THE VICS COLUMN – by Pete Tonge

ANOTHER week but the same old story as the weather beat us again.

This time Storm Jorge was the culprit as our game away at Irlam was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

And our midweek game arranged for Tuesday was also called off at Barnoldswick – a nice place but not renowned as one of the driest!

This weekend we have the privilege of being part of the North West Counties League’s Groundhopper weekend, when we are away at Congleton Town on Sunday with the unusual kick off time of 11.30am.

The Groundhopper weekend is a special weekend when the League arranges staggered kick off times for nearby matches, thus allowing “groundhoppers” to attend a number of matches over the course of the weekend.

Groundhoppers are fans who rather than watching just one team, actively travel round the country to different grounds watching football.

A strange hobby to some I guess, but who am I to talk, being a keen birdwatcher as well as Vics supporter?

Anyway, this weekend sees four matches on the Saturday at Wythenshawe Amateurs (11am) , Wythenshawe Town (1.45pm), Cheadle Heath Nomads (4.20pm) and then Cheadle Town (7.30pm) followed by two matches on Sunday – our match at Congleton (11.30am) and finally at Winsford (2.30pm).

These arranged weekends encourage football supporters to come and watch non-league football in general and hopefully show that non-league can be as enjoyable (and better value) as the over-hyped Premier League.

Let’s hope the weather relents and allows it to be a success.

Whilst the players have been having an enforced rest, the social committee have been working as hard as ever behind the scenes and have arranged a Spring Family Bingo evening for March 20.

This event is being held at Wincham Community Centre starting at 7pm and is open to all, not only Vics supporters, so why not come down and have an enjoyable evening and you never know what prizes you may win.

This is always a fun event for all the family and there is a licensed bar available as well as hot food during the evening.

If you want further information about this evening, please contact Darren Barrow on 07956277443 or send a message through Twitter to @NorthwichVicsFC.