Fixture Congestion And Accrington

Our good friends from Grorty Dick ventured To Accrington yesterday. They thought that the Baggies had plenty of fixtures but then they looked at the Hereford list and that was before the result of yesterday's game.



After discussing washing machines and mother-in-laws they turned to Hereford's plight:



Sorry to travel by such a convoluted route today, folks, but the main reason for our early-ish start was a trip to Accrington Stanley, who were due to play Hereford in the FA Trophy. Incidentally, you think our lot have it bad with fixture-congestion? Try non-league's apex division for starters; not only do they have a full Conference programme to contend with, they also participate in the FA Cup, the Conference Cup, and, should they finish in the top eight the previous season, the Leyland-Daf Cup also, where they get to mix it with the big boys of Leagues One and Two, of course. As The Bulls currently sit in fifth place, and are still active in three of that lot, then you begin to realise what an enormous slog it can be down there. Oh ? and 'Im Indoors has just reminded me of their Herefordshire Cup involvement. Eek!



And, as we headed on out for the Lancashire club, another chilling thought struck me as abruptly as a chunk of rock chucked by a friendly Dingle: were we turning into Paul Crichton groupies? For the benefit of those who weren't aware, after that disastrous non-performance of his for York City earlier in the season (see Diary passim), and a dust-up with some of their supporters (doubly-disastrous, as their supporters effectively own York City!), the ex-Albion keeper moved on rapidly to Stafford Rangers, then, after what sounded very much like yet another disastrous spell, to Leigh RMI. A sneaky glance at the Conference table will quickly make you realise we're not exactly talking Real Madrid, here. And that's when fortunes looked up, albeit slightly, for the Baggie prodigal; the regular Stanley custodian broke a leg, or something, and an experienced loan replacement was urgently needed. Who ya gonna call? Yep. Not if you had even an ounce of sense, mark you, but Stanley didn't really have any choice in the matter, what with their favourable league position and everything. That's why the lad was there between the sticks for them today; 18 games with the Lancashire bruisers thus far, I'm told, and as they're currently third in the Conference, he must be doing something right for once, I suppose.



An uneventful trip up the M6 and M65 later, we were at the ground itself. Nothing whatsoever to do with the old Accrington, the ones that went out of the League in 1962, and replaced by Oxford, mind; this lot have risen from the ashes, so to speak. Still, their social club's good, as is the case for most clubs at that level; it's an important revenue stream, after all. Strange they had a veto on away supporters today; as neutrals, though, we were well able to circumvent that one. The game itself? A goalless, muddy stalemate, with the rematch next Tuesday evening. Crichton? Much to my amazement, he seemed to have a pretty decent game for once; on the few occasions he was genuinely tested, he negated each danger with comparative ease. One notable (and puzzling!) bit, though, was the banner draped along half the length of the home end, situated behind one of the goals. "WE SEE WELSH PEOPLE!" was the bizarre but inaccurate declaration. Strange, that one - clearly, O Level Geography is not a popular choice among schoolchildren in those there parts. Or passing, when you come to think about it. Go check your map - Hereford is nowhere near the Welsh border!



The full story can be found at http://www.baggies.com/diary/?id=315

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