Liam's Road From Bootle To Wembley
Tue 21st May 2013 | Bootle | By Ian Templeman
By attending the FA Cup Final at Wembley on 11th May, Merseyside football supporter Liam Delaney completed his journey through every round of the FA Cup, which began on a sunny summer day at Bootle's Delta Taxis Stadium back in August.
After watching Bootle in the opening round, Liam watched the winners of every tie from then on right up to the final, and Bootle’s Dave Miley tells the tale below of Liam’s adventure.
“Liam followed every single step of what would have been Bootle’s path to Wembley, which began in the Extra Preliminary Round when Bootle ran out 4-1 winners over Alsager Town, courtesy of two goals each from Lee Thompson and Daniel O’Connor.
Bootle’s next tie in the preliminary round was at Evo-Stik side Mossley. This was probably Bootle’s most complete performance of the season, and they ran out 3-0 winners, with two goals from Jack Gray, and one from player/manager Neil Prince.
Bootle were then in the first qualifying round and were drawn at home against another Evo-Stik side in Bamber Bridge. However they could not reach the performance level of the last round, and bowed out 1-2, with the Bootle goal coming from Michael Young.
So this is where Bootle’s FA Cup dream ended. But what if that run had continued? Who would the Bucks get in each round after? Liam followed this path and Bamber Bridge were home at the QED Stadium in the 2nd Qualifying Round versus Guiseley, who beat ‘the Brig’ 1-0.
And so onto the 3rd Qualifying Round, where after a 1-1 draw away at Llanelian Road, 360 people, including Liam, witnessed Guiseley beat Colwyn Bay 3-1 on their home ground at Nethermoor Park. Guiseley’s run continued through the qualifiers, with a 2-0 at home to Buxton in the 4th Qualifying Round which saw them into the first round proper!
As you can see, the road to Wembley is a long road to take and so far Liam has witnessed SEVEN games before the 1st round!
Bootle’s would-be path so far was Alsager, Mossley, Bamber Bridge, Guiseley, Colwyn Bay and Buxton! But who would it be in the 1st round?
Guiseley’s opponents were Barrow in the first round proper, held on 3rd November, and a crowd of 1,605 witnessed a 2-2 draw. The replay would see Barrow triumph at home 1-0. Barrow were then drawn against Macclesfield Town in round 2, and after several postponements and a 1-1 draw, they eventually succumbed to a 4-1 defeat.
And so to the big boys coming into the competition, and Macclesfield were drawn against the eventual Championship winners, Cardiff City, and Liam witnessed a true giant killing with Macclesfield winning 2-1 at home! Unfortunately for Town, they were defeated by Premier League Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home in round 4.
So far the Bucks opponents could have been Barrow, Macclesfield and now Wigan Athletic. So Liam travelled to the John Smiths Stadium for the 5th round as Wigan met Huddersfield in what is usually a massive game in the Rugby circles, but not as glitzy in the football world.
Wigan ran out 4-1 winners and progressed to the quarter final where they met Everton at Goodison Park - 2 miles from where Liam's journey started!
With Champions League-chasing Everton the hot favourites against the relegation threatened Latics, it was a big surprise for Liam that the visitors came away with a worthy 3-0 win.
And so on to the semi-final at Wembley. What an experience for Liam and what a story. The road to Wembley was nearly complete. A semi-final versus Millwall, and again Wigan triumphed 2-0 and booked a place in the 2013 FA Cup Final against last season’s Premier League Champions Manchester City.
We met Liam during our final home game of the season against Winsford, where this article appeared in our match programme and he was very excited at the prospect of completing his journey. One that started at The Delta Taxis Stadium, and one he would remember forever. He was also keen to see Wigan lift the FA Cup after following them from round 4.
As history tells us, Wigan did the job for Liam with a 1-0 victory in the 90th minute, and he was there to witness it all.
So his journey was complete, and what a journey: Starting at Bootle; to Mossley; to Bamber Bridge; to Guiseley; to Colwyn Bay; to Buxton; to Barrow; to Macclesfield; to Cardiff; to Wigan; to Huddersfield; to Everton; to Wembley versus Milwall; to Wembley versus City!
Well done from all here at Bootle Football Club. We hope you will visit us again very soon! What a JOURNEY!”
The photos above show the club scarves that Liam collected on his travels to FA Cup ties during the season, a picture of Liam at the Delta Taxis Stadium in August at the start of his journey, and a picture of him on FA Cup final day at Wembley.
Liam's Road From Bootle To Wembley
Tue 21st May 2013 | Bootle
By Ian Templeman
By attending the FA Cup Final at Wembley on 11th May, Merseyside football supporter Liam Delaney completed his journey through every round of the FA Cup, which began on a sunny summer day at Bootle's Delta Taxis Stadium back in August.
After watching Bootle in the opening round, Liam watched the winners of every tie from then on right up to the final, and Bootle’s Dave Miley tells the tale below of Liam’s adventure.
“Liam followed every single step of what would have been Bootle’s path to Wembley, which began in the Extra Preliminary Round when Bootle ran out 4-1 winners over Alsager Town, courtesy of two goals each from Lee Thompson and Daniel O’Connor.
Bootle’s next tie in the preliminary round was at Evo-Stik side Mossley. This was probably Bootle’s most complete performance of the season, and they ran out 3-0 winners, with two goals from Jack Gray, and one from player/manager Neil Prince.
Bootle were then in the first qualifying round and were drawn at home against another Evo-Stik side in Bamber Bridge. However they could not reach the performance level of the last round, and bowed out 1-2, with the Bootle goal coming from Michael Young.
So this is where Bootle’s FA Cup dream ended. But what if that run had continued? Who would the Bucks get in each round after? Liam followed this path and Bamber Bridge were home at the QED Stadium in the 2nd Qualifying Round versus Guiseley, who beat ‘the Brig’ 1-0.
And so onto the 3rd Qualifying Round, where after a 1-1 draw away at Llanelian Road, 360 people, including Liam, witnessed Guiseley beat Colwyn Bay 3-1 on their home ground at Nethermoor Park. Guiseley’s run continued through the qualifiers, with a 2-0 at home to Buxton in the 4th Qualifying Round which saw them into the first round proper!
As you can see, the road to Wembley is a long road to take and so far Liam has witnessed SEVEN games before the 1st round!
Bootle’s would-be path so far was Alsager, Mossley, Bamber Bridge, Guiseley, Colwyn Bay and Buxton! But who would it be in the 1st round?
Guiseley’s opponents were Barrow in the first round proper, held on 3rd November, and a crowd of 1,605 witnessed a 2-2 draw. The replay would see Barrow triumph at home 1-0. Barrow were then drawn against Macclesfield Town in round 2, and after several postponements and a 1-1 draw, they eventually succumbed to a 4-1 defeat.
And so to the big boys coming into the competition, and Macclesfield were drawn against the eventual Championship winners, Cardiff City, and Liam witnessed a true giant killing with Macclesfield winning 2-1 at home! Unfortunately for Town, they were defeated by Premier League Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home in round 4.
So far the Bucks opponents could have been Barrow, Macclesfield and now Wigan Athletic. So Liam travelled to the John Smiths Stadium for the 5th round as Wigan met Huddersfield in what is usually a massive game in the Rugby circles, but not as glitzy in the football world.
Wigan ran out 4-1 winners and progressed to the quarter final where they met Everton at Goodison Park - 2 miles from where Liam's journey started!
With Champions League-chasing Everton the hot favourites against the relegation threatened Latics, it was a big surprise for Liam that the visitors came away with a worthy 3-0 win.
And so on to the semi-final at Wembley. What an experience for Liam and what a story. The road to Wembley was nearly complete. A semi-final versus Millwall, and again Wigan triumphed 2-0 and booked a place in the 2013 FA Cup Final against last season’s Premier League Champions Manchester City.
We met Liam during our final home game of the season against Winsford, where this article appeared in our match programme and he was very excited at the prospect of completing his journey. One that started at The Delta Taxis Stadium, and one he would remember forever. He was also keen to see Wigan lift the FA Cup after following them from round 4.
As history tells us, Wigan did the job for Liam with a 1-0 victory in the 90th minute, and he was there to witness it all.
So his journey was complete, and what a journey: Starting at Bootle; to Mossley; to Bamber Bridge; to Guiseley; to Colwyn Bay; to Buxton; to Barrow; to Macclesfield; to Cardiff; to Wigan; to Huddersfield; to Everton; to Wembley versus Milwall; to Wembley versus City!
Well done from all here at Bootle Football Club. We hope you will visit us again very soon! What a JOURNEY!”
The photos above show the club scarves that Liam collected on his travels to FA Cup ties during the season, a picture of Liam at the Delta Taxis Stadium in August at the start of his journey, and a picture of him on FA Cup final day at Wembley.
