This 2012 track was by Richard Swift (formerly of The Shins and The Arcs) – a nod to the badge and former name of our opponents today, deliberately avoiding the obvious Swift choice, as it wasn’t tailor made for me. It wasn’t a hit or on an album, just out there, but it got a bit of traction with his death in 2018, and although uncredited it is definitely the basis for Lady Wray’s 2022 single “Where Were You”.
Quiz Time Answer – When Barrow won the National League in 2020 to return to the Football League, which other northern side were promoted with them for their first time in the Football League? It was the only other team we’ve beaten away this season – Harrogate Town.
I have made my way down to Walsall from Morecambe after the Barrow win on Saturday. I’m sure the Football League Paper hates Crawley. They led with the Barrow manager’s post-match comments, virtually ignoring Scott Lindsey’s, and again there has been absolutely nothing about any of our signings. We have signed more players than anyone else over the last three weeks and there hasn’t been even a mention in passing, let alone a little article in any of the last three issues of the paper, yet they have had articles about the signings Harrogate, Newport, Shrewsbury, and Barrow have made.
One thing I did notice is how similar the bottom eight in League Two are compared with the bottom eight in the League Two recent form as well, with seven of the eight being the same teams, the only discrepancy being Newport County aren’t in the bottom eight in the form (tenth from bottom), and Fleetwood Town are (they are tenth from bottom in the league).
Sunday and Monday saw me trawling second hand places as a way to pass the time, Sunday was at the Old Pier Bookshop in Morecambe, which is just a treasure trove and nooks and crannies with books piled on shelves from floor to ceiling in a seemingly unhinged manner, yet the proprietor knows where everything is. I was hurried along in there by mother hovering, which was probably a good thing.
And on Monday I found this place whilst wandering the streets of Walsall taking photos. What a place, I only skimmed through the books, it was all I had time for before they were shepherding me out of the shop at five, and I was paying for books when I noticed the records. There was the temptation to go back and camp in there all day today, but I went elsewhere.
The haul of books (the ones below are just the football related ones I picked up) was hefty and is exactly the reason why I should not be allowed out unsupervised with money in my pocket. I’m supposed to be reducing the stock of books at home, not expanding it.
Most of the usual Walsall related preamble is all in the separate piece I did, as I got a bit carried away. The link is below.
You would have thought with it being a quick turnaround between games and as we had already signed twelve players that the transfer action would be outgoings this week, but no, last night number thirteen came onboard. Justin Ferizaj, who we’ve signed from Bray Wanderers in Ireland, and who represented them at all youth levels up to under 19s but is also eligible to play for Albania. He is a midfielder and has been signed on a two-and-a-half-year contract, and only turning twenty-one two weeks ago, doesn’t count towards squad numbers. (But I wonder what ridiculousness he’ll have as a squad number?)
And today I had a day off from driving and went in search of football grounds by public transport. First a bus into Wolverhampton city centre once the rain had stopped around ten this morning. It isn’t very far to get outside the city ring road and be at Molineux, home of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Four large named stands, three statues, and set out so it is possible to walk all the way around the outside to get photos from every angle. And with the corners not being filled in all the way around, you can see into the stands as well.
The club shop was perfectly adequate, pens, and a three pack of fridge magnets, so very happy with that.
There was some wandering around the centre of Wolverhampton as well, another place I’ve not been to before, and another packed full of grand and interesting buildings.
And plenty of blue plaques to feed another of the seemingly endless stream of obsessive behaviours.
Then it was to the train station for a journey to the next stadium of the day. Now, one of the stands at Molineux is named after Steve Bull, and it just so happens that one of the stops on the way to the next ground was Tipton.
There is a change at Smethwick Galton Bridge, where a change of trains means upstairs to another line at a right angle to the first. And from the platform you can see the old bridge, late Georgian engineering at its finest.
It was one stop to the next stadium, The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion, and the Football League stadium which is highest above sea level of them all. It has been their home for 125 years now but is much altered. You can’t get all the way around it on non-match days, and all the corners have been filled in to such an extent it’s probably watertight if the stadium was filled with water.
They had the same create your own fridge magnet machine Barrow had on Saturday, and pencils only. And the staff were miserable, unfriendly beasts, a direct opposite to the ones at Molineux.
The ground seems very sterile, but then there are touches which shows otherwise, such as the garden of remembrance in the corner of the car park.
And the Jeff Astle gates.
What amused me was across the road diagonally from the ground was the West Bromwich Allied Bakeries, and on the other corner opposite both god damn Greggs had gotten in there.
I did consider Villa Park, but decided that was cramming too much in, and so headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before wandering to the Bescot (sorry Pallet-Track) for the game. On the way back when changing at Smethwick Galton Bridge I noticed what the station was for trains on platform one. Unfortunately, it’s not the one in Crawley, a shame, how much easier would that make journeys up here?
Quiz Time – I’m going old school with a question from this ancient book I found in one of the shops I’ve mentioned at the start of the piece. Who won the Welsh Cup to gain entry into the European Cup Winners Cup for the first time?
Next up is the home fixture against the team we gained our first away win of the season against, back in the autumn when it was still warm – Harrogate Town.
Come on you reds.