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First County Visit:	Saturday 19th November 1983
Competition:	FA Cup – (Round 1)
Result:	Telford United 3 – 0 Stockport County
Attendance:	2,470
Away Trip:	31
Away Day:	88
County Line-up	1 Mike Salmon; 2 John Rutter; 3 Steve Sherlock; 4 Dean Emerson; 5 Paul Bowles; 6 Andy Thorpe; 7 Oshor Williams; 8 Graham Jones; 9 Micky Quinn; 10 Tommy Sword; 11 Winston White
Manager:	Eric Webster
County Visits:	7

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TAKE YOUR PICK: CHARACTER OR BREEZE BLOCK?

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Before this visit to the old town of Wellington and the new one of Telford it had been nine years since an exit at Stafford Rangers.  That made it three in the space of five seasons, following on, as it did from failures at Blyth Spartans and, prior to that, Grantham. The FA Cup never seemed kind for many years following the miracle performance at Anfield in 1965.

I didn’t manage to go to that, with parental control deeming ‘verboten’ a solo visit to Liverpool at the age of 10.  A brilliant display saw a draw courtesy of a strike from Len White, in only his 3^rd appearance in County colours.  At the time County were rock bottom of Division 4, and their hosts were reigning Champions.  A 1-1 draw and to be truthful never a more unlikely outcome – maybe the Hatters were inspired by the pomp, pageantry and national feeling as 180 miles south the funeral of Winston Churchill was held on the same day

The replay at Edgeley saw a similar parental ban on attendance despite desperate pleas for a relaxation on such a big night.  Radio coverage in those days was sparse – no local stations and, beyond the BBC, pirate stations of Radio Luxembourg was the only alternative.  I didn’t even have a transistor, but help came in the form of a “crystal set” which had arrived a month or so before in Santa’s sack.  Fiddling around with it I managed to find a station which was at least keeping me up to date as things unfolded at EP.  Over 24,000 filled every nook and cranny in SK3, but it was a bit of an anti-climax as a couple of goals from future World Cup hero, Roger Hunt, put paid to thoughts of an appearance in the 5^th Round. 

Only the once since then has that stage been reached, which led to Away Trip 95 in 2001 on a visit to White Hart Lane.

It was 36 years of nigh on famine with spectacular exits, and the visit to the Bucks Head in November 1983 can certainly be included in that list.  Telford were then in the Alliance League, (better known these days as the National League), and to be fair were doing alright.  Sitting in 5^th spot, tucked in closely behind the Cheshire triumvirate of Runcorn; Northwich Vics and Altrincham, but a fair distance from leaders Nuneaton Borough they would undoubtedly prove a challenge. 

County’s start to the season had been mediocre and they were 16^th in Division 4.  But surely the one division advantage would enable a draw at least, if not a victory.  Quinny had hit the target 13 times already – he would see to the Bucks.  Not a chance.  The three goal defeat saw yet another ignominious exit, but it was events off the pitch which are most stark in my memory.

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It was an afternoon of football violence.  Quite why at a place like Telford is beyond understanding, unless there were ‘visitors’ from some of the more elevated Football league clubs in the West Midlands and Shropshire area. A check on the fixtures that day shows Birmingham and West Brom with pretty far flung away fixtures so maybe…..  Definitely no segregation that afternoon, so movement around the ground was free, and the local constabulary were occupied with events outside the ground at the local hostelries, as chairs and tables came crashing through the windows.  Unquestionably an intimidating atmosphere – indeed in terms of personal safety I am struggling to think of a trip since that day where I have felt so concerned … that was until the play off semi-final victory at the Victoria Ground in 1992, but more of that anon!

Over the years watching the Hatters has been a safe, but on many occasions an unrewarding pursuit.  The late 1970’s and early 1980’s saw football violence at its zenith, but largely constrained to the big boys of the upper echelons.  The bookshelves of what few booksellers that still exist in these days of e-books are filled with tales of the various “Firms” that travelled the length and breadth of the land, purportedly in support of their team.  Sadly the football on offer was but a conduit for the accompanying violence.

Not that there wasn’t a fair degree of ‘activity’ in the lower leagues. It would have been inappropriate on the chapter on Away Trip 18, (to Valley Parade), which looked back to the disaster there in 1985,to make much of the tension and  trouble which generally seemed to surround fixtures between the Bantams and County in the late 70’s.  It was always an encounter which stirred the “lads” into action. 

A particular instance of this was in a game at Edgeley in February 1977.  Started on pitch which patently wouldn’t take much more precipitation, (of which there was plenty during the course of the first half), the game was abandoned after 71 minutes.  Bradford held a 2-1 lead at that point, and to the objective viewer the referee had no option as the playing area had turned into a morass.  Cue a mass invasion from all around the ground.  The warring parties joined battle, with the local constabulary in hot pursuit.  The encounter rapidly descended into something that would have been more suited to a mud wrestling display, as the protagonists rolled around in the cloying mess that the previous hour or so had created. 

Stood on the Railway End it provided a bit of humour at the time, but were it not for the surface, which precluded any meaningful movement, things could have turned really nasty.  It wasn’t the only time that the two parties got involved.  That rivalry seemed to dissipate as the 1980’s progressed, but later on fixtures with Burnley and Stoke were not without their flashpoints. 

24 years after the second FA Cup game against Telford we went back for a Conference National match against the ‘new’ Club. The ground was completely changes, (see the before and after picture above.

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Turning back to Telford.  Doing the my research I had a decision to make.  Should the visits to the Bucks Head in 1983, plus a subsequent trip in 1987, which, with the vagaries of the Cup draw made it 3 ties against Telford in 4 years, be regarded as different to the encounters in the Conference and Conference North in recent years?  Telford United and AFC Telford United are different legal entities; the ground has been completely rebuilt, and it is difficult to envisage or picture the old arena now, but at the end of the day it is the same site.  So whether the Bucks Head or the New Bucks Head, for the purposes of this tale it is the same place.

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Back in 1983 the Bucks Head was an archetypal non-league ground.  Other than the feelings of unease occasioned that afternoon in 1983 I liked it as a ground.  Taking aside the atmosphere that day, it was a place where wandering around; changing ends at half-time, and “picking your spot” was the order of the day.  County’s fall from grace into the sixth tier of English football in recent years has reintroduced me to those delights.  Many people don’t like it, preferring the tribal nature of “home and away ends”, but I’m not one of those.  I’ve always preferred to station myself near the goal that County are attacking, and the freedom to do that on the majority of grounds in Conference North has been one of the few plusses. 

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The New Bucks Head has much to commend itself in terms of spectator facilities but sadly the freedom to move isn’t one of them.  So the old ground wins on that basis. Yet another one where character has been sacrificed on the breeze block altar!

January 2017

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	19/11/83	FA Cup	Round 1	Telford United	L	0	3	2,470	88
Sat	14/11/87	FA Cup	Round 1	Telford United	D	1	1	2,758	153
Sat	10/09/11 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	AFC Telford United	D	1	1	2,375	681
Mon	27/08/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	AFC Telford United	D	2	2	2,079	705
Sat	15/02/14 (Highlights)	The Skrill North	Tier 6	AFC Telford United	L	0	2	1,819	740
Sat	15/08/15 (Highlights)	Vanarama National League North	Tier 6	AFC Telford United	W	1	0	1,568	775
Sat	27/08/16 (Highlights)	Vanarama National League North	Tier 6	AFC Telford United	D	0	0	1,311	800

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – BOUNDARY PARK Next stop – THE RACECOURSE