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First County Visit:	Saturday 22nd March 2014
Competition:	The Skrill North – (Tier 6)
Result:	Solihull Moors 1 – 0 Stockport County
Attendance:	525
Away Trip:	154
Away Day:	744
County Line-up	Ian Ormson; Mark Lees; Scott Duxbury; Jamie Milligan; Kieran Charnock; Stephen O’Halloran; Tunji Moses; Chris Churchman (Rhys Oates); Kristian Dennis; Phil Jevons; Iain Howard (Mark Battersby) (Subs not used: Shane Lewis; Jordan Fagbola; Bobby Lofthouse)
Manager:	Alan Lord
County Visits:	4

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A FAVOURITE AWAY DAY!

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The recent meetings in National League North with old friends from Football League days have given many the chance to relive some of the good days out at York and Hereford.  On the Bootham Crescent piece I identified the trips over the Pennines as one of my favourites, and I suppose that having been to Edgar Street on twenty occasions it certainly must have had sufficient attraction to draw me back so many times. There’s been others, not so frequently visited but which I always looked forward to.  The Northholme at Gainsborough is definitely in that category, and purely because it’s less than 200 yards from my house so is Bower Fold too.  So, there’s unquestionably some logic in those choices, but you may question why Damson Park is a favourite trip as well.

Well, it can hardly be because it’s a happy hunting ground. Four trips for me have brought but a solitary point. (As an aside it’s been little better at EP – four points from four games!). The real reason is little to do with football.  Well over 11 years ago Rob introduced us to his girlfriend, Katy, who he had met at Sheffield Hallam University.  She was studying physiotherapy, and an early conversation, having already picked up that she lived in Knowle, uncovered the fact that she was doing some work experience with ‘The Moors’ as they are known around those parts.

I knew little about the team.  After all they had not crossed our path, and right at that point there seemed little chance that they would. We were in League 1 with The Moors three divisions lower, in National League North. The connection was as tenuous as that, so I gave Solihull little thought at the time.

As things transpired, after graduation they set up home in Birmingham, and since then have moved via Solihull to Knowle; tied the knot and given Julie and I our first grand-daughter, Amelia.  So away games at Solihull are important part of the season.  It’s a proper day out – seeing the family and following County.  When the fixture list appears it’s the first game that goes onto the calendar!

The rapid descent down the football hierarchy led to a careful perusal when the fixtures were announced for 2013/14.  The Moors had remained unmoved from Conference North in the intervening period.  We had descended three levels.  A visit to Damson Park was scheduled for March 2014.  Prior to that we were to meet them at EP a month or so earlier.

The home game provided one of those surreal moments.  County were 2-1 up late in the game, (goals from Phil Jevons and Mark Battersby), when Solihull made a substitution.  For those of us sat in the Main Stand we rubbed our eyes.  Kenny Boxhall informed us that the replacement was Gary Birch.

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As he emerged from the dugout disbelieving eyes suggested that they had brought the coach driver on.  You would have had to travel far and wide to find a less likely looking footballer. Those who know me are well aware that I carry a bit of weight, but a comparison with Mr Birch would have rendered me sylphlike. He came on to shouts of derision.  But as is usually the case he had the last laugh.

 Wikipedia suggests that some years earlier, in his time at Telford, he struggled with weight problems.  That may well have been the case, but one thing was for sure he could play.  Late in the game he got the ball out wide on the left, took Kyle Jacobs on, tied him in knots, and swung across a perfect cross which was converted for the equaliser.  The old axiom of ‘never judge a book by its cover’ was never truer.

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28 days later we travelled down the M6 for a first visit to Damson Park.  Picking up Rob on the way from his flat in Birmingham, he directed us to the ground.  It was, and remains, set between the Jaguar Land Rover plant which affords much of the employment in the area, and the runway at Birmingham Airport.  I reflected at the time that my travelling companion of earlier years, Arthur Brotherton, would have waxed lyrical at this location.  In my piece about the Abbey Stadium I recounted how many of those away trips in the late 80’s and early 90’s involved a detour by way of an aerodrome, so as to afford Arthur the pleasure of some plane spotting.  Not that I ever understood the attraction!  But at Damson Park he would have been able to multi-task – football and planes without moving from the spot!!

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Back in 2014 Damson Park was the archetypal non-league ground that our fall to regional football had become the norm to visit rather than the exception provided by those banana skin FA Cup ties in our league days.  It was fairly open then, but in recent years has seen much development.

The Main Stand was a strange structure.  I suppose it could be described as two-tiered.  It certainly had some seating aloft, no doubt for the great and the good.  Down below there were maybe 5 rows of seats.  Covered certainly but I was never convinced that they afforded a decent view as the pathway in front didn’t help as both passers-by and those standing there, despite the efforts of the stewards to encourage them to move elsewhere, delivered a more than interrupted vista. Looking pitchwards, on its right was an excellent refreshment point.  I have written elsewhere that, in my view, the quality of catering facilities is in inverse proportion to the status of clubs in the hierarchy, and Damson Park is adequate testimony of this.

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Behind the goal at the Damson Lane End was a small, covered terrace.  Unusually for these sort of stands, there was a pathway behind, but contained within the structure.  The game couldn’t be viewed from there but there was a ‘Tuck Shop’.  This didn’t sell the normal football fare of pies and pasties, but rather in keeping with its name, redolent of school days, there was chocolate, toffees, and other confectionery on offer.  Only at Braintree I have seen something similar.

The rest of the ground was uncovered, and no more than hardstanding.  Along the touchline, (beyond which lay the runway), there was a single step of terracing, and behind the goal just a gravel path.  A vantage point leaning against the pitch surround was essential for a decent view.  But there again, on that first visit, whatever was deemed as the capacity of the ground was hardly tested.  Looking back at the records the gatemen that day were only put to work 525 times.  I was surprised at this.  A new ground normally drew out more than the normal number of County followers, added to which in Conference North days it was one of the easiest grounds to reach for what it a decent contingent of southern based supporters. 

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But the benefit this did bring was that there was freedom to move around the ground.  It’s been one of the real plusses for me of the non-league days. Segregation at these grounds, given the crowd numbers is madness.  Sadly, there seemed in the later days in regional football to be far too much interference from individuals at County.  At many away games we were herded into a set area of the ground, based on advice from EP.  It was totally unnecessary, and thankfully many of the places paid little more than lip service. 

I particularly remember a visit to Leamington in September 2014.  The previous day County’s official website had announced that segregation was to be the order of the day.  Arriving at the New Windmill, we duly wandered up to the far end of the ground which was the designated “Away Supporters” gate, handed over our hard earned and entered.  Once inside, the steward said something along the lines of: “Right we’ve done what we’ve been told; made you come through this gate; now you’re in you can go anywhere you like, there’s no need for any of that segregation nonsense.  This is Leamington, not The Den”.  Well done to that man, and well done to Leamington.  Football, and certainly at that level, is about mixing with opposition speccies; enjoying a chat and some banter, and, for those who wish, access to the many excellent social clubs.

Of my four County visits to Damson Park the standout must be the one on Halloween 2015.  It was the 15^th League game of the Neil Young era. The previous 14 had brought 7 wins and 5 draws, and with The Moors also riding high it attracted what was then a record crowd, (1,100), to the ground.  For reasons far more fully outlined in the Home Games 2015 post I had remained unconvinced by the approach Young was taking.  By the end of October, we had already seen 24 players in the 14 games, and that after a biblical scale clear out by Young after he arrived.  It was in essence a completely new team, but one that was changing by the week.

The game was beyond scrappy and was settled by a single goal, (from Andy Brown who had been a thorn in our side when previously with Nuneaton), consequent upon an error from Ian Ormson. There were chances to equalise, but the game erupted on the 84^th minute. The substitute board went up and indicated that Andy Robinson was to replace Danny Morton.  What unfolded was beyond bizarre.

But as a bit of context a reflection on Andy Robinson.  It’s spot on to use the euphemism ‘combative midfielder’ about him.  A fairly long career at Tranmere, Swansea and Leeds seemed to have ground to a halt after an injury plagued year at Shrewsbury in which he only appeared three times.  In the summer of 2015, he had announced his retirement.  It barely registered on any County fans radar until it was suddenly announced that Young had persuaded him to make a come-back.  He barely appeared in the pre-season games, being away on holiday, but made the bench for the opening day win over Boston.  Thereafter we saw 3 substitute and 2 full appearances before the game at Damson Park.  Hardly an integral element of the team.

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He emerged from the bench; waved his boots a couple of times for the linesman to check and entered the fray.  From whence he departed only a handful of seconds later as referee Billy Smallwood brandished the red card.  It’s fair to say that nobody in the ground had the faintest idea why.  Later suggestions were that he had ‘entered the field of play without the referee’s consent’’ whilst others intimated that had had been unconscionable dissent. Whatever the case it caused uproar on the County bench and apoplexy amongst the County fans gathered near the incident.  A sending off within 10 seconds or so of coming on; not getting more than 10 yards from the touchline, and certainly not having touched the ball.  The game had not restarted!  I’ve watched a fair amount of football over 47 years but never seen an incident like it.  Bizarre indeed.

The incident can be seen in the highlights link below – game on 31/10/15

My last visit came in September 2019.  Going with the form book on my Damson Park trips it was a ‘routine’ 2-0 defeat in which, to be honest, we didn’t put up much of a fight.  The ground had changed markedly.  A new Main Stand; cover behind the goal where there was once only a pathway; and a series of structures on the ‘Runway’ side.  So, a club preparing to move onwards.  But thankfully the Tuck Shop remained.

At the time of writing, it is a couple of days before we are due to meet Solihull behind closed doors at EP. The return fixture is scheduled for a Tuesday evening in early March 2021.  Whether, or not, football will have returned to any kind of normality by then is in the lap of the gods.  If it has it’ll be a trip for me and will naturally involve that most important kind of meeting – one where the family gets together!

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October 2020

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	22/03/14	The Skrill North	Tier 6	Solihull Moors	L	0	1	525	744
Sat	20/09/14	Vanarama Conference North	Tier 6	Solihull Moors	D	2	2	628	753
Sat	31/10/15 (Highlights)	Vanarama National League North	Tier 6	Solihull Moors	L	0	1	1,100	782
Tues	24/09/19 (Highlights)	Vanarama National League	Tier 5	Solihull Moors	L	0	2	1,339	849

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – NETHERMOOR PARK Next stop – GRANGE LANE