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Away to Bromsgrove Sporting
10th August 2019
Attendance: 837
Food: 9/10
Tried the hotdog and chips…. Oh man the chips were the best I’ve had in a long while! And a sauce collection to challenge our very own ‘Swales’.
Bar: 8/10
A decent bar showing the football via a TV and large screen projected onto the wall. Lots of beer choices, small bottles of wine and prosecco and friendly service with a smile.
Fans: 10/10
I can’t say enough about the fans, super friendly! There is always a bit of trepidation when a club (non league) gets the numbers that Bromsgrove do… bigger numbers normally bring out a few idiots – but I can honestly say as outnumbered as we were I never felt out of place threatened or uncomfortable; in fact the very opposite, a credit to the club. The only problem they did have was… Why weren’t we playing in Green and White? this seemed to really bother a few
Green Army
BigAl and myself stopped over on the Saturday night, we arrived early (we were supposed to be at a show on Friday night, but the trains and a massive power outage put paid to that) and took the train to Brum to sample the delights of the Bull Ring, we weren’t disappointed, Well BigAl wasn’t he came away with a haul from Ted Baker; my trip to Victoria Secrets was cut short by a power cut… We made it back from the centre (very impressed!) in time to check into the travel lodge (£72 incl £10 for early check in), dump our stuff and head out to Bromsgrove – it was just under 40 minutes to get there and we managed to stay dry (rain in August, who’d of thought!)
Chelseaboy arrived via the coach just after us. We were concerned that there’d be just 3 of us, but M, Uncle Albert &, Rodney all got here courtesy of WaderSpurSimon and a dodgy satnav…
Spellbound
August 2018
Kings Lynn Town FC v Waders 2 – 4Game Rating 9/10
Our MoM – Liam Brooks
Ground rating – 7/10 (£13 to get in so points deducted & not the best choice of drinks)
So after not such a football-less summer and mediocre friendlies (not a fan!) we were facing the new season with all change at the Waders… Just Liam Brookes and Lucas Perry remain with us as faces we have got to know and love The return of Waders legend Brett Donnelly makes the start of this season more bearable for me, still mourning the loss of Nunny… But the new Gaffa in charge is another Waders hero Lee Allison and boy has he started from a pretty much blank page giving us a squad we barely recognise – but welcome back to Connor Vincent…. Oh and of course our main man Brownie, who might not be between the sticks for us this season, but will be coaching for us
It wasn’t without trepidation that I went into this game – and that wasn’t just the fact we were facing league favourites the Linnets today – but would the Green Army have that same connection to the club this season??
BigAl and I have a soft spot for the Town of Kings Lynn with his sister now living in the area and us spending many a happy weekend at his Parents holiday home (sounds better than caravan?) in Heacham and so that would be our base for this weekend – We had planned to bus it into Lynn and have the day their (That one was for you Roger ) but as per usual BigAl’s plans got spoilt and so it would be a sober match for him today and a long drive back to Biggy tonight; Al least Chelseaboy would be able to avoid the coach journey home though!
Support today would be thin(ner) on the ground with Chealseaboy on the players coach, Em, M and Uncle Albert travelling up with Rodney – Stick and GG were tentative waiting on news of whether the Walks was a dog friendly club…So 7 of us for definite maybe 9… After a walk through the beautiful park surrounding the ground (and lunch a Spoons…) we made it only to find that JT and Sam had given Charlton a miss today and also made the trip… Ok 9!! In the clubhouse, news came through that Stick and GG were on the way with Willow the waderDog… Yay there would be 11.5 of us!! We had made double figures (Yep we’re a small club, we know…) in fact we actually reached 14.4 when Dave&Yvonne (See what I did they’re (another for you Roger ;-)) and daughter joined us – In fact we claimed 16.5 at the end with Liams dad joining us and Jo sitting in the stands.
Whilst we waited for Stick to join us – Poor GG, he was driving on his L Plates…. we hatched a plan to tell him that Jonny Macnamara who he had sponsored because he thought he was a ‘Tim’ (based on the name and a twitter comment on the having to wear an orange shirt…) – We decided to tell him that Jonny was sporting a huge Rangers tattoo on his arm! And it worked!!! It’s probably the 1st and only time Stick has cheered ”A wee @££@“ You’ll be pleased to know Stick is now fully aware that we haven’t a clue who Jonny supports…
We stood behind the goal for the 1st half that would see Waders kicking into the sun – There was also this ‘man bunned’ type waving towards us, we ignored him until we saw the 2 finger salute go up – welcome back Donners!!! Oh and I’m expecting better that with this sponsorship deal
As expected Kings Lynn had all of the possession but the Waders defence held strong; Waders were concentrating on hitting Lynn on the break and this worked when Liam Brooks put in a good cross for Jonny Mac to score Flipping ‘eck!!!!! Waders held on till half time…
Out for the 2nd half we were behind the better goal end and in all honestly expecting things to turn quite soon… which they did after 5 short minutes with us conceding a penalty and then just 5 minutes later it was 2-1…. We were now thinking please don’t embarrass us boys… Unbelieviably in the 64th minute new signing Pierre Joseph Dubois (JPD from now on – although I learnt that M was an A+ student at French..and maths unsurprisingly) scores with a good header
If we could only hold on to that point, it would be amazing…On 84 minutes, right in from of his proud dad, the impressive Liam Brooks fired home inside the box
2-3!!! We went wild!!!!
And to round up a great afternoon, an awful mistake by the Lynn keeper let in Connor Vincent for 2 – 4
OMG!!!!!!
A lot of their (I’m playing nicely now) fans had started to leave early and to be fair the majority were full of praise for us and there was literally just the one idiot (we have a couple of our own…).
A really good away day – what shame Bunnyman hadn’t been there because then we could really of made some noise
Well done Lee, not bad for your 1st outing!!! And it was great that the players all recognised us few fans during celebrations not least after the whistle
Home to Rushden & Diamonds on Tuesday.
#ThereTheirThey’reWhoCares
Simply the Best
April 2018
Its with a heavy heart I write this blog… Yesterday as I headed out of Bar Hill looking forward to the weekend and the last game of the 2017/18 season, I was hit with the news that Nunny was to step down as Gaffa after 12 brilliant years….
I kind of wish BigAl had waited until I got home to break the news, as tears and the M11 don’t mix well… I felt numb and was shocked, BigAl was less shocked (he had felt there was something in Nunnys demeanour that last match?) but he was just as numb and as I caught up on our Green Army group chat it was clear the feeling was shared… I hope Nunny wasn’t relying on mobile data for his twitter feed
as it went into overdrive with tributes to him as not only a great person
, an amazing Gaffa
, but to most a wonderful friend
Unlike many of the Green Army I have only ever known Nunny as the Gaffa and only shared part of his amazing 12 years bringing the club up to where we sit now; So for me the Waders without Nunny is simply unimaginable; I know, and am constantly told, no one is bigger than the club but but, make no mistake, he is a massive part of the club and without him there will always be a piece missing….
Many will know that in mine, and most of the Green Army eyes, Nunny can do no wrong – this isn’t some kind of strange blind loyalty, this is a loyalty borne out of great achievement and earnt by simple things, like taking the time to chat to people and making us feel part of it…
Along the way we have grown the GreenArmy, sadly not to the great numbers of many clubs, but we have added numbers; I like to credit the Green Army’s friendliness to this, but Nunny’s charm plays a big part to
I have so many good memories, mainly off the pitch, of Nunny and the Green Army, who can forget Canvey Island , Maidstone, Wealdstone, Bideford away, Stourbridge
doing the double over Hitchin, Boxing day at Bedford Town and Rugby…OMG!!
Never mind these premiership managers; Nunny was, is and always will be The Special one…
1Matthew Presland
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The Last Post
April 2017
Waders v Frome 4 – 1
B’s MoM – Ian Brown
Alcoholic Units – Hic! well it was the last game of the season
Attendance – 166
Game rating 8 / 10
Oh how time rolls by…? Here we were at the last day of the footie season for us and sadly Waders no.1, Ian Brown’s last official time manning the goal posts for Waders Brownie has done 4 years with the club and we all love him dearly, I am reliably informed that Brownie has also played getting on for 500 games at this level
You only have to do a quick scroll through twitter after a match to get the level of respect away supporters have for him and today tributes poured in from all around the the non league arena, even our member of parliament paid a visit to Langford road to day to bid farewell to Brownie..
I want to explain what makes a Waders Legend:
Heart, Passion, Loyalty, tenacity, skill, humility.
But more importantly, us fans want to feel a connection and thats not something you can make up or pretend, its real and we can see straight through it, if its an act.
Not only does Brownie tick all of those boxes, he, alongside Paul Barnes is the best player I have ever seen at this level and he could without doubt have played at a higher level and no doubt has had better offers than the Waders But he chose us and we love him for it
The Green Army Salute you!
So back to the start; BigAl and I met up with Bunnyman and Chelseaboy in the New Inn, we sat on the new seating arrangement, that BigAl requires a ladder to get on to I did take a photo, but thought better of posting a shot of 3 mens groins… I mean they’re all past a certain age
Speaking of groins, Chelseaboy told us all about his pre op checks from the previous day – now I thought this was a routine procedure he’s having…so why the groin swab??
BigAl was wincing until it was explained what the swab entailed, it a good job it wasn’t him getting the checks, imagine the look on the nurses face when she returned to retrieve the specimen
anyway, talking of specimens, we were now joined by RabC
Bunnyman reminded us of BH Mondays discussion on our best ever war film, it had clearly been playing on his mind… BigAl stuck with Memphis Belle, me with Saving Private Ryan and no surprise RabC offered up BraveHeart??
Mid conversation in a break with tradition, ChrisB walked in with his new (German) girlfriend Jule
*Jule, like most of my German friends has a wicked sense of humour and found this funny when BigAl mentioned it later (otherwise it would not have made the blog, we cannot aford to lose Green Army members
) So having supped a few bevvies – I was sticking to half pints of cider in order to pace myself – we headed off to Langford road at 2pm…
Crowie was amazed to see us so early and as you might imagine, made this known to us, he also refused to do me a half pint and so I was now on the ‘big boy’ pints A few of the Frome faithful had made the long journey up
but it was a pretty disapointing crowd for the last game…
Brownie came out to a guard of honour from the players and the 1st Waders no. 1 rendidtion of the game – there would be a few today after a few photo ops, Bunnyman, chelseaboy and I made for Brownies goal; BigAl and the others had all headed for the fairfield stand… I assured Bunnyman that it would only be a matter of time before they came to join us
On the way to Brownies Goal, I had a quick catch up with the lovely Mrs brownie and son… this was the only point today where I had tears, they are so proud of him and wouldn’t have missed today for anything You sometimes forget as a fan, the comitment the players put in and even more so the sacrifices their families make to support them in this.. So Mrs Brown we also salute you! and I’m sure you will find plenty of use for him on a Saturday
Mark Coulson also came today, with his beautiful baby girl, to watch Brownies final match; How I would love to see Couls back at the club!!
Just 3 minutes in and Tony Burnett made it 1-0 and the rest of the Green Army, RabC, GG, BigAl, Handlebar, ChrisB, Jule, Em, M and Delboy and Bozza came to join us (told you).
Every time Brownie touched the ball he got a Waders no.1 chant – I’m sure it wasn’t off putting at all luckily for Brownie, we would set up home in the BelEnd the 2nd half; did you know, there is apparently no translation for that in German??
Thank God for the half time whistle as Frome were starting to get back in the game. More drinks at half time and a raffle prize for Handlebar, which he duly shared out M pointed out that he had won the raffle just once this season….
Security brought the drum out to us for the 2nd half – probably because we were flagless – the under 11’s had taken the flags to Skeggy for a tournament.
All that I will say of the drum is… its probably been at the club for 10 years plus, Bunnyman had it for less than 10 minutes and erm…. accidents happen (I will post the photos)
Frome equalised via a penalty; Brownie actually saved it, but the striker then scored from the rebound – Never mind, the Green Army were now in party mode and so the next bits are a bit of a blur; Tony Burnett “We’ve got Burnett” put us back in front
Luke Emery made it 3 -1
As a nice touch Brownie was subbed and left the field to a standing ovation
Skipper CraigyD finished things off for the season with a simple tap in
74 points and 7th place in the SPL; Waders and Frome should be really pround, because at the start of the season both teams were predicted to be relegated
Back in the bar for afters, Nunny got the lads to hand out some fizz to the fans – a lovely touch, thanks Nunny unfortunately Crowie got hold of a bottle and sprayed anyone standing
TraceyD made a few old men very happy when she got on a stool to wipe the ceiling down, me, I went into manager mode and could only think H&S and risk assessments; I am please to say, apart from a few racing pulses, no one was harmed
We presented Brownie with some vintage bubbles, to mark a vintage career and our player of the season
So with barely any voice left, we headed home.
“We love you Waders we do”
See you next season, I’ll miss my Green Army mates over the summer – but I’m sure we’ll manage to meet up and some point
Oct 2016
On October 17th 2016 Chris ‘Nunny’ Nunn achieved a record breaking 10 years of managing the Waders
In my humble opinion (I’ve only been a Wader for the last 7 years…) it is the single most fantastic deal Chairman Maurice Dorrington ever made
and trust me, I doubt Maurice makes many bad ones
Waders were languishing at the bottom of the South Midlands premier league and just suffered another defeat when Chairman Mo made his move, sharing with Nunny his vision of achieving level 3 football in the next 10 years and doing it back on home soil; At this point the Waders were playing at Bedford Utd’s ground whilst Langford rd, the temple of non league football, was being created…
Nunny’s 1st game was 21st October 2006 and even though we lost, Nunny had faith and took his 1st win against Biggleswade Utd (who were then in the same league as us and the better side in Biggleswade)18 days later
Suffice to say Nunny kept his promise to Maurice and didn’t let the Waders go down, he took it right to the last game, but a win kept us up and Nunny ranks this as the greatest achievement in his 10 years in charge.
Nunny’s next season saw us hunting promotion, but just missing out in 3rd place. It was Nunny’s 3rd season when we finally moved home, into Langford road and boy was that a season Waders reached the quarter finals of the FA vase and achieved promotion to step 4 for the 1st time
The Nunny revolution was marching into town!!
A season of consolidation saw us finish mid table this season.
Season 2010/11 saw WaderBird freed from the shackles of children and able to enjoy non-league football at its very best. This season saw us push for the playoffs, finish 4th, but lose to Daventry
The next season was a little disapointing with us missing out on the playoffs, by now I was hooked
The following season was to be a massive achievement for Nunny, Maurice and the club Who will ever forget that balmy hot afternoon in Rugby
Maurice had realised his dream and the Waders were a step 3 club at last!!
Since then the Green Army have had so many good memories at this level, who can forget the FA cup run, the school bus, the arrival of the BelEnd, so many great away days and so many great characters both off and on the pitch.
Speaking of characters, Chris Nun is one of the most genuine guys I have met, he is charismatic, funny, charming, caring, knowledgable. Chris will alway go out of his way to make you feel special, he always takes time out to have a chat. Yes in my eyes, Nunny can do no wrong but, trust me this isn’t blind loyalty – this is a loyalty that is hard earned and well deserved; look at where this guy took us from.
I have met some wonderful friends at the Waders, some of whom are now counted amongst my closest; Without the Waders I would never have met these fabulous people, without the Waders I would never have met Nunny and I count Nunny as a friend
Ooo I nearly forgot to mention Nunny hugs – they are the best! but normally reserved for BigAl
Nunny you are the man!! you are a Wader legend and the GreenArmy salute you
The Longest Day
April 2016
Bideford v Waders
WaderBirds Player of Season – Ian Rees
Alcoholic units – 5…
Game Rating – 10 / 10
Attendance – 169
Green Army attendance yesterday:
- WaderBird
- Chelseaboy, Master of the witty one liners and WaderBirds footy partner in crime
- BigAl, WaderBirds trainspotting ‘annorak’ other half..
- Bunnyman, a bunnymen & astronomy obsessed fellow anorak
- MattyMouser, Son of Bunnyman, Joe Hart lookalike who does his best to look cool despite our best efforts to ruin that.
- Bozza, long suffering Waders merchandise seller and Biggleswades oldest paperboy
- ChrisB, Middle child syndrome
, Waders master song
plagiarisercomposer and my favourite aquarian… - JT, Biggleswades answer to Barry Norman, long suffering Charlton fan and typical Sagittarius..
- Sam, JT’s youngest, scored his 1st young Wader goal this week, Waders best dressed yesterday and a credit to his parents – 12 hours travelling and he didn’t moan once!
- M, our neighbour who had his annual hair / beard trim for yesterday and only I noticed – I think everyone else was furious he had the sergeant stripes
- Wessex, who came as an officer, out ranking (and drinking) all of us
- Dodger, Merthyr Towns adopted mascot and owner of the hand knitted green and white pullover..
Missing in action:
- Em, M’s long suffering daughter and my surrogate daughter
- BP Dan, Blackpool FC obsessed son of:
- Stirling, what he doesn’t know about the non-league isn’t worth knowing “When I was running Wembley”
- Handlebar, pensioner, hellraiser, funny as… I love this guy’s attitude to life
What difference a week and several hundred miles make! I woke up this morning, still high from the brilliant away day we had at Bideford yesterday The football wasn’t worthy of 10/10, but everything else was and so yesterday gets my vote of the season
You will also notice a slight change to the blog format, with the addition of a Green Army register; All Bozzas idea and hopefully ChrisB will read on as he has been mentioned twice already
It was an early start for the Green Army with the coach leaving at 6.45am from Langford rd, BigAl and I were up early and out of the house in plenty of time – it was odd walking the streets in full camo and we did get a few odd looks… I couldn’t wait to get to the ground and see Bunnymans big helmet luckily Bunnyman drove down and stopped to pick us up on the way having already scooped up Wessex, who was in a shirt and tie
I couldn’t believe that MattyMouser had gone along with the camo theme – although like myself, I suspect he had most of it in the wardrobe already… Bunnyman didn’t disappoint with his helmet, a proper one that had last been worn in the Vietnam conflict! In fact being the anorak that he is, he’d traced the original owner back to New York… Talking of anoraks, he also had a tripod thing with him that he’d sold to someone living in Bideford – would you believe?! And the guy was meeting him outside the ground today, to do the deal…
JT and Sam arrived just after us, Sam looking super cool in Camo and JT, well fitted.. Bozza and ChrisB were dropped off just after, both sporting helmets small enough for toy soldiers?? These were soon swapped for more fitting caps.. The coach set off with just us , the Count, the kit man and Chairman Mo – we would be picking most of the squad up and Nunny from Bedford, the others would make their own way down. We hadn’t even left Biggleswade before Bozza and BigAl and Bunnyman were talking trains, much to JT’s disgust
Nunny was quite subdued on the way down – nothing to do with a few sherbets the previous night and an ill advised curry… he did start to revive about 4 hours in.
The 6 hours journey down passed relatively quickly, with BigAl’s plane spotting, Chris Marsh’s football predictor (BigAl came so close), an expensive raffle that Wessex won, Moobs (I didn’t say whose) and loads more that has to stay ‘on tour’
On arrival at the ground – which is nestled inside a lovely town – Bunnyman was 1st off to greet his geeky mate, I later found out that whilst they were exchanging pleasantries, the astro geek had asked Bunnyman is he was a player….. Rather amusingly, later on he was asked if he was a director….? The clubhouse was nice and welcoming (even a stair lift supplied as it was on the 1st floor) and a very smart set up. Homer made an appearance to a chorus of “Who are ya! Who are ya!” we didn’t see him again..
Outside for the game we set up camp in the same stand as the regular Biddy supporters (but other end) and set to work trying to out chant each other. ChrisB came up with the genius new chant of “We’ve got Burnett, Tony Burnett, I just don’t think you understand…” *I hope it doesn’t go the same way as last season, when we did the same Max York who promptly left the Waders…
The match itself was played at a very slow pace and had a real end of season feel to it, with Biddy sadly already relegated and us happy to have got the hallowed 60 points and mid table place Nunny had targeted pre-season.
I did sample the culinary delights at Bideford, very nice to!
Back in the bar at the end of the game the Biddy supporters were in good spirits and we all mixed well; they even gave us a round of applause as we left – yes my faith in non-league was restored **BTW Hitchin had been in contact with me earlier, having heard some of the stuff that went on last week, I thought that was a really nice touch
Back home on the coach, Nunny led a karaoke session “Hey Jude”, JT and BigAl found they were likely separated at birth (so much in common), BigAl and Nunnys slow dance, ChrisB kept having to have his face paint topped up; he’s liking this make up lark, a lot.. I have much of the day photgraphed or videoed – watch this space.
We were eventually dropped in town at around 11.30pm, most of us sensible ones went straight home; ChrisB and Wessex were last seen heading towards the Whistle – I can report that on our walk this morning, we didn’t find either of them, so I’m guessing they found their respective ways home eventually.
It was a great day out yesterday, a great place, great support, FANTASTIC company and a great team that we follow – See you all next season!
I’m not sure if there will be an end of season bash, nothing has been mentioned; In light of this WaderBirds Player of the season goes to Ian Rees, who has been simply outstanding this season Tony Burnett was just behind, he might not of got player of the season, but 1 and a bit seasons in, and he already has his own song
#|WaderFamily
“Chrissy Nunn’s green and White Army”
May 2014
Sadly we have reached the end of the 2013/14 season our 1st in the SPL and boy oh boy we weren’t disappointed! So many great memories both off and on the pitch from the players, the management team and supporters alike
I thinks it’s fair to say, a cautious start was made to the season; from that fateful 1st home match to Bashley where we only managed a goalless draw – although how excited we all were to see our beloved Waders score update on soccer Saturday! Cambridge City was our 1st away day and proved to be a nail biter where Browney provided us with the start of a what was to be a season of great performances and steady hands not forgetting MG Lee Allinson’s super chip from just outside the area
Alas the long journey to Bideford (Me & Big Al followed this via twitter in a Norfolk pub garden) was to result in another draw. A good 4-1 win over Bedford town at the Langford road stadium was to be our 1st win in the SPL and also provided the 1st opportunity to buy a replica shirt… more on that later August 31st saw me, Big Al, Chelsea boy and ex pat Duffy spend a fantastic sunny afternoon at Poole – even the 2-1 defeat couldn’t dampen our spirits, what a great club and supporters
2 disappointing home games followed drawing to Burnham and losing 1-0 to Hungerford.
Big Al and I missed 2 FA cup 1st round qualifying games whilst sunning ourselves in Majorca (no replica shirts!) – Luckily John of Wessex provided the vital commentary via twitter, for which we were most grateful. Another draw was provided at Redditch away whilst we made our way back to sunny Blighty..?
The 2nd round qualifying saw us beat Chelmsford at home 2-0, leading to the Chelmsford supporters giving their team ‘what for’… This was also the match that would hear “Donners going to Wembley la la la la” for the 1st time – Who knew Bunnyman was so musical
Arlesey away was a 3-2 loss marred by a poor referee and the disgraceful taunting of our players, especially Cam, by the Arlesey ‘management team’ Fair play to Cam who showed dignity and class, this would not be the 1st time
. This is also where Tref got christened ‘The Armadillo hunter’
Home to Weymouth in October was to provide our 2nd league win this season – and the 1st time this season that me and Big Al would be the last ones standing in the club house after the game
The cup run gathered momentum with a fantastic 5-1 win over Leatherhead and a good crowd – The Green army had started to dream. Chesham in the FA Trophy was the next home game which we lost but who cares, our eyes were on the big PRIZE
Who can forget the fabulous Canvey game, not sure I ever will – from the moment we walked into a packed club house, we knew this was going to be something special, not least because our shirts had arrived (not Chelsea boys..), Donner’s winning goal and Big Al & bunnymans goal celebration that wasn’t, much to Matty Mousers disgust “Who put the ball in Canvey’s net, Donners, Donners!!” was born as well as “When Gents goes up, to lift the FA cup – we’ll be there!”… October finished with a good away win at Burnham which we did not make.
November Saw us play the mighty Stourbridge twice – the 1st meeting seeing us drop out of the FA cup 4-1 – but will the Green Army ever forget the school bus? Or the noise we made or the Russian roulette we played with the condensation
best still piling back to the Pembroke with Bunnyman, Big Al, Matter Mouser and TC to work on some more songs
… “There only 5 of us singing!!” Away to St.Neots was a 7 goal thriller and just the medicine we needed
we were to finished November with 3 more draws and a win.
December; It was good to beat Arlesey at our place but disappointing to lose to Banbury who weren’t the most pleasant of supporters (to be fair like most things it was just a few) A freezing cold Corby away day saw us draw again, no such luck at Hitchin where Brett’s brother took first blood – but we went into Xmas with a win against Chesham under our belts.
Boxing day was a brilliant away day for the green Army at Bedford Town – with the usual suspects (and Homer) being picked up from our favourite watering hole the Pembroke Arms what a great day we had, 5-1 helped
although I for one, did not want to see Bedford drop out of the SPL
. The year finished with a defeat at home to Cambridge City – who to be fair were looking ‘on fire’.
The new year brought buckets of rain and severely impacted fixtures – I’ll be honest I really started to lose momentum and I wasn’t alone
January only saw 2 league games – Chesham away was 1st after 13 long days, there weren’t many of us stood out there in the cold, at 1 point just me Big Al and Gordy & Carol; It wasn’t a pretty game by any means and no surprise we came away with no points. The rain meant it was to be another big gap in games, but thankfully we beat Frome at home.
February also saw just the 2 matches, both away; A beating from Hemel and a nil all draw with Frome.
March was to see 5 draws, a win and a loss; St Albans were less than impressed to be held to a draw by us?
9 matches were played in April to catch up the shortfall 5 wins, just the one draw and 3 losses – but what a way to finish, beating the champions 5-2!!
So how about some End of Season awards? – Please be aware these are my thoughts (with some green army input) and in no way associated with the club or committee:
Biggest Wader Gob
Bunnyman
Waders preferred Watering hole (pre-match)
- Pembroke Arms
Funniest Quote
- “He’s t!tting her up!”
Closely followed by
- “Hit the Hooorse!”
Best Laugh at a game
Chesham Trophy game – Green army playground humour (see above); I’m pointing no fingers…
Biggest Anoraks
To close to call between Big Al and Bunnyman
Most knowledgeable non leaguer
Dan’s dad Roy (what he doesn’t know, isn’t worth knowing!)
Most patient Wader
- Chelsea Boy – Still waiting for his replica shirt
- Matty Mouser – for putting up with us oldies
Knight In Shining Amour
Soulman, for saving me on more than 1 occasion!
Best Goal
Lee Reed – 30yd drive in last seconds against Stourbridge 2-2
Best Save
The Bashley away game from a Cam Mawer header
Unsung Hero
Dave ‘Homer’ Simpson – Does so much for the club, always friendly and only he would be forgiven for the school bus debarcle…
Best game
- Last game of season win against Hemel
- Canvey Island
Best Hair
- Lee Reed
- Donners
3. Lee Smith, Sam Reed
Best present
The photo of Bretts ‘200th’ presentation via Big Dave K – which has pride of place on the wall at home (not the loo!)
Best Banter
Joel Mason
Best Green Army ‘song’
- “Joel Mason – Discotheque”
Best visiting away supporters
- Canvey Island – Top tunes and banter (and drank bar dry)
- Hemel
Best away supporters
- Poole Town – Brilliant, friendly and welcoming! (Cheap beer)
- Stourbridge – Great banter!
Best away Ground
Hitchin Town – Loved the character and charm, a proper old fashioned non-league ground!
Most underrated player
Cam Mawer
Waders Legend (s)
Brett Donnelly (Where to start??) and of course Captain Fantastic. Credit to the club and a true leader on and off the pitch.
Player of the Year
Based on how many MoM’s I awarded in the 36 games I watched
- Browney, Sam Reed & Twinny all got 5
- Craig Daniels & Lee Allinson received 4 each
- Lee Reed got 3
So if I had to pick out of the top 3 – for me it has to be Twinny as he’s been immense and the couple of hugs I’ve received from him have done nothing to influence this…
Best Manager in the SPL (& probably the world)
No contest really! Chris Nunn is a living legend I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – this guy can do no wrong! – This time last year, promotion to the SPL and finishing 9th place in it, not to mention the FA cup run we had, would have been too much to even imagine; Well we did more than imagine it – we the Green Army lived and loved every second of it
On top of all of that Mr Nunn is a TOP BLOKE, never to busy or important for a chat and a laugh
I have had a blast this season and would like thank the all of the Green Army for making it such a pleasure, I have met some brilliant people and made made some very special friends
and I’m sorry I haven’t mentioned every single one of you – I do have a day job and wanted to get this done before Friday 16th, and the pub is calling!
Thankyou Maurice & Thankyou Waders for the best season ever!!
Waders Green Army Blog by WaderBird 