The past came back to visit....

Albion Rovers FC play at Crindau Park, Newport.

The ground can be seen quite easily when travelling back to England along the M4. In fact it is just below the motorway and not more than 500m from the Brynglas Tunnels…..I’m sure you will remember the traffic hold ups, if you attended any of the ‘Cardiff’ Cup Finals.

Scottish coalminers who moved to Newport for work in 1937 formed the team and then named the club after Albion Rovers, who continue to play in their homeland of Coatbridge.

But I’m sure not many people outside of Newport will know that the Rovers played Abergavenny Thursdays in the first game to be played at Newport Stadium, now the home of Newport County AFC.

From the dreamland of the European Cup Winners Cup quarter final against Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany, to bankruptcy in 8 years, was a pretty spectacular collapse. But then the 1980s heralded both the brightest and darkest moments in Newport County’s history.

After relegation from the Football League to the Conference in 1988 ‘The County’ went bust on 27th February 1989.

They reformed in the same year and the new club adopted the nickname The Exiles, as a result of the need to play their inaugural season in the north Gloucestershire town of Moreton-in-Marsh.

Promotion to the Southern League in 1990 saw the club return to Wales for a brief period. The return to Somerton Park was never going to be for long, as the Borough Council had housing developments in mind. But nobody wanted to return to life in exile for a further two seasons, as the club was forced to resort to legal action to protect themselves from being evicted from the English football pyramid. The litigation proved successful, a landmark High Court judgement enabling Newport AFC to move into a permanent home at Spytty Park and the newly-built Newport Stadium (the club changed their name back to Newport County in 1999).

But desperate for any club to play at the new stadium, and with Newport in exile, the Borough Council had entered into a tenancy agreement with Albion Rovers, then of the Welsh League Div 1 (feeder to the Welsh Premier). So on their return to Wales ‘County’ found themselves ground sharing until Albion Rovers moved out to Crindau Park.

And just for the record, Rovers beat the Thursdays in that opening match…… Albion Rovers have suffered three relegations and now play in the Gwent County League Div 1.….and the Thursdays now play in the Gwent County League Div 3.

Now I’m sure all of this is more interesting than tracking the rise and fall of just about any politician. And certainly more memorable for those emotionally attached to the clubs in question. But the really fascinating thing about Crindau Park is that, it is the only senior football pitch in Wales below sea level.

And yes, it floods a lot…..

It was with this fact in the forefront of my mind, the weekend before last, that the past came back to visit me.

I pass through Newport on no less than 40 occasions every season on my way to the Recreation Ground, Aldershot and the many other exotic Conference destinations. And just above Crindau Park I always undertake the same analysis……how much water is there on the pitch? Is it playable? If yes, the Rec will be fine……

And after a week of torrential rain which brought floods to much of west and mid Wales I looked down at Crindau Park expecting the worst.

But travelling to the Forest Green Rovers game the past did indeed come back to visit…was it really fifteen years ago that my mother made the call?

The BBC news had carried the story all week. Rain. More rain. Widespread flooding. Landslides. The Rivers Severn and Wye bursting their banks covering hundreds of square miles with floodwater.

‘Are you ok?’ My mother’s voice resonating concern.

‘Yes, we are. Of course we are ok’ I reassuringly declared as I looked out of our house towards the distant Black Mountains shimmering in the early morning sunlight. Our garden wrapped up in a thick blanket of cotton wool. The cloud stretching for as far as the eye could see. Punctured only by the mountain tops. The valley of the Wye sequestered 250m below.

‘Yes, we are fine Mum’ with just a hint of ‘living in Chobham you would be the first to know if we were under water!‘

My travel arrangements tend to be pretty much the same for every home game….I leave home at 9am, pick my brother up at 1230hrs and get to the Phoenix Social Club for 1pm. Leaving two hours to unwind and prepare for the game…..

But this trip was different. The Phoenix was no more….for me. The Board had decided to use the Social Club for corporate dining with Members shifted to a ‘pub’ in the car park.

Cardiff, Newport, Second Severn Crossing, Bristol, Swindon, Reading, Hartley Wintney….plenty of time to think.

It will be ok. Yes, I was convinced.

Clearly the club had put in a lot of effort to get the new venture up and running for the opening, the night before. And the ‘big screen’ was in place so that we could watch televised football…..I’m never that interested. And with a reported 3000 pints poured into plastic pots I’m sure the brewery and all those involved will be happy.

The success of our club is of course a shared aim, but the big and ugly ‘Black Bull’ is no place for someone who travels so far to get to each and every home game.

I had grown to like the comfort of the Phoenix Club….and of course I purchased my season ticket early to receive the benefit of free membership. A benefit that has now been removed mid season.

But don’t worry Chairman. I won’t be asking for a refund.

The Severn Bridge ‘sharks’ hit me for £200 in toll charges each season so I guess the membership fee would be no more than loose change ‘jingling in the pocket’.

On the other hand a claim in respect of my season ticket…..

So it’s the Crimea for me, before the Oxford United game on Tuesday night…..an opportunity to get the season back on track, after the disappointing defeat at York City.

I couldn’t get to the game, last Saturday, so what can I say other than….I have every confidence that Gary and Martin will; learn from the setback and prepare effectively for an encounter with a team who have much to prove.

Aldershot Town will play with power and pace……..