Some mid-eighties soft rock, a 1986 number one from the band Europe (not the continent). Which is somewhere (the continent, not the band) Wrexham won’t be in the foreseeable future after the Welsh FA’s attempt to have the five Welsh clubs in the English league pyramid enter the Welsh Cup and get European Football if they won (something which the Welsh FA hoped would then help their coefficient) was torpedoed by the English FA. Which means it may well be quite a few years before we see any Europe tour (the continent, not the band – well, hopefully not the band on tour either) on Welcome To Wrexham.
A lot can go on in a fortnight. I’ve been for a week away in Spain, only getting back late last night. But since leaving the country a week after the disappointing 1-1 draw at home to the then bottom of the table Burton Albion, and the fall out which came after it from the Carol Bates saga, I honestly wasn’t expecting much to happen, and that what did, wouldn’t be good.
Stockport County away last Saturday delivered a 2-0 defeat, with us lucky to get nil, and us lucky to only concede the two goals. The only upside to the depressing live updates was the sunshine and spectacular scenery out of the window of the train as we travelled from Malaga to Granada. Other results saw us drop in the table, a Burton win, a Cambridge United win, and what looked like a Shrewsbury Town draw saw us bottom of the table on goal difference with all four sides on twenty-one points, only to be saved by Charlton Athletic getting a ninety-sixth minute winner against Shrewsbury to keep us off the bottom, but it was a fall to twenty-third.
There was then an announcement of an open forum to take place on the Thursday night, which was almost six months to the day from the last one and so meets the twice a year requirements. Prior to it there was a lot of moaning about it being an in-person session only with no online questions. But there again a fair few of our supporters would moan about absolutely anything.
After the Stockport game someone woke up in the club’s transfer department. We picked up attacking midfielder Kamari Doyle on loan for the rest of the season from Brighton & Hove Albion, he had been playing Exeter City for the first half of the season. Then Matthew Cox came in on loan from Brentford to bolster the goalkeeping position, and we signed Rory Feely from Barrow as another defender.
Tuesday night saw a second away game in three days, this time at Mansfield Town. It wasn’t as good as the spectacular 4-1 victory away there in April last year, but a 1-0 win with a late winner from Ade Adeyemo, and an even later goal line clearance from Charlie Barker was a boost and saw us climb back up a place to twenty-second in the league as both Cambridge and Shrewsbury lost, but Burton won again and stay ahead of us on goal difference. But the gap to safety is now only three points again, and we have at least one game in hand on all of the teams within reach above us in the table.
And speaking of games in hand, the one against Charlton which was postponed way too late for anyone sensible on New Year’s Day, has been rearranged for a Tuesday night in the middle of March.
On Wednesday X kicked off more transfer rumours. First, that Ronan Darcy had signed for Wigan Athletic, something which was confirmed late on Thursday just before the forum started. There was also a rumour we had signed nineteen-year-old striker Josh Ayres from Rotherham United, but there has been nothing further on that one as yet.
Thursday saw the forum taking place with only Preston Johnson on hand from the club to answer questions. There was some real embarrassment from the live streamed question and answer session. But that is what our supporters are like. Toe curlingly bad cringe inducers.
And the survey was mentioned. The club had released a Q&A on it on the club’s website. Which explained it was put together by a “professional” company called The Deep. That may explain the superhero question then, as the first thought is of the character called The Deep from the TV series, “The Boys”. That character is completely barking mad, but even he would have produced a more measured set of questions. My final moan about the survey is the club have said that it is an anonymous survey. Yet, at the same time the original blurb said prizes would be available for randoms completing the survey. These are mutually exclusive statements. So, which one is the lie? (Or are they both lies?)
And the transfer rumours continued. Armando Junior Quitirna is in Argentina apparently doing a deal to sign for a club there, not a good sign, as a player would be hard pushed to find a club further away from Crawley if they tried. And Sonny Fish is off on loan to Solihull Moors for the rest of the season.
No matter where we go there is no getting away from reminders of Crawley Town. Wandering the back streets of Sevilla, and in a shop window is a tote bag of The Cure – “Boys Don’t Cry”. Shit, have we lost again, and I didn’t even realise we were playing?
Saturday morning sees the first gathering of the newly formed Devil’s Advocates, which Helen is part of. Apparently, there is no getting away from white middle-aged men who like to talk over the top of women and laugh when they are introducing themselves. Aside from that, she thought it was a positive session, and that Ben Levin was supportive in it.
Anyway, onto the action today. In town are Hollywood FC, the third game in a run which sees us play all the other three promoted clubs from League Two last season in the space of eight days. Someone was having fun with the fixture computer.
Wrexham are in third but aren’t on a great run and are in danger of losing touch with the top two and went out and spent a lot of money on a couple of players yesterday, which will not make our afternoon any easier for us.
It was Wrexham who first triggered my memory about old football cards, with their old striker Arfon Griffiths on the Topps 1976 card being to blame for the ongoing use of them in each of these pieces for the last few months.
In the league, we have lost all three of our games against Wrexham, but digging back and including National League games our record against them is won four, lost four, and drawn one. Keeping that record at level or above would be a great result for us.
Getting to the ground early there is plenty of buzz around, and finally as we hit February, there are now new woolly hats available in a couple of varieties. They aren’t likely to fall off in a strong breeze. A bit tight around the head is an understatement, it may well be cutting off the blood flow to my brain. Which will be my excuse for anything I write today.
Jeez, what a difference two weeks does make. Reggie has been on a diet and a half. I though I’d done well over the last year, but I need to go and have a word to get some further diet tips.
Meanwhile, after his stunning photo of Charlie Barker in action at the Burton game two weeks ago,
Grant has now got official EFL accreditation to do media work at the club (and at Brighton), and is pitch side fully kitted out, taking photos today.
Wrexham are in a kind of gone off mustard looking shirt and socks with black shorts. Someone has said to me they were supposed to be gold. Yeah, they wish. Crawley are in all red.
Not even two minutes gone. Wrexham attack down the right wing, and Will Swan stops claiming the ball has gone out for a throw, the linesman doesn’t agree, and the ball is crossed over, passed on and then stroked into the net and we trail very early doors 0-1. And almost immediately Wrexham are through on goal again with a quick break, a ball into the box and Matthew Cox saves well as the defenders are looking for an offside flag to be raised. It is a sluggish start, and for fuck’s sake, play to the whistle lads.
Ball one disappears, a headed clearance from a cross goes out over the Eden Utilities Stand for a corner, which is cleared.
After the initial headless chicken routine, the team settle down and get a spell of decent possession. They work it down the right wing before Harry Forster rolls it back to Ben Radcliffe who pumps a ball to the far post where Swan meets it, but the header is high and wide, and not very handsome. The next attack sees ball loss number two of the game as a clearance from a cross disappears through the gap between the east marquee and the KRL Logistics stand for a corner.
We are definitely coming into the game more, and again there is decent work down the right. Panutche Camara plays the ball back to Bradley Ibrahim, who slots it into the box to Tyreese John-Jules, but his shot is just over the bar. Then down the left, Swan crosses it over to the right to Forster who cuts inside and plays it to Ibrahim who curls a shot on target, but it is saved by the keeper. Wrexham break and have a shot saved by Cox.
It took half an hour for it to happen, but then Lockets did get involved with some predictable advice to the linesman. But once awake, he is in fine voice for the rest of the match.
Wrexham have the ball in the net again, but Cox had slid out and collected the ball only for a Wrexham striker to kick him in the head, the ball came loose, and another striker put it in. Somewhat remarkably the referee did give us a free kick, but inexplicably, it would appear that kicking the keeper in the head deliberately doesn’t warrant a yellow card.
From a Wrexham corner we break down the left, the ball is played across to the right and Radcliffe pumps another ball into the box, Swan is being held by what appears to be an octopus, and the ball bounces to Camara and his shot is deflected for a corner. It is played short and then worked into the box and Swan’s effort is deflected for another corner. That goes all the way across and out for a throw to us. Charlie Barker throws it long and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Camara both have shots blocked on the edge of the area.
At the other end Camara picks up a booking for a foul about thirty yards out from goal, which is much less of a foul than some of the thuggery which has gone unpunished from the Wrexham players. The free kick gets put behind for a corner, which happens in four added minutes at the end of the first half, for which no board went up, and three quarters of the ground would have no clue about because the tannoy system was only working in the west stand, and we only get snippets of faint mumbles when the wind is in the right direction.
The second half starts much better than the first half did, two minutes in and we haven’t conceded. A dangerous looking break down the left is brought to a crashing halt as RHM is hacked down, and the referee surprises everyone by giving the butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth Wrexham defender a yellow card for the challenge. A ball in from the left finds RHM and his shot is blocked, and so is Max Anderson’s follow up effort.
Here come the first of the substitutions. TTJ and Camara are off with Tola Showumni and Jeremy Kelly on to replace them. The next action of any sort is Wrexham winning a corner. There is a lot of pushing and shoving in the box and the referee has words a couple of times. And despite what has so often gone before, we make another substitution before it is taken with Forster being replaced by Ade Adeyemo. The corner leads to another, which goes straight out for a goal kick.
We attack down the right and Adeyemo wins a corner which leads to nothing. Only for us to break down the right again, the ball is played all the way over to the left and Swan passes it across to Anderson, and then onto Kelly and his shot goes just over. We win the ball in midfield and Ibrahim surges forward to the edge of the box and shoots, but it is deflected and goes for a corner. Barker wins the header in the box, but it goes high and wide. Both Swan and RHM win corners in quick succession on the left, but the second just skims off a head and goes for a goal kick.
The last substitutions for us come on with Swan and Anderson being replaced by recent signings Kamari Doyle and Rory Feely. Another attack sees a bit of pinball in the area and a header from RHM is saved. RHM is then tripped in the area and Stevie Reffing Wonder waves it away from two yards in front of him.
It looks suspiciously like there might have been a fire drill in the east marquee as there seem to be hundreds of fans streaming out before the end of normal time. Seriously, where the fuck are you all going?
There is a long ball forward and Showumni goes up for the header on the edge of the box but is beaten to it, however it comes down to Ibrahim and he shoots from twenty-five yards out and it dips into the top corner to make it 1-1. Probably the best goal we have scored all season. And all you streaky bastards who left early missed it.
As they restart the board goes up to say there are five added minutes to play. And with most of them gone, Wrexham play a long ball left to right, a cross comes in deep and is headed at the far post and it may have got another touch but it squirms in from Elliott Lee who fouled Kelly in the build up without anything being given, and the goal stands to make it 1-2.
And that’s it, no sooner do we kick off than the referee blows the final whistle and pockets his bonus. Rob Elliot is less than impressed and marches over to give the referee a mouthful at the end. It is a loss, and definitely not deserved. Don’t let the shitty match stats fool you. Their keeper made two saves, so to say we only had one shot on target is bullshit. And the stat that says their keeper made no saves is then shown to be a lie by the line underneath which says he made one diving save. The number of blocked shots they show for us is a joke, as if trying to show we did worse than we actually did. Granted we still pass it around at the back too much and don’t move it forward quick enough, often enough, but we created plenty of chances. Let’s keep that going.
We stay in twenty-second, but everyone else who played around us today picked up points, and the two teams that didn’t play each other tomorrow. So not the greatest afternoon from a league perspective, but there are real positives to take from the game, and more overall performances like this, and some decent deadline day transfer action in (definitely not out) would give us a real opportunity of staying up.
The crowd may have been announced, but unless you were in the west stand you had no hope of hearing it, but apparently it was 5,049 with 949 away fans. And for a supposed sell-out, there were still a lot of empty seats around us in the marquee.
Next up is Bolton Wanderers away next Saturday before a run of three home games in eight days. The hunt for points is on.
Come on you reds.