For April 22nd I'm going back 15 years to 2006 and the Midland Football Alliance game between Romulus and Racing Club Warwick, According to the programme cover, the game was played on a Saturdat but I'm pretty sure that it was actually a Saturday.
Romulus? I've no idea where their name comes from as it doesn't relate to an area, a road or even a pub. I suspect it's yet another of those names that derives from the classics, in this case Roman mythology. If so then it takes its place alongside the Isthmian and Spartan leagues in its naming derivation. Why people feel the need to inflict such irrelevance on us I have no idea. Is it a form of snobbery? As stated on the cover of the programme, the club was formed in 1979 by a group of parents wanting a club for their children to play for (no doubt classical scholars all) in the North Birmingham / Sutton Coldfield area. Initially the club played youth football and then Sunday football when they became adults. In 1999 they moved into men's Saturday football and in 2004 they won promotion into the Midland Alliance (the 9th level of the English football pyramid) which was a huge achievement for a club of such humble beginnings. At the time of this game Romulus were ground sharing at Sutton Coldfield Town's Coles Lane but they appear to have put down roots since then settling at the Vale Stadium in Castle Vale, Birmingham in 2018.
Have you ever witnessed an uncontested goal being scored? Perhaps the most famous one in recent years was the one that Marcelo Bielsa insisted upon when Leeds United were playing promotion rivals Aston Villa at Elland Road in 2019. It's a scenario that doesn't happen often and this was the first and only time I've seen such a goal. Immediately before halftime, a stoppage in play near the halfway line resulted in the referee awarding an uncontested drop ball from which the expectation was that Warwick would play the ball to the opposition goalkeeper. Romulus players stood back and watched as Racing Club's Jermaine "Jam" Gordon smashed the ball goalwards. Instead of it being collected by the Romulus keeper however, it bounced into the net. Cue mayhem! Jam feigned that it was unintentional but my feeling was that he knew exactly what he was doing and he was being mischievous. After a few minutes of bitterness and recrimination, Racing Club's manager Marcus Law ordered his side to stand aside at the restart in a sporting gesture and allow Romulus to score a goal which they did.
Including the two "soft" goals, the crowd of just 71 witnessed something of a goal fest that day with the game finishing Romulus 2 Racing Club Warwick 5. The Romulus side included former Warwick player Jason Lanns and the Leamington FC pair of Richard Batchelor and Liam Daly. Jermaine Gordon, mischievous or otherwise, scored a hattrick for Warwick and his strike partner Ben Mackey got the other two. I wonder if Gordon was allowed to keep the Romulus match ball?
CRB Match No. 1497
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