October 2022 round-up and review

Well, another month, another new Prime Minister. Time will tell whether this will be an improvement. At the moment it feels like more of the same corruption and cruelty. 

However, while the news was full of politics, our personal news was that we resumed gig-going after a few pandemic-filled years. I've already blogged about the gig we went to in the middle of the month in Manchester, when we heard Counting Crows return to form. At the end of the month, we saw another long-term favourite, when Tony Wright, the singer from Terrorvision, visited Le Pub in Newport on part of his acoustic tour.

Being a very small venue we could get photos with him afterwards. We also got him to sign a copy of his new album. 

And yes, he did play some classic Terrorvision songs including a thumping version of Alice, What;s the Matter? that had the audience singing along. 

Something I first noticed when we went to see Garbage in 2015 was that the audience of gigs from bands that were big when Cathy and I were in our early 20s all seem to have aged at the same rate as we have! This was no different. We were probably some of the young 'uns. 

I went to four football matches in October, starting with Shrewsbury's game away in Cheltenham.  

It was a disappointing game for Shrewsbury fans, but I did get to sit to my old school friend Chris who was there with his son.

On the way in I also noticed this well-stickered sign bearing labels stuck there by fans from lots of different teams 

(I actually tripped on the step on the way out of the ground. Despite this sign!)

My next game was another Shrewsbury game, at home against the team from Milton Keynes that are pariahs in the game. We went to this as a belated ninth birthday celebration for my eldest nephew, Zac. The game we had planned to attend nearer his birthday, in September, got cancelled after the Queen passed away. 

Quite a gang of us went, including my mum and Cathy as well. Zac had invited some mates along and they all got to meet Lenny the Lion.

My final game of the month was in Portsmouth to watch Shrewsbury again. I drove down the morning after the Tony Wright gig and met my friend Tom who moved there last year to do a ship-building course. We took the obligatory selfie with a sign for Fratton Park in the distance. 

Afterwards I realised I knew those two cops doing the high viz photobomb. One of them, Chris, grew up round the corner from me in Shrewsbury. 

I liked Fratton Park, which was both large and somehow quite open. We were behind one goal - with a decent view when play was down our end. We saw Portsmouth score in front of us. We almost saw Shrewsbury score too, from this corner. 

And I managed to capture the split second after a Portsmouth defender had cleared the ball with his hand. It should have been a penalty but the ref didn't see it. Everyone behind the goal did though!

The game finished 1-1, a creditable draw for Shrewsbury.

The fourth game I saw was Barry beating Llanelli, which meant Barry went top of the league! Here's hoping they can stay there. 

Play offs in the pub

I went to The Grange pub last night to watch the mighty Shrews take on MK Dons in the League Two play offs and Sky’s surprisingly unpatronising coverage of a fairly dull, if fast-paced, scoreless draw. The pitch, now free of ducks and even swans, was muddy, but held up reasonably well in what will be the last ever Town game on it.

I did feel nostalgic though, as the cameras panned around a ground I know so well, lingering on the crumbling terraces, the trees above the stands, and the parochial advertising hoardings, while the commentators dutifully reminded us that this was the last game at Gay Meadow after 97 years…

So farewell then, the family stand, where as a lucky mascot I watched Town decimate Grimsby in the old second division; goodbye Christmas Steel Stockholders, the blue ad sign on the Wakeman End where me and Jim used to stand during our sixth form years; arrivederci the Riverside, with its tiny snack bar and stinky bogs.

It’s the end of an era. And I watched it live on Sky in a run down pub where no one cared. Except me.

Two games away from Wembley

A last minute equaliser in Town's last ever league game at Gay Meadow means they face MK Dons rather than the considered easier opponent Lincoln City (hmmm) in the play offs. But it also means they've finished in their highest league position since FKHL*. And if they can get a result against 'Franchise FC' (and stranger things have happened) on May 26 they'll be running out onto the gleaming green grass of the all new Wembley.

So, if you're free on May 26 and want to come with me, let me know. The good news is that tipping up for a Shrewsbury match, even at Wembley, can in no way be considered glory-hunting.

*F knows how long