Boreham Wood: Redemption for Luke

Saturday April 20, 2024: Luke Garrard applauds the North Bank at Meadow Park, seemingly his last act as Boreham Wood manager after nine years in charge. Unfortunately the tears in his eyes are not solely down to the fact that he is leaving the club he loves. Relegation was not how this should have ended.

Fast forward two years. Garrard once again in front of the Wood Army and emotional. Yet these tears are for a very different reason. This is a moment to savour, a shared experience of joy at Carlisle's Brunton Park. Garrard has just led Boreham Wood to a Wembley play-off final and his remarkable road to redemption is complete.

The six stages of Ashes grief

Describing sporting defeats in terms of grief is obviously way over the top. Yet for England cricket fans having to endure another difficult Ashes tour down under, the 2024/25 series seems to be following that all too familiar pattern.

A cycle that has often been repeated during English winters since 1990 - bar one glorious exception - you would think that most of us would have learned by now. But we do it to ourselves, we do. And that's what really hurts.

So join me as we take a stroll through a typical English winter of hope, disappointments, sleepless nights, anger, realisation and the occasional moments of humour. An Ashes in Australia; my favourite waste of time.

Boreham Wood: Luke Garrard

All good things must come to an end. After nine years at the helm, Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard takes charge of his last match at the club on Saturday. There will not be a dry eye among the Wood Army at Meadow Park. 

Hopefully there will be tears of happiness and relief added to the emotional outpouring after the final game of the season against Ebbsfleet. At the end of a tough campaign, the Wood face a crucial 90 minutes to determine which level of the National League they will be playing in. Win and they stay up. Anything else and it's the drop.

Sport hurts: Jimmy White (1994)

Monday May 2, 1994. Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White are locked in a final frame decider in the World Championship final. With White leading 37-24 and the table open, even the usually stoic Hendry is showing signs of concern. White bends down to tackle a black he would normally pot with his eyes closed.

It should have been his crowning glory, the moment White conquered his Everest. Instead it was the day the music died. A gasp echoed around the Crucible as White's attempt at the black failed to threaten the pocket. All he could do was sit, wait and hope that Hendry would give him one more shot.

1993 Ryder Cup

Welcome to 1993. Take That teamed up with Lulu. There were four UK terrestrial television channels. England were preparing for a crucial World Cup qualifier in the Netherlands. Five of America's 2023 Ryder Cup team had not been born. The world wide web was still a thing of the future. Prince Andrew was allowed to present the Ryder Cup to the winning captain. The past is indeed a foreign country.

As captain Tom Watson lifted up the Ryder Cup at the Belfry on September 26, 1993, you would have got long odds on the American team waiting at least 30 years to triumph on European soil. But since that Sunday in the Midlands, six US captains - including Watson again in 2014 - have tried and failed to take the trophy back across the Atlantic. Thirty years of hurt. 

At the time it felt like the end of an era and the start of another period of American dominance. Admittedly the 1991 and 1993 wins had been nip and tuck throughout, but America's strength in depth coupled with an apparent lack of successors behind Europe's ageing stars painted a worrying image for the future. Yet history tells us another tale.

1997: England v Australia First Test

For once in my life it appeared as if my optimism had not been misplaced. Going into the first Ashes Test in the summer of '97, there seemed a renewed energy, not just with English cricket but also the nation as a whole. Euro 96, Britpop, Things Can Only Get Better, it was clear that this momentum was leading to an inevitable conclusion: The Ashes were coming home. 

Disappointment heaped upon misery, embarrassment and despair since 1989 had left many English cricket fans wondering when the drought would end. But in 1997 there was genuine hope that Michael Atherton could lift the Ashes urn and end the years of hurt.

2001 Ashes

By 2001, the Ashes had become a bit of an obsession. Winning the urn in 1985 was my beautiful introduction to Test match cricket and retaining the Ashes down under in 1986/87 was the stuff of dreams during a turbulent time for English cricket. But then came 1989.

A series that has entered the hall of shame for the England national team, anything that could go wrong that year did. The 4-0 reverse was shocking, as 29 players were shuffled around in the vague hope that England could compete with the resurgent tourists. To be honest, losing 4-0 flattered us.

From that point on I dreamed of winning back the urn at the start of every Ashes series. But time after time it soon became clear that my initial hopes were ill-founded. Losing became a habit against Australia, but still I hoped that the latest series would be the one. You do it to yourself, you do, and that's what really hurts. 

2000: Pakistan v England

England began their tour of Pakistan in 2000 just looking to compete. By the end of it they were dancing in the moonlight.

A year had been a long time for the English cricket team. Beaten by New Zealand in the summer of 1999, England dropped to the bottom of the unofficial world rankings and the start of the new captain/coach partnership of Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher suggested that the road to recovery would be long.

In fairness, the bowling conditions were ideal as England slumped to 2/4 in the opening Test of the series in South Africa. But despite going down to a 2-1 series defeat - the one win coming after the notorious Hansie Cronje declaration in the final match - there were small signs that Hussain was moulding a side in his image.

1973 FA Cup third place play-off: Arsenal v Wolves

This article orignally appeared in edition 273 of The Gooner.

Those of us of a certain vintage will forever bang on about how great the FA Cup used to be, and with some justification. The competition was rightfully viewed with pride as worldwide audiences were left enthralled at the magic of the cup. Sadly, the riches of the Premier League and Champions League has left the FA Cup looking like a slightly poor relation in comparison. Well done, everyone involved.

Many of the great traditions have been lost – marathon replays, neutral club grounds used for semi-finals, the wacky 3pm kick-off time for the final – but fortunately one experiment has long since disappeared. I yearn for the days of old, but you can keep your FA Cup third-fourth play-off match.

Sport hurts: Adelaide (2006)

My new series where I take a look back at a time sport left me broken.

As me and my friends discussed England's fantastic Test match win at Adelaide in December 2010, one of the group stated that at least we could bury the bad memories at the same venue four years earlier. "Too soon," I replied, as all the joy left my eyes. 

I was partly joking. But there are some sporting defeats that leave a scar so deep that they should never be mentioned again. Rather than having an open discussion that will hopefully heal the wounds, it's best to bury these experiences, deep down, preferably at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. So writing this blog is going to be a lot of fun for me.

Sport hurts: Bernhard Langer (1991)

My new series where I take a look back at a time sport left me broken.

There is nothing quite like the final day of a Ryder Cup in terms of gut-wrenching tension. For hours on end you study the scoreboard meticulously, allowing yourself brief moments of hope when a blob of blue is added, and descending into despondency when red starts to dominate. As the 12 singles matches develop you board a rollercoaster of emotions, thrown up and down as hole by hole the picture changes. By the end of the day you feel like you've been to hell and back.

Sometimes I think this is just me being far too invested in sport. But it is reassuring to discover that you are not alone. And when you find out that the players involved are also suffering then it helps to know that maybe all of this does matter after all. To hear Sir Nick Faldo comment that every part of his body was shaking during his pivotal singles match against Curtis Strange in 1995 is confirmation that the Sunday of the Ryder Cup is unique.

1979 FA Cup: Arsenal/Sheffield Wednesday marathon

This article originally appeared in issue 275 of The Gooner.

If a top flight team has everything their own way, then it is possible to win the FA Cup in roughly 540 minutes of football. But Arsenal Football Club have rarely done things the easy way throughout our wonderful history. The start and end of the 1979 FA Cup triumph is a prime example of this.

The final has gone down in FA Cup folklore, solely due to the dramatic five minutes at the end of the match, as Arsenal threatened to pull defeat from the jaws of a comfortable victory, before somehow getting off the floor to deliver the delicious knockout blow via Alan Sunderland’s rightfoot.

Cricket World Cup television coverage

"What's this?", I casually enquired to my 12-year-old son. "My cricket scenes picture," he replied, as if I should have worked that out easily. Glancing at his drawing, I had a few more questions.

"How has Mum scored 201* off of 171 balls?"

"How did our rabbit (Derek) dismiss me for a golden duck?"

"How did Derek take 7/22, seeing as he's, well, a rabbit?"

"And, are you ok?"

To be honest, I knew the answer to the last question. You see, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have done at his age. Locate the Ladybird book of cricket in our house and you will spot the front over with "Cricket is skill" scribbled on it; I did this in the mid-80s. As my wife often says - with a pained expression on her face - "He's a mini version of you".

From a very young age he has been into his cricket. That is the bonus of growing up in a house where your parents can just about afford the Sky subscription and are prepared to pay it. Watching cricket with me whetted his appetite, and since 2015 we have been regulars at home and away T20 matches following Northamptonshire. He also went to his first Test at Lord's in 2015, as England defeated New Zealand.

All this waffle is basically a foundation for the rest of my piece; my concerns for cricket in the UK with regards to the next generation. With the World Cup currently being contested on our shores, this has brought the problem to my attention in an alarming way.

My son loves his cricket and is obviously drowning in the Sky coverage of the tournament. Hence the cricket scenes masterpiece. But this got me thinking about the thousands of young children up and down the country who are denied the chance to discover just how brilliant the sport is.

Cricket on free to air television enabled me to stumble into a relationship with the sport in 1985. But if the equivalent of Sky had existed back then, there is a strong chance cricket would have passed me by. This shouldn't be the case.

The World Cup should be available on terrestrial television (is it still called that?). Think of how many children could be enthralled by some of the big hitting, stunning catches, flashing bails, and general razzmatazz of the tournament. Opportunities like this don't come along very often.

It saddens me that the current England team could be slipping under the radar. A superb set of players, they might not win the World Cup, but what better way to attract kids to the game than through this exciting side?

Take the Afghanistan match. Eoin Morgan's 17 sixes in his thrilling 148 might have happened when most of us were at work or school, but at least everyone could enjoy the highlights on Channel 4. What time could the family settle down to witness Morgan's record-breaking antics? 11.05pm. Well done, everyone.

It isn't just the future I'm worried about. Consider the casual fan in all this. My parents have been watching matches on Sky, and my mum said she's surprised about how exciting it is. My mum really doesn't like cricket, and now she's shocking me with mad statements like this.

Sporting tournaments like this should be shared by the nation. Think of the feelgood factor created by the football World Cup last year. At a time when we could all do with a bit of escapism, jumping aboard the England team bandwagon seems appealing. But some haven't been invited to the party.

There is nothing we can do about it now. But this really does feel like a missed chance to promote cricket in this country. And with the Ashes following the World Cup, it is the ideal summer to fall in love with the sport.

I'm not knocking Sky; they have invested millions in covering cricket, and their coverage is excellent and extensive. It's the powers that be need to take a look at the situation, and ponder if potential fans being deprived of cricket coverage is sensible.

Rant over. I'm off to bowl some chin music at my son after his cruel assessment of my cricketing abilities.

1992 World Cup: Botham's last hurrah

It's often been stated that things were rarely dull where Ian Terrence Botham was concerned. After all, if you're an inspiration to David Brent, then naturally you will be an entertainer. The winter of 1992 would see one final example of Beefy writing his own scripts. Yet, as the England cricket team jetted off for their New Zealand tour in January 1992, it would be a very different set of scripts that caused a stir amongst the British press.

2018 World Cup review

A few thoughts on England at the World Cup, as football narrowly avoided coming home, lager flooded our streets, and Russia 2018 proved to be a raging success.

It’s Coming Home

I lost count of the number of times that I heard this during the World Cup. Or spotted it on Twitter. Sadly, it looks as if football has decided to stop off across the Channel for a couple of years at least; but it was fun while it lasted.

Boreham Wood make it to Wembley

We never expected this kind of excitement. When in May 2015 I asked my 8-year-old son if he wanted to go to the Conference South play-off final between Boreham Wood and Whitehawk, little did we know that we would end up here. Just three years later, the Wood are going to Wembley.

My Sporting Diary: Part 13

I've had a few weeks off from writing my sport diary, and not a lot has happened in that period. Well, there has been the ball tampering affair, Man City losing a few notable matches, the first golf major of the year, and the start of the Commonwealth Games. But, as I say, not much has taken place.

My Sporting Diary: Part 12

The latest entry in my 2018 sport diary, as I finally back a winner at Cheltenham, international week drags on and on and on, and the England cricket team take us all back to the 80s and 90s.

My Sporting Diary: Part 11

The latest entry in my 2018 sporting diary, as Jamie Carragher explodes, West Ham fans protest, and I look forward to Cheltenham and Boreham Wood visits.

My Sporting Diary: Part 10

Part ten of my 2018 sporting diary, as Arsenal play Jekyll and Hyde, and Aggers and Tuffers entertain.