A Corner Kick From The Middle of Nowhere

[Coffin Ender]

This book arrived in the post this morning. It is a Hereford fan's account of their nine years in the Conference and Margate features a couple of times.

 

Here are some extracts from the chapter about the game at Hartsdown in February 2003 called 'Down to Margate. No, Dover. No, Margate.' (That's a reference to the fact that the game was originally supposed to have been at Crabble but was moved to Hartsdown due to their pitch problems.)

 

"On an eerily deserted seafront, there it was, neatly sandwiched between an empty amusement arcade and a closed chip shop. Yes, there is, in Margate, a pub called the Mechanical Elephant, and it showed the only signs of life for hundreds of yards around...

 

"Hartsdown Park, given the alleged redevelopment, was in remarkably good shape, with perfect playing surface, half-decent facilities, and not a concrete mixer in sight. Safe enough to remove our tin hats, we watched some left-footed magic from Rose and Pazza deliver the points and third place in the Conference.

"And Margate itself? A ghost town, very different from the sunny resort of last season's Bank Holiday encounter, but in a strangely quiet way, better for it."

 

I'm yet to find any reference to the 3-2 win at Edgar Street that season and Phil Collins' amazing goal!

 

Written by Mitch Stansbury, the book costs £8.99 from Offside Publishing.