Colchester United and Religion

Visiting family for granddaughter's birthday party took me down the A12 past Colchester United's
ground, officially the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

It was a beautiful day, unbroken sunshine and hot, a real summer day, perfect for a quiet visit and some photos. The ground is right beside the road and as I approached I thought someone had parked a whole fleet of coaches on the car park, utilising an empty area during the close season.

As I got closer, the stands had people in them, in fact, a lot of people, probably far more than Colchester United get for a home game. It turned out that I had blundered in to a meeting or, probably more correctly, a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses. I apologised to the main steward chap and told him of my purpose, parked up. scooted round taking photos as fast as I could and left.

This ground is a new one, United having previously been at the crumbling Layer Road for many years. It is situated way out of town in a wasteland which is obviously waiting for development, but at the moment is sad and lonely. It's not the usual new 'bowl', but four seemingly identical stands, identical except for a few detail differences.

The birthday party was a great success.

Random thoughts and one more club

As I go around visiting clubs and taking photos of those grounds one thought keeps coming back; most clubs just don't care about the image their grounds present to the world. Look at my club, Nottingham Forest. There is just one picture of the ground that is always used, admittedly an iconic image, that of the Trent End from Trent Bridge. Even that bit of the ground needs a good wash and brush-up.  However, when I started this quest, I rolled up at the main gates and looked at the ground from that angle, a jumble of buildings looking rather scruffy with no discernible heart, hardly the home of a team hoping to invade the multi-million pound Premier League.

And this theme carried on at Notts County across the river. A nice pair of gates, but a bland brick façade with a plastic badge being the only other signal that one is near the oldest football club in the world.

A visit to an actual Premier League club confirmed my suspicion that clubs are more concerned with their internal affairs than proclaiming their existence to the non-footballing world. Norwich City also have nice gates, but also several hundred yards of bland brickwork, unbroken by anything likely to attract the outside world. Actually, it seems very important these days for Premier League clubs to incorporate a hotel into their ground.

I recently had occasion to visit London. It was a special occasion, seeing old friends and visiting a site I had long wished to see. London is not one of my special places, not even on the list of places I would visit without a good reason. I had forgotten how stuffy and scruffy it is and how hideously overcrowded it seems, people rushing about like ants almost completely unaware of anybody except themselves. I was in West London and just had enough time to visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Fulham at Craven Cottage.

I walked to Chelsea and spent time walking around the ground looking for the best photo opportunity. Admittedly, I am no photographer so it takes me time to try and find the best shot  I took one of the old concrete wall which marks the Shed End, as was, and the one of the back of the West Stand with the statue of Peter Osgood in front of it. The rest of the ground is a jumble of hotels and entertainment venues seemingly unrelated to football.

So long was spent at Chelsea that I decided to visit Fulham's ground later in the season. To try to fit these two grounds in before the season started was a spur of the moment decision anyway, so I will just put Fulham back on the original schedule.

Another fun activity of fans during the close season is the release of some players and the signing of others. This provides endless opportunities for discussion and disagreement.

I join in the debates, more as a spectator to the fevered speculation and rumour than as an active participant, preferring to wait and see how the manager eventually fashions his team. Also, perhaps it is better to wait and see how the team he has conjured up actually performs than to condemn or praise before a ball is kicked.

Tickets and Fixtures

The close season has always seemed to last forever. There are many more sporting events during the summer, but none of them, for me anyway, have that sense of anticipation I get with each game in the football season. I suppose it's because I don't have any real connection with any of the participants. For instance,  I don't follow the cricket as much as I did, mainly because I find the game has changed so much. A 50 overs Tournament with the final played over 20 overs? Even the thought of the Ashes hasn't sent my blood pressure higher than it already is. Mind you, I can't work up much enthusiasm for the England football team these days either. I suppose I might get a bit steamed up if we went on a good run in the World Cup, but they'll have to get a move on, I haven't got much time left. I suppose I am lucky to have seen us win it once, I mean, think of the poor Scots.

Last Wednesday was, therefore, a bit of a special day. Next season's fixtures were published. At least now I can start planning, knowing where I am going and when (until Sky muck it up). Season starts on August 3rd with a home game against Huddersfield, a bit low-key, but the start of a real fun season for me. The first away game is at Blackburn. That part of the country is thick with Championship clubs, so I should very easily be able to cover every league ground outside our division up there. I have decided to co-visit Preston for that game.

I had thought of going up to get my ticket sometime close to fixture publication and Thursday was a grand day for it. Not only was there "An Evening with John Robertson and Derek Randall" at the Approach, but Carl Froch was accorded a civic reception that same evening. I duly arrived at the City ground, parked the car and went into the ticket office. Purchased a Season Ticket for the Upper Brian Clough Stand (above Row 21; I have to watch the pennies) because I like to be around the half-way line and also an Away Season Ticket to ensure that I get a ticket for all 46 games and the Cups. The away season ticket is to make sure I get tickets sent rather than rely on my dodgy memory to apply for them.

It was a lovely day, so decided to take a walk round the stadium. The lady in Reception organised a Pass into the ground and I wandered around the ground taking photos. The newly laid pitch looked in good shape. Then it was time to walk over to Meadow Lane and do Notts County. Forest, of course, counted as ground number one and Notts as number two.

I then made my way into town and went to see Cloughie's statue. After this I met up with a friend, a fellow Forest fan, for the evening.

The evening started with Carl Froch doing a number of interviews with the media before coming out onto the balcony of the Council House to greet his fans, all standing in the pouring rain. I'm sure he would have had a much bigger crowd if the weather had been fine, but we made up for that with some enthusiastic cheers and applause. John Robertson and Derek Randall were excellent company. Randall was much as he was at the crease and in the field, constantly on the move, all the while chatting and chuckling. Robbo was much quieter, but honest and humorous. A really nice man.

On the way back to Suffolk by the sea, having plenty of time in hand, I detoured to Norwich, to make that my third club of the season. Although not too far from my home, it was better to make the stop then than have to make a special journey later.

A Short History

I was born in Norfolk in the early stages of the WWII, my father was a professional soldier. In the latter stages of the war he was posted to Egypt, mother and I went along, too.

In late 1948 we came home and he was posted to Nottingham. We lived in Hilton Road at first and I went to Mapperley Plains infants School. I had never been to school before and was way behind. We soon moved to a new house on Melbury Road in Woodthorpe (for some odd reason, now called Wensley Road) and I moved schools to Waverley School, which I think was located on Hamilton Road, Sherwood Rise. This was a vain attempt to catch up on my education, but I think it failed. I have always been way behind others of my year, which has had the knock-on effect of several interesting jobs which I would never have had if I had settled into suburban stagnation.

Because I wasn't from Nottingham and had moved houses and schools, I had few friends, certainly none who were interested in sport. I liked cricket and football. I used to be allowed to go to Trent Bridge to watch Notts play. For us young lads there was plenty of space on the grass in front of the big scoreboard at the Radcliffe Road end. I struck up a nodding aquaintance with a few others there and learned about football clubs nearby. No floodlight pylons in those days to guide me. My first football foray was to see if I could find the Nottingham Forest ground because it was close to the cricket ground, but I finished up at Meadow Lane. Notts County had signed Tommy Lawton and were supposedly on the up and up, moving into Div 2 whilst Forest were in Div 3 (S).

I persisted and eventually found the City Ground, went to a match and was hooked.

We soon moved away from Nottingham, to Hamburg, in 1951. I kept my interest in Forest, however, through the years. Sadly I never again lived in or anywhere near Nottingham. I never even had a job which allowed me to visit the City Ground on a regular basis. However, the flame burnt brightly and I kept in touch via the BBC World Service, the telephone when short wave reception faded and the newspapers. Then came the computer age and contact was possible on a much more regular basis.

During those years I made irregular visits to Forest at home or, mostly, away. It became a dream to one day have a season ticket, even if only for one season.

It has now become possible. Sadly, my wife of 43 years died last year and I am retired. So, I have saved up a few pennies and soon I shall buy that season ticket. I am using the excuse that it is in place of a summer holiday for the next couple of years.

I shall also try to go to every away game and, in the process, visit all the other 91 league grounds. At my stage of life it is highly unlikely I shall complete the ideal of doing all 92 with Forest. Also, how can you complete a full set these days with clubs dropping in and out of the league every year? So I am going to do the 92 as at 2013/14.

This blog is my private diary of the season. If I can cope with the technology, I might even add a picture or two. Of course, being a blog, anyone can read it and comment on it, but don't expect it to be interesting or a literary masterpiece.

The wait begins for the most exciting stage of the season, the release of the fixture list on June 19th. That is when the real planning starts. I have made several false starts because I'm so keen to get going, the map is up on the cork board, coloured pins locating clubs from the four divisions (the different colours showing which division the club is in, of course) and lists of clubs pinned to a separate cork board. Bit like Winston Churchill's War Room. Cheap hotels have been checked out on Trip Adviser and route planning sorted via several route planning websites. But it all depends on June 19.