Interview with a Macclesfield fan
August 14, 2012 by billthered
Macclesfield vs Wrexham – Tuesday 14th August
Today the Reds will be travelling up to Cheshire to face The Silkmen of Macclesfield. We have an interview with one of their fans, who also has Wrexham FC connection.
Today’s opposing fan is Thomas Ennion, someone who has had trials with Wrexham and used to follow us growing up. Here’s what he had to say…..
1. It’s been some time since you’ve been in the Conference, are you excited to be back? (I say tounge firmly in cheek!)
To be honest it wasn’t until my season ticket arrived and the four four two magazine review came out and our usual write up wasn’t in it that it hit home we had actually been relegated and it wasn’t actually a bad dream. Seeing the build up and press for league 2 is sickening. But with realisation I am looking forward to the prospect of new teams, grounds and experiences. The league seems very competitive so I am looking forward to it. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the long journey’s down south. Or bonus of going down is we get to renew our local rivalry with Stockport and face Hyde with is pretty local.
2. It seems like you’ve been flirting with going down on a semi-regular basis for the last few years. What went wrong this time?
A lot is made of the "smallest budget" theory, but what actually crippled us was the injuries. I have never known a crisis like it. We started the season superbly and were comfortable mid table then with more injuries we just dropped. We then fired Gary Simpson at possibly the wrong time. It was after e transfer deadline, the new manager could not stamp his mark on the team and the rest is history. We got into a real slump and nobody could see where the next win would come from. 1 win would have made the difference, going to places like port vale and missing a penalty in the last five minutes for them to go up the other end and score summed up our season.
3. When we came down, even the most realistic of fans expected us to do a lot better in the first couple of seasons. We’ve seen the likes of Grimsby and Luton also come down with similar expectations only to come crashing down to earth. As a team that has history in this tier of football, do you feel your fans are a bit more realistic about your chances?
This may shock a few people but on our message boards there were a few people who wanted us to go down. People believed that by being relegated we would get to be more competitive towards the top of the league rather than constant survival. This is just naive because the conference when we last experienced it is totally different today ad very disrespectful to the teams around us. Before our first game on Friday, we were optimistic we could do well, we have a completely new squad that play football the right way, on the floor. No longer would be hurting our necks with the long ball systems of old. After the much I thing we have the realisation that it may not be as easy as some predicted. I think we are in a transitional period, a few years of rebuilding like yourselves and Luton will do us no harm. The only problem financially is the longer we leave it the harder it will be.
4. What would you say is your club’s aim this season and do you think you can achieve it?
Every team in the league should look towards the playoffs. On their day anybody can beat anybody and we are no different. I would love to see us in the top 2, but realistically I am going for mid table. As long as we are competitive and looking to make a real go of trying for promotion then the fans will be happy.
5. How do you think you will do tonight? Do you fancy your chances?
This is tough. Do I go with my head if my heart? My heart says 1-1, we don’t look like like scoring many goals, but we are strong in the centre if the park. My head says a Wrexham win though, a team who have made a good start, good squad and a team that achieved 98 points last season that another season wins promotion will be hard to beat. Especially as they have the winning mentality. I will go with my heart being the optimist 1-1.
6. Who do you think will be your key player(s)?
Matthew Barnes homer – striker – a year ago we bought Tyrone Barnett from non league. Tyrone could hold the ball up, had good movement and scored prolifically. He is now in the championship after a million pound plus transfer. Homer has the same attributes and seems to have settled in well. He has experience in is league with Luton. We just need to play to his strengths and give him lots of service.
Nat Brown – defender – this is a big season for our captain and former Wrexham player. He is our leader and needs to instil the same ethos to those around him. If it wasn’t for his age he wold have left to play higher up the league. Browny is key to our defensive strength.
Finally….. The man to watch.. Tony Diane. Tony has been consistent and has a good eye for goal, we had a few premier league and championship teams sniffing around him last season. It just depends on how he fits into the new managers plans though because he is equally comfortable at centre back, left back, left wing and central midfield.
7. If you could have any player from another team, who would it be?
Personally I would like Neil Ashton. We had him on loan and he was awesome. Good defensively and going forward. Good at set pieces and always wore his heart on his sleeve. If only for a bit more pace he would have played a lot higher. I wouldn’t mind Stuart fleet wood for his goals though.
One I wouldn’t want though who played for you and us was pretty boy Tolley. If he spent more time on improving his skill rather than his hair and tan he could have done better lol.
8. Who do you think will be promoted this year? And if you don’t think Wrexham, how do you reckon we will fare?
I have Luton and your good selves. In what order who knows.
9. Can you tell us more about your association with Wrexham?
Yeah, my dad was head of security in the tunnel at the racecourse for over 15 years as well as holding the same role at old Trafford for Manchester united. I went with him to every home game from 1992 to around 2002 when the itv digital crisis hit hard. This had a huge impact on the finances of Wrexham who could no longer afford the contract with the firm. We then went and did the matches for free for a season because we loved the club and the personnel behind the scenes. I grew up a Wrexham fan, I nearly ended up playing for them too.
Because my dad worked there on match days we had to get to games at like 10 in the morning so I used to have a kick about on the car park to kill the long waiting hours. I was spotted Steve a youth coach who let me play with the other youngsters more to get from under my dads feet than because I was any good lol.
As I got a bit older I also used to help clean the dressing rooms, helped the her at colliers park, worked a turnstile when someone didn’t show up in the new stand also.
Wrexham will always have a soft spot with me. I grew up there, I was taken under the wings by everyone. I was very lucky. We still have connections with the team, my dad was best man to former player Robin Gibson’s wedding. I was actually cameraman for the occasion. My fondest memory was seeing him score against Middlesbrough in the fa cup. We have so many stories from behind the scenes.
10. Do you ever get to the Racecourse other than when the silkmen are here?
The last time I went was to Kidderminster last year when it was like 2-2 or 3-3 at home. We sat with Joey Jones and Mickey Thomas and just shared old stories and experiences. It was embarrassing hearing legends like them reliving stories that they remembered of me as a naive kid at the time around the scenes.
11. How did you get to support Macclesfield?
At my school we had an awesome team that included Nicky Maynard and Danny Fox who will be playing in e premiership this year. We also had David mannix who played for Liverpool and. Hester before being involved in a betting scandal. Anyway to cut a long story short, a fellow schoolmate was Michael Welch who was playing for macc. We went to watch him play in a league cup game against barnsley. Anyway we fell in love with the club and the homely feel and ten years on have been going ever since.