These Are The Days My Friend

There are times in life when you just have to stop and smell the roses. This is one of those moments. In years to come, whatever the future may hold, we'll look back at 2009 with buckets of nostalgia. Forget 1979 or 1989, there has never been a more emotional time to be a Poppies fan than right now.

In '89 our Cup achievements were overshadowed and those were different days when non-League football had a much lower profile. Now the club has made national headlines in consecutive seasons and - far better - for exploits on the pitch rather than gimmicky recruitments off it. At last we are no longer known only to the casual football fan as that club who Gazza managed. The FA Cup is our path to glory, and dare we imagine the impact if by some magic we win next week's replay? It could literally be the making of Kettering Town.

But whatever the result at Elland Road, this is already the season in which we have beaten Luton, Wrexham, Cambridge United and Hartlepool, drawn with Oxford and of course Leeds. A few names to conjure with in there, never mind what division they currently occupy. We've gone to a string of bigger clubs as underdogs and silenced their crowds, giving the present generation of Poppies fans a bunch of awayday highlights as good as anything in our history. Yes Barnet and Wycombe were fantastic at the time, but I dare say we'd have swapped them for winning at Kenilworth Road.

The fact that this could all prove to be a glorious last hurrah for KTFC as we know it is something best not dwelt upon. If the events of just the past few days have proved anything, it is that this club just won't lie down and where there's life there's hope.

Match Report from Kenilworth Road

David Pleat... Andy Dibble... Kerry Dixon... Nick Owen... Monty Panesar... Lorraine Chase... Esther Rantzen... We have beaten them all... Eric Morecambe, can you hear me Eric Morecambe... Your boys took a hell of a beating!

Sweet man-love at the Poppies No.2

Simon and JD wait patiently for the doors to open for 80's night at the "Electric Cucumber" Nightclub.

Sweet man-love at the Poppies No.1

It's probably just as well they can't produce a kid.....

What Sunday Taught Us

1. A sizable minority of Leeds fans still think they are the best club in the world ever, and not simply a team doing well in the 3rd Division as was.
2. A similar minority of Leeds fans believe that bellowing "Leedsleedsleeds" in your face somehow makes them the best supporters the world has ever seen.
3. Although Lee Harper worries the hell out of us when the ball is down by his ankles, we wouldn't swap him for anyone else - particularly the Leeds keeper.
4. No Kettering fan will be travelling by train to the replay unless they have a hankering for an 8-hour return trip with delightful 5 hour stopovers in either Sheffield or Derby.
5. God bless Ian Roper's all-effort displays, but please keep him away from the microphone & camera.
6. Being a copper at a Poppies FA Cup game must be the second easiest way of earning cash EVER, second only to being a sofa tester, and just ahead of stroking puppies.
7. The white rose of Yorkshire was superseded, and made redundant in 1485 by the Tudor rose, which is Northamptonshire's emblem.
8. The thousands of away fans in attendance made less noise than the couple of hundred AFC Wimbledon fans earlier this season.
9. Nothing quite beats getting wet at an FA Cup game.
10. Moses needs to sort his f**king head out while he still has a career in football ahead of him.
11. It is almost impossible to send coherent text messages whilst standing in driving rain.
12. Lee Harper has been thoroughly reading his guide book to "Manager-Speak".
13. Leeds fans seem to be labouring under the impression that a tie against Manchester United means a return to the big-time. This might be true if the gap in league places between the Red Devils and Leeds wasn't almost exactly the same as the gap between Leeds and us!

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

After a couple of years of unnecessary success, the Club is pleased to announce that everything will soon be getting back to normal -


http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Poppies-chairman-calls-for-public.5859649.jp

My Perfect Council

Feargal Sharkey slags off Kettering Council!

80’s pop-star Feargal (Loving You) Sharkey has weighed into the debate as to which town in the UK is saddled with the most embarrassing Council. Following KBC’s decision to prosecute HMV in Kettering for letting Faryl Smith sing at the branch, Mr (A Good Heart) Sharkey , on Radio Northampton's drivetime show, labelled Kettering Council as “Ludicrous”.

The (You Little Thief) singer went on to bemoan the “Ridiculous Decision” the Council had made. He may have also added, “the stupid feckers!” but this is unconfirmed at this point.

It does make you wonder about KBC. Why do they want to appear as though they hate anything good that comes out of the town? At this point in time Kettering is known to the outside world for three things: -

(A) The Poppies

(B) Faryl Smith

(C) Wicksteed Park

If there is a story in the press over the next week about KBC trying to close Wicksteed Park we will be left with the inescapable conclusion that they are systematically trying to destroy everything positive to do with the town!

Maybe if they manage to abolish all the good things in this town they feel they will be able to bulldoze what remains of the heritage quarter, build shopping centres on every street, and round-up every first-born son to be sold into slavery without stirring up any dissent.

Now that Feargal (Teenage Kicks) Sharkey has thrown his hat into the ring, we contacted other 80’s pop stars to find out their opinion of KBC’s overall performance.

Annabella Lwin of Bow Wow Wow thought that the Council was being short-sighted in not suporting popular local amenities. Marco Pirroni, of Adam and the Ants was worried that KBC was out of step with the wishes of the people it was elected to serve. And Kim Appleby of Mel and Kim fame added that the Kettering Borough Council had pissed her off for the last time and that they should, “Sort themselves the f**k out before I put a cap in their asses!”