SPECIAL “MAY BLOSSOM”EDITION
May 2016
“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
Shakespeare
Opening Headlines,
And so another season has drawn to a close with little at stake, other than bragging rights, a good day out and another wonderful turn out from the Amber Army, who had little enough reason to travel other than to recognise the efforts of a team who had improved enormously over the season. It is remarkable that Shaun Derry got us so close to the play-offs but, in truth, the hammering at home by Wimbledon and away at Bristol Rovers showed that we weren’t quite good enough. 4 points taken from Northampton and Plymouth and outplaying Oxford at the Abbey indicated that we’re not far off – and maybe the hammering of Morecambe gives us some indication of what to expect next season.
Mansfield away summed up our season pretty well, I thought. For twenty minutes it looked like we might take the Stags apart but we didn’t score – and then both teams sat back and prepared for their summer holidays. In the end maybe the injury to Barry Corr was the vital difference? Perhaps Mr Derry will have another prolific goal scorer on his summer shopping list?
Certainly the defence became tighter, more resolute and less slow to react than it had been earlier in the season. Adding Will Norris and young Furlong worked that particular miracle. Richard Money worked hard to cure the hangover which set in inexplicably after our excellent performances against Manchester United. However, the many experienced players he brought in lacked the pace to deal with their opponents. It was clear that something needed to be done about the attitude of the dressing room but it seemed like Richard eventually lost faith in himself.
We are an odd bunch of fans, happy to look back to the great days of the first ever play-off final, hovering outside the Premiership and visiting Wembley on an almost regular basis. Much has been said about the great Wembley finals of two years ago and 26 years ago (yes,really) and about former heroes whose skills were a delight to witness – like Alan Biley, Alan Kimble, Lionel Perez, Steve Fallon, Dion Dublin and the hugely underrated (but not by me) George Harris. But we shouldn’t forget the dark days when we depended on the last minute intervention of Richard Caborn to keep our club alive. We could so easily have been a Hereford or a Stockport or a Darlington, like us - proper clubs with devoted fans.
We survive because we value our traditions and, despite living in a more commercial world, we look out for each other. Our fans must be amongst the most loyal and supportive there are. The number of fans who travelled to Orient, Carlisle, Bristol, Stevenage, Luton and Northampton was incredible. Even more amazing perhaps, are the home gates which go up and up, showing that the ingredients necessary for success are in place.
We have lost some of our most devoted supporters over the years and some former great players too. In addition, some of our favourite players have moved on to other clubs. No one will forget Ryan Donaldson’s performance against Manchester United at the Abbey or his winning goal at Wembley. Robbie Simpson, I am sure, will do well at Exeter, having served us so well and Liam Hughes, a player with enormous potential, moved on to Scotland. But football is like life. Nothing stands still and the glory of the moment becomes a favourite memory to treasure because we were there.
And so, on balance, it was a good season. Shaun Derry has made a good impression on players, staff and fans alike. He seems genuinely to share the ambitions and vision of the supporters and to be able to attract players of a higher calibre to the club. We have seen attractive, passing football played on the ground. Next season will be our season. Of that I am sure.
That was 2015/16 that was
It seems a long time ago since the beginning of the 2015/16 season, which in many ways is no surprise as the campaign spanned a whole nine months. After a bright start, a familiar feeling of going nowhere set in as United became securely ensconced in the bottom half of the League Two table.
Alongside a blend of familiar faces and new acquisitions, one man stood out in the early stages of the season. Barry Corr, fresh from rejecting a new deal with Southend after helping the Essex side to promotion via the playoffs, showed right from the off that he could be the prolific striker United had been lacking for so long.
The Irish marksman scored twice as the U's opened their account with a convincing 3-0 win at the Abbey over an albeit poor Newport County side to raise the hopes of the amber and black army. Any belief that United could mount an immediate assault on the upper reaches of the table was, however, quickly dissipated at Carlisle.
It was a delight to head to the League's most northerly outpost on a balmy August Saturday, such a contrast to the Arctic conditions of a winter afternoon that we had suffered in the corresponding fixture eight months previously.
A few beers in the Beehive has quickly become a pleasant feature of life on the road for ardent Cambridge fans, amid friendly banter from the warm and hospitable Cumbrians. A pity, then, that United's players appeared hell-bent on returning our hosts' hospitality on the pitch.
I had never experienced a 4-4 draw before and, judging by the agony Richard Money appeared to be going through in his technical area each time his men conceded the lead, neither had he. Each time United went in front, the hosts fought back and, in the end, we were the ones hanging on.
Looking back now, those first few months of the season were little short of dire, if not without the occasional bright spot. A 2-1 win over eventual champions Northampton was a high spot, but Money's team selection, tactics and often bizarre post-match interviews all combined to leave U's fans increasingly baffled.
Then it all came to a head. Under the lights in front of a sizeable Friday night crowd, United turned in a creditable first-half performance against a good Bristol Rovers side and led 1-0 at the break, courtesy of Corr, who had used all his strength to head home from a corner.
The second half told a completely different story as United capitulated. Money seemed to have run out of ideas, stubbornly refusing to make changes when it was clear to see that nothing was working against opponents who threatened to overrun the U's.
Money's comments to the media after the 2-1 loss laid the ground for what was to follow. Until then a staunch defender of his players in public, the Head Coach openly blamed them for the defeat. He sounded bereft, like a man who no longer knew what to do.
Money's departure was a sad affair. Most of the valedictory messages rightly thanked him for leading United back to the promised land. Mark Johnson justifiably placed him alongside managerial legends Bill Leivers and John Docherty for what he had achieved for the club.
A season that initially promised very little and looked as if it would deliver even less was ultimately turned around by the appointment of Shaun Derry as Money's replacement. Victories at Morecambe, Plymouth and Leyton Orient were matched by a transformation in United's approach.
Gradually, people started to mention the playoffs. Surely we couldn't. Could we? It was a mark of how far Derry had taken United in such a short space of time that he and we were to be ultimately disappointed only after the season's penultimate game.
A four-goal thriller against Plymouth on an April afternoon that produced both sunshine and showers saw Cambridge fall short as Argyle's stoppage-time equaliser cruelly extinguished a flame of hope that had burned all too briefly after the U's had turned the game on its head with two goals in as many minutes.
Few of us really expected United to mount a playoff challenge and so there was no real sense of disappointment when, in the end, the players just fell short. With Leon Legge a colossus in defence and Luke Berry rediscovering fine form in midfield, Derry had the team playing scintillating football at times and all bodes well for next season.
Yet perhaps, if we are brutally honest, there were draws that should have been wins and defeats where we should have salvaged a point. Football, as we all know, can be a cruel game.
If only we'd done better at Carlisle!
Mike Barnes
JUST TO BORE YOU ANOTHER COUPLE OF TIMES!
I went to the Cambridge Grammar School for boys. I won't tell you when exactly, but most of the teachers who were about 40+ had fought in World War Two. Now the Grammar was a lot less snobby than The County up the road who only played rugby. We played rugby in the first term and football in the second. The teacher who took us for football ( he had no nickname, so we called him by his proper name “Fred”) told us early on that we would only be playing secondary modern schools who could not beat us because we were more intelligent. (me?).
I was not very good, but mad keen and always turned up, so was usually first reserve in those days. My boots were “St. Crispin's Wings (from the Co-op I believe). I can only remember 3 other secondary mods in Cambridge so we often had to have days out in faraway places to get a game. I remember we went to Bedford once. There were two or three teams on the bus, to keep the cost down. They stopped to pick up at the school in Queen Edith's Way, then again for the “out of towners” outside the swimming pool by Parker's Piece. A morning away in Bedford in those days was up there with a trip to the Bernabeu for us.
The highlight of my school football career though was the City Cup. This was a competition that held the final at City's ground in Milton Road. I can only think the group stages started with the semi-final. You have to remember that in 1965 the City were the senior team in town with by far the better ground (all to start changing only a few years later). We would play in front of a huge crowd (at least a hundred) and have the glory of a dip in the giant bath at the end of the game. A proper referee and linesmen! Once again I was only a reserve, but glory be, someone else pulled out at the last moment and I was in! We were playing Netherhall, but you see there were in fact 3 teams, us, them, and Robert Bell. Robert was on the books of Tottenham Hotspur at the time. He was a defender and there was no way we were going to score a goal. I think we lost 1-0. Bell, like nearly all kids who were signed on while still at school, never made the grade with his preferred club, Spurs, but went on to play for Crystal Palace and Ipswich. My game? I had a good chance in front of goal but kicked over the top. The crowd groaned. I just wish I had the confidence I have now with the legs I had then. But life's not like that.
The years tumble away and we come down to land in May 1992. The 13th was a Wednesday. We drew with Leicester City on the Sunday before in the play-offs for the first year of the Premiership.
That evening, as it happened, we also had a works cricket match over the border in Northants at Roade. I was not too worried. The U's then always had this knack of coming back from adversity to ruin the day for the other side. We were never an arrogant team. We had no stars, but we had this habit of rising to the occasion without being big headed. We always had this Kiplingesque culture: or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch. (Hello Mr Arsenal, you won't have heard of us, we're Cambridge United, happy to be here,we'll give it a go).
I have watched lots of football, but my favourite game to play, was cricket. You can carry on well into your forties, and become captain, and come on to bowl when you like, bat when you think the best bowlers have come off, and field where you think will be the quietest spot, and tell others that they are not doing their job properly. And if you asked me whether I would like to score a hat trick in a World Cup final or score two hundred in a day against Australia at Lord's, my answer would be simple “ I'll put my pads on”.
Now cricket and football overlap. By the time the cricket game was over it was half time in the footy, I turned on my little radio in the changing room, to discover we were two down. I started to drive home in the dark and heard we were three down. I switched off the radio in the car. We had had a wonderful journey over the previous three seasons. I was old and sensible enough to come to terms with the fact that the journey was over. As we all knew it would be one day. I didn't even shed a tear. I was almost relieved. Every dog has its day, and the United hound had been out on a lovely long trip, often exciting walks and runs. Speeding after the ball on lots of new grassy fields and coming back with a wagging tail. But now it was time to come home, curl up in the basket and fall asleep, snore, and dream of future exciting days, challenges, adventures and horizons. There will always be other days, and there were.
NEIL HUDSON
PS I see the “powers that be” have suggested we play too much football and there should be 5 divisions in future. Too much? I remember when we played 3 games in four days over Easter. I also remember when we had an unlimited number of FA Cup replays. I have never heard of a footballer being overcome with exhaustion. What will these new divisions be called? It is nonsense already that division 1 is really division 3. Cut down on games? I can think of at least one cup competition (whatever it is called now) that we could get rid of. But you see “powers that be” always have to be like this, just to prove “they are the “powers that be”.
I don't know what the odds are, and you will not get 5.000-1 like Leicester. But I have feeling we should get a bet on The U's for next season......
We are Football League
I looked forward to my Summer return to the UK and waited for the fixture list for the new season with great excitement. The Plymouth Argyle game brings back many good memories, including the atmosphere before the game both in the ground and the Supporters’ Club, the excitement at kick off time, the Josh Coulson goal in front of the Newmarket Road End and of course the final whistle after a 1-0 victory. To return to the city of Portsmouth where I had lived and worked for many years to see the team I follow play their first away game in their return to the league (having watched the first ever away league game in 1970-my first ever game) created a very special and emotional occasion for me in my time as a supporter. I met up with my Portsmouth supporting friend and former colleague after the game. He assured me that United would do well during the season and we arranged to meet up in Cambridge after the return game which fortunately coincided with my next return. In the meantime all my New Year Wishes and I am sure those of other supporters came true as I woke to the exciting news of the 4th round FA Cup draw. I awoke early one Saturday morning to catch the last 20 minutes of the first game on live text. I again remain very envious of supporters present in England who attended either of the great occasions at the Abbey Stadium and Old Trafford and would love to hear more supporters’ written accounts of the events. The subsequent Match of the Day and other recording of the games have been fantastic viewing. The less said about the Pompey return game the better but I did enjoy meeting up with friends again after the game but tried to keep the conversation away from the afternoon’s events.
The pre-season build up gave me great excitement for the new season and I was very impressed by the performance in the Norwich City friendly game (of 3 halves) and have very much appreciated the excellent communication by Cambridge United, not least on the official website but also from CFU and the newsletter. It was a pleasure to meet the editor Andrew before and after the Dagenham game and to visit the CFU caravan which very much enhanced an excellent day.
I then attended the Liverpool under 16 game. This was a very enjoyable occasion, very well organised by the club and I am sure the late Cambridge equaliser (with celebrations occurring just in front of me) will remain a special memory for the very talented youngsters I saw in action. At the game I had the pleasure of meeting Danny Kerrigan. In another example to me of the very small world we live in, Danny`s PE and Games teacher at school in Birmingham is a very good friend of mine (one of the first to send me a message of congratulations after the play-off win). It was fascinating to get such a great insight into the workings of the Community Trust. Danny has also given fantastic advice to some of my students contemplating studying at Cambridge University. It is clear to see that the trust is in extremely capable hands.