|
If you fancy penning an article for the site - and as long as it's topical or entertaining it will go up. Just send it to me.
Arrivederci Vetch- Nearly
By Andrew Thomas
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
180 minutes- 2 games- 2 cup finals until the end of the season as John Hollins remarked a few years ago. It seemed so important at the time, but not nearly so important as this feels now. This time it's not because of the results, although those are vital as well. That's roughly how much League football we have left to watch at the Vetch (potential play offs and FAW Cup finals excluded).
It seems like its no time since I first set foot on the North Bank 31 years ago as an 8 year old for a dreadful draw against Lincoln City in the bottom flight- at least there was no injury time heart-breaker for that one. It did inspire me enough not to go near the Vetch for another 4 years though until Toshack took over in March 1978. It was a 3-1 victory, my uncle took me there on the pretext of going to St. Helens for the rugby and I stood on the West Terrace under the old double-decker. I was a glory hunting 11 year old gazing through the chain link fence at the front of the terrace, and I've stayed hooked over the 27 years since.
A friend and his dad took me to the North Bank for the Scunthorpe game on a Tuesday night about 10 days later, the day Harry Griffiths died, which we won as well. My father finally took me for the first time on the final game of the season to see us beat Halifax 3-1 and get out of the old 4th division. I watched this from the top of the double-decker, which was to be my home for the next 5 seasons with my Mam and Dad who managed to get hooked as well.
The ground has changed a lot since then, but has never lost its character. Back in 1978, there was the old East Terrace with its railway sleepers, the North Bank must have had about 20 crowd control barriers in total, something which has altered radically over the years, and for safety's sake now has more in common with a cattle market (although not Barons on a Saturday night).
We now have what I still call the "new" Stand, which is approaching a quarter of a century. I've seen the advertisers on the roof of the Centre Stand change from Welsh Brewers (Never Forget your Welsh!) to Hemmeling (?) to the Travel House and that yellow aeroplane. I've seen the Enclosure change to the Jewson Stand to the Family Stand. Probably the saddest change I've seen at the Vetch is the demolition of the West Stand; the "Double-Decker"- the best view in the ground.
Other things that have changed are the closing of the rear third of the North Bank back in the late 80s- something which was supposedly temporary, only for a few months whilst structural tests were carried out. The away supporters being moved from the Enclosure to the segregated West Terrace, then back again, then returning to the West Terrace, then the fences being removed then replaced. Fences at the front of all the terraces, then being taken down, then replaced then taken down again, before the front of the North Bank and West Terrace were fenced off prior to fans being allowed in this area again. It's been like a massive game of hokey-cokey over the years.
I've always loved the old place, although Lord only knows why- its ramshackle, parts of it leak if it rains too heavily, it takes too long to get out of if there's a large crowd (not that it was much of a problem 3 or 4 years ago). The East Stand is like the North face of the Eiger, and the prevailing wind blows directly into it for most of the winter, and therefore most of the season-you need waterproofs from October to April. If the game is dreadful though, and the weather is good, you have the best view from a football ground in the entire League!
The East Terrace has a dreadful view, but fans who stand there regularly won't go anywhere else. The Centre Stand is very close to the pitch and luxurious and comfortable- if your inside leg measurement is less than 28 inches, but is passionate for a main stand, and has caused hyper-tension in many an away manager over the years with a few tantrums being thrown by the likes of Ian Atkins- always a pleasure! This was the place where Tony Petty had no place to hide when he was mercilessly harangued against Orient a few years ago, and was the final straw for him I'm sure.
According to visiting fans, the West Terrace has the worst toilets in the Football League, but what do they know, most of them haven't been in the North Bank toilets- and you don't hear us complaining (much).
Then there's been the catering. This has always been a subject of controversy, but has rarely been the object of much praise. Chaotic scrums at the back of the North Bank in the pouring rain for a hot pasty- or should that be a hot pasty wrapper. At least the tea is usually hot- to scalding point, which can usually be felt after a 10 year old kid has barged into you while your trying to carry 3 of them back onto the terrace for you and your mates. At least you get a lot of support and sympathy from your fellow supporters- where you tend to be greeted with the same hilarity as a Fawlty Towers re-run! The away supporters justifiably criticise the very attractive Kenco coffee pot which serves as a tea shop for them via steel fencing and presumably get served the quality fayre that we're treated to!
What many of them do say is that the Vetch is the noisiest and most intimidating ground they visit, and although I'm obviously biased, I tend to agree with them. I've only got 5 League clubs left to visit, and have also been to a few dozen ex-league or non league grounds, and of this lot, the only places I've been to which are even on the same level of passion are St. James Park (Newcastle), Elland Road, Anfield, Upton Park (in the 80's but not any more), The Den, The Hawthorns and Ninian Park.
The ground is probably best described as "quirky", with 4 parts that in no way resemble each other. There's the Centre Stand which dates back to the 1920s, the West Terrace which when included with the old stand dates back to (I think) the 1930's. The North Bank was roofed in the 1950s, much to the relief of Swans fans of the day, or so I'm told. The East Bank was demolished in 1980 for the new stand to be built and opened in 1981. Maybe its this lack of an overall plan which gives the ground so much individuality, although this wasn't the intention when the East Stand was opened in a top of the table clash against West Ham in the old 2nd division. At the time the stand was intended to copy the old Arms Park by going around 3 sides of the ground in one sweep. A lack of finances and our relegation from the first division put paid to this, and so the East Stand remained, and will only remain as half a stand, chopped off at the edge of the 6 yard box.
Even the pitch has to get in on the act. If you stand at ground level, and look into the centre, you'll see that the middle of the goalmouth must be at least a foot higher than the touchline, and this must have been used as an excuse by a succession of wingers who've failed to deliver decent crosses to our centre forwards. It didn't seem to bother the likes of Mickey Conway, Ian Callaghan, Neil Robinson, Leighton James, John Hodge or Russell Coughlin though. As well as this, there's definitely a slope on the pitch from West to East. Corner takers at the Western end of the ground also used to have a step up of about 6 inches to take corners until a few hundred tons of gravel was added about 2 years ago. On inspection a few weeks ago whilst in the family stand, this step seems to have partially returned.
When we get behind the Swans though, and the ground is in full voice, I don't think there's a place in the World that can make the same noise per person. Games like Chesterfield in 1979, Blackburn and Luton in 1981, our first game in division 1 against Leeds, Liverpool in the FA Cup in 1982, Ante Rajkovic hacking down Tarki Micallef to win the 1982 welsh Cup against Cardiff.
Then there were the years when we were far from successful but still made plenty of noise: coming from behind to beat Cardiff 3-2 in 1984 with a brace from Dean Saunders in 1984 which was the first time I cried tears of joy at the Vetch. Then we drew with Bristol City in front of 10,000 fans to avoid relegation to division 4 in 1985. There was the play off games against west Brom in 1993 and Chester in 1996.
In the FA Cup there was the game against West Ham in 1999 with the Martin Thomas goal, securing promotion after beating Exeter 3-0 in 2000. For me so far, the Hull game in 2002 when we avoided relegation to the Conference was the most emotional roller coaster game of the lot, partially because of the incredible sense of relief, but also the realisation of what Exeter's fans were going through at the same time.
What all of those matches have in common though (and they weren't all victories) was that my memories of these games are linked to the ground rather than the actual game, although I do have memories of the games as well. The old place has a character and personality of its very own. Sometimes in those games, its been deathly quiet or deafeningly loud, but like your old trainers, it always fitted and felt comfortable.
Both of my kids have been down the Vetch now, and both love it, even though they're only 2 and 5 respectively. I had to take them this season, as it would have been akin to child abuse if they couldn't tell people in years to come that of course they've heard the North Bank roar. So its come around full circle for me, my Dad took me there for one of my first games , and now I've taken my two there. They're both looking forward to visiting White Rock (or whatever it eventually gets called), but I took pictures of them at the Vetch to prove they were there if they ever forget.
Many things have changed in the World since my first visit in 1978- there are more than 3 TV channels to choose from, everyone seems to own a computer and is connected to something called the Internet, petrol is apparently now over a pound a gallon, there is no more Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall is only a memory. Mobile phones are no longer only in the imagination of the writers for Joe 90 or Thunderbirds. We have speed cameras on the road, and Dreadlock Holiday is now scandalously considered to be an oldie. Footballers earn more in a week than nurses do in a year.
Some things have reverted to the way they were- Elvis is back in the charts, Wales are the Grand Slam winners at rugby, Cardiff City are once again a Division 2 (Championship ) team with a bleak future, but one thing has remained constant in all that time for me- the Vetch. I suspect that the 30th of April will be the third and last time that I'll be reduced to tears in the ground!
You can comment on this article by visiting the Guestbook.
Previous articles:
Click here to go back to main page
|
