When I saw the 1
o'clock kick off this was the only destination for me today. Quite
why it was so early nobody knows given that there is no extra time in the
Birmingham Vase. Having been to Darlaston at the end of last season at
their shared ground with Red Star Alma, a revisit to this wonderful club went
straight to the top of my to do list now they have moved 100 yards down the
road into their own ground at the Bentley Pavillion. Two years ago there was no
team, no ground, and no club but thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of
a large band of officials and supporters, particularly Chairman Neil Chambers,
they have achieved one promotion, and built themselves a new
ground with bar facilities. This is what can be achieved by real football
fans, and the name of Darlaston Town lives on. Two weeks ago, with it already
vandalised beyond repair, the local youths finished off their magnificent old
ground by burning down the wooden stand. Hard to believe this scum are
from the same planet as the people running the football club.
If you're up this way take a look round Birmingham New Streets fantastic new
station. Although the city is an anathema to me I have to admit Network rail
have excelled themselves (and you will never see that sentence again from me).
The ground is easy to get to by public transport with buses every few
minutes from Walsall or Wolverhampton, route 529, and a 7 minute walk from the
bus stop. Food and drinks already on the go when I arrived and the clubhouse
was a welcome respite from the horrendous weather with the Black Country living
up to it's name. There was no hiding place during the match and I got a
soaking, but as I always say, if you don't want to get wet you are
doing the wrong hobby! This was the tail end of Britain's first named
hurricane, although down on the Kentish Riviera 'Abigale' was no more
than a stiff breeze. I hope when they get to the letter 'M' they name it
Michael after hurricane expert Michael Fish, the only weather forecaster to
feature in an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Given that they get quite a few groundhoppers, I found it slightly
disconcerting that I was well remembered and everyone seemed impressed that I
had travelled so far to watch the game. Not as impressed as I was with the
programme editor who travels to all their games from his home in Four
Crosses, Mid-Wales. Todays opponents were from the Coventry and District
league and they play at Hawkes Mill Social Club which is owned by former
footballer LLoyd McGrath who used to play for Coventry City when they were
good. In spite of the wide gap in status there wasn't much to choose between
the two teams. 2-0 down, Hawkes Mill pulled a goal back with 10 minutes to
go which was the signal for Darlaston to see the game
out with an inventive display of top of the range timewasting.
The referee did what all referees do in such circumstances and made some
nifty manoeuvres with his watch to indicate he was adding the time on. I wonder
if anybody apart from me has noticed that this never makes any difference? The
home side also had two goals disallowed for offside which surprisingly they
disagreed with, to the extent that the 'scorer' of the second one got booked
for suggesting to the referee he didn't know what he was doing. Note to
player, it was the linesman who gave the offside, if you're going to slag off
the officials, make sure you get the right one!
I have nothing but admiration for everyone connected with Darlaston Town
1874, may they prosper. |