GETTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE … AGAIN

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Steve Lomas’ article in TTP 27,  “Getting it in Perspective”, hit the nail on the head – I think that we are almost blasé about the success we have had in the last couple of years.  You can go home from games nowadays having picked up the three points and feel disappointed if it has been a struggle or Kevin hasn’t scored. Coming out of Wembley last May I heard the comment that ‘we were the eternal nearly men’. Well to be quite honest winning something would put the icing on the cake after the hard years of following County but being near to success is an infinitely preferable feeling to actually being a failure.

The game with Exeter on 16th October marks the 30th anniversary of my first visit to Edgeley back in 1963.  Aldershot were the opposition; it ended 2-2, John Evans scoring twice and luminaries such as Graham Beighton, Mike Davock and Hugh Ryden were gracing the stage.

The memories of those 30 years are varied. The promotion era and “Go Go Go” days of Vic Bernard were a highlight but mostly it was poor teams, poor crowds and a poorly managed club. There were gimmicks that brought the club into the public eye – George Best, 10 Bob football and so on; occasional performances in Cup competitions, (Palace, West Ham, and Sunderland), but in general precious little else to enthuse our paltry support.

The most abiding memory of those hard years isn’t the pride and heartache of the match at Old Trafford or indeed coming to a game against the Vale at EP when it looked likely that the bailiffs were about to arrive, but rather the absolute debacle at Caernarfon in November 1986. To me this was the lowest point club have been during my years of support. This match was the first game of Murphy’s second coming and in the four days since his return he must have been appalled at what he had found both on the field and also the overall state of the club.

It was a first round FA Cup tie and once again the draw had given us the prospect of humiliation to follow the likes of Telford and Blyth Spartans and also give the opportunity of extending our record as the League club with the worst record against non League opposition. Yet it shouldn’t have done. Five days previously I had seen Caernarfon play at Mossley in a Northern Premier League game and came away confident that we could at least salvage a draw. This optimism was hardly justified.

I turned up at the Oval, Caernarfon, about 90 minutes before kick off. The place, stuck in the middle of a housing estate, was deserted and bore a striking resemblance to many a local non League ground  – a small stand and a bit of cover behind one goal with grass banking to stand on. An official told me that there would be only three police present  this looked like a recipe for trouble for despite our meagre following in those days there always seemed to be an over representation of headbangers. So it proved not only did we get national press coverage for the defeat but also for the havoc wreaked at the ground and in the town centre.

The team eventually arrived and what a spectacle it was. They had to walk around the terracing to get to the changing room – what the locals must have thought is anybody’s guess. Vernon Allatt looked as though he’d come straight from a building site resplendent in donkey jacket and Levi Edwards was carrying his boots in a Tesco carrier bag. This was supposed to be a professional team.

That season was the first that two substitutes were allowed in the FA Cup. Whether County’s administration had cottoned onto this is uncertain because to this day I don’t know whether we had two. Certainly the club programme from later on that season only lists one. Whether a full complement would have helped is doubtful anyway.

On the field the team performed in accordance with that League record, (6 points from 12 games), and disappeared out of the Cup with a 1-0 defeat.

The whole affair filled me with despair. Losing to a side 2 leagues below us and never looking that we might win. To me this summed things up – a team that was going through the motions and a club that had reconciled itself to a drop into non League. Strangely enough this match was the darkest hour before the dawn. Murphy took the necessary action, kept us in the League and despite a couple of years treading water under Hartford there has been a continual improvement since then.

What we have now is undreamed of riches. Yes there isn’t silverware to show as yet – maybe, (given the start this year), this is the season . But, whatever happens, for me that afternoon at Caernarfon always puts our status today into perspective.

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October 1993.