STANDING ORDER FOR GOALDEN LOTTERY
FAN ZONE
(Summer
Round Up)
It seems an absolute age since last season ended
(actually it is, 111 days) I think it seems longer as the usual last minute dash
to get players didn’t happen and we had everyone in place very early on.
I
just love the start of the season, optimism abounds, new players to see and at
least for a day the table is level! I don’t fancy the 8/1 on offer about us to
win the League, far too skinny in my view. I’m sure the new teams, Kettering,
Stafford, Worcester etc will form a formidable challenge but my tip to win is
Harrogate who seem to be going all out to win (and charging £10 to get in)
I
don’t usually “do” friendlies as I can’t stand all the chopping and
changing of teams but I did see the home games against Everton and Wigan (an
excellent performance in this one) and the away games at Burscough, Congleton
(new ground) and Marine. I missed
the Accrington game as I went back to my birthplace of Hull to see Hull City v
Bournemouth in the new Kingston Communications Stadium and what a brilliant
ground it is. For anyone who hasn’t heard, my first ever Southport game was
the FA Cup tie in 1965/66 at Hull when I have to confess I was supporting Hull
City. I soon came to my senses when we moved to Southport in 1970 and haven’t
looked back since despite 12 years in exile in Bury.
Since
the end of last season I have added another new ground to my list, The City of
Manchester Stadium to see England v Japan and very impressive it was too. It was
a poor game and cost £25 a ticket but a small wager on the draw paid for the
ticket and made the last 15 minutes more interesting.
My
ground list now totals 133 and with visits to Hinckley, Moor Green, Worcester,
Redditch and Kettering (for some reason I never did go to Kettering in our
Conference days) to come this season the list will be added to. The visit to
Hinckley will be to their old ground as I understand that the brand new one is
not going to be ready until around November.
A
note for anyone going to Nuneaton on 4 September, Wolverhampton races are on in
the evening so if there are any other racing fans out there I can recommend
calling in on the way back. We did it a couple of seasons ago and it made for a
really good day out.
I
also took in the Ainsdale Cricket Team v Southport Football Team cricket match
and enjoyed a good afternoon out, particularly the batting display of the
Ainsdale professional, Dicko’s batting efforts and Haydn’s first ball duck
which seemed to bring the biggest cheer of the afternoon.
The
Southport FC Fans team continues to flourish. I took in the home game at Stanley High School against Chester City and
they looked very impressive winning 6-2. The lads have also won 4-0 at Barrow
drawn 1-1 at home to Radcliffe drawn 2-2 at Hyde, lost 7-4 at Accrington and
lost 5-2 at Seaford Town.
I don’t know about you but I was very
disappointed in Euro 2004, not only with the way England went out but the
general, what seems to me like a, we must not lose attitude. I think the fact
that Greece won the tournament by scoring so few goals summed it up for me. As
much as I don’t like seeing my team lose I’m sure I’d rather see us go
down entertaining. Having said that if we need a point to win Nationwide North
at Harrogate in April I will take a 0-0 draw! I do somehow get the impression
though that we are more likely to see 3-3 draws this season rather than 0-0’s
but I may be wrong!
So what are my hopes for this season, obviously to
win the League would be nice but I will settle for the Play-Offs, winning them
11-10 on penalties in the final with Dicko scoring the winning penalty after
saving the 11th Droylsden
pen! The look on the Droylsden bench would do me!
Let’s all remember to get behind the lads even
when things aren’t going so well, Mr Rent a Moan was even at Burscough having
a go at players who were just getting to know each other. Unbelievable! I will
repeat my view of the game at Radcliffe last season when the support I feel
spurred us on from 1-0 down to 3-1 up. More occasions like that are what is
needed.
Rob Urwin