Walsall v. Shrewsbury Town [FA Cup 1st Round] 2-2
For the second Saturday in a row I managed to scrape myself out of bed and set off with a hangover to visit a random League 1 ground.
This time, a 2-hour drive for me up the M40 & M6 to the urban conurbation that is the West Midlands, and to the Industrial town of Walsall, 8 miles north of Birmingham. This time - it was the magic of the FA Cup 1st Round that had enticed me for a 2nd visit this season to the Black Country.
The journey up, almost entirely by motorway, was fucking atrocious - both in terms of the weather (it absolutely thraped it down the whole way) and also in terms of my head & stomach, feeling the affects of the night before.
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| The M6 on a wet, miserable Saturday. |
Walsall is one of those clubs I sometimes forget about, despite often seeing the ground at the side of the M6 as you skirt round the edge of Birmingham. Indeed, I bet that Walsall's Bescot (Or "Bank's Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is one of the most viewed football grounds in the country, so visible is the over-sized home stand as it looms over the motorway.
But I'm sure if you hadn't heard of the football team, you'd probably not have heard of the town of Walsall, either. Without wishing to upset the residents of this proud metropolitan borough - it doesn't strike me as the sort of place you'd visit without having the excuse of a football game to go to.
But I'm probably being unfair to Walsall - because in truth I never actually saw the town - just the immediate vicinity of the Stadium, at the dusty end of an Industrial & retail estate underneath the M6.
Like many modern football grounds in the country, Walsall's isn't in the heart of the community any more. The Bescot was one of the "first wave" of new grounds built away from the residential heartlands of football's urban & Industrial Victorian origins, replacing the old Fellows Park in time for the 1990-91 season.
As such, it's now 25 years old, yet but for a few spots of fading paint & the obsolete LCD scoreboard, you wouldn't think this out of place with grounds built within the last 5-10 years.
I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking from a visit to Bescot that Walsall must be a depressing place to live.
But like most fans, especially those arriving by car on a miserable wet day just an hour before kick off, I only really had the empty estate around the ground to explore - the town centre itself, 3 miles away, may be a right hoot.
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| It's 2 degrees & pissing it down. Good luck with sales! |
As it was, wet & tired, I just wanted to get some food and sit down somewhere warm before kick off.
Sadly, no wonderful West Midlands Balti House was at hand - the only option around the ground was McDonalds, and Ice Cream van, and Walsall FC's own Supporters Bar - the Saddlers Club.
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| Burger, Pint & Programme: Matchday Classics. |
Nonetheless, I was just glad of somewhere to dry off & enjoyed experiencing the home fans' delight in watching their local rivals Wolves getting tonked by Derby on the TV.
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| The Saddlers Club, Bescot Stadium: Functional. |
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| Looking towards the Tile Choice Stand. |
It was hoped that money raised by the sale of advertising on the giant boards that now stand behind the away end would help fund this. These giant boards, designed deliberately to be visible to cars on the adjacent M6, are the largest by the side of any motorway in Europe.
And quite an eyesore they are too, rising strikingly above the far end, their backs visible from inside most of the ground. A shame they didn't raise the required funds to develop the stand behind them, as then the stand would cover the sight of them from inside the ground!
The ground's proximity to the M6 really struck home when the crowd fell silent for the Remembrance Day minute's silence. IT was the noisiest silence I've ever observed, with the streaming drone of heavy traffic rolling by from the motorway, just out of eyesight. How on earth the residents of Walsall ever get any peace with that background noise continuously in their ears I don't know!
After a brief look at the view from behind the goal, including those lovely advertising boards, I decided to take my place in the Main Stand, where my hangover would be more at home without having to stare directly into the sun nor bounce around with the more raucous home fans.
I sat very close to the home dug-out and so could hear every word that came off the bench from the Walsall Manager Dean Smith to his players on the pitch. This is always one of my favourite places to sit in the ground because of that.
In saying that, Mr Smith wasn't half as vocal as the moaning Saddlers sat around me! True enough, Walsall started by far the poorer side, and the linesman in front of us did seem to get a few too many decisions wrong.
But it did feel very much like the long-suffering home fans couldn't wait to find a scapegoat to have a go at, and in the end I think the vitriol was tied between the linesman and Walsall's No. 11, James Baxendale, who was apparently "too much like a girl" to be a footballer, and needed to "fucking man up a bit".
And this was all from a mother sat behind me with two young children, by the way! They breed them tough in Walsall!
All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed being in amongst it, and there were some real characters sat in the stand along with me.
One of the joys of travelling up and down the country this season sitting amongst home fans rather than an away end is to hear all the local accents in full swing.
And none of them are more distinctive nor evocative of their region than the Black Country accent in evidence at Walsall, with it's elongated vowels and archaic twangs of Middle English (the use of "thou" and "thee" still common in these parts).
I spoke about it earlier this year from my visit to West Bromwich, but the Black Country really is a very unusual construct. It strikes me more of an idea in people's hearts and minds rather than something actually exists in the real world as either an administrative or political concept.
It also strikes me that it feels very much these days as taken as a matter of identity to people of this proud post-industrial region as a way of making it clear they are distinct from the rather large City on their doorstep.
Saying you are "from the Black Country", is also to say "I'm not from Birmingham, yow know!" So often is their accent confused and they would be called Brummies to ignorant outsiders like myself.
Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation that surrounds it is quite unique in that respect - Ask someone who lives 8 miles north of central London (say, Walthamstow, for instance) where they are from, and they'd probably happily identify as a "Londoner".
But don't call someone from Walsall a Brummie, even if there isn't any clear daylight of green between the two places. Thankfully, I knew that already so didn't get into any trouble. I know the difference between a Brum-a-Jum & a Yam-Yam.
The game itself was very much one of two-halves. 1st half - a bit dull. 2nd half - sprang into life & turned into a rip-snorter at the death.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Walsall didn't really look in it, and you had the feeling that Shrewsbury's taunts of former striker Tom Bradshaw, who left them in the summer following the Shrews' relegation, had hit their mark.
But on 56 minutes, a through-ball to Bradshaw looked like it had got trapped under his feet as a defender loomed over him, but somehow Walsall's No 9 managed to dig it free and find space to unleash a low thunderbolt into the bottom corner, right in front of the away fans. Given their chants of "Shrewsbury Reject", I think he enjoyed running past them with his tongue out.
Frankly, after hearing the travelling fans singing about French prostitutes for much of the game, that's the least they deserved. Salop indeed.
Walsall's delight was short-lived though, as within 5 minutes a wicked deflection from a free-kick at the other end had found itself in the back of the net, and Shrewsbury were on top again.
The Saddlers never seemed to give up though and the last 15 mins or so were all Walsall. The pressure paid off bang on 90 mins when another wicked deflection flew past the Shrewsbury keeper, and apparently, given his team-mates surrounding him, it hit Bradshaw again. I have to say I couldn't tell you if it did or not, even having watched the highlights back on TV this morning. But he's certainly claimed it!
5 mins of added time wasn't enough for the Saddlers to press home their psychological advantage and get a winner, but it made it a very entertaining game in the end and certainly well worth the visit.
And so, these two teams will replay back at the New Meadow for a place in the 2nd Round. I won't be making that trip (I'm not mental, you know), but I can't wait to see which of these teams makes the 2nd Round draw - you never know, I could be watching them again in a few weeks.
All in all then, another one of those trips that ended up being well worthwhile, despite how hard it was to motivate myself in the morning. My only regret was setting off too late to see anything more than the ground itself. I'm sure I'll be back though, and next time, I'll be making a beeline to that leather museum.
Yow can be sure of it.
Next Up: Weekend Double-Header!
Watford's Vicarage Road [22nd November]
Hull City's KC Stadium [23rd November]
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| View towards KIA Stand & Homeserve Main Stand. |
After a brief look at the view from behind the goal, including those lovely advertising boards, I decided to take my place in the Main Stand, where my hangover would be more at home without having to stare directly into the sun nor bounce around with the more raucous home fans.
I sat very close to the home dug-out and so could hear every word that came off the bench from the Walsall Manager Dean Smith to his players on the pitch. This is always one of my favourite places to sit in the ground because of that.
 |
| Can't you read, mate? |
In saying that, Mr Smith wasn't half as vocal as the moaning Saddlers sat around me! True enough, Walsall started by far the poorer side, and the linesman in front of us did seem to get a few too many decisions wrong.
But it did feel very much like the long-suffering home fans couldn't wait to find a scapegoat to have a go at, and in the end I think the vitriol was tied between the linesman and Walsall's No. 11, James Baxendale, who was apparently "too much like a girl" to be a footballer, and needed to "fucking man up a bit".
And this was all from a mother sat behind me with two young children, by the way! They breed them tough in Walsall!
All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed being in amongst it, and there were some real characters sat in the stand along with me.
 |
| Proper Football. Proper Fan. |
One of the joys of travelling up and down the country this season sitting amongst home fans rather than an away end is to hear all the local accents in full swing.
And none of them are more distinctive nor evocative of their region than the Black Country accent in evidence at Walsall, with it's elongated vowels and archaic twangs of Middle English (the use of "thou" and "thee" still common in these parts).
I spoke about it earlier this year from my visit to West Bromwich, but the Black Country really is a very unusual construct. It strikes me more of an idea in people's hearts and minds rather than something actually exists in the real world as either an administrative or political concept.
It also strikes me that it feels very much these days as taken as a matter of identity to people of this proud post-industrial region as a way of making it clear they are distinct from the rather large City on their doorstep.
Saying you are "from the Black Country", is also to say "I'm not from Birmingham, yow know!" So often is their accent confused and they would be called Brummies to ignorant outsiders like myself.
 |
| Walsall's Management looks on during a corner for the home side. |
But don't call someone from Walsall a Brummie, even if there isn't any clear daylight of green between the two places. Thankfully, I knew that already so didn't get into any trouble. I know the difference between a Brum-a-Jum & a Yam-Yam.
The game itself was very much one of two-halves. 1st half - a bit dull. 2nd half - sprang into life & turned into a rip-snorter at the death.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Walsall didn't really look in it, and you had the feeling that Shrewsbury's taunts of former striker Tom Bradshaw, who left them in the summer following the Shrews' relegation, had hit their mark.
But on 56 minutes, a through-ball to Bradshaw looked like it had got trapped under his feet as a defender loomed over him, but somehow Walsall's No 9 managed to dig it free and find space to unleash a low thunderbolt into the bottom corner, right in front of the away fans. Given their chants of "Shrewsbury Reject", I think he enjoyed running past them with his tongue out.
Frankly, after hearing the travelling fans singing about French prostitutes for much of the game, that's the least they deserved. Salop indeed.
Walsall's delight was short-lived though, as within 5 minutes a wicked deflection from a free-kick at the other end had found itself in the back of the net, and Shrewsbury were on top again.
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| A late goalmouth scramble for Walsall in front of the Shrewsbury fans. |
5 mins of added time wasn't enough for the Saddlers to press home their psychological advantage and get a winner, but it made it a very entertaining game in the end and certainly well worth the visit.
And so, these two teams will replay back at the New Meadow for a place in the 2nd Round. I won't be making that trip (I'm not mental, you know), but I can't wait to see which of these teams makes the 2nd Round draw - you never know, I could be watching them again in a few weeks.
All in all then, another one of those trips that ended up being well worthwhile, despite how hard it was to motivate myself in the morning. My only regret was setting off too late to see anything more than the ground itself. I'm sure I'll be back though, and next time, I'll be making a beeline to that leather museum.
Yow can be sure of it.
Next Up: Weekend Double-Header!
Watford's Vicarage Road [22nd November]
Hull City's KC Stadium [23rd November]
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