Nedved's Notes Turns Half!

Yesterday marked six months of existence for this blog. Considering how many blogs there are that fail to live past the initial excitement of the first few posts, I've decided to celebrate. Well, not exactly celebrate, but at least mark the occasion. So, today instead of telling you about life as a American football supporter living in England, I am going to tell you about life as a blogger writing about being an American football supporter living in England. Vive le difference! I say.

So here are some raw facts: since beginning this blog on 19 July 2009 there have been:

95 Posts (including this one), 7,457 hits, and 11,383 page views.

The most viewed pages (other than the main page) have been: In Praise of Fish and Cleethorpes - 363 hits, City Till I Die (Possibly from Exposure)! - 352 hits, The Nedved Interview: Sido Jombarti & Florin Pelecaci - 314 hits, and An Introduction to Bath City FC - 279 hits.

There have been visitors to the blog from eighty-one countries. About 80% of readers are from the UK, 10% from America, and 10% the rest of the world. You might be surprised to learn that after the UK and the US the most common countries are Brazil, the Netherlands, and Belarus. I'm big in Minsk.

I find all of these stats very exciting, although in the world of serious football blogging it is still pretty minor league (or maybe non-league?).

I would like to thank the many people who have helped me with this work in progress. Mostly I need to thank Mrs Nedved, who all things considered, has been very accommodating with my obsession. Also the two Nedved Juniors need special mention for providing with so much material to write about.

Perhaps the biggest help has been from the Bath City webmaster, known as Yuffie. Without his excellent photographs this would be a rather bare blog. He not only produces very high quality work, but gives it away for free to anyone who wants to use it. This is very generous, especially considering that newspapers and magazines borrow work from his Flikr feed about as frequently as I do. He also gave this blog a big readership boost by putting a link on the main page of his website.

I've also received some much needed help from Bath City programme editor Mark Stillman, and the City stalwarts known as Lord Bear and WSP. The Atlanta Beat front office has been very accommodating with the posts I've done about thier project. I am especially grateful for the encouraging comment I received from Beat General Manager Shawn McGee on Twitter.

How did this blog begin? Almost accidentally, to be honest. I thought it might be fun to write about British sports for my friends home in America to read. This turns out to have been a very minor part of what the blog has grown into over the months. I didn't really intend for the blog to take on the semi-journalistic role it has slid into over time (although that has ended up being some of the most enjoyable work of all).

The most exciting experience so far was interviewing Sido and Florin. I had no idea what I was doing, and I became really aware of this about five minutes in. The article would have been a miserable failure if the two of them had not been so nice and understanding. A special thanks has to go out to the Gibbons family for lending me a pen when the one I had brought to the interview mysteriously disappeared.

There have been a few low lights as well. I find writing about Newport County fairly unpleasant. I find the comments this generates from Newport County fans even more so. I have also, so far, failed miserably on one of the key projects of this blog. City manager Adie Britton was kind enough to give up some of his valuable time to let me interview him, but despite a lot of effort I have not been able to knock my material into anything readable yet. This is solely due to my inexperience writing up interviews, and not with the information Adie gave me. I am still hoping to get this published soon.

What can you expect from Nedved's Notes in the next six months? Well, hopefully I'm still writing. If you had asked me back in July if this would last into 2010 I'm not sure I could have honestly said I expected it to. There are two more interviews in the pipeline (including the one of Adie Britton). There is also a lot more coming about the Atlanta Beat, whose season very conveniently begins just about the time that Bath City's is finishing.

And now, a contest: I've written an article of some sort on every single match City have played so far this season except one. Which one was it? [In actual fact the article is half-written but never published] I'm not sure what you'll get if you win. Perhaps a mention in the one-year-anniversary post I write next July.

Okay, I'm going to end this rather self-indulgent post now. Thanks to everyone who has been reading (I still find it somewhat surreal that people do actually read this thing!). Feel free to contact me anytime with comments or suggestions at nedvedsnotes(at)googlemail(dot)com

Normal service resumes tomorrow!

Bath City vs Newport County Part 2 - Draw of the Titans

Big Nedved Junior and I filed into Twerton Park and made our way to a fairly crowded Popular Side terrace. After tea and doughnuts had been purchased we made our way back to the area the singers were congregating. There was no chance of the crowd reaching the size of the previous week's match against Forest Green Rovers, but it was still obviously going to be well above average. Like the FGR match, the Bristol End would be filled with (segregated) away supporters, but unlike the FGR match there was a fair amount of rain coming down on them. Considering that we had all just been mixing in a crowded bar a few minutes earlier, herding the Newport supporters into what is effectively a large, crowded, unsheltered cage seemed very unsporting.

City elected to attack the Bristol End in the first half, which meant the singing contingent moved in that direction. This brought us fairly close to the Newport supporters, or at least as close as possible with the barriers up. The match kicked off and the singing began with the traditional, 'We are the Bath, we are the Bath, we are, we are, we are the Bath.' I've been living in England long enough that this no longer seems a totally inappropriate use of the definite article any more. The 'choir' was not as large as it had been for the FGR match, or as vocal as it had been at Grimsby Town. It was still substantial considering our normal efforts, especially for a league game. This was encouraging, but there was a new element to the singing that, if I am honest, made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

One of the first songs sung was 'God Save the Queen.' I had never heard this sung at a City match before. I did not know what to make of it at first, but after a moment I realised it was meant to taunt the Newport fans. Although God Save the Queen is the royal anthem, it serves as the national anthem of England at sporting events. Since Newport is in Wales, I suppose the Newport fans were supposed to feel slighted by it.

I decided not to join in. Not being one of her subjects, I don't tend to sing God Save the Queen anyway, but I also didn't think the rivalry between Bath City and Newport County should be viewed in an English/Welsh context. Three of the players named in the City squad that day were Welsh (Gethin Jones, Richard Evans, and Kaid Mohamed), and City boasts three non-British players as well. No doubt, Newport's squad is equally unrepresentative of their host country. Surely the Newport fans would not fall into this trap as well?

Even at that distance it was not possible to hear what the Newport supporters were singing. The acoustics at Twerton Park are not great. They may have sung Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau all day as far as I know. There was one thing I could hear, though, that really shocked me.

As the City supporters sang God Save the Queen a overweight, ginger-haired fellow standing among us began to boo. He booed loudly and continuously. After a moment I realised he was not booing something on the pitch. He was booking God Save the Queen! Although he was standing with the City fans I did not recognise him. The reason why became obvious very quickly. He was a Newport County fan who had snuck in the City supporter side. Burly stewards arrived on the scene quickly and bundled him out and through the barriers to the Newport supporters area.

I know 'God Save the Queen' was meant as a taunt, but it is still the closest thing the UK has to a national anthem. I was pretty shocked to hear a British person boo it no matter what the context. Would this bozo boo the Union Flag as well? Blow raspberries at the British Olympic team? Despite the lack of crowd violence in American sports, if you chose to boo the Star Spangled Banner at an American sporting event, no matter what your motivation, you would be lucky to get out alive. You'd be lucky to get the second boo out of your mouth. The Newport fan only received bewildered looks from the onlooking City fans.

On the pitch things were more straightforward. City began the game as they had against Woking, attacking positively en masse. The first fifteen minutes mostly belonged to City, except for one dangerous and on target free kick from Newport's Sam Foley. A few minutes later Lewis Hogg earned a corner kick when he forced Glyn Thompson to deflect the ball to the left of the goal. Hogg squared up to take the kick himself. Although the goal mouth was crowded with orange-clad Newport players, Sido Jombati managed to make contact with the kick and strike it sharply down and into the goal.

Some players pump the air when they score. Some taunt the opposition. Some lay down on the ground. Sido just smiled. He was so pleased with himself for scoring his first goal in a City shirt he appeared to just wander around the pitch aimlessly beaming at everyone (after the match Big Nedved Junior told me that after he had scored Sido had smiled at him!). After a few moments he regained his bearings and ran towards the Portuguese flag that the supporters hang in his honour, just as he had said he would when I interviewed him. It was a great moment, and the prospect of defeating Newport County, the runaway league leaders, seemed real.

The prospect lasted seven minutes. It was long enough for us to sing 'Top of the League, You're Having a Laugh,' and 'You're Not Singing Anymore.' At twenty-one minutes it was us who were not singing anymore. Chris Holland made an uncharacteristically bad tackle to the left of the City goal. The ref pointed to the penalty spot without hesitation. Having seen the replay, I have to say it was a good call. Ryan Robinson almost saved the day when he guessed right and got a touch on Craig Reid's kick, but it was not enough.

And, if I'm honest, that was mostly it for the day as far as excitement on the pitch goes. The conditions, which were not great at kickoff, got worse. Newport's defence was predictably strong, but their strike-force had an off day. By the end of the first half City's midfield started booting the ball forward to no one in particular. Neither team came away from the match with much footage for the season highlight film.

Looking back on the match, I suppose it was a draw waiting to happen. For both teams it was the third game within a week and everyone was doubtlessly tired. For City, getting a point off of a club running away with the league title would always be acceptable. Likewise, for whatever reason, Bath City are one of Newport's bogey teams. They have lost to them repeatedly in recent years, and must have been fearing doing so again. In fact, a draw appeared to be Newport's objective in the first few minutes. Keeper Glyn Thompson took his goal kicks excruciatingly slowly from the very start. He was so slow that I'm sure that if he had done this at the end of the match he would have been booked for time wasting. I could not help but suspect that Newport manager Dean Holdsworth had told him to eat as much of the clock as possible from the getgo. Either that, or he needs treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The second half began with both teams hoofing and hoping. The hoping rarely worked out. A few minutes into the second half it was announced that the Newport fans would be held in back for five minutes after the match. This seemed sensible after there were some parking lot confrontations between FGR fans and some local Twerton residents the previous Saturday. A few minutes later, though, it was announced that the Police had intervened and now wanted the home fans to be held back for five minutes. Presumably this was because the Newport fans had some coaches right outside their gate and they could, in theory, depart before the City fans were on the loose. It is not normal for home fans to have to wait, though, and there was some grumbling on the terrace.

Big Nedved Junior, however, had a different interpretation of this announcement. It took me a few minutes to figure out that he was very worried by this. He heard 'police' and 'held back' and came to the conclusion that we were all going to be arrested. I laughed at first, but he was actually worried.

'Why do you think we would all be arrested?' I asked.

'Because of so many people swearing,' he explained.

There had been an uncharacteristic, and uncomfortable amount of swearing on the terrace, for sure. It was not just the words spoken. To my ears there was more bitter tone to the City crowd than normal, giving the 'choice' words a sharper edge. Although we City fans like to complain about the behaviour of the Newport fans, I don't doubt that they bring out the worst in us as well. It was bad enough, at least, to make a seven-year-old worry about getting nicked.

After a much more involved discussion than I was in the mood for, about how yes, swearing was bad but no, the police will not arrest you for it (even though it is wrong and the police are supposed to arrest people who do wrong) I eventually convinced him that we were not going to be rounded up after the match and flung into prison.

Eventually the game petered out and the ref blew his whistle. It was not a boring match, but it wasn't terribly memorable either. I could hear several people mutter that the result was 'about right.' The City fans exchanged applause with the City players, and the Newport fans and players did likewise. We waited dutifully for five minutes, shuffling our feet on the Bath End terrace, before being allowed out. On the way we walked past the club bar, Charlie's, which was full of City and Newport fans mingling and drinking without incident, just as had happened before the match. The Newport fans had eschewed boarding their buses and opted for a five minute head start on ordering drinks. Now that we were no longer segregated the hostile atmosphere had melted away.

Bath City vs Newport County Part 1 - The Calm Before the Draw!

Bath City drew 1-1 with Newport County on Saturday. Despite some flashes of brilliant play on both sides, it was a match best described as a stalemate. In fact, a lot more excitement for me took place off the pitch than on it.

Big Nedved Junior and I arrived very early at Twerton Park on Saturday morning. We were there to see Bath City manager Adie Britton. Adie had graciously agreed to an interview for this blog and had asked me to come at 11:30 so we could have an hour before the players arrived. I was both nervous and excited when we got to Twerton, but I was quickly put at ease. This was not really that surprising because Adie has always appeared warm and friendly. One thing that took me by surprise, however, was how intense and thoughtful he was when it came to the management of his team. I will be publishing the interview in the coming weeks (after an hour and fifteen minutes we still did not discuss everything Adie wants to talk about so we will pick up the rest later), but I came out of the interview very excited about the coming season. Even though City fans may not always understand all of his decisions, Adie Britton is convinced that the future is bright for Bath City FC. After talking to him I could not help but conclude he is right.

Just as the interview was wrapping up Big Nedved Junior held out Adie's Bath City trading card and a Sharpie pen for Adie to autograph it with. 'I'm going to sign it "Adrian,"' he explained. 'My Mother doesn't like "Adie."' This is now Big Nedved Juniors favourite football card, and trust me, he has a lot of football cards!

After the interview we left Twerton briefly and crossed the Lower Bristol Road to visit that pre-teen crack house that is McDonald's. I hate McDonald's, to be honest. I can't understand why British people embrace the worst parts of American life so passionately and ignore the good parts. Where are the Waffle Houses of Somerset? Big Nedved Junior likes it anyway. It was a fitting reward for being relatively well behaved during an hour-long interview. As a bonus, he got a plastic light sabre in his Happy Meal. It had only slightly less flavour than the chicken nuggets that went with it.

With over an hour left until kick-off, and a steady drizzling rain driving us indoors, we gave up on going for a walk and headed back to Twerton Park. Bath City were hosting a weekend long beer festival in the club bars (Charlie's and Randall's) and I wanted to see what the atmosphere was like. I did not expect to stay long, but as soon as Big Nedved Juniors saw the Bolton - Portsmouth match on the several big screen tellies he was hypnotised. We found some seats and I let him get his fix of Sky. We don't have it at home so he doesn't get to see live Premiership matches often (and I'm happy to keep it that way, frankly). I was surprised, though, by how much he knew about the players from these unfashionable clubs. His hours of managing his fantasy team and collecting Match Attax cards has given him an impressive knowledge of a lot of players I've never heard of. When Portsmouth got their second goal he said, confidently, 'That's Dindane. He's got an attack of 60 but his defence is only 14.' Unless you collect Match Attax, that might not mean much to you, but I could not help but feel an anorakish sense of pride.

Although the match between the two struggling Premiership sides was surprisingly entertaining, I was enjoying the atmosphere inside Charlie's even more. The place was packed. To be honest, the Newport County supporters outnumbered the Bath City ones two to one. They had come early on supporter's coaches and were enjoying the increased selection of adult beverages available. Considering the history of problems from Newport County visits stretching back to the 1980s, I was really pleased to see how peaceful and friendly everything was. I suppose I was wrong to suspect there might be any problems. The fact that hundreds of fans from each side were managing to get boozed up in cramped conditions without any problems certainly made the upcoming segregation of fans during the match seem rather silly. If we play Newport again next season (a big if looking at the current standings) hopefully we will try a match without it.

With some effort I tried to pry Big Nedved Junior away from the a giant telly screen at about 2:30. Time to get tea and doughnuts inside the ground and watch the teams warm up. Doughnuts, it turns out, trump television. That's one to remember for the future.

City Host a Stag Party!

Before the FA Cup draw for the Fourth (and final) Qualifying Round was announced yesterday I had a sinking feeling that we were going to draw Eastleigh. Bath City had had two fortunate draws in a row: Willand Rovers, who play three leagues below City, and Bishop's Cleeve, who play two below. It seemed unlikely that fate would smile on us for a third time. With Newport County having been eliminated by the lowly Paulton Rovers (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oh stop it!), Eastleigh's goonish, elbow-happy giants seemed the most likely bogey team to be cast our way as payback for our recent good fortune. If not, then Dover Athletic, Hayes & Yeading or Hampton & Richmond could also provide equally unattractive opposition. After a nervous morning drinking too many cups of tea and checking the FA website every five minutes, the results of the draw finally appeared.

AFC Totton! At Home! I was thrilled. I went round the office punching the air. AFC Totton! I mentioned it to everyone. I mentioned it to my colleagues who hate football just so I could hear myself say it again. 'Did you know that City drew AFC Totton in the next round of the FA Cup?' They would just roll their eyes and nod vaguely (and of course they did know because I had just asked them the same question five minutes previously). AFC Totton!

I was so pleased, of course, because AFC Totton (the Stags) was one of the lowest ranked teams remaining in the competition. That should, in theory, make them easier to beat than a higher ranked team. I say 'in theory' because this is often not how it works out, as in the recent case of Newport County's loss to Paulton Rovers (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, mercy!). City will still go into the round as strong favourites, however, and you can't ask for more than that.

AFC Totton are in the same league as City's opponents in the last round, Bishop's Cleeve. The league's current name is the 'Zamaretto League Division 1 South & West.' This is a league City fans are becoming increasingly familiar with as we will now have played three of its teams inside a month. You may be wondering what a 'Zamaretto League' is when it is at home, so let's take a moment to explain.

The lower leagues of the non-league pyramid often forgo their traditional names in order to pick up a bit of sponsorship money. The 'Zamaretto League' is actually the Southern League, which has been playing since 1894 and which Bath City have been champions of three times (most recently in 2007, when it was known by the rather dreary title 'British Gas Business League'). Previous to this it was known as the Doc Martens League and the Beazer Homes League. None of these names are as wacky as the current one, though. Sensing that there was an untapped market for flavoured amaretto drinks (as in more than just the normal sweet almond flavour), InterContinental Brands (ICB) have released eight new flavoured concoctions spiked with day-glow food colouring. These are (and you might want to sit down to read this): Blue Raspberry, Banana, Cherry, Apple, Pear, Peach, Chocolate and Original. Sensing that Banana flavoured amaretto is just the sort of tipple the pie-and-chips-loving non-league football crowds would fancy, ICB took over the sponsorship deal as British Gas moved out. The people who came up with Dasani tap water and Crystal Pepsi had nothing on these guys.

The other odd thing about the Zamaretto League Division One South & West is that it isn't truthfully a 'division one.' The top level of the Zamaretto League is the Premier Division. Below that are Division One Midlands and Division One South & West. There is nothing below either of these (in other words, no division two). It is hard to think of what the point of having a division one is without a division two. Perhaps there were some clubs that were especially thin skinned and someone thought they would feel better if they were placed in 'Division One.' Despite their apparent sensitivity, however, three clubs from the Division One South & West remain in the FA Cup: AFC Totton, Mangotsfield United, and Paulton Rovers (who recently defeated Bath City's rivals Newport County - ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oh lordy!).

Despite their league's silly name, City will need to take Totton seriously. As I write this the news of their eleventh victory on the trot has come in. And, surprisingly, Totten supporters have generally reacted to the news of the draw with as much jubilation as I did. I suppose it could have been worse for them. 'Dibden Stag' wrote on the AFC Totton forum:

This is a good draw and a game we can win, Bath's current form isn't too good, 3 wins 4 draws and 5 losses in the Conference South. They beat Bishops Cleeve away 4-1 in the last round, the same score we beat them by, so I think we have a good chance of making the first round.

The bad news for Dibden Stag, and the good news for City fans, is that City have been giving textbook lessons on how to defeat lower league teams in their first two appearances in the Cup. With £12,500 in prize money up for grabs manager Adie Britton will be pulling out all of the stops for a win in front of the Twerton Park faithful. He won't be making the same mistakes Dean Holdsworth recently made with his Newport County side in Saturday's loss to Paulton Rovers (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, oh, it hurts now!).

Well, I hope not, anyway.

Come on City!

The Most Perfect of Perfect Days!

If you are a Bath City fan then yesterday's meeting with Bishop's Cleeve was the most important match of the season. It was not actually the glory of a FA Cup Third Qualifying Round that made it so important, though. What really made it a must win was the prize money: £7,500 was up for grabs for the winner. Adie Britton made in clear in this week's Bath Chronicle that without this extra money players were going to be cut. After seeing the upheaval the club went through last year after an exit in the same round to Aylesbury United, the idea of a loss to Bishop's Cleeve was unthinkable.

It could have been a long, quiet hour-and-a-half drive north into Gloucestershire for my friend Mark and me as we contemplated just how devastating a loss could be. It could have been, but wasn't, thanks to the presence of both Nedved juniors in the back seat of the Nedvedmobile. Little Nedved Junior kept up a steady chorus of, 'are we nearly there yet?' and Big Nedved Junior gave Mark a detailed account of Four Four Two's top 100 football players of the year (which he had practically memorised the day before). It was distracting enough that we made a wrong turn in Cheltenham and got stuck in some seriously bad traffic. By the time we had gotten through it we were seriously worried we were going to miss the kick-off.

We had reason to worry as well because finding non-league grounds at the lower end of the pyramid is not something you can take for granted. Once clear of Cheltenham our directions took us to a suspiciously rural area at the foot of Cleeve Hill. There were no signs to indicate that you were approaching a football ground and I began to think we had made another wrong turn. Fortunately my doubts were misplaced. It turns out that instead of signs, Bishop's Cleeve employ a woman in a pink top to stand by the road and point to the match-day parking through a gap in the hedge. How she is able to tell who is coming for the match and who is just a random person driving down Kayte Lane I don't know, but she got it right with us. She peered intently at me though the windscreen, sized me up, and pointed with a determined thrust of her arm.

After paying our entrance fee (£7 adults, kids under 12 free!) and snagging a program (£1) the four of us entered the ground where Bath City's season would either continue in hope or crash in ignominy. The sun was shining disconcertingly brightly for a match of such sombre importance. The ground itself consisted of a clubhouse and snack bar fronted by an expansive patio. This led on to a well-maintained but uneven pitch which was surrounded by a stout brick wall. For the most part spectators perched against this to view the match. Little Nedved Junior had to perch on top of it , actually, as he was too small to see over it on his own. There were two small covered stands for those who wanted a bit more comfort.

As the two teams entered the pitch through an accordion style tunnel my stomach began to tie itself in knots. What if we lost? How would City supporters deal with a defeat? Could we not all gather together, hold hands and say a quick prayer before kick-off? Mercifully the match kicked off before I could think of any more questions.

Because both children were having trouble seeing the match the four of us spent the first ten minutes wandering the perimeter looking for a spare bit of wall that was not quite so high. This distraction was a good thing for my nerves because, as it turned out, Bishop's Cleeve began the game with a determined style and good organisation. Even better for my nerves was a header from Marcus Browning that ricocheted off the Bishop's Cleeve post. The Villagers were not phased by this, though, and immediately took the ball down the other end for a decent shot on goal. Arrrhhhhh!!!! Didn't these clubs in the lower Southern League know they were supposed to be pushovers!

As we skirted past one of the miniature stands we passed by City defender Chris 'Dutch' Holland. Dutch is one of the more imposing players you will ever come across in non-league - not just because of his size or his penchant for wearing black leather gloves like a Bond villain. No, he has that intangible sense of authority that you associate with policemen and the scarier sort of high-school principles. You don't mess with him, basically. He has missed the last few matches due to injury but I was pleased to notice that underneath his Bath City polo shirt he was wearing the high-performance long underwear he is fond of. Perhaps this indicated that he might have been prepared to sit on the bench if needed.

Our journey round the pitch was unsuccessful, so we ended up right back where we had started at the corner flag opposite the goal City were defending. Some ladies came round with a basket asking if I wanted to buy a ticket for the half-time draw. A supporter at Tuesday night's match against Bridgwater had told me to make sure I entered this draw. The Bishop's Cleeve manager is a butcher and supplies the prizes (first prize beef, second prize pork, and third prize chicken). After some reassurances about how big the portions were I gladly bought a £1 ticket.

About this time, though, I began to have a very bad premonition. It began to seem blatantly obvious to me that City were going to lose and that the whole season was going to unravel on the pitch before my eyes. I was sure of it. I decided not to tell Mark. There was no need to upset him before it was necessary.

It was a good thing I kept my mouth shut because my premonition, fortunately, turned out to be completely bogus. Former Bath City defender, Steve Jones, tripped Kaid Mohamed from behind and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Because the Bath City crowd was spread out, and perhaps because we were all so tense, there was only a muffled cheer. Was this really happening? As I was trying to decide whether to pinch myself or not Darren Edwards lined up and took the shot. Despite making poor contact he somehow managed to get the ball in. City had the lead! City might win after all! The season might not be lost! The tension began to ease out of me like a balloon with a slow leak.

Little Nedved Junior tapped me on the leg. 'Daddy, I'm hungry. Can I have a hotdog.' Normally I hate queueing for anything during a match, but I was feeling giddy. 'Absolutely!' I said.

By the time we had circumvented the pitch again and navigated the excessively slow queue at the snack bar the first half was nearly over. We found a bit of unoccupied wall on the end City were attacking just in time to see the next goal. Jim Rollo launched a free kick into the left corner to reach Gethin Jones. He took the ball into the danger zone, and after a moment it landed for Mark Badman to slot it home. It was an excellent bit of play, and, I'm proud to say, not untypical for Bath City this campaign.

A third goal in injury time would have made it a perfect half. Like a genie granting three wishes, the City players complied! Florin Pelecaci, who had spent the half being quietly excellent in midfield, reached Badman with an excellent cross. After some hesitant defending from Bishop's Cleeve he was able to plant it into the net for his second goal of the match. The match was on the verge of turning into a romp. My premonition was turning out to be really wrong. I've decided not to listen to premonitions any more. Not until next Saturday, anyway.

The halftime break was notable for two things. Little Nedved Junior told me he was cold and took up my offer to put on my sweatshirt. It turned out that he was not cold at all but liked the idea of wearing something ten sizes too big for him. He bobbed and twirled as we moved around the ground which made him look like a giant grey jellyfish. Secondly, we found a section of the ground with a shorter wooden fence that meant both boys could have a clear view of the pitch. I mistakenly thought this would cause them to watch the second half quietly.

It didn't matter if the boys were a bit rowdy, though, because the rest of the match went by in a bit of a blur for me. I was so relieved that City appeared to be on their way to victory that I had trouble concentrating on the progress of the game. I do not think I was alone in this as most of the City fans around me chatted to one another amiably as if we were all just enjoying a jolly day out and not watching a season-defining match unfold before us. The tone got even more jovial when word was passed around that Newport County were losing to our friends Paulton Rovers 1-0. This was shaping up to be a perfect afternoon.

A touch of concern returned to our voices briefly, however, when Kevin Slack beat the City defenders to a long goal kick and easily beat City keeper Steve Perrin. Despite this goal, though, Bishop's Cleeve never again ruffled City's otherwise excellent defence. I knew I should have started worrying about the match after they scored but City were just too dominant. With seemingly inevitability, Edwards restored the three goal lead with a looping header off a Jombati cross with fifteen minutes left.

A few minutes from time a huge cheer rose from the City fans gathered around the Bishop's Cleeve goal. The person next to me said, 'That would be the Newport result. They must have lost.' A moment later he was able to confirm this on his mobile.

Full time was blown to a rousing cheer from the travelling City faithful. We were in the hat for Monday's draw. We had defeated a team that had beaten fellow Blue Square South side Weymouth. We had played with determination, passion, and flair. Most of all, though, we had secured £7,500 and would not have to release any players.

The drive home was peaceful and uneventful. Between the need to distract the children and the England commentary on the radio Mark and I did not have much opportunity for conversation. It did not matter, though, because it turned out we only had two things to say, which we said over and over again whenever there was a moment of quiet.

'We won 4-1!' one of us would start. The other one would immediately say, 'Yeah, and Newport lost!'

I was so wrapped up in these two facts that it was not until we reached the M4 that I realised I had not found out what the winning numbers were for the halftime draw. I had been hoping to bring home a half side of beef for Mrs Nedved!

Darn! It was still a perfect afternoon (but if anyone from Bishop's Cleeve reads this my ticket number was 111!).

Where There is Smoke There are a Few Bad Apples

Yesterday's match against Newport County was one of the away matches I wanted to see most this season. County are not only bitter rivals (well, as bitter as we get in non-league football) but I guessed Newport would be near enough that Mrs Nedved would not begrudge a day pass. Besides, as she comes from a large Welsh family, anything that involves going to Wales is generally viewed in a positive light.

There were some factors weighing against the trip, though. I had pressed my luck pretty far by going to see the FA Cup fixture in Willand the week before, and the draw for the upcoming round was an attractive away fixture at someplace called 'Bishop's Cleeve.' Three away matches in a row would be a tall order. Taking one or both children would help, but here the 'bitter rival' tag that made the County match attractive to me worked against it as a family outing.

Whether deserved or not, Newport County have a bit of a reputation among Bath City fans. County fans were blamed for busting up a chippy in Twerton on their last visit, and prominent City supporters have sworn off every visiting County's Spytty Park ever again after previous bad experiences. What's more, there had just recently been controversy over visiting County fans spitting at rival supporters at a match in Woking. Is this a place I should consider taking my children?

I posted this very question on the Bath City forum and got a mixed response. Well, actually I'm being polite by saying it was mixed. It was pretty much uniformly against the idea but several people did make the effort to point out that it was a minority of Newport County fans that caused the problems. You know, the 'a few bad apples' routine. Notably, one prominent fan said that the Newport County match was the only one he did not wear 'colours' to. Kind of scary.

Because I am a fair minded person, though, I decided to post the same question on the Newport County forum. After all, it might be a case of smoke without fire. To a man (and in one case, woman) County fans were adamant that I should come with the kids and several people went out of their way to make sure I felt welcome to do so. Some of the reassurances were not actually all that reassuring. Remarks like, 'You shouldn't have a problem but probably best to keep them away from the covered terrace,' were not as encouraging as they were probably meant to be. In a nutshell I was advised that if I brought the kids they would probably hear a lot of bad language (I was told that this can no longer be avoided in the modern world) but, as long as I kept my eye out to avoid any flash points of violence, nothing worse.

The decision not to go was pretty straightforward. I think if I had gone with the kids it probably would have been fine on the day, but in this case the 'probably' wasn't nearly strong enough. Not taking the kids meant not going myself.

I contented myself with listening to the match on the Newport County Internet radio station known as the 'Amber Line.' Listening to commentary (understandably) biased against your team is a bit disconcerting. I found the 'Amber Line' especially so because despite the healthy attendance of 1,410 the broadcast managed to make Spytty park sound like it had no more than a dozen people in it. The standard of commentary, however, was generally pretty good. Talking non-stop about a football match for ten minutes at a time is no easy task but the commentary team did generally make it sound easy.

I do have one bone to pick with County presenter Ray Taylor, though. He criticised City for only bringing fifty or so fans to the match. 'Considering it is quite a short distance, that's poor,' he said. When you consider that (a) many fans who normally travel deliberately chose not to (b) several of those that did travel felt it unsafe to wear identifying clothing (c) visitors were being advised by Newport County fans not to sit in the terraces he could see, it wasn't really all that poor.

Hearing City lose would be pretty depressing whoever was doing the call, I suppose. A goal in the seventh minute by Charlie Henry was enough to see County to a 1-0 victory. Despite the score line, City played well for much of the game according to all accounts (even the Amber Line commentary). It was the familiar story of City not playing well enough to win, but playing well enough against tough opposition to give you hope for the future.

Fortunately normal non-league service resumes next Saturday with the FA Cup match and a home match against Dorchester Town the following week. It will be nice to mingle with the Bishop's Cleeve fans and not give a thought to what I am wearing or be looking out for flash points.

As I wrote this, though, I worried that I was being unfair to the County supporters. After all, everyone at Bath City is adamant that most County fans are all right. How would I feel if City was tarred with a similar reputation that had nothing to do with me?

Perhaps I am being unfair. I will try to come to a match at Spytty before long. I have stated so on the County forum (although if County are promoted it might take a while). This same forum, though, with its large proportion of mean-spirited anonymous posts and peppering of foul language, is a strong enough warning in itself to make sure that when I do come it will be without the kids.