Seasons in the Sun
My love affair with Aldershot started on the afternoon of Saturday 13th April 1974 to be factual. Cambridge United were the opponents in a Third Division match. I don't remember a great deal about the game itself but the whole experience struck a chord with me. There was something special about the place. The Recreation Ground- the place that was to become so special to me. Upon entry it was unique. Picturesque with trees surrounding the confines of the turnstiles off the High Street- how many clubs actually play in their own High Street? There was even a pathway behind one of the goals too. I recall being dropped off outside the turnstiles by my dad with my brother and his friends. We stood in the North Stand and the crowd was so big (over 5000) that I had to be carried above his head in order to assess what was going on. Shots won 6-0- a decent start. Legendary striker Jack Howarth netted a hat-trick and the love affair was up and running. Tommy McAnearney's men finished eighth in the table that season. It was the highest finish any Aldershot team ever achieved.
The regular visits to the Rec really started in September 1976. I do recall watching a friendly match versus Norwich City the year before on an evening for some reason. We only went that night because my aunt lived in Newport Road, around the corner from the ground and she was pregnant and due to give birth to my cousin, Stuart, who also went on to become a lifelong supporter. He wasn't at the match that night though- mind you he wasn't born until a few months later!
My school friend Michael Bartlett was a regular, travelling with his dad to the matches, and we often spoke about Aldershot. There weren't too many others at school with an interest in Aldershot despite the fact that we lived only seven miles away. My dad was not really a football man either. Boxing was his game and, I'm told, he was pretty decent too in his youth. He used to watch Brentford with his mates when he was a teenager but was soon banned as every time he went along to Griffin Park the Bees lost. Thereafter he spent his Saturday afternoons swimming or boxing and met his mates after the match. He worked at BOAC at Heathrow Airport in the cargo department. Funnily enough he ended up working with legendary Bees defender Peter Gelson and often spoke about him.
In the end I suppose I spoke so often about my desire to watch "The Shots" that my dad eventually took me along regularly. It became routine. Saturday mornings were all about Tiger and Scorcher, Hot Shot Hamish, Billy's Boots and, of course, Roy of the Rovers. Then onto Noel Edmonds and Multi Coloured Swap Shop. I used to set up a pretend football pitch in the lounge at home. I was the only player- Aldershot always won. Sir Alex always scored the winner- McGregor of course, not Ferguson! My dad would dash home from his shift, a quick homemade fish fingers and chips from mum's traditional cuisine and off to the Rec at 2.15pm. We'd park up just off Newport Road at the back of the High Street and walk along. It was a real buzz to me. Hordes of people, queues at the turnstiles. We always went through the same entrance and I clicked through at the same time as my dad. I'm sure the Turnstile Operator would have accounted for this though!
We then walked past an elderly lady selling tickets called Doris Hughes on the High Street steps. I later learned that she was hugely respected at the club having been heavily involved with the Supporters Club with her late husband George.
We always made our way behind the far goal to the East Bank then- it was the place to be! It was the most popular part of the stadium. It was where the noise was made and all the lads stood. You had to be a "face", mind you, to stand at the back. I loved hearing all the singing from the back of the terraces and a few new choice words into the vocabulary too. I always wondered if the lads held a regular session to improve their voices and to learn new songs.
It was great- I loved it. The first match as a regular fan was versus Swansea City on Saturday 25th September 1976. It was a 2-2 draw but it was the next match that something special occurred. Wearing the number 11 for the Shots was Alex McGregor. A silky winger from the old school. As soon as he received the ball from wide there was an air of excitement. He was just truly brilliant. The ball stuck to his feet and the defenders could never get it off him. He became my instant hero. Whenever he was on the ball you felt something was going to happen. People used to tell me that he wasn't as effective away from home- I didn't care- I only watched the Shots at home in those days and Alex was a genius at the Rec.
We used to play football at lunchtime at the Grove School in Frimley. Everybody else was Keegan, Francis, Brady, Latchford or Bremner. Not me- I was McGregor. I can remember one lunchtime collecting the ball and then waltzing past everybody in sight before scoring. All of a sudden I was a winger. It was the position I wanted to play. From Colin Bell I now wanted to be Alex McGregor.
Alex McGregor (right) on his Shots debut in 1976
That Christmas was special too. Well before the days of replica kits my mum and dad had somehow managed to put together the Shots kit. My favourite kit of all time too. Red shirts with a blue V neck and cuffs, blue shorts, and red socks with blue tops. I was made up, not just for the kit but because they had also put the number 7 on the back of the shirt- Alex's shirt. This, of course, was well before the days of names on shirts or squad numbers. I wore that shirt all over Christmas. I was horrified when he suddenly changed numbers and thereafter predominantly wore the number 11 shirt! I was devastated but it never changed my admiration for a special footballer.
That season wasn't the greatest for Aldershot though. They had just been relegated from the third division and after a strong start to the campaign they eventually finished 17th, winning just three of their final 18 matches. I do remember Alex scoring one of my all-time favourite goals in a 2-0 home victory versus soon to be non-league Workington in the penultimate home match. I was standing in the East Bank when he picked the ball up on the halfway line.
My first Shots kit from 1976 with future Shots fan, my cousin Stuart Harris
He strolled towards goal gaining speed as he gathered his stride, bypassing anybody in the way. He then duly lobbed out-coming goalkeeper Mike Rogan from the edge of the 18-yard box for a quite exquisite goal. It was the stuff dreams are made of. Such a shame that the talents of that era were rarely filmed.
I also recall another moment of drama in February 1977 when a comfortable 4-0 victory versus Newport County was mainly remembered due to an incident involving goalkeeper Glen Johnson. The balding keeper who was only 24 at the time but looked much older saved a thrice taken penalty from Gary Bell in the last minute before giving the referee a V sign for his troubles. He told me many years later that it cost him a few bob at the FA but he felt better for it at the time.
My dad was remarkable really. Mum was due for a serious operation and was sidelined for many weeks, firstly in hospital and then at home recuperating. He was combining everything at the time but still ensured that we could get to the Rec for the matches. He knew what it meant to me even in those early days of being a fan.
Shots finished fifth in the table in 1977/78 and went unbeaten at home throughout the whole campaign. A guy called John Dungworth had replaced Howarth by this time and returned 23 goals. It was an exciting side with names that roll off the tongue even now. I could name you that starting line-up as if it was yesterday. The following would be accurate: Glen Johnson, Mike Earls or Dave Howitt, Alan Wooler, Will Dixon, Tommy Youlden, Joe Jopling, Malcolm Crosby, Murray Brodie, Andy Needham, Dungworth and, of course, Alex. Forget your squad rotation that you have nowadays and all that loan nonsense. McAnearney only used 19 players that season and three of those players only played 11 matches between them.
This season saw my first experience of playing local rivals Reading. In all my time watching the Shots I never did see them defeat the Royals in a league match but those games used to attract healthy attendances and I recall the rivalry was intense. This emanated back to the days when the Football League was regionalised and the two teams played each other most seasons until it was nationalised in 1958. I also remember vividly Easter Monday 1978 when I was able to attend my first ever away match- the short trip to Griffin Park. Brentford were going for promotion too whilst we had beaten fellow promotion candidates Southend United 3-0 two days before. There was over 12,500 in west London that afternoon and a large contingent who had made the short journey down the M3 but the Bees had the upper hand as Steve Phillips netted a brace to secure a 2-0 victory. Little did I know that day but a future friend and Shots player Paul Shrubb was in the visitors' line-up that afternoon. For me though, I was a proper fan now- I had watched the Shots away from home! We missed out on promotion by two points in the end as Watford, Southend, Swansea City and Brentford were successful but the red and blue was etched into me now. Manchester City? Not interested anymore. Although the true test, of course, was when you finally received the Subbuteo box with your team- Aldershot FC, red and blue.
I used to create an atmosphere too using marbles putting all the red ones together in one part...
