The Hampton Roar (Part 2)

 

The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Friar Lane & Epworth on 25th August 2007.

Welcome to today’s match and the latest instalment of the season’s diary by your favourite Racing Club correspondent.

Friday 4th May – York City v Morecambe, Conference Play-Off Semi-Final 1st Leg

York City are a club that I’ve got a soft spot for as I’ve supported them since my school days in Yorkshire. Sadly, after over 70 years continuous membership, they fell out of the Football League three seasons ago and, for the first time since relegation, they’ve shown signs of promotion form having finished fourth in the regular season and therefore in one of the Play-Off spots. York face third-placed Morecambe for the right to visit the new Wembley and the Conference Play-Off Final to be held on the day after the FA Cup Final. Morecambe are the only one of the four in the Conference Play-Offs who are not an ex-League Club (the other two being Exeter City and Oxford United). The first leg, held at York’s brand-renamed home KitKat Crescent (these sponsors take the biscuit don’t they?), is a sell out 6,660 all-ticket affair and luckily one of my mates in the area had the foresight to bag a couple of tickets so that I can be there. As is almost always the case in games between teams finishing in the Play-Off places, the game is hugely competitive but the teams cancel each other out. The balance of the best scoring chances falls to the home side but all were spurned as the match finished 0-0. The right to contest the final will therefore depend on the outcome of the second leg to be held at Morecambe’s Christie Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

Saturday 5th May – Doncaster Rovers v Northampton Town, League One

Doncaster Rovers left their former home, Belle Vue, mid-season to move into their brand new Keepmoat Stadium just up the road and near the racecourse (personally I can’t understand why they’re not called Racing Club Doncaster). My visit to South Yorkshire for this final league match of the season “dead rubber” (neither team can be promoted or relegated) is justified by my continuing quest to remain a fully paid up member of the 92 Club (the club for fans who have witnessed a home game at the current grounds of every side in the Premiership and the Football League).

The weather is glorious although probably too hot for the players to enjoy. The sunshine gives me a highly favourable first view of the Keepmoat and its attractive lakeside setting. The stadium is a fully enclosed 15,200 all-seater affair completed in time for New Years Day 2007. If any readers out here ever went to Rovers’ old ground Belle Vue, or the rather grandly branded “Earth Stadium” as it was known at the end, the Keepmoat is about as different as chalk and Wendsleydale (lovely cheese Grommit!). Belle Vue was surely one of the worst grounds left of the current 92 whereas the Keepmoat, by contrast, is certainly one of the best for a town of Doncaster’s size. You may recall that Belle Vue was the subject of an arson attack with a difference – the previous Doncaster Chairman was implicated in the plot, presumably for the insurance money – so if anyone should see our Jim fiddling with a box of matches around the back of our main stand late one night please remind him that it’s not insured (only joking Jim)!

The match itself? Oh yes. A cracking 2-2 draw with Northampton Town twice coming from behind to level against the run of play. This was one of those games where the man of the match stood out like a hoodie in a nudist colony. Rovers James Coppinger put in one of the best displays that I have seen in a long time. If you are a betting man (or woman) then I’d put a couple of quid on Rovers for this season as this is a club that seems to be going places. If they do make it into the Championship then they may have to look again at that capacity. 15,200 is probably more than adequate for most matches in League One but step up another level and 20,000 would be more appropriate. Fortunately Rovers are far sighted enough to have put down the foundations for the extra capacity should the need ever arise. The Stadium isn’t actually owned by Rovers at all, although they are, by far the most significant tenants. Much of the money for this venture came from the local taxpayer. The facility is there for the whole community to use and outside the Stadium there are a number of other pitches and an athletics track. Rovers share their home with the Rugby League side as well as top ladies team the Doncaster Belles (and I thoroughly recommend Hunter Davies’ book “I lost my heart to the Doncaster Belles” if you like a good footie read). It seems a long time ago since Rovers were stuck at the wrong end of the Conference doesn’t it?

Saturday 12th May – Kidderminster Harriers v Stevenage Borough, FA Trophy Final

At long last Wembley Stadium is ready for action. As Chaz and Dave sang back in the 80’s, me knees have gone “all trembly” at the thought of a trip to “Wem-ber-lee”. Despite the stadium being located in a godforsaken industrial estate in an undesirable north London suburb and it being pretty well essential to arrive there by public transport, a trip to the Mecca of football still sends a tingle down your spine doesn’t it? On this occasion it’s not just me that fancies visiting a new ground – seven of us from Warwick set off down the M40 to see what £757 Million gets you for your money (that’s £8,411 per seat folks!). Given that public transport was to be the order of the day we drove down the M40 as far as Gerrards Cross, parked up at the Chiltern Line railway station and caught the train for the final fifteen minute journey. Train lovers living in Warwick can, of course, get the train the whole way as Wembley Stadium station is on the Chiltern Line, same as Warwick.

Upon arrival at Wembley Stadium station the splendid new arch is already visible. Mind you, at 315 metres long it would be pretty hard to miss it – according to the programme it’s the longest single span roof structure in the world but, then again, how many of you out there are au fait with the measurements of other single span roof structures and are thereby able to call this particular claim to fame into question? Anyway it’s certainly tall enough to require a beacon to alert low flying air craft such as the Red Arrows at the following week’s FA Cup Final! A quick circumnavigation outside the stadium reveals a surprising lack of fast food outlets and programme sellers which were the order of the day at the old Wembley. At the stadium end of the Wembley Way the powers that be have erected a huge statue of Bobby Moore which has, overnight, become the number one photo opportunity spot outside the stadium. It’s actually quite hard to get near the thing. Bobby himself is a good likeness apart from being roughly double the size of the legend himself – either that or it’s little wonder that he was regarded as a colossus of the game! Entry through the stadium turnstiles isn’t as state of the art as you might anticipate – I was expecting an automated bar code scanner system as they have at the Amsterdam Arena and the City of Manchester stadiums but what we got was a man ripping tickets in half – another souvenir bites the dust!

Once on the other side of the turnstiles we were whisked on escalators up to the uppermost level and to the first few of the infamous 2,618 toilets and numerous catering facilities. Going to the new Wembley isn’t the total rip-off that the media might have you believe. It’s true to say that the catering is a bit pricey. I spotted pies on sale at £4.50 each but then if it bothers you too much you can always bring sandwiches. On the other side of the coin a pint of lager costs £3.00 which isn’t too bad all things considered. Personally though I didn’t go to Wembley to try to save money and they have got to pay for this place somehow haven’t they?

Today’s match marks the very first club game at Wembley and the attendance in excess of 53,000 sets a new record for the FA Trophy. Once in our seats and having recovered from the breathtaking first view of the stadium, our thoughts immediately turn to Racing Club’s 2008 FA Vase Final prospects. We could play here couldn’t we? But how many supporters would we have? It’s the stuff that dreams are made of and we’ll be dreaming at least until the end of August won’t we? We have acquired today’s tickets courtesy of the Stevenage Borough ticket office and they were priced at a very reasonable £25 per adult and £10 for children. The entrance fee turns out to be a bargain as the match is an absolute classic. Naturally we’re sat with the Stevenage fans today and, in view of the fact that I lived there for 18 months and attended quite a few of their matches in their Conference winning season, I’m happy to support them on their special day. Happy that is until the motley collection West Ham tattooed lads who we had the misfortune to be sat behind begin announcing to each other and the whole world whenever they want another lager / pee. Irritating is the polite word for it and I’m quite glad when Kidderminster take the lead. The chaps have gone for an early half time beer by the time Kidderminster score their second and the match seems to be as good as over. 2-0 down at half-time and Stevenage troop off to the motivational team talk from manager Mark Stimpson, FA Trophy winner in each of the last two seasons with Grays Athletic. Mr Motivator he must be! Former England international Steve Guppy is substituted and his replacement Craig Dobson proceeds to make his mark to such an extent that he is announced as Man of the Match before the end. Stevenage turn it around and win a thriller 3-2. What a super spectacle for the first Final at the new stadium. One week later and the show put on by the country’s two leading clubs in the FA Cup Final is very poor by comparison.

Keep the faith!

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