139

Crown  1  Central Ajax   3

Friendly

It was one hundred and thirty nine days apparently.

That was the last time I watched a football match, Saturday 14^th March at Elton Vale, I didn’t count the days, I’ve just used the same number everyone else seems to be going with, bearing in mind pretty much most people of a football watching persuasion all had the rug pulled from underneath them at the same time.

I can remember driving back from Greater Manchester that day, listening to Five Live and hearing of the bewilderment that was enveloping the World, a World that is no longer the same World we once knew and loved.

Like many, over the past few months I’ve cast my mind back to days gone by and thought about the places I’ve been, the games I’ve seen, and longed to have those simple pleasures back in my life once again. We took so much for granted, never gave things a second thought, but getting on a train right now, travelling to the South coast and watching a game in the National League still seems an awful long way off.

As a human race we’ve been through a very different kind of hell, and I’m not inclined to regurgitate a list of the things we could put on the page entitled “It’ll Never Happen In My Lifetime”, simply because there would be too many, and it would be too depressing. But the fact is, I never ever thought I would see the day where my greatest pleasure in life would simply stop, but not only would it stop, for so long we simply had no idea when we would see it again.

I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories when it comes to Covid 19, I genuinely don’t think it was a man-made genocide tool designed to deal with a growing and ageing Chinese population, but what I do believe in, is that Mother Nature works in very mysterious ways.

We needed to change, we are killing the planet and killing ourselves, and despite the warnings and the threats, we carried on, accelerating, living our lives hedonistically, ignoring the consequences, and everywhere you looked humans were doing harm.

Mother Nature had to take matters into her own hands, and this is what we reaped, we now don’t have a choice. We have to live our lives very differently, moderation, care, caution, consideration, all of these words form part of how we go about our daily lives, and only when we heed those things, will our liberty start to truly return.

It's been tough, but for me and mine it’s been ok, everyone is fit and healthy, no one has suffered too much financially, but, going back to what I said earlier, trying to reconcile with the fact that your passion in life is no longer around is hard to take. I make no secret of the fact that having to sit in the house and not be able to do those things took it’s toll, just the same by the way, as those millions who also suddenly were unable to do the things they loved.

Historically, my closed seasons used to follow a very simple routine. I’d call the football watching a day mid-May, and then after a few weeks break we’d start to see the AGMs and the constitutions appearing, and from that came the lists of the places to visit for the coming season. Then came the fixtures, then the plans were drawn up, by which time it was early July and we were into the pre-season friendly games.

Not so this time around, this time it’s been about speculation and rumour, when would the season actually start, and furthermore, would we actually be able to watch games?

Finally, a date arrived, 1^st August 2020, one hundred and thirty nine days after the last game, and subject to the venue being outside of the National League System, you could as a spectator attend a football game!

Now, I watched the Bundesliga start on TV behind closed doors, I then watched the Premier League, then the Championship, and yes, it was great to have some football back on out screens, but it wasn’t a patch on getting into the car and driving to a game. But now, it was possible.

I must admit to some reservations though. While in theory you could watch games outside the NLS, clubs, or indeed owners of grounds, could turn right and refuse entrance, plus, you had the added issue of any player or official having symptoms, in which case a game could be called off at short notice. Normally on Saturday you are checking for the outcome of pitch inspections, but this is of course the new World, other factors now play as big a part.

I plumped for a game on the interface between Sutton Coldfield and Erdington. Crown FC had been included on the West Midlands Regional League constitution a few days earlier, then I spotted a social media message which said they were playing at home to Midland League side Central Ajax, and their home ground was one I’d never previously visited. Finally, as it was a public space, spectators were freely admitted.     

Normal match day routines were not followed, I elected not to bother with a pub beforehand, it was too much like hard work having to find one that was open, and then mess about with the track and trace process. That’s all fine by the way, no problem with that, but today I just wanted to get to the ground, get in and watch the game.

It was a busy old venue, two games were already taking place when I arrived so the car park was akin to a scene from Wacky Races. Thankfully as the games ended, spaces opened up and those who arrived for the second two games could find a proper space as opposed to blocking up the entrances and exits.

The ground is on Cooksey Lane, up a tight entrance where at the end the clubhouse and dressing rooms are situated. They were closed today, players were to change in their cars as instructed. Beyond the dressing rooms was the aforementioned car park, while to the left was a large expanse which contained three football pitches.

For the later games, Crown and Crown Reserves were playing, with my game of choice for the first team on the pitch nearest the building end of the complex. I assume Cooksey Lane is going to be the home of Crown this season, although I did note last season in the Birmingham AFA that they played at Holly Lane in Erdington.

Visiting Central Ajax from Warwick went in at half time with a comfortable 3-0 lead, but a change of formation in the second period saw the hosts put in a much better performance and they deservedly pulled a goal back. It could have been more with a little more composure, but the performance itself would give them optimism for the upcoming league campaign.

In terms of watching the game, I was one of about a dozen, so social distancing wasn’t an issue, it remains to be seen when we can watch football in the NLS, but for now, I’m happy at grass roots.

So it’s back, it’s not quite as we once knew it, and I must admit, as much as I enjoyed it, it did feel strange, and I think part of that is the ongoing uncertainty about what’s around the corner. With local lockdowns seemingly the order of the day, I would not be surprised if we see mass cancellations and at least an extension of behind closed doors games.

That said, I’ll take it while I can, one hundred and thirty nine days is a long time in football…..