together before this game they, to a man ran to back up Rothwell in this awful incident and for me this was a key moment in Matt's new breed looking out for each other, having each others backs and standing up to the opposition,we travel back to celebrate this win happy with the afternoons events. Christmas passed and another away game at Darwen 28 December, a group of us get the train and hit the Darwen pubs, we find The Anchor pub round the corner from the ground and walk in to see several mannequins (which look like they have been stolen from Debenhams window) dressed in Christmas outfits (see photo below). Some of these are bald and the landlord advises us that someone had "nicked the wig off it" (as you do). It charts as the most bizzare away day of the season and turns out to be the highlight as we slump  to a disappointing 2-1 defeat.We go back in the pub after the game to see if the wig had been returned...no sign of it.

The Anchor pub Darwen had to be seen to be believed

Our beloved chairman Neil Gilmore gets chatting to a new bald mannequin Heys fan

Matt's first game at home is a tense 1-0 win against Golcar and revenge for the opening day...safe to say we did cut the grass before the kick off!. Spirits are high after the game in the clubhouse with the usual faces but Matt and his newly appointed back room team sit with us and with the beer flowing Matt decides to compose new songs for the fans to sing getting his phone out and singing into whats app..i'm thinking..jesus this guy really is hands on manager, coach song writer what next?..we continue to the Frigate pub and a good night is had by all. The Golcar home win started a six game unbeaten run next we traveled to runaway league leaders Lower Breck who were unbeaten at home in the league all season and after a slow start being a goal down at half time we came out for the second half and played some absolutely amazing stuff that frankly belonged in a much higher league.

A power and pace display from  Jamie Hill and Zack Dale down the flanks and Recce Lyndon up front terrorises  the two Breck full backs (I swear the left back was nearly in tears at one point), Hill equaliser late on and bang on ninety minutes the ball finds Lyndon six yards out who slots it home to send us in dreamland, an amazing moment, but a corner for the home side, the last kick of the game as it turned out in the ninety fifth minute was whisked over and headed in by the smallest player on the park! for 2-2 and Lower Breck's unbeaten home record remains in tact..football...bloody hell! as Mr Ferguson once said.I walk away not knowing whether to laugh or cry but when we took stock of it all it was still a great result and for me..the best forty five minutes of the season by a country mile and felt proud. Another away day late January and another 3-1 win this time at Nelson.Always love going here due to the fact The Lord Nelson pub by the bus station does one of the best pints of Guinness outside of Dublin and an absolute must for any lover of the black stuff.About six of us head into Burnley after the game to celebrate, whilst still out of the top four places for automatic promotion we are firmly in the chasing pack with this latest run and start to sense the new manager and his team are starting to build something here.

Nelson away Steve D Robo Steve J me and Lloyd Two very tough home games against promotion rivals Emley and Shelley end in draws, we really had to grind these two out and we did well but sensed we needed to beat one or both of these sides to really make an impression on the top four. Bad news was to follow after the Shelley game as our keeper Russ Saunders who had been an inspiration all season broke his hand and would be out for over six weeks...a hammer blow. A 3-0 defeat in February away at 3rd placed AFC Liverpool does not help our cause despite creating several chances we cant convert against a deadly Liverpool strike force. We travel to St Helens at the end of February and our media team is boosted with the recruitment of Tom Beresford who joins us and launches Heys TV recording the games amongst other things to be broadcast on you tube. Its no co- incidence  (or was it?) that the large turn out of Heys fans were at vocal best in this one roaring us on to a comfortable 3-1 victory all three goals were peaches just for Tom's camera with two from the ever improving Will Shawcross and one from recent signing Jack Coop after a stupendous ball over from James Dwyer. So another win another great away day as we take the train back and stop off in the barmy town of Wigan, I wont lie,dont remember getting home...loving it. So finally we played the semi final in the Lancs League Trophy against Northern Premier League side (three leagues above us) Bamber Bridge, wont dwell on it we lost 9-0 but never stopped battling until the end but to cut a long story short and much to the amusement of Matt Barnes Bamber Bridge got thrown out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player and the game wiped from all records..it never happened end of! and technically we are in the final but whether it will get played or not now...who knows?

What mattered more to me was three days later an away trip to fourth placed Emley a huge game, a small village in Yorkshire with a couple of lovely pubs but the strangest statue you have ever seen at a roundabout (see photo), we improve this monstrosity by draping a Heys scarf round it..job done.

Emley away left to right Mike Beth and Gary

Unfortunately job done cant be said on the pitch as we crash 4-1 but if ever a game that  proved football was a game of small margins this was it. A goal down early on we recover playing some great stuff pile on the pressure and get a penalty, up steps Jack Coop and he misses we get caught cold Emley run straight up the other end and its 2-0...we dont recover and its disappointing it feels like a few of the lads still had the 9-0 thrashing of Bamber Bridge still in mind. We dust down and go again at Cleator Moor Celtic the following week which had been switched from Adie Moran Park just 24 hours earlier because it was waterlogged.So a hastily booked coach meant we could't get our normal coach driver Phil for what was a six hour round trip and was replaced by the most miserable man on earth, when I polity asked for him to pull up at Besses Metrolink station to pick up Simon my pal who was coming with us he just grunted at me. Similar grunts were heard when we picked up Nick Kingston...drivers tip was already flying of of the window. So over three hours on the bus and a lot of talk apart from the hilarity of Bamber Bridge about to be thrown out of the cup as earlier discussed, concerns were growing about the corona virus.Games had already been called off in the football league and one sensed we were really on borrowed time. We visit a pub round the corner from the ground and then enter the Cleator Moor clubhouse elevated with a perfect view of the pitch its a very impressive set up and we are made to  fell very welcome after our long journey.

Final game Cleator Moor away left to right Lloyd Robo Steve me Gary Mike Nick and Simon We take our place on the terrace about twenty of us, one of the locals is clearly upset with me as i'm stood in his 'spot' and we get behind the boys from the kick off. Robo is stood next to me and says 'Rick, lets make the most of this today, it may be a while before we do it again'..turned out he was right as we roared the team on to a 5-3 and a Will Shawcross hat rick in a game that was so action packed and was so busy reporting on twitter my battery ran out with five minutes to go..luckily i had  brought my charger.

Final game at Clator Moor

Straight after the final whistle i notice Mr Misery coach driver is firing up the engines and wants to get away but not before we have a bite to eat and more beer and a carry out for the long journey home.I walk back to the coach with Lloyd who was quite right when he said regardless of what happens from now on this is what its all about, a day out with your pals an eight goal thriller and plenty of liquid refreshment, it was a fitting way finish in what turned out to be the final game of the season. On the way home Mr Grumpy refuses to drop Nick off in Warrington and tuts when we ask to be dropped near the Coach and Horses when we get back...he can whistle for his tip!

So Heys finished 7th with nine games to play ten points off fourth place but with games in hand and a lot of home games still to be played when the league very quickly called time on the non league season. A season of many ups and downs a change of manager and a season that was never completed. Could we have got promoted?, maybe...we will never know  but Matt has assembled a great squad and more so a great unity throughout the club of 'we win together, we lose together' from top to bottom and with a couple of additions to the squad in the summer next season could be a big one with lots also going on behind the scenes, but when will that be,answers on a postcard please.....