Good afternoon one and all and welcome to The Vale for today’s FA Cup game verses Concord Rangers. We trust you and your fellow fans have a pleasant stay here with us in the heart of Middlesex and also have time to share a drink with the supporters in the clubhouse after the game.
A few weeks ago I caught the tail end of the BBC documentary on the 50 years of Match of the Day. Whilst it brought back some familiar faces and great goals I couldn’t help but feel my fingers itching to change the channel. Whilst I, like many other chaps, love the nostalgic look back at those goals that mark moments in our lives I could not help but notice that each celebrity fan (a few of whom I had never heard of) being interviewed stated that their football memories were shaped by the words of John Motson or Jonathan Pearce ringing in their ears. It suddenly hit me that not one of my football memories has a soundtrack of words in the background. If I think about any great Stones moment there is no voice filling the dead moments with stats or trivia, they are simply pure unedited real life football memories. The closest thing to a commentary in the ears is the great Glen Little goal at Dulwich but that’s only because people were literally stepping closer and closer to the pitch with every step Glen took shouting “go on… go on… he’s still going”. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Despite the lack of Stones coverage on MoTD we have somewhat become spoilt for choice with other forms of media. Recent years has seen the arrival of video highlights via WFCTV and excellent radio commentary from Nick DuGard and his team. Even if you can’t make the match we have the many Stones tweeters keeping us informed. Whilst it is always greatly appreciated that we can be updated within seconds, some part of me does miss the nervousness of waiting for the score to roll onto the screen as one of 76 pages on Teletext or even trying to negotiate the Soccer-line and being strung out for ten minutes until being told the result. Even before these now outdated results services it was the excitement of buying the morning paper and forcing myself, or my brother not to read the result until we were in the right frame of mind to read the result. In hindsight it always seemed to be a defeat but the anticipation of that result was always as exciting as the actual score.
Megastore – As always they have been a few changes since the end of last season to the Megastore both online and in the matchday shop. We have a number of new Wealdstone items for sale ranging from jackets and Jumpers through to polo shirts and hopefully soon more replica shirts. We do have both the home and yellow away on sale and within a few weeks we will also be selling the new Light Blue away kit. We are taking orders if you don’t want to miss out on your shirt.
For those who have popped into the Megastore will also note we have refreshed and upgraded our football programme section. Most Wealdstone home and away programmes are available to browse and buy. For those programmes you cannot find why not check us out on Ebay (seller – wfcsc) where we sell most of our non-Wealdstone programmes. You will also find a great stock of football league programmes from the 1960s through to the current moment in time – anything from Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Millwall, Watford and more. Have a look as you would be surprised at the prices we charge.
A Huge Thank You – must go to Neil Rands (aka Ranos) who has spent hour after hour trying to overhaul both the Megastore online (www.wfcmegastore.co.uk) and the Supporter Club Website (www.wfcsc.co.uk) due to a massive viral attack by some Russian bug. I would like to think this cyber-attack was at the instructions of Mr Putin but the more likely reason is it was simply some nerd sitting behind his computer. You will be happy to know no personal details or payment digits were attacked, only the websites themselves to act as a mass junk email generator. As always we are in your debt Neil and are extremely grateful once again.
Life or Annual Membership – This is your last WARNING as we are increasing our annual and life membership prices at the end of September 2014. We as a committee looked around and almost every other club charges far more than the simply ridiculously good value we have been charging, plus probably don’t offer such savings on coach travel and deals in the Megastore. It’s a snip at £25 for Life or £5 for the year for a few more days. After that it will increase to £40 for life membership.
The Blue Flags Flying High–well those that sit half way up the floodlights are due to be replaced by the human spider (Mike Kane) in the next few weeks. For those who are not aware the few tattered remains that grow smaller every week are in fact the original flags from Lower Mead and in recent months have simply blown away. Thanks to Mark Barton we have secured some new, yet reassuringly similar WFC flags. When the weather permits Kaney will scale the heights and swap the flags over. Thanks to both Mark and Mike
Golden Girl– Jeanette (not Mim this week) will be selling Golden Goals just inside the ground for your chance to scoop an extra £50 for the first goal scored or £10 for the last goal.
Away Travel– The next Supporters Club Coach Travel (aka Jez Tours) will be back in action for the trip to Weston-Super-Mud. For details watch the forum or supporters club website (www.wfcsc.co.uk) or feel free to pester Jez. He is usually located either in the clubhouse before and after the game or getting in the way in the megastore at half-time. There will be discounts for WFCSC Members as always.
In case you didn’t know –We can process card payments in the Megastore on game days via a handy PayPal card machine, so not only can you spend more in the Megastore, but you can also retain your cash to buy pints, programmes or golden goals.
Goodbye & goodnight– That brings to an end my 11th set of programme notes. Remember the shop will be open all Home games and some away games. Come on you Stones and don’t forget to bring your wallets.
Adam E (aka Stones Throw) & @Wfcmegastore on twitter
On behalf of the Megastore Team
www.wfcmegastore.co.uk
