Phil Tooley takes a look at the game and its context
Chesterfield 3 Boreham Wood 0 National League Game #41
I can now confess. I was not disappointed at all when we only drew at Oldham. I was not disappointed at all when Barnet beat Eastleigh. I was not disappointed at all when we lost at Halifax. Why? I think you know why now.
The final whistle (and, to be honest, the preceding 90 minutes) at the SMH was why. You couldn’t recreate those scenes at Boundary Park, in the lounge last Tuesday watching a match not involving Town on a big screen, in a paddy field in West Yorkshire.
That whistle was like a magic wand that transformed a whole community (even though it blew 30 seconds early, was the game abandoned? Replay needed?) in a way that only sport can. In a way that only sport, played properly can. In a way that only sport, played properly, and overseen by people who care rather than being uncaring imposters, can.
I would have been devastated if the opportunity for those few, precious minutes of feeling on top of the world, joyous and carefree, would have been experienced by thousands fewer, in a cooped up away end (or a full to the rafters restaurant) in some place along the M62.
We all knew it would come, but scenes like those we witnessed after a fantastic performance against t’Wood wouldn’t have occurred if the deed had been completed a few days before somewhere else. Never, ever have I been so glad of a two-match winless run and our nearest (and only) rivals winning a game.
A few weeks ago, I said to Paul Cook, ‘win it at home’. He couldn’t promise me that, but as that rainbow appeared above the Karen Child (East) Stand in the second half with the game all but won, the gaffer told me afterwards, he knew things were perfectly aligned. That was his dad, who passed away not too long ago, the man who got him to love football, his best mate, looking down on him and sending a sign of approval. On his dad’s birthday.
How glad I am we were tonked on Wednesday. PC told me this season was his proudest achievement as a manager. He’s proud because he’s not signed a player for over 200 days. He’s proud that he’s in charge of a happy workforce. He was delighted when I told him he was the first Chesterfield manager ever to win two championships.
He knows how much I, and every other Spireite, wants to finish the season unbeaten at home (for the first time EVER), he knows that because he cares, because he loves the club (properly, not pretend badge kissing rubbish), because he feels right at home.
I was delighted because (as the TNT commentator said, wonder where he researched that) it was the first time our club had clinched promotion at home since Easter Monday 1936, a 2-0 win over Hartlepools United. I was delighted because the home contingent was the highest ever on Whittington Moor. I was delighted that the home contingent was, for a points bearing match, the highest at home, including the Saltergate days, since Boxing Day 1980, a goal-less draw with Barnsley. They didn’t record away attendances back then, but there were 17,169 there and there weren’t more than 7,000 Tykes. I know that for a fact, as it was the first match I ever attended wearing spectacles, so I could see properly!
Since the polar opposite day at Forest Green Rovers in 2018, when the club and its supporter base felt very misaligned, through to Boxing Day that year against Solihull Moors at home, when there was a very different type of pitch invasion, when that misalignment became seismic. Through false dawns, when the football was great but the inner atmosphere was toxic, through a welcome change in ownership and working practices, through to the return of a Cook with the perfect recipe book, through the near misses, through the recent ownership change, Chesterfield Football Club feels to me, a 50-year supporter, to be in the best place it’s ever been. That’s ever, not just the last fortnight.
That doesn’t mean P46 W46, but it does mean that fans matter, the product matters, and the overall environment matters. It doesn’t mean wine and roses week after week on the grass (NB, no plastic), it doesn’t guarantee an immediate return to EFL1 (though I did tell PC and the chairman that I expect that!), but it does guarantee that the football club and community love-in we have right now, at least today, stands a better than even chance of maintaining a more than decent presence going forward.
Blimey, we had a match, forgot about that! Captain fantastic, first ever two-goal haul. Magic Mandy, an assist and a goal. Abracadobra, just how phenomenal was that lost cause run, dart into the danger zone and a rabbit from a hat pass for Jamie to poke home from a distance even Will Grigg would conclude was a tap in.
The second half in particular, that side to side patient work and darting into the box when possible that spawned goal #100 in the NL, the first ton since the Div3N title in 1930/31, when the current, sure to be beaten club record of 102 goals were scored, was a 45-minute #Cookball masterclass, played in a highly emotional atmosphere, amongst friends, whether we knew our neighbour or not, with zillions of kids there witnessing their first glory moment. That’s why I wanted to lose at Halifax. This game and the feeling in the stadium, if it had been played as champions rather than champions-elect, would not have been the same. Good, for sure, perfect, not quite.
My three generations of girls were there to see it, young Pippa dashing round after the game getting autographs, her nan Sylvia regularly having players in the cheek by jowl atmosphere of the 1866 Brampton Brewery Lounge after party regularly tripping over her wheelchair, whilst Emma and her pal Laura downed plenty of Prosecco (they drank responsibly, magnums apparently are cheaper than normal bottles) before disappearing down town with the lads.
My three girls together, at my club, with me, witnessing a major milestone and being part of a blissful day following on from a wonderful few hours with my 1866 Sport family of Jamie, Josh and Ellie describing the game and the final whistle scenes for the thousands of exiles and Spireites unable to attend the game. What could be better?
Trust + Kirks + Cook = Heady Days Ahead. Job #1 done, now the real hard work starts.
Phil’s Positive: No need for me to comment this time!
Next Match: It will be a Good Friday! A 3pm kick-off on Friday, March 29 at York City, with 1866 Sport coverage starting at 2pm.
Chesterfield (4-2-3-1 to start): Tyrer; King, Palmer, Grimes, Horton; Naylor, Jones; Mandeville (Berry 81), Jacobs, Dobra (Banks 76); Quigley (Curtis 83). Subs (not used): Williams, Oldaker.
Goals: Grimes 28, 58, Mandeville 46 (Chesterfield)
Referee: Steve Copeland
Bookings: Palmer (Chesterfield), Sass-Davies (Boreham Wood)
Attendance: 9,907 (9,826 from Chesterfield, a Whittington Moor ‘home’ record, excellent!)
Netcoms IT 1866 Sport Man of the Match: Jamie Grimes (chosen by Jamie Hewitt)
