The team formerly known as Gravesend & Northfleet, losing 3-0 at Whatman Way last year. Will their new owner make an appearance on Tuesday night?
Picture by Steve Terrell.
The weather isn’t the only thing that’s been wet and wild this week. The Back Page reflects on seven days of sackings, mentalisms and behaviour considered “beyond acceptable”…
FROM LOW PROFILE, TO NO PROFILE
On Tuesday night, Maidstone United host the team formerly known as Gravesend & Northfleet, a team who nearly didn’t start the season. They are undefeated in the league and are currently second, three points behind us, with two games in hand.
The Fleet were apparently at death’s door, losing £2 million a year, but they’re operating as if the first month of the season was just a bad dream. To say their recovery has been remarkable is an understatement. It’s also remarkable that there doesn’t seem to be a single quote from, or picture of, their new owner, John O’Leary anywhere on the internet.
The guest list will make interesting reading, although everyone at the club will miss Damian Irvine, whose conviviality so enlivened the Fleet’s last few visits.
MENTALISM PART 1
Bromley were a non-league club going exactly nowhere for over a century, their mediocrity celebrated by the late Dave Roberts’ memoir, “The Bromley Boys.” (The book is great, a bargepole is required for the film).
Andy Woodman took them to English Football’s third tier, but this week he was sacked after a 4-0 defeat to Leicester City. It’s true that people thought Bromley’s owners were mental when they sacked Neil Smith, but this looks deranged.
MENTALISM PART 2
Although it’s maybe not quite as deranged as what’s happening elsewhere in the South of London. Wimbledon were also non-league for the first 70 years of their existence.
This week, the former England defender, Ryan Bertrand, was reported to be leading a consortium who have bid £87 million for a minority stake in AFC Wimbledon. I initially assumed a sub editor had missed out the decimal point. If the bid is successful, Bertrand’s consortium could be the Jim Ratcliffe to the Dons Trust’s Glazer family.
YOU CAN CALL ME TALAL
No sooner was this revealed than our National South rivals Slough announced they were forming a strategic partnership with Talal Al Ajmi of Development Holding, who are described as a Kuwaiti-based investment group.
The deal sounds similar to the one Bertrand is trying to sell to Wimbledon, with DH acquiring a 70 percent stake in the club over the next two years.
According to the club’s website: “New investment will go straight into the playing budget to strengthen the squad this season, with further investment planned to support the club’s long-term development.”
Unlike John O’Leary, Talal is all over Slough’s website, so at least their fans will know who to blame if it all goes tits up. Which, as Barry Norman might have said, brings us to …
ONE OFF THE EUCHARIST
The Puritans were a group of religious reformers who, around five centuries ago, came to the conclusion that Catholicism wasn’t mental enough. To simplify things very slightly, they wanted to crack down on cracking off, and indeed, all forms of non-marital congress.
This week, Banbury United, nicknamed “The Puritans”, honoured their forefathers by issuing a public apology after an event got out of hand.
“We are aware of video clips circulating online from the UK Pleasure Boys’ ‘Wet & Wild’ show held at The Spencer Clubhouse on Saturday 17th October,” the club said. “This was a ticketed, 18+ event.
“The images suggest that part of the performance towards the end went beyond what we find acceptable at our venue. We apologise to anyone in attendance who was offended.”
Use a private browser if you’re planning on searching for the highlights of the post-match entertainment: According to one report: “videos showed male dancers wearing cowboy hats stripping on stage before entering the audience”.
