CRACK IN THE SKY

 

Printed in the National League South league game v Weston-super-Mare Saturday 3rd February 2024  We won 2-0 in front of 935

I’m really enjoying being a Slough supporter at the moment but it wasn’t so very long ago that we were a homeless basket case. So I’ve got every sympathy for supporters whose clubs are in free fall or at risk of disappearing altogether.

Reading are the latest league club to suffer and they’ve mounted an impressive campaign of direct action. ‘Sell Before We Dai’ is a fan-led pressure group trying to get Reading owner Dai Yongge to sell up. Lateness for paying wages has resulted in 16-points being deducted in the past two seasons, so supporters have come together to protect the stadium by making it an Asset of Community Value, disrupted games with tennis balls and got one game abandoned after refusing to leave the pitch.

Fans often feel powerless to do anything but it will always be them that have to sort out the mess. STAR (Supporters Trust at Reading) chair Sarah Turner said that the “one good thing” to come out of the entire situation was the solidarity shown by supporters at other clubs. “We are not the only club that are suffering under an incompetent owner and we are aware that we unfortunately won’t be the last,” she said. “We will use what we have learnt to try and raise awareness and make changes that will have a positive impact for all clubs going forward.”

Which brings us to the promised Football Governance Bill outlined in the Kings Speech which aims to "safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of communities and fans". Is this happening any time soon?

Taunton Town have been shedding players to steady the financial ship, with a winding up petition from the taxman. Players even issued a joint statement saying they have been consistently lied too. The financial crisis has not been helped by their ground seemingly always being under water - although one of their fans told me it wasn’t just their ground that suffered from flooding but the whole town. The clubhouse doesn’t open unless there is a game on, so they have lost thousands of pounds of income with all these postponements. There’s even talk of voluntary relegation but the chairman has come out fighting and believes they can survive and keep their National League status.

Nuneaton Borough couldn’t reconcile their differences with their landlords and have withdrawn from the Southern Central Premier League. Plans are already afoot for a phoenix club to rise from the old ashes. Lower down the pyramid clubs have folded or asked to be demoted to save costs and safeguard their future.

While many clubs are in financial trouble, let’s raise a glass to Maidstone who have done the impossible and got to the 5th round of the FA Cup. It should be remembered that Maidstone were one of the last clubs to get chucked out the Football League. In 1993 they started again in the Kent County League Division 4 West playing games at the old clubs training ground and were homeless for 24 years. The cup run will now ensure their financial security for years and no doubt add even more people to their already impressive home crowds.

 

photo by Bob Lilliman 
                                            

Still, as was mentioned relentlessly by the Slough supporters watching the Ipswich-Maidstone game in the Dover clubhouse - we had beaten Maidstone just a week before.

The Maidstone home game was something I really didn’t want to miss but getting to Slough wasn’t looking promising. I asked the woman in the ticket office why trains were going to take so long – ‘engineering works - I wouldn’t bother if I was you’ came the reply. I can see why the Tories and train companies wanted to close ticket offices – the amount of money they have saved me giving me better deals than you can get from a machine. Then my little ‘uns development team, announced they had a game. I really don’t like missing him play football but jack frost put paid to that one.

I’ve started bumping into people in Slough scarfs at train stations and around the town that I don’t know and while over a thousand Maidstone supporters were queuing for the last FA Cup tickets, some older ones found there way to the Wheatsheaf. One of Lencys mates had seen the google image of the pub with a Slough scarf draped behind the bar and decide to pay a visit. It felt like a big game.

Postponements, a decent away following and a 14 home game unbeaten run at home meant there were just over a thousand in attendance. Which is really what we should be aiming for at every home game. We were meant to join in the nationwide clapping for Reading at 16 minutes but I will hold my hand and say we forgot, so caught up in the game.

There’s something brewing at Slough Town – and the stars might again be aligning. Representing a town where places to meet have been decimated, where the councils financial plight gives the perfect opportunity for the club to step in and run Arbour Park better than any council official ever will and offer more than just a place where the football club play.

Just before covid I wrote about their being moments in time when anything seems possible. Primal Screams Bobby Gillespie summed this up 'From time to time, there's a crack in the sky and light gets through it; a lot of great people come along and make people feel good and connect people.’

So is that crack in the sky once again opening and shining an amber and blue light on our little old club? There’s no harm in dreaming.