Football has always been a passion of mine, both watching and playing. Being from Birmingham I have been an Aston Villa fan for over 30 years. In recent years I had started to become disillusioned with the game in terms of the commercial motivations of the major premiership clubs. I feel that there are a lot of football fans that feel the same.
I now live in Oswestry and during the last few weeks have really missed the way I remember football being in the 80s. I decided to try a few local clubs to see what they had to offer.
On Saturday I took a trip to the racecourse ground to see Wrexham take on Stockport County. Being an 'outsider' I was unsure of the welcome I would receive, but everyone I met was friendly & made me feel part of the club, I would guess the fact that the fans own the club has something to do with this, they clearly understand what grass roots football is all about & what makes football fans tick.
As I entered the ground I immediately thought "Yes, this is exactly what I'm after!". The atmosphere was pumping and the passion of the fans in the stadium was clearly evident. I also liked the stadium with all 4 sides having individual elements to offer, a lot better than many of the new oval stadiums which seem to lose both character & atmosphere.
Wrexham were rampant that day and won the match 4-0 - it would easily have been 7 or 8. The standard of football was a lot higher than I had expected with Wrexham playing a fast tempo game and full backs virtually playing as wingers.
So I'm officially hooked already, and can't wait for Saturdays game against Newport which is sure to be a good starting point for any other disillusioned football fans out there.
The 'true' game of football is still alive & kicking if you're willing to make the trip to the racecourse.
By Simon Wood
