It had to happen. I couldn’t really write about anything else in this week that the club I love most play against the team of the town I grew up in. My fondest footballing memories, as a spectator, all involve the boys in Claret & Blue however there is a very small corner of my heart that feels a link with the Silkmen.
The first game I attended was when my dad took me, in January 1979, to Maine Road Manchester where my heroes, who I followed loyally on the TV and Radio to that point, lost 3-2 to Man City when my Dad took me. It wasn’t too long after that, however, that the old man suggested that we pitch up at the Moss Rose ground to help out the local lads. I don’t remember the exact date but the help my father, brother and I gave was not just to pay the entrance fee to watch the mid-winter game. Along with hundreds of other locals we responded to a plea on local radio for help to clear the pitch of at least 4 inches of snow ahead of their Northern Premier League game scheduled that afternoon. It’s a really pleasant memory of a morning and early afternoon mucking in, having fun throwing snow around and brushing the surface down while the hot Bovril flowed to keep us all fuelled and grafting. Weird thing is that I can remember so much about the clearing of the pitch and absolutely nothing of the match that we were allowed to stay and watch without paying the entry fee for. I could probably look up the date and opposition but I’ll leave that for another time.
Last season’s fixture against Wrexham provided another snow cleared game there which can be viewed in the following video: -
In later years, when Macc Town sporadically reached the first round of the F.A. Cup, I remember going to the game expecting the excitement of a ‘big’ crowd (usually around 3-4 thousand) and atmosphere. The visit of Worcester City was one I remember well. The Police had absolutely no control over the carnage that kept interrupting the match but to a teenage lad and his mates we thought it one of the more exciting events of the year. Port Vale was another first round tie that brought the mischievous element out of the locals and visiting ‘VLF’ (Vale Looney Fringe) – giving the local constabulary a torrid time. From the terrace behind me two policemen came charging down the steps with one of the Port Vale lads in an armlock. “You want to segregate them,” suggested a local to which the reply from the boys in blue came “You want to go with him?”
Apart from those early games and volunteer assistance I also remember the televised tie of a few years ago when Kevin Keen was in charge of the team from ‘Treacle Town’ (please feel free to look that one up if interested). Many friends and family asked who I’d be following that day to which I answered, and always will answer, “there’s only one team for me!” But that didn’t, and still doesn’t, stop me wanting to see Macclesfield Town acquit themselves well against the might of our beloved Premier League Hammers. The game can be seen in the following video: -
In truth my love and support of West Ham comes from ‘Local’ beginnings. My Dad was from Upton Park and my Mum from East Ham. We were always going to be a West Ham family. Supporting your local team is something that’s special. Quite early on after my dad’s company moved him, and us, North, and we settled in the area, he attempted to help me fit in by gently nudging me towards either Man City or Macclesfield Town. While that was never going to happen, as I was too young, at the time, to get on a train to London on my own, I did used to go to watch those two sides a few times a season. Growing up there and leaving school in the mid ‘80’s, with the era’s grim prospects for youths, went some way to shaping the beliefs and the person I am today so there’s certainly strong ties. My cousin, stepmother and younger stepbrother still live there and I visit a couple of times a year. I enjoy going – if you’ve never been it’s a pleasant town set at the edge of the Cheshire plain at the picturesque Derbyshire foothills where the Pennine Way begins (or ends depending on your orientation).
Now my son has the same feeling for West Ham that I do. Why should he get away with it? I had to support them so he has to suffer just like I did. But he also has that feeling for our local team – who I’ve taken him to see a few times. During the summer he was also picked up by their ‘Development’ Academy which has also fuelled his affection for the Chairboys a little. And I have no beef with that at all. After all – if it was good enough for my folks then it’s good enough for him.
I hope that the match is a good one and that both teams go on to have hugely successful seasons. Macc have lost their talismanic manager, John Askey, who got them back in to the Football League on a, practically non-existent, shoestring last season. They sit bottom of League 2 on 1 point so far so I also hope that Wednesday night proves to be a welcome distraction and will provide much needed funding for the poorest club in the professional game in England.
COYI! West Ham 4 The Cup!