Travellers' Tales
Match: v Wrexham - Blue Square Bet Premier
Date: Saturday, August 14th, 2010
Result: Wrexham 1 Cambridge United 0
The Journey
Departure Time: 9am
Arrival at Ground: Torrential rain marked the first day of the football season. I blame the recent phenomenon of starting the various leagues on different weekends; it's got the weather all confused. In the good old days, when every club started on the same day, the sun was always beating down hot enough to melt the pavements on the opening day.
Despite the inauspicious weather, the world and his mother seemed to have taken it into their heads to take to the roads … and they all seemed to have stopped for a break at Norton Caines services. The place was absolutely heaving and the speed of the service would have made a snail seem unduly hasty.
The roads were in an equally capricious mood and although, fortunately, it was the opposite carriageway of the M54 that was blocked by an accident, someone seemed to have found some unexpected funding for repairs and decided to resurface the entire length of the A5.
I finally arrived at the ground a little after 1pm.
At The Ground
The Ground: The Racecourse Ground and its environs have changed in a couple of ways since our last visit. The first, and perhaps most subtle, is that the impressive newest stand on the main road side of the ground has been renamed in deference to its new sponsors, while the second change is the progress that has been made to the soulless block of student flats that has crept closer to completion in what was the car par on the other side of the ground. Surprisingly, given its dowdy façade, compared with the shiny newness the ground presents along the main road, this old car park side is where you find the main entrance.
The old main stand runs the length of this main entrance side of the ground. It is a two-tiered construction filled with red seats, with those in the lower tier the bench variety bolted onto what was once terrace. The press area is positioned nicely above the halfway line - at least it is for those of us fortunate enough to work on the wireless. The written press found themselves working on a long bench that runs half the length of the front tier of the stand. As you've probably read in previous 'Tales', press facilities can be, er, idiosyncratic in the Conference. At Wrexham, they are just the job … there was even the telltale sign of a bigger match being hosted at the ground (bigger than Wrexham v Cambridge United? Hard to believe, I know!) with one of the ISDN points being labelled 'Radio Belgium'.
Opposite, the newest stand is also filled with red seats. Here, however, one or two seats are beginning to fade, giving the first sign that the stand is drawing toward the end of the time when it can reasonably be called 'new'. A curved, three-part roof covers the seats here with a double tier of executive boxes in the middle forcing the central roof section higher than those to either side.
To the left of this stand is an old, two-tiered stand filled with seats so faded that you now need a long memory to recall that that they were originally red. An electronic scoreboard hangs from the roof of this stand and shines brightly at the occupants of the vast, part covered bank of terrace behind the opposite goal. These occupants amounted only to a couple of ball boys, as the terrace has been deemed safe only to play host to a liberal sprinkling of advertising banners and hoardings.
There was a third difference to our visit last season - the pitch. Where, in March, the playing surface had been notable for its similarity to a quagmire, this time it was a lush, green sward. So lush in fact that a Jack Russell terrier scampered on for a runabout early in the match. Its incursion was ended by Adam Miller who expertly brought the exuberant canine under control with the minimum of fuss.
United Fans: There was a carnival atmosphere to begin with and although the volume dropped when the goal went it, they were spurred on by banter from the home fans and raised their game in the second half.
View from Away End: U's fans were allocated a block in the upper tier at the end of the main stand. Although there were pillars supporting the roof, they were easily avoided.
Home Fans: Kept going on about some summer football tournament. Can't think which one they meant though … I don't remember Wales being involved in anything!
Police/Stewards: Best summed up as 'unobtrusive', which is a very sensible approach.
Programme: 48 pages for £3. Wrexham's programme is always one of, if not the best in whatever division they happen to be playing, however this season's publication seemed to have gone for the single column and larger print approach to compensate for less content.
Food/Drink: Maybe the English/Welsh exchange rate is unfavourable at the moment, but £1.70 for a cup of tea does seem a little expensive.
State of Toilets: Although they had all the requisite facilities, the toilets were dark and weren't large enough to swing a cat … let alone a Jack Russell terrier should one have come to hand.
Notes & Numbers
Animal lovers will be pleased to hear that the terrier was reunited with its owner during the second half once he had finished his pints in the nearby Turf Pub - the owner, not the dog of course … the dog, being a terrier, prefers whisky to beer … perhaps!
Mileage: 376.4 miles
Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray, Paul Johnson and Ryan Johnson
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WJ150810 web@cambridge-united.co.uk
