The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Loughborough Dynamo on 19th February 2005.
It’s Saturday, 15th January and Racing Club Warwick are without a game due to the late postponement of the home game against Coalville because of the clash with Warwick Racecourse’s meeting. Now I’m not too sure how long it had been known that the race meeting and Racing Club’s home game would coincide (several weeks surely?) but our game was postponed only a day or two before it was due to take place and certainly too late for the local papers to avoid printing match details in splendid ignorance of the fact that it would not go ahead. Now I’m sure that there wouldn’t have been dozens of disappointed spectators turning up to Hampton Road expecting to see our match, but even if there were only one or two, they would have had a wasted journey and probably went away with a dim view of proceedings. Hopefully this kind of thing won’t happen again.
It’s an unwritten rule for watchers of football at non-league level that, between October and March, it’s a good idea to ring the host club to check that the match is definitely on before setting out. For anybody planning to travel even a modest distance it’s a good idea to check since all sorts of thing can lead to a postponement. The weather outside your door normally provides a clue but there can be local variations even over relatively small distances. I’m sure that club officials must be driven nuts when they receive the umpteenth call of the day enquiring whether the match is still on but I’m afraid it’s an occupational hazard and I must take my hat off to the poor souls who end up fielding such calls since, to a man (and occasional lady), they are extremely polite, friendly and informative.
Our postponement gave me the opportunity to sample the delights of one of my other favourite teams, York City. I lived in Yorkshire during my teenage years and, faced with the choice of watching Leeds United (complete with their hooligan reputation in the late 1970’s) and York City, I naturally chose the Minstermen. My first visit to Bootham Crescent was in late 1977 (a 3-2 win against Brentford just to annoy Racing Club’s gateman, Charlie) and I was hooked. By the 1979-80 season I was a home-and-away supporter and that season was crowned with a final-game 0-2 defeat at Gresty Road, Crewe during which Bruce Grobbelaar scored from a penalty kick condemning York to finishing 92nd in the league (don’t ask me if I enjoy watching unsuccessful football clubs!). By the time I left Yorkshire in 1983 for the delights of the South-East I had developed an affection for York which lives in me to this day.
Last season, York City visited 92nd place in the league for the first time since 1979-80 except, this time, the outcome was different – the trap-door opened and City dropped through it and outside of the Football League for the first time since 1929. For most York supporters this was a disaster, not having any knowledge of the joys of the non-league universe. For myself, sadness at the new depths being plumbed was tempered by the thought that at least I would get a chance to see my other heroes at places such as Tamworth, Forest Green, Hereford and Burton. Additionally, of late, the coverage afforded to the higher echelons of the non-league is such that it is actually better than that enjoyed by teams in “League Two”. Sky TV shows the pick of the Conference games and the Non League Paper provides in depth reports of all Conference matches.
Saturday, 15th January heralded the Third Round of the FA Trophy and York’s bow in the competition away to Burton Albion. Burton, “the Brewers”, are led by that fine young player-manager Nigel Clough and appear to be making solid plans for the future – their Eton Park home is about to be replaced by a new Stadium being developed just over the road. York’s unbeaten status as virgins of the competition “went for a Burton” (where does that saying come from?) as they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by the Brewers. However my day was made bearable by, firstly, the fine pint of locally produced Bass on sale in the Football Tavern located next to Eton Park and, secondly, by the excellent headline-writer’s dream offered to me when Burton’s third goal flew in. Why? Well when the free kick was hammered home from fully 30 yards, it was taken by Kris Taylor and it enabled me to point out to Martin, my travelling companion for the day, that “Burton Scores With Taylor”! What a delight!
Keep the faith!
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