Soccer Travels: Altrincham vs Wrexham - A non-league night out
On the terraces for the Red Dragons' journey back to the Football League
This article originally appeared in Feb 2023 on the Soccer Travels website.
I’ve never understood why football fans claim that “real football” is played outside the Premier League. Oftentimes, “real football” is claimed to be played in non-league, the fifth tier of English football. To me, that’s like saying “real medicine” is practised by pre-med students or the best smartphones are crafted by hobbyists tinkering around in their basements on the weekends.
For me, there is a time and place for non-league football. While most of the time, I’d rather visit a Premier League team’s stadium to see a top-flight fixture, I do enjoy the occasional trip to watch non-league football. Money doesn’t make football better, but it sure does help make it more watchable.
The great thing about living in England’s northwest is the amount of live football you can watch in a given week. Whether you want to watch Premier League football or amateurs running around a muddy pitch on Saturday afternoon, you can pay to watch it. Sometimes, they should pay you to view it, however.
Having paid good money to see some bad semi-pro football in recent months, in which the ball spent more time in the air than the Hindenburg did, my desire to visit a non-league game was low. With so many football clubs of various sizes around my home base, it is easy to lose track of the teams and matches.
One of the best sports documentaries I have ever seen is the Welcome to Wrexham series documenting the purchase and transformation of the club by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Even if you aren’t a football fan or know anything about the sport, there is something wonderful about the documentary. It cuts through the lines of sports and makes the story being told completely relatable. Few documentaries, sports or otherwise, can make the connection Welcome to Wrexham does with viewers.
Even before the documentary was released, the takeover of the club by Reynolds and McElhenney piqued my interest in Wrexham. Did I want to buy a shirt and begin supporting them? Absolutely not. I did want to see the team play and experience the revolution taking place in northern Wales.
The Red Dragons games aren’t easy to get tickets for the Racecourse Ground, which is around a 60-minute drive from my house. Wanting to see Wrexham play this season, as they could achieve promotion back to League Two, I picked up a pair of tickets to see them play against Altrincham at Moss Lane, also known as the J. Davidson Stadium due to sponsorship reasons.
The National League (fifth tier) rivals were set to play on February 4, with three massive points up for grabs for both clubs. Ahead of kick-off, Wrexham sat in second place, as they chased Notts County for the top spot in the league. Only one team in the National League achieves automatic promotion to League Two, so winning the league is paramount for Wrexham this season. Making the National League playoffs, as they did last term, provides a very difficult path for one promotion place.
While Wrexham were battling for the top spot in the division, Altrincham were in the running for the promotion playoffs. The midtable team was having a good season for a club with modest means compared to big-spending Wrexham. I didn’t realise Moss Lane was so close to my house and easy to get to. In fact, despite all the football I watch and write about, it didn’t occur to me that Altrincham were even in the National League. I had assumed they were in lower divisions and not just outside the Football League this season.
I used to go to matches on my own, but now that my son is nine-years-old, he has the desire to visit the grounds and watch football with me. What used to be a bit of a lonely journey has turned into father-son time, which I’ll lose someday soon when he is a bit older. For now, he is keen to go to games with his old man and see football of varying degrees of quality.
Moss Lane had no parking, so after spending some time looking for a place to park on the street, we finally found a spot a short walk from the ground. The area around the small stadium is mostly residential, although a tram stop, large Tesco, and ice rink (home to Manchester Storm Hockey Club) are within a short walk. Large older homes make up the area, which is an affluent part of Greater Manchester.
Although we parked a mile away, the walk to the stadium was quick, as we followed a few Altrincham supporters down the street. The sound of Wrexham fans singing songs as they walked to Moss Lane could be heard several streets over without us seeing the individuals belting out the tunes. To my disappointment, I never once heard any supporters belting out “Always Sunny in Wrexham”. It’s probably a good thing because every time I hear The Declan Swans’ song, I can’t get it out of my head.
After reaching Moss Lane, I was surprised by how much character it had from the outside. Some of the League Two and non-league stadiums I’ve visited, such as Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park or Tranmere Rovers’ Prenton Park, are a bit dire. You can really tell the money isn’t available for those clubs to sink into their stadiums. Boundary Park looked so bad that it was hard to believe I used to see Oldham on the Premier League review shows that were beamed by satellite onto my television in the United States during the 1990s.
Moss Lane had a traditional English football ground feel. There was a main stand with seats while a little more than three-quarters of the venue was terraces/standing room only. As we walked up to the turnstiles, the club official working the gate asked whether we were Altrincham or Wrexham supporters. My son, who has seen the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, begged to sit in the away Wrexham end. I took a few seconds to think about it but ultimately chose to go into the Altrincham stand. I wasn’t sure exposing a nine-year-old football-mad child to away supporters in a terrace-only end was the right thing to do.
My son, Finn, has watched the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, which I’m sure some people would question my parenting. I was raised by baby boomers in the ‘80s and ‘90s, who had no clue what I was watching, listening to, or getting up to. Most American children who grew up during those decades probably experienced similar upbringings. Since watching Welcome to Wrexham, Finn has wanted to see the club play, just like me. Unfortunately for him, he would have to do it in the Altrincham end. As kick-off approached, I had to remind Finn not to cheer for any Wrexham goals.
After entering the ground, we made our way to the Golf Road terrace, which is a name I like for some reason. We picked out a place to stand on the terrace as more people made their way into it. Finn and I were able to find a central location on the terrace, with some other families around us. No danger here. The terracing was covered, which came in handy later on as cold, misty rain came down. It was the kind of rain that can make you angry and want to leave, as you slowly get wet. Luckily, we were covered.
The teams took to the pitch, as the supporters in the Golf Road end sang proudly and loudly. The noise created by the supporters was tremendous and benefitted from the covered terracing, as it helped to amplify the sound.
We were treated to seeing Wrexham’s big-money striker, Paul Mullin. Altrincham fans serenaded the former Everton and Liverpool youth player with the chant, “Scouse Bastard” whenever he touched the ball. Mullin would end up having the last laugh on the night and his quality showed against Altrincham. Mullin dropped down a couple of divisions to play for Wrexham in the National League. The difference in quality was evident. Mullin showed movement, touch, and pace completely different from the attacking players on the opposite side of the pitch. If he wanted to, Mullin could play in the Championship rather than the National League.
It didn’t take Wrexham long to create chances. Yet, Altrincham gave back what they got in the early goings, hitting the crossbar from a brilliant chipped shot from Danny Cashman. The Robins benefitted from the home support. According to the television broadcast by BT Sport, Altrincham had their largest crowd at Moss Lane since the 1960s. Fans were encouraged to turn out for the game just like Finn and me.
Parents with kids had come to the game and plenty of youngsters were freely running around the ground. During the second half, a trio of people stood behind me on the terrace utterly uninterested in the game and talking about everything but the match. Why they bought tickets for the match escaped me, as there was no interest from any of them in the game. The trio seemed to be the only people with a lack of interest in the fixture, however. Over 4,000 fans showed up for the game and Altrincham declared tickets were sold out before kickoff. Interestingly, the clubs met in January in the FA Trophy tournament at Moss Lane with a little over 2,500 fans showing up. Nearly 1,000 fans were Wrexham supporters that night.
The first half saw a few players come close to scoring, but it was overall devoid of goals. At halftime, we headed into the Community Sports Hall, an indoor part of the stadium where functions are held. The Community Sports Hall also doubles as the bar. Alcohol was not permitted in view of the pitch and anyone wanting a drink had to do it inside the Community Sports Hall.
For anyone without kids, nine-year-old boys eat and drink a lot. The trip to the stadium featured a quick stop off for a sandwich for Finn, while the drive home included a burger from McDonald’s. After 45 minutes of football, he needed a drink. We made our way into the hall to grab a couple of bottles of water. What we found was a room heaving with people double-fisting pints of lager. The queues were very un-British, as chaos reigned. We stood in line for 30 minutes before finally making our way to the bar. Bottles of water weren’t available, but free pints of tap water were handed out (win). With two J2Os ordered, we planned to return to the pitch. A nine-year-old carrying a plastic cup with J2O was deemed too extreme by the security guards working the door. We were forced to remain in the hall until finishing our drinks. The result of being in the hall for an extended period of time was missing Wrexham’s opening goal.
After chugging our drinks, we slid back into the terrace just in time to see Altrincham equalise. The goal happened right in front of us, as Miles Welch-Hayes scored a fantastic goal. The right-back had been Altrincham’s best player for most of the fixture. His goal with eight minutes left wouldn’t be enough, however. Wrexham went down to the opposite end and scored three minutes later through Eoghan O’Connell. The travelling supporters went wild with glee and several jumped onto the pitch to celebrate. Finn threw a couple of fist pumps into the air before I settled him down and reminded him we were in the Altrincham end.
At full-time, fans rushed for the exits. Football fans are so eager to get into the ground before matches, yet cannot wait to get out the gate after the referee blows for the end of the game. We walked past the takeaways serving fish and chips toward the car. Finn was buzzing following the game, satisfied with seeing Wrexham pick up points in the National League title race. His excitement wasn’t just confined to seeing live, professional football. He had scored a brilliant goal earlier in the day playing for his U10s team, curling the ball into the goal from 25 yards out. In his words, “It was a great day.”
The cold mist of Manchester engulfed us as we walked back to the car on the dark wet streets. We saddled up for home happy to find no parking ticket on the windshield.