Going International!

Just a quick little update.

I'll be going to Dublin in the early, EARLY hours of tomorrow morning. 'Games-wise' I should be going to the FA Cup game in Dover, but of course i'll miss it (Thank God).

So to fill my football hunger i'll be taking in a League of Ireland game at Shamrock Rovers. They play the 'Bath City' of the LOI, Galway United. Who currently sit rock bottom of the table with just 6 whole points. Shamrock on the hand, will be champions if they beat UCD away tonight. So it could be an absolute whitewash and a party atmosphere to boot!

The Tallaght Stadium.

Shamrock Ultras!

Shamrock score againt Spurs in the Europa League.

Oh another thing too. It cost just 15 Euros for an adult ticket! For a team thats in the Europa League and the reigning LOI Champions, it's an absolute bargain! In fact it's cheaper to watch Shamrock than it is Bath City.

So keep an eye out on my twitter feed as i'll be posting pictures and ongoings throughout the match against. http://twitter.com/#!/Reedyy3

Come on the hoops!

FA Cup Fever!

It’s that time of year again, the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. The bonus of being in the Conference Premier is that you cut out 2 games prior to the fourth qualifying round. Although to some, this can be a problem. In non-league you need all the cash you can get, the win reward and a split of the gate receipts means that in one game you could pick up about £8000. In Bath City’s case, this could pay wages for a week/fortnight.

City fans at Grimsby in the 1st round proper.

‘The Romans’ have a terrific pedigree in the FA Cup. Bath have reached the third round proper a total of 6 times in their history. With wins against league clubs along the way, these included Crystal Palace, Exeter City, Notts County, Millwall, Southend United, Cardiff City, Hereford United and most recently Grimsby Town.

This season, the FA Cup could give the club a welcome distraction from the league. Currently struggling at the bottom of the Conference with very little consistency, this competition means the players can start from scratch and really regain some confidence with some victories. The prize money with all these wins, can also mean that we bring in some extra footballing ability and start to claw our way out of the relegation zone. A perfect example of what can happen with a cup run was in the 2009/10 season.

Bath City playing Willand in the 2nd qualifying round.

Bath were currently sitting a very safe mid-table and with no ambition to push on, limited by the funds of the club. The budget restricted us to being a mediocre Conference South side and only a cash injection from someone like Nicolas Cage, who had just resided in the area, could get us out of the league. The obligatory FA Cup games soon started to pop up on the calendar. The FA gave us a nice little trip to Willand Rovers in the second qualifying round. We absolutely smashed them 5-0. They were running away with their respective league and we taught them a footballing lesson in-the-sun, with Goals from Edwards x3, Pelecaci and Mohamed. A couple of weeks later those lovely men in the FA headquarters, handed us a pleasant trip to Bishops Cleeve. We arrived with intent and put them to the sword. We won 4-1 with braces from Darren Edwards and cult hero Mark Badman. The supporters knew after that game, a journey through the higher rounds was certainly on the cards. A few league games then passed before, again, those lovely lads at the FA gave us a terrific draw, at home to AFC Totton. I could already envisage myself sat on the sofa, shaking profusely, waiting for the first round draw. 740 hardy souls turned up to watch the game at an autumnal Twerton Park. Like Willand Rovers, Totton were the big boys in their division, steamrolling anyone who came before them. But the runaway train was easily halted as goals from Richard Evans, Adam Connolly and Gethin Jones meant that ball 77 was in the pot for the first round proper and it represented BATH CITY.

With Bath City and Norwich City in the pot together, the dream tie was either a home or away draw against the canaries (just a personal preference). Of course though, they got lowly Paulton Rovers, which is just a stones throw from Bath. I wasn’t best pleased. Anyway the big names came and went and still little Bath City was there being spun around by cricketer James Anderson. Grimsby Town was then pulled out and following it number 77, Bath City. A few seconds of enjoyment occured as we’d got a league club and then a question, “Where the hell is Grimsby?”

3 coaches were taken up north and with exiles and families driving up, 300 stripes were there to witness a glorious and comprehensive 2-0 win over the club who sat 91^st out of 92 league clubs. A trademark header from Chris Holland and a curling 20 yard strike from Darren Edwards sent the Roman hordes home happy. That day really highlighted what a special club I have come to support! So many friends were made on that day and a feeling of unity throughout. A city fan even calling Alan Green on 606, pretty much saying ‘we’re going to piss this tinpot cup.’ But also the trip home was filled with the conversation, who will we get next? (Highlights of the Grimsby game below!)

The league games in between the FA Cup matches were a blur. And then, the day came! City fans and camera crews turned up to Twerton Park to find out we’d got…..Forest Green at home. Which was an awful draw but one which was very much winnable. The 28^th November came around and went like a flash! Twerton Park was rocking that day with over 3300 people turning up. But the city boys were not to be in the 3^rd round. We were beaten fairly easily 2-1, a goal from Lewis Hogg was all that we could muster up.

Lewis Hogg vs FGR in the 2nd round proper.

The main thing that came out of this terrific cup run was the money. The club got nearly £80,000 from the games in the competition. This turned the club from a mediocre Conference South side into a play-off winning side who had somehow found themselves with the big boys in the Conference Premier. A couple of years later and we are now fighting for our lives in the BSBP! A cup run is what we need this season, we can then bring in and sustain quality players, who will get us out of the mess we have put ourselves in.

Unfortunately those lovely lads at the FA, who treated us so well in the past, have given us a terrible draw this morning. Dover Athletic away is up there with the worst possible draw we could have been given. It’s a long coach trip at a place where we haven’t really played to our full potential in the past. If we win, we are on the road to a cash injection. If we lose, we are stuck with a small budget and the same batch of players who haven’t dazzled this season.

Dover Athletic's ground- The Crabble.

A 90 minutes which could turn out to be the biggest game in recent history!

Come on the stripes!

Non League vs The Ignorant!

The problem with non-league football is getting people to watch the games. There's a certain type of football fan who will forever look down their nose at you for watching what they call, pub football. At Bath City we like to call them the 'Armchair fans', who continue to support teams like Manchester United or Chelsea, yet being a good 200 miles away and have never stepped foot near the ground of their 'beloved' team. They will also happily buy a 'gert' big television, a Sky HD box and a nice big sofa from which they can applaud the overpaid footballers.

Terraces not Armchairs flag at last seasons Darlington match.

Another excuse they have is the price of the entry fee (at Twerton Park we charge £14, £9 and £4 for entry into the ground). "Oh, well that's a bit much for non-league isn't it?". Where do I start!? It's the big four teams who start dishing out millions of pounds like it's pocket money, that is the problem! It also doesn't help when more money starts to come from Sky, because more people have subscriptions. What people don't know, is that it causes a domino effect down the football leagues as everybody starts to try and keep up financially, therefore boosting prices up. A few years ago you could pay a tenner to get into Bath City and get given change! So don't moan about prices when half of it is YOUR fault that it's that price in the first place. You're fuelling the demise of lower league football by putting more money into the top level and not the bottom! The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.


Attendances play a massive part in Bath City's budget. The more people you get through the gate, the more money you get to spend on players, it's as simple as that. I'm certain that if we got a consistent crowd of 1500 instead of just under 1000, then Adie Britton would definitely take us up into the top half of the table and challenging for play-offs. The fact is we are not hitting these numbers, which is partly the reason why we find ourselves rock bottom of the Blue Square Bet Premier.


As most people know Bath isn't a predominant football city. It's a rugby city unfortunately, and when you ask the folk in the centre of town, "where is Twerton Park? They would answer, "Twerton Park? No idea, do you mean The Rec?". What Bath also has is an abundance of students, due to there being two large universities. These are the people who the club have targeted to try and raise the attendances. So the publicity team got to work in freshers week and handed out free tickets for the upcoming game against Darlington. A terrific offer which paid off! In the ground were over 350 students and the stripes won 2-0, their first win of the season!

A group of students take in the match last Saturday.

Kyle Brookes, a football fan and student from Bath Spa University, received a free ticket from the promoters, and took in the Darlington game. See what he had to say below:

Kyle (Right) and his friend Nimo at Twerton Park.

You're obviously a huge fan of football in general, but who do you support and how did it come about?


KB: I'm a Leeds fan, and that is because of my Dad who is also a Leeds fan. I went to my first game when I was about 5 and have been going regularly. I love football, and watch most games that are on TV, normally supporting the underdog, especially if they're playing Manchester United.


So do you originate from Leeds?

KB: Nope, I was born in Bristol but moved to the Isle of Wight as a teenager.

What brought you across the pond and into Bath?


KB: University. I am at Bath Spa studying Business Management. I wanted to be closer to home and I am close to my grandparents who live nearby. Oh and obviously, the city is beautiful!


So Bath City visited Bath Spa freshers week and offered you a free ticket for the match against Darlington. In the days leading up to the game, what were you expecting from your visit to Twerton Park?


KB: We were actually planning on going to the Cambridge game anyway (the next game), as we live literally one minute away, so yeah, we raided the freshers fair (as 2nd years) and bumped into Ned who offered us the free ticket. My housemate that also has an interest in football couldn't come, as he had a gig with his band, so I dragged my other housemate along, and he actually enjoyed it too. I wasn't expecting a lot, I heard it was quite a bad stadium, based on people I know who watched Rovers there, and obviously the team were bottom so wasn't expecting a win, however we were pleasantly surprised, as we won 2-0.


I'd call it an old fashioned stadium! haha. Obviously the style of football or atmosphere isn't going to be the same as in Elland Road, so were you surprised with the what non league football has to offer?


KB: Not overly surprised. my housemates, who live close to the ground and moved in before me, said the fans make a racket every game, so I was expecting a good atmosphere, and obviously for the game there was a bigger crowd because of the free student offer. I was surprised at how well Bath played though, and in the two games I have been to, they have been the better side, but only come out with 3 points in total. Bit of a gutter, but play like that every week and we'll be fine. I find it weird how I say we already, like I am part of it haha.


You can say 'we' because you've just bought a season ticket! So what do you expect/hope from the rest of the season?


KB: I guess that is why, still not used to this 2nd club situation haha. Obviously everyone wants the same thing, survival. I hope we can achieve it, no matter how glum the situation is. We played well yesterday against on paper, a much better side, so as soon as Lady Luck drops in on us, things will change and you never know.


Well thank you very much for answering these questions and finally, welcome to the rocky rollercoaster of non league football and i hope you enjoy the rest of the season! You Stripes.


KB: No problem at all! As a Leeds fan, rollercoasters are what I have always had haha.

Kyle is a perfect example of what can happen, when you give non-league football a chance. We're not saying to stop supporting the team that you have grown up following, let us be your second team and help us up the leagues!

You can find Kyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/KyleLeedsFan


The next initiative from the club is a 'Take a mate for FREE!' which will be in place when we play Stockport County next Tuesday. The Legion will be making a fair bit of noise and it's sure to be an excellent atmosphere. Below is the promotion video made by City fan, James Rudge.

Up the City!

Boom or Bust?

Without an away game to write about or a poor result to moan about, the secretary of the Bath City Supporters Club, Dan Tanner, has kindly written me a piece on the club's current playing and financial situation!  Enjoy.

So with over a quarter of the season gone and only one win, this is the worst run City have been on post World War Two; even Corporal Jones would be panicking. With the bubble burst and the fighting sprit waning, it looks like the rise and rise of Bath City over the last 7 years is grinding to a halt. Labour said that the age of boom and bust was over, how wrong were they, and it seems that City’s boom years are on the verge of busting.

 

Building Charlie's/Randalls'- The Club Bars

The thing with City’s busts is they not over in a couple of years. The last relegation from the Conference in 1997 led to 3 good years in the Doctor Martens Premier league however, this was followed by 4 seasons hovering just above relegation. Then, after 7 seasons in the Doc Martens league it lead to an unofficial relegation. The reorganisation of the Non league pyramid meant City had to finish at least 13^th in the 03/04 season, to automatically move into the newly created Conference South. But, even with 4 victories in the last 4 games with Scott Partridge firing 8 goals in 3 games, it could only get City into the Conference 2 playoff Semi Final against Dorchester. An early Partridge goal continued City’s impressive form but, a poor start to the second half saw City lose 4-2. The defeat meant Southern league football is where City would battle out their trade for the following 3 years. A championship winning season in 06/07 after coming 2^nd the previous year started the rise back up to the top level of Non league football. Amassing a total of 91 points scoring 84 goals and conceding 29 City won the league by 13 points. This led to a 3 year stint in the Conference South where City would then find themselves in a playoff final against Woking. A crowd of 4865 witness a tense and surreal 1-0 victory, resulting in City’s return to the top flight of Non league football, after a 13 year absence.

Kaid Mohamed scoring the penalty that put Bath City in the Conference Premier.

The old cliché is that a week is a long time in football so after 676 weeks out of the Conference Premier, things had changed lot. The likes of Luton, Wrexham, York, Cambridge, and Grimsby now awaited City instead of Halifax, Stalybridge Celtic, Farnborough, and Hednesford United who were City’s opponents in the 96/97 season. Moreover, with such an array of ex league clubs now fighting it out to get back into league football, the financial environment of the conference has changed dramatically. Of what would have been a competitive budget 13 years ago, City’s now measly weekly budget of around £6000 doesn’t come close to some of the other teams in the league, who easily pay 3 even 4 times that amount. This puts City’s first seasons achievement into contexts. It was a miracle, not only were we competitive but, finishing 10^th made us the best part time team in England. Yet, even with one of the smallest budgets in the league City struggled with the financial burdens of top flight non league football, too such an extent that radical reform was needed within the club. Whether these changes will bear any fruits only time can tell but, with football becoming more and more expensive the battle may already be lost. Football is no longer a game for supporters to watch, it is a business that exploits supporters.  

Histon vs Bath City- Live on Premier Sports!

City will pay around £250,000 on wages this year compared to teams like Lincoln who will pay in the region of£1 million and Newport around £700,000. At the moment Lincoln are 1 point above the relegation zone and Newport find themselves 4 points adrift from safety. Is it therefore, any surprise that City are currently bottom of the table??? Nevertheless, this does not justify the poor start to the season, scoring 7 goals and only winning once in the league is unacceptable.

Many supporters are resigned to relegation back to the second tier of non league football but, what will that lead to??? Will it lead to further relegation, mid table obscurity, a return back to the Conference Premier, or even the end of the club completely??? The club are at a pivotal part in its history, will the boom continue or will there be a bust??? If there is a bust how bad will it be??? It is a question that no one can answer and that is the beauty of football, anything is possible. 

From Darlington...

to Basingstoke?

The worrying aspect is it’s hard to stop a rot, even when you get rid of the rot its effects can cause long term damage that take ages to repair. I do question whether the rot has entered Twerton Park and whether the rot is ‘success’. The quote success breeds success is correct but, success also breeds greed. Have the high expectations of the fans, management and players been the downfall to our season??? Having high expectations has added extra pressure this season. Last season nearly everyone expected to be relegated therefore, there wasn’t much pressure, meaning we could go out and enjoy the game. This season it feels different, there’s expectancy for City to being winning games and beating the teams that two years ago we could only dream of playing let along beating. But, whatever happens, boom or bust the most important factor is that there is still a club for the future generations. We must not be greedy and jeopardise the future of the club. It will be a hard ride this season no one is denying that. If City does lose their conference premier status it will be the end of a journey but, it will be the beginning of a new one.

A huge thanks to Dan for writing this. You can find him on twitter at: @DJRTanner

3/10/11 Taunton Town 2-1 Bath City (SPC) - Peacocks Rule Over Romans!

So after an extremely bland performance at Lincoln, the next challenge was to overcome an away trip to Taunton Town in the Somerset Premier Cup.  Could this be the game that turns our season on its head?  First win of the season? The chance to really dispatch a team?

 Taunton Town FC Facts:

· Taunton Town currently vacate 14^th place in the EvoStik Southern Division One South and West (What a mouthful!).  

· Average Attendance- 201

· FA Trophy Winners in 2001 after beating Berkhamstead Town 2-1 in the final.

· Their nickname is ‘The Peacocks’.

· Taunton Town Defender Chris McGrath is the son of former Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath widely recognised as the greatest ever player to come out of the Republic of Ireland).

The dilemma of wearing shorts or trousers was the first problem I encountered before the trip. After asking my dear mother her opinion, in which she said trousers, I decided to wear shorts.  Soon after, I picked up my backpack filled with a flag, ipod and deodorant and proceeded to walk to the home of football, Twerton Park. Deciding to leave early (4.15) was a wise decision as it was HOT HOT HOT. Soon enough though, at 4.50, I had arrived at TP where I met 9 other crazy fools who were making the trip d’an saff. After an interesting discussion on what parts of the ground had been recently painted (or pissed on if you’re a Southport fan), the coach arrived and picked up the merry bunch. An uneventful trip down followed, but only after picking up a couple more fans  and the City goalkeeper’s dad. Talks of making our own phoenix club called Bath Albion FC and a couple of wrong turns later and we had arrived at the brightly lit Wordsworth Drive.

 I walked over to the turnstyles and handed over £7, a cheap price to pay to watch City absolutely SMASH a lowly Taunton Side. The ground was a tidy one, with 2 covered ends and a covered seated stand running along the side of the pitch. Tarpaulin and scaffolding was covering the previous bar, which sadly burnt down in July due to an electrical fault. (Below)

The smell of a typical non-league burger was overpowering and I felt myself drawn towards the burger van tucked behind the ground in the car park. I parted with £3 in exchange for a cheeseburger with some mushrooms and onions. T’was an absolute monster of a thing and was probably worth about half of my calorie intake for the day. So as I tucked into half a cow’s leg in a bun, I turned around and I saw what was to be, the most amazing portable beer van I have ever seen!

This beer van was just a little longer than where I’d just bought my burger from, but it was decked out with 2 flat screen televisions showing music channels, silver cupboards and cabinets and lights that smothered the van in a pink and blue. I was instantly brought to a 70s nightclub with a Hawaiian twist with fake pineapples  cleverly placed around the bar. It was incredible! All it needed was a glitterball, Hawaiian hula girls and Charlie Sheen snorting some coke in the corner. My cold turkey idea had gone completely out of the window as I felt obliged to purchase something.  Thatchers gold was on the menu and I could not resist, but I was also fully expecting a complimentary flower garland to put around my neck.  (No picture but below is a fair representation)

 

I was soon joined on the terraces by a city fan who is based in Taunton. A properly nice chap, but his stories about his banning orders and his county football experience would easily send you and your children to sleep at night. Anyways at 19 he helped me reduce the average age of the city following to about 86. I was having a cracking night so far, and the football massacre I was about to witness hadn’t even started yet!

Adie Britton fielded an unbelievably strong side for a county cup match! The player’s wages combined could probably send a couple of the Taunton lads to Las Vegas for a few days, with some pocket money to spend in the casinos. But as the game started, Las Vegas was also the venue where a couple of the city players wanted to be at the time. We stroked it around nicely but with very little intent. Taunton only having chances due to defensive mix ups, not through their own personal quality. Young Josh Egan and old Scott Murray looking like the only two players that actually fancied putting in a decent shift (Also Jim Rollo and Stonehouse). They both unlocked the defense on numerous occasions but in the box there was no finisher, no poacher, no fox in the box.* Talking of fox in the box, Jamie cook was having another terrific game! No longer did it look like he wanted to be at home, playing Mario-kart, with his old Crawley team-mates. The desire he had was incredible, he was a changed man!  He will cover every blade of grass on the pitch as he hunts down the ball like an overweight kid searching for that last freddo his folks have just hidden.  It was just a shame that he couldn’t score, again*. Anyway the first half came and went with very little action. The massacre I had predicted was obviously going to happen in the second half!

 

Before the second half got underway, there was time to walk around the other end of the ground and put up the one flag I had brought along with me. A couple of minutes later, the players started to walk out onto the pitch and I could smell goals galore for the mighty stripes. Kicking downhill in the second half we started promisingly and chances were coming thick and fast. Then it came, the goal which was going to be the catalyst for about 10 more to fly in. The ball rolling around the penalty box like the ball in the pinball machine, where it finally fell to Josh Egan who rifled it into the net! GOAAAAAAAL. For the first time this season, Bath City were leading a game! The players were quick to run over to the tireless Egan as he was on the floor complaining with cramp, (Yes apparently 18 year olds can get cramp 60 minutes into a game). He was then replaced by first choice winger Marley Watkins (such strength in depth!). As he departed he joked with the fans, that he might play for the yooof team now he’s had a good game. His dad had a smile like a Cheshire cat next to us.

As I waited for the massacre to arrive, the Taunton based city fan and I wandered around to behind the dugout to hear what the management had to say. Not a lot was the answer. The only noise being Sean Canham, who rightly subjected Egan to some banter for getting cramp at such a young age. Still waiting for the massacre, Taunton somehow managed to win a penalty. The keeper, yes the keeper, then ran up the pitch, stepped up to take it and hammered it into the top corner! The keeper as it turned out wasn’t a José Luis Chilavert but turned out to be a striker that was obviously handy in goal too. The embarrassment was too much to handle. It only got worse as well! 5 minutes later into the game the ball dropped to a Taunton player on the edge of the box, he then gave it the same treatment as the penalty taker and smacked it top bin, leaving our second choice keeper well beaten. The massacre was just a little off track, I was still confident we could turn it around. The opportunity then flashed before us, a penalty shout turned down. An unbelievable decision! The Taunton defender almost picked up the ball with his arms and gently placed the ball out for a corner.  The fans, management and players couldn’t quite believe it!  That incident summed up the lack of luck we have had all season. The game soon fizzled out, and it finished…yes…2-1 to Taunton Town! The old cliché ‘concentrate on the league’ came to mind, but we’d just lost to a team 3 leagues below us. The players walked straight down the tunnel giving no thanks to the support they received tonight, leaving us to walk around the pitch, back to the coach parked in the car park.

Walking around the pitch we bumped into the city Chairwoman and director who almost smiled at the result- put it this way the fans didn’t quite agree with their views on it. So we walked off in disgust. As I was saying my farewell to the ‘Taunton Exile’, his delighted father (a Taunton fan) couldn’t help but rub it in. I smiled and nodded, but really I could have fallen on my knees, cried and begged him to stop.

Anyway an uneventful trip home followed and I got home about 11.30pm.
Cost of trip- £27. Still cheaper than the premier league.
‘Terraces not Armchairs’

*This was complete sarcasm. Jamie Cook couldn’t give a monkeys and is clearly just taking the wages from the club and using it to fund his love for the Nintendo Wii and golf.

Next Game: Bath City vs Darlington 8/10/11 (BSBP)

1/10/11 Lincoln City 2-0 Bath City. Getting that numb feeling!

Bath City Pos. 24/24. 13 games played. Won 0. Drew 3. Lost 10. 5 goals scored. 22 conceded.

So it's time I started to write a blog. I was going to start after the woeful 3 nil away loss at Ebbsfleet United on Tuesday but I would have got tears on the keyboard and it would have broken the laptop, FACT. It was the hardest game I've ever watched in all my years watching the Romans. Anyway, next up in the fight for survival, Sincil Bank, Lincoln City.

For some reason this early morning was especially hard to get up to. Whether it was because of Tuesday night's fiasco I'm not sure, although it might have been because I'd run out of shredded wheat the previous morning. After crawling out of bed, showering, eating the crap bits of cereal that come at the bottom of the box and getting dressed, i was just about ready to travel to the get the supporters coach.

Arriving at the Odd down pick-up point at 7.35, it was clear that it wasn't just an early morning for me, but for most of the city fans getting on the coach. As the pick-up points came and went, gormless/tired faces trundled up the coach to try and get their favoured seat. The look on their faces was that a defeat was going to be served to us on a golden Lincolnshire plate today, and at the end of the day they were to be proved right! But at the time, some optimistic supporters had also realised Lincoln weren't blowing the league away like some of their naive fans had predicted pre-season, and were sitting in the relegation zone with us! Was there to be a hard fought win that the stripes badly needed?

The miles were slowly racking up but after buying 50/50 tickets to try and win some beer money, we arrived at Hopwood services and it was time to stretch some very weary legs. After buying the usual (a coffee nation latte and the sun), a group photo was taken for the supporters club and we were on our way again up the long and winding road north.

After appreciating the fine beauty of Holly Valance in The Sun, and reading about Norwich City's chances against Manchester United, it was time for the 50/50 draw. I'd previously won 2nd prize on the way to Ebbsfleet, but as they say lightening never strikes twice and swiftly chucked the tickets into the bin that moved it's way up the coach. Another stint of reading The Sun and listening to some Elbow on the ipod and we had soon arrived into an extremely sunny Lincoln for the match!

As we'd got off the coach we were summoned by the Lincoln City bar employees to take in the beverages of the clubhouse, we politely declined, which we later found to be the right decision! So in the shadow of the glorious Lincoln Cathedral, we walked to the nearest Wetherspoons for a cheap and cheerful, Thatchers Gold. A couple of pints were consumed until it was time for us to stroll back along the high street to Sincil Bank.

Luckily it was only a tenner to get in because of a promotion, due to it being 'Lincolnshire Day'. I wouldn't fancy paying the normal £18 that it costs for a normal matchday, because for non league football that's an absolute rip off! Before the rest of the city following arrived into the ground, a fellow city fan and myself set up all of the flags in the designated area above our away section, which took longer than it should due to inept stewards who spoke into their 'walkie talkies' like they were 10 years old. A programme was then bought from an over friendly club employee and along with the 58 loyal fans, i took my place in the away end.

The first half was almost a blur and was definitely what most of the city supporters expected. 2 sloppy goals went against us which both started from the same city player, who felt like he wanted to hold onto the ball like that greedy kid who never passed at school lunchtimes. The only chance we created was a deflected curling shot which clipped the outside of the Lincoln post, from then on the team just seem to go through the motions and playing for their paycheck and not for their fans or management. The half time whistle blew and half of the city fans scampered off to grab a (not kidding) £1.80 cup of tea!

The second half, as you can imagine was just as woeful as the first half. New loan striker from Hereford, Sean Canham was the only highlight as he showed glimpses of quality which may provide us with some much needed goals in the next few games. Both teams pretty much cancelled each other out as they both justified why they were vacating in the relegation zone. We made Lincoln look like a decent side, and if any player in the opposition has pace, then it seems we just crumble before him and he either has a shot or gets a cross in. As the game wore on, more and more city fans started to sit down in the bright red seats and probably wondered what they were going to have for supper when they got home.

The inept stewards before the game told me we had to take the flags down 10 minutes before the end of the game, so i asked what happened if we scored a last minute winner, he explained "you'll have to celebrate it up 'der won't ya!".....knob. Anyway taking down the flags went smoothly as we barely went past the halfway line.

The final whistle blew, and the gaffer pulled them all around to walk over to the loyal band of city fans, they then clapped for a good 30 seconds. Some players don't realise the time and money it takes to come and watch them play so to come and applaud us means a lot. Especially at the end the normally charismatic goalkeeper Glyn Garner waved his arms around like a nutter to explain to us to stay positive and keep the faith. When you haven't won a game in 13, it's ruddy hard to stay positive, that's for sure. It was almost a numb feeling after the game, tuesday's game was borderline upsetting, this one was just a regualtion loss. Last years 10th place triumph means it's hard to watch the team struggle against less than mediocre teams that we dispatched last season.

The walk back to the coach was one of reflection and where we go from here. It almost seems like we've hit a brick wall and we've run out of ideas, so i don't envy Adie Britton's job of trying to turn things around that's for sure. Although we did find out that going to Wetherspoons was the right decision as a pint in their bar was £3.50!? I'm counting that as the highlight of the day.

The trip back was as uneventful as the game proved to be, and we arrived home in decent time to watch MOTD. A cost of £48 for the whole days entertainment, now you don't get that in the Premier League! Terraces not Armchairs!



Next Game- 3/10/11 Taunton Town Away (Somerset Cup) First win of the season??