Boxing Day Football

 

Boxing Day Football

Boxing Day always used to be a special date in the football calendar. Stuffed with Christmas excess it was a chance for fans to get some fresh air and meet up with mates to cheer on their team. For players I guess it wasn’t always so great, having to be careful what they consumed the previous day and then prepare for what was traditionally a morning or early afternoon kick off.

It was always pretty obvious if some players had been less committed to their dietary restrictions than others as they struggled to move around the pitch and there was also the case on one Bromley player in particular who would always seen to time his fifth booking of the season or a red card to coincide with being banned for the Christmas fixtures.    

There were also some freak results at these matches, Bromley beating Thurrock 8-1 in 2007 one notable score, made even stranger by the 2-1 loss for The Ravens in the reverse fixture five days later on New Years Day.  

With public transport either non existent or greatly reduced, you were reliant on lifts for away games or walking to home matches. I can remember my friends Nige & Martin walking over from New Eltham to call for me on the way to a Bromley Boxing Day home fixture against old rivals Dulwich Hamlet back in 1996. Nige had a box full of sausage rolls to share out made by his Mum. They were delicious and when we asked what the secret ingredient was, the answer was ‘Lard’. I was glad of the walk after that to try and work it off!     

The game kicked off at 11am and it was very cold, as the match went on the pitch at the benches end began to freeze. You could see the white frost forming on the grass during the second half, creeping up to the six yard box and then the penalty spot. The game probably wouldn’t have started if it had kicked off later in the day, but the Ref stuck with it and I’d imagine the Dulwich Keeper must have picked up some bruises diving on the rock hard surface. The match ended in 0-0, watched by what was a good crowd back then of 600.  

We walked back home on frozen feet, chatting all the way, ready for the Boxing Day buffet waiting for us at home.

Crowds for Non League games were always bigger than usual, the games were often against local rivals to minimize the travelling and it was sometimes the one game a season fans of  Premier League clubs might fancy watching some local football. 

For myself family commitments and the like have made Boxing Day football a little more tricky to attend these days, but I will always remember that special buzz around the place at the games the day after Christmas.      

Col.

        

 

The Last Game Before Lockdown 2

 

Wednesday 28th October 2020 – The second week of half term means that Mikey can join my Dad and myself for a midweek game at Hayes Lane, where Cray Wanderers take on Merstham in the Isthmian League Premier Division. 

Covid-19 rules mean that I can’t go into my parents house, but I can go to football with my Dad as long as he sits in the back of the car, I mask up and we sit 1 metre plus away in the stand! 

Mikey is excited about going to a night game, he’s already picked up that there is something special about a game under the floodlights. We arrive at the ground just after 7pm and I find one of the few parking spaces left, the whole area is bathed in the artificial light from the ground. You can feel a buzz and hear the music from the PA, the chatter of fans and the thumping of footballs being kicked about in the warm up. 

We see Peter on the turnstile, (his family have been involved with Cray for decades), we say hello to Sam a former plater and now CEO, buy Golden Goals tickets from Steve and get a programme from Phil. We have a quick chat with all of them mostly about the disappointing FA Cup exit at Canvey Island the previous Saturday. There are hand sanitiser stations dotted around the ground and plenty of signs.  

A quick hello to Mark and I pick up a team sheet to help with my match report for KSN and say Hi to Adrian the kit man. I nod and wave to Ally the physio, then Tony, Joe & Nathan the management team, normally we would exchange handshakes, but in this Covid era that’s not allowed. Mikey would usually stand by the tunnel and high five the players as they head in for the final team talk, but he can’t do that either. We are not allowed in the main stand, which is set aside for officials, so we head to the new Glyn Beverly stand behind the goal to find our seats. 

We settle in and find a good vantage point, more than 2metres away from everyone else, but close enough to say hello to the familiar faces there. Mikey wants some chips, amazing seeing he just had a massive bowl of pasta at home, but I won’t say no. I head over to the Pizza Hatch and pick them up to Stuart who had worked on the catering side at Hayes Lane for well over ten years. He did a fantastic job for my wedding reception there is 2008, which was in the brand new facility at the back of the main stand. I have a quick catch up with Gary the Cray Wands owner, who brought Cray to Hayes Lane to groundshare with Bromley in 1998 and after a lot of knock backs has finally secured his club a new stadium at Flamingo Park on the A20, which should be ready in a couple of years.    

The game gets underway and Cray mean business from the off, clearly stung by the cup exit and manager Tony Russell’s criticism of the performances and lack of clean sheets. Merstham are struggling at the foot of the table and they look visibly rattled by the intensity of The Wands attack. It’s 2-0 after nine minutes, Ben Mundele and Bradley Pritchard on the score sheet. Jay Leader heads a third from a corner after half and hour. The visiting supporters near us take it all in good heart, there’s no anger, finger pointing or waving of arms, there is just genuine encouragement for their young side. 

The second half is pretty much the same, Rhys Murrell-Williamson scores once and top scorer Joe Taylor adds two more to his impressive tally to make it 6-0. Merstham bring on a familiar face up front in Barry Hayles, the former Millwall, Bristol Rovers and Fulham striker. He is now well in his 40s, but clearly loves playing the game still, for some reason the Ref seems to take an instant dislike to him ad calls him up for fouls every time he challenges for a ball, even the Cray players look surprised at some of the decisions. Although his introduction did provide some spark up front, The Wands hold on to their clean sheet and secure a comfortable three points with a stylish display. The win takes them up to fifth in the table with 15 points from 7 games, well placed for a promotion push.  

We clap the players off and head for the exit, little did we know at the time that there would be no more Cray Wanderers games for us to watch this year. The Wands won 3-0 at Whitehawk in the FA Trophy the following Saturday and then came the second lockdown, followed by a Tier system that would see the Isthmian League programme halted until January 2021 at least. 

All the hard work of the people at the club seemingly for nothing for a second season in a row. This one seems harder to take. Teams in the league above carry on playing with money given to subsidise their loss of income, as the game a level lower is left to try and survive on nothing. 

My Dad has been supporting Cray Wands since he was ten, it's a very special club, his Dad also was a supporter before him. Myself & Mikey are happy to carry it on into a third and fourth generation. I just hope The Wands survive this and make it beyond the 160 years they have already clocked up, making then London’s oldest football club.  

Col.