Cold in Carlisle and why John Barnes is wrong

Alex, me and Wolves (and England) hero Steve Bull.

So this blog entry has an overtly footballing theme. For those who don't wish to read on any further then please feel free to return at a later date.

Yesterday I underwent what I would consider my rite of passage. It's generally seen as a ceremony which marks the transition from one phase of life to another. In Jewish culture for example it's a Bar Mitzvah - in the life of a Wolverhampton Wanderers fan, it's a League One, Tuesday-night trip to Carlisle in November.
Brunton Park was the setting and in some ways the fact we didn't lose disappoints me slightly. For the next thirty years I can say 'I was there on a Tuesday night in Carlisle when we were in the third tier of English football'. 

The only thing which would make that statement sound more painful and therefore demonstrate my commitment and love for the club more, would be to say 'I was there on a Tuesday night in Carlisle when we were in the third tier of English football - and we lost".

That's three down - seven to go

Nonetheless, I can lord it over future generations of Wolves fans until I die. In fact, I expect my obituary to say 'He loved his hometown team so much, he even went to Carlisle on a Tuesday night in November' and so on.

The football was forgettable, the ground was old school and getting my photo taken with my boyhood idol, Steve Bull, made the biting Cumbrian wind worthwhile.

#28 on my list is to visit 10 new football grounds. Alongside Brighton and Stafford Rangers that's three down, seven to go.

John Barnes

To some he was a wing wizard, a pioneering black footballer who set the game alight at Vicarage Road, Anfield and the Maracana; scoring arguably England's greatest goal against Brazil in the year I was born.

Barnes in his Liverpool heyday

For me - he was the slightly overweight, coming-to-the-end-of-his-career journeyman who I remembered most for his contribution to England's 1990 World Cup song; New Order's 'World In Motion'.

He was also the man responsible for one of the finest newspaper headlines of all time: “Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.” His ill-fated managerial tenure at one the biggest clubs in Europe, and his later failure at Tranmere Rovers has arguably tarnished what was an outstanding career. 

Barnes was an unmitigated failure at Celtic then later Tranmere

To some, his failure to get other managerial posts has been linked to the fact he's black and an endemic racist culture which exists in English football. Or perhaps it's simply that Barnes now joins a long and illustrious list of former great players who simply weren't cut out for management; and I include the likes of Billy Wright and Bobby Moore on that list.

Yesterday Barnes published a lengthy piece in the Guardian about racism - albeit "unconscious racism" in the English game.

It's a serious issue - one which needs to be dealt with and one which, in my opinion, has come on in leaps and bounds over the past twenty years. But it's an emotive issue - which I often feel is hampered by articles like the one Barnes has penned - and like the self-anointed spokespeople on race issues in football - 'The Society of Black Lawyers' who castigated England manager Roy Hodgson recently for a NASA-based team talk which quite clearly wasn't racist. It's instances like this which derail the legitimate cause of eliminating racism from our national game.

Barnes starts his article by saying "I'm not interested in what happened to Yaya Touré at CSKA Moscow". Well I am John. Russia has been selected to host the World Cup in 2018 - and with the prominent international coverage of homophobia and hate crimes in that country ahead of next year's Winter Olympics, I think we have a duty to expose the intolerant underbelly of nations like this and use international public opinion to try and instigate societal change.

I'm no fan of Peter Odemwingie -
but his treatment from fans in Moscow was appalling. 

That said, I understand what Barnes is trying to say - let's get our own house in order first. I agree - but he fails to recognise the strides made to eliminate racism in grounds across the country which was so prevalent in years gone by. Black players in the 1980s were victims of horrific racist abuse - abuse which is fortunately seldom heard nowadays. It's no longer deemed the norm by society. Yes, some fans will harbour those unsavoury and bilious opinions, of course they will, but they won't air them so freely as popular opinion has marginalised them.

Barnes then goes on to say that "any black person who has been successful, particularly Obama, has been lifted out of blackness and stands as the exception." To undermine, and in one sentence dismiss, one of the greatest and most progressive steps forward for black rights across the globe seems to me to be both foolish and ill-advised. When it comes to role models for young members of the black community surely Obama, leader of the free-world, should be heralded as a hero and someone to which all black youngsters should aspire to emulate?

Barnes then goes on to say that "there is nothing racist about an open, honest dialogue" - couldn't agree more John. But what he then went on to say astounds me: "it is certainly more productive then pointing the finger at the CSKA Moscow fans, or at Luis Suárez or John Terry, and demanding they are punished." Wrong John, just plain wrong.

Could you imagine the outcry (and rightly so) had the FA come out and chosen not to ban Terry and Suarez but instead send them on a cultural diversity awareness course."It would be far better if instead of banning them and demonising them, the Football Association aimed to educate them...". In this ill-thought out statement, Barnes appears to have absolved Terry and Suarez from any personal responsibility. Blaming society for their abhorrent ignorance is a cop-out John - and I hope our judiciary don't take a similar line the next time an EDL activist or an Islamic extremist is up in the dock for inciting racial hatred and intolerance.

The press were rightly outraged at Toure's treatment in Russia

Barnes is spot-on when he says "tackling racism is a long and complicated process" but he dismisses Toure's abuse in Moscow as "one-off incidents". But they're not John. Black players have been racially abused in Eastern Europe for years and UEFA and FIFA have failed to exert enough pressure on these countries, by either sufficiently fining them or throwing them out of competitions. If I remember, expelling English teams from European competitions in the 1980s had the desired effect of drastically reducing hooliganism abroad. 

Yes perceptions need to change - yes more needs to be done. Yes, education from a young age is key. We haven't eradicated racism from our society and from the response of clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea in the wake of the Terry and Suarez sagas, we haven't fully eradicated it from our national game. But maintaining a balanced, mainstream dialogue is just as important. If former players like Barnes want to really make a difference then condemn those who jump on the bandwagon and who undermine the legitimate cause to grab a few sound bites and few sensationalist headlines. They are doing more harm than good.
In my next blog I put forward my plan for world peace and give my insight to the whereabouts of Lord Lucan.

A light-hearted return next time I promise.

Here's a great song by a great Wulfrunian and former Highfields student...

They Think It's All Over - well my playing days probably are now - #19 on my list

They Think It's All Over - well my playing days probably are now - #19 on my list

Number 19 - my childhood dream. To step out on the pitch at Molineux - and score a goal.

I spent years as a kid wondering what it would be like. Literally dreaming sometimes of pulling on the famous old gold and black of my home city and scoring the winning goal in a cup final. But, alas, my talent was never quite enough to take me to that level - but I did score a few in my time (as well missing an awful lot too!).

But today - that was all going to change.

Today - I was going to step out on the pitch, flanked by my two big brothers, Ian and Alex - to play on the pitch that I've admired for more than twenty years (apart from that one season with Glenn Hoddle when it had some sort of fungal infection).

It was nice to have Mom and Dad there too. I'm sure they were quite proud to see their boys run out on the field of play together. Dad gave up hours of his time when we growing up to coach us and our friends - and Mom, well, our washing machine took a bit of a hammering over the years - and she was rather good at selling raffle tickets at half time in the lashing rain against Oldswinford and Trysull Tigers. Although mom's still have a way of embarassing you. One memory leaps to mind. A Sunday afternoon match at Windsor playing fields and I've just launched one of my trademark hoof balls down the other end of the pitch when I hear my mom shout "Jamie, why did you do that - you're shooting the wrong way". I then had to explain that at half time you swap ends. Oh well.

As for the match - I didn't feel I could pen an accurate reflection on my performance - so instead let me hand over to my first guest blogger - Adam Shakespeare:

"At 1pm on a fine Bank Holiday Monday, twenty-two strangers (mostly) emerged from the tunnel onto the finest pitch in League 1 football. Three of those men were the Angus brothers; united to play the beautiful game as a momentous occasion and for the youngest sibling, Jamie, to fulfil number 19 on his list of 30 things to do before he’s 30; score a goal at Molineux. Just like his namesake on his shirt, Maierhoffer, it seemed Jamie was unlikely to score at first, based on the warm-up. But we shall put that down to nerves. He took his place as left-back and it was fair to say, he was a very attacking player. He was this team’s Glen Johnson. Unfortunately the opposition took an early lead, and you got the impression this bunch of strangers were not as new to each other as our home side. Once he got his momentum however, Angus Jr was making some nice moves including a bone-crunching, efficient but fair tackle to close down an attack from the away side. In fact, all Angus brothers were squaring up to be pretty good defensive players. Half time came and the afternoon heat was already taking its toll (it was doing the same to the spectators too!) When the players emerged, fresh on tactics and energy, Jamie took position further up the field as “Wing Wizard”, as he liked to called himself, and was producing some quality runs and crosses from the left wing. As one spectator commented, “he takes a good corner”, and it was true. One of which almost went into the goal, had the keeper not tipped it over the bar. However, one of the many great corners led to the goal scored by the home side. If the quality up-front had met that of the support from the team as a whole, the home side’s striker would have scored at least 3 more goals and won the match. However, there were a couple sitters that should have been buried in the net, but fatigue had set in and alas, it was not meant to be.   The final whistle blew, our home side were unlucky, and number 19 had not been achieved. However, I did hear one person say, “it’s the best game here all season”, which was actually pretty plausible. But there was one thing left to do….

Angus is running up the left wing, switches to the right, the goal is in sight….. They think it’s all over, it is now."

 

*Irritatingly I can't embed the video - but here's proof that I did eventually achieve #19 on my list.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...sort of

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...sort of

Well they do say blondes have more fun.

Well, I've just returned home from my very first trip to the seaside city of Brighton.

What we had hoped last July would be a celebratory trip, basking in the May Day Bank Holiday sunshine with Wolves reclaiming its rightful spot amongst England's footballing elite, turned out to be cold, drizzly and quite frankly miserable.

Football, like religion, is completely illogical. As an atheist, I can dismiss the latter - but for some unknown reason the faith and belief in the former is unwavering and defies logic. With the one I can dismiss it through lack of empirical evidence - yet despite years of soul searching, anguish and torment, my devout following of my football club remains steadfast. Years of evidence points to little but disappointment, angst and emotional dishrevellement ahead. But year after year, disappointment after disappointment, I turn up at the holy golden shrine week in week out.


You stupid boy.
One down - nine to go. Decent pie at the AMEX too

I - as with all Wolves fans, am stupid. For you see Einstein famously defined stupidity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert had clearly been to Molineux on a Tuesday night after a bore draw against Swindon Town.

Our season has been pitiful from start to finish. There's something toxic running through the heart of the club. The fans are bewildered and shellshocked. Twelve months ago today we were lining up to face Everton in the Premier League - by August we'll have pencilled in away trips to Crawley, Leyton Orient and Yeovil. Never in my living memory have we been in the third tier of English football.




I was honoured to meet Steve Morgan
and Jez Moxey prior to kick off

Much has been written about Wolves' demise - reality is I don't think anyone knows what's happened. The fans are split between blaming the owner, the Chief Executive, successive managers, the players - and dare I say this, we fans have probably played our own small part too. A whole catalogue of disastrous decisions has led to this - and where we go from here, I'm not sure anyone knows.

On the positive side - I got soaking wet and spent the coldest night of my life in a tent.

Yet despite the agony of a second successive relegation I witnessed something yesterday which gave me hope. Not particularly in Wolves - but in Brighton & Hove Albion.

What a wonderful club it is. A lovely new stadium, a good team and manager, and a club which has a real feel of the community about it. I really hope they reach the Premier League this year - it feels like a city which deserves it.

I read a really interesting article this week by the Secret Footballer. If Brighton secure top flight football this season perhaps the taboo subject of gay footballers will finally come to the fore. We're in 2013 and yet there are no professional footballers who are out. Of 92 football league clubs-  each with a squad of around 30 - statistics dictate that there must be a sizeable gay community. Yet, in the shadow of poor Justin Fashanu, footballers are still not ready to come out. Brighton is a city which appears to wear its reputation as the gay capital of the UK as a badge of honour. If they reach the top - perhaps the issue of homophobia in the game will finally be addressed. After a sad week as a Wolves fan - I was pleased that I didn't hear any homophobic abuse towards the Brighton crowd...gives me hope that our club isn't completely poisonous after all.

But all is not lost - I managed to visit a new football league ground - only 9 more to go until I complete #28 on my list.

So despite ruining my weekend (or indeed entire season), tomorrow I shall forgive them. In fact, I shall once again be in awe of that club. For tomorrow I shall attempt to achieve number 19 on my list: Score a goal on the pitch at Molineux.

At 1pm I'll set foot on the hallowed turf for the first ever time. I'll line up alongside my brothers, Ian and Alex, to play in a friendly match against a group of other fans. The cynic in me says it's the club's final chance to squeeze a few quid out of the fans before the season ends. But I'll park my cynicism for a moment - this could be my chance - my chance to step over those white lines and plant the ball high into the roof of the net. It will be a childhood dream come true. Ok - I won't have 28,000 home fans screaming my name in adulation as I jump over the advertising hoardings and into the South Bank, kissing the badge - but I'm sure my mom will be ever so proud.

However much pain and angst the club causes - and as a fan I've never felt so disconnected with my club as I do right now - I know that most will be forgiven as I set foot inside that famous ground tomorrow.

I'll let you know how it goes.

But in the meantime - I'll leave you with this - from Brighton's most famous musical export...

turned out to

A childhood dream to become reality? #19

A childhood dream to become reality? #19

For as long as I can remember football has been a huge part of who I am.



My first sticker album

Collecting Panini (and later Merlin) sticker albums were some of the best memories I have about growing up. Buying packs of 5 stickers for 25p from the newsagents at the bottom of Hollybush Lane on a Friday afternoon after school, was the highlight of my week. Taking them home, opening them carefully (too eager and you rip the stickers inside) then dividing them into 'gots' and 'needs'. And the sheer excitement when you got a 'shiny' sticker. I'm sure that one shiny alone could command a trade of at least ten normal stickers in the market place that was Springdale Junior school's playground. And, of course there we always one or two 'swops' you had about twenty of - in my case, Gary Penrice of QPR and Ian Bishop of West Ham.

I literally spent hours studying the albums - in fact, when I was struck down with whooping cough at Junior school I spent weeks convalescing doing nothing but studying the information in those albums. It's why I now know the name of practically every football league ground. Sad, I know, but when you're whooping up a lung at the age of 8 there's little else to do to pass the time.

Still, I digress. I can't be certain what my first game at Molineux was...it seems such a long time ago. I think we played Blackburn Rovers...or Bristol Rovers. Similar names, similar kits - and I was about six at the time. I think we lost.

The ground looked an awful lot different - awful being the operartive word here. Only two sides of the ground were open - I sat in the Family Enclosure in the then John Ireland Stand with my dad, and my two brothers, Ian and Alex. The seats were faded red and the whole place looked dreadful. I loved it.

The fact it was so bad also meant that community teams like Windsor Boys could book the ground at the end of the season for their 'end of season football festival'. My brothers both got to play on the pitch (Alex scored some screamers in the much anticipated penalty shoot out competition - he still has the video footage somewhere at home).

I remember watching from the stands thinking, next year - that'll be me. It wasn't.

Jack Hayward rebuilt Molineux and clubs like Windsor were priced out of hiring the ground. Instead, I got to grace the hallowed turf at Bilston Town (right - clearly so annoyed with being at Bilston Town I did not want to be photographed) or, in a good year, Noose Lane - home of the mighty Willenhall Town FC. Somehow it was never quite the same.

Over the years I have come to accept that I will never run out at Molineux. I will never score that winning goal and get to kiss the badge...or will I?

Number 19 on my list reads... "Score a goal on the pitch at Molineux".

So, on 6th May, Ian, Alex and I are taking part in an end of season match at Molineux. Unbeknown to me at the time or writing my list, the club have introduced a new scheme which allow fans to buy a place in a team and play a match at Molineux at the end of the season. Well, this week I heard that we've made the team. We might be £99 worse off for the privilege - but can you put a price on fulfilling a childhood dream?

"While we're living, the dreams we have as children fade away". These lyrics have, over recent years, really struck a chord with me  - but, as I hope this '30 Things before 30' challenge will prove, maybe they don't have to fade away at all - maybe you just have to really want to do it?