Non-League Day 2024: Alty. Pies, pints and a place to be at Altrincham FC

Words: Tom Reed

Images: Tom Reed

“Non-League Royalty. Ask your grandad about us”. Altrincham FC supporters’ flag.

The supporters of Altrincham FC have plenty of stories, like the time the Robins gave Everton an almighty scare at Goodison in the 1975 FA Cup.

Non-League Alty took the lead in the Round Three tie and looked to be seeing off their First Division opponents until a soft penalty in the hard wind, gave the Toffees a reprieve.

If the story had been different, Altrincham FC might not have been hosting a Non-League Day match as they did on Saturday, given they missed out on election to the Football League in 1980 by just a single vote, after topping what was then known as the Alliance League.

But, staying a non-League side proved a blessing in so many ways, nurturing a true community ethos, played out at a standout traditional football ground at Moss Lane.

The ground is known as the J Davidson Stadium, sponsored by a scrap metal company and indicative of the class dynamics in play in a town noted for affluence but not without its hardship in pockets.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Altrincham Market Hall.

You’ll notice that there aren’t too many traditional pubs in the town centre, but plenty of coffee shops, nail bars and its own artisan sourdough bakery.

It would be easy to sneer at Alty in a reverse snobbery for its bourgeois elements but why shouldn’t people live in nice places and have a great centre to come together and eat and drink and laugh?

The food court in the grand, listed Market Hall, built in 1849 buzzes with families enjoying the pizza and the mums and dads the real ale and wine.

Markets have been held there since the 11th Century, back when Altrincham was part of Cheshire rather than a Manchester satellite town as it is now. Alty has, for a long time, skirted the rural and the metropolis and when the railway line from Altrincham to Manchester Oxford Road came in 1849, a commuter link was made that continues to this day.

Altrincham FC are one of the few clubs to have a club shop in the town centre, reinforcing the link between the town and its football club that so many other places let slip.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Altrincham FC.

You can buy a cool coffee mug with Alty’s stylised badge typeface or a bottle of Altrincham FC gin to fortify you for your walk to the ground.

Altrincham hosted Gateshead on Non-League Day, a celebration of football outside the top four steps of English football, from start to finish.

Altrincham was chosen as one of 10 marquee fixtures on the day by Prostate Cancer UK, the charity that is celebrating a decade of collaborating with the non-League event.

Alty have the perfect ambassador for the Prostate Cancer link up, in supporter Tony Collier, himself diagnosed with incurable Prostate Cancer in 2017 but still going strong and organising the army of bucket-shakers for the collection for the charity on the turnstiles.

The Robins just seem to get a lot right and to make football an afternoon out rather than something to endure like at other clubs. In the big supporters’ bar you can get a voucher so your half-time pint is ready for you and thoughtful touches like that go a long way.

In the fan-zone, local band the Marbellas belt out indy originals A capella and there’s a little hatch that serves different types of beers rather than your plastic bottles of Carling you get at so many venues these days.

Whether the local are on the “Disco Cider” is anyone’s guess but the atmosphere is proud and buoyant with the National League promotion tussle with Gateshead to come.

BBC Radio DJ Nihal has come over to watch and is laughing with his friends; that joy at being at the football and smiling, which sometimes is sucked out of the game at the upper echelons.

Over in the open air away end, the “Heed army” are chipper and expectant and not bothered that if it rains, they’ll get a soaking. They tie their black and white flags to the ruby red crush barriers and take it all in.

Both sides are noted for their good football and perhaps some defensive swashbuckling naivety and the match goes to type; being an absolute cracker.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Gateshead fans at Altrincham FC.

“Oh Alty Alty, Alty Alty Alty Alty Altrincham” sing the home supporters after Alex Newby gave the hosts a 16th minute lead.

The home side had designated the game #PaintTheTownRed day and indeed, red and white scarves twirled and a supporter in several decades worth of ski hat, scarf and jacket jumped for joy.

Alty have only been full-time professional for two years and have surprised many with their rise towards the playoff places for a chance at a crack at League 2.

Yet, behind the scenes offers clues to Altrincham’s success, indeed, manager Phil Parkinson has been in situ since 2017, taking over the side in Northern Premier League, which tells its own story, while the club board is made up of several investors, with no individual sugar daddy, which makes running the club a sensible process of compromise.

Veteran commentator John Helm, up in the gantry to describe the action would have relished what he was watching as Marcus Dinanga levelled for the “Heed” before Dan Mooney went Wayne Rooney and let fly a beaut of a curler into the top left corner for Altrincham.

The match was end-to-end, breathless and toughly fought and it was the fact that Gateshead were in lethal mood which settled it.

Two pearlers on the volley for Gateshead secured a 2-3 comeback victory for the visitors, the third an absolute screamer which had the away end bouncing and utterly unaware of any drops of rain.

3239 people had enjoyed the spectacle, a phenomenal attendance which shows how strong the support for football is down the English football pyramid.

The bar at Moss Lane was full for a while after the game, showing that win or lose, football is at heart a social game.

While top level football has its place, non-League continues to offer pies, pints and a place to be that is hard to beat.

Why would you want to be anywhere else?