COMMUNITY SINGING 1920S STYLE

Printed in the National League South game v Tonbridge Angels. We lost 5-2 in front of 637.

"There was a small but happy band of supporters in the Slough stand on Saturday. Fired with the spirit of the New Year and with determination to brighten the lot of their fellow man, they indulged in a little harmony of the common order. They had evidently heard of what had been

done at another football ground, so choose an appropriate day to set what seemed to them no doubt a laudable example. They gave a pleasant selection of tunes grave and gay. Sometimes singing but more frequently whistling due probably to an insecure knowledge of the words and beating time with their feet. Their choice of songs varied with the progress of the game.

When Slough were faring ill, they sang something soulful and dreary and when things went well they broke into a sort of rhapsody. It was an inspiring afternoon.

Slough supporters on their own ground are a quiet, peaceful race and it was good to hear some sustained vocal effort. There is no truth in the statement that the secretary is going to conduct the singing at future matches.”

Alan Smith managed to find this gem from the Slough Express printed January 7th 1927 for a Spartan League game featuring Slough Reserves v Walthamstow Avenue Reserves. Alan is quite literally a walking Slough Town

computer. Ask him any question about the club and he will fire back the answer. Which is ironic as I don’t think he owns a computer. He certainly hasn’t got an email address which is slightly frustrating when I want to ask him something as the programme deadline looms. I once saw him coming out of Slough library, papers in hand where he was no doubt researching the Rebels. If there’s ever a Slough quiz about the club get him on your team!

I like the idea of different songs to reflect what's happening on the pitch. The problem with so many big teams is that all their chants have become the same generic pap, with the odd tweak of a name. It’s like a crap pub covers band.

Surely it’s better to mix it up - so take a bow whoever came up with ‘Just sold my car, to buy Temi Eweka’. Songs should reflect a club's history, you know like ‘Zebra crossing, Thunderbirds, MarsBars and Bins, Biggest Trading Estate, David Brent, These are all Slough Things.’ Torquay felt we were a bit too proud about how big our Trading Estate is while Spreadsheet Stu waved a tape measure in the air angrily. At Oxford we could taunt them with - ‘We’ve got MarsBars, you’ve got Dreaming Spires’ and at Bath we can do the same with Spas. 

We asked the Torquay fans if they’d looked up Uranus as they forgot the lower League protocol of swapping ends, although some said they wished they had after we started up our Jazz ensemble. And it's a toss up who wins The Office v Fawlty Towers, although the latter sums up their previous season. They did come en masse, but the ones I spoke to lived in London or Windsor and apart from two Burberry clad doughnuts were a good bunch even if they feel aggrieved playing at the same league as part timers like us. Nothing but promotion will do and their manager was getting told to go in the first half. It seemed only polite to join in. But it was good to see praise for our club. One commented on their cheery forum; ‘Nice set they have in Slough - very welcoming and friendly. Nice bar and food areas - all fully accessible to away fans. This is the first time I have seen a live band in the bar pre-match with souvlaki being served - unless I’d stumbled into a wedding in a function room!’

We haven’t reached anywhere near the level of noise at home so far this season, not helped by Slough Council removing all the wheelie bins from the ground, no doubt to sell them on eBay as vintage Slough Town instruments to help pay off their eye watering debt. So I bought a blue one and a big club badge to stick on it. Just need an artist now to tart it up and a bungee cord to stop people actually using it as a bin. We can take it to away games so we have our own rather than get into rows with over zealous stewards but I'm sure some will still object. Havant no doubt being one of them. I’m surprised they don’t ask us to take off our arms when we go in. Still it’s good to see their welcoming attitude managing to now sour their relationship with their own fans. Remember - ‘You’re just a small team near Portsmouth.’

As for Slough, we should have been out of sight in the first half but for some fine goalkeeping. We had 16 shots with 9 on target to Torquays 4. They converted 2 of them and went home with all three points with their goalkeeper getting man of the match.

Onto Bank Holiday Monday and even more bizarre than a man sleeping regularly in a tree opposite the Wheatsheaf, was paying just under a tenner to watch Chippenham v Slough live on TV while in Crete. That game didn’t help me to relax tho as we were snuffed out by a professional Chippenham who defended well and know how to win games.

But I’ve got complete faith in what Scott Davies and his team are doing. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that. We are going to hand out some pastings as well as more geographical and historical abuse soon enough.

Pull out that Trumpet Nick for some tub thumping ‘One Slough Beyond.’

Meanwhile I need to find Alan and see who won that game against Walthamstow Avenue Reserves nearly 100 years ago. He probably even has a record of what songs they were singing.