[Cape Cod Womble]

Interesting thoughts from Windlesham Don on the debenture offer. I’m totally in support of the reasoning behind the proposal. Yes it does give you a chance of a guaranteed seat which is attractive to some and absolutely it goes some ways towards bridging what will be a massive cash flow predicament for AFCW until the easing of restrictions allows spectators into stadia, whenever that will be.
I really don’t think any club has an answer for that unless oil is discovered next to the Wandle River. Or maybe the club can erect a wind turbine on Plough Lane in yellow and blue to earn some cash selling back into the national grid. It just so happens, I know a bloke who knows a bloke … one owner, one project just out off Skegness, runs like a little beauty. I’ll bring it around on Tuesday for Dave Beasant to give it a test drive with one of his long goal kicks.
Seriously though, our already stretched financial situation is going to be the main issue in the formation of our squad whenever the season looks like getting underway. I can see more fund raisers, raffles, Ray Armfield pulling rabbits out of hats with his silent auctions etc, in fact anything possible to get us across the line. There is more searching down the back of the couch to be done. It’s funny though I’d much rather do that than be say an Arsenal fan who pays top money hand over fist each season to watch overpaid dross.
Those revenue generating facilities in hospitality and the Fanzone will have to pay their way quickly when the fans can go back to the ground. For me personally, I’d prefer to wait to get a seat next to Liam or Super Dawnie etc, so unless we work something out then maybe the debenture isn’t totally for me.
I also look like missing a chunk of next season being away in Scotland for work (Dundee actually) which will make it difficult to get to many home games. I can however see myself checking out the locals Dundee and Dundee United. Living in the only rugby league city with two teams, derby day in Hull still generates a lot of expectation and match-day tension. A further spreading of my wings hopefully will get to see me getting to Greenock Morton and hopefully Queen of the South, Coming back on the Sunday after the Sunderland game in August I met a bunch of Greenock Morton fans on Newcastle station. They liked my Elonex Dons shirt, we had a photo together and I’d like to go see them one day. Dumbarton looks like a beautiful ground whereas Queens I just want to see because they are my favorited named team in football. And that’s not even mentioning the big two in Glasgow.
Despite being optimistic of AFCW’s situation throughout the PPG saga, I did cast a glance downwards to Division Two. If for some reason say the courts had have settled it and that became our lot for next season, I would definitely have been in for a trip to my second team Grimsby Town where you could guarantee that James Hanson (in the second year of his contract) would have scored against us. Carlisle United would have been a decent trip down from bonny Scotland whilst the ultimate test of endurance for Dons fans would have been on the cards to attend an Arctic Tuesday night in February away to Barrow, now that the Bluebirds are back in the Football League after a 48 year absence (and good luck to them!) I will now be keeping a close eye on how Hull City fare for the remainder of the Championship now that they have fallen into the drop zone during a disastrous run. That would be a one and half mile trip through the city for me and endless banter with my mates!

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First up I have to say that I have full respect for Tranmere Rovers as a club and the fans are amongst the best in League One. When our group went to Prenton Park in December, we headed into the tent that doubles as the Fanzone and were made very welcome. Marco Cura, Pat and I did The Away Turnstile podcast and it was a lot of fun there. As a game Rovers should have turned us over 5 or 6 nil, AFC were so bad and if it wasn’t for the heroics of Nathan Trott in goal and some woeful finishing by the home team, then it may well have been.
In hindsight those extra goals may have gone towards reducing the eleven goal difference that currently stands. That gap acts as a not unsubstantial argument in favour of AFC’s position to stay up.
Tranmere Chairman Mark Palios made a podcast of his own last week in which he made his case for the cancellation of the season and for no relegation. One interesting point he raised was concerning those clubs that had no incentive to play because they were not in promotion or relegation positions, basically playing out the season, in effect the Lincoln Citys, the Burton Albions, the Gillinghams etc. He said that there could be contrived results coming out of fixtures involving these mid-table clubs whereby they don’t want to risk or play their top (possibly meaning earning) players and they could put out line-ups consisting of youth team players.
Well his argument kinda falls flat on that point when you realise that is exactly who Tranmere faced early on in this botched up season during the financial debacle at Bolton Wanderers. Yes you can only face the team that you have in opposition but Tranmere pasted a Bolton youth side 5-0. AFC faced twice a strengthened Bolton line-up twice and only could draw on both occasions, albeit that we were very poor in at least one of those matches. And on that score, can you imagine how poor Bolton or say Southend would be if they had to play out their remaining fixtures.
Tranmere point to their rise in form and we all know from last season that it is entirely possible that they could have pulled off a miraculous recovery as AFC did. (I only wish the Franchise were in the mire then you would have been seeing a majority saying “who cares about them”. Well the Dons have an intangible of our own in that arguably our two best players in Anthony Wordsworth and Will Nightingale were about to return to the first team, making our depleted line-up substantially stronger.
My point is that unless your team is Sunderland / Oxford / Ipswich / Tranmere / Peterborough (what a complete wally that Darragh McAnthony has shown himself to be), then regardless of the magnitude of the health and separate financial considerations, then playing out the season itself has become meaningless. The EFL has committed to promotion and relegation and plans to have play-offs. If AFC do survive to play in League One next season then so be it. There’s a much bigger picture here.

[Cape Cod Womble]

Just thinking, as we all battle the attractions of the demon couch, I wonder how difficult it will be to keep players match fit during lockdown. Depending on when the resumption actually happens, I can see quite a few injuries due to lack of fitness coming up.

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Hi everyone :
I’m in Melbourne staying with my son Tomas and his partner in Richmond right next to Yarra Park and the MCG. I kinda got caught here by the speed of the CV spread and travel restrictions and opted to stay here in Aus due to health and personal reasons. Certainly so far I think it has been the correct choice. I’m not sure when I will be able to get back to the UK but that will play out I’m sure as all part of the global picture.
I get to do my exercise walking around the hallowed stadium and can tell you just about all of the monologue and statistics on the various statues say off by heart. My favourite statues are John Coleman (Essendon AFL full forward) and Bill Ponsford (great Victorian and Australian opening batsman. Shane Warne’s statue is a bit underwhelming IMO.
I therefore was really pleased to receive the latest WDSA newsletter and super chuffed in fact to read the interview with my favourite all time Dons player, Carlton Fairweather. (Rob must have known that, as I was the page sponsor!). When I was at the Stadium of Light in August, I was called up on stage (well the top of a shipper container) in the Fanzone to give the viewpoint from a Dons’ supporter on the game. The discussion got into players with links between the two clubs and Mick Harford and John Kay were mentioned. I piped up about Carlton’s tenure as Youth and Ladies’ team coach at Sunderland, which was well remarked upon. It strikes me that Carlton is just a very endearing person wherever he goes. (I didn’t do too badly in fact in front of a crowd of about a 1,000 Mackems and got a clap out of them. Must have been those pre-match pints at William Jameson @Spoons in town and that rather scary walk across the Tyne Bridge!
Speaking of which, who was seen the second series of Sunderland Till I Die on Netflix? There is a minute or so of coverage from our encounter at Kingsmeadow last season, a match I thought we should have put to bed by half time. Lee Cattermole scored a volley right in front of me on the left wing (I was sitting with Super Dawnie on the touchline) and I must have been just out of shot when he did his celebration. There is a small glimpse of AFC (I recognised Waggy in the pre-match) from the second match at SoL.
So perhaps we will get another season against the mighty Black Cats. It would be great then if the next time they visit us it is to NPL and that the club can offer them the full allocation of 3,000 odd tickets, that they regularly take away. That would make for a great atmosphere. That is making the assumption that things still as is on the league table.
Who knows how and when that will pan out?

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Glad you liked it Colum but by the end of the game I’d didn’t ‘arf feel like killing him!

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After not seeing the Dons since Peterborough away in September, I’ve just done two rather unlikely away jaunts. Firstly Saturday at Blackpool was just imminently forgettable. Only one shot on goal and we never looked like getting anything out of the game. The big fella up front for ‘Pool Gnanduillet, just monstered our defence. Mikey T posted that since 1982 in his visits to Blackpool, Wimbledon has only drawn once and scored one goal. Says it all really. After the game I met two Dons fans from St Helens of all places, real rugby league territory. Saturday night was quiet, no other Dons oot and aboot.

Last night at Donny Rovers was the closest to a home game for me all season. Needless to say it was absolutely freezing. The Dons were very good in the first half and should have gone ahead but of course Kwesi hit the post. I was quite impressed by Paul Osew out wide. He is nippy and skilful but can easily be muscled off the ball. The second half was a bit predictable however. Good finish by Rovers legend James Coppinger and a second killed us off. I liked Glyn’s nice comments towards the 181 travelling fans, much appreciated. We did our best in the cold.

In the Rovers Bar before the game, a guy called Ian latched on to me, who was doing the 92 club circuit. He managed to be Sheffield’s version of Eric Olthwaite, the most boring man in the world, from Michael Palin’s “Ripping Yarns” series. He decided to take up residence in the away end and regaled me with stories throughout the game of different grounds that he had been to and the fact that his wife was away on holidays in Las Vegas (for a bit of excitement I would imagine). I thought at one stage that he was going to talk excitedly about rain gauges and Howard Molson and his no.2 Spear and Jackson shovel. I noted in the second half that (The Away Turnstile podcast co-host) Stuart Young went and stood as far away from him as possible. I finally cracked the shits when he asked me “are there many people from Britain living in Australia?”

My next game is Tranmere Rovers away just on Christmas. A group of us including Super Dawnie are going to the Cavern Club in Liverpool after the game. Without Eric Olthwaite I might add…

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