Colin Young follows the County Durham side to Rochdale, 90 minutes away from a Wembley final
The streets of Spennymoor may be a little quieter than usual this Saturday afternoon. A black-and-white army from County Durham nearly 1,000 strong will be descending on Rochdale for the FA Trophy semi-final on April 5. Next stop Wembley.
In the Football League from 1921 to 2023, Rochdale currently sit a play-off position in the National League, eyeing a quick return to The 92. Underdogs Spennymoor Town are in the division below, the National League North. But this is the FA Trophy, introduced for semi-pro clubs in 1969 to replace the old Amateur Cup. For last year’s final at Wembley, a crowd of nearly 20,000 witnessed Gateshead’s dramatic victory on penalties.
With this in mind, and given their giantkilling wins over Boston and, incredibly, Sutton away, in previous rounds, it’s no wonder Spennymoor fans are up for the cup.
Success for ’Moor and their manager, former Hartlepool player Graeme Lee, is likely to depend on record goalscorer Glen Taylor, a non-league legend hoping to celebrate his 35th birthday with a Wembley.
“We’re one game away,” says Taylor. “Obviously as a player you dare to dream, and I’m sure the fans are in same boat and want to make sure they go to Rochdale, because if we get to Wembley they can say they were there. But I’d lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it.”
“It’s one game, 90 minutes from Wembley and personally, it’s my tenth year at the club, and to get there on my birthday to play in the final would be a dream come true. But we’ve got a massive game first.”
For Taylor, the road to Rochdale has been a long and winding one: “There are so many factors for people like me and I’ve had so many people say over the years, ‘Oh, you lack ambition’, but when you break down my life, it’s just set up for this. It feels like a family at Spennymoor now”.
Taylor was part of the Spenny side that won promotion from the Northern League in 2014 – eight years after the club had re-formed from its previous iteration. Spennymoor United had been forced to fold after 101 years and remain consigned to the record books despite two bids to revive it, both rejected by the FA.
Glen Taylor actually missed the club’s greatest moment – the FA Vase at Wembley of 2013 – because he’d signed for his home-town club of Ashington shortly before. Moving back to Brewery Field ten years ago, Taylor has helped Spennymoor climb from tiers 9 to 6, reach the FA Cup First Round proper and achieve their highest ever finish in the league pyramid in 2018.
A powerful number nine, Taylor could have destroyed defences for a living but he’s also a teacher who turned down many professional offers: “I’ve had a decent career outside of the game and a young family, I’ve got a hairdressing business here in town and being part of Spennymoor feels right. It just works for me.”
“Why would I risk it all to go full-time and maybe get a one year contract when I can be comfortable here? Perhaps I’m just being risk-averse but it works for me. A few weeks back, the club put together a highlight reel of my goals and it showed my first against West Allotment in front of the stand that isn’t even there any more. The change and progression here have been unbelievable. It’s just a good feeling round the place, and it’s a great place to play football.”
Spennymoor’s Brewery Field ground might be hidden away from the main road amid terraced houses as you approach it – but it’s central to the town. The rise through the divisions has pulled in crowds of 1,200 average, while its academy has built close links with youngsters in the area.
Owner Bradley Groves, a local businessman who had spells at Aston Villa and Watford, has established strong connections with the town through his energy brokerage companies. This is reflected in the match-day gate at the notorious Brewery Field slope – and the hundreds who will fill the dozen-plus coaches and minibuses heading west this Saturday.
Spennymoor Town also have their own business club, including Taylor’s aforementioned salon, offering advice and support as well as monthly networking and advisory meetings.
Managing director Ian Geldard is tasked with ensuring Spennymoor remain County Durham’s highest-ranking club – they’re one place and one point above rivals Darlington with five to play – and have a sustainable future with or without Groves at the helm.
“My brief when I came in three years ago,” explains Geldard, “was to create a revenue of sustainability on a year-on-year basis so that the club is competitive in this league as well as off the pitch. It seems to be working, as we’re in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and in with a shout of the play-offs in the National League North again this season”.
“Then it’s also about what a club at this level should be doing. Why does a football club exist? It’s not just the 11 lads kicking a ball around every other Saturday, but it’s about the community. It’s about what happens off the pitch, and what impact we can have in Spennymoor and around County Durham.”
“We call ourselves the ‘Pride of County Durham’ and that’s now the case – we’re the highest in the pyramid, and we should act like it and build a strategy around it. We need to make sure that in the long term, we’re not relying on one or two individuals for the everyday running costs because that in itself is a very risky strategy.”
“It’s about being innovative. We’re looking to go beyond the traditional club/sponsor relationship and through things like the business club, offer support and monitoring to a wide range of enterprises across the town. It builds a community. It’s free but businesses all contribute by being there, and we’re ultimately helping them as well.”
“If you look at our gates now, we’re averaging 1,200 to 1,300 on a Saturday, and there’s nowhere else in the town with that kind of attraction on a regular basis, nowhere else generating that sort of economic spend in and around the town before the game, but also directly at the club. The football club is a big part of what our town’s about.”
Partnerships manager Stephen Gilling adds: “We’re trying to cover as many bases of the business community as we can and the ultimate aim is that the club sits centrally within this community”.
“We’re seeing a lot of fallout from Newcastle and Sunderland now. Yes, they’ve been more successful but their prices are very, very high and we’ve had businesses who’ve come here, got the same football buzz, without the hassle, really enjoy the experience and come back for more. This is a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Rochdale v Spennymoor Town, The Crown Oil Arena, Sandy Lane, Rochdale. Saturday, April 5, 3pm. Tickets (£12, over-65s £8, 15-21s £5, under-14s £3) here.
