Sometimes learning can be tough.

Politicians are so good at improving our lives. Oops….sorry I’ve been drinking. Politicians are so good at spending our money.

After the disappointment of Monday, and Crawley’s 1v0 win at the Recreation Ground, the last thing I wanted to read in the Times was that a £3 billion series of policies designed to boost the achievements of pre-school children has had no effect on the development of those entering primary school, a study by the University of Durham suggests. Am I surprised? Well no not really….it seemed such an insignificant sum….then Radio 4 informed me that the figure was nearer to £21 billion!

Not to worry we have another plan…..don’t we Gordon?

But my mood was lightened when I turned to page 8 and read the headline….’John Prescott will stand down as MP at the next general election’.

John Prescott the man who can lighten any room…..just by moving away from the window.

Prescott once a ship's steward and trade union activist. A man always presented as the political link to the working class in a "New" Labour party led by modernising middle class professionals.

But I must give credit to Prescott as he overcame the handicap of failing his grammar school entrance ‘Eleven Plus’ examination, to graduate from Ruskin College in Oxford with a diploma in economics and politics to be followed by a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the University of Hull. Our economic future safe….


Sometimes I forget that this is a blog about Aldershot Town FC….

Ok so we lost to Crawley..

Disappointing? No not really. We could have scored three or four. Perhaps we needed a calm and experienced head somewhere in the middle of the park. But if I can see the way forward I’m sure our manager can too…..

And at the end of the 90 minutes I looked across to Gary Waddock….I saw a young man displaying optimism and honesty.

In the dugout below me Steve Evans…..


So onwards to Altrincham and one of my favourite trips north.

Histon on a Friday night

It is always pleasant returning to Cambridge; so the opportunity to take a 24hour trip to Histon was grasped with both hands. A decision made easier by my wife’s plan to walk three sections of the Black Mountains Way with our dog Wini.

The City of Cambridge never fails to impress. Colleges that have learning stamped all over them. Green spaces that allow the pressures of work to release naturally.

And so many pubs, all offering the finest ales.

The one downside. Ex-students, trying to sell me a river trip, in a Punt. ‘No thank you’, I replied on more than one occasion. ‘I’m here on business’.

Old bookshops. I just love old bookshops. And despite Cambridge not quite matching Hay-on-Wye in this regard, it does have the odd good one tucked away from the main thoroughfares.

Not far from King’s College, founded in 1441 by Henry VI and one of the first to admit women, I came across a splendid little shop. A shop stuffed from floor to it’s oak beamed ceiling with books and ephemera. And in the corner a complete collection of Herge’s Adventures of Tintin. My memories of the 104 five-minute episodes produced from 1958 to 1962 flooded back.

Of course dedicated followers of the comic books were unhappy with the series as it often varied from the original text. In fact it often changed whole plots. In the book Explorers on the Moon, Tintin goes to the Moon for scientific exploration, but in the episodes of Objective Moon Espionage, he goes to rescue the trapped Snowy. Who would be a Tintinologist when such games are played?

As I left the book shop I paused for a moment and reflected on just some of King’s distinguished alumni…..David Baddiel. Distinguished? I went back to my car and set off for the Red Lion, Histon.

Histon FC founded in 1904, as Histon Institute, played in the Eastern Counties League from 1966 to 2000. And from the obscurity of the ECL, Histon’s rise through the Southern League and then the Conference South has been rapid.

The building of a new headquarters for the Cambridgeshire FA and new 500 seater stand will bring a better sense of scale and importance to The Glassworld Stadium, which for now looks no better than many of the grounds found at Step Three and Four.

And I guess with Razorlight headlining at the Reading Festival on the same evening, all of the portable toilets in East Anglia….well less the five in use at the Glassworld Stadium for away supporters….must have disappeared down the M11, around the M25 and along the M4 to Richfield Avenue, Reading.

Although the funny thing was….five loos and no queues.

I meet Steve Fallon, the Histon Manager, in the pub just around the corner from the ground. It was very late at night and he seemed tired and a bit drained. Steve had been a central defender in his playing days, making 410 league appearances for Cambridge United between 1974 and 1986 before sustaining an injury that cut short his career.

He seemed pleased to spend some time discussing the game without the pressure that comes from the need to convince his Directors, the Press or ‘The Stutes’ supporters.

One of the interesting points to come out of our chat was that he had read the Aldershot message board….and that he had read this blog.

Steve felt that Histon’s fitness let them down. I didn’t agree with this observation. In my view it was Histon’s lack of a quality and inability to make the most of all the second balls that they won throughout much of the 90 minutes, that was their downfall. And probably not making the most of the lack of pace down the right side of our defence was a big mistake too.

But overall we both agreed that it had been an even game with Aldershot’s obvious quality in two or three positions being the difference between the sides.

And the opening goal….I guess he will not be too pleased that his keeper was beaten from at least 35m. The wall was probably poorly aligned but the keeper saw the ball for more than 25m….Ok, it was beautifully struck. But to be beaten from 35m.....

And with that Histon is consigned to history and my thoughts turn to Crawley on Monday.

Droylsden....3 points

The nice thing about playing in the Conference….ooops the Blue Square Premier….is the exotic nature of the fixture list. Oxford, York and Cambridge are place names probably known to inhabitants of Los Angeles and Washington DC. But Histon, Farsley and Nailsworth….gosh they are exotic. And for me the endearing attraction of the Conference.

First , my apologies for the late posting of this the Droyslden account…..a new Company structure is to blame. Work. It can be so annoying and particularly when the ‘Business Plan’ now takes in Farsley, Histon and Droylsden.

Droylsden is a small town within the Tameside borough of Greater Manchester and about 4 miles from the city centre. Like great swathes of the north west the town grew up around the cotton mills established in the mid-19th century along with the Ashton Canal….sorry, and not forgetting the Forest Canals.

As for famous people….Ancient Shot will remember Peter Noone, from Herman’s Hermits and what about Davy Jones of the Monkees’ fame..

At this point I got a bit bored with my research ……but I do look forward to the return fixture and what will be my first trip to Droylsden.


Droylsden FC was founded in 1892, playing in black and amber, changing to blue and white….and then after the Great War, red and white. The ‘Bloods’ probably a recognition of the tragic loss of life during the 1914/18 War.

And two days after we beat Torquay United on Feb 17th 1973, in our first promotion season….Don Revie switched on Droylsden’s new floodlights in front of 4000 fans packed into the Butchers Arms to see the ‘Bloods’ take on Manchester City. Scorers for the Shots on the 17th, Steve Melledew and Jack Howarth, of course.

Football convention determines that teams hoping to finish in the promotion places should lose only to other top teams….over the season they will all beat each other. But never ever lose to the bottom clubs….no one loses to them. Droylsden will be a bottom 6 club this season and Aldershot delivered promotion winning form.

But steady on….too much Chablis. The second half was good….Harding was impressive….Dixon and Grant will get sharper. But the defence….have a look at the Torquay video Gary, and their big boys.

But of course the result was not just down to a change in approach after half time….no.

I took my brother to the game in my new red two seater….1v0.
We arrived at the Rec before my younger brother ….2v0.
My older brother refuses to buy a season ticket….2v1.

I bought a pie after a couple of pints in the Social,…3v1.

Football is a pretty simple game Gary.

So what can we expect at Histon. A tough game following a bloody long drive from Wales. Despite my son having been born in Bury St Edmunds….I can’t recall ever having been to Histon. I look forward to the experience.

All too easy for Torquay

‘But beware….all of the fire and fizz….passion and excitement will be pointless, if we are too on Wednesday. Torquay will turn up. And they will play for 90 minutes. And no doubt they will be out to turn us over.’ (A Shot from Wales)

And Torquay did turn up….


We have lived in Wales for just about 15 years. And the strange thing is; every time I travel back over the ‘bridge’ to England….I feel more English. And what's more, my identity grows stronger with every £5.10 handed to the Toll Booth Attendant on the way back to Wales.


On Wednesday afternoon I left Wales in brilliant sunshine only to be swamped at Swindon by the fiercest of storms. But by Junction 11, the turnoff for my brothers house in Crookham Village, the skies had cleared once more. The giant single Wind Turbine standing guard over the Motorway exit and making ready for the hoards of Chelsea supporters; travelling to the Reading game that night. Not from west London but from Exeter and Bristol and …..well just about anywhere other than London I guess.

In Wales we have proper wind farms. They can be found across mile upon mile of the high mid Wales hills and mountains. And in Anglesey every spare field has a wind farm. But at Reading the turbine is merely a weak gesture to save the World. A Wind Croft perhaps…that’s it, a Wind Croft.

I got to my Brother’s house in time for something to eat before travelling onwards to the Rec.

And this is where the wheels started to come off, and the portents for that night’s game shifted from a win to getting stuffed.

With my niece deciding she wanted to go to the game we travelled in my Brother’s car and not the shiny new ……two-seater red car, that I had bought for the upcoming season.

1v0 to Torquay.

And as we drove past the High Street end my younger brother called to say that he was already at the ground, as he was picking up his season ticket. He never gets to the Rec first. That determined the first goal to be the deflection of a pathetic attempt at hitting the corner flag, by Tim Sills.

Walking down Redan Hill always raises my heart beat. The floodlights come into view first, then the East Bank and the South Stand…..with just a glimpse of our seats in the North Stand. Our pace picked up as we approached the turnstiles. But my older Brother has still to buy his season ticket….he was waiting for Terry Brown to go…then to see who was appointed…then he went on holiday….and on Wednesday he had to pay cash.

2v0 to Torquay.

The Social Club was pretty empty considering the size of the crowd…over 3000...and why? Pretty straightforward answer to the problem…can’t think why it remains a mystery for the Board.

And then the third goal went in….I didn’t have my customary, and cremated, steak slice before the game.

3v0 to Torquay.

But all will be well on Saturday. I have analysed my performance and I can find solutions to all of the shortcomings played out on Wednesday …..I hope Gary learns quickly too.

Droylsden Saturday…..optimistic? Why not.

In 1973/4 when we finished 8th in Div 3 (that’s Div 1 in Euros) we lost 9 of our first 13 games. Beating Blackburn Rovers 4v0 at home in our final home game….and then if we had won at Charlton, in our final game, we would have ended up 6th.

But then Jack Howarth did score 27 goals that season…..

So, Elvins, Grant and Dixon. This is your chance to get Jack’s picture off my study wall.

Torquay return......

Torquay return to the Recreation Ground, Aldershot after a break of 17 years.


Hayling Island is my earliest holiday memory. Dad had gone to King Alfred College, Winchester after the War and then two years later took up his first teaching position at Frimley. So as my brother and I grew up in Cove during the 1950’s I guess the Island was the easiest place to get to….especially when the family mode of transport was a BSA Bantam.

Hayling Island was reached by way of a bus or was it a coach. And my distant memory, is of getting off the bus at the Havant side of the ‘bridge’ to avoid the toll charge. A bit like a prisoner exchange at Checkpoint Charlie, we trudged across to the over side and to the awaiting bus.

After his second promotion, that took Dad from Frimley to France Hill we had enough money to buy a car, a Standard 8. Holidays would surely become more exotic now.

And we weren’t disappointed. For weeks Dad disappeared every night after work…..and then all was revealed. One of our Uncles had got some camouflage paint either from the REME or the RAE and Dad hand painted our new car ….a sort of grey green.

The school holidays came around and our first long distance holiday dawned, St Mary’s Bay Holiday Camp, Brixham. I’m sure it was a great place…well it must have been because we returned the following year….and the following….and yes, the following year too. Then thankfully Dad got a Headship, became too busy to take us on holiday, and we were free to play Cricket all summer and prepare for the beckoning soccer season.

I have been back a few times to Brixham but still can’t find the building that housed the Fish and Chip shop, on the western side of the harbour.

Torquay…just a dream when we were kids. The English Riviera. You would have to be posh to go there.

And talking of Torquay; they return to the Rec for the first time in 17 years on Wednesday night.

I can’t say that Torquay has ever been a fixture that heightens expectation. Like the trips to Brixham in the Standard 8.…Torquay just seemed a long way away.

Looking through my programme collection I note that we have always beaten them in the FA Cup. In fact in 1963/4 when we became the first team outside of the top flight to beat Aston Villa we beat Torquay in the 2nd Rd 3v2. And in 1966/7 we beat them in the first round before I experienced the greatest ever game at the Rec…the 1v0 victory over Reading on 16th Jan ‘67.

Interestingly we drew 1v1 away and won 2v1 at home in our 1972/3 promotion season . Then again in the 1986/7 promotion season we drew both at home and away, but beat Torquay in the Cup before losing to Barnsley in Rd 4 (having beaten Oxford in Rd 3).

So what does all this mean….?

Nothing at all. Other than I will be in the Social Club at 6pm tomorrow….

The season starts with a win....

A few months ago I calculated my carbon footprint…..I then cheated a bit by not owning up to the new car and all of the trips to watch Aldershot…..in fact the footprint came down considerably when I entered just the odd match instead of the 43 I attended last season. And not owning up to the long haul flights helped as well. I then bought a couple of trees in Brazil; my conscience was clear.

The Sunday Times landed on the hall floor with the customary thud. Inside the travel section…‘stay at home this summer and save the World.’

Cornwall in a vintage VW Camper. Why not? Planned with precision so that I would only miss the opening game at Kidderminster. But then came the rain…..

The build up to the new season and our adventure to Cornwall coinciding with rain, rain and more rain…..

What a daft decision to save the World….we could have bought a few more trees in Brazil and gone back to the island retreat visited last year, in Turkey.

Fed up with the rain, would it ever stop?

Well I guess we should all be thankful that the ‘devastation’ was not on the scale of Bangladesh .The damaging effects of the cyclone of 1970, which killed nearly half a million people in Bangladesh was the worst in the recorded history of the world. And the devastating floods of 1988 submerged 70% of the landmass of Bangladesh for weeks causing sufferings to over 30 million people.

And is it just a year ago that we experienced the warmest July on record, with Wisley recording a temperature of 36.5c on 19th July 2006 and Penhow in south Wales setting a new Welsh record of 34.2c on the same day.

But despite these record temperatures hail fell in places on the 26th, Milton Keynes was flooded on the 27th , 60 knot winds were recorded at Cranwell ( Lincolnshire ) and the thunderstorms contributed to a landslip on the London Underground towards Heathrow…..

It is always a good thing to look back over the past to gain a perspective on the present…..and maybe even get a foretaste of the future. And didn’t we (Aldershot Town FC supporters) all try so hard during 2005/06. A season that delivered so little, other than failed promises and a disheartening lack of effort that gripped the whole of the club.

But then 2006/07 wasn’t much better. Apart from one memorable victory. A game that is stored away in the mind for ever. The image vivid to this day. The emotions surfacing when the events are recalled. Indeed just one of so few games that will live with me forever.

I wrote the following extract on 13th Sept 2006, the day after Aldershot Town beat Stevenage Borough 4v0.

“Joining the M4 at the Madejski, last night, and pointing the car towards Wales my mind was on fire with the emotion of the night. A night that hadn’t started that great. After the long drive down from my office in Cardiff, the last thing I wanted to see was Edwards having a nice chat, and sipping cordial, with Molesley in the Social Club, as our ‘boys’ were warming up. Winfield to replace the brilliant Edwards was not a swap of choice….then Day injured. Then the missed chances followed by Barnard being just a tad too clever with the penalty…..…….but the noise and passion. The power and pace of our forwards. The goals somehow inevitable. And how brilliant they all were. Different of course. But all contributing to a feeling that will last, I guess forever in the minds of all those present.

As I approached the Newbury exit my thoughts turned to the greatest moments experienced at the Rec.

It’s a long drive back to my hilltop retreat so I need to keep the mind active. And gosh it was tough last season (05/06) driving home from Accrington and Altrincham and Exeter and….now I’m getting depressed. But last night was so different. At Membury my thoughts turned to the very first goal; Tunbridge Wells, FAC 1961. Just a very small boy behind the goal at the High Street end, in a crowd of 8,500. And then my mind raced on to Jack Howarth against Reading in Jan 1967, I guess most of the ‘old’ supporters will log that one. And what about the simply brilliant and incisive play that led to Melia’s goal against Huddersfield in the 1970 FAC…..my computer was at full power by now or Dungworth in the Shrewsbury Town epic encounter….or even Charles missing against Shrewsbury at Stoke in the play off final. I know it wasn’t the Rec but it is the most vivid of memories.

And now I have a goal to add to my collection….thank you Soares. Pure genius.”

‘But calm down’ I went on to write. ‘Such excitement when the season is so new. All of this fire and fizz….passion and excitement will be pointless, if we are too on Saturday. Alan B is right to caution us. Northwich will turn up. And they will play for 90 minutes. And no doubt they will be out to turn us over.’

And they did……1v3.

But back to Cornwall. What a quiet and restful place. When you eventually get there. Few cars. No planes. Nice coastline. Decent Pubs....but little work and low wages. And with property prices driven through the roof by the desire of the seemingly endless stream of well off ‘Home Counties Types’ to colonise the area; not much hope of home ownership for the future generations of Cornishfolk.

Suburbia buying up cottages for their children to play in during July and August. Left empty in the winter….but who cares as Aspen or Klosters beckon..

And what a welcome and great win at Kidderminster, yesterday.

But beware….all of the fire and fizz….passion and excitement will be pointless, if we are too on Wednesday. Torquay will turn up. And they will play for 90 minutes. And no doubt they will be out to turn us over.

But for now…..just a touch of optimism.