Fifty Up

Plymouth Marjon  1  Bovey Tracey  2

South West Peninsula League – Eastern Division

Admission / Programme - £5 / No

The 50^th birthday plan was some time in the making.

Myself and Mrs H had been discussing what to do with the big day in the distance, and initially I came up with this idea of going to New York. Then I went off the idea quite rapidly when it became apparent that the chances of combining any football with the trip were slim, linked to a long flight and a terrible exchange rate, meant we just couldn’t be bothered with it.

Back at Easter while on our jollies we had a day out in Plymouth, took advantage of a guided walking tour, spotted a few bars and eateries, and thought it would be a good place to spend a couple of days on a weekend break. Also, when Steve told us about how much he enjoyed the Crowne Plaza Hotel just off the Hoe, and how they had a free bar and stuff, our thinking shifted, maybe that would be a good place to spend a 50^th birthday!

So that’s how it came about, and that’s how we spent my 50^th birthday, in Plymouth, in the midst of a severe weather warning……

Travelling down on the Friday afternoon (my birthday), all was good in the World, a few hold ups in the usual spots did nothing to dampen spirits, and just before 5.30pm we were pulling into the Crowne Plaza car park, complete with tin opener, crane and theodolite to get into the somewhat tight parking spaces.

Mrs H didn’t tell me that she too had secured the free bar facility that Steve had waxed lyrical about, but anyway, after initially trying to get me to go to the pool and spa, I got my way and it was off to the secret room on the Penthouse level where all things free of charge were available!

Basically, bottled beer free of charge, canapés to munch on and if you really wanted, as many bags of crisps and nuts as you like could be smuggled back to your room. I was like a pig in the proverbial, and with football on the telly what was not to like, other than England’s performance against USA of course.

We did wander out for a couple of pints, basically to avoid the second half, before having a meal back at the Hotel. It wasn’t a late night, you need your sleep when you get to 50, and we had a busy day on the Saturday.

I’ve been working out it, the first game I watched in my forties was a Tuesday night game at Causeway Lane, Matlock Town stunned Mansfield Town 2-1 in the FA Trophy. As a forty something I’ve watched 1312 games in total, including one at Lowestoft, and I won’t be doing that again!

What will the fifties bring? Arthritis probably if family history is anything to go by, but anyway, while I can, football will continue at a pace, unless of course the authorities deem I’m not allowed out after dark or something.

So, the plan was to go and watch Saltash United play Millbrook, but, waking up on Saturday morning was when it came to light that a severe weather warning had been announced for the South West, basically it was going to be torrential rain all day! And it came, as we were out shopping game after game fell by the wayside, but I had a master plan, one I had prepared earlier, a back up that to go wrong would take something freakish to happen.

In the Eastern Division of the South West Peninsula League (my favouritist league) is a team called Plymouth Marjon who play on a 4G pitch to the North of the City at the University, and they were at home to Bovey Tracey.

So that was it, driving North through the monsoon like conditions we were soon floating into the car park and positioning the car behind the goal, the very same car that Mrs H never got out of all game! Players were doing their best drowned rat impressions as they warmed up, as I legged it up to the student union building to see what sustenance was available.

I’ll tell you what though, it was a bloody good job they had an overhang in front of the union, because even with an umbrella I would have stood no chance as the rain was also combined with a driving wind.

Apparently they can’t charge admission, but a very helpful lady came round with a card reader and asked for a donation, so I bunged them a fiver, it was the least I could do on a day when the chances of watching football anywhere else close was pretty much zero.

Oh, it’s your typical 4G, viewing area down one side at pitch level but forget that, pretty much everyone was under the cover outside of the cage. But, what is Plymouth Marjon all about then?

Plymouth Marjon University is what it’s all about, with the Marjon name being a mash up of St Mark and St John, which was probably done to make it easier for students when they fill out the application form, only we know they aren’t renowned for their work ethic are they?

The football team joined the Peninsula set up in 2016 from the Plymouth & West Devon League. They had three seasons in the Western Division before moving East in 2019. They have been largely a mid table side barring the two Covid interrupted campaigns.

I

t was a pretty good game to be fair, despite the conditions. Marjon started well but it was the visitors who went into a two goal lead thanks to Lee Hildreth and a neat finish juts before the break from Callum Leach. The hosts did pull one back just after the break through Finian King-Smith, but never really found any momentum thereafter and it was a relatively comfortable win for Bovey Tracey in the end. The crowd was given as 43, someone, somewhere must have been counting!

The rain was incessant on the journey back, and not the most pleasant driving conditions if I’m honest, but we were soon home, into the spa facilities then a quick change in time for the next instalment of the free bar which was very much taken advantage of.

It was not fit to head down into the Barbican as first planned, so we went straight to Marco Pierre White’s restaurant in the hotel for a little treat, and very nice it was too, with fine views over a very wet Plymouth.

So, my first game as a fifty something wasn’t quite what was intended, but it was memorable all the same, however, the whole weekend, wonderfully organised by my wife Mrs H, was without doubt something very special and unforgettable. Thank you my dear, sorry you spent Saturday afternoon in a car park……….