I’ve been trying to work out how to start this blog for the last two days and have finally settled on starting by telling you about how I struggled to think of an appropriate beginning. There are several topics that I could have started with; Bury & Bolton’s crises, the Borehamwood chairman’s comments on their low home attendance and finally how much I detest BT & Sky.
My original plan for the day had been to attend Coppull United vs Euxton Villa which kicked off at 3pm, and then Chorley vs Borehamwood. Unfortunately, I found myself struggling with my depression on Saturday morning, as I became increasingly frustrated with everything and anything. So instead of heading down to Coppull, I lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling until it was time to head down to Victory Park, and if it hadn’t had been for my season ticket I doubt I would have left the house.
Part of my depression is caused by how frustrated I am with the world in general, the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots is depressing. In a week where Alexis Sanchez has earned a ludicrous amount of money just for existing, Bury Football Club have been booted out of the Football League due to debts which probably would be pocket change to Alexis Sanchez. But who cares about Bury? Not the EFL, not Steve Dale or Spencer Dale and certainly not Alexis Sanchez. No, no-one cares about the focal point of a community apart from those in the community themselves, and then again, they can always find a new club, can’t they? They can join the hordes of “football fans” in their knock-off shirts sat in either their local pub or living room, cheering on a team that they have almost zero connection to.
But this isn’t the first football club to go bankrupt and blink out of existence at the hands of arseholes with no interest in football. The likes of Chester, Telford United, Hereford United, Accrington Stanley etc have all been allowed to be driven into the ground by crooks and thieves. So, what do the EFL do? Have they learnt from the mistakes of the past? Have they hell. The fit and proper persons test is a joke, and in all honesty the best solution going forward is to copy the 50+1 rule observed in Germany, where 51% of the shares in a football club must be owned by fans of the club, this in turn stops dodgy prats turning up and destroying football clubs. But as long as the EFL are having their tummy tickled by anyone with a bit of cash they won’t do a thing. Football clubs will be allowed to go to the wall, and the fans will just have to deal with it, won’t they?
The media are another group that need to go and jam a cactus up their backsides, as they’ve also had their hand in causing this situation. By beaming live Premier League football, and other “elite” leagues, into homes up and down the country, companies like Sky and BT have led to the decline in attendances for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid. Sky are one of the main causes of the now circus like atmosphere there is around football, and they showed their true colours when they made the bright decision to have a countdown timer to the EFL’s deadline for Bury and Bolton. The “people”, I use that term loosely, only see football as a reality tv programme, they don’t care about the people who are effected by the events, they just care about using it as a way to hook people into their broadcasting which in itself is just a way of entertaining people between the multiple adverts. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to wake up and see a countdown to the deadline of whether your football team survives or not would have been like, but I can confirm that if I ever woke up to see a countdown to the deadline of Shrewsbury Town or Chorley’s demise then I would smash my television, drive the remnants down to the Sky/BT/Whoever studios and I would forcibly insert the remnants of my television into a producer’s rectum.
Seeing the live broadcasts of Bury fan’s talking about their club brought a lump to my throat, as I’m sure it did for a few football fans up and down the country. Sure, Bury FC were never glamorous, they never graced the Premier League and spent a lot of their time in the Football League bouncing around the divisions, but they meant something to a lot of people. It’s hard to explain what a football club means to a football fan, as it’s an emotion that can’t be put into words, hell it’s not only an emotion, it’s a passion which runs deep within football fans.
Part of the demise of Bury can be attributed to the media, sure the dodgy owners wouldn’t have helped, but then again neither would the ITV Digital collapse of 2002. The Millennium Bug had been and gone, and some bright spark decided that the next big thing to be shown on TV would be live coverage of the Football League, and on the 17th of June the bosses at ONdigital agreed a £315 million, three year, deal with the Football League to broadcast 88 Nationwide League and Worthington Cup games from the start of the 2001/2002 season. Most football club owners saw this as their golden hen and began to count their chickens before they could hatch. On the 27th of March 2002, ITV Digital were placed into administration as they failed to pay the Football League. The Football League did attempt to sue ITV Digital’s owners, but they were unsuccessful in their court case. As a result of ITV Digital’s collapse Bradford City were forced into administration, and a lot of football clubs increased ticket prices to try and offset the damage but this only cause further damage to their finances as increasing ticket prices but a lot of “floating” fans off.
Luckily there was a saviour, as Sky swooped in to acquire the rights to a four-year deal worth £95 million for the broadcasting rights to the Football League. Something, something, something, vultures. Essentially the collapse of ITV Digital and the stupidity of certain owners certainly caused the financial issues that killed off Bury, Chester, Hereford to name but a few.
So why have I gone on a mad rant about the media? Well that’s because Chorley’s game was being shown live on BT Sport and to ensure that the armchair fans had enough time to go to the toilet and restock their snacks, kick off was changed to 5.20pm. I honestly can’t stand games being moved for TV coverage, and whilst people will rabbit on about the revenue made from TV coverage, I can’t help but feel aggrieved that as a fan that actually attends games, I’m treated as an after-thought so that the TV producers can ensure that armchair fans are able to sit in the same place and watch game after game, advert after advert, and don’t get me started on the pundits. I actually saw some wanker from The Only Way is Essex masquerading as a pundit.
But enough of my ramblings, let’s focus on the game itself. Our visitors for today’s match were Borehamwood, who were formed in 1948 because of a merger between Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez, and they began life in the Mid-Herts League before joining the Parthenon League in 1951. In 1956 they won the title, as well as finishing as runners up in 1954, 1955 and 1957. After finishing second in 1957, the Wood joined the Spartan League where they finished as runners-up in 1964 and 1966 before switching to the Athenian League’s Second Division. The Wood were promoted to the First Division in 1969, as they won the Second Division title. They were soon promoted again, as they finished runners-up in their first season in Division One, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1973 the club were placed in the First Division again and this time they won the title, in the following season they joined the Second Division of the Isthmian League, and won the division in 1977, earning promotion to the renamed Isthmian League Premier Division.
The Wood remained in the Premier Division until 1982, when they were relegated to Division One, where they would remain until 1995 as they finished as champions and regained their place in the Premier Division. That is until 2000 when they were relegated back to the First Division, which they won at the first attempt and they made an immediate return to the Premier Division. However, they were once again relegated in 2003. Borehamwood were placed in the Isthmian Division One North for one season, before transferring to the Division One East of the Southern League, which they won in 2006, and were promoted back to the Premier Division.
In 2010, they finished fourth in the league, and successfully navigated the play-offs to earn a place in the Conference South, where they remained until 2015 as the Wood once again successfully navigated the play-offs to reach the newly named National League where they have remained ever since. Recently the Borehamwood chairman has spoken to the press of his disappointment at the low attendances that they are getting for their home fixtures. But then again for a club competing with the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea for fans as well as the ever-increasing numbers of armchair fans it is clear to see that there isn’t much else that Borehamwood can do apart from miraculously gain a place in the Premier League.
As for the actual match, I’d rather not dwell on it for too long. We once again found luck against us, and once again despite playing well we succumbed to a team that took their chances when they were presented. The first half an hour was a dull affair, but Borehamwood looked like the team more likely to make things happen, and they did so in the 31st minute as poor defending from a corner allowed Tyrone Marsh to head the ball home.
We were again undone by not dealing with a set-piece in the 38th minute, as this time David Stephens found himself unmarked and unopposed, and he made no mistake with his header past Billy Crellin.
Half-time came and went, and I was hopeful that we’d race out of the half time break with the desire to get back into the game. Unfortunately, two minutes into the second half, Matt Challoner steered Kabongo Tshimanaga’s cross into the back of his own net. What makes this goal even worse is that it was all due to a lack of communication, as Challoner was under no pressure to clear the ball.
We scored a consolation in the 77th minute as Chris Holroyd earned and converted a penalty, having been fouled in the box by Mark Ricketts, however this wasn’t to be the start of our comeback, and eventually the referee’s whistle blew for our fourth defeat of the season.
We’ve now played eight games in the league, drawing four and losing four. We’ve scored six times and conceded twenty. Currently we occupy 24th in the league with four points, but on the bright side we have the same points as Ebbsfleet who sit in 23rd, and we are only four points behind Borehamwood who now occupy 17th. Whilst we’re looking on the bright side, we aren’t the only club in the league without a win as, former Football League side, Chesterfield also have zero wins in the league, so at least we’re in good company.
Thanks for reading.
David's Adventures in Groundhopping 