Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured

Nothing to do with our opponents or our position today, but this track off the Arctic Monkey’s debut album “Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not” has been bouncing around in my head all season since it was announced that our kit sponsors for the year were Reef. I know it’s not the company that makes the alcoholic drinks, but the line, “But this lad at her side drinking his Smirnoff Ice came and paid for her Tropical Reef” is on free repeat on one of the tabs in the back of my head, so perhaps I can get rid of that tab now before the season ends.

Quiz Time Answer — How many other current English League clubs have the name Rovers? And name them. Three – Blackburn Rovers, Doncaster Rovers, and Tranmere Rovers.

Whilst we were suffering the disappointment of another spirit crushing away defeat, the team across town, Three Bridges, were winning away at Whyteleafe and securing the Isthmian League South East title and therefore promotion to the Isthmian Premier League (non-league step 3) for next season. In doing so they pushed us off the back page of the Crawley & Horley Observer, a rarity nowadays. I do notice that in more modern times any mention of the other local sides in non-league seems to have gone totally out of the window. I can’t remember the last mention of Oakwood or Crawley Down Gatwick.

Tuesday night went as badly as it could, with Barrow winning their game in hand, and although they still sit in the relegation places, they are now only a single point behind us.

Last week I found an old Fiorentina shirt in a charity shop in East Grinstead. It was a small, so I might just get one arm in it, but it would fit Helen. I have the t-shirt I bought when over in Florence earlier in the year, so the plan was to use them to wind up our neighbour as he is a Palace fan and so turning up to watch the game in their back garden bar in Fiorentina kits would be just recompense for him coming to the pre-season friendly in his Palace shirt and sitting with us in the marquee. Unfortunately he wasn’t watching it in the backyard bar as they are having a new kitchen and therefore not having anyone round. I think that even the thought of wearing the Fiorentina shirts seems to have jinxed them though.

I’ve returned to work on a phased return after three months off, so it’s been a bit of a culture shock this week. It’s meant no time for charity shop wandering for the first time in ages. But there is still eBay, and I finally found the unofficial card set for the Crawley team for 2025-26. I’d been looking since September.

Not only the original set, but they’ve produced another set due to the volume of transfers in January.

I’ve been reading the latest issue of When Saturday Comes, and there was a paragraph in the article about a South Shield versus Merthyr Town game, which made me laugh out loud, and for some reason immediately brough TAFKAL to mind.

Originally being from Leicester, I have a lot of friends who are Leicester City fans, and many have that gallows sense of humour many football fans come to protect themselves with over the years. A handful have all posted the meme below, and I’m sure there’s only just a change of club badge and stadium name on the meme and fans of many other clubs would have the same sentiments.

We have played Shrewsbury nine times in the league, winning two, drawing three, and losing four, of which the four home games have seen one loss, two draws, and a single win. There were a couple of programmes in the collection.

And I’ve managed to add to that this week as I’ve finally tracked down a copy of the one from the last game of last season. I had queued up at their club shop to try and get one, only to be told they would be on sale in the away end. Lying bastards, they weren’t, and it’s taken most of the year before one has popped up on eBay.

Speaking of programmes, one of the articles in When Saturday Comes was talking about programmes in the National League, and it says that all seventy-two teams in the National League structure are required to produce a printed programme for all league games. How come they have to do it at that level, but the EFL don’t give a fuck and let the clubs do what the fuck they want. We know they can be done for a cheap price and still make money, so how the hell are the EFL losing money on them?

The beautiful badge book has five pages on the Shrewsbury badge, focusing on the change the club introduced in 2007, how a Swindon fan called the new one clippy the lion, and the campaign to return it to have the loggerheads on it.

What makes me laugh about that is looking at the badges that appeared in the Panini albums of the eighties, they only changed to the loggerheads badge in the mid-eighties, so it had only been in use just over twenty years before all the furore kicked off. And the previous one looked like a poor pre clip art version of a shrew.

Speaking of Panini, Shrewsbury spent most of the eighties in the Second Division, so there are lots of inclusion in the albums, along with a Proset card, and this year’s Panini collection.

There is no current overlap with players on our side, but Shrewsbury have one of our plethora of loan goalkeepers from last season – Matthew Cox playing for them. Other players to have played for both include Mat Sadler, Scott Shearer, Danny Hall, David Hunt, James Collins, Sullay Kaikai, Tyrone Barnett, Leon Clarke, Josh Emmanuel, Anthony Grant, Matt Harrold, James Hurst, Mike Jones, Guy Madjo, Liam McAlinden, Shaun Miller, Aiden O’Brien, Jamie Proctor, Ben Smith, Romain Vincelot, and Junior Brown.

We go into the game only two places behind Shrewsbury Town, but they are ten points ahead of us and safe from relegation. Barrow are playing at home in an early kick off against the faltering Walsall. Harrogate Town and Tranmere Rovers are also both at home to Colchester United and Bristol Rovers respectively, whilst Newport County are away at Cheltenham Town.

I was at the ground in plenty of time to stand around looking gormless whilst Steve and Mick sold programmes. By the time I went into the ground at just after ten to three, there weren’t very many programmes left.

And although I brought the camera with me, it was only to take illustrated versions of pictures, which is what the rest of the photos will be like.

There was one change to the starting lineup with Louie Watson starting in place of the injured Kellen Gordon. Klaidi Lolos drops out of the squad and Taylor Richards returns to the bench, as does the long-time missing in action Ryan Loft. 

We were in our all red with white trim home kit, and Shrewsbury were in blue shirts with amber arms on them, amber shorts, and blue socks. Not sure who won the toss, but they inflicted the change of ends before the kick-off.

It doesn’t take us long to get going down the right, Ade Adeyemo plays Louie Watson into the box, and his dinked cross is just taken off the head of Tobi Adeyemo by the keeper. Coming down the right again we get a deep cross into the box, and it is headed behind for a corner. That comes in and the keeper collects easily and then goes down requiring treatment.

And the next attack is down the right again, it gets played to Harry Forster in the middle and he passes it to Watson in the box, and his shot takes a deflection and goes tamely to the keeper (shrew Paul?). The right seems to be our go to attack, A Adeyemo plays it to Forster, and he cuts inside and plays it to Watson in the box and his cross clips the heels of T Adeyemo before being cleared. And yet again, down the right to Forster, he cuts inside and his shot is headed behind for a corner, which is caught by the keeper and Shrewsbury break down the left and it is stopped by a Scott Malone foul which gives them a free kick and earns Malone a yellow card. The free kick comes into the box and is caught by Jacob Chapman and released quickly, it is nodded down by T Adeyemo, Watson plays it to Harry McKirdy, and his shot is straight at the keeper.

One of the Shrewsbury wingers is down needing treatment. At the restart there is a Charlie Barker long throw on the left, it is headed back out to him and his cross back in is too deep and goes for a goal kick. Shrewsbury have their own left wing long throw, it is headed out and there’s a shot back in from thirty yards which Chapman collects easily.

We put a nice move together coming out of defence down the left and play it across to the right and A Adeyemo has a shot from twenty-five yards out which flies just over. We are having a lot of possession in Shrewsbury’s half, but there isn’t anything coming from it. A lack of a final ball or an unwillingness to shoot, it is a bit hesitant. Then it is back to attacking down the right, A Adeyemo and Forster combine again, and Forster gets a shot in which is fumbled by the keeper, but they manage to clear the danger. A Adeyemo gets down the right again and into the box he plays it to Watson, and then onto T Adeyemo, but he is blocked. It is half cleared and we play it back in, but Lewis Richards can’t prevent it going for a goal kick.

Then we attack down the left for a change, a ball is played for McKirdy, and his cross is just nudged clear before T Adeyemo can get to it. There are three added minutes at the end of the half. A free kick goes into the box and Jay Williams gets his head on it, it goes to the left and Barker puts it back in, but it is cleared. Richards comes down the left but gets forced out and concedes a throw. The half time whistle goes with it still scoreless.

There are none of the usual dulcet tones from TAFKAL, who I’m assuming is at Three Bridges today as they are getting their league winning trophy presentation.

Into the second half and we attack straight from the kick off and get it down the left to McKirdy and he wins a corner. It’s taken to the near post and flicked on, Forster gets it and plays it back to A Adeyemo who swings the ball in, and the keeper comes for it and gets nowhere near it, but the ref blows for a foul somewhere in there.

Shrewsbury get a free kick about thirty yards out on the right. They take a shot, but the wall does its job. Forster wins the ball in midfield and plays it to Watson, and then onto McKirdy, and on again to Richards in the box and his low shot is saved by the keeper’s feet at the near post. We win a free kick near the centre circle and play it left for Malone and he puts a deep cross in which is headed back across by Williams, but the keeper collects over the top of T Adeyemo, who gets a talking to from the ref.

We win the ball back in midfield again, Forster plays it into T Adeyemo who has a heavy first touch and then goes to shoot and misses the ball and kicks the defender instead and it’s a free kick to Shrewsbury. They come forward and get a throw, it’s taken long, headed out and they have a shot from thirty yards which takes a deflection for a corner. We clear and break quickly and win our own corner. It’s taken to the near post and cleared. Forster and A Adeyemo combine to work it back in to Watson and his cross is blocked for a corner which is taken deep and cleared.

An attack down the right? Makes a change, A Adeyemo gets deep, plays it back and a deep cross is retrieved by McKirdy on the left and he puts it back into the box, but we concede a free kick and the pressure is eased.

It is substitution time, and the subs are changed as they are being made It was going to be T Adeyemo and Richards to come off, but McKirdy is limping after a challenge a couple of minutes before and he goes off instead of Richards, with Ryan Loft and Jonny Russell coming on to replace them. Russell’s first touch is almost disastrous as he blasts a back pass which Chapman just manages to get a boot to to prevent an own goal, but Russell was fouled as he played it and we have a free kick instead of Shrewsbury getting a corner.

Adeyemo beats a man and plays Watson into the box, he takes a touch and goes down under a challenge. There are muted claims for a penalty which the ref ignores. Shrewsbury break quickly and beat Barker for pace, and the ball is pulled back for a free shot which the striker puts over in a definite let off.

Then it is fanny about time. Shrewsbury make some substitutions, once finished Chapman goes down and gets ‘treatment’, all the players go to the benches, when he gets back up the ref is trying to chivvy him along, only for Williams to then sit down in the centre circle and we make some subs as well. Richards and Williams go off to be replaced by Dion Pereira and Taylor Richards. There must have been about five minutes wasted amongst that lot.

Richards first noticeable involvement is he is down and needing treatment, holding his face after an off the ball coming together. Adeyemo wins the ball in midfield and plays it out to Loft who turns and has a shot from thirty yards which the keeper scrambles behind for a corner, which is easily cleared. Coming back again we get the ball to Richards and his shot from outside the area is blocked, it comes back to him, and he puts it into Pereira in the box, and his cross is headed clear.

A long ball forward from Shrewsbury down the left sees Barker penalised for a foul. It is played in, but we clear and Forster is bursting out of defence past players when he is almost wrestled out of his shirt from behind and the refs gives us a free kick and there is a yellow card for the Shrewsbury player.

There are seven added minutes, which is no surprise. Louie Copley and Watson exchange passes in midfield and Watson gets into the box and shoots; his shot beats the keeper and comes back off the post and is cleared. A couple of inches.

Another attack is broken up and Shrewsbury break and win a corner. It is swung in and Chapman collects and launches it forward and we win a corner. Chapman comes up for it, seemingly to the consternation of the technical area. The corner is caught by the keeper and his attempt to shoot sees the ball go more up in the air than forward and we put it out for a throw and the final whistle goes on a goalless draw.

I’ve moaned about officiating quite a few times this season, but the officials were quietly efficient today. I’d quite happily have this lot every week.

The crowd was announced as being 3,602 with there being 303 away fans to have made the trip south from Shrewsbury.

Bottom of the table Harrogate Town got a ninety-ninth minute winner in their game. It wasn’t enough to drag them off the bottom of the table and they, along with Barrow, who lost in the early kick off are now both two points behind us. Newport County and Tranmere Rovers both lost their games, and so we go up a place in the league to twentieth, but only two points cover the bottom five, and Tranmere have a game in hand, which they play on Tuesday again Cheltenham Town who did us a favour by beating Newport today, so more of the same on Tuesday please.

Quiz Time – Which multi Welsh League title winners play their home games in Shropshire?

Next up is our final away game of the season in Lancashire as we play Accrington Stanley.

Come on you reds.

The Struggle

It is a struggle, despite it being blatantly work which tipped me over the edge, there is a part of me which misses that daily grind and the order it brings to days. I’ve been desperately trying to be up at a reasonable time each day. On the whole I have. There aren’t many days upon which it is after ten before I emerge grom the pit as some kind of poorly dressed monster, grunting, and snorting.

There are days I have appointments, so there is something to tether the day on. But time is such an elastic thing. Five minutes on the computer and five hours have gone by. Trivial pursuits (not the board game) are followed down whichever rabbit hole they lead to. Yet important tasks are forever on the back burner as if I am deliberately trying to sabotage myself.

Things such as sorting out cards and presents for birthdays, Valentine’s day, Mother’s Day, doing my required content for the matchday programmes, all of these are left far too late and the anxiety around being on time kicks in. sorting out tickets and travel for events are left until the tickets may be sold out, or all the cheaper options have disappeared into the ether.

There is a lot of cataloguing going on. Sorting has been done at home, but this only leads to knowing what to look for on eBay that I haven’t got, or which things it is going to be nice to pick up in shops along the wandering way.

I do get outside every day. Not as I originally thought (and planned) I would, apart from a couple of odd occasions (a random bus journey to Caterham for example). It is a very similar and formulaic wander each day. A visit to the shops on Southgate parade, a wander into town. I’m sure all of my footwear could make the trek along Malthouse Road, over the train tracks and through the bus station all by themselves.

It used to be once a week if that, now it is pretty much every day. TG Jones, Waterstones, HMV, nothing changes on a day-to-day basis. Which coffee place shall I use today (not Costa or Starbucks is the only definite there). Is it a takeaway coffee or is there a seat I can take and watch people go by from. Perhaps something to nibble on. And then into the charity shops. How long is it since I last went into British Heart Foundation, or Oxfam, or St Catherines. Do a different one each time, give them a chance to rotate what stock they have in there, but it doesn’t move as quickly as I want it to. Some are closing, four have gone over the last couple of years, with only new one in to replace them. Even the charity shops are dying on the High Street.

It is all petty distractions. I’m not really doing anything with my time. My thoughts (on the whole) are too fragmented to write. The photographs I was going to take are a difficult concept to complete when I don’t even take my camera with me when I do deign to leave the house.

To paraphrase Pulp, “I often go into a supermarket, I don’t need much but I have to go somewhere.” To pass the time as somehow outside the house and away from the computer it flows the other way, a four hour walk only takes one before I find a slightly different way to approach the house on the homeward leg.

An aside. That is a strange little foible inside my head. I can’t use the same paths to go a different way on the same day. Even if it means I just walk on the other side of the road, I can’t be seen (in my head) to be retracing my steps at all. It is just more strange behaviour.

Then there is the football which seems to operate me in a different sphere. I travel the length and breadth of the country, but on those travels, a lot of which have been alone, I rarely speak to anyone else when there. The thought I might have to terrifies me. It is all me not being right in the head. The people who speak to me at games are all lovely, but I struggle to remember their names, let alone much about them. And I am always questioning myself on how long I can go before I make an excuse to escape back to myself without being obviously and inexcusably rude.

It is why I get to the games so early, so I am less likely to bump into people as I travel, and I will already be positioned before others turn up. And I can watch the game scribbling away in the notebook ready to type up the moment I am home.

Work will have to return, and despite the lack of order, part of me obviously feels the thought of returning fills me with dread.

I would love to be back to normal, only for me to realise that at the moment I don’t have a clue what normal is anymore.

A postscript, as I’ve taken so long between writing this and posting it, I’m now back at work on a phased return. The first three short days weren’t quite as horrendous as I was expecting them to be, but mainly because my manager and the rest of the team are supportive and it’s a ghost return as the out of office is still on.

I should have had laser eye surgery yesterday, which I wasn’t looking forward to. Only for them to ring and cancel less than an hour before, a good job I wasn’t going on the bus as I’d have been there by then.

Oxygene Part IV

Well, today’s opponents are known as the gas, or the gasheads, and oxygen is our most needed gas, so I’ve gone for this track from French electronic wizard, Jean-Michel Jarre, which was the only part from the 1976 ‘Oxygene’ album released as a single. It reached number four in the UK singles chart the following year when the album was released in the UK and reached number two in the album charts. Both the single and the album are his highest charting releases.

Quiz time answer – Due to the demands of the fish trade, Grimsby Town were one of only two professional teams which had official permission to play league football on Christmas Day, which was the other? Hull City.

In the aftermath of the Jay Williams sending off against Grimsby Town, the club appealed it, and in an almost unheard-of step (for us anyway) the FA overturned the red and therefore he is able to play today. If he had remained on the pitch, I don’t think it would have made too much difference, as Grimsby certainly took their foot off the gas after the sending off.

The club sponsored player of the month for March went to Jacob Chapman, for the third month on the trot. Elsewhere the Red Devils player of the month and goal of the month went to Kellen Gordon.

Anyway, I’ve got a lot of sideline tangents this week, so off we go.

I had mentioned on my last trip here how the Memorial Ground was originally a Rugby Union ground for Bristol Bears, and how their stand looks like a cricket pavilion. But that mix of sports has nothing on their old ground Eastville. Constructed in 1897, it was the home of Bristol Rovers F.C., the Bristol Bulldogs speedway team and was also a greyhound racing venue. During 1986 it was also the home of the short-lived Bristol Bombers American football team. It was built near to a gas holder, the constant smell of town gas in the air gave rise to the name used for Bristol Rovers fans of “The Gas” or “Gasheads”. The nickname “The Gas” began as a derogatory nickname used by Bristol City fans, however Rovers fans now refer to themselves as Gasheads as a badge of honour. The number 12 squad shirt has been officially allocated to “Gasheads” by the club in honour of the crowd being the 12th man. 1986 also saw Bristol Rovers play their last game at Eastville. The stadium carried on after they’d moved to Twerton Park in Bath, with the last Greyhound meeting taking place there in 1997 before it was demolished in 1998. I had gone to see if there was any trace. Wikipedia had given me a pin drop of where it used to be. Nothing remains, not even a plaque, let alone an old centre spot memorial as there are elsewhere, it’s just the distribution yard for Ikea. However the old Eastville Social Club is still on site on the other side of the Ikea store.

There were a couple of pictures in the football golden age book I picked up a couple of months ago. One has a crowd from the early post war years, which shows it was popular with females back then. The other would seem to add another possible strings to the bow of what sporting activities they could hold at Eastville. The pitch is flooded, so some angling, a bit of swimming, and some kayaking would all have been possible.

In a strange twist Bristol Bears now play their games at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate ground. I went there for a wander yesterday, having a look around the outside, and of course a visit to the club shop, where they had pens, but no fridge magnets for Bristol City, I could have got them for the Bears, and for the basketball team (who don’t play there), but I don’t want to start down that path collecting other sports.

One of the plaques around the ground was to the Ashton Gate 8, those who tore up their existing contracts to save the club from extinction in 1982.

One of whom was Trevor Tainton, one of those players I remember from Topps cards of the seventies. As although Bristol is the largest city never represented in the Premier League, they did have topflight football in the seventies and eighties through Bristol City. (Plymouth is the current answer to largest city never to play topflight football.) I remember the vibrant colours of the names on the Bristol City cards for the 1976-77 season, green, orange, yellow. I though it would have been appropriate if Trevor Tainton had been from Taunton. And he was one of a few alliterative players I remember. Gerry Gow was another for Bristol City, and I was convinced they also had Willie Woof. Only to realise I had that in my head from the following year’s set when the colour scheme for Bristol City was the same as for Middlesbrough, and they were wearing the same-coloured shirts.

The two Bristol league clubs were linked together in the beautiful badges book, and whilst City have been somewhat more successful than Rovers, Rovers were the original Bristol club.

Besides going to Ashton Gate I hopped on a train and went up the River Avon coast to see a few non-league grounds. I only went for four, as it wasn’t a full day, and the logistics aren’t as easy around Bristol as they were in Manchester.

I started by getting off at Sea Mills, the station is next to a little channel into the Avon, and on the other side, bordered by the A4 is Bristol Manor Farm FC’s ground. It’s easier to see the slope up to one corner from across the channel, as next to the pitch it isn’t as noticeable. The club is in the Southern League Division One south. It’s a nice little ground and has a social club next to it, and a neighbouring Rugby team.

It was then a twenty-minute walk up to Shirehampton FC. They are in the Western League Division One. They share the grounds with a cricket club and have a nice trek from the pavilion over to the ground.

Another fifteen minute walk down to the next ground I had on my little list, still in the village of Shirehampton – Port of Bristol FC. They are in the Bristol and Suburban Association Football League. There is little sign of them having dug outs, let alone a little stand, and they certainly don’t want anyone using their goals when they aren’t around as they chain their goals together face to face. They must have some good SEO going on as they come up high on the list of Bristol football teams, despite there not being a lot there.

It was a bit further to the last stadium of the day – Avonmouth FC. It is tucked away in a triangle of ground with the M5 towering over one side of it and then houses (and the A4) on the others. They are another side in the Western League Division One, and although there are tantalising glimpses of floodlights between the houses on two sides of the triangle, all I got were gates and notices. No access to anything there apart from matchdays.

Which is a shame, as unlike the other three they have a famous former player. Roy Bentley started his career there before moving on, and he was Chelsea’s captain when they first won the League title back in the 1954-55 season. The A&BC card I have of him is from a few years after that once he was at Fulham.

On the journey over to Bristol I was catching up on some football magazine reading, and in Late Tackle it was talking about that 1955 Chelsea League winning team. In an article on the setting up of the first European Cup, and how the Football League gave Chelsea the impression they weren’t allowed to enter.

The other magazine I read was a rare dip into Four Four Two, mainly as they have their now annual top fifty EFL players. Of course, it would be too much to expect any of our lot to make the top fifty with the season we’ve been having, but they do mention a player from each of the teams who don’t get one in the top fifty, for us it was Josh Flint.

They also had a ten-page article on Lamine Yamal. Not that interesting, apart from the sidebar pictures and captions. With him as a toddler being uncomfortably bathed by Lionel Messi. I’m not sure where to start with that amount of wrongage.

Onto today’s proceedings, we have played Bristol Rovers sixteen times before, nine of them in the league, seven in League Two, we have won six, drawn four, and lost six. Away though, the record is shocking, with three draws and four losses. Our game here last season was a 0-0 and was the one where the ref wasn’t going to give us a penalty no matter what happened. We have won the last two against them, including our biggest win of the season at home 4-0. But that was before Steve Evans took the helm and they started climbing the table. There are quite a few programmes from games against them in the collection, including one which Steve Hedges was producing for him and a few friends, and I got a copy as we had a post-game get together that day to try and get the fan produced programme up and running, which of course, it is now.

There is only the one squad overlap, and that is one of our invisible men loan signings – Ryan Loft – who played for Bristol Rovers. Meanwhile the management of Bristol Rovers will be familiar to all long-standing Crawley Town fans, as manager Steve Evans, and assistant manager Paul Raynor had the same roles for us when we were promoted to the league. Paul Raynor even turned out for us on a handful of occasions. Outside of that there has been a host of players to play for both: John Akinde, Ellery Balcombe, Kyle Bennett, Hiram Boateng, Andrew Bond, Mustapha Carayol, Chris Carruthers, Leon Clarke, Matthew Cox, Tony Craig, Scott Davies, Lyle Della-Verde, Rory Fallon, Matt Harrold, Isaac Hutchinson, Jefferson Louis, Sam Matthews, Jeffrey Monakana, Tom Nichols, Scott Rendell, Scott Shearer, Dom Telford, and Calum Willock.

There are no Bristol Rovers cards from the Topps era. I have used one of theirs from the Proset, but it was for Ian Holloway and a Swindon game. So I’ve gone back further and found an early sixties A&BC card for Ian Hamilton.

They also spent a couple of years getting into Panini albums of the eighties whilst in Division 3.

And of course they are in this year’s EFL Panini collection.

We go into the game five places and fifteen points behind Bristol Rovers, with the usual amount of looking over our shoulders at those (not very far) behind us. With it being an early kick off courtesy of FSS, we will have finished before any of the relegation rivals kick off. The big game is Newport County hosting Harrogate Town, which seeing as they can’t both lose, would be best off being a draw. Barrow and Tranmere Rovers are both away, against Barnet and Chesterfield respectively. I noticed that Bristol Rovers confirmed their fixture against us today will be their first ever Pirates’ Crew Takeover Day. Their Junior Pirates Members and U14 Season Ticket Holders were invited to apply for five matchday roles and have ended up with six being added to matchday roles, two as First Team Players (please be on the pitch), the First Team Head Coach, the Grounds person, the Media Officer, and the Stadium Announcer.

In between stadium hopping yesterday, and this morning, there have been plenty of interesting buildings seen in and around Bristol. And even if I’ve not seen a Banksy, they do love street art in his home city.

Quiz Time – How many other current English League clubs have the name Rovers? And name them.

It is back to home action next week with the visit of Shrewsbury Town.

Come on you reds.

Mariners Way

Of course, our opponents today are nicknamed the Mariners. This track by Ocean Colour Scene was originally the B-side to their single “It’s A Beautiful Thing”, the fourth and final single release from their 1997 chart topping third album “Marchin’ Already”. The single reached number twelve in the singles chart. This track was later included on the 2003 “Anthology” album, and also on the extended 2014 re-release of “Marchin’ Already”.

Quiz Time Answer – Besides Newport County, and the other three Welsh sides currently in the League (Cardiff City, Swansea City, and Wrexham), how many other Welsh clubs have there been in the Football League and name them. Two – Aberdare Athletic and Merthyr Town.

It was a great win on Friday away against Newport County, a splendid way to start an Easter weekend. However away from the games the different fan groups caused it to be a more ‘interesting’ weekend than usual or perhaps necessary. It was fitting it was an Easter weekend, as it was like a scene out of ‘The Life Of Brian’, where the People’s Front of Judea, Judean People’s Front, The Judean People’s Popular Front, The Campaign for a Free Galilee, The Popular Front of Judea, and The People’s Liberation Front of Judea are vying for superiority. Only change the words Judea, People, Popular, and Front for Crawley, Supporters, Devil, and Town and you might get the idea.

I’ve known fan group splinters in the past and with any of them, the only real friction is between those at the very top. I was an admin and was on a podcast for a San Francisco 49ers UK supporters group for a couple of years. The half a dozen at the top had a falling out and there are now two groups, both doing their own pages and podcasts. The six of them are split between the two groups, but pretty much every one of the other few thousand members of the original group ended up being in both and listening to both podcasts. I took it as an excuse to withdraw from being an admin and being on the podcast as I hated making them, they were boring as hell, and I have the voice for mime. For me, the issue is (I know this will sound odd for someone who writes massively long content) is that most podcasts go on for too long, and on the whole most of those on video have people on them who, like me, have faces for radio and voices for mime.

I was going to take the opportunity over the Easter weekend to cram some more football in and had lined up going to Crawley Down Gatwick on Saturday afternoon and catching the 11am kick-off at Oakwood this morning. A great idea in theory, but I’m far from feeling a hundred percent so an afternoon out in the rain on Saturday wouldn’t have helped and feeling woozy when sitting up this morning suggested I need to chill and just come to this game.

Anyway, on to today’s game and our opponents – Grimsby Town, the team we started the season so spectacularly badly against back in August up in sunny Cleethorpes.

For overlap between the squads, we originally signed Danilo Orsi from Grimsby Town, and although he is our player it’s unlikely he’s going to be fit to play again this season. Meanwhile Grimsby have no former Crawley payers in their current ranks. But there have been plenty of others to have played for both including; Charles Ademeno, Kyle Bennett, Richard Brodie, Ronnie Bull, Billy Clarke, Josh Emmanuel, Owen Gallacher, Matt Harrold, Conor Henderson, Jake Hessenthaler, Gavan Holohan, Kevin James, Jordan Maguire-Drew, Filipe Morais, Scott Neilson, Ollie Palmer, Thomas Pinault, Jon-Paul Pittman, Isaiah Rankin, Mitch Rose, Wes Thomas, Tyrone Thompson, James Tilley, Ben Wright, and Adi Yussuf.

There are no Grimsby players on Topps cards (my favourite era), and for the away game I used some from the Proset era, but I’ve gone back and found their only one from the A&BC era, this one of Irish international Don Donovan is from 1960-61, at which point the question on the back of the card only had two correct answers, yet by the end of that season would have a third.

With Grimsby being in the Second Division through most of the eighties and early nineties there were plenty of appearances in Panini albums of the time.

Of course they were in the current EFL collection.

They appeared a couple of times in the beautiful badges book and how it changed over time.

And the answer to the question a few articles ago in regard to Fleetwood being the ‘Cod Army’ and which team had a lucky cod for the players to touch when the players came out was Grimsby, and this was the picture I had alluded to at the time.

We have played fifteen league games against Grimsby Town, all of which have been in League Two, we have won six, drawn four, and lost five including the poor 3-0 loss at Grimsby on the opening day of the season. At home it is a record of five wins, one draw, and one loss. We have also played them in Conference, with a draw away, and a loss at home. There are a couple of programmes in there from Grimsby Town games, one of which didn’t involve Crawley Town, but Leicester City, which I wrote about for the piece in the away game back in August.

Going into today’s game we sit ten places behind Grimsby, and twenty-five points behind them as they scramble for a play-off place. Elsewhere Barrow, Harrogate Town, and Tranmere Rovers have home games as well, against Chesterfield (who are in the last play-off spot), Bristol Rovers, and Colchester United, whilst Newport County are away at automatic promotion slot chasing Notts County.

There was a bit of programme selling pregame in the sun. Not quite a sell-out, but there was a queue at times.

And of course there was the programme to read. 

There is only one change in the lineup with Max Anderson starting in place of Louie Copley who drops to the bench. We are in our home all red with white trim and Grimsby are in white shirts and socks and black shorts. 

There is an early Grimsby attack down the left and into the box, they cut inside and curl a shot just wide of the right-hand post. We come out down the right and Taylor Richards lays it back to Ade Adeyemo, he cuts across the field to virtually the left before passing to Harry Forster, his cross into the box is just too deep to dig back and it goes for a goal kick.

Grimsby win a corner; we clear and win a free kick up the pitch. It is pumped long by Charlie Barker across field to Forster on the left wing, he plays it back to Lewis Richards who attempts an ambitious shot from forty yards which goes just wide. T Richards takes the ball into midfield and lays a ball down the right for Jay Williams; he gets into the box and puts a cross in which the keeper spills and it gets hacked off the line and away.

TAFKAL is back after a couple of games away and joins in with “Wakey Wakey Lino” as he gives a throw to Grimsby which blatantly came off their player. We attack down the left and lose it, and Grimsby break and get into the box and have a low shot which Jacob Chapman gets down well to save. He then gets up and saves the follow up, but the flag had already gone up for offside.

We attack down the left and Tobi Adeyemo beats a man and drives into the box and goes down on the goal line, the ref waves away the penalty claims and gives a goal kick. Grimsby have a free kick in our half, and it is swung into the box, and a header is just over the bar. The Grimsby fans are singing “Crawley’s a shithole, I wanna go home.” As if they’ve forgotten they come from Grimsby.

We have a bit of possession, passing it around on the right before playing it back across to the left-hand side where it is Scott Malone’s turn to have an ambitious attempt at goal from distance, this one goes well over. We give it away in midfield and Grimsby break at speed again down the left-hand side, and there is a shot from a tight angle which squeezes past the outstretched leg of Barker and arm of Chapman and goes in and we trail 0-1. The Grimsby players start to celebrate in front of the home terrace and are gesturing at the fans. The ref breaks it up and gives a couple of players a lecture, but there is no yellow card forthcoming.

Grimsby get another corner and it is put in under the bar, a Grimsby head is on the end of it, but Chapman manages to collect. And another Grimsby attack down the left, a cross comes in and we head it behind for a corner. That is swung in and Chapman punches clear. Another one of our attacks is broken up and there is another quick Grimsby break and a ball through to the striker in the middle on the edge of our area, he only has Chapman to beat and as he takes the shot the Grimsby fans are celebrating as if he’s scored, but he puts it a yard wide left. Thankfully.

A free kick for us on the left is pumped into the box and headed back out. We control and put it back into the box again, and it is headed out again, it falls to Williams and his shot from thirty yards out goes wide. A long clearance out from the back is taken down by T Richards, and he’s then taken down and we have a free kick about thirty-five yards out on the right. It is taken into the box, and no one gets a touch on it, and it goes out for a goal kick.

In a surprise to no one, Grimsby attack down the left and beat a man again and get a cross into the six yard box, an effort from close in is blocked out to the edge of the area on the right, and a shot is smashed back in, it takes a deflection and goes into the top corner and we trail 0-2.

Almost as if we are incapable of learning or doing anything about it, Grimsby come down the left again. A cross comes in and is put behind for a corner. That comes in and is headed behind for another. We clear toward Harry McKirdy on halfway and he is wrestled to the ground, but nothing is given and the Grimsby ball into the box gets controlled by a hand and we do get a free kick for that. We also make a substitution with T Richards being replaced by Louis Watson, not sure if that’s for an injury or tactical, hopefully the latter for help down the right with the constant left-wing threat.

There are plenty of others in the east marquee helping with the TAFKAL role this afternoon. Some of the officiating decisions are a bit bizarro to say the least, and there is already an egregious amount of time-wasting taking place. Someone said this ref used to be on the Premier League list. I’m assuming it was the Northern Premier League list. We come out down the left with a ball from Malone to Richards, and back, it is pumped into the box, and the defender misses his kick, McKirdy retrieves and tries a chipped cross back in, but it goes straight to the keeper.

And again a ball to McKirdy down the right, he plays it on to T Adeyemo and he fizzes a cross through the six-yard box, it takes a touch from a Grimsby player and goes out for a throw on the far side. It is taken short and a ball into the box does find a Crawley head, but it drifts out for a goal kick. There are two added minutes at the end of the half for nothing much to happen, and the half time whistle goes with us trailing 0-2.

Into the second half and there is an early free kick given away in the far corner. Williams, who committed the foul, then boots the ball against the player on the ground and is shown a straight red. Hardly the best action from the captain. There’s no excuse really, it may be the first proper rush of blood this season, but it’s likely to mean a three-game ban at the worst time with only four games left. It also means nearly an entire half to play as ten men against a side making it look easy against eleven. The free kick comes in, and we get a free kick for an infringement in the box.

Surprise, surprise, Chapman is down with a ‘tactical injury’ and everyone else traipses to the sidelines for new instructions. After which we have a bit of possession and a cross from the right goes deep, Forster retrieves and we work it back over to the right and A Adeyemo’s cross floats over the bar. It is his last action as he goes off and is replaced by Louie Copley, and Forster goes over to be right back for the rest of the game.

Straight away Grimsby are attacking down that side again, and a Barker back pass to Chapman sees them make a mess of it and a Grimsby player gets the ball but Chapman makes a save and clears it. They then go down the right and get the ball in, and we just about bundle it behind for a corner. It is taken very deep and goes out for a goal kick on the far side.

We attack down the eft and McKirdy plays it back to Watson and his cross finds the head of Adeyemo, but it goes straight up in the air and the keeper claims it. We make the last couple of subs with McKirdy and Richards making way for Dion Pereria and Jonny Russell.

The Grimsby number seven goes down as if with a severed leg after a challenge from Watson, only to bounce up seconds later with no ill effects, which leads to a great shout from behind me in the marquee of “Yesterday, you should have risen yesterday.” We have a free kick, and it goes into the box and is headed out, it comes to Forster but his attempt to put it back in comes off the back of another Crawley player and there is another lightning speed Grimsby break from which they win a corner.

Adeyemo is dragged down from behind when free down the left wing. We get a free kick, but once again there is the question of consistency as where’s the yellow for that? It is taken deep and headed back into the six-yard box, there is a bit of a scramble, and the ball is hacked off the line and away for a corner. It is taken to the near post and headed out, then put back in deep and Adeyemo rescues it, plays it back to Malone, the first cross is blocked back to him, and the second one is hacked off the line again for a corner. It is swung in a tipped out for a corner on the other side. It comes in a Adeyemo gets a head on it, but it goes over.

There are loud iconic cheers as a Grimsby player finally does get a yellow, it is for timewasting over a throw. We get a free kick about thirty yards out on the right side of the box, it is headed clear and we have another three attempts at recycling it back into the box, but it just keeps getting cleared. And nowhere near where the action was there is a Grimsby player down with a ‘tactical injury’.

We win a free kick in midfield and try to take it quickly. There is a blatant block of that attempt. We get to retake, but why the fuck is there no yellow card for that? I don’t think the Northern Premier League would want to claim this ref. We work the ball into the box and eventually there is a shot on the turn by Adeyemo, but it is blocked at source, the ball back in sees the offside flag up.

There are seven added minutes. Barker is pushed over from behind, and apparently that is perfectly allowable, Grimsby carry on and get into the box, and a shot comes back off the post and is cleared. We are attacking and for reasons no one, but the ref knows it is a free kick for Grimsby. The keeper takes forever over it and when it is pumped forward the Grimsby player on the left wing is ten yards offside, but there is no flag, they get a cross which hits Barker and flies over the KRL Logistics stand for the only ball loss of the day and a corner.

The full-time whistle goes and it is a 0-2 loss. It could have been a lot worse; there may have been a taking the foot off the gas by Grimsby after we went down to ten men. I don’t understand how this Grimsby team are only tenth in the league, they are easily the best side we have played (both home and away) all season.

The crowd was announced as a healthy 4,273 with 578 away fans, which I thought would have been more judging by how the away end looked and sounded.

It was a terrible day at the office, but looking around elsewhere makes it seem better than it was. All four sides below us in the table lost as well, and so we stay in twentieth, still four points above the relegation places. It is still in our own hands, let’s draw a line under today and go and get some more wins in the remaining games.

Quiz time – Due to the demands of the fish trade, Grimsby Town were one of only two professional teams which had official permission to play league football on Christmas Day, which was the other?

We are back in action on Saturday with another trip via GWR or the M4 corridor, this time to play Bristol Rovers, with former esteemed Crawley boss Steve Evans in charge. There are two coachloads going for the FSS contrived early kick-off of 12:30. An overnight stop for me, possibly a few football grounds to look at.

Come on you reds.

Cola Bottle Baby

As alluded to in the last piece, our manager was nicknamed the ‘Coca-Cola Kid’ when he signed for Brighton & Hove Albion for a fee won by a fan in a Coca-Cola competition. This song was a 1979 single release by Edwin Birdsong, and it didn’t trouble the charts in the UK. It was sampled many times, but most famously by Daft Punk for their hit “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which got to number 25 in the charts in 2001, and was itself sampled (with a credit to this original) by Kanye West for his 2007 number 1 single “Stronger”. (And I’d already used Newport’s finest Goldie Lookin’ Chain for the home game.)

Quiz time Answer – Taken from the Shoot 1984 quiz book. “Last year Charlton Athletic paid a club record fee of £300,000 to Barcelona for whom?” Allan Simonsen. Which was a big deal at the time as Simonsen was a former European Footballer of the Year, the only player to have scored in European Cup, UEFA Cup, and European Cup Winners Cup finals, and Charlton were in Division 2 at the time. He did only end up playing sixteen games for them before going back to his original Danish club, Vejle.

Not sure I’ve seen it before in the couple of years, I’ve been buying the Football League Paper, but we got a mention on the front page of it. And then there’s a half page article and interview with CKR on page two.

After the game on Saturday I managed to complete the Panini EFL sticker album. I had made a cock up when ordering the final few from the Panini website in that I couldn’t read my own handwriting and instead of ordering number 336, I’d ordered 338. So thanks to Lisa who had 336 as a swap and let me have it and I picked it up on the way to the celebratory curry at the Downsman after the game. I have lots of swaps available if anyone wants the lot.

I also had a trawl through the completed set to see those players who were playing for us, who have played for us, and in one case came back to play for us. (May also feature some additional foreheads due to the way the League One stickers were laid out.)

Ben Radcliffe has been recalled from his loan spell at Gateshead to complete his rehabilitation from injury and has been added to the squad list so will be available to play if he is fit.

The fourth supporters coach was full by Monday, and in addition to the subsidised travel, the club have also arranged for pre journey bacon rolls (and I’m assuming alternatives) for those going on the coaches.

And then it was announced that for the Grimsby Town and Shrewsbury Town home games, all U14 tickets will be free if accompanied by an adult. A different way to get additional attendance from the two for two quid games used the last two seasons.

Both goal and player of the month polls were made available on Tuesday. Three goals to pick from, Kellen Gordon’s equaliser against Swindon Town, and then Taylor Richards’ and Tobi Adeyemo’s goals in the win against Gillingham (although there will be a fair few people who didn’t see any of those goals live as they were sneaking out at eighty-five minutes). There were five player of the month nominations: Kellen Gordon, Jay Williams, Dion Pereira, Jacob Chapman, and Scott Malone. The same player got my vote in both. 

It was announced on Wednesday that the club had achieved the bronze level of the EFL Equality Code of Practice for both this season and next season.

We are playing on Good Friday, which also marks the beginning of the County Cricket season, and in the first round of Division One fixtures, it features my county of origin (who I support), Leicestershire, playing the county I live in, Sussex. It also means that the Playfair Annual is out, and it is the fiftieth one I have had in the year it came out, as I got my first in 1977 from my grandad. I also read the pre-season copy of The Cricketer which gave it’s verdict on where teams will finish, so I wasn’t happy to see they had predicted Leicestershire to finish bottom of Division One, behind Glamorgan who came up with us last season, and Sussex, who start with a points deduction for financial issues.

It wasn’t the only book added to the collection this week as another small host of football titles turned up for me to peruse and to dig out nuggets for future articles.

During the week I was reading the latest edition of Weekend’s Football, and the league club they feature in the issue is Colchester United, a couple of weeks too late for my visit there, and what they say about public transport to and from the ground misses out that it doesn’t work on the way back from evening games as the park and ride buses stop by 8pm. But it did have this little nugget when talking about their old ground of Layer Road. Can you imagine it now?

Newport County are one of those sides not to have featured on Football Cards, but they did manage to climb to the third tier in the eighties to get included in a couple of the Panini albums of the time.

And they are in this year’s EFL Panini album as well.

Their badge also features a mention in the Beautiful Badge book, with the phoenix club’s badge being compared to their older more ornate badge. It will be a surprise to no one that I much prefer the older badge.

All of our league encounters against Newport County have come in league Two, where we have won eight, drawn five and lost five (including our first home game of the season back in August). There was also a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Game back in 2013 which we lost to them. Away, it is three wins, three draws and three losses. We also met them in the Southern League Premier Division (or Dr Martens as it was sponsored back then) in the nineties and noughties, four wins, five losses, and five draws, with three wins away, one loss, and three draws. We also played them three times in our last season in the Conference, winning away and losing at home in the league, and winning away in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.

There are a couple of players in our squad who have played for Newport County, Harry McKirdy and Akin Odimayo. There are no former Crawley players in their squad. Others to have played for both include Dom Telford, Reece Greco-Cox, Jefferson Louis, Jamie Proctor, Mark Randall, Mitchell Beeney, Luke Gambin, Paul Hayes, Craig McAllister, Dean Morgan, Dominic Poleon, Mitch Rose, and Ben Wright.

We go into the game level on points with our opponents, and ahead of them on goal difference (five ahead). We are both only two points above Barrow who sit in the relegation places, and four points ahead of Harrogate Town who are bottom, but Barrow have a game in hand on us both, as do Tranmere Rovers who sit two points ahead of us both. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it is a must win game (a need desperately to win perhaps), but it is certainly a must NOT lose game. All three of those other teams also have away games today, so apart from here at Rodney Parade, it’s a case of hoping for home wins.

Travel to away games seem to be cursed for me. The season started fine, Grimsby and Harrogate went without hitches, but since then every journey has seen trains cancelled or ridiculously late. We got both on the way to Newport yesterday. We went out for pre-game day curry and then got a room upgrade because we complained the TV didn’t work. Which gave us a better, high up view of Rodney Parade across the river.

A wander around yesterday evening shows it is a nice enough city, nice buildings, blue plaques, churches, statues, street art, and the riverside. And that is without the castle guarding the river between the road and train bridges, and the cathedral up on the hill.

It’s a good thing we had a wander around last night as the weather this morning was miserable. Still, had a quick poke about in charity shops and found the main club shop in the shopping centre (something we sorely lack). Managed to get the obligatory pen and fridge magnet. It amused me there’s a big sign in the window saying ‘Closed Bank Holidays’ only to have a little piece of paper saying not today or Monday.

Got a programme in the ground, not bad for three quid (obviously not as good value as ours). Stewards are trying to enforce allocated seats only. Not convinced how much success they are having with that. 

It was supposed to have cleared up by one, but it’s still drizzling on the poor sods in the uncovered stand behind the goal.

More changes in the starting lineup with the two Harry’s, McKirdy and Forster, and Taylor Richards starting. Dion Pereira drops to the bench, and Ronan Darcy and Danilo Orsi are out of the squad, Jonny Russell and Louis Watson return to the bench, and we name a keeper on the bench with JoJo Wollacott coming into and Klaidi Lolos dropping out.

We are in our all-white away kit, with Newport in amber and black shirts, black shorts, and amber socks. 

When the game starts, we have a very early attack and get into the Newport box, there is a tackle and Harry McKirdy goes to ground and is claiming a penalty which is waved away, and we keep the ball and cross it back in, but it goes out for a goal kick. At the other end Newport have a corner, it’s taken short, and then pumped in deep and as we clear and come away with it Charlie Barker is fouled.

It’s a game between two sides trying not to make a mistake and despite this (or perhaps because of it) there aren’t any more than about three passes from either side before it’s given away. This whole lot of nothing carries on for about ten minutes. Then we win a free kick on the left as Harry Forster is taken out, and there is a yellow card for the Newport player. The ball goes into the box and is taken by the keeper, he launches long and the Newport striker is flagged as being offside.

Down the right wing McKirdy beats a couple of men and gets into the box and pings a cross through the six-yard box, the despairing lunge of Forster can’t quite get to it, and it goes out on the other side, and the keeper is down needing treatment after colliding with the post. When play restarts we win a corner from Forster’s persistence but may have got away with one from the challenge of Scott Malone to knock it forward in midfield in the first place. The corner comes in and is headed away, an attempted shot from distance is blocked and it comes to Taylor Richards and his shot from outside the box is dragged wide, and there is another Newport player down in the box needing treatment.

A shot from distance by Lewis Richards comes closer to troubling the corner flag than the goal. And then the game drifts into another seven or eight minutes of not very much. We give a free kick away about thirty yards out and L Richards picks up a booking. The free kick is headed away and the second ball in goes out for a goal kick.

Coming out down the right Ade Adeyemo beats two men and lays the ball into Tobi Adeyemo in the box, he lays it back to Jay Williams, who plays it on to Louie Copley who is fouled twenty-five yards out just right of centre. T Richards lines up to take and it clips a head on the top of the wall and goes out for a corner. It goes into the middle and is headed back out to Forster, but his second attempt flies well over the box and out for a throw on the far side.

Forster is body checked on the left and we have a free kick about thirty-five yards out, it comes into the box, and we get a head on it, but it goes straight to the keeper. Newport work it down the left and the cross takes a deflection to a striker in the box, and their shot is saved by Jacob Chapman for a corner. It is cleared but put back in deep and Chapman collects. His clearance is put back in, A Adeyemo gets a boot on it, but it comes to the Newport striker who goes on and puts it past Chapman into the bottom corner, but he has been adjudged to have handled it when controlling and it’s a free kick to us.

We have a mad thirty seconds where we are trying to commit back pass hari-kari and Newport have a couple of half chances, only for us to break and T Richards is fouled in midfield. Then Barker is taken out and off the pitch down the right and there’s a booking for the Newport player. There’s an incident in the far corner and McKIrdy gets a booking for a challenge, and the fans down there are screaming for it to be a red, not sure from our distance and angle what it was. Then T Adeyemo picks up a yellow for a bit of a lunge to prevent a break in the Newport half.

Newport have a free kick on the right about twenty-five yards out, it is swung in and Chapman shows the calmest confidence in just leaving the ball to go out wide left even with two strikers bearing down on him and the ball. There are four added minutes at the end of the half and there is clash on heads in midfield, both Williams and a Newport player need treatment and go off.

We play a ball out from the back to Forster down the left, he plays it on to T Richards and he gets a shot off, but it is straight at the keeper. A Newport striker gets forward into the box but is tackled and we clear, and there is another player down. We end up playing six added minutes before the half time whistle goes with the scores level at 0-0.

Coming out for the second half and Williams has a bandaged head, going around his temple and under his chin. We get an early ball into T Adeyemo in the box, and he has a shot which goes just wide. Newport get a cross in from the left and it comes all the way over to the right where the player cuts inside and curls a shot which goes just wide. And we make some early substitutions, with Copley and T Richards being replaced by Max Anderson and Dion Pereira.

A long ball out from Chapman has A Adeyemo racing clear down the right and he gets into the box and to the byline and cuts it back and finds McKirdy in the middle and he prods it in and we lead 1-0. Coffee is spilt in the celebrations in the stand, and the players enjoy it on the pitch as well.

And it isn’t long before we attack again, this time it starts on the right with Barker who comes out from defence and feeds it to A Adeyemo, he plays it into Williams in the middle, and it goes on to Richards on the left, he plays it down the line to Forster and he clips a high cross over the keeper and the defender and it lands perfectly on McKirdy’s head at the far post for his and our second of the game and we lead 2-0 and are in dreamland.

There is still plenty of time to go, and we need to be careful, T Adeyemo misplaces a back pass in midfield straight to a Newport attacker, he plays it to the left and they are one on one with the keeper, but Chapman saves well and it goes for a corner. It’s taken short and we clear. We come down the left and L Richards puts a cross in, but it’s headed back out for a throw. Before we take it, Newport makes some subs, and then we put a cross from the throw out for a goal kick.

Newport win a free kick on the left about thirty-five yards out. It is taken deep and Williams puts it behind for a corner. It goes deep and A Adeyemo picks up and sprints forward with it before putting it through into the middle to McKirdy, he gets into the box and is taken out by the keeper. We might be screaming for a penalty if he hadn’t been offside when the ball was played to him.

A deep Newport cross from the right finds a head on the end of it but it goes well over the bar. A Adeyemo is down injured on the right, and he is immediately subbed off with Akin Odimayo coming on to replace him. A ball won in midfield falls to Forster, he goes forward and beats a man and has a shot from the edge of the area which is just over. Barker is taken out in midfield and there’s a booking for the Newport player.

A spell of possession in the Newport half ends with the ball getting to Pereira on the right, he cuts inside and tries to curl a shot in, but it goes straight to the keeper. Newport go down the other end and pull a ball back to the edge of the area but the shot goes well over the bar, and we make out final substitutions, there will be no hat trick for McKirdy as he is replaced by Louis Watson, and L Richards is replaced by Jonny Russell.

I haven’t mentioned Scott Malone, but he just does everything so calmly, picks up the scraps, makes those interceptions, and lays those balls out of defence with ease, and you can see him marshalling the other players, pointing for them as to where they should be running to get the ball. He has been a massive miss when out injured.

Newport win a corner and take it short, it is charged cow for a throw which is taken long into the box, there’s a bit a panic in there, but the shot goes wide to the relief of the players (and us watching). We win the ball in the midfield, and it falls to Forster, he plays it to Watson who slips the perfect ball into Pereira in the box only for him to put his shot well over the bar.

Newport have a spell of possession in our half, and despite screams for an offside they work it out to the left and get a shot off which goes just wide. There are six added minutes, and there is a scuffle in the uncovered stand of the Crawley fans and one of them is carried out by stewards and another is escorted out. It looked to be the same guy who’d had a go at coaching staff at the Boreham Wood game earlier in the season.

A Newport cross from the right is headed behind for a corner. It is taken deep and we get it and try to break and play a long ball down the channel, but it is too long and the Newport keeper gets it. The final whistle goes and it is a 2-0 away victory. Only the third away win of the season, and against relegation rivals such a massive result.

The crowd was announced as a healthy 6,146 with an outstanding 523 Crawley fans having made the trip to South Wales. Lots of hanging around to applaud the players today.

And there was the big post-game huddle in front of the fans with all the players and staff. It’s a good look.

Around us, Harrogate Town won, but stay bottom, level on points with Barrow who held MK Dons to a goalless draw (as we did), and Tranmere Rovers lost, which means we leapfrog over them into the heady heights of twentieth in the league, although Barrow and Tranmere have a game in hand on us, but we now have better goal difference than the pair of them. It looks better but there is no time for complacency, we are only four points above the relegation places.

We made a stop at the hotel to pick up bags and so missed the crazy train back to London. At the station waiting for our train we did see the solo travelling Harry McKirdy, it makes us wonder whether he suffers from coach travel sickness as I do.

Quiz Time – Besides Newport County, and the other three Welsh sides currently in the League (Cardiff City, Swansea City, and Wrexham), how many other Welsh clubs have there been in the Football League and name them.

Next up, it’s an Easter Monday home game with Grimsby Town the visitors. Let’s keep this winning streak going. Come on you reds.

The Thrill Is Gone

Well, perhaps the way we’ve been playing recently, it hasn’t really been much of a thrill for the watching fans attending games. But Scott Lindsey is now gone, and on a positive note, there was the tremendous experience of the Wembley win in the playoffs less than two years ago. A lot of people have done this song, but I’m going for the BB King version, the best-known version, but a 1969 cover of the original done by Roy Hawkins in 1951. It didn’t chart in the UK but did reach number fifteen in the US charts in 1970.

Quiz Time Answer – Fleetwood Town have the nickname of ‘The Cod Army’, but which other League Two side used to have someone holding a large freshly caught cod for the players to touch for luck as they ran onto the pitch? Grimsby Town, and there will be photographic proof in the piece when we play them.

After the quiz answer coming from the last piece, a few words about the originally published version. I don’t know what my fingers were doing, but it was all over the shop, words missing, wrong words used, letters missing from words, letters added to words, non-sensical punctuation. It looked more like a blind, dyslexic chimpanzee had written it after ten pints. I only noticed any of this as I was editing it down ready for that report’s inclusion in today’s programme. Ellywelly1 would have been apoplectic, as although he’s not on the forum being the grammar police, he did pop up on the BBC comments page of the game against Fleetwood berating someone for their grammar use.

Anyway, after correcting the dozen or so errors late on Sunday night, I flicked onto Facebook to find that at five to eleven Crawley Town had stuck the announcement that Scott Lindsey and Neil Smith ‘have left the club’. It had been coming, some will say it’s too late, or it’s well overdue. As I’ve stated before, I don’t believe he should have come back at all. Two years on from it being the right man in the right place at the right time with the right combination of players, instead of going to the last day being in a battle with Barrow for the last play-off spot, we are instead battling with them to avoid relegation from the football league. Not a place anyone needs to be.

The club also announced that the players and owner were going to subsidise coach travel for fans to go to the Newport County game on Good Friday, which is a positive step. It’s far too long a journey for me to be on a coach, I struggled on the one coach I’ve been on this season on the trip to Bromley. So it’s train and an overnight stay for Helen and me instead.

And then they have allowed Antony Papadopoulos to go out on loan to Chelmsford City for the rest of the season. It’s good that he’s going to get some playing time, but it is a shame just how much he has been dicked around by the club.

And after many media outlets had said it on Tuesday afternoon and evening, the club finally confirmed just before half ten at night that the new head coach until the end of the season will be ex-Premier League, ex-Champions League, and Turkish International player, Colin Kazim-Richards, would be the new head coach. He has been coaching within the youth setup at Arsenal, a career path previously seen at the club at the start of our last relegation from League Two haunted season when we had Kevin Betsy in charge. It’s a risk, and if the results go the same way as the start of that Betsy reign, then we are fucked. So let’s hope it isn’t. Let’s hope it is a successful gamble. And let’s welcome him with a quick look at some cards and stickers he’s been on.

He started his career at Bury, but in June 2005, at the age of 18, he ended up just down the A23 at Brighton & Hove Albion. The contract was signed after a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, won the £250k for the club to sign him in a competition run by Coca-Cola which, in turn, led to him being known as the “Coca-Cola Kid”. And in positive news he hasn’t mentioned anything about Xylophones Gathered (XG) yet.

The CTSA released the minutes of their AGM from the previous week. From the minutes what did surprise me is the general low level of attendance, and how they are struggling for board members (a thankless task I would imagine having done similar roles for other organisations), and the low numbers actually in the reds rollover draw. It does make me wonder if the new shiny FAB is going to put more of a strain on that. Which I think would be a shame. Personally, I am a member but didn’t attend as it was on Zoom. I hate things on Zoom, in my job I’m on multiple Teams calls during the day, so anything in my own time on Zoom or Teams is not going to fly, especially at the moment whilst I’m off work with depression/anxiety/stress, I don’t need reminding of that work environment. (Somewhat bizarrely, watching Crawley isn’t making it worse, the football is one of only two things that are keeping me tethered to any kind of reality, even if it is getting somewhat obsessive football overload which I’m then offloading to anyone reading this.)

On Thursday it was announced that Danny Cashman was going out on loan to Sutton United for the remainder of the season. He has been out injured for most of the season, so if he is coming back, it makes sense for it to be a loan move out rather than chucking him in the deep end of a relegation dog fight which probably wouldn’t be the best for anyone concerned at this stage. Let’s survive and then get him back fit to play next season.

Friday saw a new sponsor announced for the goal of the month competition (Lindfield Coffee Works), let’s hope that caffeine boost makes it a more open competition going forward than it was in, say, February.

And then late on Friday night it was announced that Julian Gray was joining as assistant manager. He’s another former member of the Arsenal academy and has come from being lead coach of the under 15’s at Birmingham City and he holds a UEFA A licence.

Going back to the bookshop visit last week, it does seem as if I’m regressing back to childhood, there was one book from the year I was born, the World Football Handbook 1970 is a more text heavy, less figures-based forerunner to the Rothmans yearbook which started a couple of years later. Score would have been a comic I’d get from time to time, and the Shoot annual and quiz book probably book end the years I used to get Shoot, as by the mid-eighties, I’d probably moved onto Match instead (more figures included).

We have played Gillingham seven times in League Two before, with two wins, two draws, and three losses. Then four games against them in League One, with a win, a draw, and two losses. We’ve played them five times in the various names of the Football League Trophy, a single win and four losses (including our first ever game in the competition back in 2005 when conference sides were invited into the competition instead of the under 21 sides), and a loss on penalties against them in the League Cup. It’s not a great record. Although our away draw against them back in November was probably our best away performance (if not result) of the season. There are a few programmes in the collection from games against them over the years.

And in a batch of random programmes which arrived during the week there was this one from 1983 for a Division Three fixture against Southend United.

In the team for Gillingham that day were two players who moved on to topflight football and were both included in the Proset 1990-91 card set – Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino.

Elsewhere Gillingham were at a level where they did get included in a couple of Panini albums in the mid-eighties.

And of course they are in this year’s Panini EFL collection.

In the Gillingham players they have included in that collection, they have Glenn Morris who we signed from them in 2016, and then he went on loan back there before signed permanently for them again in 2023. We originally signed Scott Malone from Gillingham, before he left and rejoined us this season. (he’s won their player of the season for two of the last three years). There has been a lot of overlap of players over the years and others to play for both include John Akinde, Jack Payne, Jake Hessenthaler, Mark Marshall, Luke Rooney, Luca Ashby-Hammond, Josh Wright, Tom Nichols, Ashley Nadesan, Tyrone Berry, Mustapha Caravol, Barry Cogan, Michael Doughty, Connor Essam, Kevin James, Rhys Murphy, Stuart Nelson, Aiden O’Brien, Jordan Roberts, Ben Strevens, Gavin Tomlin, Romain Vincelot, Matty Willock, and Will Wright.

We go into the day five places and fourteen points behind Gillingham, who aren’t on a great run of form themselves. It might have changed before kick-off as Harrogate are at home in an early kick-off against Notts County, who will hopefully be better than they were against Oldham Athletic midweek. Newport County and Barrow both have home games as well, Barrow are playing top of the table Bromley, whilst Newport have an easier game (on paper) against Shrewsbury Town. Above us, for some reason Tranmere Rovers don’t have a game this weekend (there’s not even one on the list as postponed for international call-ups – speaking of which we will be missing Jonny Russell today as he’s in the Northern Ireland u21’s squad).

It was straight to the game from writing group. It’s the group I help run and this session was linked to Crawley WORDfest, and so our little annual booklets have been done with work from the group written in the session in them. If anyone is interested in having one then let me know, we may have some spares left over (they are free).

From one set of printed words to another, as the next edition of the programme was on sale before the game, along with some reprints of the Swindon Town one. Steve was doing a sterling job selling again and we sold out about twenty minutes before kick-off but sold very few of the extras printed for the Swindon game.

And for the first time at a game this calendar year (and only second time this season), Reggie was out and about pre-game. Rick still hasn’t got his DBS (applied for last summer before the season started), so costume maker Matt (who has security clearance and vetting up the yazoo) was in it. It is hoped we’ll have Reggie at the remaining Saturday home fixtures this season. Although it doesn’t help when there are moronic female fans shouting at Reggie ‘get away from me you paedophile’, why should anyone have to take that slanderous abuse. It would serve her right if she were sued for slander.

The weather can’t make its mind up. Bright sunshine? Strong winds? A bit of hail? More sun? Bitter cold? Why not have all of them in a two-hour period?

The new manager has certainly rung the changes. Completely out of the squad for today since the Fleetwood game are Geraldo Bajrami (went off injured), Jonny Russell (international duty), and Kellen Gordon (a bit of a shocker that one); additionally Klaidi Lolos and Taylor Richards drop to the bench, which still doesn’t have a keeper on it, but it does have Max Anderson. Louie Copley also returns from injury and goes straight into the starting lineup, along with Tobi Ademeyo, and Lewis Richards, Ade Adeyemo, and Ronan Darcy get promoted from the bench and start.

We are in our usual all red with white trim home kit, and Gillingham are in all blue. And Gillingham do that dick move of swapping ends before the kick-off. Which means Grant has to change ends for the photos as well.

There is an early Gillingham shout for a handball in the box from a cross. We appear to be playing a back four with Ade Adeyemo slotting in at right back. Scott Malone plays a ball out from defence into Lewis Richards in the box and his cross is deflected back off him and goes for a goal kick. Gillingham have a long throw merchant in their ranks, and he slings in a couple of early bombs into the box, we clear the first and get a free kick on the second one.

A Malone clearance goes over the east marquee for ball loss one of the day. We break and Dion Pereira crosses it and Tobi Adeyemo gets to it out on the left, and plays it to Ronan Darcy, he lays it back to Richards, whose cross hits T Adeyemo’s back and goes to the keeper. We win a corner down the right, and it’s taken deep out to the left, T Adeyemo gets to it and is fouled near the other corner flag. The free kick is taken short and lost. A Adeyemo misses his header in midfield and Gillingham break into the box, but he gets back to make the tackle, and Jacob Chapman collects. There is a Gillingham player down on the edge of the box needing treatment.

When we restart Gillingham attack down the right and work the ball into the box and get a shot which Chapman saves, but the ref blows for a foul in the build up and we get a free kick. It is played long up the right to T Adeyemo, he exchanges passes with A Adeyemo and gets into the box before laying it back to Jay Williams and his shot from just outside the box goes just wide. Gillingham go up the other end and have a shot themselves which drifts wide left.

They get into the box again and a last ditch A Adeyemo tackle puts it out for a corner. It’s taken short and back to the taker and then swung in deep and straight out for a goal kick. Williams wins a free kick in the middle of the Gillingham half, but Chapman is down requiring treatment in the middle of our half. With all the players rushing to the bench for instructions it does ask the question of how genuine it is. The free kick is taken out wide to T Adeyemo who plays it back to Ronan Darcy, only for his return to be too strong and the keeper collects.

A ball out of defence gets to Danilo Orsi on halfway and he is the only Crawley player in that half and after taking it forward about twenty yards he is just outnumbered off the ball. A long ball forward from Gillingham sees A Adeyemo forced to concede a corner. It is taken low and goes straight through the box and is put out for another corner on the other side. That is taken to the near post and the header on it goes wide.

Every time the ball goes long to T Adeyemo the defender is trying to take his shirt off him, to the extent there have been plenty of nipples on display (instead of just the usual tits out there). Then he is scythed down near halfway, and does get a free kick, and there is a booking for the Gillingham player. It goes into the box and A Adeyemo beats a man and gives it to Louie Copley, and he is tackled for a corner. It goes to the near post, and the keeper makes a hash of it but is lucky as it bounces straight back to him.

There are four added minutes. T Adeyemo is fouled again, he gets the free kick, but bizarrely also gets a long lecture from the ref. Gillingham win a corner, it is taken short and then put in deep and there is a scramble in the box and Gillingham are claiming a handball for a penalty again, those claims are waved away and the half time whistle goes with the score at 0-0. We might have had a bit of luck there for once.

Into the second half and the first serious action is Orsi getting gone through the back of, and he is injured and needs substituting, with Harry McKirdy coming on to replace him.

A Gillingham throw down the line is then crossed, it comes all the way over to the other side and there is a shot / pump back in and Malone chests it down and clears off the line for a corner, which is taken deep and goes straight out for a goal kick. T Adeyemo is pulled back on the break, and the ref gives a free kick. It should be a booking and probably would have been if it had been any other player apart from the one Gillingham player he had booked in the first half.

There is a ball out to A Adeyemo, and he plays in onto Pereira down the wing, he gets it into McKirdy in the box and his shot is saved, T Adeyemo gets to the rebound but slices his shot and it goes over the bar. At the other end Gillingham get into the box, have a shot which is put out for a corner, and that is swung in straight to Chapman. He boots it out to Pereira down the right, and he plays it back to Williams, there’s a cross into the box and McKirdy gets to it and gets a shot off which is saved.

The clearance is long and bounces twice before finding a Gillingham player in our box, and they have a shot which goes out over the Eden Utilities Stand for ball loss two of the day. We play it out to Williams, and he plays a ball forward, but it is headed back out, he slides in to win the ball, but when it goes forward, we have two players offside. A long ball forward by Gillingham is shepherded back to Chapman but Malone is down from the challenge. He takes a while to get back to his feet but looks all right. And then the next time Gillingham get into our box Malone is in the wars again, this time taking a high boot to the chest which sees a booking for the Gillingham striker.

We work the ball out down the left, across to Williams in the middle, and over again to A Adeyemo on the right, and he lines up a shot from outside the box, which flies over the bar and over the KRL Logistics stand for ball loss three of the day. Gillingham get the ball forward again, and as we clear it from out box A Adeyemo is absolutely clattered and there is a third booking for Gillingham.

It is time for a raft of substitutions, with Copley, Pereira, and Darcy making way for the returning Max Anderson, Taylor Richards, and Harry Forster. Williams gets a booking in midfield. Not sure how much contact there was, but the dive to the ground by the Gillingham number 30 would have scored highly for artistic merit in the Olympics. The free kick goes into the box and is headed out for a throw. It’s taken long, headed back to the taker and a cross goes to the back post where the header goes straight to Chapman.

We make out final substitution with L Richards making way for Akin Odimayo, which means A Adeyemo swaps over to left back now. There is then five minutes of not very much at all. A bit of filler. Then Gillingham get down the right and put in a deep cross which Odimayo heads out for a corner. It is punched clear by Chapman.

There are six added minutes, and people have been streaming out for the last five minutes. Forster goes down the left and puts a cross in but it is cleared, Odimayo wins it back and plays it to T Adeyemo in the box, he plays it back to Odimayo and then it is on to Richards on the edge of the box, he cuts across two steps to the left and lets fly, and it squeezes into the bottom corner and we lead 1-0.

Which just makes me want to say to all those muppets who were leaving early – HA HA! Seriously, we’ve scored late late goals in our last three home matches, where the fuck are you going five minutes before the end of the game?

We play it out from the back down the left again, Forster beats a man and then plays it inside to T Adeyemo in the box, he takes a touch and then slams a shot into the back of the net, and we lead 2-0. Absolute scenes. What a feeling of relief and happiness.

The extra couple of minutes on top of the six indicated were expected and we play them out safely and come away with a 2-0 win. What a great result for Colin Kazim-Richards in his first match as manager. Let’s hope it’s the first of many.

The sponsors man of the match was announced as being Charlie Barker. The crowd was announced as being 4,388, the number of away fans was garbled / drowned out but was a decent number over 900.

We have seen the pre-kick-off huddle in the middle of the pitch from our players all season, but today saw a post-game one, a new message of togetherness under the new manager perhaps?

Before they started their applause of the fans – well, those who were still there and hadn’t missed the two goals and the victory. It may not have been pretty at times, but there was commitment there and at this point results are much more important than performances, and goals scored are much more important than the number of xylophones gathered.

Harrogate Town lost in their early kick-off, but both Barrow (who came from behind against top of the table Bromley) and Newport County also won, so it is still tight, and we are now only two points behind Tranmere Rovers as well, although they, like Barrow, have a game in hand on us.

Quiz time – Taken from that Shoot 1984 quiz book mentioned a few thousand words ago. “Last year Charlton Athletic paid a club record fee of £300,000 to Barcelona for whom?”

Next up is a Good Friday clash against fellow relegation strugglers, in our international game, over the border in Wales against Newport County. Blah blah blah must win game, blah blah blah. Or more accurately, it is a must not lose game. The offer of subsidised coach travel has been well received, and as it stands there are three full coaches heading there, with a fourth standby list over half full.

Come on you reds.

In The Bottle

Having already used Fleetwood Mac for the home fixture, I’ve gone for this single which reached the dizzy heights of number 54 in the UK single charts back in May 1983. It was the only charting single for the group C.O.D. and so has been picked because we are playing the Cod Army today. It was also one of the first Electro tracks to chart in the UK, and one of the earliest Hip-Hop records to do so. They only had one more single release, but both members had hits themselves and produced hits for various artists during the eighties. We’ll brush over the fact that the C.O.D. of their name has nothing to do with fish and stands for cash on delivery. And to be fair, after days like this, it’s probably a good job I’ve given up drinking, as in the bottle would be a very likely place to be.

Quiz Time Answer – Besides Barnet, which is the only other current league club whose name is the same as the London Borough they reside in? Bromley.

In between games, besides travelling, there was the usual meander into charity shops, where I picked up the Top 10 of Football. For years I always got the Top 10 of Everything books and the spins offs from them, only stopping when they dumbed them down to aim at a younger market. I remember getting this when it came out but was shocked to see that it came out back in 2010, before either side in today’s game were in the Football League. And so much has changed since then. There are very few static lists in the book, where it can’t have changed (the first ten black players to be capped by England is one I’ve included), but it is a surprise to see just how far some things change over sixteen years, such as the comparison between the ten most capped England players then and now, where half the list has dropped off.

Then reading the most recent edition of When Saturday Comes (it’s fortieth anniversary edition), we get a mention in the letters about our tactic of three up on halfway when defending corners. Although it is a Cambridge United fan that is writing in, and it feels like rubbing salt in the wound that he states he “had the privilege of attending” the only league game I’ve missed all season, rearranged because of his side’s competence in the FA Cup, and one judging by pre-game videos, should never have gone ahead due to the weather conditions.

With Fleetwood coming into the league the year after us, there are no cards for them, so I’ve found one for one of their previous managers – John Sheridan from the Proset 91-92 set.

And of course they are included in this year’s EFL Panini collection.

The only current squad crossover is Toby Mullarkey who now plays for Fleetwood. Previous players to have played for both include Richard Brodie, Adam Campbell, Lyle Della-Verde, Lee Fowler, Dean Howell, Paul Jones, Joe Maguire, Liam McAlinden, Ashley Nadesan, Jamie Proctor, Armando Junior Quitirna, Magno Vieira, Charlie Wassmer, Glenn Wilson, and Richard Wood.

This is only our fourth game against Fleetwood Town in the league, with two coming in League One back in the 2014–15 season where both sides won their home fixture 1–0. We also played them in the FA Cup second round in 2019 at the Broadfield losing 1–2. We also played them in our last season in the Conference, which was Fleetwood’s first at that level, drawing 1–1 at the Broadfield and winning 2–1 away. And we beat them 2-1 at home earlier in the season. There are a couple of programmes against them in the collection.

We go into the game seven places and twenty points behind Fleetwood, with them having lost on Tuesday after an eight-match unbeaten run. And we are still looking over our shoulders, level on points with Newport County, one point ahead of Harrogate Town, and just two ahead of bottom of the table Barrow (who have a game in hand). Like us, all three of them are away, and all of them are playing sides who are vying for playoff places. It’s another long journey for us, so here’s hoping it’s a similar result to the other two journeys as long or longer than this so far this season against two of those three teams below us.

It’s a weekend away for us, not as in some other fan’s cases in Blackpool, but staying in Morecambe with my mum. There was Friday afternoon bookshop action which will get unpacked more in the next write up, and then some hours spent in Fleetwood before the game today, though unfortunately their museum is temporarily closed, and the little ferry over from Knott End hasn’t got it’s season’s running licence yet, so there wasn’t half an hour to be cut off the drive and a little boat trip to be done. It is similar to Barrow in that it is a little over ten miles in a straight line from Morecambe, but even the shortest road journey (miles) is thirty, and the quickest (in time) is forty-five miles.

We did have a bit of a wander around Fleetwood, and there are some nice buildings, but it’s not the same pace of wandering when you have an elderly parent with you, and there was a look of longing / window licking as the vintage shop was walked past and not in.

Lunch in Fleetwood market, and there was lots of football memorabilia on stalls, as usual all the big clubs feature prominently, but it was good to see they include the local side, which is more than we can seem to do in Crawley.

Gametime, we’re at Highbury. This one,

Not this one.

Fridge magnets are online only, got a free pen, but no programme. There are no changes to the starting lineup, but Harry McKirdy and Lewis Richards return to the squad, with Tobi Adeyemo and Justin Ferizaj dropping out.

We are in the all-black third kit, never a good sign, as Fleetwood are in home colours of red shirts, white shorts, and red socks.

It’s a bright sunny afternoon, yet at the same time it’s a bit hazy, and directly in our eyes, so any photos are pure guesswork as to where I was pointing it. But unfortunately it wasn’t hazy enough for me to see what was going on in the game.

Into the game, and we get an early corner, it’s taken deep and headed back across and met by another corner which goes wide. A couple of minutes later, we’ve had most of the possession, and win another corner, it’s taken deep again, headed back again and a shot is blocked, and then Fleetwood get a free kick.

Fleetwood then attack down the right, beating the offside trap and get a cross in which we clear for a corner over the Portakabin in the corner of the ground. Geraldo Bajrami is down injured and needs treatment. Whilst he is off the pitch the corner comes in and a header in the middle is half blocked and falls to Jacob Chapman as the Fleetwood players close in to force the ball over the line. Another Fleetwood attack follows, down the right again, and the cross comes in, there are claims for a handball, and a shot is deflected wide for a corner, and we get the chance to get a replacement on for Bajrami with Akin Odimayo coming on.

We get a corner down the right, it is taken deep, headed back in, and cleared out to the right, Dion Pereira cuts inside and curls a shot and a defensive header deflects it out for another corner. It hits the first man, and Kellen Gordon pumps it back in but the offside flag is up.

The Fleetwood right winger is getting a lot of joy down that side, and they are getting crosses in, another one comes in and there is a free header near the penalty spot, but it is close enough to Chapman for him to make a decent save from it.

The ref is letting a lot go on both sides. To an extent I can understand it being a bit agricultural out there, after all the pitch does remind me of a ploughed field in places. Danilo Orsi wins a free kick about twenty-five yards out to the left of the box, but ref only gives it reluctantly on the second foul after he was already on his knees. Taylor Richards takes, but I’m not sure if it was a cross or a shot and the keeper claims it quite easily.

Fleetwood win a corner after Jonny Russell tries (and fails) to shepherd a ball out for a goal kick. It comes in and is nodded down and there is a shot which goes well over the bar from about three yards out when it may have been easier to score. Odimayo is down after a challenge from the resulting goal kick. It looks worse than it is, and Steve Herbert reckons it wasn’t even a foul (he’s come and sat next to us and is chatting away. It’s slightly more entertaining than the game) but the Fleetwood player gets a booking for it.

We are trying to make a mess of things, passing it back to Chapman more than needed, Chapman taking a bit long and gets one of his punts up field blocked and it comes back to a Fleetwood striker, the offside flag is up thankfully, and the whistle goes before he takes the shot and puts the ball in the net. That was more of a booking than the one they’d just got. Fleetwood win another corner and Russell is down in a heap as he deflected the ball with his balls for the corner. It’s taken to the near post and cleared.

There are four added minutes at the end of the half and we break; Klaidi Lolos switches the ball to Gordon on the right and his cross in takes a deflection and ends up with the keeper. Pereira gets the ball in midfield and sets off on a mazy run beating three players before getting a shot off which takes a deflection for a corner, and it comes in straight to the keeper. The half time whistle goes, and it is scoreless.

Steve has pointed out that the Highbury stand on the far side of the pitch from us has been built in front of the old stand (as Bromley are doing with theirs) but have never removed the old stand behind it.

He did ask for me to get a photo of the flags, but it was too bright for me to see the mini screen on the camera, so I made a pig’s ear of that. Twice.

Anyway, into the second half. There is an early stoppage as a Fleetwood player is down. There is a drop ball restart, and we work it to Richards in the middle and his shot from distance is over the bat. We play a long ball forward to Russell in the box, but he is disposed. A couple of borderline tackles, one from each side are ignored and the games calms down and falls into a midfield morass.

Only for Fleetwood to come out down the right again, beating a player, then cutting inside, they play it across the front of the box to the left, and back to the middle where everyone’s favourite prison bird puts a shot in which beats Chapman and we trail 0-1. Having not been to a Fleetwood match before, what came next was both a surprise, and in retrospect, probably the only bright spot of the afternoon as they played the Captain Pugwash theme as a goal celebration.

Before the restart we make a couple of substitutions with Lolos and Russell going off to be replaced by Ronan Darcy and Ade Adeyemo. Only to nearly give another goal away and another Chapman clearance is charged down, but fortunately Fleetwood take too long over having a shot, we get a block in and the ball falls nicely for Chapman to collect.

We attack down the right and Gordon’s cross is just behind the two players in the box and put out for a throw. It’s taken short to Pereira and his cross in is nodded clear. Scott Malone plays a ball down the left to Adeyemo who gets into the box, plays it back to Darcy, but it’s whipped off his toes. It comes back down the left again and Darcy plays it Adeyemo who beats a man and puts a cross in which is deflected for a corner. It’s taken deep, headed back across, and cleared off the line with a couple of players claiming it went over the line. It is put back in, and we win another corner only to give away a free kick when that comes in.

Pereira and then Richards are felled in quick succession in midfield, but nothing is given, Darcy has a retaliatory foul, and the ref does give that, but in doing so pisses the Fleetwood players off as the advantage was on and they were in on goal in numbers. Sometimes incompetent refereeing can help. A long throw on the left gets over to Gordon and his shot is blocked d cleared. It comes back out to Adeyemo on the left and he gets past two and into the box and is then blocked out and we get a corner. It’s taken deep and cleared, then put back in but intercepted and Fleetwood break, they have three on one at the halfway line, but the one manages to force them out right and when a cross comes in it is challenged and the header is claimed by Chapman.

Time for more subs with Malone and Pereira making way for the returning Lewis Richards and Harry McKirdy. The latter is soon in action, and we get into the box and look to have a chance, but McKirdy is penalised for a foul, which is a joke as the defender had spent the ten seconds up to that point trying to relieve him of his shirt. We get a free kick about thirty-five yards out, dead centre, it’s worked sideways to create an angle, and Charlie Barker pings it out to Adeyemo on the left, he drifts in and crosses, but it’s put out for a corner. Taken short and swung in but easily cleared.

There’s a lot of sideways and backwards passing and then the ball ends up with L Richards about forty yards out and he just lets fly. The keeper gets fingertips to it to nudge it onto the post, and it goes for a corner. Which we only just stop a break from on the halfway line. We get a free kick, and Darcy puts it into the box, Jay Williams gets on the end of it, but the header is tame and straight to the keeper.

McKirdy breaks into the box and beats a couple of men before going down under a challenge. He is claiming a penalty, and the ref takes a few seconds to make a decision before pointing for a goal kick. With the reaction from that, and the shirt pulling one earlier, it’s a surprise McKirdy hasn’t got a booking. There is a free kick on the right, it’s taken deep into the box, and cleared.

As in the first half, there are four added minutes. Fleetwood play a long ball down the right, waltz into the box and have a shot which is blocked. We come down the right and Gordon is fouled just to the right of the penalty area, which brings a booking for the Fleetwood player. There is no urgency to take the damn thing though, and Chapman comes up for it as well, it is cleared and it takes a tackle from Adeyemo just before halfway to prevent a chance.

The full-time whistle goes and it is another defeat on the road 0-1. There was an announcement for Fleetwood’s man of the match, but no mention of the crowd, let away the away contingent, but we reckon it must have been 175+. Some were in fine voice, but being well oiled, not necessarily singing the same song, and the post-match reception of players was on the whole a good one. It’s reckoned that sixty of them are spending the night in Blackpool. That will be messy.

Somehow, despite the result we stay twenty-first in the table, as all of the bottom seven in the league lost today. I don’t know how many times it needs to be said, but we can’t keep relying on all the other teams below us being as shit or shitter than we are. (Even if Barrow did take a 5-0 thumping at Grimsby.)

Quiz Time – Fleetwood Town have the nickname of ‘The Cod Army’, but which other League Two side used to have someone holding a large freshly caught cod for the players to touch for luck as they ran onto the pitch?

Next up next Saturday is a home game against Gillingham, and as the keyboard can now type without any aid from my fingers, it is a must win game for us.

Come on you reds.

No Trophy

Well, obviously where we are concerned. But this was the non-charting 2001 debut single (and subsequently on 2002 debut album ‘Sunshine Hit Me’) from Isle of Wight band, The Bees. Chosen as that is the nickname of this evening’s opponents.

Quiz Time Answer – When Colchester United were promoted back to the league after winning the Conference in 1991-92, how many other current league teams did they play during that season, and who were they? Three – Wycombe Wanderers, Cheltenham Town, and Barrow. The first were runners-up to Colchester, and that season is what kicked off their fierce rivalry. The other two were both relegated that season.

After the lack of goals on a Friday evening in the bore draw away at Colchester, it did leave a gap in the Saturday afternoon timetable. Therefore I thought I would fill it with some more football action and went to the Three Bridges home game against Sevenoaks. I saw TAFKAL at the game as he co-sponsors the match winner. I’d heard him as well as he wasn’t stood far away in the first half and so the familiar words of “he doesn’t want it”, and “get on with it” were bellowed. There were other Crawley fans there, I didn’t find out until afterwards that it was half price for CTFC season ticket holders. Helen made a quip of “there’s another refugee” about someone wearing a CTFC coat, and they took offence and went and sat on the other side of the ground instead. And Three Bridges do an online programme, so in a real rarity for me, I used the QR code to download it. It’s OK, just what you need at this level.

With Three Bridges table topping and having won two of their last three games 6-1, I though there would be a good chance of actually seeing some goals. And it didn’t take long, just under ten minutes as they worked a good opening and scored the opening goal. It should have been two midway through the half, but the only person in the ground who didn’t think the ball had crossed the line was the linesman on the far side of the pitch who vehemently waved his flag to say it hadn’t crossed the line (replays shows he was wrong). And then a couple of minutes before half time they were denied a stonewall penalty.

The second half went a bit differently, Three Bridges seemed to drop a level, perhaps thinking they had the game won, and Sevenoaks, whilst not ripping up any trees, raised their game a bit. With just over ten minutes to go they got a penalty for a push in the back in the box (Jonny Russell would have been jealous after the game last week). The Three Bridges captain was less than impressed by the decision and booted the ball high over the small stand we were sat in and it probably cleared Haslett Avenue East as well. Sevenoaks converted the penalty and it was all square. And with two minutes to go Sevenoaks got down the right, tempted the keeper out there and then crossed it into the middle to an unmarked striker two yards out in front of goal. Playing rugby it would have been three points for a drop goal. Playing football it was a horrendous miss. Then in the last minute of five added, star man for Three Bridges Reece Halland tip toed his way past four or five Sevenoaks players, rounded the keeper, and slotted it in for a late late winner.

For someone who wasn’t invested in the result it was a decent afternoon’s action, and the great thing is how easy going it is at games at this level, and it feels like a real social occasion for the 254 fans. The win leaves them eight points clear at the top of the table.

The game was also an interesting diversion away from the dread of watching scores on Soccer Saturday. Harrogate lost in the early game of the day on Saturday as Salford got a late winner. Barrow got a point as they were held to a goalless draw with Accrington. Unfortunately what looked good at half time with Barnet leading Newport, turned to shit in the second half as they allowed Newport to score two and beat them, and so we dropped a place to twenty-second in the league. Let’s hope Barnet are as accommodating this evening.

Is it just me that finds the new e-mail barrage from the club a bit over the top. I’m getting pre-match e-mails with information such as ‘how to get to the stadium’, as if a fucking season ticket holder doesn’t know that by this stage in the season. And there are the post-match survey type e-mails. I can understand both for first time, or occasional ticket buyers, but it’s tiresome for season ticket holders.

All of our previous nine league appearances against Barnet have come in League Two, with four wins, two draws, and three losses, with it being two wins, a draw, and a loss both at home. There was also a 1993 FA Cup tie against them which we lost. We also played them in non-league; in the Southern League Division 1 in 1965–66 drawing at home and losing away, in the 1969–70 Southern League Premier season again drawing at home and losing away, in the 1976–77 Southern League Division 1 season winning at home and losing away, and in the 2004–05 Conference season where we lost home and away. We also played them in the Southern League Cup in the 1967–68 season, winning at home, and losing away, and going out on aggregate. There was also a pre-season friendly against them in 1998 which was a home goalless draw. There are a few programmes in the collection from games against them.

I’d used the Barry Fry card from the Proset 91-92 collection for the away game on New Year’s Day, but have also found another from that set, of Gary Bull, Steve’s cousin.

There is also of course the half page from this year’s Panini EFL collection. (Although as I type that for each game, I’m wondering whether there should be an EFL panini collection, and therefore would the CTFC one be the delicious tripe and onions?)

I have nothing else for them, their badge doesn’t warrant a mention in the beautiful badge book, which I think is a shame. Its shield stands on a scroll and within it are the club’s initials. The shield itself has a green mound, and it represents Barnet Hill, and on top of the hill is a football and on each side of the ball are two corner flags that are flying the club colours. The symbols in the chief of the shield have been lent from the borough coat of arms. The red and white background and the red and white roses are alluding to Lancashire and Yorkshire. Lancashire has the red rose and Yorkshire the white. These along with the swords allude to the War of the Roses. The last battle of the war was fought on Hadley Green in 1471, close to Barnet (I think the writer of that last sentence may be wrong, as Bosworth Field was 1485!).

There was no overlap of players back on New Year’s Day, but since then Barnet have bought Kabongo Tshimanga off us, and he’s been scoring regularly, so if he could take a day off today, that would be great. There have been lots of players to play for both sides; John Akinde, David Hunt, Gavin McCallum, Izale McLeod, Mark Marshall, Luke Gambin, George Francomb, Jordan Maguire-Drew, Reece Grego-Cox, David Sesay, Dom Telford, Josh Wright, Josh Payne, Bondz N’Gala, Josh Dohery, Oliver Allen, Shaun Batt, Andre Blackman, Mason Bloomfield, Billy Clifford, Conor Clifford, Ross Jenkins, Craig McAllister, Daniel Powell, Mark Randall, Raphael Spiegel, Ben Streven, Magno Vieira, Anthony Wordsworth, Ben Wright, and Barry Cogan.

We go into the game ten places and twenty-three points behind Barnet, and only point outside the relegation places, above Barrow who have a game in hand (against Oldham Athletic in April). They are away at Salford City who managed a late winner against bottom of the table Harrogate Town on Saturday, so more of the same please. Newport are at home against top of the table Bromley in the slightly earlier 7:30pm kick-off, and Harrogate are away against Tranmere, who have the worst current form in the division. We need points as we are well behind where we were three seasons ago.

Getting there early and Steve Leake is already selling the programmes. It is a fairly slow sales night. And when I go into the ground a couple of minutes before kick-off, there are a lot of spaces around, both in the terrace and in the east marquee.

We are in our usual red home kit with the white trim, whilst Barnet are in blue and white vertically striped shirts, white shorts and socks.

It is a more positive start from Crawley than we had against the same opposition on New Year’s Day. But that wouldn’t have been difficult. Kellen Gordon is offering a threat down the right and has pinged three early crosses into the box, but they have all been cleared. Another ball into the box sees a header on the far side come back off the post, there is an almighty scramble in there, three shots are blocked at source, and Barnet smuggle it clear.

The game is a bit feisty too. Scott Malone gets away without a booking for a pull back in the Barnet half as they try to break, and then he has a coming together with a Barnet player on the left and both players are getting a lecture from the ref. Another attack and a cross in comes back to Charlie Barker, but he slices his shot and it just about creeps over the line before getting to the corner flag and goes for a goal kick not a throw. A Barnet free kick on the right goes all the way across the box and we take three attempts by different players to clear, but it comes back from the left and goes across the six-yard box and is put out for a corner. Which we clear, but the clearance hits and breaks one of the drainpipes on the east marquee.

Barnet press forward again and get a shot off which takes a deflection and goes out for a corner. It’s taken short and back to the taker, then put deep and it goes out for a goal kick. The ref is talking to players again, and somewhere in there, there appears to be a booking for a Barnet player. We attack down the right and Gordon gets a cross into the box, there are another two smothered attempts at shots and the ball comes back out to Gordon, this cross sees a header on the end of it, but the ball goes out over the KRL Logistics stand for ball loss number one of the evening, and claims it should have been a corner.

There is a corner at the other end as Barnet attack. The west stand can be heard barracking the ref. We clear the corner and get it towards Gordon who is bulldozed over from behind, but nothing is given, and Barnet get another corner, and before it’s taken the ref is in the box talking to the players again. The corner is taken deep and there’s a shot at the far post which goes just wide.

TAFKAL is missing out on an opportunity to offer advice to the linesman on our side of the pitch. He is elsewhere as he is attending the Sussex Senior Cup (does anyone remember that competition?) semi final at Lancing as Three Bridges are playing Worthing (and they won 4-2 to reach the final). Meanwhile Gordon is doing a decent job of chuntering at lino this side himself, but then Dan from Spotted trots down to the boards and offers the lino his glasses. Well, at least it cheers the marquee up a bit.

We have a free kick in midfield, and it’s pumped forward into the box, cleared, and Barnet break and end up with a corner of their own from the blocked cross. It’s taken to the near post, put back to the edge of the box and the shot is well wide. Attempts to get out of our own half fail and Barnet get another shot from the edge of the area which Jacob Chapman gets down well to push round the post for a corner. We clear and go down the other end, put a cross in from the left and it finds Gordon at the back post, his shot is blocked, as is the follow up, and it is cleared.

There is an off the ball clash and Gordon appeared to have been elbowed. There’s no decision about it as none of the officials have seen a thing. It’s just a Barnet throw. To be fair it is like a game of skittles out there, players are going down from ‘challenges’ all over the pitch, the ref is letting a lot go, which isn’t helping him, and pissing both sets of fans off as he picks and choses at random which ones he deigns to be fouls.

Barnet win a corner, it’s taken short, put back into the box and a deflected shot can’t quite be stopped from going for a corner by Chapman. That one is taken to the near post, flicked on and Chapman saves. He launches it downfield and it is well taken down by Danilo Orsi, he feeds Gordon and his cross is put back out for a throw. Barker puts a long one in and we win a corner, which is taken too deep and just goes straight out for a goal kick.

It is getting very snippy out there. It seems the ref is lecturing players at every dead ball situation before he lets the throw or kick be taken. Jonny Russell charges down an attempted clearance on the left and the ball spins to Orsi in the box, but the flag is up for offside. There is one added minute at the end of the half during which Geraldo Bajrami picks up a booking, the ref indicating it is a totting up of fouls for that, which is odd as I’ve not seen Bajrami give any free kicks away. If it had been Malone, then I’d have understood. The free kick comes into the box, and the shot is wide and the half time whistle goes with the scores level at 0-0.

Into the second half and we have an early attack down the left, Russell plays it on to Klaidi Lolos, he cuts inside and his shot is blocked. It comes back to Malone who plays it through to Lolos in the box, but his cross is cleared. Barnet win a free kick on the left-wing level with the box, but it is taken deep and goes straight out for a goal kick.

There is lots of head tennis going on in the middle of the park. And we’re not doing particularly well at it, Barnet do better and get the ball out to the right and ping a low cross through the six-yard box and we just about toe it out for a corner, which is swung straight to Chapman. We give a throw away on the left and it’s hurled into the box, headed back out and then a deep cross is put into the far post, this is headed back across the goal and bundled in at the other post and despite the claims for offside, we trail 0-1.

We play it long down the left from the kick-off, and switch it over to the right to Gordon, he pulls it back into the middle of the park and Taylor Richards picks up, beats a man, and gets into the D before being fouled and we win a free kick. After a committee meeting, Lolos takes, the wall jumps, he puts in under the wall, but there isn’t any real power to it, and it is an easy save.

Coming out from the back and it’s like a war of attrition out there, one of our players goes down after a heavy challenge, then a Barnet winger does likewise, and when another of our players is taken out there is a booking for the Barnet player. As the downed players slowly get to their feet we make a couple of substitutions, with Lolos and Russell being replaced by Ronan Darcy and Harry Forster.

Then we have a passage of play where we have the ball forward and into the Barnet box, only to spend the next thirty seconds playing it sideways and backwards, only just avoiding giving it to a striker in the middle of our half before putting it out for an unnecessary throw level with our own box. But from that Richards picks the ball up on the edge of the box and runs forward with it before being grappled to the ground on halfway and there is another booking for a Barnet player.

We follow this up with a whole series of play of getting balls into the box, it is pinballing around, and we’re not quite able to get a shot out of it, it’s recycled and we do the same three times, before Orsi overruns one in the box and it goes out for a goal kick. At which point the Barnet keeper goes down ‘injured’. Whilst waiting for the miraculous recovery we make another substitution with Malone being replaced by Akin Odimayo.

After play restarts there’s a promising break down the right as Gordon, Barker, and Dion Pereira combine well and put a cross into the box, but there’s an infringement in there and it’s a free kick to Barnet. Back down the right again and a Gordon cross is hefted over the Eden Utilities Stand for ball loss two of the night, and a corner. It comes in and the keeper claims and then goes down ‘injured’ again.

At the other end Chapman smacks a clearance at a Barnet player and it spins back and hits the post and goes out for a goal kick. Barnet then get a corner, it comes in and Chapman snatches the ball off the line with the Barnet players claiming it was over (it may well have been), but the lino (now obviously wearing Dan’s glasses) has his flag up for offside. We make our final substitution with Pereira being replaced by Tobi Adeyemo.

A Gordon cross finds Forster on the edge of the box, but his shot doesn’t have enough power to beat the keeper. A ball down the right and there’s a deep cross; Forster retrieves and puts it deep himself and it flicks off a Barnet head for a corner. It goes into the near post and is headed half clear, Gordon steams into the box to win it and there’s a coming together and he goes down. It doesn’t look like anything’s going to be given, but eventually the ref blows his whistle and points to the penalty spot. There’s the usual surrounding of the ref from opposition players, but it stays a penalty for a change for us, and there’s another booking for a Barnet player. Orsi takes, and the keeper goes the right way, but it is in, Orsi has his first goal for us since his return, and we are level 1-1.

There were ‘fans’ that missed that goal as they’d already left. Seriously, why even bother coming at all, you’ve seen us pull out later goals than that in our last two home matches, what the fuck are you playing at? After the goal, there’s argy-bargy with getting the ball back to halfway, and Darcy and a Barnet player pick up bookings for it.

As the game restarts there are seven added minutes shown. A free kick in our half is pumped down the right, passed inside to Jay Williams, and he plays it across to Darcy who pings a shot which the keeper gets down well to tip round the post. It is cleared for a throw and Barker launches it into the box but there is free kick to Barnet. Another ball up and there’s a shot from Richards, but he slices it and it spins out for a goal kick.

The ref blows the final whistle, and it finishes as yet another draw 1-1. There was no announcement of the crowd numbers (not expecting them to be very high), and a quick garbled announcement that the sponsor’s man of the match was Taylor Richards. I’m not convinced either side is happy with a point, and neither side would be happy with the officiating. I’m sure the ref must have had a magic eight ball in his pocket guiding him on which decisions to give to which side.

Surprisingly, the point saw us go up a place in the table. Newport County lost, so we go above them on goal difference. Barrow lost and drop to the foot of the table, but Harrogate Town won 3-0 at Tranmere Rovers and are now just a point behind us and Newport. We have to start converting some of these draws into wins. And converting more of these chances and penalty area scrambles into goals.

Quiz Time – Besides Barnet, which is the only other current league club whose name is the same as the London Borough they reside in?

Next up is the long trek up to play Fleetwood Town on Saturday, which is hopefully far enough north for us to pick up our third away win of the season.

Come on you reds.

There’s No Other Way

Seeing as half of Blur hail from Colchester, I’ve gone for this Blur single from their debut album “Leisure”, which reached number eight on the UK singles chart (and after all, the only way is Essex apparently). I had a few lined up depending on the outcome and performance.  (“This Is A Low”, “Death Of A Party”, “To The End”, “No Distance Left To Run”, “Out Of Time”, “Battery In Your Leg”, “Charmless Man”, or very optimistically woo hoo “Song 2”.)

Quiz Time Answer – A very similar style question to the one after the away game against this opposition, just a different trophy. Swindon Town won the Anglo-Italian Cup back in 1970, but which other Anglo-Italian Cup winning side have we played this season? Notts County.

A question keeps flashing through my mind after the Swindon game, are we going to have any fit defenders? Scott Malone was limping off on Saturday, I saw Theo Vassell post-game on Saturday on crutches, and someone else says they saw Josh Flint on crutches as well.

And more thoughts on Saturday; back to the ref, I forgot to mention the twice the ball hit him in the second half (both on Swindon attacks), and he waved play on. Should be automatic (and contested) drop ball.

The post-match handbags got blown out of proportion by The Sun looking for clickbait on Sunday, pointing the finger at Jay Williams, when it’s obvious it’s the Swindon keeper causing what aggro there was. And finally, I heard about several people who missed the equalising goal. (Then on Thursday both clubs were charged “The FA has alleged that both Crawley Town Football Club and Swindon Town Football Club failed to ensure that their players and/or officials did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way following the full-time whistle.” Nothing mentioned on our website, I got this from Swindon’s.)

Why would anyone leave before the end when only trailing by one goal, especially after the late late show in our previous home game. I bet these people leave concerts before the encore, because they aren’t particularly bothered about hearing the best / most well-known songs. (I knew someone who did this at Blur in Hyde Park, and they forced me to go with them.)

I’d written the above on Monday, so when the Observer came out on Wednesday and Steve Herbert’s column had the header of “I walked out when Crawley Town were 2-1 down. I won’t be doing that again.” I did have a wry smile to myself.

There was talk again of the performance on Saturday being us turning the corner. Again. Which has been said so many times this season I can only assume we are stuck in a housing estate full of dead ends. But surely one of these roads has to lead us out of the estate, hopefully out the top of it and not the bottom.

Not much of interest in the Football League Paper, but the longer the season goes on, the more interested I seem to be in all levels of football (with the probable exception of the Premier League), and so I’m also getting the Non-League Paper as well. One of our former players was on the front (Aramide Oteh – after scoring for Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League South), and there was a feature on Three Bridges in there as well. They’d had one on Horsham the week before, and then both of them have promptly lost. Perhaps it’s best not to be featured. Additionally I’ve been reading the latest edition of Football Weekends, they covered Fulham and Dulwich Hamlet from England, but some of the game hopping European journeys look most interesting.

On Monday it was announced that Jacob Chapman had won the February player of the month in what was a surprise to no one. Tuesday saw Barrow play one of their two games in hand on us, and lose at home to Bristol Rovers, so they stay a point behind us, and only have one game in hand on us now.

Onto the opponents today, there are a few programmes dating back fifteen years in the collection as paths have crossed in both League One and League Two and in cup action as well, and including the double header from the Christmas period, the second of the ones done since we reintroduced supporter produced programmes.

In all we have played them twenty-five times, six in League One, seventeen in League Two, and one each in the Football League Trophy and League Cup. Overall we have won eleven, lost five and drawn nine. Away it is four wins, two losses, and five draws.

I was looking for squad crossover, only to not find any current crossover, but prior to last season that hadn’t been the case for nearly twenty years, there is a lot of crossover, with those to have played for both including John Akinde, Kwesi Appiah, Andrew Bond, Billy Clarke, Billy Clifford, Tom Dallison, Ryan Dickson, Josh Doherty, Tom Eastman, Luke Gambin, Rene Gilmartin, Karl Hawley, Dean Howell, Lloyd James, Beryly Lubala, Izale McLeod, Jeffrey Monakana, Dean Morgan, Magnus Okuonghae, Aramide Oteh, Daniel Pappoe, Josh Payne, Thomas Pinault, Sanchez Watt, and Anthony Wordsworth.

As mentioned in the preamble for the home game, I couldn’t find any cards for them, but I did manage to find a year when Panini were including Division 3 sides in their albums in the early eighties and there’s a sticker from that.

Plus there’s what is in this year’s EFL Panini collection. (I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve sent off for the last few I need now.)

Mind you, I did find four of their former managers in Topps cards, although it’s somewhat ironic that three of the four were players for Ipswich Town who Colchester fans consider one of their main rivals (behind Southend and Wycombe).

There was nothing in the beautiful badge book relating to the Colchester badge, but there were a couple of images from 1950 in this book I found a few weeks ago in a charity shop.

And then yesterday in a batch of programmes I’d got off eBay were some Football League Review magazines from the 1969-70 season, and the centrefold in one was of that season’s Colchester United side.

Colchester have been at the JobServe Community Stadium since 2008, having moved from their original Layer Road stadium (as in the photos above). It would be convenient to get to if the journey weren’t on a Friday and didn’t involve the M25 and A12 at rush hour, so I got the train over early in the day so I could have a look around Colchester, as I’ve never been before. In fact, I’m fairly sure I’ve only been to Essex twice before, once for a work meeting to Brentwood, and a second time when we got a second-hand Kia from a dodgy wide boy on the outskirts between Southend and Leigh-on-Sea.

It did mean a day out to have a look around the city and check out the Roman remains of what was Camulodunum, as it was the first Roman capital of England. And it predates that as Shakespeare’s play ‘Cymbeline’ is probably based here, as it was the home of Cunobelin (who Shakespeare called Cymbeline), king of the Catuvellauni before the Roman’s arrived.

If you came by train and thought it was a long walk along the platform, there’s a reason for that, it’s the longest platform in the UK.

I took a bit of a detour out of town to Layer Road and the site of the old Colchester United stadium. It’s now a small housing estate, with names of Turnstile Square and Bar Terrace, but in the middle of what would have been the pitch us a statue to Peter Wright (fans choice of player of the century) with inscriptions on all four sides of the base. Further up is a Sainsbury local, which was obviously a pub before, bet it would have been rammed on match days.

I wasn’t the only Crawley fan wandering around Colchester during the day, I bumped into Martin and Karen in a charity shop, one of many I went into during the day. Found some vintage Top Trumps, a Shoot annual from the 70s, and a football quiz book which turns out to have been produced to help dementia sufferers.

Elsewhere there were Roman remains, a Castle, several churches, Tudor buildings, Art Deco, Georgian and grand municipal buildings. So many I clicked so much the battery was going on the camera, and I had to find somewhere to dive into for an early tea to recharge it. 

Anyway, to the game, we start proceedings nine places and twenty-three points behind Colchester United, and it is a reversal of fortunes fixture from our game against them at about this time two years ago, when they were the relegation threatened team, and we were the ones within touching distance of the play off places. They won that one, so let’s hope the reversals keep coming and we can win this one.

Colchester have a digital programme, and it’s a good one, with it being light on adverts which is always a bonus.

And in six pages of Crawley Town content, Leigh Edwards is back again with another ‘top ten’, this time of Crawley player of the season winners.

Got to the ground early got to the shop and picked up a pen (6 colours!) and fridge magnet, but perhaps it should be called the Jobsworth stadium, they wouldn’t let me bring my bag in. Fortunately, Emma was close by and let me put it in her car. However I did leave my glasses in the bag. Should make player identification interesting! And to add insult to incompetence they let lots of others in with the same sized, or larger bags.

But to help that we have an unchanged lineup, both on the pitch and on the bench, from Saturday, which is good news as it means Scott Malone’s knock on Saturday wasn’t too bad then. We are in our all red with white trim, and Colchester are in blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts, and white socks. 

It’s a cagey start; it takes a while for anything to happen. A long diagonal ball from Charlie Barker is put out for a throw. Jonny Russell launches one and it’s headed out and a shot from outside the box takes a deflection for a corner. It’s swung under the bar and caught by the keeper. 

We are pressing well and block a ball in midfield, Taylor Richards gets into the box, but it’s cleared for a throw. It’s another Russell rocket and goes all the way over to the right and a cross is put behind for a corner. It’s taken to the near post, headed back, crossed and put out for a throw. Barker takes, it comes back to him, he crosses to the near post, comes back out, put back in and there’s a header on the end of it, but straight to the keeper. 

Colchester break down the right and get a free kick for a second challenge, and Scott Malone gets a booking for the first one. The free kick is taken deep, headed out, put back in but runs for a goal kick. Colchester players have been caught offside three times so far, but them playing on the last man doesn’t bode well. They beat the offside next time around; there are a few passes in our box as we fail to clear and a shot through legs goes wide. They are getting forward more, and a shot from outside the box is straight at Jacob Chapman. And again, down the left, a cross in and a header is saved. 

We break down the left, put it across to the middle a shot is deflected out wide and put back in and Colchester clear and break and get their own cross in which Chapman claims. A long throw on the right is cleared and there is a lightning break and the cross in hits Malone and it forces a good save from Chapman for a corner. It’s taken short and we are asleep and it comes to an unmarked player in the box and his shot is blocked, not sure which of the three defenders who threw themselves at it, it hit.

A strong challenge from Barker on the touchline brings a yellow with the home fans calling for a red. We are struggling to get out of our own half, giving free kicks away, allowing crosses and just about dealing with them. We finally get out and get a throw, Russell heaves it in, but it’s cleared. Back on the left there’s a cross in and an attempted bicycle kick blocked, and it ends up with the keeper. 

Geraldo Bajrami plays it out from midfield to Russell on the left and his cross is put behind for a corner. The keeper makes a bit of a mess of it, and we get another corner on the other side. Taken deep it’s put out for a throw, which is launched into the box and Colchester clear and win a free kick. Then Richards picks up a booking for a late challenge trying to close a defender down.

There’s one added minute and there is an echo of the announcement from the home stand, but they haven’t bothered turning the speakers on in the away end. The half time whistle goes and it’s all square 0-0.

We are out early for the second half which makes a change. It doesn’t seem to do us much good as it takes three minutes for us to get out of our own half. When we do Russell plays it across to Kellen Gordon and his cross is put out for a throw. Russell doesn’t launch it and Colchester and break. We win a free kick in midfield, take ages over it and are offside when it comes in. Colchester break, get a cross in, a shot is blocked, we break and Richards runs box to box, slips it left for Klaidi Lolos, he cuts inside and his shot goes just wide right. 

As an attack is cleared Russell picks up a yellow for a tackle on halfway. Chapman is not having his best kicking game, putting a lot of balls straight out on the left. A blatant dive doesn’t bring about the penalty he and the fans were hoping for. The ref gave a corner but was overruled by the lino who gives a goal kick. The home fans have the cheek to chant ‘shit referee’.

A ball out down the right sees Gordon win a free kick, it’s headed out and we keep it but pass it back to Chapman. A ball out down the right and Dion Pereira plays it to Gordon, and his cross is headed to Richards, and his shot is blocked, gets back to Gordon and he’s tackled for a corner. Which the ref stops twice to have words with Bajrami and the Colchester number 6, the second time after a theatrical dive from the latter claiming an elbow. When the corner comes in it is cleared. 

Substitution time. Malone, Richards, and Russell are replaced by Akin Odimayo, Ronan Darcy, and Harry Forster. Down the left Pereira and Forster combine and Forster is cynically taken out. We win the free kick, but there’s no card. Of course we waste the free kick. Colchester make some subs of their own and we replace Lolos with Tobi Adeyemo.

A long ball out by Colchester goes down the left and they get a cross in which Chapman fumbles behind for a corner. And so the loop begins. It’s taken short and we’ve switched off, it goes over to the right and a shot goes over. Chapman puts the goal kick straight out on the left again, Colchester attack and win a corner. Short again and we put it out for another corner. Taken short, we concede another. And repeat. Then swung in and put behind for, yes you guessed it, and corner. Taken deep, headed clear, put back in and then we put it out for a throw.

We break down the left and win a throw but wasted a chance to use the overlap. And Colchester win it back, break, get a cross in which takes a deflection and Chapman collects. A long ball forward sees an Adeyemo flick onto Danilo Orsi, he lays it off to Darcy and his low shot is saved for a corner. It comes into the box and bounces around without us ever looking like getting a decent chance from it and finally Barker slices an attempt high. 

Chapman shanks another kick straight out on the left. Adeyemo wins a free kick on the left, it’s put into the box and there’s a shot blocked and Colchester win a free kick. 

Forster is the fifth Crawley player to pick up a yellow, this one was for winning a tackle in midfield. The board goes up and it looks like it says seven minutes. Can’t hear the speakers in the home stand, but they may have announced the crowd as well.

We put the ball into the box four times but can’t produce a shot, Colchester break and we pick up yellow number six for Bajrami stopping it. Then the ref blows the final whistle, it was only three added minutes. For the best probably. And it ends 0-0. There was some expectation bias in reading seven minutes as there were a lot of substitutions, both teams were taking an age over throws, goal kicks, and free kicks, although contrary to claptrap elsewhere the physios never got called onto the pitch.

The point is better than nothing but results today could see us in the relegation places by 5pm. Come on Barnet and Accrington. 

Quiz Time – When Colchester United were promoted back to the league after winning the Conference in 1991-92, how many other current league teams did they play during that season, and who were they?

Next up is another evening kick-off, this time at home against Barnet on Tuesday night, and as for all games left this season, we really need a win. What we definitely don’t need is a first twenty minutes like we had at their place on New Year’s Day.

Come on you reds.

Two Left Feet

This is not a comment on how we appear to be playing. It is a nod to the (suspended) manager of the opposition today – Ian Holloway. That is because this was the 2006 debut single from the band The Holloways, which reached number 3 in the UK singles chart. And one of the end of verse refrains is the repeated words “I need some joy in my life.” A win today would help with that. And here’s an image of a Holloway with hair, looking like he could have been in an indie band.

A quick record detour, although it isn’t music, I saw this record in one of Crawley’s charity shops (I know, not like me to be in them at all). For some reason the colourful sleeve and title jumped out at me as I thought about this season. It is all BBC sound effects, and thought it would be related, but then I looked more closely at the listing of tracks and band 3 starts with the sound effect “Restless Crowd – Growing Anger”, which sums up part of our crowd.

Quiz Time Answer – I had mentioned in the preamble piece that Oldham had an owl on their badge similar to the one Sheffield Wednesday have, but which other League club do they have the same nickname (The Latics) as? Wigan Athletic.

Besides the charity shop meanderings, too much time on my hands means there is eBay to scour as well, and so I found this little oddity, a Crawley Town Supporters Club old style van. I shouldn’t be allowed online unsupervised either.

Early on Friday the February player of the month candidates were announced, with January’s winner Jacob Chapman being joined by the only goalscorer of the month in Jay Williams, and to make the numbers up Kellen Gordon. I don’t know why they are bothering, as there is only one possible winner.

Then later on in the day there was a Fan Advisory Board announcement made, as the results of the vote for the four remaining members came in, “The club were incredibly pleased with the high calibre of candidates that applied to be part of the new FAB, and we truly believe that this is an exciting time for fan engagement at Crawley Town Football Club. We are pleased to confirm the following supporters will join the FAB: Sam Jordan, Chris Lord, Dan Maguire, and Steve Leake.” So, both of the two I voted for made it.

Out early this morning and disappointed to see the racists have been out and have lined Southgate Avenue with Union Flags.

Meanwhile the club have (with Emma) produced a video about the inclusion of disabilities for supporters, and it is on various social media channels.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1491999245589359

Back to today’s game, there have been a lot of games between the two, with two FA Cup games, and last season’s Carabao Cup encounter there have been twenty-three games in total, with nine wins, seven draws, and seven losses. At the Broadfield, there have been five wins, five draws, and two losses. And from all those games there are a plethora of programmes for games against Swindon in the collection.

Swindon were reasonably well covered as a lower division side in the eighties Panini albums, there’s a Proset card, and this year’s EFL collection to draw from for cards and stickers for them.

They have a couple of mentions in the beautiful badge book, once about the very old cigarette cards which had town arms and details on, and then later when they have a big town crest to compare to the current badge.

There is a fair bit of crossover in the squad today. Scott Lindsey was Swindon Town’s manager before taking over at Crawley in his first stint. Dion Conroy (although he’s not in our squad list anymore), Harry McKirdy, Ronan Darcy, Akin Odimayo, and JoJo Wollacott have all played for them as well. And Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, and Ben Gladwin were playing for Swindon under Scott in that season before he moved to us. In the current Swindon squad there are Crawley old boys Will Wright, Tom Nichols, and Ollie Palmer. Others to have played for both include Nicky Ajose, Gary Alexander, Anthony Grant, Mark Marshall, Kabongo Tshimanga, Luke Rooney, James Collins, Josh Lelan, Kellan Gordon, and Nathan Byrne.

We go into the game just the eighteen places and thirty-four points behind Swindon, and with a very real danger of ending up bottom of the table tonight if results go against us after Barrow got a point last night and went above us on goal difference.

Getting to the ground early I was surprised to see Steve Leake, only to find that his planned shoulder op had been cancelled late last night, so he was doing roving programme sales, whilst Mick Fox manned the booth, and the programmes sold like hot cakes with the last one going to Carl just before half two.

There are a couple of changes to the starting lineup, with Scott Malone returning from a long-term injury to start on the left of the back three, and Dion Pereira starting. Harry Forster and Ronan Darcy are the ones dropping to the bench.

The away end is full; Swindon have brought well over a thousand (exact figures were drowned out by the fan noise towards the end of the game).

We are in our all red with white trim home kit, and Swindon have gone with white shirts, and blue shorts and socks.

Kicking off and we have early possession, a throw on the left is worked across to Charlie Barker on the right, rolled back to Kellen Gordon and his cross is met by a Geraldo Bajrami header which goes wide. We are having decent possession and have a free kick in midfield, and it gets back to Scott Malone and his shot from thirty-five yards is straight at the keeper. And again we go down the right, Gordon to Dion Pereira, and he cuts inside and his curling dipping shot comes back off the crossbar and is cleared.

Swindon have an attack down the left and a cross in is met by a header which is saved by Jacob Chapman. A throw on our side allows TAFKAL to get an early ‘get on with it’ shouted out, but he’s a bit subdued today as he’s got a headache himself (instead of giving others one).

Danilo Orsi intercepts a back pass and plays it to Pereira, he plays it out to Gordon and his cross is flicked out for a throw on the far side, Jonny Russell shapes as if it will be a long one but takes it short and we just put it out for a throw to Swindon. Pereira is clattered in midfield, but nothing given, and moments later a Swindon player goes down with no one within ten yards of him. He gets treatment and is subbed off.

Meanwhile former Crawley player Ollie Palmer is constantly falling over. I’m assuming it’s because since his appearances on ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ he appears to have become pregnant, either that or we should check if any of his teammates are missing and hiding around his waist, and that this has altered his centre of balance so he can’t stay on his feet. He is down in the penalty box claiming a penalty this time. The ref isn’t interested and gives a goal kick to us.

We work it forward down the right and switch it over to Russell on the left, he plays it into Klaidi Lolos in the box, but he loses it. We get it back and play it out to Gordon, his cross sees a lot of pinball in the box and half chances, it gets back out to Malone on the left, he plays it into Taylor Richards in the middle of the field and his attempt from distance goes over. The bar, the KRL Logistics stand, and would have gone over another KRL Logistics stand stacked on top as well. It probably landed on a passing number 10 bus for ball loss number one of the day.

Coming out from the back down the left with Russell, and it is crossed deep to Gordon on the right, he plays it back to Barker and his shot is deflected for a corner. It’s taken to the near post and there’s a Swindon head on it as it flashes across the goal and out for a corner on the other side. That comes into the box and a Richards header is well saved and the follow up shot bundled out for another corner. When that comes in there is a scramble in the box before the ref blows for a foul in there and Swindon can clear.

We break when Jay Williams wins a ball in midfield and gets it to Pereira, he plays it out to Gordon and his first time cross ends up going straight to the goalkeeper. A ball to Richards in midfield sees him go forward with it and shoot, it stays low this time but goes wide. Barker hits a long diagonal ball to the left corner flag and Lolos retrieved, beats his man twice and puts a cross in which the keeper claims under his own bar.

Swindon have a rare attack and win a corner. We have three up as is now usual, and we clear the corner out to Gordon on halfway, he’s bundled over to prevent a quick break and we get a free kick, but why is there no yellow card for that? A free kick in midfield is played into the box, Barker flicks on, but the Swindon keeper just beats Orsi to the ball. We come again, down the left, Russell and Lolos combine and Russell’s cross is met by a Richards’ header straight at the keeper.

The ball out sees Swindon get a free kick as Gordon and Pereira take each other out. It goes into the box, and a shot is half saved by Chapman, and then cleared off the line by Barker, and from his prone position on the deck he sticks a leg out to block the follow up for a corner. We clear that and go long down the left only for the Swindon player to hoof it over the west stand for ball loss two of the day.

A late tackle on Richards in midfield finally sees a yellow card for a Swindon player, and there are three added minutes at the end of the half. A long throw is half cleared and then pumped back in and leads to a bit of panic in the Swindon box before they put it put for a corner. We put it in, but the ref blows his whistle for an infringement, and then another one to signal half time, and we go into the break level at 0-0. We’ve played well and created chances, but it is worrying there is no goal to show for that.

Into the second half and we start brightly again. A long throw routine is held up as the ref stops play to give both sides a talking to for the wrestling in the box. The throw from Barker comes in and takes a friendly bounce in the box to Lolos and his shot takes a deflection which wrong foots the keeper, and it ends up in the back of the net and we lead 1-0.

We attack again down the left and Russell wins a corner; it is cleared to midfield and picked up by Gordon who goes down the right wing and his byline cross is put behind for another corner. It is taken towards the near post and ends up hitting the side netting. Pereira is absolutely laid out in midfield, but the ref isn’t interested in giving a foul for the thuggery, but he does stop play for the Swindon player down twenty yards away pretending to be injured. A long ball forward sees Swindon through, but there is a heavy touch, and Chapman just gets to it first and collects at the second attempt.

Keeping the ball we work it down the left, then across the pitch to the right, and then back into the middle to Williams, he surges forward and is fouled about thirty yards out to the right of centre. Bajrami curls it round the wall, and the Swindon keeper gets fingertips to it onto the post and out to the right. It is crossed back in and cleared, and Williams is down prone in the six-yard box. It is played back into the box twice and cleared twice before the ref finally stops play for the potential head injury.

Whilst he is off after the treatment Swindon get a corner, it comes in deep and the ref blows his whistle and points to the penalty spot for Malone holding / pulling the shirt of a player. It is very soft but can see why it’s been given. It is taken and Chapman is sent the wrong way and it’s all level at 1-1.

From the restart we play it down the left to Russell he beats a man and gets into the box, he’s pushed in the back once, but beats another man, and is then pushed over. An obvious penalty you would think based on the decision at the other end a minute before, but no. Nothing given at all. It’s the seemingly biased inconsistency we’ve been on the receiving end of all fucking season. Fuck this shit.

Again coming out from the back, Lolos beats a man in midfield and the defending player alternates between trying to swap shirts and rugby tackle him, it rolls to another Crawley player and so the ref waves play on, and we get down the right and win a corner. There is no further action taken by the ref, and once again, where the fuck is the yellow card? The corner is swung in and punched clear. Swindon break and get the ball into the box, a shot is saved and the rebound looks to be going in but Chapman throws out a leg and saves it somehow and we clear.

And we finally make a substitution with the knackered looking Malone being replaced by Akin Odemayo. Pereira is absolutely wiped out and knocked off the pitch on the right and there isn’t even a free kick. Orsi harries well and wins a corner which is easily cleared. We make another substitution with Russell being replaced by Harry Forster. We win a corner on the right, it’s taken deep and the Swindon number 3 has both hands pulling Williams’ shirt, and as the ball goes over their heads, he throws Williams to the ground. Penalty? Don’t be fucking daft. Why give that when the much softer one by Malone at the other end was given. Just how much was in the brown envelope at half time?

A long ball into the box comes to Bajrami, he gets it to Orsi, and his shot is deflected for a corner. It’s taken to the near post and cleared, put back in, and cleared again for a throw on the right. Swindon get it and go down their right and get a cross into the box and a header at the end goes just wide.

There are nine added minutes. Swindon come down the right again and Barker slips, the Swindon player is in the box and a ball goes across, the first attempt is saved by Chapman, but the rebound is bundled in and somehow, we manage to be trailing 1-2.

From the kick off we go straight down the left and get into the box, a shot is blocked and goes to the right, a Swindon player runs straight into the back of Gordon and collapses like a sack of spuds, and unfortunately, very believably the ref gives them a free kick. Lolos picks up a yellow for dissent. He is then substituted with Tobi Adeyemo coming on to replace him.

The crowd was announced as being 4,124 but only heard the thousand bit of how many away fans as the crowd noise was going some. Difficult to tell if the chants of cheat were aimed at the Swindon players going down like extras from Platoon every time there was a Crawly player with two yards of them, or at the ref who was indulging them by giving them a free kick every time.

We are keeping going though, a ball goes down the left and gets to Forster, he beats a man and gets a low cross, and Gordon slides in to get on the end of it, and it flies into the top corner for a more than well deserved equaliser and it is 2-2 in the ninety-eighth minute. There are three minutes more played, but we can’t create another good chance, and the final whistle goes with it being another point gained.

Most of the Swindon players are quick to go and shake the ref’s hand at the final whistle, a lot of Crawley players don’t and come and applaud the crowd, until the Swindon keeper starts kicking off and trying to fight with everyone, with handbags flying around, and the ref just ignores it all and walks off the pitch without any yellow cards. Another fucking joke from this excuse for a ref who phoned in his second half performance, as again compare and contrast with the volume of post final whistle yellow cards given to us over the last year.

The point saw us jump back over Barrow into twenty-first, although they still have two games in hand on us. Meanwhile both Newport County and Harrogate Town lost again. It keeps us out of the relegation places, but we need to be converting more of these chances we keep creating and have to stop relying on their being teams worse than us.

As a side note looking at results elsewhere. There is a rumour that due to a falling out, Dion Conroy (who is not in out lodged EFL squad list) is training with Sutton United. Which appears to be going well as they got tonked 5-0 at home by relegation haunted Morecambe today.

Quiz Time – A very similar style question to the one after the away game against this opposition, just a different trophy. Swindon Town won the Anglo-Italian Cup back in 1970, but which other Anglo-Italian Cup winning side have we played this season?

Next up is a ridiculous Friday night away game against Colchester United. No idea why they have Friday night games (it’s not the first this season). It’s not like the eighties where Tranmere and Stockport played their games on a Friday night to try and draw extra crowds in to prevent clashes with Everton/Liverpool, and Manchester City/United on the Saturday.

Come on you reds.