I’m only happy when it rains from the Bog End to Northampton taking in Sutton United and Wrexham.
I wasn’t at the Northampton versus Sutton United game so not sure what the weather delivered. My assumption is that rain was delivered from the sky in great cold windy sheets as it was at the Imperial Fields home to Tooting and Mitcham United known as the Terrors who played Northwood FC. We know it rained at the Colchester versus Wrexham game, so much so that the game had to be abandoned with Wrexham two nil up. Despite the valiant efforts of Wrexham players to sweep away the excess water. This is National League for you and believe me Wrexham have had ample time to get used to it. However, this was a shock to Mr Chairman as one Wrexham supporter on Twitter referred to their Hollywood owner Rob Mcelhenney who I have expected to post a further tweet saying how awful it was that Wrexham players had to clean the Colchester toilets before boarding the team bus home.
If McElhenney grows tired of Wrexham he can buy into a bit if the Bog End at Tooting and Mitcham who have a tidy ground and are subject of interest for programme makers.
The rain lashed down, but the game completed with The Terrors winning 7–3 against Woodford FC. The game was competitive going in at half time with the Terrors leading 3–2. The rain got worse on the second half, but it was the Terrors that proved the song right that there that ‘their only happy when it rains, want to hear about my new obsession, scoring goals in the second half session’. For Wrexham I’ll give them the lyric ‘pour your misery down on me’ from Garbage the band not the club Wrexham. To be fair I had more time for Wrexham before they entered pre-production as a Hollywood film football club. When Sutton were in the National League it was a season highlight when they came to the Gander. Trigger warning there were chants referring to sheep. Though when Hereford visited the Gander, I recall references to bales of hay. It’s like Animal farm in the National League.
As for Sutton United’s two nil away win at Northampton, I think Matt the Manager puts it neatly ‘a game plan perfectly executed’. Sutton now sit eleventh in EFL league two with a game in hand so if this current run of good form continues, we could be third place quite soon. All is good in the garden but the pessimist in me says let’s see where we are around the February 2022 mark. Though increasingly looking like a team who will survive this season in EFL 2 and in the years to come we could well thrive. Earlier on in this blog post I was nostalgic for the times Sutton would play Wrexham in the National League known to the Gandermonium lot as the Bastard League. Such nostalgia shows how far Sutton Utd have come. Tooting and Mitcham FC are in the Isthmian League South a place Sutton United used to swim in. I’ve known times at Gander Green Lane where crowds were low and temperatures even lower. To give the impression of a larger crowd Sutton United officials would put out large stuffed animals around the ground.-)
Compared with other Sutton United supporters I’m a blow in with some long-time supporters pining for the Surrey Cup. I was thinking about Sutton United’s history when I huddled under a partially sheltered terrace with true Terror’s supporters. Like an army marching in winter, they sang and chanted as much for themselves to keep up morale than they did to support the team. When the final whistle blew Terrors, supporters moved pitch side to greet the players.
At this level of football there can be an intimacy, a bond between the board, players and supporters that you don’t always get when clubs move closer to what is referred to as the ‘big time’. The challenge for Sutton United is to keep the distance between board, players and supporters as close as possible in the years to come. We went up to the English Football League together and if it happens, we will go back down together. If we don’t then we risk scenes like at yesterday’s Southend game.
We’ve had the rain buts winter’s coming. Onwards, upwards or downwards we are Sutton United together.
