THE MAN WHO HAD EVERYTHING BUT IT STILL WASN'T ENOUGH

Printed in the National League South game v Concord Rangers Saturday 30th October 2021  We drew 1-1 in front of 437

I suppose there will be some who question my sanity in giving up my Brighton v Man City season ticket for a trip to Havant. But just an hour away on the train, always a warm welcome and a competitive game, it was a bin banging no brainer. Besides Slough needed as many Rebels to help dig us out of our predicament while the chances of Brighton turning over the Harlem Globetrotters for a second season in a row. Well, let’s just say, I wasn’t running to the betting shop.

Like many who fill the Amex stadium, I’m not a Brighton fan, I don’t sing cos I would feel like a two timing fraud. I go because of my eldest. I want them to do well and enjoy the company of everyone we have got in our community pub before a game. It’s the intergenerational mix that football is so good at and what needs to happen a lot more in our society.

And there’s always going to be someone who wants my ticket. Pre-covid I just gave it to one of my sons mates or locals who can see the ground from their house but can’t afford to go. That option is now over with tickets only on phones. Worse is that you have to pay £20 for the privilege of sharing your season ticket and that person has to pay to become a club member. The result? Thousands of empty seats at every match, while their jokingly announce another record attendance. It’s bad for atmosphere, drink and food sales but its also just plain daft. Mind you Sky have cornered that market when it comes to treating football fans like muppets. Imagine If you had paid for a ticket to the theatre and they just moved it to a time you couldn’t make or would be stranded with no public transport. So I give you Brighton v Brentford Boxing day evening when there’s no public transport to a ground that relies on 90% of the crowd arriving by bus or train.

While Slough were taking on Waterlooville, Crystal Palace were playing Newcastle. Saudi Arabia are top of the league when it comes to jailing, torturing and murdering opponents and some Palace fans held up a banner that pointed out just that. Guess which ones the police investigated?

Meanwhile Pep Guardiola is starting to sound like a nasty children's storybook character - ‘the man who had everything but it still wasn’t enough.’ Banging on that B teams should be allowed in the football league so his players remain competitive. Maybe if clubs like Man City didn’t hoover up all those youngsters from teams playing in those competitive leagues it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place? And what clubs should be kicked out to give those B teams a place. Rochdale? Bury (oh)? Macclesfield (Double oh) All you’ve got to do is look at the Pizza Cup where clubs have recorded record low attendances for a competitive fixture playing B teams to see how popular the idea is with fans.

At every level in football, we have some clubs more equal than others. Ebbsfleet are full time with some players earning a thousand a week….whereas Slough have one of the lowest budgets in the league. But our managers have always found a way to make us competitive. In another one of their very honest interviews they talked about how hard it is to get new players in. And we all know that football is often very fine margins. Apart from the Whitehawk game we’ve been competitive. But injuries to key players, penalty decisions going against you, while our Under 23s have had to step up and done brilliant, but it is a big step up.

Slough’s support has also stalled, with covid really doing us no favours. Before the pandemic hit we seemed to have been riding the crest of a wave, but now attendances are down a worrying 23% and with it a lot of lost income. So its great to see the offers starting to come in to tempt the floating supporter. And as Clubshop Sue said before the game – ‘We need to make football fun.’ I reckon its time we all raided our children’s toyboxes and started bringing as many musical instruments to games. I’ve heard Kieran Wonder-Wall is a daub hand on the xylophone.

As we gathered behind the goal, the mood was upbeat apart from Deano who ate a pasty so hot he nearly got rushed to the burns unit. At Billericay I was told we couldn’t bang the lid of the wheelie bin but could hit it with our drum sticks. The season before Havant stewards had told us to stop banging anything but today they mainly left us alone cos surely the idea of support is to er, make some noise and get behind your team? So it was double bubble bin banging barrage in the second half. We even got a Boing Boing Rebels in after a request although we do seem to have more songs about our managers and fans. They better not leave or we are lyrically stuffed.

The Slough Walking football team also said that Havant had rolled out the red carpet for them, although they had been less generous with the scoreline. We didn’t mind them losing, if it meant a Slough win and this was one of those days when the stars aligned, and our players put in a proper shift especially in the first half. However, when the officials signalled 10 minutes extra time, you feared the worse. Thankfully we weathered the storm, the ever reliable Sean Fraser made a last minute goal line clearance and the 3 points were ours. The Bindaloo Banging Rebel bandwagon rolled out of town with smiles and the odd blister across their faces. And I knew that I’d have much more fun than watching Brighton lose to Man City.