THE RED PASSION 59

By Peter Davies

On Saturday 16 October Red Passion paid for 59 ‘new’ Wrexham fans to watch the rather uninspiring home game against Chesterfield. What is more we got them tickets for the new Pryce Griffiths Stand and we also said: ‘PLEASE COME AGAIN’. I’m not sure how many will, but a humble fanzine - written, produced and sold by Wrexham supporters - can only do so much. Eventually, even the club might become seriously interested in improving the size of Racecourse gates. But don’t bet on it. It is pertinent that the first two schools who took us up on “tickets-for-kids” offer (with absolutely no strings attached) were Ysgol Rhiwabon and St.Davids. Several Red Passion contributors and salesmen attend, or attended, Ysgol Rhiwabon (James Dean, Robert Stock, Steve Robinson, Claire Freeman), while star RP writer and seller Jack Parkinson goes to St.Davids. The RP initiative meant that the Wrexham-Chesterfield gate was 2,603 and not 2,544!

With reference to the Ysgol Rhiwabon/St Davids day out, please can I thank the following people: David Rhodes (for offering us an extremely attractive deal on tickets), John Hodgkiss of Ysgol Rhiwabon and Bob Ratcliffe of St Davids for coordinating the trips on the day, James Dean and Jack Parkinson (for being excellent intermediary negotiators) and Jon McEvoy at the Wrexham Mail, Les Chamberlain at the Wrexham Leader and David Lovett at the Evening Leader for all their help in publicising the 16 October venture.

The Ysgol Rhiwabon 44 in full

Pupils
Kevin Price, Robert Chalk, Gareth Maybury, Kayleigh Roberts, Mitchell Roberts, Michael Evans, Dean Machin, Jessica Jones, Matthew Valentine, Oliver Davies, Lee Davies, Emma Butterton, Christopher Griffiths, Michael Griffiths, Steven Williams, Daniel Griffiths, Kenneth Robbins, Richard Perry, Robert Stock, Helen Perry, Leanne Hodkinson, Paul Griffiths, Leanne Dodd, Nia Roberts, Jonathan Owen, Sally Jones Lucy Dean, Wayne Greenshields, Sean Jones, Deiniol Evans, Kelly Davies, Stephen Osborne, Jamie Jones, Aaron Jones, James Dean

Staff & Parents
Enid Law (Welsh), Lisa Eden (Art), David Thompson (Deputy Head - Geog/Econs), John Hotchkiss (Senior Teacher - Maths), Mervyn Dean (Governor), Mike Law (Husband of Enid/Father of Bryn), Mr Hodkinson (Father of Leanne), Mr Griffiths (Father of Daniel and Michael), Mr A.N.Other (Uncle of Dean Machin)

What the Red Passion 59 had to say about their day…

ST DAVIDS

“Wrexham went into the match after winning 3-1 against Conwy in the FAW cup and in their last league game they lost 5-1 against Gillingham and wanted a win from this game. Wrexham dominated for a large amount of the game, and should have scored more than one goal. Chesterfield only really pushed at the end of the first half and were lucky to put one in. Wrexham should have put lots more chances in. A crowd of 2,603 was boosted by Wrexham equalising but until then it was a very dull match. There was some singing from the Kop and some taunting of the Chesterfield fans. Chesterfield scored first in the 36th minute by an own goal off the head of Chalk. Then Wrexham equalised in the 60th minute with a great goal from Roberts. One of the Chesterfield players was forever taking dives - I'm sure the ref was in his pocket or he was blind.” (By Paul Kirkpatrick)

“Wrexham won their last cup match against Conwy 3-1 in the Welsh FA Cup. And lost their last league match against Gillingham 5-1, and so they needed to win this one. The pitch was in excellent condition, but the weather was cloudy with some hints of sun. Chesterfield scored in the first half against the run of play. Wrexham had lots of chances but failed to put them away. After an hour of play, Wrexham finally equalised, but still had many shots go wide. Chesterfield gave all they had got in the first half, but Wrexham's defence held strong and Dearden made a good few saves. Chalk scored an own goal to put Chesterfield in the lead, Roberts scored the equaliser for Wrexham. Wrexham's defence played well, only letting one goal in. They had more chances and should have won.” (By David Kirkpatrick, age 12)

YSGOL RHIWABON

By YR Senior Teacher John Hodgkiss
A party of 44 pupils, parents and teachers from YSGOL RHIWABON were the lucky recipients of free Pryce Griffiths stand tickets for the Wrexham Chesterfield game. The tickets were awarded following a competition in which pupils were asked, in their own words, to say why they should receive a ticket. Former Ysgol Rhiwabon Head Boy Bryn Law, now a sports reporter for Sky Sports assisted sixth former James Dean in judging the competition. Several entries were illustrated and cannot be reproduced here, whilst a common theme was not having sufficient pocket money to meet the cost of tickets and, of course, the bus or train into Wrexham. Below are extracts from some of the entries.

“I would like to win a ticket because…”

“My pocket money does not stretch to going to the youth club and to Wrexham games” - Stephen Osborne, Year 10.
“I have never seen Wrexham play” - Kelly Davies Year 9.
“I would like to win the tickets because I don’t get to see many games plus Wrexham are the best team and it would be great to win a ticket!!!!!” - Helen Perry Year 7.
“It would be nice to see the new stand from the inside” - Sean Jones Year 8.
“I haven’t been to any games for years” - Robert Chalk Year 10.
“Wrexham v Chesterfield should be a great high tempo game” - Lee Davies Year 9.
“I have never won anything before and have never been to a match before” - Steven Williams Year 7.
“I think I should have a ticket because my mum does not give me enough pocket money to buy one.” - Aaron Jones Year 7.
“I want to cheer the Robins on to victory from a different perspective which is warmer than the Kop” - Gareth Maybury Year 10.
“It is my brother’s birthday soon and I would like to give him a surprise by putting a ticket inside his card because he is good to me” - Kayleigh Roberts Year 8. [Kayleigh and her younger brother Mitchell were both awarded tickets courtesy of Red Passion].
“I have never seen a football match in a proper stadium before” - Leanne Hodkinson Year 8.
“To go in the new stand would fulfil my dreams” - Paul Griffiths Year 10.
“I love Wrexham” - Nia Roberts Year 9.
“I think Wrexham will have a good season and I would like to watch a game from the new stand” - Jonathan Owen Year 8.
“I have never seen them before” - Sally Jones Year 9.
“I have not been to a football match for quite a long time” - Lucy Dean Year 7.
“I deserve a ticket, I’ll get there with a mate, Bryn Law’s going to pick it,and Wrexham are pure great” - Wayne Greenshields Year 10.

During and after the game the following drew attention to themselves:

Michael Evans Year 8 - Missed Neil Roberts’ goal because he had his eyes shut! - Michael we think, not Neil.
Stephen Williams Year 7 - Enjoyed his mock fight with Rockin’ Robin and felt sorry for Tina Turfitt.
Art teacher Lisa Eden - Showed dedication beyond the call of duty travelling to the match by train from Chester after her car broke down.
Deputy Headteacher David Thompson - Shared his many bags of sweets with his pupils.
Robert Chalk - Was missing when Mr Thompson shared the sweets!!
Wrexham substitutes - Willingly broke into their half-time warm up to sign autographs for the pupils.
Joey Jones - Found time to speak to the pupils in the club shop after the match and convinced them that he had heard their singing.
Peter Davies and Red Passion - Deserve the highest praise for their initiative in increasing interest in Wrexham FC

Post-match comments:

After the game, a number of the children were invited to comment on the game. All of them said how much they enjoyed it, with Kenneth Robbins’ summation “Great game, shame we didn’t win” echoing the thoughts of many. Jamie Jones raved over the quality of Neil Roberts’ goal, whilst making the point that the parties of schoolchildren seemed to liven up the stand, and many others seemed to enjoy the antics of the mascots almost as much as the game! Acting as unofficial spokespeople for this group, Helen Perry described her glee at seeing Rockin’ Robin grab Mr Hotchkiss from behind, while Steven 'Lennox Lewis’ Williams reminded me that he was the clear winner of his boxing match with our original mascot. A couple of supporters more used to watching Wrexham from the Kop told us how different the game looked from the Pryce Griffiths stand, while Leanne Hodkinson paid the club the ultimate compliment by telling us that it was “better than watching Cefn Druids”. The one constant in all of the answers to our questions was that everyone said they would return to the Racecourse, with a number of the pupils having already made good on their promise. Finally, Sally Jones of Year 9 gave this account of the day.

“I thought the match was really good. The stand was bigger than I imagined it would be. I enjoyed the game, although I thought we should have won! When Chesterfield scored, the Racecourse went silent. The small crowd of Chesterfield supporters went crazy. But in the second half, after Neil Roberts’ fantastic goal, everyone went crazy, with the Kop jumping and cheering! It was a really good atmosphere. After that we all tried to will Wrexham into getting another goal, but although we came close on one occasion a defender managed to kick it away. I really enjoyed the match and I hope to go again soon.”