“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.”
John Ruskin.
I don’t generally dread games but, having watched Cambridge United for almost fifty years, I know that it’s a mistake to assume too much. It works both ways. Most of us didn’t imagine that we would win at Newcastle. Similarly, I didn’t think we’d lose at Harrogate or Barnet or Notts County. Every football fan knows that if they care too much, they are likely to be hurt. That’s why many of us don’t watch penalties. My son kept saying, “Well, if we lose, we lose. We’ll still be in the Playoffs. At least we won’t be relegated this year.” He was not convincing. I tried to convince myself of all these points. It seemed an eternity since the Barrow match. Our destiny was in our own hands but that’s a kind of pressure in itself. Crewe had nothing to play for so they could play without fear. Or without interest if, mentally, they were already on the beach. We would see. I can’t imagine how the responsibility for promotion depending on one match must have felt to the players. It’s tough enough as a fan.
Crewe seemed to be mainly closed when we arrived. We’d expected to park on the huge industrial estate but most of it was sealed off. Double yellow lines were everywhere but eventually we found a car park where we were only charged a modest amount, once we’d worked out the complicated technology. We received a very warm welcome in the Crewe Arms Hotel, where we built up some Dutch courage before joining the other 2,300 odd United fans in two stands which are used to much smaller attendances. Our showing at away games has been phenomenal and we should be grateful to Crewe for giving us an extra stand, the one behind the goal where their own supporters usually sit. Having said that, their main stand could have comfortably accommodated all their fans and many more. It looked almost as empty as the derelict railway offices next to the station, Crewe’s main claim to fame.
It was wonderful to see and hear our fans in full voice. Some were in fancy dress. Most were wearing their colours with pride. Surely our team would be inspired? It was brilliant to see some of our own stewards at the ground. Better still to be cuddled by one of them. There was exuberance everywhere.
We started pretty well and created chances. KaiKai shot over the bar, Knight shot wide and Mpanzu had a shot headed off the line. If we won, we were up. Not much to ask surely and we were, at this stage, clearly the better side. Then KaiKai was bundled over and the Peterborough born Referee awarded us a penalty. I am pretty biased as a fan but even I thought that it was a bit soft. Knight picked up the ball and promptly missed his second successive penalty. It was placed well enough this time but it was just too soft. He had shown real character to take the kick, and shouldn’t be criticised for that decision , but the miss had a real bearing on the game as it did on the Grimsby game. Strikers have to be greedy but they need a killer instinct too. Ben will develop that I’m sure. It’s all he needs in order to be a truly outstanding player. I’ve seen him terrify defences this season but after the miss he went into his shell and some of the zip went out of our game. Confidence is so important in sport. We began to look jittery and more sluggish. We were aiming hopeful balls rather than controlling it as we had at the start. Crewe began to come into it, as they could, while our attacking play became less threatening. Our free kicks and crossing became awful. When we are at our best we make them count.
At half time you could sense the nerves amongst our fans. None of us got to see our last promotion because of the Pandemic. We longed to be part of a triumph this time. We could have been 2-0 up but we weren’t. We had a really important 45 minutes coming up. Would we go for it? Surely we had to.
The highlights from the second half were some excellent stops from Eastwood who was clearly back on form and some spectacular playacting from some Crewe players whose physical “Robustness” went largely unnoticed by the Referee, who contrived to book three of our players. I was astonished to find out later that Crewe fans thought that we were over physical and that the Referee favoured us. Some fans are a little biased I suspect. One supporter near me said that he thought that the Ref was letting things go so as not to spoil the flow of the game. Others commented on his somewhat flamboyant hairstyle, as well as his somewhat loose grasp of the rules. I have some sympathy with Refs, given the epidemic of cheating in the game but when he booked Mpanzu for a perfectly legitimate tackle in which he won the ball cleanly, I realised that anything was possible. One other mystery to me was why Brophy seemed to be ready to come on for over ten minutes ,while KaiKai was clearly not fit enough or inspired enough to get our attack going. Mayor was very quiet too. We needed to try something else. People began to look at their phones. I began to feel gloomy. My son remarked that there could easily be an outcome that no one had previously thought of. I just wanted us to score so that there would be no doubt. Some joker said that Loft had come on for Crawley, which meant that they were doomed! Then there was a period of radio silence. Right at the end we might have had a winning goal as a header from Watts was quite brilliantly saved by the Crewe keeper, who then saved Ball’s follow up shot too. We had begun to attack with more purpose towards the end. A winning goal would have been fitting, particularly from Watts, an outstanding defender. How much extra time would there be? We saw no board. Someone said 7 minutes and the Ref played 6. I think he just wanted to go home. Then the strangest minute or two as we waited for the Crawley result to come in. A draw and we were up. It was silent until an unforgettable and mighty roar went up and the pitch invasion began. At 73 getting over the wall was tricky but it wasn’t going to stop me. Hearing, “The U’s are going up!” is so much more stirring than hearing ,”The U’s are staying up!” I felt very emotional and a little bit of disbelief. We have stuttered at times but to be promoted the season after going down is a wonderful achievement, up there with Newcastle and Wembley.
These are the moments you live for as a fan. I was with family and met Messrs Barker, Badcock and Wilby, wonderful people I have known for years because of football.
It was a tough afternoon but I wouldn’t have been anywhere else, for the world.