Occasional contributer Chloecat ponders the future:
Relegation is terrible, and the “ultimate” relegation from
the football league is even worse and when your team has done it twice, well on
Saturday there was nothing to say. At
the end of the game I didn’t want to talk to friends, just get in the car and get
to Worcester to catch the train back to London. I saw 29 games last season,
quite ridiculous when you think of it, spent a fortune and all for what? But oddly enough it didn’t feel as bad as
last time. Why?
The draw against Brighton and relegation first time round
still ranks as one of the worst experiences of my life. The circumstances that Saturday were very
different, it was us against them, winner takes all, and we never stood a
chance. Described as “gladiatorial” we
were the sacrificial Christians against the lions of not only Brighton, but the
media and what seemed like the whole football community. My overriding memory of that afternoon was
of riot police standing down the middle of the pitch looking like storm
troopers out of Star Wars, the despair one side of that sadly very necessary
line, the overwhelming joy the other I
can’t remember the goals, just the huge sadness and disappointment at the
end. Yet 15 years on I’ve gained a
little perspective. Last time round it
felt like we were dropping into the abyss, now we know what we are up against
and while none of us wanted to go there, it honestly isn’t as horrific as it
sounds.
Also, this time we went down fighting. Chris Hargreaves writes in his excellent auto biography of that day, of how some players couldn’t face it, others were physically sick, but on Saturday the team charged forward like bulls, lead by the inspirational Rob Purdie, and on the day the boys did all they could. Sadly it was too little too late, two final standout performances against a season of mediocrity.
The end on Saturday was very odd but very dignified, totally
different from the vitriol of last time.
As the players made their sad way around the pitch it wasn’t a time for
recrimination. No-one wants relegation
on their CV, not the Chairman, the management team and certainly not the
players. For those starting out on
their careers and those nearing the end, it is a horrible experience. Over the next few weeks there is so much to
be sorted out, not least the management structure and obviously the team. There will be a lot of financial pressure
and I hope we can hold onto our good young prospects while at the same time
keeping some of the more experienced players.
I know quite a few of the squad is already signed up, there isn’t a lot
of room for manoeuvre, but I really hope Rob Purdie stays.
I must admit my serene acceptance of the above was sorely
tested when I caught up with The Football League show and saw that Calvin
Zola’s penalty technique owed more to Johnny Wilkinson than it did to Harry
Pell, but I guess if we couldn’t beat Barnet, then we couldn’t expect Burton to
do it for us. At the end of the season
you end up where you deserve to be, and we simply didn’t score enough goals and
win enough games.
When we went down last time only Halifax Town had league
experience, next season there will be around 9 former football league teams
vying for promotion. There will be none
of this “on loan to the conference” arrogance, it will be a struggle to get out
again, and yet I believe we can do it - eventually. In the meantime I have three requests for next, and all the
seasons we are back down in the Conference
- I don’t expect automatic promotion but to be in play-off contention would be very acceptable
- For God’s sake get through the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup. There is nothing more depressing than being out of the FA cup before the end of October (memories of a sodden Woking and a Jamie Pitman goal were among the worst of our last stay in the Conference)
- While we are down there, can we at least win that blasted trophy – just once!
As I raid my piggy bank for a 2012/13 season ticket (yes I
am that mad), we can only look forward.
There are old familiar places to visit (I’ve been to Woking more times than
I care to remember), new grounds to find and a local Christmas/New Year derby
to enjoy. As we all head off over the
summer let us look to our motto "Our greatest glory lies not in never
having fallen, but in rising when we fall" and look forward to rising
again.
A sad but not despairing Chloecat