A number nine hit in 1982 from one hit wonder David Christie, or perhaps you might call him a one trick pony with a song title like this. There is no mention if he was ever involved in the West Midlands saddle manufacturing industry.
Quiz Time Answer – When Orient (as they were then) made it to the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1978 (their best performance in the competition) who beat them 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in that semi-final? I had mentioned them earlier in the piece having walked past their old and new grounds on the way to the match – Arsenal.
Whilst I was walking across London to the Orient game on Tuesday afternoon, I got a voicemail to say my shirt had had the name printing done and was ready for collection. So, with me being off all week I wandered over to the club the next day to collect it, only for me to realise when I got there it was Wednesday, and they don’t open on Wednesdays. If only I had a brain I would be dangerous to everyone, instead of just being a danger to myself. I did go back on Thursday and collect it, and if you are going to have the number one on a shirt, then it makes sense to have it done on the keeper’s one.
The more I think about the set up at that game on Tuesday, the more deliberate it seems from Orient. They put the Crawley fans at one end of the main stand, and then set the Crawley warm up area in the opposite corner of the ground (despite the fact we were directly opposite where the away fans usually are and therefore at the end of the pitch they usually have the away team warm up at). And at the end of the game the Orient players came to the corner the Crawley fans were in to do their clap the fans appreciation piece, meaning all the Crawley players could do was go straight off. It seems like petty shithousery from a ‘bigger’ club, and a deliberate ploy to keep separation between away players and away fans. I should stop thinking as after some more I began to wonder if it was at Crawley’s request following the shenanigans at Saturday’s game.
For some reason Facebook was playing silly buggers and hid my match report from the Supporter’s group page and admins for thirty-six hours, which with Orient accounts on X and Bluesky having shared it, I’ve had more read from Orient fans than Crawley ones.
What probably got missed on Saturday, as it was in the form of a team lineup and came out on the CTFC page very close to the actual team lineup was the below support XI. It’s a great idea and a good reminder that people are going through things that no one else knows about and may not know where to turn. They may look fine on the outside but that unkind, or abusive comment could be the one to send them over the edge. No matter what their profession is.
Player of the month voting went up on Tuesday morning for September, giving about thirty-six hours to vote, the choices were Harvey Davies, Geraldo Bajrami, Harry McKirdy, and Dion Pereira. I can see where the shortlist is coming from, but I’d have given my vote elsewhere. I’m assuming it’s not a completely open vote to prevent the winner being Reds McRedsface every month.
In County Mall, the usual seasonal Calendar Club stand is up and running, and once again it does feel like a missed opportunity as there is no CTFC branded merchandise on there at all, they have Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Newcastle United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Crystal Palace, and Brighton & Hove Albion, but nothing for the club in the town they are selling them. How are we ever supposed to get youngsters interested when there is nothing in the town centre apart from Premier League guff.
Kaheim Dixon will be missing as he has been called up to play for Jamaica. Our opponents are Walsall, who currently sit top of League Two, and who, if opposing fan accounts are to be believed (yeah, I know, unlikely) they are a very physical unit, so the form and style of play doesn’t bode well really.
Old cards are few and far between, certainly none in the Topps era, but if I go back further they did have some in the early sixties in the A&BC sets, but this one from the 1961-62 set is the one I’ve chosen as it’s a nice appropriate local name for them.
It is the old programmes that are more interesting, I have three from games against Walsall, but they are all interesting in their own right. There is the one with the WAGMI cover from April 2022 with the Walsall game being the first one after their takeover of the club.
The one from the following April, has a celebrating Dom Telford (in a most unflattering shot) after he scored one of his goals away at Hartlepool the week before which had just about ensured our safety, the point at home against Walsall confirmed it.
The older one is from November 2012 in our first season in League One, it has Mat Sadler in the lineup and has an interview with him in the programme as he had come to us from Walsall. Also in the players on the rear of the programme for Crawley is Kyle McFadzean who we’ve played against already this season, in the same game against Chesterfield where Will Grigg, who is on the Walsall player list, also played. And our manager was Richie Barker, father of current player Charlie.
Inside there is a page update from the social media team, celebrating the fact that the club had just been blue ticked and verified for their Twitter account. In fact they has four Twitter accounts then, including one for the shop, and one for Reggie, although tweets from Reggie would have been “iugaaiubsgasiuuishvbsyudsngbfv” as he doesn’t exactly have the finger dexterity to be tapping away on a phone screen, probably for the best he wasn’t live tweeting, “It’s fucking hot in here”, “I wish all these kids wouldn’t keep punching me in the knackers”, “I’m dying for a ciggie”, and “Stop pulling my fucking tail”.
Anyway, the game was a 2-2 draw, and we finished that season on the same points as Walsall, just behind them on goal difference in tenth, our highest ever league finish.
Walsall are another of those sides to have played in both the old Division 3 North, and Division 3 South, the second of three who we play against this season. (We play the third of them next weekend). The injured Danny Cashman had used to play for Walsall, and whilst no Walsall players had used to play for us, their manager Mat Sadler (another appropriate name related to the team) did (in between spells of playing for Walsall himself), and assistant head coach Darren Byfield was our interim manager for two games, including the infamous away trip to Stevenage where Preston Johnson was on the bench as well.
We have played them sixteen times in the league, winning three, drawing eight, and losing five, the last three games against them have all been draws (as were our first three games against them). There is also one win against them in the League Cup. At home, the record is two wins, five draws, and a single loss. Our last win against them came in that game with the WAGMI programme cover, and apart from our last game against them in League One back in April 2015, there has only ever been one goal in it.
I’m there nice and early, and have a quick chat with Steve Leake, there’s a meeting Monday night about looking to get a fan produced programme out there later in the season.
We line up in our standard home kit of all red with white trim and visitors Walsall are in an all pale blue kit reminiscent of our away kit from four years ago.
Walsall kick off and we have an early surge down the left wing; Josh Flint looks to be tripped but a goal kick is given. It is taken long, flicked on and Walsall get a shot off which JoJo Wollacott saves at the expense of a corner, which curls in onto the roof of the net. We break down the left, Harry McKirdy beats a man and has a shot saved, Dion Pereira’s follow up is saved again and McKirdy retrieves going back out to the left wing. He is clipped and goes down, and the ref has a long think about it before pointing to the spot for what looks to be a soft penalty. Not quite as soft as McKirdy’s effort. I can see what he was trying to do having drilled his last two inside the left corner, but the goalie didn’t go for the mind games and saved it down to the right and it goes out for a corner. And as it comes in the ref blows for some kind of infringement in the goalmouth scrum. And the keeper goes down claiming injury.
Charlie Barker turns a man in defence and feeds the ball up to Ryan Loft, he turns the ball round the corner to Pereira down the wing, and he cuts into the box and lines up a shot which goes well wide. There is a lot of possession, and a lot of slow build up that would make HS2 look speedy, and once at the other end Walsall win the ball and break with speed and win a corner in what seemed like a couple of seconds. But we clear it.
A good ball out of defence through the middle of the park and Pereira feeds McKirdy, his shot is blocked and cleared. We go back down the left with McKirdy again, but he is tackled on the edge of the box. There’s a long ball into Kabby Tshimanga in the box, his shot is blocked and comes to Scott Malone, but the cross is hight and the keeper collects.
TAKFAL hasn’t said much and when he does it becomes an argument with another fan. But for most of the game there aren’t many throws down our side for him to get involved anyway.
There’s a bit of a lull in play, then a long ball forward sees Flint advanced down the pitch to flick it on, Malone crosses and it is cut out just before it gets to Tshimanga. Back in our own half Barker plays a ball out to McKirdy in the middle of the field he beats a couple of players and looks to play it out to the left wing only to switch and cross a ball into the box and Loft is at the back post to rise above the defender and head it into the right hand side of the goal and we lead 1-0. Get in there.
We win a quick free kick almost from the restart as McKirdy is blocked off, it’s taken quickly, and Barker gets a shot off which is saved by the keeper. Holohan is hauled down on the right near the penalty area and there is a yellow card for the Walsall wing back, more a case of persistent fouling than for that particular one. Pereira takes it and Barker’s header is over the bar. Walsall attack and have a shot from twenty-five yards which sails over the Eden Utilities Stand for ball loss number one.
We attack down the left, a ball into Tshimanga who lays it inside to Loft, and he plays it back to Max Anderson and his shot is just wide. And on the left again, Flint to Malone, long ball to Tshimanga in the box, he mis-controls and is tackled and it goes out for a corner. It’s taken deep and put back across, there’s a shot which is saved from close range, but the flag is up to say the ball is out of play.
A sweeping move out of defence sees Holohan beat a man and get the ball up to Pereira, he plays it into Loft, and he squares it to McKirdy, his shot takes a deflection and goes out for a corner. It comes in and is cleared, and the ref blows for a foul in the scrum anyway. A long throw into the box is half cleared, and Anderson gets a yellow card for preventing the Walsall break.
There are three added minutes, and it is the first bit of concerted pressure from Walsall for some time, if not the whole half, they force a save from Wollacott and the rebound is scrambled behind for a corner, half cleared, put back in and then fully cleared and the half time whistle goes with us leading 1-0.
Let’s hope it’s not one of the bromine in the tea half time team talks this week. At half time Harvey Davies was announced as the September player of the month. There were birthday announcements at half time, but there wasn’t one for Lyn, obviously knowing that she would be in the bar and miss it anyway, as Rick had done for his one earlier in the season.
Into the second half and we have an early break, we pressure the goalkeeper, and Malone wins the ball off the defender, Tshimanga has a shot blocked but the flag has gone up for offside.
Walsall have an attack and the ball comes out to their right back, who is allowed to cut infield and runs across the box twenty-five yards out until he is in the middle of the pitch and has a shot which curls past the despairing dive of Wollacott and nestles in the side of the net and it’s 1-1.
Back on the attack down the left, Flint to Malone, onto Tshimanga, and back to Malone and his curling shot from the edge of the box is just clawed away by the keeper and then cleared. We go back down the right, Pereira into the box and across to McKirdy, it’s slightly behind him but he gets a shot in saved by the feet of the keeper, it comes out to Loft, and his shot is saved/blocked and goes over the bar for a corner. Taken deep and Barker’s header is over the bar.
Walsall win a corner down the right, taken deep, headed back into the middle and we clear. There is more Walsall pressure now, various crosses into the box from both wings and a lot of headed clearances and penalty area head tennis going on. It’s a bit tense, before Barker skies a clearance out over the side of the KRL stand for ball loss two of the day. A long throw is allowed to bounce all the way across the box, and a shot is saved by Wollacott for a corner, and as it comes in, it’s our turn to win a free kick for some kind of infringement in the scrum.
In attack Tshimanga is penalised, and a free kick is taken long down the right wing, and a cross is turned behind for a corner to Walsall. It’s half cleared and turn back in, only for the offside flag to go up as the Walsall player slides in and catches Wollacott in the stomach. In fact Tshimanga is getting penalised for every coming together, unless he is bundled over, in which case they just let Walsall get on with it.
Walsall make some subs, I’m sure they announce three changes, which I’ll come back to. McKirdy has the ball in midfield he breaks into the box and is tackled, the ball breaks to Malone on the wing and his cross is cleared. We make a sub with Harry Forster coming on to replace Pereira. Much to the delight of birthday girl Lyn.
He’s involved quickly with a break down the right and a cross into the box is blocked and cleared. Walsall are much quicker getting forward when they get the ball, and break again, get a cross in, but the shot is wide. They make two more substitutions. One of their players get a yellow card for preventing a break, we make our second substitution with Tshimanga coming off to be replaced by Louis Watson.
We lose the ball in attack and a quick break down the right sees a two on one opportunity but there is a great sliding block from Barker to prevent the ball coming into the middle, at the expense of a corner. We break down the left and a ball over sees the two Harrys have attempts at shots, but the final one is over the bar.
And there are more subs, McKirdy is off to be replaced by Louis Flower, and Walsall make another sub. Surely that makes six. Although post-match looking at the match details, they apparently only made two at the first set. If they say so, but the stadium announcer definitely announced three changes.
We have a throw on the left, the ball is worked across and to Holohan who has a shot from outside the box which goes wide. The board is put up for five added minutes at the end of the half. Enough time for Malone to get a booking for dissent about a non-decision. A ball down the right sees Forster get a cross in and Loft gets his head on it, but it drifts wide, and the full-time whistle goes after the goal kick and the game ends 1-1.
A point against top of the table is a good point, but it feels slightly deflating, all the stats were massively in our favour except, as usual, the most important one. It was a much improved performance on the whole, but we need to be converting more chances, and stick with smacking the penalty as hard as possible into the side of the goal as per previous ones this season.
The crowd was announced as being 3,461 which included 505 away fans, and there was a sponsor’s man of the match award, which went to Charlie Barker.
The point keeps us in twenty-first in the table, but both Shrewsbury Town and Newport County below us won, and Cheltenham Town drew, which along with an Accrington lost means that the bottom five are covered by a single point. It’s much too tight for any kind of comfort.
Post match curry is later on this evening as there are birthdays to be celebrated, cancer free pronouncements to be celebrated, so it was strange walking past the Downsman post-game and not being drawn in there as usual.
Quiz Time – Walsall were one of the founder members of Division Two back in 1892, which other two sides in League Two this season were also founder members? (Hint, we’ve played both of them already.)
Next up is an away trip to fellow relegation sufferers from last season, Shrewsbury Town, who we played on the last day of the season, and who like us as struggling at the relegation end of the table again this season. It is a game we really have to win as all that separates us at the moment is goals scored. Come on you reds.