Kidderminster v Slough

[GlenSTFC]

17 minutes ago, Irishadrian said:

RR it was Scott's stated intention at the start of the season to aim for the playoffs  repeated several times since  I don't recall any member suggesting promotion was possible ! Winning isn't  everything but losing isn't anything!

Don’t think any fans (at the start) realistically expected making the play offs let alone promotion this season. Strangely nearly every player interview this season has had the player state the squads aim is the play offs. It’s been quite obvious for a while we were thin on defensive players and I guess these 9 goals conceded in the last 2 have forced Scott’s hand. Be interesting to see what players come in and hopefully they can step in straight away and make a difference. 

[Holyport Rebel]

There is a song us olden's know called
"What a difference a day makes."
I'm not sure about the difference a day makes , but what a difference 27 years makes.
Back in 1998 I walked out of Aggborough after a well deserved 1-0 win thinking only good thoughts about Kidderminster.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I walked out of the same ground after a well deserved 4-0 thumping with not so rose-tinted views on the same club.
I like to believe that I'm mature enough to think that my post match views are not just based on the score line.
Don't get me wrong, Aggborough is a fantastic ground nowadays.
Two tremendous standing terraces behind the two goals, with very impressive stands running down both sides of the pitch.
( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) 
How wonderful would it be for Slough to have anything like what Kidderminster have ?
We've got a clock so it's a start !
But....................................
the Aggborough of 2025 was missing something that the Aggborough of 1998 had.
That....................... "spark".
I'll come back to that "spark" shortly, but first I have only one thing to say about the 90+ minutes of football that we watched yesterday.
I have absolutely no pleasure at all in highlighting one incident in the game, that I felt summed up our performance on the day.
It happened in the second half, and to me it had no place being seen in a game played in a match on a park, let alone at our level.
It must have been halfway through the second half, and Scott had the ball at least 45 yards  from the Kidderminster goal.
He just let fly with an almighty thwack of the ball, which ended up at least 30 yards high and wide of the Kidderminster goal.
This wasn't an attempted chip of the goalie, ( who was standing well inside his area anyway), which incredibly Scott has done several times in the past.
This was just a wild, futile booting of the ball, caused I guess by total frustration by the way the match had gone.
Scott is so much better than this.
He knows it.
We the fans, know it.
I just thought it set a terrible message to the rest of our players, and to us fans too.
If I was a Kidderminster player or fan ,seeing the opposition resort to tactics such as those, I would know that the opposition felt they had been totally and comprehensively outplayed on the day. 
We were mind you, but seeing that silly attempt wasn't good.

When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.
Of course not.
There was though a "member's club" just around the corner behind one of the stands that we could use.
After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme, I headed off with others to this "member's club", in what was a quite chilly temperature that was only fractionally above freezing.
Reaching this establishment, I got told that I would have to pay £2 to have the pleasure to enter and use their facilities.
Call me petty, but having already paid over the odds for a match programme there was no way I was going to pay £2 just to get inside the building, despite it being cold outside.
Others paid it, I damn well wasn't going to !
I thought I'd go around to the away section and get inside the ground and wait there for the game to start.
It wouldn't feel so cold I thought with a roof over my head.
I got to the away turnstiles, and found they were all shut.
I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.
Almost every club we visit open their turnstiles at 1.30, but not this "big and grand " one.
Very fortunately, the supporters coach was only parked 20 yards away, and Amy the driver let about 20 of us Slough fans on the coach to keep warm until the stadium gates opened.
On the coach the only conversations you could hear were moans about the way Kidderminster were dealing with us away fans.
As well as a very expensive match programme, Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.
I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible, and later on I heard moans about the availability of items at the only food outlet in the away section of the ground that we were in.
I spoke earlier about the "spark" that was missing from my previous visit to Kidderminster 27 years ago.
This "spark" has been noticeably absent from our visits recently to Bromley, Woking and Boreham Wood.
Anyone notice a similarity between these clubs?
In the 80's I had a season ticket at a big Premier League team, and went to most of their away games too.
As an away fan in that era, I was treated as scum.
No other word for it.
These are different times now, and I don't for one second think that Kidderminster thought of us as badly as that.   
The stewards I spoke to were all polite and mostly friendly, but I had a definite feeling that Kidderminster the club felt we were , let's say, "unwanted undesirables".
Perhaps I overthink things too much.
It felt the same, and sometimes a lot, lot worse, at some of the other three clubs that I've mentioned above.
It seems to me that the "spark" that I enjoy and like so much experiencing at Slough matches home and away, has been extinguished and replaced by what I can only call "professionalism" at these richer and extremely ambitious non-league clubs. 
I was prepared to be regarded at away grounds in my 20's as unwanted and unwelcome.
Do I want that now I'm in my mid-sixties ?

No complaints on the defeat we suffered yesterday.
I wish Kidderminster all the best in the next round and their attempt to get promoted up to the National League.
They have got everything required to make that step up.(and more).

Well, everything  apart from that "spark". 

P.S.
After yesterday I guess every Slough fan is rather downbeat at the moment.
Always realise though that there is somebody worse off than you.
Forum member  "Bonjour" has got his mother-in-law coming round to his place today.

 

 

 

     

Edited yesterday at 12:06 by Holyport Rebel

[Reading Rebel]

By 'spark' HR I presume you mean treating the away supporters with respect and not ripping them off?

Presumably the 2pm gates opening is to do with getting supporters to spend more money in the members club.

Was the home club house in the ground or outside?

[Reading Rebel]

Just watched the 'low lights' and everything about our defending looked shambolic.

No wonder changes are in the pipeline.  

Their striker who got a hat-trick must have thought all his Christmases had come at once.

Edited yesterday at 12:19 by Reading Rebel

[Nathan]

29 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

But....................................
the Aggborough of 2025 was missing something that the Aggborough of 1998 had.
That....................... "spark".

29 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

As well as a very expensive match programme, Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.
I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible, and later on I heard moans about the availability of items at the only food outlet in the away section of the ground that we were in.
I spoke earlier about the "spark" that was missing from my previous visit to Kidderminster 27 years ago.
This "spark" has been noticeably absent from our visits recently to Bromley, Woking and Boreham Wood.
Anyone notice a similarity between these clubs?

I absolutely get where you're coming from Holyport Rebel, and although it's been 3 years since I've been to an away match (which was York), I'm getting similar vibes about my matchday experiences at Arbour Park, which IMO is also missing that certain something that Wexham Park (and even Stag Meadow) had.

Take for instance the previous round vs Maidenhead, where, without explanation, the usual £2 chips weren't available at the bar. What was available however, were £5 chips (as well as a variety of other elaborate, horrendously overpriced food) available at the van by the turnstiles. That's a 150% price increase, presumably because we were expecting a few more people to turn up. I refused on principle, but what really got me was how many were willing to pay these extortionate prices without question; fools and their money are easily parted I suppose.

The match was also needlessly segregated, with the away fans not allowed in our clubhouse etc. which IMO defeats the spirit of non-league football. It's as if they didn't trust Slough and Maidenhead fans to mingle without a punch-up.

And of course my recent discussion about the parking arrangements, where I was being totally unreasonable for asking on here?

So it's all well and good complaining about the lack of spark from Kidderminster, Woking, Bromley etc. but has anyone given thought to a lack of spark at Slough?

[Holyport Rebel]

16 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

By 'spark' HR I presume you mean treating the away supporters with respect and not ripping them off?

Presumably the 2pm gates opening is to do with getting supporters to spend more money in the members club.

Was the home club house in the ground or outside?

By losing the spark RR, I'm trying to say that I  just feel that the clubs mentioned have lost the non-league spirit that I love and cherish.

Their desire to aspire to greater things and become more professional has caused these clubs to lose an awful lot about what it is that makes me love non-league football.

I've done the professional football watching thing in my past.

It's something I don't want or need now.

Scott has said that he won't be reading this forum anymore.

If he did read these and previous comments he would probably think "why am I'm bothering to work my gut's out to try to get Slough up to the National League if there are ungrateful so-and-so's on here who are quite happy to stay where we are."

I can't help it.

I know what I like and what I don't like.

I know what I want and what I don't want.

In the words of that not very well known ABBA song

"That's me."

 

P.S. I think the Kidderminster clubhouse was inside the gates that we were not allowed to go through, a clubhouse that seemed attached to the stadium.

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, Nathan said:

I absolutely get where you're coming from Holyport Rebel, and although it's been 3 years since I've been to an away match (which was York), I'm getting similar vibes about my matchday experiences at Arbour Park, which IMO is also missing that certain something that Wexham Park (and even Stag Meadow) had.

Take for instance the previous round vs Maidenhead, where, without explanation, the usual £2 chips weren't available at the bar. What was available however, were £5 chips (as well as a variety of other elaborate, horrendously overpriced food) available at the van by the turnstiles. That's a 150% price increase, presumably because we were expecting a few more people to turn up. I refused on principle, but what really got me was how many were willing to pay these extortionate prices without question; fools and their money are easily parted I suppose.

The match was also needlessly segregated, with the away fans not allowed in our clubhouse etc. which IMO defeats the spirit of non-league football. It's as if they didn't trust Slough and Maidenhead fans to mingle without a punch-up.

And of course my recent discussion about the parking arrangements, where I was being totally unreasonable for asking on here?

So it's all well and good complaining about the lack of spark from Kidderminster, Woking, Bromley etc. but has anyone given thought to a lack of spark at Slough?

Nathan, about the segregation for the Maidenhead game, the club would have expected and prepared for a crowd of around the 2,000+ mark and so for health and safety reasons I would have expected segregation to be in place as per other games we've had where bigger clubs and bigger crowds were expected.

As for 'chipgate' who knows why there were no cheaper chips available on this occasion, it could have been a catering or cooking issue. BTW there were other items available like pasties etc. This of course still gives you the option of buying from the club house or the more expensive independent food vans scattered about. 

Edited yesterday at 14:12 by Reading Rebel

[Reading Rebel]

20 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

By losing the spark RR, I'm trying to say that I  just feel that the clubs mentioned have lost the non-league spirit that I love and cherish.

Their desire to aspire to greater things and become more professional has caused these clubs to lose an awful lot about what it is that makes me love non-league football.

I've done the professional football watching thing in my past.

It's something I don't want or need now.

Scott has said that he won't be reading this forum anymore.

If he did read these and previous comments he would probably think "why am I'm bothering to work my gut's out to try to get Slough up to the National League if there are ungrateful so-and-so's on here who are quite happy to stay where we are."

I can't help it.

I know what I like and what I don't like.

I know what I want and what I don't want.

In the words of that not very well known ABBA song

"That's me."

 

P.S. I think the Kidderminster clubhouse was inside the gates that we were not allowed to go through, a clubhouse that seemed attached to the stadium.

HR, if Scott still read this forum I don't think he would have those thoughts because he would know that the supporters who don't want promotion are in the tiny minority and you can't please or satisfy every supporter. 

BTW I've never heard of an ABBA song 'That's me' 😅

[Sir Rebel1965]

32 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

By losing the spark RR, I'm trying to say that I  just feel that the clubs mentioned have lost the non-league spirit that I love and cherish.

Their desire to aspire to greater things and become more professional has caused these clubs to lose an awful lot about what it is that makes me love non-league football.

I've done the professional football watching thing in my past.

It's something I don't want or need now.

Scott has said that he won't be reading this forum anymore.

If he did read these and previous comments he would probably think "why am I'm bothering to work my gut's out to try to get Slough up to the National League if there are ungrateful so-and-so's on here who are quite happy to stay where we are."

I can't help it.

I know what I like and what I don't like.

I know what I want and what I don't want.

In the words of that not very well known ABBA song

"That's me."

 

P.S. I think the Kidderminster clubhouse was inside the gates that we were not allowed to go through, a clubhouse that seemed attached to the stadium.

Try Genesis:

I know what I like, and I like what I know....

From, I know what I like ( in your wardrobe)

 

But have to agree with the over commercialisation of the NL in all 3 divisions, and how money is ruining the sporting and social side of Non- League football.

The new structure of STFC is chasing the money driven dream of the National Leagues, which is actually alienating traditional supporters.

That is why I no longer attend games as it was getting very "plastic".

[Nathan]

16 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Nathan, about the segregation for the Maidenhead game, the club would have expected and prepared for a crowd of around the 2,000+ mark and so for health and safety reasons I would have expected segregation to be in place as per other games where we've had where bigger clubs and bigger crowds expected.

As for 'chipgate' who knows why there were no cheaper chips available on this occasion, it could have been a catering or cooking issue. BTW there were other items available like pasties etc. This of course still gives you the option of buying from the club house or the more expensive independent food vans scattered about. 

We had many 1000+ crowds without segregation, so I fail to see why a 1770 crowd would need it (unless it's an admission that our facilities aren't up to scratch). And I never thought that 2000+ was on the cards (regardless of the weather)! Our other segregated matches have been against Football League opposition, sides with reputations for hooliganism (e.g. Hereford), or else due to stupidity at a previous match (e.g. Farnborough last year). As far as I'm aware, Maidenhead aren't any of these.

Regarding "chipgate" (your term, not mine 😄), the man who served me that day told me he didn't know why, only that there weren't any, so I think I can guess why! I'm happy to be told I'm wrong however.

[Ian g f]

Expensive chips watered down soap we're doomed I can remember going to Boreham wood years ago no roof on the gents and wee against a wall!

[Nathan]

3 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

Expensive chips watered down soap we're doomed

If you're happy paying £5 when it's usually £2, that's your business. And you clearly don't set enough store by personal hygiene.

8 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

I can remember going to Boreham wood years ago no roof on the gents and wee against a wall!

And the tea was cold. And had no milk. Or sugar. Or tea...

[Reading Rebel]

41 minutes ago, Nathan said:

We had many 1000+ crowds without segregation, so I fail to see why a 1770 crowd would need it (unless it's an admission that our facilities aren't up to scratch). And I never thought that 2000+ was on the cards (regardless of the weather)! Our other segregated matches have been against Football League opposition, sides with reputations for hooliganism (e.g. Hereford), or else due to stupidity at a previous match (e.g. Farnborough last year). As far as I'm aware, Maidenhead aren't any of these.

Regarding "chipgate" (your term, not mine 😄), the man who served me that day told me he didn't know why, only that there weren't any, so I think I can guess why! I'm happy to be told I'm wrong however.

Nathan, It's no secret that AP needs more money spent on it to get it up to scratch for not only our current supporters viewing but to comfortably hold bigger crowds.

At the moment 1,000+ crowds are ok but when it comes to somewhere around the 2,000 mark viewing in some areas will be a problem.

I'm sure the club takes into account comfort, safety and security when it comes to the bigger games with the bigger crowds.

As for 'chipgate' in future if there's none available I can recommend the chicken and bacon bake at a very reasonable £2 😅 

BTW I noticed at our last home game that the toilet soaps were fully replenished and of a good consistency 😅 

Edited yesterday at 14:21 by Reading Rebel

[Reading Rebel]

38 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Try Genesis:

I know what I like, and I like what I know....

From, I know what I like ( in your wardrobe)

 

But have to agree with the over commercialisation of the NL in all 3 divisions, and how money is ruining the sporting and social side of Non- League football.

The new structure of STFC is chasing the money driven dream of the National Leagues, which is actually alienating traditional supporters.

That is why I no longer attend games as it was getting very "plastic".

I couild be wrong Clive but I thought there were 'other reasons' why you don't attend games anymore other than getting very 'plastic'?. 

[Sir Rebel1965]

17 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

I couild be wrong Clive but I thought there were 'other reasons' why you don't attend games anymore other than getting very 'plastic'?. 

There are many personal reasons, but I was discussing the issues raised in this thread.

The poor management of the club both on and off the field make the decision to watch from afar very easy.

After following the club home and away, including the very tough nomadic days for over 20 years; with what is currently being offered, along with my own situation, will mean there will need to be substantial changes before I even consider returning.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

2 hours ago, Ian g f said:

Expensive chips watered down soap we're doomed I can remember going to Boreham wood years ago no roof on the gents and wee against a wall!

Brings to mind the Gents on the railway side at York Road. No door or roof but still had broken glass on top of the walls to prevent anyone climbing in. 

[Irishadrian]

4 hours ago, Holyport Rebel said:

There is a song us olden's know called
"What a difference a day makes."
I'm not sure about the difference a day makes , but what a difference 27 years makes.
Back in 1998 I walked out of Aggborough after a well deserved 1-0 win thinking only good thoughts about Kidderminster.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I walked out of the same ground after a well deserved 4-0 thumping with not so rose-tinted views on the same club.
I like to believe that I'm mature enough to think that my post match views are not just based on the score line.
Don't get me wrong, Aggborough is a fantastic ground nowadays.
Two tremendous standing terraces behind the two goals, with very impressive stands running down both sides of the pitch.
( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) 
How wonderful would it be for Slough to have anything like what Kidderminster have ?
We've got a clock so it's a start !
But....................................
the Aggborough of 2025 was missing something that the Aggborough of 1998 had.
That....................... "spark".
I'll come back to that "spark" shortly, but first I have only one thing to say about the 90+ minutes of football that we watched yesterday.
I have absolutely no pleasure at all in highlighting one incident in the game, that I felt summed up our performance on the day.
It happened in the second half, and to me it had no place being seen in a game played in a match on a park, let alone at our level.
It must have been halfway through the second half, and Scott had the ball at least 45 yards  from the Kidderminster goal.
He just let fly with an almighty thwack of the ball, which ended up at least 30 yards high and wide of the Kidderminster goal.
This wasn't an attempted chip of the goalie, ( who was standing well inside his area anyway), which incredibly Scott has done several times in the past.
This was just a wild, futile booting of the ball, caused I guess by total frustration by the way the match had gone.
Scott is so much better than this.
He knows it.
We the fans, know it.
I just thought it set a terrible message to the rest of our players, and to us fans too.
If I was a Kidderminster player or fan ,seeing the opposition resort to tactics such as those, I would know that the opposition felt they had been totally and comprehensively outplayed on the day. 
We were mind you, but seeing that silly attempt wasn't good.

When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.
Of course not.
There was though a "member's club" just around the corner behind one of the stands that we could use.
After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme, I headed off with others to this "member's club", in what was a quite chilly temperature that was only fractionally above freezing.
Reaching this establishment, I got told that I would have to pay £2 to have the pleasure to enter and use their facilities.
Call me petty, but having already paid over the odds for a match programme there was no way I was going to pay £2 just to get inside the building, despite it being cold outside.
Others paid it, I damn well wasn't going to !
I thought I'd go around to the away section and get inside the ground and wait there for the game to start.
It wouldn't feel so cold I thought with a roof over my head.
I got to the away turnstiles, and found they were all shut.
I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.
Almost every club we visit open their turnstiles at 1.30, but not this "big and grand " one.
Very fortunately, the supporters coach was only parked 20 yards away, and Amy the driver let about 20 of us Slough fans on the coach to keep warm until the stadium gates opened.
On the coach the only conversations you could hear were moans about the way Kidderminster were dealing with us away fans.
As well as a very expensive match programme, Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.
I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible, and later on I heard moans about the availability of items at the only food outlet in the away section of the ground that we were in.
I spoke earlier about the "spark" that was missing from my previous visit to Kidderminster 27 years ago.
This "spark" has been noticeably absent from our visits recently to Bromley, Woking and Boreham Wood.
Anyone notice a similarity between these clubs?
In the 80's I had a season ticket at a big Premier League team, and went to most of their away games too.
As an away fan in that era, I was treated as scum.
No other word for it.
These are different times now, and I don't for one second think that Kidderminster thought of us as badly as that.   
The stewards I spoke to were all polite and mostly friendly, but I had a definite feeling that Kidderminster the club felt we were , let's say, "unwanted undesirables".
Perhaps I overthink things too much.
It felt the same, and sometimes a lot, lot worse, at some of the other three clubs that I've mentioned above.
It seems to me that the "spark" that I enjoy and like so much experiencing at Slough matches home and away, has been extinguished and replaced by what I can only call "professionalism" at these richer and extremely ambitious non-league clubs. 
I was prepared to be regarded at away grounds in my 20's as unwanted and unwelcome.
Do I want that now I'm in my mid-sixties ?

No complaints on the defeat we suffered yesterday.
I wish Kidderminster all the best in the next round and their attempt to get promoted up to the National League.
They have got everything required to make that step up.(and more).

Well, everything  apart from that "spark". 

P.S.
After yesterday I guess every Slough fan is rather downbeat at the moment.
Always realise though that there is somebody worse off than you.
Forum member  "Bonjour" has got his mother-in-law coming round to his place today.

 

 

 

     

Soon as I see your name on the list I know I'm in for a treat keep them coming!

[Ian g f]

2 hours ago, Nathan said:

If you're happy paying £5 when it's usually £2, that's your business. And you clearly don't set enough store by personal hygiene.

And the tea was cold. And had no milk. Or sugar. Or tea...

I go to football to watch football not drink tea or eat chips You should go to Macdonald's 

[Harriers9]

4 hours ago, Holyport Rebel said:

There is a song us olden's know called
"What a difference a day makes."
I'm not sure about the difference a day makes , but what a difference 27 years makes.
Back in 1998 I walked out of Aggborough after a well deserved 1-0 win thinking only good thoughts about Kidderminster.
Fast forward to yesterday, and I walked out of the same ground after a well deserved 4-0 thumping with not so rose-tinted views on the same club.
I like to believe that I'm mature enough to think that my post match views are not just based on the score line.
Don't get me wrong, Aggborough is a fantastic ground nowadays.
Two tremendous standing terraces behind the two goals, with very impressive stands running down both sides of the pitch.
( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) 
How wonderful would it be for Slough to have anything like what Kidderminster have ?
We've got a clock so it's a start !
But....................................
the Aggborough of 2025 was missing something that the Aggborough of 1998 had.
That....................... "spark".
I'll come back to that "spark" shortly, but first I have only one thing to say about the 90+ minutes of football that we watched yesterday.
I have absolutely no pleasure at all in highlighting one incident in the game, that I felt summed up our performance on the day.
It happened in the second half, and to me it had no place being seen in a game played in a match on a park, let alone at our level.
It must have been halfway through the second half, and Scott had the ball at least 45 yards  from the Kidderminster goal.
He just let fly with an almighty thwack of the ball, which ended up at least 30 yards high and wide of the Kidderminster goal.
This wasn't an attempted chip of the goalie, ( who was standing well inside his area anyway), which incredibly Scott has done several times in the past.
This was just a wild, futile booting of the ball, caused I guess by total frustration by the way the match had gone.
Scott is so much better than this.
He knows it.
We the fans, know it.
I just thought it set a terrible message to the rest of our players, and to us fans too.
If I was a Kidderminster player or fan ,seeing the opposition resort to tactics such as those, I would know that the opposition felt they had been totally and comprehensively outplayed on the day. 
We were mind you, but seeing that silly attempt wasn't good.

When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.
Of course not.
There was though a "member's club" just around the corner behind one of the stands that we could use.
After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme, I headed off with others to this "member's club", in what was a quite chilly temperature that was only fractionally above freezing.
Reaching this establishment, I got told that I would have to pay £2 to have the pleasure to enter and use their facilities.
Call me petty, but having already paid over the odds for a match programme there was no way I was going to pay £2 just to get inside the building, despite it being cold outside.
Others paid it, I damn well wasn't going to !
I thought I'd go around to the away section and get inside the ground and wait there for the game to start.
It wouldn't feel so cold I thought with a roof over my head.
I got to the away turnstiles, and found they were all shut.
I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.
Almost every club we visit open their turnstiles at 1.30, but not this "big and grand " one.
Very fortunately, the supporters coach was only parked 20 yards away, and Amy the driver let about 20 of us Slough fans on the coach to keep warm until the stadium gates opened.
On the coach the only conversations you could hear were moans about the way Kidderminster were dealing with us away fans.
As well as a very expensive match programme, Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.
I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible, and later on I heard moans about the availability of items at the only food outlet in the away section of the ground that we were in.
I spoke earlier about the "spark" that was missing from my previous visit to Kidderminster 27 years ago.
This "spark" has been noticeably absent from our visits recently to Bromley, Woking and Boreham Wood.
Anyone notice a similarity between these clubs?
In the 80's I had a season ticket at a big Premier League team, and went to most of their away games too.
As an away fan in that era, I was treated as scum.
No other word for it.
These are different times now, and I don't for one second think that Kidderminster thought of us as badly as that.   
The stewards I spoke to were all polite and mostly friendly, but I had a definite feeling that Kidderminster the club felt we were , let's say, "unwanted undesirables".
Perhaps I overthink things too much.
It felt the same, and sometimes a lot, lot worse, at some of the other three clubs that I've mentioned above.
It seems to me that the "spark" that I enjoy and like so much experiencing at Slough matches home and away, has been extinguished and replaced by what I can only call "professionalism" at these richer and extremely ambitious non-league clubs. 
I was prepared to be regarded at away grounds in my 20's as unwanted and unwelcome.
Do I want that now I'm in my mid-sixties ?

No complaints on the defeat we suffered yesterday.
I wish Kidderminster all the best in the next round and their attempt to get promoted up to the National League.
They have got everything required to make that step up.(and more).

Well, everything  apart from that "spark". 

P.S.
After yesterday I guess every Slough fan is rather downbeat at the moment.
Always realise though that there is somebody worse off than you.
Forum member  "Bonjour" has got his mother-in-law coming round to his place today.

 

 

 

     

Hi. Harriers fan here. I also run the Harriers Online website at www.harriers-online.co.uk and our forum is at www.harriers-online.co.uk/forum.

I will be C&P'ing to there but first I'll try to help here:

[quote]( Have they got an electronic clock though ? I couldn't see one.) [/quote]

Yes we have but it's on the roof of the stand you were in. Not the best place for it but it's also knackered and hopefully it'll be replaced by next season. Not much use to you unless you can get into the National League (if we somehow manage that)

[quote]When we arrived at Kidderminster, we all got off the coach and were told that we were not allowed to go into their clubhouse.[/quote]

That was the Harriers Arms and because there isn't a lot of room in there they limit numbers. That also goes for Harriers fans too but they can opt to sit outside. The Social club around the corner does charge for away fans but myself and my partner are also charged with an annual subscription. That does include free car parking on site (not the council/club car parks) though and for myself with the inability to walk distances due to Myeloma it's a godsend and I don't mind paying for membership.

 [quote]After paying a whopping £3.50 for what was a very average match programme[/quote]

I don't blame you. It's crap and very few Harriers fans buy one now. On away trips I don't mind paying for the memory value so it's personal really but I can see, and understand, your point of view.

[quote]I asked the stewards standing outside when would they be open, and was told 2 pm, which was still over 15 minutes away.[/quote]

Same for home fans. Better than Hereford and Altrincham who don't open up until 30 minutes before the start of the game.

[quote]Kidderminster were charging £7.50 for Slough fans to park their cars in the club carpark.[/quote]

Again that's the same for home fans at the home end. At one time (20 years ago) you could park in the side roads and also pieces of wasteland but since the previous off road areas got built on that's no longer the case. We asked for a park & ride system but the club and the council didn't want to know.

[quote]I heard someone else say they had paid £3.70 for some chips that were inedible[/quote]

Fully agree. The caterers were changed by the new owner when he took over and the old Aggborough Soup and Cottage Pies vanished. Pressure made them bring back a version of the pie but the soup recipe was a secret. I hated the stuff anyway and don't buy food in grounds. I did have some nice sour bread with cheese followed up with some superb Panetone at home before we left for the game anyway  

As for the 'spark' the 'spark' is what you make it. Go to a game looking for faults and annoyances and naturally the spark won't be there. Go looking forward to the game and discovering somewhere new then that spark will happen.

The only place a spark will never happen is AFC Fylde. I don't know if Slough have ever played there but believe me the place is depressing and overpriced. 

We, the fans, didn't think badly of you and in the Social we were all chatting with each other in the queue for the bar. There were a lot of you in there and you would have felt at home there.

With the owners it is different and they have alienated the fans a bit due to their strange aversion to the fans trust, KHIST. The owner will have nothing to do with them and won't even enter into a conversation with them. KHIST could do so much to help but we're not wanted. He's more interested in his rich mates with their Porsches and Lamborghinis that get free parking.

Very sad state of affairs really.

As for the game itself it was very enjoyable for us but your persistence in using the high line even when you went two down was strange. Slough are not Liverpool!

Maybe when Davies brings in these new defenders you'll drop a bit deeper and look better for it.

I hope that helps to explain things about us and we look forward to meeting you again one day. Can't wait for a trip to yours and a new ground ticked off. I'll find a 'spark' somewhere in Arbour Park

Phil...

Made this a bit long haven't I  

[sdelaney2308]

HR as you know i could not make the game so am disappointed reading your report as like you Kidderminster were one of our favourite grounds to visit in the Conference days.

Just as I said on another thread when talking to RR  before the Maidenhead game that playing  Kidderminster along the way in the trophy if not at home then at their superb ground would be so good because of the coach trip friendly club go in the clubhouse mix and socialise with the opposition supporters we would be treated well and not treated so poorly as away supporters as at Bromley Woking etc.

So disappointed that none of this happened Non League Football changing out of all recognition.

As for the match I listened to it on Rebels Radio these are the type of games when a Slough team always rises to the occasion against a big team give there all win lose or draw the opposition know they have been in a game what ever the result again disappointing that we lost with a whimper.

COYREBELS