Droylsden play their first match in three years with the club left stunned by the turnout of fans for it over the weekend.
On Saturday the 8th of July, the Bloods returned back to Butcher’s Arms for the first time since the Covid pandemic, taking on Stretford Paddock in front of a bumper crowd.
The club’s owner Dave Pace had no choice but to withdraw from the Northern Premier League in August 2020, then a year later, Droylsden confirmed they wouldn’t field a team in any competition for the 2021–22 season, due to the financial impact of the pandemic.
This situation continued for the 2022-23 season, before rumours surfaced surrounding the club’s return to English football.
And this turned out to be true, confirmed in the summer of 2023 that they be members of the North West Counties League Division One South and also play at the Butcher’s Arms Ground.
A mad day yesterday -Who would have thought that from that first meeting in January we would get a crowd of over 1,000 to our first friendly with people queuing past the Kings Arms to get in and a delayed kickoff-Thanks to everyone who made it happen pic.twitter.com/XZaQRWwpYp
— Droylsden FC (@Droylsden_FC) July 9, 2023
They made their highly anticipated return in a game competing for the Tony Downes Trophy with over 1,000 fans present to see Stretford Paddock winning 31- on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Secretary Nigel Barlow said in the lead up to the game, as per Tameside Corespondent: “I am not ashamed to say there will be tears in my eyes when those players run out and I am pretty sure I won’t be the only one.
“I think we all feared that the club would not come back.
“You keep the faith because of the presence of the club, its history, its fans and most importantly, the drive from the community once the first moves were made to get the club going again
“Did belief waver? Yes many times.
“I personally thought the project would take a lot longer and would see us returning next season.”
Take That’s Howard Donald, also from Droylsden, helped fundraising, including gold circle gig tickets as a prize.
Pace added that around 150 players came for a trial with that number needing to be down to 30 for the squad.
The owner said: “We had to make a decision as we would have gone under very quickly if we hadn’t.
“We made that decision for the good of the club to protect its entity as we didn’t want to go into administration or come back as a phoenix club, so we looked at the options and did what we had to do.
“I had buried my head in the sand a bit after we stepped out of football and my outlook had been negative for some time but I had made conscious efforts to keep the club out of debt as much as possible and in such a position that when we could come back – we would.
“Three years without seeing football at the Butchers Arms meant so much had to be done to get the club up and running again plus whether the FA would accept us back after so long out.
“The application to join the North West Counties League was made almost after the first meeting in January, although we didn’t get confirmation until the end of April that we were back.
“We have to thank the league for all their support.
“There was a lot to do to get the ground up and running and a great deal of money and time and effort has gone into that.
“In fact, only this week were we able to say that the ground was ready to play a game
“It means everything for the town and the wider community to come back – We were taken aback by the level of support.
“And how far can we go? The basis for this season is to get a sustainable position at the club and yes of course we would like to be pushing for promotion at the back end of the season.”
Droylsden 1 v 1 Stretford Paddock
Pre-Season Friendly
08.07.2023Full Set of Photos Here: https://t.co/lJm2qKNhrS
Football returns to the Butcher’s Arms for the first time in 3 years, watched by over 1,000 fans. A great afternoon in Tameside. pic.twitter.com/E6eSVD9mpH
— Mike Bayly (@Mike_Bayly) July 11, 2023
The game was in memory of Droylsden guardsman Tony Downes, who died age 20, while out defending his country in Afghanistan, back in 2007.
Stretford Paddock boss Stephen Howson, who was raised in Droylsden, and served the country in Afghanistan, says as per Quest Media Network: “I was on the Herrick that preceded the one Tony passed away on, I didn’t know him but with us both being from Droylsden it really hit home.
“It is always quite poignant driving past his memorial on the side of the pub, so when Dave (Droylsden’s manager) asked us to play for this trophy, we took it seriously, we wanted to do the lad justice and make sure it wasn’t a throwaway thing.
“As long as his name keeps being brought up and people keep discussing him and the other 457 that we lost in Afghanistan, they will live forever,” added Stephen.
At seeing the turnout of support, with the game being delayed by 20 minutes: “I’m absolutely buzzing, I wasn’t sure they’d come back from what happened to them, but Dave has worked tirelessly and has probably surprised a few people.
“There’s a few thousand here today which shows just how much the community have missed their football club.”
Droylsden manager, Dave Pace added: “It’s just fantastic, the support has been brilliant, today was well above my expectations.
“Words just can’t describe it, we’ve come so far from where we were a few months ago and it’s all credit to the fans and everyone connected to the club.
“I want to win the league, I’m so competitive, if I play someone at draughts I’m determined to win, it’s not in my nature to be conservative and to consolidate, I want to do everything in my power to win until it’s mathematically impossible.”
North West Counties League Div One South 2023/24
(10th tier of English Football)
Abbey Hey
Abbey Hulton United
Alsager Town
Ashville
Barnton
Brocton
Cammell Laird
Cheadle Heath Nomads
Droylsden
Eccleshall
Maine Road
Market Drayton Town
New Mills
Sandbach United
Stafford Town
Stockport Georgians
Stockport Town
Winsford United
Here’s how Twitter users reacted as Droylsden play their first match in three years with the club stunned by the turnout of fans…
@sifter1983: Top day and the bar staff worked their arses off. Absolute credit to everyone at the Club. It was a brilliant day.
@icoll48: Great to see Droylsden back again slot of good memories back in the day, great times on the pitch and off it, great to be a part of those times
@celtic_sa: Good to see you back. Maybe our paths will cross again some day 👍
@pwalford21: Watched Droylsden play grimsby in first rd of fa cup many years ago
@Record_Peddler: That’s brilliant. I can remember those FA Cup runs and travelling to Grimsby and Rochdale!
@nwcflman: I can’t wait to visit you on your opening game of the season @nwcfl
@craigandjackie: Watched Droylsden has a kid when I lived in the bee hive back in the early 70,s 👍❤️🙏
@miguelinho2910: Great to see this and have you back, guys!
@WAFCUTA: Best of luck for the new season
@VOODOOBABY8: Travelled over from Chorley to see the game yesterday. Great atmosphere. So glad the Bloods are back. Looking forward to more visits in the season.
@PrincNeil: So pleased to see this, I hope it is the start of another successful era. Good luck to all involved👍
@Paulled203: It was a cracking day…. there we scenes like we haven’t seen for years… flares, queues, full stands and players saying they couldn’t hear each other on the pitch due to the noise… #bloodsrevival
@Everton4Life: This is why I love football so much. And English fans are like few others.
@JoshMcCluskey8: Incredible!! Hopefully won’t be too long till your back in the NPL 🤞
@Mike_Ellsmore: Class to see these back!!
@AteDaysAWeek_: What a great day!!! Loved being a part of it! Dave and all the people around the club deserve all the credit and love they’re receiving.
@KooshyKooo: Great to see the bloods back in business ….founded in 1892 killed off by Covid but back in business after 3 years without football
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