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The U’sual Ramblings #28, and this is one I didn’t expect to be writing. I had hoped by now I’d already be on the first leg of a trip up to that London village for the U’s at Brisbane Road. But, as has often been the case this season, train strikes made that journey impossible. I could have got there, but with the last train back leaving Paddington just after 4.30pm, not got home — not unless I was content to watch the first half only, and even that would have been a tight call. Still, I guess if strikes weren’t an inconvenience, nobody would bother with them. The good news is that with unions currently voting on an improved offer (polls close on Monday), hopefully the industrial action is drawing to a close?
The world outside U’s World So the Gary Lineker twitter-storm is over almost as soon as it began, and normal service for Match of the Day is resumed. Well, almost, he won’t actually be presenting the evening broadcast, that’ll be down to Mark Chapman. This is unrelated to the dispute, Gary had always been scheduled to be part of the live FA Cup broadcast of Manchester United against Burnley. Whilst apologising for the disruption, director-general Tim Davie has denied the BBC had to climb down after creating the disruption in the first place, stating that Gary “will abide by the editorial guidelines” until completion of an independent review of their social media policy.
The same day, Gary updated his twitter profile picture…
Over the pond, the net is closing in on Donald Trump, as different prosecutors seem to be competing with each other to be first to indict him. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has invited him to testify before a grand jury next week over his role in the Stormy Daniel’s hush money case. Trump will almost certainly decline, but most legal commentators see the invitation as the last chance saloon for Trump before he is formally indicted. Meanwhile, prosecutor Jack Smith seems to be homing in on an indictment over the stolen classified documents retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago home, whilst Fulton County DA Fani Willis has stated “decisions are imminent” regarding Trump’s role in trying to overthrow the 2020 Georgia election, including demanding that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger “find” another 11,000+ votes for Trump, enough to reverse his defeat in that state.
A sure sign that something might be happening soon is evidenced in New York, where law enforcement officials are already deep in discussion about security preparations in the event he is indicted in the Stormy Daniels case. Regrettably, but probably inevitably — given what occurred on January 6th 2021 at the Capitol — most expect his MAGA nut-job supporters to react violently if he is indicted. On condition of anonymity, officials have described the conversations as preliminary and are considering security, planning and the practicalities of a potential court appearance by a former president. This would be the first time ever that a former US President was indicted. It should have been the second, but in a show of baffling magnanimity, then President Gerald Ford decided to give Richard ‘Tricky Dicky’ Nixon a full pardon in 1974 to spare him the inevitable Watergate indictment and prosecution.
…and finally, in a move that is unlikely to make any difference right now, but still nevertheless most welcome, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation). Both are accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation of children, and the unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. The significance of this move is palpable — it means that if ever Putin and/or Russia want to re-join the civilised world, Putin will have to stand trial for his crimes. Of course it’ll never come to that, once Putin has outlived his usefulness to Russia, he’ll be removed one way or another, but as I say, still a welcome move regardless.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving scumbag
U’s World Clearly the big news coming out of the U’s World bubble this week has been the departure of Big Frank Nouble, after his contract until summer was cancelled by mutual consent. Many have fond memories of some of the great Nouble performances in a U’s shirt, and the 3-1 victory over Swindon has already been mentioned by several. To that I would add his performance in our 3-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle in 2020, and arguably a factor in why Argyle picked him up following our Covid-19 pandemic gutting. Despite being a forward, Frank has never been a prolific goal scorer, his better role has always been cutting in from the wing, and all-round strength and hold-up play, and I sincerely hope he picks up a short-term deal at another club who have need of a big man with a big heart.
Good luck Frank, and thanks!
On-loan striker Kwesi Appiah, injured during our 1-0 defeat against Northampton, is out for a few weeks, but club physio Haydeon Clifton expects him to be back in action before the end of the season — fingers-crossed by then we’re not chasing points for survival. I suspect parent club Crawley will let him go in the summer, so it remains to be seen whether he fits into Ben Garner’s plans for what is likely to be a major shake-up of the squad.
Another one who is almost certainly going to be involved in that shake-up is Alan Judge, as he went under the knife last week to repair his anterior cruciate ligament injury. Whether we see Judgey back in a U’s shirt again I very much doubt, but still wish him all the best on his road to recovery. Also recovering following a knee-op is Cole Skuse, but former manager Matt Bloomfield said at the time he didn’t expect him to be out for too long, so I’m imagining we’ll see him back very soon — heaven knows we could do with his calming influence in the heart of our midfield.
With one eye on future U’s stars, Frankie Terry has returned on loan to Chelmsford City as they push for promotion into the National League. Terry had originally been recalled because of a minor injury crisis, but now that Luke Chambers is fit and well, he has been allowed to return to the Clarets for their last nine games of this season. Surely he can’t be that far away from his first U’s start?
Stat attack This weekend is Mothering Sunday weekend, so what better time to take a look at our performances over the years on the eve of Mother’s Day. First off, how we calculate the date of Mother’s Day is somewhat convoluted. It is always three Sundays before Easter Sunday, but Easter itself is the very definition of a moveable feast. The date of Easter is calculated based on the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. If the full Moon falls on a Sunday then Easter is the next Sunday. Got that?
However, back to the U’s. Although our performance has been quite good in recent years, winning three and drawing two in the last five seasons, it’s definitely not so good over all. In 63 attempts before today (there have been a few seasons when we haven’t played on the Mothering Sunday weekend), we’ve won just 15, drawn 17 and lost a whopping 31 games — that’s virtually a 50% fail rate! It’s even worse when we travel, just five victories in 33 attempts away from home, the most recent though being the absolute belter at Cambridge back in 2019 (already featured in LfW#36); KVY’s winner is definitely worth seeing again.
As opponents go, Swindon and Tranmere are joint top with three games against the U’s on Mothering Sunday weekend, with a whole clutch of clubs with two games against the U’s, which will include Leyton Orient by the end of this afternoon. Incidentally, our previous Mothering Sunday weekend against Leyton Orient was back on 12th March 1988, when Roger Brown’s U’s drew 0-0 at Brisbane Road. I’ll take another one of those today in a heartbeat.
Our best performance out of those meagre 15 winning matches? Definitely Ted Davis’s 4-0 thrashing of Torquay United Reserves on 26th March 1938, with Roy McDonough’s 1992 Conference 3-0 victory over Kidderminster Harriers, again at Layer Road, a close second. On the flipside, Benny Fenton must have really hated Mothering Sunday weekends, after getting trounced 6-2 at Layer Road by QPR in 1956, and then again 7-2 by Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park in 1961.
Our record crowd for a Mothering Sunday weekend game — 20,218 at The Walkers Stadium in 2009, when Lambert’s U’s gained a credible 1-1 draw against Leicester City, followed by John Ward’s visit to Hillsborough two years later, when 15,663 watched the U’s get narrowly defeated 2-1. Barring lockdown and seasons for which the attendance is unknown, the lowest recorded crowd for a U’s Mothering Sunday weekend game was just 1,201 in 1996 for the U’s 0-0 draw at Scarborough. This is followed closely by 1,320 at (ironically) the Racecourse Ground, when Mike Walker’s U’s beat Wrexham 1-0 back in 1987.
Match of the Day Swindon Town v Colchester United 25th October 2014 Sky Bet Football League 1(Tier 3) Attendance 7,871
No programme, but do still have the ticket stubs
Match of the Day for this blog, and the memorabilia archive random match selector goes back to October 2014, and our visit to nearby Swindon Town. Back then I was still living in Warminster, so not quite the short hop it is these days, but still pretty much on my doorstep and in easy reach on the train. 2014/15 was actually a good season for this particular SW exile, with Bristol City, Swindon Town, Peterborough United, Gillingham, Walsall, Crawley Town , Leyton Orient and Yeovil Town all within reasonable reach for an awayday.
What a Bobby Dazzler!
And so me and Alfie found ourselves off on the train to Swindon that morning — not Alfie’s first visit to the County Ground, but pretty sure his first letting the train take the strain. This did of course allow for a quick stop at the Merlin to take on fuel and fluids, which Alfie was particularly pleased about, before we took our place amongst a noisy (and drum-banging) contingent of what must have been 200+ of the Faithful.
2014/15 had been a difficult season from the outset, and following four straight defeats, Joe Dunne left his position as manager by mutual consent. I’m usually deeply suspicious of that phrase to be honest, but it is well-known that Robbie Cowling had a lot of time for Joe Dunne, and I have no doubt in this instance it genuinely was by mutual consent. In a move that was to become common practice at the JobServe, Robbie promoted internally, elevating head of youth development Tony Humes to the top spot.
To be even-handed, Tony Humes did actually turn things around, and a run of nine games with four victories and only two defeats followed, to bring the U’s back up from the relegation zone to a midtable position. However, in Swindon they faced a side that was challenging for automatic promotion, and this game was going to be a tough hurdle for Humes to get over, and his U’s line-up that afternoon comprised:
The big surprise in this selection was Humes deciding to go for Rhys Healey over Sanchez Watt, given Watt had been in pretty decent form recently. Right from the off Swindon showed why they were promotion contenders (and/or we very much weren’t), dominating play for the first twenty minutes or so. With barely five minutes on the clock Nathan Byrne almost put Andy Williams (no, not that one) clean through, but there was just too much on his pass and it ran away from Williams.
Swindon’s patient approach work gave the U’s little time on the ball, with their goalkeeper Wes Foderingham playing more as a sweeper in the first half, so much was their dominance in midfield. Eventually, just before the half hour mark Swindon took the lead. Following a good run into the box from Amari'i Bell on the left, he did well to look up and square off to former U’s loanee Michael Smith, who had the easiest side-foot tap-ins to give Swindon Town a deserved 1-0 lead. It didn’t stop the Faithful and their drum from getting behind the U’s, but it certainly dampened spirits somewhat. Although now in the lead, still Swindon persisted with their cautious patient approach play, and as the first half came to an end, the local support was already venting their frustration that Swindon weren’t just rolling over us.
That frustration boiled over almost as soon as the second half started, when Massey picked out Rhys Healey in the box, and, side-stepping his marker, Rhys made no mistake lifting his effort over the shoulder of Foderingham and into the top corner of the net, much to the ecstatic celebration of us in the away section. Mind you, we weren’t celebrating for long, as a minute later again Michael Smith found the back of the net, side-footing home unmarked on the edge of the six yard box from a Massimo Luongo pass.
What as particularly galling was that despite all their patient tippy tappy approach play, both Swindon goals really had to be put down as defensive blunders — scoring goals is great, but less so if you can’t stop others doing the same. However, scoring goals was our thing that day, and less that five minutes later we were level again. Trying to play the ball out from the back, Swindon were caught napping. Sears drove in from the right, and pinged a peach of a pass through to Rhys Healey. His air shot miss might have made a bloopers reel, but Massey picking up the loose ball and drilled past Foderingham for our second equaliser of the afternoon.
That proved to be the kick up the @rse that Swindon needed, and for the remainder of the second half they switched to a much more direct approach, bringing on Harry Toffolo and Jonathan Obika on about the hour mark, with Sanchez Watt finally getting on the pitch at about the same time, replacing Alex Gilbey. Thereafter, much of the credit for holding onto the draw must go to Sam Walker, who played a blinder keeping out a clear cut chance from Nathan Byrne. Even when Walker was beaten, there was Magnus Okuonghae to clear a certain goal off the line and prevent Michael Smith getting his hat-trick.
However, as Swindon continued to press forward, gaps were opening up for the U’s, and particularly with the pace and trickery of Watt on display, we had our chances to snatch an unlikely lead too. In fact, probably the best chance fell to the U’s with just three minutes to go, as Healey latched onto a pass from David Fox, muscled his way into the box and shot agonisingly just wide of the far post. And thus it finished, with the U’s extending their unbeaten run to four games with a very valuable point at the County Ground.
Swindon Town 2 (Michael Smith 27’, 48’) Colchester United 2 (Rhys Healey 47’; Gavin Massey 52’)
All in all, a decent awayday for me and Alfie, and there was a definite spring in our step as we headed back to the station for the train home. The point had kept us in 14th place, and whilst no one was really thinking about the play-offs, the worry of relegation was at least abating.
Sadly not for long, and a disastrous run of five league defeats on the bounce straight after put us right back into the relegation mire. We would stay there for virtually the rest of the season, only finally escaping the dreaded drop on that unforgettable last game Great Escape against Preston North End.
There’s a short highlights reel on YouTube if you want to see three goals in rapid succession…
…and also, and giving quite an interesting perspective, a short reel capturing Swindon Town supporter’s view post-match — some of whom are surprisingly gracious to the U’s.
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