'Forgive your enemies but never forget their names.....'

Looking back I suppose the portents weren’t great. The very late entrance of ‘Shrimpers’ to La Fontaine confirmed that the M25 had been up to its old tricks……with the shockwaves from the early morning accident near Heathrow washing up on the beach at Leatherhead until after lunch.

And I can’t say I noticed the lack of illumination as we entered the ground at 2.40pm. The magnetic attraction of the ‘burger bar’ and the much awaited tiny portion of chips (20 chips for £2…..it’s the charge for service I guess) was too strong.

As we left the field at half time, one nil down and with Darren Jones sent off for an attempted assault on one of the Southend forwards, I did offer the musing that ‘now would be a good time to have a floodlight failure’……..it’s bound to work I ruminated and it would surely send the travelling hoards home feeling cheated….yes, Aldershot ‘you are a disgrace to the Football League. Get back to the Conference you pathetic little club.’

''And so as I walked back up Redan Road to my car after the truncated game and looked down on the semi-illuminated football ground, my thoughts returned to Cinderella…..and Buttons…..''

From ‘It was a pantomime….first published by A Shot from Wales on 29th December 2011 following the abandonment of the Aldershot Town v Southend Utd, Boxing Day fixture due to a floodlight failure.

1977/78 was another ‘play-off’ year (if only)……

In a season when Southend were promoted and Aldershot finished fifth the Shots demolished the Shrimpers at the Recreation Ground on March 25th, 3v0.

But this game features in my ‘top 50 Aldershot FC memories’ not for the Brodie and Dungworth (2) goals but for a mindless act that, typically for the seventies, was simply 'accommodated'…...

We entered the Rec at the Redan Hill end (remember this was before segregation)…..a queue had formed for the adult turnstile, so as my ‘big’ brother and I waited to enter the ground, our ‘little’ brother was already through the junior gate and heading down towards the South Stand.

From a distance it appeared to be no more than the usual scuffle between rival fans. But as we got closer we could see that it was our ‘little’ brother who was being attacked by a very large and ‘booted’ skinhead.

We quickened our pace and ran down the path through the gardens and in no time we were upon the ‘fan’…..the Southend thug was wrestled off our brother’s head and we dragged him across to a policeman, who had been standing, just watching the incident…..

’This idiot has been smashing our younger brother’, we advised, awaiting the call for assistance to remove the ‘animal’ from the Rec.

‘Jolly good, on your way son…..enjoy the game’…..the complacency no more than a harbinger to the tragic events that in the next decade would rip the heart out of so many lives.

The chronology is sadly well defined. A history dating back to the ‘60s when Mods and Rockers played out the First Leg at the seaside; Brighton or Southend or Great Yarmouth, with the return fixture at Stamford Bridge or the Den.

Then the ‘70s saw the emergence of organised hooligan groups (Firms). Burnley offered the Suicide Squad and West Ham the infamous, Inter City Crew.

But the events that unfolded before our television eyes at Heysel, on 29 May 1985 would be the tragic dynamic for change. 39 Juventus fans were crushed to death after Liverpool followers broke through a line of police. They ran toward the Juventus fans in a section containing both English and Italian supporters. The fence separating them collapsed. Fighting broke out. Fans fled. A wall collapsed……

English clubs were banned from European competitions until 1990.

The Popplewell Committee was set up as a consequence of a riot at Birmingham City when a young boy lost his life. The disturbance that followed was described by Justice Popplewell as more like ‘the Battle of Agincourt than a football match’.

Shortly thereafter the Bradford City Fire was added to the Popplewell brief. Despite not being hooligan related the terrible event was undoubtedly a direct result of the amateurish and disturbingly arrogant demeanour of football authorities across the UK at that time.

‘Football may not be able to continue in its present form much longer’.

When 96 innocent fans died in the tragic events of Hillsborough on April 15th 1989 the Government were forced into action.

The passing of the Football Spectators Act 1989 changed the landscape of our game….probably for ever.

And as our second goal hit the back of the Southend net on Tuesday night my thoughts returned to March 1978 and the incident that said so much about the past frailty of our great game…..

But were my feelings of elation coloured with retribution or were they simply an explosion of satisfaction fuelled by the ironic ‘injustice’ of the victory…..

Well I’m sorry Southend, my inner warmth was created by something no more complicated than a 2v0 win for a ‘tin-pot’, small town club in a football match against a pretty useless side from a Thames estuary resort; where so many aspects of life collide and a place that John Betjeman would have described , at best, as ‘interesting’.

I have a feeling that 'high flying' Southend will be back at the Recreation Ground next season.

Image sourced by MCW - Shotsweb.

Macclesfield Town 0 v 1 Aldershot Town

Aaron Morris scored his first senior goal and Aldershot win 'on the road' again.....

Tommy McAnearney (1933-2012)

Tommy McAnearney sadly died on February 14th after a long illness.

As a player Tom’s best years were undoubtedly at Sheffield Wednesday, where he made 352 appearances for the Owls during a period when they were a genuinely ‘big club’. Then after just a brief spell at Peterborough, following his success at Hillsborough, McAnearney travelled south to the Rec. He was 33 when he pulled on the red and blue of Aldershot for the first time, in a depressing home draw with Doncaster Rovers in March 1966. Then less than a year later he played in a game that stands proudly at ‘number 1 in my top 50 memories’……

Aldershot 1 v Reading 0 (FA Cup R2) January 16th 1967 and Jack Howarth scores the greatest goal

I guess the 1966/7 season was like so many others…….excellent home form and pretty dismal ‘on the road’.

The final League Division 4 position - tenth.

Jack Howarth had joined the Shots at the beginning of the previous season, scoring his first goal in only his second outing - the first of 171 League and a further 25 Cup goals.

After disposing of Torquay United on November 26th, in the first round of the FA Cup, Aldershot were paired with arch rivals Reading in round two. The game was set for Saturday January 7th but, as the insert to the match day programme confirmed, the game was eventually played out on Monday 16th.

‘Thank you for purchasing this programme. As you will observe, it was prepared for the original fixture but cancelled because of the unfit state of the ground.’

And only two days before the ‘big’ encounter, Aldershot flattened Newport County 5v0, in a League game at the Rec. The Shots were in form and the pitch was left looking like the Severn Estuary at low tide.

My memories of the FA Cup game are incredibly vivid.

Even within the relative sanctuary of the North Stand the pressure from the crowd was intense. ‘Happy Jack’ – The Who, was played with such volume that it shook the bolts free from every loudspeaker around the ground.

The floodlights tried their best to cut through the gloom that engulfed the Rec and the massive cheer, as the teams came out onto the pitch from the two tunnels in the South Stand, made me shudder with excitement.

And then the goal.

The greatest goal that I have ever experienced in all of my years watching Aldershot.

A goal, that like a fine wine improves with age. The images in my mind enhanced by a power far greater than that found in any modern day computer.

And with just a very tired newspaper photo of the moment when Jack released his thunderbolt to refresh my mind, the status of the goal can never be challenged.

Steve Curry wrote in the Daily Express the following day:

"Howarth was swept off the field at the finish by frenzied fans who had swung from the grandstand roof and climbed floodlight pylons to view this thriller……….

Ernie Yard mis-hit a pass and Peter Kearns whipped in to snap it up and send Howarth away.

Big, bustling Howarth smoothed in on goal and even the defiance of brave goalkeeper Arthur Wilkie could not keep this one out………………."

Tommy played in a period of time that most of our current crop of ‘stars’ would struggle to comprehend. Low wages, poor pitches, overnight travel home from Barrow, respect and integrity, 'proper tackling' and no diving.....

He was without doubt a ‘legend’..... a great player – such poise and control, wonderful positioning sense and consistently accurate passing…..he made the game look so simple.

And then as a manager he left me with the most colourful memories….too many to list, but I bet anyone over the age of 55 will have the same thoughts stored away safely in their mind....just waiting for the fireside chair and the gentle prompt from family and friends.

Thank you Tommy for enriching my life.

Dean gets his camel at last.....

When Dean Holdsworth signed for Wimbledon in the summer of 1992 for £650,000, it was said that Chairman Sam Hammam promised him a camel if he scored 20 goals in the season…..Dean made an immediate impact for the Dons, but did he score enough times for Sam to deliver against his promise?

Well..... now Holdsworth is manager of Aldershot Town and we have been up against it lately…..so as an incentive I promised to give our 'boss' a camel if we scored at Wimbledon……and we scored…..so the camel is yours Dean.

Bactrian camels are found in the Gobi desert and the grasslands of Asia. They were domesticated in an area called Bactaria, near present-day Iran, over four thousand years ago.

In case you want to visit your new 'charge' Dean, it is being looked after by The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland at the Highland Wildlife Park.

Sam promised you one many years ago…..but A Shot from Wales simply delivered……!

Rush to judgement......

We’ve all done it. Made assumptions about someone or something simply as a result of what we see on the surface and not bothering to go just a little bit deeper.

The recent clamour for Harry Redknapp to be given the challenge of winning the European Championship in the summer followed by the World Cup in Brazil is building to fever pitch. Good old Harry…..he’s a football man…..he tells us that he can’t read and write very well but we don’t care….because he will change things and England will rule the world, just like we did in 1966.

Now I don’t use trains very often……Eurostar and the TGV are brilliant but First Great Western are quite simply hopeless. So when I decided to travel down to a meeting in London last August by train, I did so in anticipation of delays and overcrowding that would return me home on the tide of ‘never again’.

But my day started pretty well. The drive into Cardiff was congestion free and the car park at the station was empty. I was a bit early so I went off in search of a clean bench to sit down on. At the end of the platform, well away from the coffee kiosks and last night's kebab wrappers, I found what I was looking for…..and to my surprise I was also gifted a bonus. For some unknown reason a copy of the Daily Mirror for Tuesday 30th August lay invitingly crisp on my chosen seat.

I couldn’t be bothered with the international news so I turned to the sports pages. And there it was……the rush to judgement.

I have no idea who Derek McGovern is……other than by reading his self-proclaimed status of ‘sports betting’s top tipster’. But he must know something as he wrote, ‘I’d 8-2 be an Arsenal fan right now’. ‘North London was even easier to pillage over the weekend than it was thee weeks ago…….Shipping eight goals at Old Trafford is bad enough…….’’

And then he made the statement that he may just live to regret, as Arsenal find themselves back in the frame for Champions League qualification…..’’Arsenal are 6-4 to finish in the top four – if they do I’ll give you the money myself.’’

I told my wife about this offer when I got home and despite knowing absolutely nothing about football she saw the opportunity and took my £1000 at 6-4…..

I have a sneaking feeling that I may be emailing you Derek, at betsguru@aol.com some time soon…

Oh and as for Harry….I like him, but if he becomes England manager, I have no doubt he will be 'retired' by the FA in the same manner as so many before….but with perhaps just a bit more colour.

Sir Alf Ramsey....managed England to World Cup success in 1966, knighted in 1967.......sacked and cast off by the FA in 1974.

Sterling or Suárez.....

Every Tuesday during Parliament, Secretaries of State from all departments and some other ministers meet in the Cabinet room in Downing Street to discuss the big issues of the day.

Meetings are currently attended by 22 paid ministers and one unpaid minister appointed to Cabinet, and six other invited ministers and peers.

Syria, the Euro, Greek debt, bankers bonuses, public sector cuts, unemployment……yes, with plenty of challenges to test the best brains in our country it is somewhat surprising to read that a top-level meeting on discrimination in football is to be held by David Cameron. The Prime Minister is to call in the FA, Premier League and the players' body as two of Britain’s clubs desperately try to end a very public row over racism.

David, my advice is….. get back to sorting out our economy and keep a safe distance from the loathsome Luis Suárez (Liverpool FC), the idiotic and offensive comments of Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool manager), the stirrings of Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester Utd manager), the false pride of Fabio Capello (unemployed football manager) and the towering ignorance of John Terry (Chelsea FC)……

And perhaps have a little word with the guy who sometimes sits next to you in the ‘dugout’ ……as Nick Clegg is reported to have said, ‘How many black managers are there in the Premier League? Zero…..’’

No doubt you will seek advice from your only black member of the Cabinet, Baroness Warsi, the Minister without Portfolio (that means no departmental responsibility)…..

A Legacy for London

I hope West Ham United supporters enjoy the view for many years to come......

Edgware Town FC

Fisher Athletic FC

Hendon FC

Woodford Town FC

Collier Row FC

Some interesting statistics

Football League and Conference - average away attendances (up to Jan 16th 2012)
C – Championship
L1
L2
Conf – Blue Square Bet Premier

Just a selection of attendances from the towering support for Leeds United to the hardy few from Hayes.....and not forgetting Yeading.

And with eight conference sides showing more travelling supporters than the Shots, perhaps there is life outside of the League.


1 Leeds Utd 3530 C
5 Southampton 2171 C
18 Cardiff City 1192 C
20 Portsmouth 1128 C
24 Oxford Utd 928 L2
31 Reading 801 C
32 Port Vale 782 L2
34 Luton Town 764 Conf
35 Bristol Rovers 761 L2
40 AFC Wimbledon 610 L2
45 Grimsby 508 Conf
52 Wrexham 449 Conf
55 York City 398 Conf
56 Northampton 397 L2
60 Stockport 350 Conf
62 Crawley Town 345 L2
64 Hereford Utd 326 L2
66 Cambridge Utd 323 Conf
68 Mansfield Town 301 Conf
69 Lincoln City 297 Conf
70 Aldershot Town 285 L2
71 MK Dons 279 L1
78 Colchester Utd 192 L1
96 Hayes and Yeading 29 Conf

Lost Football League Grounds - Plough Lane, Wimbledon

I can’t say I have ever been too misty eyed over the return of Wimbledon to the Football League. In fact for much of my ‘football life’ The Dons have never been anything other than a very good amateur and, at times, semi-professional non-League side…..but I do respect the fact they created a team that dramatically reached the ‘First’ Division in 1986 after a mere nine seasons in the League.

The club goes back a long way, having been formed in 1889 taking its name from the Old Central School on Wimbledon Common where players had been pupils. The club continued to play on the Common until 1912 when the lease to Plough Lane was purchased. The disused swampland was subsequently fenced and the playing surface improved…..!

As the Club prospered during the 1920s crowds of between five and eight thousand regularly filled the ground and by the outbreak of the Second World War the capacity stood at 30,000.

Wimbledon were champions of the Isthmian League on eight occasions and won the FA Amateur Cup in 1963 beating Sutton United 4-2 at Wembley, with Eddie Reynolds scoring all four of his side’s goals with headers…..

In 1964 the club turned professional and entered the Southern League. After winning the League three years running from 1974-5 to 1976-7 they were elected to the Football League in place of Workington Town.

The first League season was simply average….the next resulted in promotion…then down……then up….then Chairman Ron Noades walked out on the club to take over at Crystal Palace, taking manager Dario Gradi with him to Selhurst Park.

Dave Basset was promoted to manager…..and the Club were relegated back to Division 4 in 1982.

Then the door at the back of the stand opened and a few rays of Lebanese sunshine cut through the smoke-filled boardroom and warmed the Directors' pockets. The heat intensified and the meteoric rise to Division One was achieved by 1986…..

Samir ‘Sam’ Hammam was born in Beirut and he made his fortune as a building contractor in the Middle East. Sam emigrated to the UK in 1975 moving to the Wimbledon area because he liked tennis. Hammam bought a majority share in his local football team in the early eighties probably thinking that the ‘Centre Court’ was included in the deal.

Sam purchased £40,000 worth of shares in Wimbledon over a two year period and became Chairman during the roller-coaster ride to the top of English football.

In the 1988 FA Cup Final Liverpool were run over at Wembley by the Bobby Gould managed ‘Crazy Gang’ which made Wimbledon only the second club to have won both the FA Cup and its amateur equivalent………(Old Carthusians won the FA Cup in 1881 and the Amateur Cup in 1894 and 1897).

Following the publication of the Taylor Report in 1990 the Wimbledon Board decided that Plough Lane could not be redeveloped to meet the new all-seater standards and a ‘temporary’ ground share with Crystal Palace was announced.

And no doubt the Crazy Gang live on in the memories of many…… the after dinner circuit kept amused by stories of the bizarre ‘rewards’ and initiation ceremonies for new Wimbledon players – even our own manager Dean Holdsworth was promised a camel should he score 20 goals in a season!

But after a while Sam got bored and when his proposal to relocate the club to Dublin or perhaps Cardiff and why not Milton Keynes was turned down by the footballing authorities he simply sold his stake in the ‘homeless’ club for a reported £30m....

And it was a decision that ultimately led to the franchising of Wimbledon and the move to Milton Keynes.

Wimbledon’s final first team match at Plough Lane was played on 4 May 1991, ironically against new landlords Crystal Palace…….

Sam Hammam sold the ground to Safeway but local residents' opposition and local authority objections to their plans consequently resulted in the demolition of the stadium and the sale to David Wilson Homes……..

Following lobbying by Wimbledon supporters the site was named ‘Reynolds Gate’, after Eddie Reynolds and his famous Wembley headers with the blocks of flats named Bassett House, Batsford House, Cork House, Lawrie House, Reed House and Stannard House……..

On Saturday Aldershot Town will visit AFC Wimbledon’s ‘new’ home in Kingston upon Thames……and as an incentive to arrest our terrible attacking form, ‘I’ll buy you a camel Dean, if we score just one goal at Kingsmeadow…..’

Monte Carlo or bust.....

It’s hard to believe but I’ve been visiting friends in the south of France for nearly 40 years. And on my first journey south the yellow ochre MG certainly looked the part, even if my bank manager did question the 'financial sanity' of my trip in a very long phone call on my return to the UK.

The three week tour took in my friend Didier’s wedding in Montpelier and then a pretty crazy trip along the Côte d’Azur…..with Monaco planned as our final stop before returning home by way of the Route Napoleon.

On reflection I guess we probably did the trip the wrong way round, because by the time we stood on the steps of the Casino our clothes were somewhat tired and our pockets pretty empty. But with the optimism of youth and with the help of a bottle of wine we did manage to come up with a plan…..and somehow spent the night attempting to win enough Francs to get us back over the Alps.

Monaco has been the playground of the rich since the mid 19th century when the Monte Carlo Casino opened its doors for the first time. Wealthy families from across Europe and America were attracted by the mild winters, hot summers and freedom to have fun without questions being asked.

But as I grow older the once shining allure of the streets of Monte Carlo, bursting with a seething mass of beautiful people, has been replaced by the simple desire to be consumed by the Impressionist landscape of Provence…...

I broke open the ancient shutters and recoiled……..it was going to be oppressively hot.

As far as the eye could see, clouds of dust hung over the burning white farmers' tracks between the gardens of olive trees and well tended vines under a huge sun of a dullish silver which filled the whole sky.

Not a patch of shade, not a breath of wind. Nothing but the quivering hot air and the raucous cry of the cicadas, the crazy, deafening, urgent music whose loudness seemed the equivalent in sound of this immense quivering radiance……

So if I was going to open a bank account in France I reckon it would be in perhaps Arles or Avignon ....but certainly not Monaco.

Now I wonder what attracted Harry Redknapp, current manager of Tottenham Hotspur to open an account at HSBC Private Bank in Monaco when he was manager of Portsmouth……perhaps we are about to find out!

For all of my dislike of Monte Carlo I have to admit that on my infrequent visits I continue to be fascinated by the behaviour of the many players who choose to challenge the roulette wheel in the Casino. Such analysis and planning, confidence and concentration, investment and evaluation……….then the croupier spins the wheel in one direction and launches a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls on to the wheel and rests in one of 37 coloured and numbered pockets.

Gosh, how do I decide……should I choose inside bets - straight-up, split, street, corner (or square), six line (or double street), trio, basket (or the first four), top line or perhaps the outside bets will be better today - with smaller payouts but a better chance to win…..1 to 18, 19 to 36, red or black, even or odd, dozen bets, column bets or the Snake Bet (don’t ask!).

In truth it really doesn’t matter for despite any amount of planning the ‘house edge’ means that they win and you lose.

But the way people lose is so interesting……

In his first year with the Shots, Dean Holdsworth has probably signed nearly enough loan players to fill a roulette wheel.

Yet if I met him at a ‘table’ in Monaco would he prefer the inside or outside bets.....I wonder?

Images from Cheltenham

Cheltenham Town 2 v 0 Aldershot Town (14/01/12) .......and Dean, I don't want to hear that it was another 'terrific performance'. We lost....we didn't score and we never looked like scoring.

League 2 Pub Watch - Cheltenham

The Kemble Brewery Inn, 27 Fairview Street, Cheltenham, GL52 2JF.

Off the beaten track and hidden away in rows of Victorian terraced houses the Kemble Brewery Inn is quite simply, a delight.

The bar is small creating the feeling that you are in a house that has had the walls knocked out…..and to the rear is a secluded garden.

On-street parking in the area is still possible despite the spread of ‘residents only’ zones but the advice is to get there early, as the pub does get very busy on match days.


The Last Word

A wonderful pub and only a ten minute walk from Cheltenham’s ground.

The Kemble offers a really varied range of well kept beers and it also offers ‘free sandwiches’ to everyone Saturday lunchtime.

Probably the friendliest pub that you will visit during a League 2 season.

A life lived in reverse.....

The earliest memories that I hold of my grandfather are ones of a powerfully built man who ‘hit the back of the net’ with every shot, even if the goalkeeper was only four years of age.

Grandad survived the horrors of life in the trenches during the First World War but he lost his brother in a flying accident just as the conflict came to an end.

Then after our ‘gran’ died in the mid 70s his life became pretty empty and the constant memory lapses grew into a state of more advanced confusion. He blew up his kitchen when his scones were not ready on time…..the gas had been turned on for best part of half an hour when his lighted match finally ignited the burner.

Eventually living on his own became just too difficult and he spent the last couple of years of his life in a nursing home.

In the end visiting grandad always left me feeling a bit sad, as we were only able to hold short conversations that were interesting and engaging but he really had no idea who I was or why we were speaking.

But the strangest part of grandad’s journey with dementia was that it took him on a reverse tour of his former life. He seemed to be reliving each day that had had the most emotional impact on him – in descending chronological order.

He even ‘escaped’ one night taking two buses and a short walk to prop up the bar in his old ‘local’, The Squirrel. ‘Mark’s been fine’, the barman confirmed when we finally found him. ‘Good as gold. He’s had a few, but he hasn’t bought a round all night!’

Some days the neurons that housed his emotions seemed to outnumber those that ordered his memories and with it any perception of reality was swept away in a tidal wave of confusion.

But as I watched grandad being dragged back through time by some invisible force, verbalising his experiences as he relived them, I was somehow comforted by the bizarre way that I was learning about his life – a life that was being played out in the present.

And it was just like that on Saturday………

Dean Holdsworth’s appointment as manager of Aldershot Town was announced shortly after a pathetically shambolic defeat by Oxford United, on January 8th 2011.

The final whistle…..a 2v1 defeat by the resurgent U’s and I said my goodbyes to friends and family, quickly making my way out of the North Stand to join a despondent crowd of Shots fans trudging helplessly out of the Recreation Ground.

An embarrassed row of policemen and stewards stood silently, offering protection to the changing rooms and Directors Lounge….. a sad and somewhat apologetic response to the growing calls for change……

I stopped briefly underneath the Directors Lounge and was quickly engulfed by perhaps a hundred ‘protesters’. The resigned and timid mutterings increasingly drew on an inner corporate strength and then with an explosion of Recreation Ground emotion…..

’Dillon Out’….’we want our football back’….the call from the fans desperate but somehow assertive. The police linked arms and gently reprised their Millbank student riot manoeuvres, moving the crowd down towards the High Street and out of our Directors’ sight.

I made my way back up Redan Road, threading a way through the joyous hoards of Oxford supporters and strutting policemen. I sat motionless in my car for perhaps a few seconds, just a moment of depressed contemplation……’I can’t keep doing this……our Club is being dismantled in front of my eyes’.

I fired up the engine and hit the CD button….I couldn’t risk hearing manager Kevin Dillon on BBC Radio Surrey and Robbie Savage on ‘606’ would inevitably add 3 points to my driving licence………

A Shot From Wales – The Inevitable Denouement 18th January 2011

I think I relived the experience on Saturday, as we were humiliated by a no more than competent Oxford United…..but if my emotional neurons can take control it won’t be long before Jack Howarth strides out from the changing rooms underneath the South Stand and I will get my football back………

Dean Holdsworth and Matthew Bishop took over at Aldershot Town on January 12th 2011....the end of year report isn't looking good Dean.

Liverpool FC.......the final word

It feels like yesterday….but it is almost 15 years ago when I was greeted by the Emir’s representative at Kuwait International Airport at the start of a week-long series of lectures that I had been invited to give to their Ministry of Sport.

As we approached passport control the Emir’s ‘senior assistant’ took me by the arm and counselled that during my stay in Kuwait he was available to arrange just about anything for me ….car, driver, sporting events, visits to sites of interest, meetings with ministers……in fact everything that I could possibly want could be organised at a few minutes notice.

But then his grip tightened……’do you have any alcohol in your bags…..let me know now and I will get rid of it before it is too late. You get caught and even I can’t help you’.

Luis Suarez stepped off the plane in England and was met by representatives of Liverpool FC for the first time……"don’t worry about our cultural differences Luis….you just ‘bang them in son’ and we will be very happy with you, even if you do call some of your mates and opponents 'negro’".

Liverpool you only have yourselves to blame…..

'Intellectually incoherent'........

Diane Abbott has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons.

Now you would think that her upbringing in post-war London, education at Harrow County Grammar School for Girls followed by Newnham College, Cambridge, employment with the Home Office and then the National Council for Civil Liberties, a short stint at Thames Television then working for Ken Livingstone at the GLC….oh and a period as Head of Press and Public Relations at Lambeth Council…..would have taught her something.

Obviously not as she continues to make the headlines for reasons of, ‘I’m sorry for any offence caused’…….

On 4 January 2012, Abbott tweeted that, “white people love playing ‘divide and rule’. We should not play their game“…….a comment that drew widespread criticism including calls for her resignation.

But Diane has form…..in 1996 she commented that at her local hospital, ‘ blond, blue-eyed Finnish girls’ were unsuitable as nurses because they had ‘never met a black person before’.

But it was her put down of David Cameron and Nick Clegg that troubled me the most…….when she referred to them as ‘two posh white boys’.

Ok, so what if Nick did go to Westminster School and David, Eton College. And is it really such a bad thing to be accepted by Robinson College, Cambridge (Clegg) or Brasenose College, Oxford (Cameron). And the use of ‘boys’…..I’ll give her the ‘benefit of doubt’ on that use of language.

No, what has always concerned me with Diane Abbott is her lack of intellectual honesty. Her decision in 2003 to send her son to the private City of London School which she herself described as ‘indefensible’ and ‘intellectually incoherent’ caused considerable controversy and media criticism.

That said, I reckon her son’s analysis of the decision went something like this……’I want to go private Mum….I don’t want to go to school in Hackney’.

'It was just a pantomime..........'

I probably didn’t recognise it at the time, but now as I look back over my working life I can see that the period from the late 70’s to the end of the 80’s was undoubtedly pretty hectic.

Moving home and work from Suffolk to Norfolk was soon to be followed by marriage and a son born in 1982. Then another career move to the East Midlands in 1986 was succeeded by the ‘big move’ back to London in 1988. Yes, it was certainly a period of intense activity with, fortunately, many compensatory rewards……

And somewhere in the middle of all this animation I found myself in the stalls of the Civic Theatre, Mansfield, watching Frank Carson in pantomime.

The Palace Theatre, Mansfield, began life as the Palace Electric Theatre, opening its doors for the first time on Tuesday 13th December, 1910. Just over 100 years ago it was described as 'the last word in electric theatre... refinement and novelty' - it was a 'palace fit for a king'.

Then shortly after the Second World War the cinema was closed and the stage was enlarged to accommodate live shows. As a variety house the Palace attracted many famous names including Larry Grayson, Steve Lawrence and Hilda Baker……

In 1953 (coincidently the year of my birth) Mansfield District Council bought the theatre at a cost of £11,500, restored it and in 1956 it re-opened as the 'Civic Hall' with the Chesterfield Repertory Company performing 'School for Spinsters' - the management of the Civic certainly knew how to pack them in…

The theatre underwent a major rebuilding programme in the 60’s and then in 1968 Mansfield District Council offered a five guinea prize for a new name for the building…… the winner was….. 'Civic Theatre' (the theatre changed its name again in the 1990’s, following another refurbishment)!

And so it came to pass that in the year of our famous play-off final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers (my son’s second Shots game), we found ourselves watching Frank Carson as Buttons in a pretty tawdry production of Cinderella.

Buttons is the servant of Cinderella's father, Baron Hardup, and is Cinderella's friend. He is in love with Cinderella and is constantly trying to express his feelings to her, only for her to remain unaware of his love ……or she simply replies that she loves him only as the brother she never had.

Buttons is a strong comedy role with many jokes to keep the audience ‘amused’ and to cheer up the mistreated Cinderella. Often these jokes are insults directed at Cinderella's two ugly sisters, either to their faces or behind their backs …….

Even after all these years I can remember my five year old son’s comments quite vividly, as he watched the curtain come down on Buttons for the last time……’that was rubbish Dad…..I wish we had travelled down to the Rec - now that would have been fun….’

Frank Carson is now 85 and was pretty popular during the 70’s and 80’s. (Frank sadly died on February 22nd 2012)

His nephew Trevor Carson (23) is a highly rated young goalkeeper currently with Bury, on loan from Premiership side Sunderland.

In 2011 he was loaned to Lincoln City where he made 16 appearances including the 2v2 draw at the Recreation Ground, Aldershot, on February 15th 2011.

I don't get to see many Boxing Day games. It’s not the distance....whether we are at home in Devon or Wales matters little to this long distance supporter. No, my absence is for the simple reason that, ‘for one night only’, I acquiesce to my wife’s plaintive cry ……’surely you’re not going to the game today when we have visitors’.

But this year was different. I was ‘instructed’ to collect my step-daughter’s boyfriend from London on the 27th , early in the morning. And therefore quite reasonably I had to travel up to ‘town’ the day before, giving me the opportunity to meet up with my family at the Rec for the fixture with Southend United.

Looking back I suppose the portents weren’t great. The very late entrance of ‘Shrimpers’ to La Fontaine confirmed that the M25 had been up to its old tricks……with the shockwaves from the early morning accident near Heathrow washing up on the beach at Leatherhead until after lunch.

And I can’t say I noticed the lack of illumination as we entered the ground at 2.40pm. The magnetic attraction of the ‘burger bar’ and the much awaited tiny portion of chips (20 chips for £2…..it’s the charge for service I guess) was too strong.

For most of the first (only) half Southend were pretty robust……..quicker to the ball, stronger in the tackle and so much better at falling over when tackled than an Aldershot side who gave the appearance of a returning late night drunken reveller……stumbling, slow and mentally absent.

By the time Darren Jones was sent off for a pretty poor attempt at ‘knocking Dickinson’s block off’ the floodlight failure was all too obvious.

So it certainly wasn’t a surprise when the announcement to call the game off for safety reasons came just as Southend returned to the pitch after their half-time cup of tea. But what did surprise us was the immediate reply from our pitch-side announcer, ‘Tayley’, that ‘oh no it isn’t off’. We all sat down again……’the game has been called off for safety reasons’, came the instant and cold reply. But before we could get to our feet, ‘no it hasn’t’, Tayley stridently confirmed……….are you sure Tayley I mused, as 50% of our floodlights continued with their strike.

‘The game has been cancelled’….. even ‘Tayley’ had to admit defeat.

Now for the few ‘Shrimpers’ reading this can I just point out that your extended journey time was not ‘our fault’. And furthermore we quite like the Recreation Ground……the setting is splendid and the atmosphere when the stadium is full is as good as you will find anywhere.

Mind you, saving a bit of money by using ‘leftover’ Shrewsbury Town tickets possibly did give you a jaundiced opinion of our club and I suppose we could have let people know, as they were stuck in the traffic jam on the M25, that the floodlights were playing up…..or you could have been warned when entering the ground. But I’m sure such knowledge would have made little difference to the migratory habits of the attending fans as we all entered the Rec on Monday with the required blind and immovable optimism.

And so as I walked back up Redan Road to my car after the truncated game and looked down on the semi-illuminated football ground, my thoughts returned to Cinderella…..and Buttons…..

Yes son you were right……the Recreation Ground on Boxing Day ‘was fun’.

Season's greetings to all supporters of League 2 Football Clubs.....

I'm sorry Marvin but I could only remember the second bit......

''Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.''

John F. Kennedy
35th President of US 1961-1963 (1917 - 1963)

Throughout his Aldershot Town career Marvin Morgan consistently displayed a wonderfully reassuring quality…..

‘’Like to thank the fans who booed me off the pitch. Where’s that going to get you! I hope you all die.’’

Aldershot 1 Hereford United 2 and fans called for manager Kevin Dillon to be sacked during and after another dismal loss to the bottom-placed United.

At this same event, the supporters also jeered Marvin Morgan, stirring him to make offensive comments in return, on the social networking site, Twitter. As a consequence, Morgan was fined two weeks wages and ordered to stay away from the Club. He was also placed on the transfer list and, shortly after, joined League 1 side Dagenham and Redbridge on loan until the end of the season……

January 2011

(Marvin joined Shrewsbury Town at the start of the 2011/12 season)

It can be so frustrating when players representing League Two clubs put in a great performance one week, ripping the opposition apart, and then just a few days later struggle to pass the ball to anyone other than a forlorn ‘ball boy’ next to the corner flag, hands in pockets and with his head lost somewhere underneath the obligatory ‘hoodie’.

But Marvin was different; he invariably lived up to my expectations.

At 1.96m he is undoubtedly very tall….but regrettably this gift has never been exploited as he continues to be hopeless when the ball is ‘played in the air to him’.

Marvin is certainly very fast, when he finally mobilises his long legs and overcomes the apparent inertia.....but with the ball at his feet, the crowd invariably scream in frustration, ‘where is he going!’

Yes, I guess ‘Marvellous Marvin’ would never betray my expectations.

So it was, that on Saturday I committed myself to giving Marvin a warm welcome…..a heated booing as he lined up and reprised when substituted. Remarkably a first for me in all 51 years of following the Shots, but maybe not the last …..I quite enjoyed it!

Perhaps the antonym of a rapturous applause has its merits ……

Then during the game I could only bring myself to boo Marvin on three occasions….those three rare moments when he got near to the ball.

And if my third boo was a tad staccato it was because Marvin fell…..

I’m sorry but I must admit I did struggle to act with the same professional integrity as MMM displayed week-in-week-out but unfortunately I found it just too difficult to hold back my merriment.

Images from Sheffield

FA Cup 2nd Round
Sheffield Wednesday 1 v 0 Aldershot Town

Hillsborough is an ageing relic that has found it impossible to hide the history of Administration and financial struggles.

The Fat Cat, Alma Street, Sheffield.....one of the finest pubs in the UK. But get there early as it is always very busy!

Kelham Island Museum is next door to The Fat Cat......park, visit the museum, pub, tram (500m) - two stops......Hillsborough.