The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Atherstone Town on 27th January 2007.
The ongoing saga of one man’s season.
Saturday 2nd December – Forest Green Rovers v York City, Conference
There were times this season when I wondered whether Racing Club would ever play again. After our 4-4 draw with Friar Lane & Epworth on 11th November, the only competitive match we were involved in before the end of December was our away League Cup trip to regular foes Tipton Town on 2nd December. Sadly we were to go down 2-1 after taking the lead. Out of all cup competitions before Christmas but at least we can concentrate on the league. The league table has been looking rather worrying of late, mainly due to the fact that we haven’t been playing games whilst teams below us in the table have slowly been picking up points and overtaking us. Every year we seem to face the prospect of playing Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday until the end of the season but this year the prospect seems to be earlier than ever. God forbid that the weather is foul during January and February! We’d never catch up!
I decided to forsake Racing Club’s match for a chance to see my childhood heroes, the mighty Minstermen from York. It was also a chance to visit a new ground because FGR moved a few hundred yards from The Lawn, their old ground to their imaginatively named new venue The New Lawn. It’s tidy and more modern that the old ground but amazingly it’s still unfinished several months after moving in. If you’ve never been to see FGR you may be wondering where exactly it is. FGR are based in the Gloucestershire village of Nailsworth. Still none the wiser? Nailsworth’s near Stroud and not exactly populous. The new ground seems to be plenty big enough for FGR, a club that I believe is unlikely to progress any higher up through the leagues despite the recent appointment of former Morcambe boss Jim Harvey. Their new and highly respected manager has managed to steady the ship and FGR have been picking up points of late but today they are overwhelmed by York who win 1-0 but, in truth, should have won more comfortably.
Saturday 9th December – Woodford United v Leighton Town, Southern League Division 1 Midlands
Another Saturday without a Racing Club game. I didn’t find out that the match was off until 1:30pm and this led to another frantic search through the Non-League paper for another match nearby at a ground not previously visited by yours truly. I settled on Woodford United - only 25 miles from Warwick and situated in the village of Woodford Halse, a few miles south of Daventry on the road towards Banbury. Woodford play at Step 4 of the Non-League game, one level above the Midland Alliance in the over-named British Gas Business Southern League Midlands Division 1. The club is charming but no bigger than Racing Club as today’s attendance of 87 proves. That said Woodford are riding high in their League and in serious danger of being involved in the end of season play-offs. Today’s match is against Leighton Town from Leighton Buzzard who are struggling towards the foot of the table. The pitch is a pudding in places that leaves defenders struggling to turn quickly and the ball variously skidding through or stopping short in the mud. The Leighton manager looks unsuitably dressed for the muddy technical area in his long black overcoat and polished smart shoes – he informs us that he’s going straight out with his wife after the game and won’t have time to change – I just hope that he doesn’t carry too much mud into whichever restaurant he’s heading to. Both sides have difficulty with the conditions and they serve to level the competition - this is bad news for the home side as they proceed to concede a very late goal and lose 1-0.
Saturday 16th December – Marlow v Winchester City, Southern League Division 1 South & West
I’m getting used to our games being postponed by now. I gather that it’s waterlogging yet again. At least this time I have a bit more advance warning and can plan a trip to the Buckinghamshire town of Marlow. Marlow has a hidden significance for me since it is the twin town of the place in France where I used to live before I moved to Warwick: a place called Marly le Roi near Paris. So I have always wanted to visit Marlow in order to compare the two. In fact it didn’t remind me of my old French home at all. This particular game carries another point of personal significance for me in that I lived in Winchester for a year due to work over 20 years ago.
Marlow are one of the oldest football clubs in existence. Did you know that they are the only club to have entered every FA Cup competition ever held? Marlow’s FA Cup exploits first came to my attention in the 1990’s when they battled their way through to the third round proper and secured a home tie against the mighty Spurs, a tie that was switched to White Hart Lane in view of the limited capacity of the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground. These days Marlow appear to be a club that may be on the verge of a move. Detailed plans of a new out of town community facility are up on the notice board in the clubhouse but are subject to planning permission and funding (does this sound familiar anyone?).
The bad news for me today is that Winchester City come complete with “the Bus Shelter Band” – basically a big bass drum and a bunch of horns. It’s bad enough at a big game but in an attendance of only 187 the cacophony is thoroughly annoying – an effect that I imagine is quite deliberate on the part of the perpetrators. Marlow are another side that are challenging for a play-off spot out of Non-League Step 4 – they ply their trade in the British Gas Business Southern League South & West Division 1. Winchester struggle at the other end of the table. Unlike last week however today’s match goes with the form side as Marlow run out 3-1 winners in a well contested game.
Keep the faith!
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