TT No.183: Andrew Gallon - Tues 29th January 2008; Morecambe v Wrexham; Coca-Cola League Two;      Res: 2-2; Att: 2,421; Admission: £12; Programme: £2.50 (52pp); FGIF Match Rating: 5*

There's something uniquely miserable about a shabby seaside resort on a wet and windy mid-winter day. Morecambe, forgotten, faded and forlorn, feels like the last stop on the branch line to oblivion. Battered and  bruised by the vagaries of fashion, this is a holiday destination unwanted and unloved by all but the most destitute. Morecambe's sole attraction, the dazzling views across its bay of killer quicksand to the Lake District's beguiling fells, serves only to remind the observer how much more pleasant it is elsewhere.   This is a place where an hour seems like two and an afternoon passes at the pace of a fortnight. The town centre is small and seedy, packed with grim, unappealing shops hawking grade one tat and patronised by sullen, downtrodden locals who, undiluted by the relative normality of summer trippers, appear frighteningly weird. After decades of feeling sorry for itself, and sulking about being ignored by the world, Morecambe has made a start on attempting to entice back those lost legions of visitors. The famous Midland Hotel, an art deco style icon of the 1930s and one of the very first modernist public buildings, has been refurbished. A statue of a prancing Eric Morecambe, the town's most famous son, has been unveiled on a prom enlivened by fancy paving and several of the late comedian's best gags picked out in brassy relief. But it's not enough to paper over the  cracks of wanton neglect and decay. One hotel on the front chooses to highlight 'central heating' as its foremost accomplishment. It claims to be AA listed. Perhaps that's Alcoholics Anonymous. Another guest house, more pragmatically, has become a residential care home for the elderly, though what dislike one would need to harbour to sentence a relative to seeing out their declining years in such a hovel I cannot imagine.   Amid all this hopelessness, Morecambe's football club is blazing a progressive trail. For years, the Shrimps were content to muddle along in the old Northern Prem, drawing crowds of 300 to a Christie Park ground which had all too clearly seen better days. But an unlikely metamorphosis saw the club first establish itself as a force in the Conference and then, last May, win a fairytale promotion to the Football League. The modern game, at least at its lower levels, is a vibrant meritocracy and Morecambe have shown just what can be achieved with a bit of ambition, determination and good husbandry.   The Shrimps have played at Christie Park, on the eastern fringes of town, since 1921. The ground was called Roseberry Park originally but a generous citizen bought the land from the council in 1925 and bequeathed it in trust for the exclusive use of the club. Mr Christie wouldn't recognise much of the ground renamed in his memory and now surrounded by post-war semis. Neither, in fact, did I. There have been big changes since my first visit in the late 1980s. Mostly for the better. Pride of place goes to the brick main stand which dates from the 1950s, is similar to those at Cheltenham, Chorley and King's Lynn, and straddles the halfway line on the west side. It looks a little out of place in its revamped environment but its austere design has a low-key charm. Its dark, pitched roof shelters rows of red plastic tip-up seats. There is a conservatory-style press box in white UPVC at the rear. The players' tunnel is on the right side of the structure, with red metal gates pivoted to swing out across the small paddock in front of a deep facing wall. The paddock consists of a couple of steps of terracing and a wide tarmac strip. The dugouts, similar in appearance to the press box, are to the left of the halfway line. Beyond them is a small cover for the disabled. Behind this side is a rough football pitch, and then an even rougher council estate.   The rest of Christie Park is a recent rebuild. The Lancaster Road end stand is a light, bright structure finished in grey and red cladding in the manner of the new stands at Crewe. It covers steeply-raked terracing boasting three rows of red crush barriers. There are brick turnstiles to either side. To the rear is the main car park, tiny but tidy, and a line of cream portable buildings hard up against the blank rear wall of the stand houses the club offices and souvenir shop. The Christie Avenue end stand, for away fans, is similar to that opposite but older and with about a third the number of steps and one line of red crush barriers. A glazed cabin at the back is a bar for the executive element and sponsors. Behind are the semis of the Branksome residential district. The east side is taken up by the prosaically titled Car Wash Terrace, named after the business directly to the rear. There are four steps of terracing on what must be the only uncovered side surviving in English League football now Lincoln and Peterborough have improved their facilities. A TV gantry, fashioned from scaffolding, dominates the central section. A break in the concrete panel perimeter fence gives access to toilets in portable buildings. Behind, next to the car wash, is an unmade car park. Don't bother forking out £3 to leave your car here because street parking is both safe and plentiful. This part of the ground is Morecambe's Achilles heel. There is some room to expand, but with the club hoping to move into a new stadium in the Westgate area of town by July 2009, Christie Park is unlikely to change much before the bulldozers do their worst. The floodlights are rather low masts - four per side, with four lamps on each.   My recent good luck with games continued. This contest, despite the tricky onshore wind, was a belter. Morecambe, trying to get up into the play-off places, and Wrexham, bottom of the table but reviving of late, were desperate for points and went all out for victory. The Welshmen brought (officially) 619 fans with them - an excellent effort on a midweek night in January - and their noisy presence in a compact arena made for a lively  atmosphere. The travelling supporters were soon silenced because Morecambe took just eight minutes to open the scoring. Carl Baker found room on the right flank to cross low to the back post where an unmarked Wayne Curtis scuffed a close-range effort past Gavin Ward. Wrexham, a hurry-scurry bundle of energy, equalised on the half-hour. Danny Adams bodychecked Stuart Nicholson in the box and Danny Sonner sent Shwan Jalal the wrong way from the spot. Seven minutes later, Chris Llewellyn struck the inside of a post with a sweet 25-yarder and Jalal kept the Shrimps level with a brilliant parry from Drewe Broughton's first-time follow-up.   Nobody props up any league table without being weak at the back, and Wrexham fell behind a second time to a laughable goal six minutes after the restart. The Red Dragons failed to clear their lines and Baker's backheel from the deadball line was diverted past his own keeper by Neil Roberts. A ghastly moment. Wrexham kept pressing and probing, and Broughton (77) was inches wide with a classical header after a magnificent 'hanging' leap and it was the on-loan MK Dons striker who won the visitors' second penalty with 11 minutes left when David Antell blocked his path to a corner. Sonner had gone off at half-time with an injury, which left substitute Proctor and Broughton to engage in a tug-of-war for the ball. Proctor, the smaller man, won that battle and then vindicated his confidence by smashing the penalty past Ward, who again dived to the wrong side of his goal. Wrexham survived several goalmouth scrambles in a tense climax to earn a valuable point and prompt chants of 'staying up' from their fans. How sickening it must have been for them to discover, on returning to their transport, that rivals in distress Mansfield and Dagenham & Redbridge had both won away from home to leave Wrexham at the bottom - and now five points adrift of safety.   I don't see Morecambe as a Football League club and how long their adventure at this level can be sustained is a matter for conjecture, despite manager Sammy McIlroy's reputation for working miracles on miniscule budgets. The Shrimps' crowds aren't really big enough, though maybe the new stadium could help drum up some extra interest. Christie Park, on borrowed time, has become a smashing little ground and is well worth visiting while it's there to be enjoyed. But don't delay.

contributed on 30/01/08