Opening Day of the Season at Aldershot Town

A short post, in which I don't try and squeeze in half a dozen pubs. It'll never work!

Last weekend marked the start of the English football season.
Back in May, Oxford City achieved promotion from the National League South via the play-offs.  So I figured I'd make the trip to Aldershot to see their first appearance in the 5th tier.

Unfortunately, Saturday also marked the start of the Met Office's season of named storms.
Storm Antoni arrived in Aldershot at the same time as I did, pummeling the town with some torrential rain and driving me to shop-front shelter.

C'mon Lee Docherty MP - sort the British summer out! 

There came a point where it eased a little and where my patience for standing in the doorway of a charity shop had reached its limit.  
It hadn't eased that much, and I managed to bowl into the pub opposite the football ground soaked to the bone.

The Crimea (1 Crimea Road, Aldershot, GU1 1UE)
The Crimea is handily close to Aldershot's EBB Stadium, straight across the road from the turnstiles.  Hence it was heaving with customers, squeezed under the shelters out front and within the pub itself.  Top marks for the efficient staff serving everyone in good time.

A promise on WhatPub of potentially unusual beers or a footy special from Laines didn't come to fruition.  Just Fullers 'London Pride' on cask.
But the Pride hand pump was getting a good work-out and it wasn't a bad pint.

Here's my poor attempt to capture the crowd at the Crimea...

Twenty minutes to kick-off and there had been a change in the weather.
Is that blue sky?!

The ground being unsegregated for this match, I wandered around the stadium and watched the game from a few different vantage points.
Being a fan of an old-school terrace, I did like the East Bank where the supporters made a fair bit of noise and put on a minor pyrotechnic display as the teams emerged.

According to the banner unfurled at the foot of the terrace, "a new era starts now".
The fans deserve a new era. It's been 10 years since they they last played league football at the Recreation Ground.  That spell in League Two followed a rise through the regional leagues having had to restart the club from scratch.  Their predecessors, Aldershot FC, were forced to resign from the League during the 1992 season at a time that most of us couldn't imagine a football club going out of business.

Once the game kicked off, it took 13 minutes for Town to break the deadlock. 
Fifteen minutes later, the chap next to me arrived back from the burger van to be disappointed when his buddy informed him Oxford City had equalized.  The 85 away supporters obviously not making enough celebratory noise to reach the catering queue behind the north stand.

The younger supporters hung out in the small stand behind the goal, regaling the opposition keeper when he built up to a goal kick with "Wooooaaaah... you're sh...." then fading into mumbles as they remembered dad was sitting just behind them.
One had ear defender headphones on, of the kind seen when parents sit youngsters on their shoulders at music festivals.  Which made me wonder when the crowd get so cacophonous at Aldershot that you need to protect your hearing?

Perhaps they just didn't want to listen to their friend next to them repeatedly shouting that they were beating Oxford United.
Which is fair enough.  Whoever knew that there was a second team in Oxford?

By half time the Shots were comfortable at 3-1, the third goal coming on 45'+8'mins.

Excessive world cup style time added on was the top subject of discussion on the terrace at half time.  I stayed out in the open air for the second half where the home win never looked in doubt.

Then made a hasty exit, missing City's consolation goal (5-2 in the end), walking the half-mile to Aldershot's only current Good Beer Guide pub.

The Garden Gate (2 Church Lane East, Aldershot, GU11 3BT)
The 3pm Saturday opening time scuppered this pub for a pre-match pint.  But it looked to be a popular option post-match, as the locals already settled there greeted their football supporting mates as they arrived behind me.

"He looks 'appy - did you win?"
"Let's see if it lasts.  They can't play Sunday league opposition every week," 

The Garden Gate had a really nice feel to it.  
Pub soundtrack regular Robbie Williams 'Millennium' playing on arrival, a giant slobbery dog called Bruno ("Frank Bruno, not Bruno Mars" the owner was explaining), three ales on the bar, and a bunch of happy punters.

Real ales came in the form of Youngs 'Original', Surrey Hills 'Ranmore', and Garden Gate 'Wobbly Gate'.
The Ranmore seemed to most popular, but I'd already opted for the house beer.
'Whose origin is a closely guarded secret' according to WhatPub.
Marston's, says Untappd, who are no good at keeping secrets.

So, not a bad first day to the football season, despite the soaking in the rain.
Perhaps I'd be wise to enjoy the action in the National League more often and not pay too much attention to all those dull Premier League teams who start next week.