Dial M for Marcus

To hear “What a waste of money” aimed at us – US! – at Merthyr certainly put things into perspective. From the viewpoint of a club who can’t afford to pay their players much if anything, even at this level, were we suddenly the cash laden moneybags that everyone should rightfully hate?  Not really. And looking at it another way, Merthyr may be down on their heels on the playing front but they play their football at a community stadium. A stadium that is compact but atmospheric with a 3G surface and seems to have had more money splashed on it (new reception area, turnstile blocks) since I last visited, whereas we – without folding and restarting as a phoenix club– are basically camping in the open air in a field in Burton Latimer.

Given the choice, would we swap our league position and ground for Merthyr’s?  Hell yes.

And to pick a random example, Hereford enjoy the huge inbuilt advantage of rebooting in a Football League standard ground whilst shooting fish in a barrel in the lower tiers.

Facilities matter.  People expect more comfort than in days gone by. Our home form this season has been spectacular but the prospect of standing at pitch level with no cover on a hilltop in winter strangely had a deterrent effect on what, in other circumstances, should have been at least a 1,500 crowd to watch 1^st v 2^nd on New Years Day. 

We can’t do much about that in the short term but reverting to Merthyr, I was impressed by the spirit of both players and fans. Faced with being 3-0 down after half an hour they could have collapsed but dug in and stayed competitive, whilst I liked the array of flags that gradually unfurled as the afternoon progressed. Behind one goal, a MTFC Dial M for Merthyr (memories of a long dead zine we once swopped with), a large banner declaring International Merthyrism and a smaller one referencing Atalanta, when Merthyr (then sixth tier in modern language) beat a Serie A team in European competition.  As I walked out of the ground, I noticed that the club shop was still selling stuff on the back of that. And why not.  Wouldn’t we?  If we had a shop.

But we have a team.