Manuel & The Seagulls

Ilfracombe Town  2  Willand Rovers  5

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When I think of Ilfracombe I think of two things.

The first being a family holiday back in the Eighties, I don’t remember it overly well, but I do remember that most evening’s we would sit outside a pub (The Crab if I recall). On almost every evening we were there, another family would arrive, but they had the kid from hell, certainly compared to myself and my angelic and not in the slightest bit temperamental Sister! The evening for the other family would typically end in chaos, while I would sit and laugh at the situation, egged on by my Dad’s one-liners, much to my Mum’s disdain.

The second thing I think of is a classic episode of Fawlty Towers where Manuel was talking about his own upcoming vacation, to Ilfracombe, but of course Manuel struggled with the English language and pronunciation, so the resort in North Devon became known as ‘Ilfra – Combi’.

It’s funny how these things stick with you, and in the case of the holiday, which I would guess would have been around 1985 / 1986 time, I’ve never been back to Ilfracombe since, until now that is.

This Summer’s grand vacation as trademarked and patented by Mrs H (on the basis I did none of the organising) was to consist of six nights in a Hotel in Barnstaple, followed by a further three nights at our favourite B&B and Honeymoon venue in Falmouth.

The Barnstaple theory was that we wanted a nice Hotel that gave us a base to have a good look around North Devon, and visit some of those places I’ve not been too since the famous family holiday of all those years ago, like Clovelly, Combe Martin and Lynton / Lynmouth.

Day one was spent having a look around Barnstaple, which is bigger than you think, while day two was to involve a short run up the road to Ilfracombe, have a look round and then go to the game against a Willand Rovers side that have been newly promoted to the Southern League this season.

The highlight of Ilfracombe, other than the lovely harbour, was without doubt the incident at Wetherspoons  courtesy of some very aggressive and cunning seagulls. Mrs H had spotted that one particularly evil looking gull was perched on top of a road sign just over the road from the outdoor area of the pub where food was served to the waiting tables. Then, suddenly, as a family of four stood up after completing their meal, it all kicked off.

With an almighty crash, the lead gull hit the table, scattering glasses and plates all over the place, while the former inhabitants gasped and screamed in terror. It then let out an almighty noise, like a signal to it’s colleagues, and before you could blink a further three gulls landed on the table. The occupants of the nearby tables sat frozen in terror as they watched complete carnage as chips, baked beans, chicken nuggets, the lot were devoured, while empty plates were tossed to the floor.

We weren’t far from completing our own meals, so an escape plan was needed. You see, lead gull was by now back on his perch, clearly on the lookout for opportunities. We decided that we would all stand up and move at the same time, which we did, and guess what, within seconds the same scenes happened all over again, our table was Armageddon, children close by were either laughing hysterically, or crying.

Excitement over, it was back in the car for the short, but steep drive to the ground on Marlborough Road. Ilfracombe Town have found themselves in the Eastern Division of the newly re-organised South West Peninsula League, which sits at Step 6. So technically an elevation for a side that for many years was a stalwart of the Western League prior to taking demotion to the North Devon League in recent times.

The ground is lovely. I can remember looking at it all those years ago from the road, as my Dad used to like to take a look at the local grounds when we were on holiday, again to Mothers disquiet. I can remember the quirky stand behind the goal that was built up against the steep stone wall that separates the ground from the main road, which still exists, contained a mixture of seats and stepped terracing.

To the left of this is the business side of the ground, with the car park, the club house, dressing rooms and a small seated stand which provided handy shelter from the heavy showers that punctuated the first half.

The remaining two sides of the ground were open with flat standing, and of course, the pitch was in excellent shape, while floodlights have been a feature of the facility for a number of years now.

It proved to be an entertaining game. Ilfracombe took the lead in the 24^th minute but the visitors equalised almost immediately. The team from the side of the M5 then added two more just before the break to leave the half time score 1-3.

Ilfracombe pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the second period to reduce the arrears, but two goals in the last ten minutes for Willand left the final score 2-5. In fairness to Ilfracombe, I thought they looked a confident and effective outfit who could do well this season (as I type this they won 5-0 in the opening league game against Plymouth Marjon).

So, game over and time to head back to a relatively seagull free Barnstaple, after finally making a return to Ilfra-Combi after all of those years. It had been well worth it. I can see now why Manuel had such affection for the place!