A big Derby match – Keith Mansfield

Scouring the sports pages of newspapers, my eyes are often drawn to an article I then discover is nothing to do with my team. The adjective that describes Derby will turn out to be to ‘local’ rather than ‘mighty’. I suspect it means my club nominally has more mentions in more papers around the world than any other.

Last weekend saw several Derbies. In Glasgow the ‘Old Firm’ did battle for the first time this season, Rangers coming out on top in a six-goal thriller. Derby matches are rarely so free-scoring – in London’s East End where I live, Millwall and West Ham drew blanks in their first head-to-head for a while. And in my East Midlands home town, Steve McClaren’s Nottingham Forest entertained Nigel Clough’s Derby County.

In my part of the world the term ‘local Derby’ is presumed to originate from the ancient ‘football’ matches held either between different parishes of the city (apparently All Saints and St Peter) or perhaps between towns in the county. Back as far as the twelfth century in Ashbourne there are records of hundreds-a-side games with one set of locals trying to kick/throw/carry a ball into the goal belonging to the other half of the town. Others say the term somehow originates from the Derby horse race, but that’s named after the Earl of Derby who’s named after the city so I think we can safely claim the etymology.

Tom writes about the dirty Leeds

Curiously, growing up in Nottingham and first going to football in 1970 (age four or five!), I wasn’t aware Derby actually had our own local rivals. At the time our big rivals were (so I was taught) Tom Palmer’s Leeds (or Damned) United. It was only when Notts Forest appointed Brian Clough that the rivalry (for me at least) began. Forest have a penchant for picking ex-Derby people to run their club, hence today it’s ex-England brolly-bearing Steve McClaren (a Derby midfielder and highly successful first-team coach) who was immediately preceded by the country’s prickliest manager, Billy Davies.

Some football commentators who don’t know better believe certain Derbies are bigger than others. That’s nonsense. Try telling the people of East Anglia that the Ipswich vs Norwich match isn’t as hotly contested as Arsenal vs Spurs or the good folk of Burnley and Preston that their northwest Derby is less important than a game between the two halves of Manchester.

Nowadays Derby and Nottingham are separated by the Brian Clough Way (formerly the A52) and every time the sides meet the contest the Brian Clough Trophy. In the very first minute of Saturday’s game, Forest striker Ishmael Miller seized on a ball in a crowded six-yard area to poke it past Derby and England goalkeeper Frankie Fielding. The shot was cleared but the players collided and referee Scott Mathieson Pointed to the penalty spot. There was absolutely nothing Fielding could do to get out of the way so it seemed harsh to say the least.

I’m sure the great Clough would have been far from happy with what happened next, as three Forest players immediately surrounded Mathieson, hounding him around the penalty area and clamouring for a red card. The intimidation worked. The penalty was scored and after a minute we were 1-0 down, our best player (from the current England squad) of the pitch and having to play the entire match with ten men!

That’s what I call a test of character. Last year I’d watched from the City Ground’s Bridgford End as the black and white half of the East Midlands was humiliated – at this point it was hard to envisage anything other than the same thing happening again, but this season’s Derby are proving to be made of sterner stuff.

We controlled the game - not as flamboyantly as with eleven players, but comfortably keeping the opposition at arm’s length. Some claimed our equalizer was controversial. With the Rams surging forward a Forest player went down (by himself and in full sight of the referee) behind the play, back in the Derby half. The ref waved play on. Had the roles been reversed the Nottingham faithful would have been incensed to see their team waste a scoring opportunity and kick the ball out, but the partisan nature of football meant a chorus of boos rang round the stadium. Happily the Derby players were not to be diverted and Jamie Ward scored a magnificent goal.

Young Jeff Hendrick

One of the special things about this season is the number of youth team players breaking through into the Rams first team. As a supporter you feel a special bond with players who’ve grown up locally and who, in this mercenary era, might just still feel something of the sense of loyalty and passion for the club that you do. An example is teenage midfielder Jeff Hendrick. With an our gone he somehow contrived a miss worthy of Torres, heading wide of an open goal from two yards out and with no one anywhere close. You had to wonder if it was going to be our day and if this might be a turning point. It was, but only that it drove Derby to redouble their efforts and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Having missed his sitter, Hendrick didn’t hide and, ten minutes later, rifled home a shot from outside the area reminiscent of a young Steven Gerrard. Forest couldn’t respond. The Brian Clough trophy travelled back along the Brian Clough Way, to the city in which the family has called home for nearly fifty years; the Rams sit prettily in the Championship table with more than two points a game and two home games to come.

Football is partly the beautiful game because of the passion of the fans – nothing beats a noisy stadium with one set of supporters attempting to out-sing the others, or the brilliant banter between the fans. The problem often is that not everyone remembers it is only a game – there are far more important things happening in the world every single day than any football match.

In my new book, Johnny Mackintosh: Battle for Earth, the future of the entire planet is at stake, but Johnny is still able to play an inter-county tournament where his Essex school travels up to meet the teams from Nottingham and Derby (amongst others). It’s great that you can have a light-hearted play when writing a book, and I confess I had the team from Derby (my dad’s old school) beating the team from Nottingham (my old school!) in the opening match.

Back in the real world, Saturday’s local Derby might briefly have felt like the battle for Earth, but happily no blood was shed and the Rams remain well placed as the season continues. For me it was an epic encounter. Tomorrow, the game between Crewe Alexandra and Port Vale will feel just as important to fans of both teams.

Clarets Creative – fans stories

A few weeks ago Keith Mansfield wrote about the bungee cord that connects him to his club and how football keeps us hoping. A similar article in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/31/football-depression-spurs-john-crace) last week by John Crace, reminded me that even when your team is in the Premiership, hope is greater than certainty.

 The Clarets Creative project has been running in Burnley since June 2010. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, it is an oral history project, which by its very nature is about real stories rather than official history, fans rather than players, hope rather than certainty. In the case of Burnley FC, the fans have to be some of the most passionate, loyal and hopeful in the world (well every team would say that wouldn’t they) – but when it comes to thick and thin, surely Burnley fans can most ably demonstrate the ends to which they would go. Here is one story that has come out of the project, that illustrates what we mean. It is from the diary of Richard.

1983.
As we started to slip down the leagues the possibility of watching the team play at all 92 league grounds became a real possibility and many of us were determined to do it. As a result I found myself walking through 6 foot snow drifts in blizzard conditions one Friday in April, trying to get to Colne from Lothersdale . The reason was catching the Shoppers Special train from Manchester to Plymouth that evening. I managed to get to Colne soaked and half frozen. There I got a change of clothes at a mate’s house and we bussed it over to Manchester. Come 11pm there were 50 are so fans in the Brunswick pub off Piccadilly Gardens suitably refreshed and ready for the trip.

After a narrow defeat and the long journey back to Manchester the next day we weren’t quite as high spirited .We spent the endless night huddled in the waiting room at Victoria Station before getting the first train back to Colne on Sunday morning. I was still faced with a six mile walk home, which I managed before sleeping for 18 hours solid. All part of the experience of being a Burnley fan!

So what is oral history – and why is it so important to football?

Oral history is about capturing stories and memories of good times and bad: things that stick in the memory for reasons that are more to do with the fan rather than the club. As such it helps explain why a club is so important to local people and plays such a large part in the life of a town. If football is more important than life (to misquote a certain football manager), then this project might just help us to understand why.

The project has also been about creativity. Being creative makes us realise who we really are, and it is good for us! From the perspective of this project, this might be about decorating your car for the play-offs, hanging your lucky sock over your bed, collecting a set of badges or painting your face in a new design for every home game (and getting local people to come up with ideas to keep you in designs). 

Of course Burnley does have its very proud official history – Burnley was one of the founder members of the Football League. This project acknowledges that, but then takes things a step further by recording a personal archive that links to this. It has valued the experiences of local people and has created something that they can be proud of.

The final exhibition showing what has been created during the project is being held in Towneley Hall Museum and Art Gallery, Burnley from 19 September to 17 December 2011. On Sunday afternoons we will be there with an Artist in Residence. But if you can’t get there, then the following is a sneak preview:

1.       Objects of passion
Loaned objects from fans: everything from a Turf Moor brick to tea cosy and a lucky hat. These objects of passion mean a great deal to the fans who have loaned them, as told in the stories that go with the object.

2.       Stories Stories have arrived in many different ways and express the depth of emotion and the fantastic experiences that many fans have had as they have followed Burnley over the years. They include the telling of traditions, superstitions and memories – both happy and sad.

Football acts as the thread that runs through the lives of many people in Burnley. It ties together important events in a fan's life and helps many to talk about family loyalties, social contacts, first jobs or the ups and downs of the team (which reflect the ups and downs of life).

Some fans wrote short pieces onto beer mats, others told their story into a microphone. On our website you will find longer pieces, plus some of the pieces from this exhibition. www.claretscreative.com

3.       Made in Burnley (and Pendle)
Part of the aim of this project was to hold workshops across the local area to help fans capture their memories either by story telling or in a visual way. The photographs, paintings and sculptures in this case reflect the stories of those who like to do it visually.

4.       Folk ArtSome fans have expressed their love of Burnley FC in their own way. We especially love the
themed painting “Breaking All the Rules” (taken from above one fan’s fire place).

5.       Fans
These photographs have been recorded as part of the project and reflect what it really means to be a Burnley fan.

Please come along – we look forward to seeing you.

 Janet Swan

Labels: Burnley FC, Clarets Creative, Towneley Hall
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A Window Of Opportunity - Dan Tunstall

Not everyone in football is a fan of the Transfer Windows in January and July/August. Respected figures in the game like Steve Coppell, the former Reading manager, and Sven Goran Eriksson, ex of Man City and England, now at the helm at Leicester, have spoken out against them.

According to Coppell and Eriksson, the Transfer Windows have a destabilising effect. Managers can suddenly find themselves without key players and struggling clubs are often forced into panic buying in the mid-season window in a desperate attempt to preserve their status in a particular division, sometimes with disastrous effects for their finances.

I can see the value in these arguments, but it seems like the Transfer Windows are here to stay. And the one thing that no-one can deny is that they provide plenty of drama. The two Deadline Days have become a bit of an extravaganza on Sky Sports News over the past few years, but there's plenty to enjoy in the lead-up period too.

As a writer, I spend a lot of my days sitting in my office staring at a blank screen on my laptop, wondering where I'm going to produce some words from. At times like these, as a bit of a distraction, I often find myself Googling "latest transfer rumours". And for a Leicester fan, this summer has been a cracker. In addition to all the players we signed (I think it was twelve, but I might have lost count), we seemed to be linked with every striker under the sun.

Andy Johnson. Cameron Jerome. Yakubu. Victor Anichebe. Shane Long. Nicky Maynard. Nikica Jelavic. Simon Cox. Adam le Fondre. Robbie Keane. Matt Derbyshire...the list went on and on.

In the end, our only piece of transfer business on Deadline Day was bringing in Jermaine Beckford from Everton. Scored lots of goals in League One, did OK in the Premier League last season. Hopefully should be a good signing.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to find something else to do with my time when I'm supposed to be writing. Although I suppose I could keep an eye on what's happening in the loan market...

www.dantunstall.com