Westlife, away. Yes, THE Westlife. That was the freakish fixture clash Market Drayton Town faced this week thanks to a string of outlandish twists of fate.
The first games of the revamped Unibond – now EvoStick – League South campaign were announced on Wednesday and paired Town with Glapwell, who are this season ground-sharing with Mansfield Town.
But on the big day, Saturday, August 21, Mansfield are hosting a massive money-spinning visit by supergroup Westlife. And, as Glapwell’s club doyen of a secretary Malc Holmes admits, there’s no way that lot are going to be kicked into touch.
Or, to quote a Mansfield club spokesman: “It’s going ahead as certain as the tide’s coming in. There’s no way anyone’s playing football here that day.”
Glapwell and Drayton were happy to reverse the fixture – but the league have rejected the idea. “We were shocked because we warned the league a month ago about the potential clash,” said Mr Holmes.
“We asked them to ensure that we did not have a home game that day. But the FA computer did the fixtures and now we’ve been landed with it.
“We have a club committee meeting tonight (Thursday) and the issue will obviously be very high on our agenda. Unless the league relents, we’ve obviously got to arrange something with a nearby club.”
I understand Rainworth and Belper are possibilities, though neither have officially been approached.
However, there’s an outside chance Glapwell might actually have use of their old ground.
Leaving Westlife standing in the wings, Town boss Simon Line has more immediate dates to sort, pushing on with his pre-season programme in attractive derby trips to Ludlow tomorrow (3pm) and Ellesmere on Tuesday (7.45pm) before entertaining Barrow Town the following Saturday.
He will have the same squad of about 18 who lost 5-1 to AFC Telford in Saturday’s opening warm-up match and warns: “The major aim is to again work hard . . . and then harder.
“Apart from a daft spell just before half time when we let in two goals, I was reasonably pleased with our run-out against Telford.”
Tom France, who left Greenfields by ambulance after suffering a leg injury, will go to hospital today for specialists to assess the extent of the damage.
Town, meanwhile, have been handed potentially awkward ties in their traditionally money-spinning glamour contests – the FA Cup and the FA Trophy.
They’re away in the opening round of both, visiting Boldmere St Michaels or Westfields in the Cup on August 28 and AFC Fylde in the Trophy early in October.
If Town get through their opening FA Cup clash, they’re away again.
The start to their season is pretty demanding too, with six games in the first 18 days – four of them away. Either side of the August 28 FA Cup tie, their Evo-Stik League South line-up is:
Glapwell (away, Saturday, August 21), Sutton Coldfield (home, Wednesday, Aug 25), Newcastle Town (away, Bank Holiday Monday, Aug 30), Stamford (home, Saturday, September 4), Sheffield FC (away, Tuesday, Sep 7).
By Terry Morris