Curzon AshtonGround: Tameside Stadium Visits: 1 Date: 12th August 2019 Match: Curzon Ashton - Darlington 3-1 (National League North) Attendance: 571 Having been to Manchester U v Chelsea on Sunday afternoon it was convenient for me there was a fixture, Curzon Ashton v Darlington, in the Manchester area on Monday evening. After all the travelling in recent days it was nice to be able to sleep late and take it easy during the day. Together with my friends from Umeå I visited the Classic Football Shirts shop in central Manchester before going with them to a golf shop in Salford. On the way back we stopped by in MediaCity UK, which is situated not far from Old Trafford, where we had coffee and sandwiches. After a few hours in our hotel we had dinner at an Italian restaurant before setting off for Ashton-under-Lyne. From central Manchester it takes just under 30 minutes with the tram to reach Ashton West and from there it is around 10 minutes by foot to Tameside Stadium. Curzon Ashton were formed in 1963 after the merger of two clubs, Curzon Road Methodists and Ashton Amateurs. The 2013–14 season saw Curzon win a league championship for the first time in 36 years, a last minute Niall Cummins winning goal against Harrogate Railway sealing the league title. They finished the season with 99 points, losing just five games throughout the campaign, and gained promotion to the NPL Premier division, non-League's third tier. The following season the team won the play-offs, beating Ilkeston 1–0 in the final thanks to a first half goal from defender Simon Woodford while also overcoming local rivals Ashton United along the way in the semi-finals, in order to gain consecutive promotions to the National League North, the second tier of the non-League pyramid and highest level in the club's history. Curzon Ashton has played at Tameside Stadium since 2005 and the ground has a capacity of 4,000 (524 seats). The ground was opened by Sir Alex Ferguson. An interesting fact is outside the ground there is a statue of three players who were born in Ashton and later went on to win the World Cup. As the three Swedish groundhoppers arrived at Tameside Stadium the weather was nice, albeit a bit chilly, but this was by far the best weather during my trip. National League North is one of two leagues at level 6 in England and it really is a relaxing day out at this level. The visitors from Darlington brought 150-200 fans to this match but with no segregation those fans were in all four stands at Tameside Stadium this evening. Unfortunately they would return to the northeast disappointed. Darlington played poorly tonight and Curzon Ashton could deservedly win 3-1 in front of 571 spectators. With one match more played Curzon Ashton are now top of the league but I am not sure the club is ready for one more promotion. Anyway, at 22.20 I was back at Manchester Piccadilly and 10.15 on Tuesday morning my SAS-flight brought me back to Copenhagen. This summer I have attended football matches in 9 different countries but in the coming months it will be matches in Sweden and Denmark only. Directions Sports Village Curzon Ashton FC Official entrance Three players, born in Ashton & World Cup winners South Stand South Stand West Stand West Stand North Stand North Stand East Stand Flags Players and officials entering Kick-off ![]() Curzon Ashton fans South Stand South Stand View of Tameside Stadium North Stand North Stand East Stand East Stand Pano Pano Pano |