So what does Chorley mean to me ?

After the excitement of Tuesday night the attention now switches to the visit of Chorley FC to the UTS Stadium for the FA Cup second qualifying round tie between Dunston and Chorley on Saturday September the 17^th. So what does Chorley mean to me?

The first time I heard the word Chorley uttered I was about 9 years old and it was part of ribald joke told by my Dad when socialising with the wider family in Newcastle and the word Chorley was offered as a Geordie pronunciation of the word Charlie. The joke ran something like this: “A group of Geordie builders were working on a building site in Chorleywood in Hertfordshire. The estate was famous for it’s reputation for attracting naturist visitors (not sure if this was true but it fits well with the joke). A naked lady appeared on the building site and looking rather lost spoke to a builder who is friendly with his builder colleague Charlie Wood. ‘Am I alright for Chorley Wood?’ asks the naked lady. The Geordie builder replies: Wye aye Hinny! … Hey Chorley!”

Chorley FC first came into my frame of reference when I was living in Lincolnshire in the 1990s. These were the wilderness years for Boston United and they were languishing in the Unibond League. It was a languish that they learned to speak fluently. I reckon I saw Chorley 3 times in this era. In season 93-94 Boston United beat Chorley 4-0 and I was there. In season 94-95 The Pilgrims defeated the men from Lancashire 2-0 and I was there that afternoon too. In season 95-96 Boston won again 2-1 this time with the legend Chris Cook on the scoresheet and once more I was in attendance.

Chorley also visited York Street in August 1996 but I was up in North Lincs to see Louth United play Guisborough in the FA Cup Preliminary round as my obsession with the FA Cup took priority. The men from Lancashire also visited York Street in August 1997 but I was up visiting family in Edinburgh and fortunate to see my beloved Hearts win 1-0 in the derby match away at Hibs courtesy of a Neil McCann goal. That day was the first time I had ever seen the ‘hand cupped to the ear’ celebration as McCann ran round in front of the Hibs fans after scoring with the ‘I can’t hear you’ gesture.

Chorley are now an established team in the upper echelons of non league football and have re-established hostilities with Boston United in the National League North. A week on Saturday they travel to the UTS Stadium and given the way that the immutable Dunston lads are playing they will have their work cut out to ensure that I don’t see them lose for a fourth time.

In the next few days I will be in contact with Chorley FC to flush out their links with Scotland. Keep visiting and hopefully the tartan connections to the men known as the Magpies will be revealed.