All That Jazz

Upton Town  2  Worcester Raiders  4

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As much as I’ve wracked my brains over the weekend, I don’t think I can ever honestly say that I’ve been to a pre-match Jazz Festival before.

Yes, some seven weeks since I last stepped into a sporting arena to watch a football match, 2019-20 was now upon is, but, somewhat unusually for me, almost uniquely in fact, the season was to start in June as opposed to July.

Upton Town, new members of the Midland Football League, having joined from the Cheltenham League, had a game scheduled for the final Saturday of the month against Worcester Royals, who looked to be a supporters team of Worcester City. With not a lot else on, and the chance to tick off what looks to be my only new ground in the league this season, it went into the planner.

Slight, albeit minor change of plan though, the opponents were changed at the eleventh hour when Worcester Raiders stepped in with a side reportedly made up of a mixture of first teamers and reserves.

To be fair to Upton Town, they have been members of the old Midland Combination in the past. Between the years of 1989 and 1996 they rose to the top flight before being renamed Worcester Athletico. Two years later, in 1998, they won the league but then seemingly merged with Pershore Town.

I don’t know what ground they used during this period, but I was lead to understand by someone far more learned in these matters than me that the ground the new version are now playing on, is not the same.

So, on the hottest day of the year by miles, and certainly not a day for playing football, I made the steady run down the A38, M42 and M5 before navigating the joys of the Worcester Ring Road and heading South to Upton, which sits betwixt the County town and indeed Great Malvern.

Upton on Severn is a very nice place indeed, as you pass the marina and cross over the Severn Bridge, a left takes you into the main street of the town, and on a Saturday lunchtime it was incredibly busy. I finally found a parking space at the side of the road and quickly gathered that it was indeed Upton Jazz Festival, and the pub I chose the frequent, the Bar Severn, was one of the venues, so over a nice cold pint of God’s finest Carling, I got to listen to some jazz!

I’ll be honest, It’s not really my choice of listening material, I’m more of a Goombay Dance Band man myself, and looking at my age (46) compared to the bulk of those in attendance (add another 30 years), I’ve got a few years yet to diversify my tastes. But, a roaring trade looked to be being done, however, when I saw a bloke walk in with a glass pint tankard fastened to his belt by one of those dog lead clips, I did wonder what my later years had in store.

With twenty or so minutes to kick off and crowds gathering in bigger numbers, it was time to head West out of Upton for about half a mile or so, where the ground was located, at the Hill Centre, which also acts as the headquarters for the local YMCA. It’s a relatively new building, with a very good sized car park, and two pitches adjacent.

No rails or ropes were in existence, but I was lead to understand by a home player who runs the clubs Twitter account, that all would be sorted on that front when the seasons starts in earnest, as will a refreshment area. It's in a rural location, and the views across to the Malvern Hills are pretty impressive. 

The game was a relatively good one to be fair, considering the heat. Worcester took an early lead but then the hosts equalised just before half time. Three goals for the visitors in the second period took the game away from a tiring Upton but they did grab a second goal close to the end of the game.

The final ten minutes looked torturous for both sets of players in the searing heat and humidity, and I lost count of the number of times the referee was asked how much longer there was to play. With both sides virtually begging at the end to be put out of their misery, he duly obliged, maybe a couple of minutes early! He did add in a couple of water breaks, but we simply aren’t used to heatwaves in the UK, and we certainly aren’t used to playing football in them. I can only ever recall watching one football game in hotter conditions and that was in Portugal to be fair.

One incident in the second period caused a bit of off the field excitement, when a free kick by Upton sailed over the bar, smacked into a Transit Van window, which was parked directly behind the goal, and smashed it. Clearly when the owners discovered it, it didn’t go down ever so well, but, I suppose the moral of the story is………

So, the season has begun, all is good in the World once again, the sun is shining and the excitement builds as we see who is in what league, who is playing at what ground, and who is going to make it onto ‘The List’ for 2019-20.

To be fair, I couldn’t have picked a nicer place to visit to start this seasons journey.