WE at Atherton Collieries had put our heart and soul into attempting to make our Friday night derby game with Daisy Hill a success, but could we carry it off?

The omens were good. Well at least the weather was. We were prepared, extra programmes and pies were ordered and the bar was stocked up. All we needed was the public to support the Friday night experiment.

We weren’t over-ambitious. We hoped for 300 people through the turnstiles. Having said that, 300 people had never ventured to Alder House for a NWCFL game so new ground would have to be broken if our target was to be achieved.

The idea for the game was our manager Michael Clegg’s. He had spoken to Craig Thomas, the Daisy Hill gaffer, and it was agreed both league games between the teams would be played on Friday nights.

Once the home fixture was confirmed it was the club’s job to make the night as special as possible.

Publicising the game was a group effort. The social media team went into overdrive plugging it at every opportunity. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people were fed up of seeing their timelines etc flooded with mentions of the fixture. However for the people we turned off we hoped more would be turned on by the prospect of feisty non-league action on a Friday night.

Posters were plastered all over Atherton, the local papers gave the game a good build up and we even had frequent radio mentions courtesy of Gary Henshaw (ex Wanderer and Collier) on Tower FM.

Our campaign to push the game was done with understated gusto rather than a radical potential award- winning marketing strategy.

The game itself was a remarkable advertisement for local grassroots football. Colls won 5-3 but the points were only guaranteed with a goal scored after the 90 minutes were up.

Both teams were given a rousing ovation as they trudged exhausted to the dressing rooms. The crowd was a jaw dropping 607, the highest attendance in both the division and the league so far.

We were totally overwhelmed. It was beyond our wildest dreams.

There were many new faces at the ground but what struck me most was seeing people I thought had forgotten where the ground was. Hopefully old and new will visit again.

The public had shown that there is a market for Friday night football at non-league level. The NWCFL has the product and fanbase in place. I would recommend other teams give it a whirl. There is nothing to lose.

Without bragging we achieved what we had set out to do through teamwork. Cleggy’s dream had become a reality!

l Daisy Hill v Atherton Colls - Fantastic Friday Night 2 is on Friday, March 13.