By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Good evening pop-pickers, and here we are again, another football weekend beckons, and for the second in a row I find myself Jack Kerouac following the mighty U’s (hence the early post). Only this weekend I’m going international, as the U’s head for the murky delights of South Wales, The U’sual Ramblings #11 coinciding with a trip for this exile to the Exiles in Newport. It won’t be the last visit this season either, after Alan Smith and Dion Dublin conspired to ensure a spectacularly underwhelming FA Cup 1st round visit to Rodney Parade next month as well. Although I’ll take 3pts over a cup run right now, ask me again in a fortnight when there’s a £41k winning bonus up for grabs.
Thanks for nothing chaps!
The world outside U’s World And I quote “…cabinet ministers, colleagues and political commentators all predict she has at best a 50/50 chance of still being Prime Minister by Christmas…”. Prophetic words from the West Country visionary in last week’s blog, given Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister yesterday after just 44 days in office. I say resigned, but without doubt this would have been a “Sorry Liz, pack your bags, you’re resigning” resignation, she is after all a fighter not a quitter. On the first day of her appointment, the Daily Star via a YouTube live stream pitted her chances of survival against that of a fresh lettuce — the lettuce won that competition.
The chicanery and manoeuvring within the dysfunctional Conservative Party have already begun, after 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady announced they would fast-track the process, to have a new PM in place next week! Penny Mordaunt and losing challenger to Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, are expected to stand, but the leftfield candidate, who seems to have an alarming number of supporters out there, is none other than BoJo. Now, if Boris is the answer, not only must it be a damn stupid question, but it also shows the level of turmoil the government must be in if he’s considered a viable option!
Mind you, support for Boris is certainly not unanimous, with some backbench Tory MPs threatening to trigger by-elections if Johnson ever takes over again. That would obviously please all the other parliamentary parties (apart from maybe the DUP) who along with a large proportion of the UK voting public, are clamouring for a General Election. Certainly Kier Starmer with Labour holding a massive 32-point lead over the Conservatives. That’s also why the Conservatives will fight tooth and nail to avoid a General Election right now.
In slightly lighter news, both the English and Welsh FA are warning fans going to Qatar next month to drink responsibly; yeah, good luck with that. Qatar has very strict drug and alcohol laws, with alcohol consumption normally restricted to designated hotels, though this allowance will be extended to some “fan zone” areas during the competition. However, they have zero tolerance to open displays of drunken behaviour, and I suspect will crack down on those sorts of shenanigans with a very heavy hand. Couple that with the excessive heat and shoehorning about a million football supporters from countries around the world (most of whom at one time or another have been at war with someone else in the competition) into a space the size of Yorkshire and it seems like a recipe for disaster.
U’s World The least said about last Saturday’s performance at Swindon Town the better. Not a good game at all, very much haunted by the ghost of Wayne Brown if I’m honest, and not helped by shocking officials. Let’s hope the U’s can dust themselves down, put it behind them, and move on with some confidence and self-belief. Regarding the officials last Saturday, this photo from club photographer Richard Blaxall sums it up perfectly. I’m pretty sure this was taken when Freddie turned his marker and was in round the back on goal — only for the linesman to flag this as offside — how is that possible?!
The other major news coming out of the Col U bubble this week has been Matt Bloomfield’s first senior appointment, bringing in Richard Thomas as his assistant. Like most, I know very little of Richard, though I assume Matt and him must be familiar with each other? Although not well-known, Richard has had a long career as a football coach, including spells as Leyton Orient’s academy manager, followed by appointment as Kevin Nolan’s assistant at Notts County, Nolan at the time described Richard as “one of the best coaches I've worked with”, praise indeed. He left Notts County to become academy manager at Watford, and at one time was even linked with a move to Southend, but sensibly chose the role of Wales Ladies assistant coach. At least we know he’s not stupid.
Welcome and good luck Richard
Stat attack Newport County and Newport County AFC are obviously not the same football club. The original Newport County were formed in 1912, and after a spell in the Southern League became founder members of the Third Division in 1920. They failed re-election in 1931, but managed to return the very next season, and in 1939 finally won promotion to the Second Division as champions. However, Hitler had other plans, and it would take until 1946 for the then Ironsides to take their place in the Second Division. That first season was a dismal failure, including a 13-0 battering by Newcastle United after which Len Shackleton famously remarked “they were lucky to get nil”, and Newport County were relegated.
For the next 40 years they mostly bounced along in the Fourth Division, briefly returning to the Third Division in 1980, the same season that they won their only Welsh Cup. That feat qualified them for Europe (I know, bonkers), and the following season they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup. However, the 80s were beset with financial problems off the pitch, and following a double relegation in 1987 and 1988 back to non-league, the Exiles went out of business in February 1989, three-quarters of the way through the season. Incidentally, for those who love the word, their Conference record at the time of four wins, seven draws and eight defeats was expunged.
The phoenix club, originally Newport AFC, was formed by supporters in June of 1989, and re-joined the football league pyramid in the Hellenic League (four tiers below the Football League) under previous Newport County manager John Relish. For their first season, they had to play their home games at the Moreton-in-Marsh London Road ground, 80 miles from Newport, and hence their new nickname The Exiles. The Somerton Park ground was available, but Newport City Council refused to let them use it on the grounds of unpaid rent, as they (wrongly) considered the new football club a continuation of the old.
Newport AFC won the Hellenic league and cup double in their first season, returning to their original Southern League level in the process. They also returned to Somerton Park, but not for long. In 1992 they were again consigned to exile, this time by the Football Association of Wales, ground-sharing with Gloucester City at their Meadow Park stadium for two more seasons. FAW secretary Alun Evans was launching his new League of Wales and was trying to force Newport AFC out of the English league and into his new league. Newport AFC had to resort to legal action to protect themselves, and following their success in the courts, finally returned permanently to the city, at the newly built Newport Stadium.
Progress since then has been both faltering and steady if that’s not an oxymoron? In 1995 they were promoted to the Southern League Premier Division, and in 1999 officially renamed themselves Newport County AFC. Following league restructuring, the Exiles found themselves inaugural members of the new Conference South league in 2004, and eventually promoted to the Conference Premier in 2010. In 2012 the club moved to Rodney Parade, ground-sharing with the city’s rugby team, and following a play-off final victory over Wrexham, the first final between two Welsh sides, finally returned to the Football League at the end of their first season at Rodney Parade.
As for the U’s and Newport, overall we have played 61 times against either Newport County or Newport County AFC and including two pre-war seasons against their reserve side back when we were in the Southern League. Our paths never crossed during their brief Newport AFC days. Overall, our record against Newport in their various guises is pretty good; played 61, won 29, drawn 16 and lost 16 in all competitions.
In the modern era against Newport County AFC it’s a strikingly similar pattern, winning five, drawing three and losing three of our 11 matches. However, before you start popping champagne corks, we’ve only won twice at Rodney Parade, and the season before last they did the double over the U’s. If you’re thinking 11 matches in six seasons doesn’t add up, our visit to Rodney Parade in 2019/20 was one of the nine matches lost to the Covid-19 pandemic curtailment.
Leaving aside successive Ted Davis inspired Layer Road 8-0 and 7-0 victories over their reserve side in 1938 and 1939, probably our most memorable performance was Bobby Roberts’ 5-0 victory at Layer Road in 1977, with Jim Smith managing a 4-1 in 1973 and Dick Graham a 4-2 in 1971. Since their return to the Football League, matches have tended to be low scoring relatively even encounters, with John McGreal’s 3-0 and 3-1 home victories in 2018/19 and 2019/20 only slightly bucking that trend. It’s a similar story away from home too, with Dick Graham’s 4-1 defeat at Somerton Park in 1969 the only one that might be considered a drubbing.
Match of the Day Tranmere Rovers v Colchester United Saturday 30th August 2003 Nationwide Football League Second Division (Tier 3) Attendance 6,745
Tonight’s Match of the Day from the memorabilia random match generator, and finally Madame Chance plucks a match out of the air with absolutely no spooky coincidences associated with it — unless you count of course a similarly tricky looking awayday as the U’s are facing at Rodney Parade tomorrow…or like Matt, this was also Parky’s fifth game of his first (full) season in charge…or shall I stop? Anyway, we go back to early in the 2003/04 season, and a trip to Prenton Park for Phil Parkinson’s U’s to take on Tranmere Rovers.
Followers of this blog may recall I have a connection with Tranmere, with close friends Ange and Chris living up that way supporting the Super Whites (to be fair, Chris far more than Ange, she’s more of a Rangers girl). As such, often I will take in a trip to Prenton Park as part of an opportunity to go up and see them for a weekend, and this match was no exception, this time with Em to accompany me. The timing is, however, significant, given me and Em had married two weeks earlier (calendar entry “Oh my God!!”), and we’d only got back from our honeymoon the Saturday before.
The plan was straightforward, pick Em up from the site she was working on at midday, and head for the north west for a Friday evening out with Ange and Chris. Party hard Friday night, hangover full English Saturday morning, then whilst me and Chris head off to Prenton Park, Em and Ange hit the Manchester shopping experience. It kind of went to plan too, apart from the minor detail that although I remembered to put Em’s change of clothes bag in the boot, I forget her going out shoes, so she had to spend the entire weekend in her work steelies, including a visit to Harvey Nich’s — did I mention we’re now separated?
Although Phil Parkinson’s first full season in charge of Colchester United, it hadn’t started well, with three straight league defeats against Barnsley (I was there), Swindon and Port Vale, and the U’s in the relegation zone with zero points. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, we had enjoyed a League Cup first round victory over Plymouth Argyle amongst all that. Better still, the previous Tuesday we finally got some points on the board, grinding out a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Layer Road, so I was optimistic that we could still get something at Prenton Park.
My optimism was buoyed by the news that Liam Chilvers had re-joined the U’s after his previous six-month loan spell had finished in the summer. Chilvers was supposed to be bought by Northampton from Arsenal, and a deal had apparently been struck, but at the eleventh hour Liam backed out. Their loss was our gain, as Chilvers returned to Layer Road for a season-long loan this time (and we’d go on to sign him permanently in 2004), and thus a second debut for the U’s at Prenton Park.
It had only been a couple of seasons since Tranmere’s extended stay in the First Division had come to an end, and they were widely tipped by most to be challenging for promotion. No surprise really when you look at some of the names in manager Ray Mathias’ squad: John Achterberg in goal, Graham Allen in defence, current manager Mickey Mellon and Gary Jones in midfield and Simon Haworth and Eugene Dadi up front. Good solid league footballers, most of whom wouldn’t be out of place in the second tier.
After a couple in the always welcoming Mersey Clipper, Chris was gracious enough to take a seat with me in with the away fans, making a mental note to try and stay subdued, not that I thought there would be any problems. My memory grows dim, but I think we also met up with Durham at this game too — I know there was a Prenton Park meet at some point, that’s for sure.
It didn’t take long for Chris to have his self-control put to the test either. A defensive cock-up on 13 minutes allowed danger man Gary Jones to tap in from close range and put Tranmere into an early lead. Chris’s celebrations were suitably muted but did include some hearty backslaps for yours truly in the process. What was really galling was the U’s had probably started the brighter of the two sides and were certainly more than a match for their somewhat illustrious opponents.
And we carried that on despite going a goal down, and after several half-chances, Wayne Andrews struck on the half-hour mark. Cutting in from the left, and around his marker, he unleashed a peach of a 20-yard curling shot that gave Achterberg no chance as it sailed around his left shoulder and into the top corner of the net. It was a fantastic goal from our vantage point at the other end of the stadium, but the camera angle from the televised highlights, right behind Wayne as he let fly, really did emphasise just how good a strike it was — unstoppable.
We were still celebrating like wild men (expect Chris) as both Rowan Vine and Scott McGleish both went close to giving us a deserved 2-1 lead, but to no avail and at half-time the game was evenly balanced at 1-1.
For the second half, and perhaps with a nod to how fragile confidence was at the time, Parky decided to tighten things up at the back, bringing on Pat Baldwin to replace Andy Myers. Whilst you wouldn’t have exactly called it parking the bus, we were much more defensively minded second half, and although we were still occasionally creating half chances, the match very much swung in Tranmere’s favour.
But, the U’s defence remained resilient, and anything that got through was dealt with by Simon Brown. Ray Mathias did his best to make things happen, bringing on Alex Navarro on 55 minutes and Alex Hay on 65 minutes, but the U’s continued to hold on. As the game wore on, the match started to acquire a tetchy edge, with Gareth Roberts the first name to go into referee Eddie Evans book, two more would follow.
However, the moment that finally decided the outcome would arrive with less than ten minutes to go, and an innocuous handball by Eugene Dadi. I couldn’t even tell if it was actually handballed to be honest, but Eddie Evans had no hesitation in inexplicably showing the Ivorian forward a straight red card. No one could understand why, but whatever the reason, it took all the sting out of the Tranmere frontline, and ensured the U’s earned a well-deserved away point, so I wasn’t complaining — not as much as Chris, that’s for sure.
Tranmere Rovers 1 (Gary Jones 14’) Colchester United 1 (Wayne Andrews 30’)
As we walked away from Prenton Park that afternoon, we had to agree that overall it was a fair result, the U’s shading the first half and Tranmere definitely the second, certainly up to the red card. It did of course also mean we could all enjoy another fantastic evening out in Manchester with honours even. The evening included a trip to a fantastic shisha restaurant in Rusholme. I can’t remember the name, and when I tell you my meal was a kind of anchovy and peanut curry, you’re probably thinking “yeah, no thanks” — but honestly, it was one of the most sensationally different dishes it has ever been my pleasure to enjoy.
With the momentum of the previous victory at home to Bristol City maintained, the U’s embarked on a mini run, which by the end of September had us in the play-off zone. Although a little bit up and down, we’d stay in and around the play-offs right through to Christmas, but with extended cup-runs in both the Football League Trophy and FA Cup taking their toll, we’d slip away second half of the season to finish 11th. Still, not bad for Parky in his first full season in charge.
Tranmere would have a similar season, finishing 8th and six points outside the play-offs. Not that they knew it then, but 2003/04 would be one of the last few seasons that Tranmere genuinely challenged for promotion back to the Championship.
Up the U’s!
Although the picture quality is shocking, you can just about make out some of the action on this grainy YouTube video:
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
