A PERFECT FOOTBALLING SATURDAY

Printed in the Southern League Premier Division game v Basingstoke Town on Saturday 4th March 2017. We won 3-2 in front of 728 people.

It was the perfect football day. Pre match pints in a pub full of Slough fans, big crowd, noisy, friendly away fans, and most importantly a 1-0 win against play off rivals to help cement our place in those games you look forward too all season but can hardly watch when they come along.

Football, when matches aren't moved at random by TV, is all about routines. Those Slough pants I’d worn for two defeats after Christmas were now in the compost bin for the rats to nimble on. A quick cheap-as-chips curry at Pappadums Express in the Queensmere, a few beers in Weatherspoons to talk about politics and football and another new signing for Slough Town. I'd rather support a more traditional pub and I think one or two Slough boozers could clear up if they laid on free transport or very cheap bus to the home games. It's what we do at our community owned pub to Brighton games and it puts an extra £300 plus per game in the tills. Having a presence in pubs before hand also gets people talking with one guy saying he'd been in Slough 14 years and never seen anyone wearing a Slough top before and where could he get one in town.

Merthyr fans had billed the game as Welsh Exiles Day, with Slough once dubbed “The little Rhondda” due to the Welsh migration. Which is fair enough, apart from the fact that most people who moved from Wales came in the 1930's and you would hope had caught the Slough Town bug by now. As one of their blogs pointed out “Unlike our forefathers rather than seeking employment in the great depression we were aiming after three points. But in 2017 Slough away does not conjure up images of grandeur and for those of a certain generation the TV series “The Office” is still the image that springs to mind.”

It is amazing the crowds we are getting from a season ago when 300 at Beaconsfield was more the norm. I know its stating the bleedin obvious but having your own ground in the town you represent really is a no-brainer. Maybe it was the pull of Welsh cakes that swelled the crowd to 757.

Not that Merthyr fans were hugely impressed with our facilities 'The ground feels a bit like a cross between a university campus and football ground with construction still underway in the main grandstand.' Merthyr are lucky to be blessed with a lovely old fashioned ground with deep terracing. It could do with a bit of a spruce up and the walk up the hill is very; well steep and Welsh. The terracing behind Slough's goals needs to be deeper and clubshop Sue likes to moan in the second half that there is no where left for her to stand with all these new fans. But when the new stand opens I reckon the ground will be a picture especially after years at Windsor and Beaconsfield. And let's hope the builders don’t make the same mistake as Merthyrs new corporate boxes – one of them only has a view of half the pitch, which is certainty novel.

For once there wasn't more flags than fans including 'Neither Cardiff or Swansea' and they properly got behind the team, as did the Slough supporters. In a game of football chess, with two evenly matched sides it was a certain Mr.Flood landing the killer move on the 60^th minute.

As their blog report said 'Slough have now remained unbeaten against Merthyr this season in both the league and cup and in managers Neil Baker / Jon Underwood have assembled a squad who look organised and hard to break down. We wish them well for the remainder of the season unless of course we clash again in the play offs.'

Which you have to say has got to be a distinct possibility. Let's make sure its at Arbour Park.