From BICC to Brum

I was born in Birmingham, went to school in Altrincham, was at University at York, and now live in Suffolk, and am not Welsh, so how come I am a Wrexham fan?? Well, my name is John Williams but that's not the main reason. In fact my parents moved to the Wrexham area when my Dad went to work at BICC Wrexham in the late 1960s, and I saw some Reds games when I lived with my parents. I have continued to make occasional visits to the Racecourse Ground when matches coincide with visits to my Dad.

A couple of years ago I went, with my wife and son, to the FA Cup (5th Round?) game at Peterborough. We had seats in with all the other Wrexham fans and the atmosphere was brilliant. The game was pretty good too - if memory is correct Wrexham won 4-2 and Russell (by the way why is his nickname Rooster?) cracked one in from outside the area; I also remember a superb skip along the goal line and tip-over by Andy Marriott. He was brilliant on the line but not too hot further away from goal.

One of the really interesting things about watching Wrexham only occasionally is discovering the latest player on loan; I've rarely been to a game when there isn't at least one loan player in the Wrexham line-up - I remember Mark Wilson (appeared to do nothing for most of the game then danced past a series of defenders before scoring with a great drive), Tommy Wright (who soon after appeared for Newcastle), and most recently Darren Ferguson (rather disappointing, I don't think he'll ever get a knighthood). (Here's an idea for future editions of Red Passion - what's the best team that could be made up of players who have been on loan to Wrexham, and what would be a suitable name for them?)

I hope to get to a few more games in the future. I was at the game at Colchester on Friday 1 October. I was impressed by the commitment of the whole Wrexham team, and felt that they could have won the game if any of the following had happened: A more positive attitude to go for a second goal when 1-0 up; a better organised midfield when Colchester rallied; the referee blowing for time one minute earlier. However 2-2 was a reasonable result and I enjoyed the game. By the way I was the one who kept his hands in his pockets during the traditional chant of 'HANDS UP IF YOU HATE THE ENGLISH'.  RP

Are you a Wrexham fan 'in exile'?  If you'd like to tell your story, please send it to Red Passion.