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Arrivederci Vetch Part 2
By Andrew Thomas
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Last week, I was 'looking back at my history at the Vetch, and 'looking forward' to the final League game there against Shrewsbury. Saturday has come and gone, and so has my hangover (finally). After 93 years, the ground won't see another League game.
What were my feelings during the week? I was pretty good for most of it, but the thought of it was always at the front of my mind. Colleagues in work said I seemed distracted, and didn't appear to be listening much, but this was obviously to do with a bit of a cold and nothing to do with the football!
I finished work on Friday afternoon at about 5.30, and when I got home, I'd received an email from Rich Lillicrap in an obviously overexcited state fancying a couple of pints when he arrives in Swansea 4 hours later. Dai was also interested (unusual for him to go out for a pint at short notice!) After arriving at the pub, we were soon joined by Nick Rees who'd just flown in from Rushden (or somewhere that sounded like that) and Dafydd. All the talk was of the Vetch and our chances for the following day.
Dragged myself out of bed on Saturday morning with a very sore head. Surprisingly not nervous- amazingly had some money left from the previous night- a good omen for the rest of the day. Unfortunately it was raining (not a good omen unless you take the Hull game into account a few years ago), so maybe it was a good omen after all. Had a great breakfast (good omen). I'm sure the birds in the trees were singing the Woody Woodpecker song (great omen).
There was due to be a great following from Shrewsbury, and we all knew that our ends were sold out. There was a definite hope that as the Shrews had little to play for apart from pride, they may be overawed by a big, passionate crowd. The Swans would walk it- no problem! Incredibly, I still wasn't nervous. Then I jumped into the car for my wife to drop me down to town, and instantly became as nervous as a kitten.
We got into town, and the crowds outside the pubs were enormous. Not too bad in the Builders though, and soon met up with the usual suspects. Had to leave for the ground at about 2.00 though to take pictures of the players that the site had sponsored. After getting through to the Centre Stand, it soon became apparent that we weren't going to get those pictures. We did manage to get a whole load of other shots though. The North Bank was full early, and looked great as a sea of black and more predominantly white, as did the East Terrace and Stand.
Back over to the North Bank before disaster almost struck, when stewards blocked the path to our usual spot where we were meeting the others. A quick diversion through the crowd did the trick, so apologies to all those whose feet I trod on! I got to my spot just as the crowd started singing 'Bread of Heaven' and 'Hymns and Arias'. What a noise- it's the best I think I've ever heard the Vetch, with all 4 sides of the ground on its feet and the noise ringing out. It brought a real lump to my throat, and there were more than a few fans who seemed to be suffering from dust in their eyes.
Despite all that was going on, there seemed to be a match taking place, and the Swans ran out in their commemorative shirts- new style numbers and gold badges. Then we were off to a dream start, the ball was played wide to the right, where Adrian Forbes was unmarked, he took the ball on into the box- was he going to miss? Not a chance, he hammered the ball past the advancing keeper to go 1-0 up and the ground erupted.
What a noise. Surely we'd steamroller Shrewsbury- they'd never cope with our passion now! To be fair to them, they did, and actually had the better chances through the rest of the game. Willy more than made up for last week's performance with 3 great saves- one of them breathtaking and reminiscent of Gordon Banks save from Pele against Brazil in 1970. We weathered the storm to win 1-0, and with the great news of a late winner for Yeovil, we're level on points with Southend with a goal difference one worse than them.
Just before the final whistle, the pa system requested that no fans try to enter the field of play when the game finished- a request which was meticulously observed. It looks as if Eddie the groundsman will have some re-turfing to do where the 2 penalty spots were though.
After standing on the bank for 10 minutes we all ambled down onto the pitch, and over to the centre stand where thousands of fans were gathered. After a few minutes, Kenny and the players emerged to a rapturous reception. Kenny had Kevin John's microphone before the Vetch had her final joke- the mike didn't work. Who says inanimate objects don't have a soul. The Vetch has a living, breathing soul, and she's laughing her socks off.
We'll travel to Bury next week with a very realistic chance of an automatic promotion spot if we can beat Bury by 2 goals more than Southend can beat Grimsby. We've already sold something like 3,000 tickets for the game, and as the week goes by, we should increase that to something like 5,000. As Bury are only getting crowds in the region of 2,000-2,500 the game should be more like a home match. I hope the catering and the toilets are better than at home though!
There is the FAW Trophy final, and depending on the results next Saturday, many of us will see the Vetch again in one guise or another. I had to laugh after the game watching fans wandering off with the North Bank signs and gate numbers. With a sign that's about 12-14 feet long though, I hope you have a big bedroom, to enjoy it lads!
Next season, it'll be the White Rock, The Morfa, The Black Stone, The Tetley's/Audi/Travel Huose/Burger KingStadium. Is it going to be a damp squib or a Brave New World? I guess only time will tell, but whatever happens, SA1 3SU will always be my spiritual home!
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