A not-so-exciting taste of the league above

[Kearsley Pilgrim]

I was in London at the weekend for the NFL at Wembley on Sunday, so on Saturday afternoon decided to go to the National League Premier Division match at Borehamwood. It was virtually a derby match as Woking (40 miles or so away) were the visitors. Well what a shock it turned out to be.

The quality of the football wasn’t anywhere near as good as I thought it might be, the atmosphere in the ground was as flat as the proverbial pancake and the crowd…well what crowd. Borehamwood, in the top half of the table and in the 1st Round of the FA Cup, and they couldn’t attract 300 fans to watch them. The attendance was announced as 405 ……and 120 of those were Woking fans.

As the players were ready to kick-off, and the music was turned off, I thought I’d gone deaf for a second or two. No noise from anywhere. No ‘C’mon’ shouts of encouragement. Absolutely nothing…complete silence. My friend and I looked at each other and thought ‘Are they having a minute’s silence?’ and then almost broke out in laughter it was that comical.

The standard of the football was dreadful at times as Woking went 1-0 up. Should have had more really but some of the shooting was abysmal. They had Matt Tubbs in the team (one of Mr Evans’ stars whilst at Crawley) and only he seemed to have any idea. Borehamwood came out 0-1 down for the start of the second half and did have a decent 10-12 minute spell and scored two nice goals before switching off again to go back in to their coma. With time running out you’d have expected Woking to push for an equaliser but, despite plenty of possession, only once looked like scoring. A clever free kick ended with them hitting the post…but the afternoon was summed up nicely when Garry Hill (remember him?) substituted Tubbs. Two of the Woking players shook their heads and you could hear one say to the other ‘What the f*ck’s going on?’ So a 2-1 win for the home team, and if you wanted to buy a ticket for next Sunday’s FA Cup match v Notts County….well you buy one from 'behind the bar in the social club after the match'. Needless to say we didn’t bother, and headed to the Wetherspoons on Borehamwood’s high street for a much needed pint.

Very interesting to see what perhaps lies in store if we ever get promoted, but I was glad I went 'coz  my conclusion to the afternoon was that perhaps we don’t have it so bad after all!! And, as a ‘bonus’, we got to see the set of Eastenders, which is only a couple of hundred yards or so from Borehamwood’s ground.

[Cavalier]

I was in London at the weekend for the NFL at Wembley on Sunday, so on Saturday afternoon decided to go to the National League Premier Division match at Borehamwood. It was virtually a derby match as Woking (40 miles or so away) were the visitors. Well what a shock it turned out to be.

The quality of the football wasn’t anywhere near as good as I thought it might be, the atmosphere in the ground was as flat as the proverbial pancake and the crowd…well what crowd. Borehamwood, in the top half of the table and in the 1st Round of the FA Cup, and they couldn’t attract 300 fans to watch them. The attendance was announced as 405 ……and 120 of those were Woking fans.

As the players were ready to kick-off, and the music was turned off, I thought I’d gone deaf for a second or two. No noise from anywhere. No ‘C’mon’ shouts of encouragement. Absolutely nothing…complete silence. My friend and I looked at each other and thought ‘Are they having a minute’s silence?’ and then almost broke out in laughter it was that comical.

The standard of the football was dreadful at times as Woking went 1-0 up. Should have had more really but some of the shooting was abysmal. They had Matt Tubbs in the team (one of Mr Evans’ stars whilst at Crawley) and only he seemed to have any idea. Borehamwood came out 0-1 down for the start of the second half and did have a decent 10-12 minute spell and scored two nice goals before switching off again to go back in to their coma. With time running out you’d have expected Woking to push for an equaliser but, despite plenty of possession, only once looked like scoring. A clever free kick ended with them hitting the post…but the afternoon was summed up nicely when Garry Hill (remember him?) substituted Tubbs. Two of the Woking players shook their heads and you could hear one say to the other ‘What the f*ck’s going on?’ So a 2-1 win for the home team, and if you wanted to buy a ticket for next Sunday’s FA Cup match v Notts County….well you buy one from 'behind the bar in the social club after the match'. Needless to say we didn’t bother, and headed to the Wetherspoons on Borehamwood’s high street for a much needed pint.

Very interesting to see what perhaps lies in store if we ever get promoted, but I was glad I went 'coz  my conclusion to the afternoon was that perhaps we don’t have it so bad after all!! And, as a ‘bonus’, we got to see the set of Eastenders, which is only a couple of hundred yards or so from Borehamwood’s ground.

Thanks for that KP.  Makes us realise that what we have isn't as bad as some on here keep banging on about.  The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

[The Third Twin]

On the other hand, matches with Lincoln, York, Tranmere, etc whet the appetite, don't they? Settling for second best in case it's boring just doesn't sound right to me.

[Cavalier]

On the other hand, matches with Lincoln, York, Tranmere, etc whet the appetite, don't they? Settling for second best in case it's boring just doesn't sound right to me.

I wasn't saying I don't want us to get promoted, I was referring to KP's post about some clubs in higher positions than us and yet have poor and unenthusiastic crowds and serving up rather mediocre football.  Please don't try to put your own negative spin on it.

[York Street Pilgrim]

On the other hand, matches with Lincoln, York, Tranmere, etc whet the appetite, don't they? Settling for second best in case it's boring just doesn't sound right to me.

I wasn't saying I don't want us to get promoted, I was referring to KP's post about some clubs in higher positions than us and yet have poor and unenthusiastic crowds and serving up rather mediocre football.  Please don't try to put your own negative spin on it.

The fact that some clubs punch over their own weights whilst others under-achieve is surely just part of football? Look at Bournemouth and Hull City in the Premier League and then at Newcastle, Leeds and quite a few others in the Championship. Good luck to Borehamwood for as long as they can sustain their place in Conference Premier - on the balance of probability they won't be in that division forever and obviously they've got to adopt a style of play that gives them the best chance of staying there. I'd happily share a league with them if it meant also going to some of the other places in that division.

[The Third Twin]

On the other hand, matches with Lincoln, York, Tranmere, etc whet the appetite, don't they? Settling for second best in case it's boring just doesn't sound right to me.

I wasn't saying I don't want us to get promoted, I was referring to KP's post about some clubs in higher positions than us and yet have poor and unenthusiastic crowds and serving up rather mediocre football.  Please don't try to put your own negative spin on it.

I'm not negative - personally, i thought you were