LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR

 

Printed in the National League South game v Hornchurch Saturday 24th August 2024  We won 2-1 in front of 744

And it so it begins. Another season supporting the Slough.  Absolutely buzzing as they like to say. 42 years with the odd spell missing in action because of poverty, politics and falling out of love with football. 

The Elizabeth Line - which has apparently made Slough a Go to Live destination - was up the spout so it was back to the tourist hell of Victoria and Paddington where people are catapulted towards you at they dash around the globe looking for something. The fast train arrived at Platform 5 and I found my something. Welcome to Slough although disappointingly Station Jim wasn’t around as he was getting a grooming. Probably needed after 130 years.

First stop curry. Now some people have bemoaned the state of the high street and they would be right. I was around when they pedestrianised (a good thing) but made it all grey stone (a bad thing). Should have gone with amber and blue to brighten it up. Now the Queensmere is half closed and shops lay empty. It’s certainly not a Go To shopping destination.

The perfect start to my footballing day is finding a cafe then a rough as you like boozer and sitting there listening, scribbling down stories. In Slough I’ve found my favourite breakfast stop – RKM cafe with home made curry and sizzling paratha bread straight from the pan to my plate for just £7. Perfect.

There’s an older guy who sits in the cafe – he often asks about the Rebels, but says he’s too busy to go, even tho he always seems to be sitting in the cafe with his mate listening to his phone very loud. This week he was screaming at some programme on his phone until some old lady told him to turn it down. Gogglebox - I think I have found you a contender. I once heard the Asian owner bemoaning to him the fact that lots of 70’s comedy like Love Thy Neighbour can’t be shown anymore. Political correctness or whatever gone mad, he lamented. I reckon we should hand him, his mate and the owner and his family some free tickets and match day posters.

Next up was the Wheatsheaf where the lone punter told me he should go and watch Slough to get away from his family. Which is certainly one marketing method. The Wheatsheaf has always been a Slough Town pub. It used to organise away day coaches and I think its community feel and supporting lower league football go hand in hand. The new owners promise new energy, more music, food and a greater alignment with the club whose scarfs and tops already adorn the pub. But this being Slough one building by the garden is now a pile of rubble with a huge metal pole seemingly holding its former neighbour up; the house next door – well it doesn’t have a door anymore and looks like a tornados hit it; while a man often sleeps in the tree opposite the pub. The gem of Herschel Park is across the road and over the years plenty of people have got together and made it there mission to expanded and rejuvenate this Grade II listed park. Lucy the Nurse’s dad Keith Tebbit was heavily involved, and my mate Derwins ashes were scattered there last week under the impressive monkey puzzle tree – a tree which would even pose a problem for the man who sleeps up a tree.

When I lived in Alpha Street, I loved learning about Herschel Park and Upton-cum-Chalvey. There was a massive ramshackle old house with an overgrown garden, that we of course told ourselves was haunted. Infact I love learning about history, not to indulge in some rose tinted view of a past that never existed but to try and understand it.

Because you can learn a lot from studying history. A while back I picked up a random football book about someone I’d never heard of. Bela Guttmann was the first superstar football coach. He was Jewish and the book weaves in his footballing genius with the relentless persecution of Jews across Europe. He escaped Hungry and survived a Nazi slave labour camp. His family did not. He coached in ten countries from 1933 to 1974 and won ten national championships pioneering the 4-2-4 formation, but most notably back to back European Cups with Benfica.

My missus is Jewish and her family were terrified of the anti immigration protests promised in Brighton. In the end just 5 protestors turned up surrounded by 2,0000 people who didn’t want them in the city. When I see some of the language – often from the tabloid press – I think about books like Guttmann and wonder what has really changed and where does it all end up? I really recommend reading it, especially considering what’s happening at the moment.

And here’s the rub. I'm not going to fight you cos you support a different team, although I might laugh at you if you support MK Dons. I don’t care who you are, what you look like, where your from. Life is a melting pot of people. And if you’re alright, you’re alright. We can either shake our fists angrily and reminisce about a time that never really existed. Or we can fight for more places like the Indian cafe, the Wheatsheaf, Herschel Park and Slough Town that all bring people together. #OneSlough, Love Thy Neighbour and all that. It’s definitely much more fun.