Niels Blog - A view from the back of the stand.
View fron The Back Of The Stand (VIII)
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- Published on Thursday, 18 October 2012 15:47
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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View From The Back Of The Stand 8
Monday 8th October
Worcester City v Weston-Super-Mare FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Replay
It’s the FA cup and City are past the first hurdle for a change. A banana skin trip to minnows Gornal in the Black Country had its nervy moments before City finished up 4-0 victors. Then a good 1-1 draw at Weston brings Worcester back to the Lane in the FA Cup for the first time in three years, and consequently my first in three years.
I don’t get to too many away matches but try to get to the localish away ones as often as I can. Unfortunately the Gornal game clashes with taking my
View from The Back Of The Stand (VII)
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- Published on Sunday, 14 October 2012 10:50
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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View From The Back Of The Stand 7
Saturday 1, 15, 29 August
Worcester City v Colwyn Bay, Droylsden, Harrogate
By the time we get to City’s third home game of the new season I realise that I have run out of things to say in this blog and I am beginning to run the risk of repeating myself and boring the pants off any readers not bored already. I voice this concern to Nic and Jane. Jane obviously agrees as she brings along her new video recorder to the Droylsden game, intending to make a video diary of match day in the PA box. There’s no ego soothing dilly-dallying from this woman just brutal honesty. “Yep it’s not very good, let’s do something interesting”. And so the three of us take turns at filming each other before and during the game. We even record the moment City score, revealing Nic’s rather impressive ability to cheer and press the goal music at the same time. At the end I ask Jane about what video-editing suite she has. She looks at me blankly and I decide to keep on writing.
During these games we once again encounter an age-old problem. Unless the opposition have an electronic substitute board then we find it very hard to figure out who is coming off. The player coming on is no problem but the PA box is at such an angle to the dugouts that the player coming off rarely shows us his back, and therefore it becomes difficult to announce the substitution. The remedy is for me to hare down to the back of the dugouts and try to ask the opposing team’s manager who he has just taken off. This occasionally takes some time as he invariably thinks I’m a supporter who is going to give him some lip. On the plus side, all the running about keeps me fit.
At the end of the Harrogate game I am standing near the cage waiting to give out fixture posters when the visitors score a fully deserved injury time equaliser. There is a deadly silence and you can hear the players celebrating as City fans start to stream out. This highlights a problem that we have at St George’s Lane in this final season at the ground. No travelling fans. All the gates this season have been around 800 but no opposition has brought more than a handful of fans. Even though the teams have travelled a fair way I am sure that they used to bring more support with them back in the days before the recession. Perhaps it’s the cost of petrol, lack of disposable income, football on the telly or the availability of full match commentary via the internet, but whatever the reason the only way it is affecting Worcester City FC is in the bank balance, as a near perfect start to the season has seen four wins and one draw from the opening five fixtures.
The Colwyn Bay game is sponsored by the Friends of Kieran Mooney, who died suddenly a year previously. For those who didn’t know him, he was a big cheery chap who followed the City all over the country, whenever he could, often getting back to his Leeds home in the middle of the night after a budget journey of numerous changes. Always in his City shirt, he had friends throughout the Conference North and South, and introduced the half-time Conference North/South scores to City’s announcements. I play Nick Cave, Pixies and Steve Harley, artists that he was fond of, in remembrance.
I risk the wrath of Mrs Clarke when I swap the winning goal music around for the Droylsden game. The last two seasons have been pretty successful at home so some may not know that we have winning, drawing and losing music. When we lose we play downbeat or “don’t worry it will be alright” music, while a draw will see some middling sounds, not too cheerful but also not to depressive. A win will result in upbeat music, generally “I’ve Got A Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas followed by some other celebratory thing or other. Jane is pretty precious about the Black Eyed Peas being played after a win so when I swap it for U2’s “Beautiful Day” I get a look that could kill from a thousand yards. Nic on the other hand is happily singing along as he much prefers Bono’s effort. Whether I will be brave enough to do it again remains to be seen.
Playlist: Colwyn Bay
Before
Yellow Submarine The Beatles
Firework Katy Perry
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Taylor Swift
Forget You Cee Lo Green
Bangarang (feat. Sirah) Skrillex
Rocket Man Elton John
How We Do (Party) Rita Ora
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie & The Hot Rods
Just Dance Lady Gaga
Feel The Love Rudimental feat John Newman
Pump Up The Volume M/A/R/R/S
Uptown Top Ranking Althia & Donna
Watchtower feat. Ed Sheeran Devlin
Gold On The Ceiling The Black Keys
Angels The XX
Where The Wild Roses Grow Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Debaser Pixies
Pound The Alarm Nicki Minaj
Harder Than You Think Public Enemy
Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
Good Feeling Flo Rida
HT
Bom Bom Sam And The Womp
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
The Great Pretender The Platters
Bounce Calvin Harris (feat Kelis)
After
I Gotta Feeling Black Eyed Peas
Greatest Day Take That
Playlist: Droylsden
Before
Harder Than You Think Public Enemy
Lightning The Wanted
San Pedro Mogwai
We'll Be Coming Back feat. Example Calvin Harris
Wings Little Mix
Tiger Feet Mud
Primadonna Marina & The Diamonds
This Ain't A Love Song Scouting For Girls
Levels Avicii
Caroline Status Quo
Sleep Alone Two Door Cinema Club
Deepest Shame Plan B
Dirty Paws Of Monsters And Men
Buffalo Soldier Bob Marley
She Moves In Her Own Way The Kooks
Good Time (feat. Carly Rae Jepsen) Owl City
Paradise Coldplay
Bom Bom Sam And The Womp
Jilted John Jilted John
HT
I Cry Flo Rida
Angels The XX
You Need Hands Max Bygraves
Spectrum(Say My Name)Calvin Harris RemixFlorence + The Machine
After
Beautiful Day U2
I Gotta Feeling Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D.
Playlist: Harrogate
Before
Something Good Alt-J
Under The Sun Cheryl
Bat Out Of Hell Meat Loaf
Better Together Jack Johnson
It's Getting Better Mama Cass Elliot
Stereo Hearts Gym Class Heroes
Watchtower feat. Ed Sheeran Devlin
Get Ready The Temptations
Price Tag Jessie J
Thunder Road Frank Turner
The Model Kraftwerk
This Is Love (feat. Eva Simons) Will.i.am
Empire State Of Mind Jay Z
Wolf First Aid Kit
(You're The) Devil In Disguise Elvis Presley
Somewhere in Neverland All Time Low
Pretty In Pink The Psychedelic Furs
Runaways The Killers
Whiskey In The Jar The Pogues & The Dubliners
Bom Bom Sam And The Womp
Gangnam Style PSY
Teenage Icon The Vaccines
HT
Hall of Fame feat. will.i.am The Script
I Will Wait Mumford & Sons
Can't Take My Eyes Off You Andy Williams
Return Of Django The Upsetters
After
Barbra Streisand Duck Sauce
Spectrum(Say My Name)Calvin Harris RemixFlorence + The Machine
View From The Back Of The Stand VI
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- Published on Thursday, 11 October 2012 09:52
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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View From The Back Of The Stand 6
Saturday 25 August
Worcester City v Corby
City’s second home game of the new season comes hot on the heels of the opener with the visitors being our bogey side Corby Town, and I seem to have become an odd job man.
First one of the lenses in Trust director Mike Davies’ glasses has come out. Mike is in a catch 22 position, he can’t see without his glasses on, which means that he cannot see what he is trying to fix. I offer to try and fix them for him and go into the Legends bar, where the carpet will not scratch the lens if I drop it. Straight away I am offered several pairs of glasses by people who think the ones in my hands are mine. I almost get the lens back in several times but I am scared of breaking the nylon line which goes around the bottom of the lens, and so out it pops time after time. Eventually Trust secretary Rob Crean gives me a hand and soon the glasses are fixed, I go off to find Mike. He’s up the canal end, with our groundsmen, taking Petrochem Carless’ advertising board off, as they haven’t paid. And so for a second match running I end up wielding a screwdriver and then weaving my way back through the crowd with two 10ft aluminium boards.
In the bar things are going swimmingly. I have figured out what was wrong with the speakers in the skittle bit (so the PA is being piped into all areas of the club again) and the Trust’s real ale counter is doing brisk business.
Upstairs in the PA box it’s all go. Jane is making her notes and Nic is swearing at the computer, which is failing to get a wifi signal. The computer is used for getting half-time scores from the Premiership and Conference North. However it’s not a disaster as we have all got smartphones and can access the internet from there.
Down on the pitch City director Rich Widdowson’s son Jamie is having his birthday party. Him and some friends are playing five-a-side and will later go up to the Harry Knowles Lounge for food and cake, before watching the match. These parties are quite popular and are also a good way of introducing the City to young lads and lasses who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Lane before.
The teams are led out by Jamie and his friends and I regret not having my copy of “Pretty In Pink” to hand as Corby are wearing that colour, although they would probably call it cerese. City are soon on top but Corby look dangerous on the break. As things are all well in the PA box I go and stand behind the goal and am soon cheering as Shab Khan steers his marker into the ball, resulting in the opener. Shab claims the goal and I don’t think the Corby player will argue too much. 1-0 half time.
Back in the box it’s birthdays dedications galore. As well as Jamie Widdowson, Nic’s daughter Bridget and Jane’s daughter Jes there’s a birthday request from a longtime supporter for his 19 year old son. He came up to the box before the game and asked that I play either Take That or Busted. I looked through the collection that I have at the ground but neither were in there, so I found the father and apologised saying that I would play something by them the following week against Colwyn Bay. He wasn’t very happy about that saying that it was his birthday today. There was nothing I could do so I explained that in future a weeks notice would bring results. And that goes for anyone who wants a request. We are happy to play requested tracks but I pre-prepare the match day music a few days before and only have a limited selection of CD’s at the ground. If I’m lucky I might have what someone wants, or something similar, but for specifics I need some notice. Please also note that I’m not a DJ and therefore what I have is my own collection plus what I have gathered and downloaded over the last three years, for the purpose of playing a varied selection of music on match days. The mainstream side of the collection was greatly helped by the HMV sponsorship that Roger “Captain Crazy” Harris had negotiated when he was in the PA box. This enabled me to get various CDs of chart music as well as genre and era collections. However when HMV started getting into financial trouble this sponsorship stopped and now it’s what I buy and scrounge.
Back on the pitch and City have stepped it up in the second half and are ripping Corby to shreads. A brace for Danny Glover gives City a three goal lead. Corby then score and briefly look like they might be getting back into the game before Symo and Jane’s favourite (Michael Taylor) wrap it up.
Playlist:
Before
Home Again Michael Kiwanuka
Running Up That Hill Kate Bush
Maggie May Rod Stewart
California Gurls Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg
Titanium (feat. Sia) David Guetta
Sliced Tomatoes Just Brothers
Bring 'Em Down Lostprophets
Down With The Trumpets Rizzle Kicks
Survive it Ghostpoet
Read All About It, Pt. III Emeli Sande
The A Team Ed Sheeran
Mr. Loverman Shabba Ranks Feat. Chevelle Franklin
Come On Eileen Dexys Midnight Runners
Public Image Public Image Ltd.
Little Talks Of Monsters And Men
Wonderful Angel
1234 Feist
Black Domino Box H.Hawkline
Spectrum(Say My Name)Calvin Harris Remix Florence + The Machine
Song 2 BLUR
We Will Rock You Queen
I Gotta Feeling Black Eyed Peas
HT
How We Do (Party) Rita Ora
Too Good To Lose Rebecca Ferguson
Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo Alma Cogan
Cool For Cats Squeeze
Norgaard The Vaccines
After
We No Speak Americano Yolanda B Cool & DCup
Good Times Roll Deep
Notes From The Back Of The Stand (V)
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- Category: Niels Blog
- Published on Wednesday, 22 August 2012 15:18
- Written by Niels Eriksson
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Monday 20 August
Worcester City v Bishop’s Stortford
City’s first home game of the season comes at last. I’m running on adrenalin, having spent the previous 4 days wading through the Welsh mud of the Green Man Festival. Set everything up and head for the Legends Bar to check the sound level in there. Only two speakers out of the four are working, the two in the skittle bit being the problem. I fiddle with the amp a fair bit, scratch my head quite a lot but never figure out what the problem is. Can’t check the wires, as the club is filling up and that would mean taking ceiling tiles off and creating a bit of a mess, so will check them another day. Some days later a thought occurs to me, during a discussion with the chaps who built the PA box, and ran the show for many years, they told me that the wires to the speakers in the bar had been cut on occasions. That will be my first check next Saturday.
Upstairs I get the lowdown on the opening day 2-2 draw at Bradford PA from Jane and a tired Nic (who had been up until 4am battling with the club website, which has crashed big time). Jane does her notes and writes a short line about two staunch City supporters, Dave Bayliss and Sarah Bushell, who have passed away recently, and who will be remembered with a minute’s silence before the match.
It’s getting pretty late when I go for my ground speaker check. As I approach the Canal end goal I see club directors Colin Layland and Mike Davis,with a couple of stewards, trying to put up a 3 part advertising board for MEP Nikki Sinclaire. The stantion that holds the goal net out is in the way and has to be unscrewed to get the board in. Colin is directing and Mike is struggling to get the screws out as they are just a bit to high for him. So I apply some pressure to the electric drill/driver from above and the screws come out. I end up putting in the top screws while the stewards and Mike hold the boards straight. Colin directs.
Back in the PA box I tell Jane and Nic what I have been doing “I have just had to screw that Nikki Sinclaire ....”,
View from The Back Of The Stand (IV)
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- Published on Tuesday, 21 August 2012 15:46
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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Notes From The Back Of The Stand (IV)
Friday 3 August
Worcester City v Shrewsbury
Final home friendly before the start of our last season at St George’s Lane and Nic arrives in a fluster. He had managed to lose his car keys for most of the day and in the belief that I wasn’t coming had probably gone a tad faster from Wiltshire than normal. I had forgotten to tell him that I was definitely coming and felt pretty guilty when hearing of his day’s trauma.
League 1 Shrewsbury Town bring their first team but the match is obviously not as attractive as the previous ones against Premier clubs youth teams and just over 500 turn up. Those that are here see an excellent game, with City falling to a narrow 3-2 defeat, a couple of defensive mistakes from usually reliable players gifting Town two of their goals.
Notes From The Back Of The Stand (III)
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- Published on Monday, 20 August 2012 15:20
- Written by Worcester City FC
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Tuesday 24 July
Worcester City v Aston Villa
Third home game in a week and it’s chip time. Get to Barbourne at 6.00 and there is a parking space by the chip shop. Only one person in there, which gives me 10 minutes to eat. I come prepared with hummus and tomato ketchup, which is liberally added. For those who may be thinking that hummus on chips makes me some kind of middle class, dinner party loving luvvie I give this defence. I was introduced to hummus by the greek owner of the Sidbury Fish Bar some 25 years ago, and as a vegan it is an excellent source of protein. Incidently I have yet to taste better hummus than the Sidbury one. Made on a Sunday, it was so poky by Friday that people wouldn’t come within 10 feet of you. Perfect. At the ground I go for my speaker check
View from The back Of The Stand (II)
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- Published on Wednesday, 22 August 2012 16:15
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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Notes From The Back Of The Stand
Tuesday 21 July
Worcester City v Hereford United
I arrive at the ground at 1.15 and I can hear that Nic has already set up the PA equipment. Nice, that saves me a job.
It's the first local derby between City and United for around 13 years and the rumours are flying. Steve Goode in the office tells me staff at Forgate Street station have reported that around 850 Hereford supporters are arriving on three trains. If it's true then the travelling support could be over a thousand.
I do my normal speaker check but have to walk round on the hallowed turf as the Canal End terrace is cordoned off. Go into the Legends bar and
View from The Back Of The Stand
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- Category: Niels Blog
- Published on Wednesday, 22 August 2012 16:16
- Written by Niels Eiriksson
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Notes From The Back Of The Stand
Tuesday 17 July
Worcester City v West Brom
First home friendly of the season and there is already a handful of fans queuing outside the turnstiles, which are yet to be opened, when I arrive straight from work at 6.15. Get the PA stuff, set it up and soundcheck the mikes. Do the usual speaker
check by walking around the ground and then head into the Legends bar to switch on the newly connected speakers in there.
The Legends bar has been cut off from the PA system for a fair few years now, having been saboutaged by irate old men (allegedly) who didn't want "that rubbish" polluting their pre-match pint. Anyway it sounds good and I leave it on a low but audible volume.
Nic arrives, from Wiltshire, with his daughter Bridget and I decide to head back to the bar in order to hear what it sounds like when Nic speaks through th
e mic. Still OK, this is going well!