Last night, I made the journey down to Salisbury, not to see the world famous cathedral, but to go to my first game of football for almost six months.
Salisbury FC of the Southern League Premier South were taking on National League South side, and my adopted second team, Bath City in a pre-season friendly as they both prepare for their respective league seasons to begin.
I usually go to watch a game of football at least once a week during the regular season in more normal times, so the last few months have been somewhere between frustrating and soul-destroying. Since I moved to Bath for University in 2018, I have regularly been to watch the Romans and it is usually an enjoyable experience as they play pretty expansive football for the level they are at and often get good crowds at their home, Twerton Park. Bath were also the last team I saw in person before the Coronavirus-enforced suspension on supporters attending matches; they won 1-0 in a rather terrible game at Hungerford.
The Government’s decision to permit clubs from step 3 to step 6 of the Non-League ladder to allow crowds up to 30 percent of their ground’s capacity from August 31st meant that I could finally return to my favorite past-time. In a stroke of almost perfect luck, Bath announced a week or so ago that their opening game of pre-season would be on September 1st, away at Salisbury.
Salisbury play at the 5,000 capacity Raymond McEnhill stadium but only 500 tickets were made available and they had to be bought online beforehand to prevent overcrowding at the ticket office or the inevitable disappointment of travelling all the way to Salisbury only to miss out on a golden ticket to the what is surely the game of the summer. Ironically, if this game had been played at Bath’s ground, no supporters would have been allowed to attend as they are at Step 2 of the ladder – although they are hoping to be able to welcome fans back soon.
Upon arrival, a selection of volunteers, all in face masks, were welcoming and persistent in equal measure as they checked our tickets and explained the one way system being used at the ground to maintain social distancing protocols.
A soon as I entered the stadium, all of the feelings and thoughts and sights and smells of football came rushing back as though they had all been waiting around impatiently for supporters to return. The grass was a glorious shade of green as it glistened in the early evening sunshine. The simple pleasure of the substitutes blasting a ball at one another whilst the starters went through their paces in the warm-up was somehow exhilarating. And the smell of whatever meat it is that they put in the burgers was as pungent as it ever was, but still somehow welcoming.
Throughout the entire game, everyone that I saw was managing to keep a distance between themselves and others which was pleasing to see. Gentle reminders to maintain a two meter gap with others were displayed on the big screen at the far end of the ground which was somewhat dystopian but I imagine it will become increasingly familiar over the next few months.
The home fans somehow even managed to adhere to the restrictions when they took the lead with barely 15 minutes gone. The ball dropped on the edge of the box and midfielder Antonio Diaz (He’s from Bournemouth not Barcelona) curled an absolute beauty that kissed both the crossbar and post before nestling in the corner of the Bath net.
Salisbury controlled the first half and at times played some good football, they were several weeks ahead of Bath in their pre-season schedule – as they return to league action two weeks earlier – and it showed. The meaty challenges began to fly in as the half wore on, this was still non-league football pandemic or not.
Minutes before the half-time whistle, a hopeful long ball was lofted over the top of the Salisbury defence. The goalkeeper came charging out but never really looked like he was sure of what he wanted his limbs to do next. He was beaten to the ball by Bath’s number 9, who the team sheet had down as ‘A.Trialist’. The unidentified individual made a name for himself though as he squeezed home his shot from a tight angle.
The second half was pretty turgid as both teams increasingly ran out of energy and ideas. However, it was lit up by an absolute gluttony of non-league cliches. First, a Salisbury substitute took a poor touch as the ball landed at his feet. Rather than compose himself and look for a team-mate, he gave the ball an almighty thwack and managed to clear the stand on the near side comfortably. I can only imagine the damage that Mitre Delta did upon landing in the car park.
The next comfortingly familiar moment was when the Bath left-back spent a good minute or so wiping the ball and preparing his run-up after telling a team-mate ‘fuck it, get in the box,’ as he was about to take a throw-in. He ended up throwing it short to a midfielder.
This led to the next familiarity that could only be seen at the football. A man, who must have been in his 60’s at least, to our left began abusing the left-back incessantly for the rest of the half. The jibes concentrated mostly on the player’s relaxed approach to taking throw-ins and free-kicks. The gentleman also had some words of ‘encouragement’ for the referee on several occasions – it appears that not even six months without a football match could change some people.
Salisbury manager Steve Claridge (yes, that Steve Claridge) made a host of changes in the second-half that included bringing on a goalkeeper who was only half the size of his goal – his leap must be incredible was my prevailing thought. Bath never managed to test him though as a flurry of late corners came to nothing and the game finished 1-1.
On the way out, people still tried their best to keep a distance between one another – even at the urinal those next to me kept a very welcome gap. The whole experience felt safe and it seemed as though everyone I encountered was trying to abide by the Government’s rules to make sure supporters can eventually be back at football for good.
If you support a team higher up the football pyramid and miss the feeling of watching them every weekend, I would whole-hardheartedly recommend going down to your local non-league club as the experience is often a lot more enjoyable even if the football is not.
Considering how long the gap had been between the last game I went to and the game last night, it was re-assuring to feel as though nothing had really changed. The football on the pitch was still the same and despite the social distancing in place, there was still the same sense of camaraderie and reality that makes the non-league game in this country so special.
Hopefully, this is the first of many steps towards football re-gaining it’s most important asset – the supporters.
Dan Evans 
Very good!
Sent from my iPhone
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