Swindon v Bristol Rovers. The County Ground. Tuesday 20th September, 2016

This was a rearranged fixture from August, the original having been called off due to a torrential down pour after an hour.
When Swindon announced that tickets for the August game would not be valid for the rearranged date, a lot of home and away fans were miffed. When Rovers fans who had been in the open away end, and consequently got soaked, were told that that end would be shut for tonight's game meaning they would have to buy the most expensive tickets in the ground at £25 a piece, they were even more miffed.

In the build up to the game, a large contingent of Rovers fans were planning a boycott. I was in two minds. Whilst I agreed that people who had paid for the original game were being treated poorly, due to family commitments I'm not able to get to away games on Saturdays.  This meant the prospect of a Tuesday night trip to Swindon is more attractive to me than most.

I bought the tickets a few days in advance but then doubted myself further when even Rovers manager Darrel Clarke, who had already had harsh words for Swindon's owners, came out and said if he was a Rovers fan he wouldn't go. When Clarke speaks, people listen at Rovers, successive promotions means he walks on water in many fans eyes. There is no doubt that he commands respect from players and supporters alike. This was evident at the last home game from my position just behind the dugouts: Rovers were 1-0 down v Walsall when towards the end of the first half, a bloke near me was moaning a bit. Much to his surprise Clarke turned round and barked: "Get behind them for f@#k sake!". Most managers would shy away from such exchanges. But fair play to him, it shows his passion and that he's got the players backs. At the end of the game, perhaps realising he'd gone a bit far, he sought the bloke out and they apologised to each other and exchanged warm words and an embrace. During the game though, his comment had the desired effect, all of us around the dug outs bucked our ideas up and an abundance of positivity flowed from the terrace. Even miss placed passes and missed tackles were met with "Hard luck"s and "keep going"s. What a man.

With the managers view on the boycott made clear, I ruminated some more but my own selfishness and the fact I'd already agreed to drive a mate meant I was going.

It had been 10 years since I was last at the County ground. Back then I'd watched the corresponding fixture, Rovers had taken an early lead through Richard Walker before Swindon, then managed by Dennis Wise came back to win 2-1. I like the County Ground, it's nestled far away enough from too many roundabouts at the edge of a big cricket ground complete with a picturesque pavilion.
The only West Country ground to have hosted permier league football (93/94), it's an all seater stadium, with two big single tiered stands on it's sides, with the much smaller 'Town end' behind one goal, where the vocal Swindon fans congregate. Opposite is the uncovered away end, an unremarkable terrace which had seats plonked in 20 years or go or so.

As we neared the ground, I tuned in to the local radio and heard the charming Swindon Chairman, Lee Power being quizzed on his decision on the ticket arrangements. When invited by the interviewer to consider if he regretted his decision in light of all the criticism, he repeatedly said he would do the same again "one million percent". He also had a pop at Darrel Clarke for getting involved and when it was put to him that Rovers fans were having to pay twice and buy the most expensive tickets, he patiently explained that he wasn't here to look after Bristol Rovers fans. In short, he sounded like a bloke who could start a fight in an empty pukka pie packet.

An empty looking away end concourse 20 mins before kick off

Eerie... is the word I'd use to describe the away end when we arrived 20 minutes or so before kick off. Even the gents was pretty much empty, I exchanged a few words with the one other guy in there, clearly we both felt a bit sheepish not having joined the boycott. As I went in to the stand I heard a few guys referring to each other as 'scabs'. I wonder if this was what the picket line crossing Nottinghamshire miners felt like in the 80's?

Closed for the night. Where Rovers fans got drenched last time out

2800 Rovers fans made the short trip up the M4 in August. Tonight there were about 350. All penned in the corner of the Arkells stand though, the atmosphere was still pretty good. Looking at the team sheets, Rovers made changes following three consecutive draws, bringing big Rorry Gaffney and Ollie Clarke in to the starting line up. I didn't recognise many names from the Swindon team sheet, though noticed that son of Chelsea and QPR legend Paul Furlong, Darnell, was lining up at right back.

Swindon were quick out the blocks with lots of possession and looked threatening going forward. It wasn't a big surprise when they took the lead through Lloyd Jones's header from a corner on 6 minutes.

Shocked by the early goal, Rovers seemed to wake up, Gaffney was holding the ball well upfront and it wasn't long before Lines hit the top of the cross bar from a free kick. Rovers had ten corners in the first half but Swindon defended them well and it remained 1-0 at the break.

A half time trip to the gents; it seemed that an angry Rovers fan had gone down the trusty protest route of filling the urinals and sinks with paper hand towels resulting in wet feet all round.

Play resumed and Rovers again probed for the equaliser, the best chance came when Ollie Clarke found himself in space just out side the area, he hit a hard low shot which beat the keeper but came back off the inside of the post. Gaffney was first to the rebound but could only find the side netting from a tight angle.

On the hour mark, Darrel Clarke made a treble substitution in an effort to keep knocking on the Swindon door. It was the home team themselves though that had a clear cut chance to double their lead, only for Rovers keeper, Roos, to make a great save from close range. With less than ten minutes to go it was still 1-0. On 84 minutes, Rovers won a penalty. The wily Jermain Easter on as sub had already had a decent shout for a handball in the box turned down. He now got himself in between the ball and a defender and went down on contact giving the ref little choice but to award the spot kick. Matty Taylor duly obliged for his 8th of the season teeing off scenes in the away end. Less than a minute later and the away fans were ecstatic. A Swindon defender hesitated on the ball and was dispossessed by the tireless Ollie Clarke, pressing mid way in the Swindon half. He played in Easter who's cross towards Harrison at the far post was turned in by the unfortunate Branco for an own goal.

Rovers saw out the final few minutes whilst the sparse 6000 crowd traipsed out of the stadium to the taunt from the minority of "2-1, and all you paid twice".

Hereford v Romulus. Edgar Street, Tuesday 6th September, 2016. FA Cup replay

I worked out it would take about an hour and twenty to get from home to Hereford. With the time it takes me to get in from work, say hello to the family and jump in the car, I thought this was just about doable. I'd been keen to visit Edgar Street for a while and their 1-1 draw in the FA Cup at Romulus had given me the opportunity to attend this mid week replay.

By all accounts the game at Romulus had been a feisty affair. Both teams went in to the game unbeaten in their respective leagues, the game finished 1-1, both had a player sent off and reportedly there was a bit of needle between players and fans. To add extra spice for the replay, the draw for the next round meant whoever won would visit Romulus landlords, Sutton Coldfield.

The drive to Hereford took me over the old Severn Bridge before directing me north. It was a lovely sunny evening and the route took me through the picturesque town of Cheptsow, past the dramatic Tintern abbey before the road meandered along the River Wye. Invigorated by the cultural scenery I arrived in good time and parked up near the ground.

The recent history of Hereford FC is a very interesting one. A phoenix club, they have only been in existence under their current name since 2015. The immediate period before that was a turbulent one to say the least. After their last high water mark of promotion to league one in 2008, Hereford United, as they had been known since 1924, saw a steep decline on an off the pitch. By the end of the 2013/14 season, things had began to unravel dramatically. Although ex player Peter Beadle had arrived as manager and helped his side avoid relegation from the Conference, the Club was in big trouble financially and it's owners were looking to off load. Their chosen successors purchased the club and it's debts for £2. What followed was a disastrous few months which culminated in the club being wound up in the Royal Courts of Justice in December 2014. In between there had been a series of false promises from the new owners, multiple failed Owners and Directors Tests (ODT's) and a host of exasperated and unpaid creditors including players and staff. The Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) was formed in 2013 and was so concerned about the new owners that they quickly applied to have Edgar Street registered as an Asset of community value (ACV), fearing that the new regime were manoeuvring to possibly sell the ground off. They subsequently went as far as boycotting the whole club including attending games.  Why they felt compelled to take such drastic action becomes evident when you read the excellent account of this period on the Bulls News website which can be found here: goo.gl/hsnBxA

2015/16  was Hereford FC's first full season. Back under the management of Peter Beadle they romped to promotion and got to the final of the FA Vase. Now they find themselves in the Southern League Division One South & West. They are strong favourites to go up again with their crowds -and presumably their resources- dwarfing those of most of the others in the league. Tonight's opponents, Romulus are in the Northern Premier Division One South, the same level as Hereford in the pyramid system.

I'd purposefully booked my ticket the night before as from what I'd seen and read about the ground online, I was adamant that I wanted to sit in the Len Weston Stand. When I arrived at the Edgar Street I quickly realised it was all I hoped it would be and more. First of all, to a man and woman, the programme seller, security guards and ticket booth lady all exuded helpfulness and friendliness. When the supporters own or at least part own the club, such positivity seems to come easily.

The Len Weston stand really is a beaut. Built in 1974, it oozes character. A narrow two tiered stand, it has terracing on the bottom with thick brutallist concrete pillars holding up the second tier which is all seated.

The Len Weston stand

The Len Weston stand

 The view from the top was fantastic, high up and so close to the pitch that you really did feel on top of the action. It reminded me a bit of the away end at Brentford, it has the same steep two teired set up with the seats above the terrace. As I took my seat along with a Balti pie, the tannoy man announced that kick off was going to be delayed by half an hour as Romulus were stuck in traffic. At least this gave me time to take in the surroundings. Opposite was the Merton stand, a smart looking single tiered all seater with the dug outs in front of it. Like many stands it incorporates the club offices and corporate boxes. Unusually however, instead of being at the back of the stand, the offices, complete with many windows were at pitch level with the first rows of seats effectively on their roofs. I imagine this has resulted in a fair few smashed windows. To the left was the Meadow End, a good size covered terrace that still curves too accommodate a running track that has long since gone. The Meadow End was quickly filling up and the father and son I was sat next to told me that this was where the more vocal Hereford fans congregated, and also the end where Ronnie Radford scored the famous 1972 goal that saw off top flight Newcastle. The terrace to the right was a fair size, but not in use tonight. The father and son to my left proved good companions for the game, both season ticket holders and founts of knowledge on the club they helped fill me in on all turmoil that Edgar Street had seen over the last few years.

           

                                Pie in foreground shot from my view in the front row of the upper tier of the Lew Weston Stand

The Meadow End

Kick off had finally arrived and the game quickly came to life. Hereford looked decent on the ball but it was the visitors who had the first chance, their number 9, Lima Hailey was put through on goal, raced clear of the last defender, only to shoot tamely and straight at the keeper who easily gathered. I got the feeling Romulus would rue missing what was a great chance. From then on the Bulls started to dominate. Ex Bristol Rovers and Wolves defender Ryan Green was a cool head at the back, the midfiled was moving the ball about nicely and upfront was last seasons top scorer John Mills, who was mysteriously left on the bench in the FA Vase final much to the confusion of the tens of thousands of Hereford fans who made the trip to Wembley. He was partnered by 'The Beast' Mike Symmons. As the nickname suggests, Symmons is a big presence who at first glance looks like he is carrying a pound or two. My new friends said that when he first arrived at the club they were thinking who the hell is this joker? But added that he sure can hold the ball up well. They were right, and in addition, his lay offs and glancing headers were brilliant and it wasn't long before his and Mills interaction were creating chances. The best opportunity fell to Mills when a flurry of quick passes saw him clean through, he decided on an early shot, hitting a fierce effort that smashed against the foot of a post and away to safety.
Romulus meanwhile were still looking capable of scoring themselves, their dimunitive number 7 had apparently made a few enemies amongst the Hereford fans in the original tie, getting drawn in and reacting to some comments from the crowd. He was boo'd from the off tonight and did little to suggest he wanted to avoid the role of pantomime villain, arguing with the ref, reacting to more comments from the crowd and then getting booked after half an hour for theatrically throwing the ball away. He could play though and most of Romulus's best moments involved him on the right wing.
Hereford had the best of the half but it looked like the teams were going to head to the dressing rooms all square. With a minute or two to go though, the dead lock was broken. Tristan Plummer was the scorer. I'd seen him feature last season for Weston Super Mare in a very entertaining mid winter 5-2 victory over Oxford City in the Conference South. After a bit of ping pong in the Romulus box, he picked the ball up on the edge of the area and hit a powerful shot past the keeper that cannoned in off the underside of the cross bar.

1-0 at half time. After a quick cup of tea from the refreshment stand (£1) I perused the programme (£2) some more. The highlight for me was their Ground guide for their next away game at Winchester. Most clubs programmes do these features but they are usually pretty bland affairs limited to directions, parking and ticket prices. This piece written by Simon Wright however highlighted the merits of an overnight visit, pointing out such local attractions as the science centre, named a few local pubs and most impressively named Winchester City's bar manager and revealed amongst other things that he sold Saxon Ale, a 3.8% pale ale at £3.50 a pint. Top effort Simon!


Time for the second half and Hereford were 2 up almost straight away. A long ball was played forward from the back, John Mills spun away from his defender, timing his run perfectly and raced through on goal. Having seen his effort come back off the post in the first half, he opted to take the ball in to the box, draw the keeper out and then coolly slotted it home with his left foot before celebrating with the delighted Meadow Enders.

The comedy moment of the match came shortly after. Big Mike Symmons received the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the area, he easily managed to out muscle the young centre back marking him and turned away with the ball looking to get a shot away, the young centre back lost his balance and on his way down to the floor stuck an arm out which appeared to pull one side of Symmons' shorts down. The Hereford target man continued to try and get the ball out of his feet but was now having to concentrate on pulling his shorts up as well. Meanwhile the Romulus defender was desperately trying to block his path, but was now on the floor so improvised by doing an impression of the worm dance in an effort to keep moving, head first in pursuit of the striker, somehow he pulled it off and another Romulus defender arrived to block Symmons shot and clear the danger.

The Meadow End, which Hereford were now attacking in the second half, was a delight to see and hear in full flow from my vantage point. A beautiful curved terrace, it was rocking tonight. Responding too, and adding to the excitement of the match. Bearing in mind tonight's attendance of 2,200 was quite low compared to Hereford's average so far this season, it must create some atmosphere when full.

Hereford attack the Meadow End in the second half.

Romulus made changes and looked to get back in to the game. They clearly had quality and you could see why they hadn't been beaten this season, if anything they perhaps lacked a striker to make the most of the chances they created, but in truth they were not quite as good all over the park against a Hereford side that are very strong at this level. Jamie Edge added a third for the hosts just before the end to ensure a safe passage through to the next round.

Full time: Hereford 3 Romulus 0.

Due to a series of road works and the late kick off I made it home just gone midnight. A thoroughly enjoyable night though at a lovely traditional stadium. After years of hurt there is definitely a buzz around Edgar Street at the moment and it was great to be welcomed in for the evening. With a couple of Southern League South & West teams on my door step I will try and catch Hereford on their travels before the end of the season if I can't manage to get back to Edgar Street any time soon.

Yeovil v Portsmouth. Huish Park. Tuesday 30th August, 2016. Checkatrade Trophy

The EFL Trophy. Sponsored by Checkatrade. What a mess.
This seasons shambolic rehash of what was known as the Johnston's Paint Trophy has pissed off a lot of fans.
What was more or less a straightforward knock out competition for teams in Leagues one and two, has spawned in to something much more toxic.

Huish Park

Group stages have replaced the early knock out stages and most controversially, some Premiership and championship clubs have entered the fray but have been invited to play their under 23/ reserve sides. Many supporters fear this is the thin end of the wedge in a sinister plan to meddle with this country's beautiful pyramid system, paving the way for introducing premier league development teams in to the lower leagues.

As a Rovers fan, I've got some fond memories of the trophy during it's Johnston's paint sponsorship. In 2006/7, we went all the way to the final, eventually loosing in extra time, 3-2 to Doncaster at the Millennium stadium in what was a fantastic day out. That year the competition had also delivered a two legged area final against Bristol City, we hadn't played them for 6 years, both legs were sell outs and Rovers won 1-0 on aggregate courtesy of a Rickie Lambert thunderbolt. Fond memories indeed.

Rovers first game tonight was against Reading under 23's. This was not an attractive proposition and I was well up for voting with my feet and joining the #Bteamboycott. I did want to take in a game though and had a look at the fixture list; both Brislington and Hallen were playing in the Western league but going to a game so close to home with Rovers playing at the mem seemed weird. Plus I was keen to get back on track with the long and winding road to doing the 92. I settled on a trip to watch Yeovil play Portsmouth. Only one problem though, this was also a EFL Trophy game. I justified going along as both were league two teams so I could still sort of maintain that I wasn't endorsing the new format.

I set off for Yeovil from Bristol at 6, due to a bit of rush hour traffic and getting stuck behind numerous lorries and tractors on the way, it took a lot longer than it should have. This did give me time to enjoy BBC radio Somerset on the way though and I learned another ridiculous fact about the new format for the competition: Apparently if the game finished as a draw, both teams would get a point but they would also have a penalty shoot out for the grand prize of an extra point in the group table. Usually when there is a penalty shoot out, there is a lot at steak. I wondered what it would be like to watch one where neither side would care that much, would the players still do that huddle thing in the centre circle? Would the goalie go on a wild sprint down the touch line if he saved the decisive penalty? The team news was that Pompey had made 11 changes to the starting eleven from their last league game. They clearly weren't that inspired by the new format either then.

I parked up just a couple of minutes before kick off ensuring this would be very much a smash and grab job. An in and out ground hop. No sampling of a local ale in a nice pub and doing a lap of the ground before going in. I trotted from my car toward Huish Park. First impressions were good, set on the edge of town, it was surrounded by a lot of tress and I walked through a nice training pitch to get to the ticket office. After paying £10 to get in I just had time to buy a pasty for the rather steep price of £4 from the snack bar.

Huish Park is made up of two terraces behind the goals, one covered, one open and two all seater stands along the sides. Just the two seated stands were open tonight. Built in 1990, Huish Park is a decent lower league ground, fairly modern, there are no supporting pillars in sight, the main stand which I was in was about 2/3 full and there was a decent atmosphere at times. Yeovil Town FC have had a roller coaster few years. A long established non league club, they won the conference in 2003 and entered the football league for the first time and have remained their ever since. It is in the last few years that things really got interesting, in 2013 they gained promotion to the championship via the play offs, masterminded by adopted West County cockney Gary Johnson. Despite some good early results, they were unable to avoid relegation back to league one, things got worse the next season as they got relegated again. The next season (last season) was a struggle and at times it looked like they were going to achieve an unenviable hat-trick of relegation's and find themselves back in non league. Then ex player Darren Way stepped forward, took over as manager mid season, steadied the ship and pulled them to safety. Now they look to build again.

Not having had time to buy a programme, I took in the team news via twitter. The front pair stuck out for Yeovil. Izale Mcleod had joined at the start of the season, a player who has scored plenty where ever he has been, and he's been a lot of places. Tom Eaves was also upfront for them, I knew I recognised the name but it took me a while to remember where from, he'd been on loan at Rovers from Bolton in the 2012/13 season. He must have been about 19 then and did very well. Rovers were a struggling league two team then, he was with us for about half a season and scored 7 goals in 15 games, I remember in particular a wonder strike away to Wimbledon in what was otherwise a miserable 3-1 defeat, in what was mainly a miserable season. A tall, powerful  and skillful goal scorer, the consensus at the time was that he was too good for us and would be making his mark in the Championship or higher before too long. The next season he went on loan to Shrewsbury, then in league one and did pretty well again. After that I couldn't remember hearing about where he was and who he was playing for. I was a bit surprised to see him at Yeovil, a struggling league two club. A quick check online showed me that since leaving Shrewsbury in 2013 he'd not had much luck finding the back of the net in various loan spells and had been released by Bolton. Football is a funny game. I always remember the case of 'The Geordie Gashead' aka Stuart Nicholson. He had a loan spell at Rovers in the 2006/7 season from West Brom. Aged 19 or 20, he was absolutely fantastic for us, tearing league two defences apart, scoring important goals and justifiably keeping Rickie Lambert on the bench. He went back to West Brom with what was thought to be short term injury. Great things were expected. It wasn't until a few years later that I suddenly realised I hadn't heard anything about him. A check on wikipedia showed that the following season he'd had another loan spell in league two, scoring 1 in 15, got released by West Brom the next year and has never played in the football league since, scratching around with a few conference north clubs and some Australian sides. Not to say he hasn't achieved great things in the game and is still probably making a living from it, but it just shows how unpredictable football can be especially if you chuck in an injury or two.

The game got off to a quick start with the home team making the early running. Pompey took the lead though, very much against the run of play when striker Matt Smith powerfully headed in a cross from the left with their first attack of the game. A fair few Pompey fans had made the journey up from the south coast. Even from the opposite side of the pitch, I could clearly make out the unmistakable figure of Mr Portsmouth, rallying his troops with his trusty bell. Yeovil, in an effort to quiet him down replied straight away, with the brilliantly named Bevis Mugabi scoring via a deflected free kick. From then on Yeovil took control, their midfielders were bossing the central areas and Eaves and Mcleod were combining well upfront. Before half time, Eaves had helped him self to two goals, one after a great run from the half way line. Mcleod also scored with a lovely chip after a nice one two. In between all this Michael Smith got another for Pompey after showing his strength with his back to goal and managing to turn his defender before in to the bottom corner. 4-2 at half time!

After a two pound cup of tea (most expensive of the season by far) I was ready for the second half. It wasn't as frenetic as the first, just the one goal was added to the total and that was when Smith completed his hat-trick with a looping header which seemed to wrong foot the young keeper.

Michael Smith nods in his third goal on the night.

Pompey pressed for the equaliser, but it wasn't to be and we were all spared the prospect of a socially awkward penalty shoot out. Full time 4-3. Some impressive forward play on show. Smith's hat-trick was well earned, Mcleod looked a class act as usual and Tom Eaves looked the complete package. I'm sure if he stays fit, he will be a great signing for Yeovil.

As predicted, many clubs recorded their lowest ever attendances for a 'competitive' match in these first round of fixtures in the newly formatted EFL Trophy. Lets hope this proves to be an ill fated, one season only experiment. I enjoyed my trip to Huish Park, though feel I should return and enjoy it with all 4 stands open.