Bulls and Walkers

Simon Wright looks forward to Saturday.

Since 1970, I've watched every FA Cup Final. It's one of the great football traditions - each year in May you watch the last two contestants slug it out, a ritual I've been happy to observe (except when Villa are in it, but that's another story). Saturday was superb entertainment, a rare treat in these days of cagey affairs and yet for much of the game I remained unmoved. Why? Simple really. I'd got a bigger match to think about. You know the one I mean. THAT ONE.

To actually get past a Semi-Final feels like a major achievement but of course there's one almighty big step to take yet. Without wishing to sound patronising, this massive winner-takes-all fixture on a League ground will be a new experience for most Bulls followers - and with the imposition of League rules too. Strict segregation. Seats all round. Sit in your allocated seat (I suspect that will be ignored), no cash on the turnstiles, League beer prices. Regular supporters swamped and separated by part-timers and glory hunters.

Leicester City is a slightly curious choice. It's in the Midlands, so does have central geography on its side. (Upton Park for the Trophy was a weird choice, though fortunately it did work for the two finalists). It's a new ground and a decent-sized one to boot but that's where the advantages largely end. Typically, with a new ground, side street parking is horribly limited within a couple of miles. Get there early is the best bet. On my solitary visit, I ended up paying £5 to park feet from a muddy, slippery canal bank. "Go by train" urges Leicester. How do you rate your chances of getting back to Hereford on a Saturday night from Leicester? Nil, I'd say. And also typical for a new ground, it's in a rough, rundown area. The train station is not the easiest to find and the stadium is not all that accessible by car. Make sure you take directions because it's all too easy to miss. The Britannia made a lot more sense - just off the motorway, big (albeit expensive) car parks to hand, shuttle buses from the station, two big drinking establishments nearby. Personally, and even leaving bias to one side, the Hawthorns would have been ideal because you can't beat it for access.

The Walker Stadium is just another new ground really. They are all much of a muchness - change the colours and you've got Swansea's stadium or Southampton's or Hull or Derby's. Sometimes, I suspect there is a stadium-making factory in India that churns these out. The only distinguishing factor from all the others is the crisp manufacturers name in a continuous band all around the roof. Yes, all the safety aspects are considered. The view is perfect from every covered seat and if you're a "corporate" then they have loads of imaginative ways to lower the company bank balance. That's all fine and dandy but there's no soul here, no sense of tradition. However, I don't want to sound too downbeat because this is our chance to create history by grabbing something that has eluded United for just over three decades - promotion.

How often have we insisted that Hereford United are Big in Conference terms? We have a chance to prove it next Saturday by setting new records for numbers of supporters at a non-home match. I'm not even sure what the biggest turnout of United supporters is for a neutral venue - the Arms Park (as it was then) for the Welsh Cup Final perhaps? The prize speaks for itself. Add in the bonus of being on a Saturday at a new venue, not a huge distance away, tickets for all - just be there, will you and last one out of the city can put the cat out. These are unchartered waters so any guess at a total turnout has no historic basis at all. 8,000? 10,000? More? Shrewsbury managed five-figure support for their Play-off Final so anything that modest little bunch can manage surely the famous Hereford United can top?

Of course, supporters and day-trippers have to get to the game. Living some fifty miles from Edgar Street, I'm a little distant from HUISA's headaches. I don't envy them. It's a big responsibility. They'll be largely carrying non-regular travellers including people who've never travelled to a fixture outside Edgar Street before. It only takes one idiot who doesn't know the rules or has chosen to forget them to give everyone a massive headache. I've seen too many instances of it in the top Divisions. Let just hope the Leicestershire Police force will be popping chill pills.

The rules for supporters travelling have altered greatly since our first big neutral match at Leicester - the FA Trophy Semi-Final at Leicester. I was too young to go to that but from supporters who were there, United followers outnumbered Hillingdon Borough by five to one. That sort of turnout could really make a difference.

Enjoy the day. It will be a very different experience for United supporters for all the reasons described. We've been starved of big games like this for so long - the sort of fixtures that fans of other clubs live for. Win this one and there may just be more to follow.

---