Bit of a 'blog' on how I feel about football and Halesowen

[RaidenYeltz]

Have seen a few people commenting about how they're getting more into non-league football and not going so much to the professional teams they support. I wonder how many more people feel like that about football now, not just locally around Halesowen but across the country?

I’m starting to gain more and more interest in Halesowen Town than in the club I’ve supported all my life – West Bromwich Albion. I’ve not renewed my Albion season ticket this year and instead plan on picking and choosing the Albion games I attend, and going down the Grove a lot more.

I once hated the thought of not having a season ticket up the Albion. The sad thing is, my gripe isn't with Albion, I'm happy with us. I love the fact we're a well run club who plays by the books and doesn't spend themselves into liquidation / un sustainable debt. My gripe is with the Premier League and the money obsessed nature of it.

I've been supporting Albion since the mid 90's. I can honestly say last season was the best season for us since the late 70's when we had Big Ron as manager and the likes of Cyrile Regis, Tony Bomber Brown, Willie Johnston, Laurie Cunningham etc playing for us - players I can only witness on Youtube, players I would love to have seen in their prime. Players I'm proud to say represented my club in its finest hour.

Yet despite last season being the best for Albion since that era, as a season ticket holder for many years, it was one of the most boring to witness. Nothing wrong with Albion I was very proud of our achievements last season, I just found the league boring. By Christmas / Jan we were sitting around 5th we had amassed over 40 points. That was it season over. We weren't going down, we knew we weren't going to challenge for 4th, 5th, or 6th. We knew that was it. I find it boring that we achieved something great for us, yet it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

It's as if all our efforts last season counted for nothing - it was a waste of time. It all means so little because the league isn't based on who can develop the best players, who has the best manager who can out smart anyone with his tactics and nous. It isn't based on developing something special over the course of a season, it's based purely on who has the richest owners.

Unless you've got a chairman who can plough in £100's up on £100’s of millions you won't compete for Europe. You'll only ever be mid table – at best. What's the point? Where's the excitement, where's the fun? Where's the competitiveness?

I much preferred the relegation battles we had, hard tough seasons but exciting, something to aim for. One win and you get that magic feeling after going 10 plus games without winning. I miss the promotions and playing in the second tier, going into every game thinking you've got a chance of winning and having that aim to win the league. Being an established Premier League club you don’t have those sorts of goals.

This year I haven't renewed because I want to pick and choose my games. I've grown bored of watching us lose (9 times out of 10, I know we get the odd result against the following teams) to heavy weight teams who we have no chance against simply because they have Sugar Daddy's. I'm not paying £40 to watch us lose to Man U, Man City, Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea etc. I'd rather pay and watch us play and have a good chance of winning against the likes of West Ham, Fulham, Villa, Norwich etc etc.

The money being pumped in creates a hideous advantage for certain clubs and it is ruining the fun out of the league. It just doesn't make watching games fun. Only when we get to play teams on a more even keel does it become fun again. It should be fun, exciting, competitive and even which in-turn brings an un-predictable nature.

Each season the league is the same. I can tell you who will win the league to a precision of 3 teams. I bet if you was to 'predict' the final standings you wouldn't be far wrong - it's that predictable...Top 3 - Man City, Chelsea and Man U. The next set of clubs chasing the final 4th spot / Europa League - Spurs, Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool. The bottom 3 / relegation candidates - Hull, Cardiff, Crystal Palace. Everyone else mid-table mediocrity. It's that boring.

For example over the course of the past 20 years - since the Premier League was inaugurated 5 teams have won the league. Just 5! ZZZZZZZZZZ! 18 of those years the league has been won by Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal. Only two others have won the league - City and Blackburn.

Blackburn bought the title. Man City bought the title with their Asian billionaires. Chelsea bought the title with Romans billions. Man U took over by Glaziers who saddled them with debts of over £600mil yet they still win the title. Arsenal are the only side in my opinion, who've ever won the Premier League who haven't bought it – as a such. That isn’t right is it?

I’m just bored of the predictability of it. I’m bored of having no chance of winning the league we’re in. I’m bored of seeing the same old same old every season. I’m also frustrated and annoyed at the continuing rising costs of following your professional club. For example £40 for category A games at Albion, £25 for category B games – which to be fair is reasonable in comparison to other prices fellow Premier League teams charge.

£8 to go down the Grove and watch competitive and exciting football is great value for money. Yes, ok, the quality isn’t anywhere near the level of professional football. But that doesn’t bother me. You may not see Messi like runs or Gareth Bale match winning screamers too often, but it’s honest, it’s a good watch and you see some decent players.

I’ve already gone twice this season, I love the atmosphere, I liked how laid back I felt watching it. With Albion I got nervous, easily wound up and frustrated at the players and genuinely took it too seriously. That’s not to say I didn’t get into the games at Halesowen. I’ve lived in Halesowen all my life. It’s not the best of places to live but it’s by no means the worst place, I’m very proud of where I come from and as a result have a lot of passion for the Yeltz.

Small things like standing and being able to drink beer during the game make a big and nice difference in comparison to Premier League games. All in all it’s a good, enjoyable and brilliant time. I’d go as far as to say I enjoyed the two games this year more than any recent Albion game.

All in all I can feel myself slowly but surely falling out of love with it all. Slowly but surely I’m getting more and more into Halesowen Town. I’m sure I’m not alone in the above.

[yeltz85]

For some time I have thought about starting a blog on the Official Website for fans to contribute into with their various viewpoints/stories etc that will be archived for future readers. Would I be able to use this as the first entry?

I feel having a blog like this in an official context will help attract more fans in the long term.

[RaidenYeltz]

By all means go for it, just thought I'd put down how I feel really. I'm certain there a more like me who feel the same locally and nationwide.

[beastyyeltz]

No, you're not alone. My first Halesowen game was against Newcastle Town last season in that 0-0 draw. By that time I was telling myself I'll just go to 2 or 3 games a season. I went to to 12 last season. This season, I've brought my self a season ticket. Why? Because the more games I went to last season, the more I fell in love with the Yeltz. I went to 3 albion games last season, and 2 of those were some of the worst games I've been to and use to go to 5 or 6 a season (my dad couldn't afford a season ticket and neither could we afford to go often).

Going back to what you said about our efforts towards the end of last season, I went to Albion V Swansea. I've never been to a game that has lacked passion both on the pitch and in the stands. Even though we won 2-1 (which we shouldn't have really) the only thing that kept me entertained was a moronic Swansea fan who kept gesturing at the albion fans all game (we got to rub it in his face later on ). But it was an awful game. When we scored me and my Dad went crazy. Everyone else seemed to be hardly excited about it. That annoyed me if I'm honest. Also when we were 2-1 up, in a corner of at least 1,000 fans, only about 100 fans (including me and my Dad) stood up and held our scarves out when we were passionately singing 'The Lord's My Shepherd' in front of about 1,500 Swansea fans. The rest of the albion fans didn't even sing at all.

I also went to Albion v Stoke too. If you went to that Raiden, which you probably did, I'm sure would agree with me that it was about as interesting as watching paint dry. For not only these reasons but others too, I started developing a bond with The Yeltz, and I'm certainly glad I did. I haven't been to a yeltz game that has bored me like the Swansea and Stoke game. I am now a big fan of the yeltz. I love them, and when this season is over, I can guarantee I will be renewing my season ticket. I still will go to 2 or 3 albion games but most of my weekend's now will consist of me standing in the shed or the Stourbr*dge road terrace with my mates.

[old git]

Raiden Yeltz I could also have written that blog about falling out of love with the Baggies and in love with the Yeltz.
Mine though would have been around 1983, and not particularly because of the Premier greed, as it didn't exist in those days, but there are many parrallels to be drawn.
My problem was the endless violence in football in the 70's. At every match you were always looking over your shoulder in case the animals from Leeds, Chelsea, Spurs etc were in the Brummie Road.
No internet in those days, and the only thing I knew about football outside the league was the back page of the Argus. For years it had been a mystery to me who all these teams and leagues were!!!
Then one day Albion were away at Spurs. The previous year we had been chased through North London by neanderthals with meat hooks welded to the end of umbrellas, so I decided to give it a miss. A mate suggested going to Halesowen to see them in the FA Vase !!
My response ? ... "Who are Halesowen Town, and what the hell is the FA Vase?"
Well we went along. At first I couldn't stop laughing. The Grove was a different place back then. Wildly sloping pitch. A little tumble down wooden stand. The shed with its rusting tins. No terracing. No fence on the Rec side.
Then we were asked to step aside and let the players through to the pitch from the dressing rooms which were a building over by the Yeltz bar!!!!.............." What the hell am I doing here?"
Then the footie started. As the first half progressed I got enthralled by the Joinson legends. By half time I suddenly realised I was enjoying this !!
Then the defining moment in my life. It sounds dramatic, but it was a moment that changed the next 40 years...I started chatting to two blokes next to me. Then suddenly it dawned that they were following the opposition team Wednesfield. Conditioned to pro football I froze fearing a bout of trouble. It was only a fleeting moment, and actually these guys couldn't have been nicer chaps, but I had grown up in a culture where you beat the shit out of any opposition supporters.
Town went on to trounce them 5-0, and at the end of the game the two Wednesfield lads asked if we were going for a pint with them. So off we went to the old club house trooping across the Rec and walking with the players !!
We sat in the club chatting about football in general, and then the players started coming into the club and chatting to us, and all, in general. This was all totally alien to me.

When I got home that night I reflected on what a brilliant day the whole experience had been. Within a few days I had made my decision when I ripped up my Albion season ticket.
The rest is history as they say. I started to become more and more involved, and when I look at The Grove nowadays I often get a sense of pride at what we built over all those years. The terracing was all built by hand on Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings by a happy band of volunteers. I couldn't even begin to guess how many times I've wheeled a barrow of concrete from one end of the ground to another. Memories of the pitch relaying which went wrong and meant working past midnight under floodlight shovelling putrid muck out of trenches with frost forming around us. I could go on and on, but suffice to say that I wouldn't have done any of this without my love affair with my beloved Yeltz.

[YeltzRob]

I could just switch Albion for Villa and it's pretty much my thoughts.

I don't feel there is anything wrong with Villa, I still follow them on MotD and the web and the occasional game, but really, what's the point of the Premier League when you know you can't compete financially so aren't going to challenge for the title so the best you can ever do is finish 6th?

It's all down to FIFA / UEFA, bringing in 4 places in the Champions League, financial fair play (so fair that only the rich clubs can continue to get the best players), the loan system meaning the top 4 can buy who they like and then loan them out to who they like (better believe it won't be a team that may challenge them), the transfer winodw, etc.

I've started to rant, quite therapeutic really.

This is why gong to watch the Town is rewarding, I feel that my season ticket money, the shirt I bought, the pies and drinks I buy actually contribute to something worthwhile. I guess it's the difference between a supporter and a fan.

C'mon the Yeltz!

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

I may be able to offer a different aspect, having been brought up in the 1950’s to support both Yeltz & Villa. It was an era when many went to watch Villa one week then Albion the next, fixtures regularity (including k.o. times) being more common.
It was thanks to a season ticket holder of both clubs that my Dad was able to take me to Villa Park for my first visit in mid-50s around the same time I was taken to The Grove although I expect at first I spent more time on the swings in the corner of the Rec than watching the match on the pitch.
My 60’s Yeltz heroes (Adams, Wood, Culwick etc.) were equals in my eyes to Hitchens, McParland etc. Travelling away on the players’ coach was a real thrill and The Yeltz regularly banged in around 100 goals a season.
Villa came close to extinction in the late 60’s but were rescued with a pledge that one day they’d win the League again. Fans joined the mission and this was achieved; 1981 Villa League Champions, 1982 Villa European Champions, 1983 Yeltz incredibly at Wembley in the FA Vase Final. 3 successive years that could never be beaten.
I too was disillusioned with the hooliganism but also had time and affordability constraints from work and family. Visits to Villa Park were only occasional but devotion to The Yeltz continued.
Over the last 10 years, time has allowed me to return to Villa Park more often as it has also enabled my return to my other sporting love – Worcestershire cricket, where despite a constant struggle to compete with the heavily indebted Test Match venues, attendance is such a pleasure.
I share the dislike for the current professional footballers with their inflated egos and salaries and who are so remote from the majority of their fans. As long as Sky/BT have such a stranglehold over the game, this will only get worse, as will their disregard for the majority of fans.
I cannot see’ however, that I will ever totally give up watching live my 3 sporting loves – Yeltz, Villa, Worcestershire. #uptheyeltz #UTV #COYP

[piearce9]

IF I could I would attend every game, a few games stick out for me as what it's all about, Nuneaton away under Matt Clarke, finished 1-1, there were over 1,000 and there must have been 3-400 Yeltz, the atmosphere was special, the uncertainty of our future seemed to spread amongst our fans that this could be our last season so lets sing our hearts out..

Wow! This whole blog has got the emotions going, hasn't it. We are lucky to have such a great club and it's wonderful to have stability once again after some really difficult years. Not just off the pitch, but on it too, with a settled team and lots of familiar players who we love to support.

I remember both the games that Dazzling Dazza mentions, but thought the above quote was special as I also recall the atmosphere up on that stand, whilst also knowing that the club was in deep trouble. We knew it would be a long way back but thankfully we are there now and hopefully we can enjoy some success the coming season.

[swipey]

This is why gong to watch the Town is rewarding, I feel that my season ticket money, the shirt I bought, the pies and drinks I buy actually contribute to something worthwhile. I guess it's the difference between a supporter and a fan.

C'mon the Yeltz!

Love that statement

I've expressed many times on here how I've been 'converted'.
The only thing that I will add is that although the PL is fantastic, best league in the world and stuff, Arsene Wenger hit the nail on the head today when asked what he thought about Real paying £80M+ for Chimp-boy:

"Zey are very generous... no player is worth more than £50M"

Look at the Yeltz players' body language now - they all want to play for the shirt, nuff said.

[Washy002]

My story is somewhat different. I was 6 years old and said to my dad that I wanted to play football. My mom and dad only ever watched England and weren't into football really. They thought I would grow out of it... I was still asking at 7. So my dad spoke to a guy from work who said "take her down Halesowen". My dad did.

I used to ask why the referee was blowing his whistle and stuff (my dad didn't know so took a referees course to teach me).

At the age of 8 I won "fan of the year" thanks to a home made knitted outfit (if people have photos please don't put on!!), me and my dad have been running the shop ever since! The only time I didn't attend games was when I was at uni as I had to work on a Saturday to pay for my *coughs* books