Continuing with my theme of “What have you been
doing with yourself during the long summer months since Racing Club’s last game
of last season?” this week I continue with my tale of the Executive Box Experience.
Now I have a confession to make. In my alternative non-football existence I am an accountant (yes, I always wanted to be a lumberjack or a lion tamer but that’s another story!). As fully-fledged “Executive” I have therefore had the good fortune to get invited, from time to time, to watch my footie from the luxury of an Executive Box. Over the years I’ve wangled my way into the home of the prawn sandwich at Old Trafford, the prawn butty at the City Ground Nottingham, the prawn bagel at White Hart Lane and, most recently, the prawn….er….what is the regional speciality dish of the Black Country?….Molineux..
Now I have to say that Executive Box footie is not for the football aficionado. It’s more for the arm-chair-fan-on-a-day-out or the businessman who really cannot leave deal-doing alone, not even for 90 minutes, or for those who are unable to stand the stench of the great unwashed i.e. you and me…well you anyway! The trouble is, it’s not quite like going to a real match. For a start you can park pretty well right outside the ground. Where can you do that these days? Well OK at Racing Club but you know what I mean. Then you can walk straight into the bar at the ground and get served. Well yes I suppose that you can do that at Warwick too. And then you can saunter along from the bar to view the match without any queues. Hey… are you thinking what I’m thinking?… we’d better get Simon making the prawn sandwiches! Unfortunately, watching football from behind smoked glass also removes almost all of the atmosphere. Without any atmosphere the watching experience is seriously reduced and no amount of prawn vol-au-vonts or finger buffets can make up for that.
Premiership football these days can be mighty hard to get a ticket to if you’re not a committed home fan. Is everyone a season ticket holder these days? My chances of getting a ticket at Molineux on Saturday 15th May for Wolves’ final home game against Spurs was pretty much zero since I am neither a Wolves season ticket holder or member nor a Spurs away match season ticket holder. Lucky for me then that my Company’s HQ is in Wolverhampton and that they chose to have a box at Wolves for the season. Gone are the days of the casual fan at top-flight football! Luckily there are still a few places that a casual fan can turn up on a whim. So if you’re one of those supporters who puts in an occasional appearance at Racing Club then you are very welcome! Do come again (every other week if possible)!
As for the match itself, well the best way of summarising it is that it was a typical end of season affair. Apart from a number of players contemplating their holidays the match was notable for being the final competitive match of Dennis Irwin and being Gus Poyet’s last match in English football. Also interesting was the Wolves fans’ reception given to Robbie Keane. Why is it that, so often, a player, returning to a club that has sold him for a hefty sum, receives a chorus of boos from the supporters on the basis that he has been somehow disloyal? Well the twist on this occasion was that Keane received resounding applause from the Wolves supporters and, when he scored for Spurs, he refused to celebrate. How often do you see that?
And so down into the murky depths of the Nationwide / Coca Cola League Division One (or whatever it is known as these days) went Wolves. David Pleat’s managerial career is seemingly also at an end (although I’m sure he could get a job as an undercover detective in the Vice Squad). Next time I’ll cover the 2004 FA Trophy Final and England’s Summer Tournament.
Keep the faith!
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