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Given my attendance record in the non-league era I found it difficult to believe when putting the stats together for this site that after seeing the first 5 encounters with the Harriers that I have missed every one of the last 7. But looking at the dates it became obvious as in the space of 20 months or so each and every one of them came at a time when I was in the chemo phase; in hospital or generally under the weather. But notwithstanding that there will only ever be one game that immediately comes to memory. Far from a highlight it actually marked probably the lowest point in all the years I have followed County …. until January 21st 2001 that is.

My piece on the Victoria Ground Hartlepool provides the background to the game at Aggborough on April 20th 2013. The point gained up in the north east had given us a lifeline, slim and tenuous though it was, to try and evade the drop into regional football. Putting things simply a win for County and Tamworth losing to Woking at the Lamb Ground would see us escape the drop. Mathematically a draw at Tamworth would require a 5 goal County victory … beyond the realms of plausibility. It was all or nothing, and certainly not helped by the knowledge that a Kidderminster win, (and a Mansfield loss), would see the Aggborough club return to the Football League after an 8 year gap.

It drew a huge crowd to Aggborough .. officially declared at 6,453 it was certainly many more than that as a huge number of County fans scaled the walls to the visitors section which had due to the real ineptitude of Kidderminster been constrained to only half of the Railway Stand. It was an ineptitude that was to have consequences. Not only that but there was no police presence, as Harriers sought to suppress the cost; and the only barrier between the East stand, (where maybe a couple of hundred County fans had been seated) formed by advertising boards, thus providing immediate access to the pitch. County Directors had been advised not to attend for their own safety. There was an atmosphere of palpable anger. A perfect recipe for the debacle that unfolded.

The game set off with an electric atmosphere, and hopes were raised as an early goal for Woking 40 miles or so across the Midlands put Tamworth behind. The lead at the Lamb Ground lasted only a quarter of an hour, as a goalless first half passed. There could be no pretence that County were anything less than fortunate as Kidderminster had threatened on a number of occasions.

The game exploded early in the second half as Harriers took the lead. It led to a pitch invasion from County fans in the Railway Stand. A home player was assaulted and County player Danny Whitehead was also confronted in a more than aggressive manner. With no police in the ground, (and Kidderminster had a lot to answer for in that regard), the referee took the players off and the game was suspended for 31 minutes until police reinforcements were summoned to restore some form of order. It was a truly shameful episode and I will maintain to this day that those who have defended this action really are blind to the truth.

By the time the game restarted Tamworth were ahead, and two more quick goals put County 3-0 down and the National League North was now the menu for 2013/14. Jeff; Mark and I, desperately disappointed at the outcome, but appalled at what we had seen, headed for the exit. It was the earliest I had ever left a game. By the time the game finished we were on the M5. A truly dark day.

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Memories of trips to Aggborough

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THE GAMES

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Where the date is in bold click for highlights of the game

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	Date	Venue	Ground	Competition		F	A	Att:
Tues	23/08/11	a	Aggborough	Blue Square Bet Premier (Tier 5)	D	1	1	1,886
Sat	28/01/12	h	Edgeley Park	Blue Square Bet Premier (Tier 5)	W	2	1	3,728
Sat	13/10/12	h	Edgeley Park	Blue Square Bet Premier (Tier 5)	W	1	0	3,426
Sat	20/04/13	a	Aggborough	Blue Square Bet Premier (Tier 5)	L	0	4	6,453
Sat	29/10/16	h	Edgeley Park	Vanarama National League North (Tier 6)	L	0	1	2,885

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