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.