Saints and Oaks. St Albans City, a little pilgrimage.

Words: Tom Reed

Images: Dave Harry

Supporting images: Tom Reed

Some visits to new grounds are off the cuff, some are little pilgrimages with plenty of past meaning and this was the case in going to St Albans City FC.

My late uncle was a St Albans City supporter and was a regular at Clarence Park when its hipster chic wasn’t understood.

He lived with what would be called special needs, and I remember sitting in a burger bar with him as a kid and then two men began mimicking the way he was eating until I stared them down and they stopped.

I recall how out of order it was and feeling how cruel life could be and wondering whether my uncle had noticed or was oblivious?

He mainly just got on with things, holding down a job, which he enjoyed and was loved and spending his weekends at Clarence Park, at a ground where he was many decades ahead, in enjoying its gentle pleasures.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. St Albans City FC.

My uncle reinforced my love for football with his collections of Rothmans Football Yearbooks, dating back to the ’70s which contained a cornucopia of information, and I gobbled it up.

He always talked about the tree at Clarence Park, that grew proudly out of the terrace, which was one those throwaway family lines that you only consider properly later.

I found some magnificent photos online of the tree and was staggered to see that it wasn’t a spindly sapling but instead a sturdy oak, that was 140 years old.

My uncle would have stood under that tree, until it was chopped down in 1998 after contracting a mystery illness.

Again, symbolic of the delicate balance between the beautiful and bitter moments of this journey we are on, dotted with sports matches.

©Dave Harry/ Terrace Edition. St Albans City FC.

I should have gone to Clarence Park earlier, for my uncle and also because of my love of traditional English football grounds, of which St Albans undoubtedly have one of the finest remaining.

St Albans play in a park within a park, surrounded by beautiful townhouses and backed by a cricket club with an ornate pavilion.

If going to a Premier League game comes with a noise, Clarence Park is about the quiet moments; a minute to sit on the bench made from that old oak, a man stopping to stroke his elderly dog that is struggling to catch his breath and me thinking about my uncle, taking a second to tighten his scarf on a December day like today when it was just enough to be chilly.

Entering into the ground is through one of several gatehouses, as if you are going into a birdhouse or a maze.

The original turnstiles bear the name C. Isler and Co Ltd of Bear Lane, London, harking back to a time when football and engineering had close links.

Once inside, you’re met with a ground with a real presence, freedom of movement and without the overcomplicated structures of modern stadia.

The away end seems to be held up with scaffolding and has a corrugated iron roof pitched at the perfect angle to keep the rain away.

Some young lads from Chelmsford City F.C have turned up early doors and chant their chants and bang the fence and say to us “we hope you have a lovely day lads”, half mockingly because there will be no trouble today even if you have the right Chevignon hat and Adidas Sambas.

It’s a good turnout from Chelmsford, an hour directly East, of course it is and more fool us for not knowing about this historic club with loyal fans.

The story is they play in claret and white because on of their founders was a Northampton Town fan and gave them the colours of the Cobblers.

©Dave Harry/Terrace Edition. Chelmsford City fans at St Albans City FC.

The Chelmsford fans chant “wheel em in” as the game starts, which refers to the time when a wheelbarrow collected training balls and sometimes whip rounds of cash at their former New Writtle Street ground.

St Albans have a more modern soundtrack, being sponsored by the band “Enter Shikari”, which is damned sight more cool than Ed Sheeran at Ipswich Town.

In truth, Chelmsford, in their claret that Hearts fans would call maroon, had the better of the early skirmishes and a 12th minute opener from Callum Watts had the visitors thinking they really could haul them in.

But again there was a fine balance and barely 10 minutes later, St Albans were level after Shaun Jeffers was pushed in the box and Luke Jenkins dismissed for the last man infringement.

The penalty equaliser brought a lovely equilibrium to a hard fought game but one where it was difficult to split the two.

The fans enjoyed a livener, the queues for the craft ale were fat, the ground unsegregated and the pre-Christmas catch up as important as the football.

No hassle from stewards, no VAR, it was football as it should be, and as day turned into night, few in attendance would have wanted to go home.

A Chelmsford fan tottered around with his two pint beer hat, showing remarkable poise to barely spill a drop.

Drinking it in it all respects.

With six minutes to go, St Albans notched a winner, when George Hoddle (son of Glenn’s cousin) set up Ryan Blackman to slam home for 2-1.

The cheers went up, the main stand creaked and the Chelmsford fan swayed to avoid getting beer down his forehead.

Outside, I slipped on the wet pavement, my own fault entirely, as the ale kicked in, reminding me of that balance between happiness and pain that football helps us skirt.

I did up my scarf as my uncle would have.

I wanted to put my arm around him and say “what a brilliant day Rob”.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Chelmsford City flag at St Albans City FC.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Chelmsford City score against St Albans City FC.

©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Chelmsford City fans at St Albans City.

Tom is Terrace Edition Editor and can be found on Twitter: @tomreedwriting

Dave is on Twitter: @daveharry007

The promotion-denying tree!
Poking through the terracing at one end of St Albans City's Clarence Park, it was protected by a preservation order, and meant that the club were unable to take promotion to the Conference in 1993.
Diseased, it was cut down in 1998.@stalbanscityfc pic.twitter.com/whaAn5zHMo
— Paul Groundtastic (@paul_gtastic) September 2, 2019

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