Jumpers for goalposts

Prior to the Aldershot v Woking game there was a short service to remember not only Phil O'Donnell, the Motherwell FC captain who died at the weekend (see here), but two people linked with Aldershot Town - director Paul Muddell and former player Gordon Henry. Conducted by the club chaplain, the service was a poignant moment, and the minute's silence was impeccably observed by everyone in the crowd of 4,728. There is something powerful about a minute's silence at a football ground - today even more so.

I'd gone to the game because I want to see more live football in 2008. For me there is something special, something real about the non-league game, and the nearest match of interest was Aldershot v Woking. Football in Aldershot has a fascinating history as the original club went bust back in 1992 and a new club was formed. It has been working its way up the non-league pyramid ever since and now finds itself on the brink of a return to league football as it is currently atop the Blue Square Premier Conference.

The ground is a throw back to the past, sandwiched as it is between the railway line and a 1950s style office block. It has four small stands, all tight to the pitch, and with a bank holiday local derby crowd, the ground was comfortably full. It's an earthy ground - hot chocolate could be purchased from a food van for 80p and the experience is one of real football, a world away from the monied glamour of the sanitised Premiership.

The match was fine - both teams play a good passing game. Aldershot scored twice in the first half but Woking scored one early in the second making it an open and nicely poised match - an excellent advert for the non league game. In the end Aldershot showed why they are top of the league and deservedly held the 2-1 lead. A return to the league game seems on the cards - and given what the club has been through in the past 20 years, and the quality of football they play, you can't begrudge them it.

Overall a very pleasant start to 2008 - who knows, watching more live football may be a 'resolution' that can be kept!