New from 'Ard Men: The Strong Rouslers

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 16 February 2019 at The Victoria Ground
Result	Bromsgrove Sporting 5 Kempston Rovers 0
Competition	Southern League Division One Central (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground 679 on the lifetime list and this visit completes the division leaving 26 more Step 4 grounds for me to cover.  I saved this particular visit for a day when an overdue reunion would also be possible ... read on.
Context
Sporting (aka The Rouslers) start the day in second place and will be expected to beat their lower-placed opponents today.
In one sentence
Never in doubt – a Sporting demolition.
So what?
Big game next weekend as Sporting go to divisional leaders Peterborough Sports.  Kempston remain ten points clear of the relegation places, which ought to be enough.
Match Report
It is my pleasure to welcome the blog’s first guest writer, and a proper one at that.  Nigel Roberts reports from the Victoria Ground.  He and I go back a long way, as he will explain.  Over to you, matey, the textbox is yours ... So this was the New Year missive from my old mate and university roomie that finally took me back to Bromsgrove’s Victoria Ground yesterday, a shameful nine years after my last visit -  ‘Have a look at the Bromsgrove Sporting fixture list and pick out a Saturday that works for you. I am down to my last few Step 4 grounds now after some good recent trips and BS are the only side left to do in their division.’ When my son was small I was head coach at Finstall Juniors FC and we had a good relationship with Bromsgrove Rovers. We held our Christmas parties at the Victoria Ground, on the day of the last home match before the festivities. With over a hundred kids on the books and family members in attendance, we doubled the gate one year. My son was a season-ticket holder. Coaching staff regularly took tens of kids to the game.  The Chairman asked me once if I’d be interested in joining the board. I still shudder at the thought. Through a combination of in-fighting and appalling mismanagement, and amid dark rumours over ground ownership, Rovers hit the buffers and went bust. In the centenary year of football at the Victoria Ground, the club’s 125 year history crumbled to dust. Then in 2010, thanks to the dedication of a fans’ consortium, Bromsgrove Sporting rose from the ashes, and with the help of the local council football at the Victoria Ground was secured.  Rovers were a fine club. Runners-up to Martin O’Neill’s Wycombe Wanderers in the old Conference in season 1992-3 with gates regularly approaching 2,000, the club reached the third round of the FA Cup the following year, claiming a football league scalp en route and narrowly losing to Barnsley after having the temerity not only to take the lead but then to hold that lead until the 88th minute, with close on 5,000 shoe-horned into the ground. Former managers included Birmingham City and England goalkeeper Gil Merrick, and West Bromwich Albion legend Bobby Hope.   So when Graham’s offer came a-calling, how could I possibly say no? The opportunity to walk once more with friendly ghosts was one I was never going to refuse.  First impressions of the ground nine years on showed that the years of decline had been most assuredly reversed. Bright and well-appointed, this seemed a club on the move. Taking my lead from Graham (it was his gig after all), I was more than happy to walk several paces behind, to snap a few pics and to look for Finstall Juniors’ tots around every corner and in the stands.  The biggest upgrade was in the clubhouse. Supping a well-kept pint of Holden’s Golden, my gaze fell upon the picture of a handsome young player, prominently displayed, and a lump came into my throat.  Tom Jones was on Sporting’s books as a junior. I had been his first coach at Finstall Juniors. He was five when he joined and sometimes he was a handful. But he was a joy to work with.  Last September he started at Worcester University. He was walking home late one night in freshers’ week, down by the river, but he never reached home. His body was found in the water a week later. All of Bromsgrove mourned his passing. The Coroner gave an open verdict, and he wept as he delivered it.   Dear, dear Tom. How he loved the Finstall Juniors Christmas parties at the Rovers.  Out of the clubhouse and straight into the queue for food. An unexpected gourmet delight, and customer service of the highest order. ‘Would you like your mushy peas on your pie, or by the side of it?’ The pie was cold. But it didn’t seem to matter.  As for the game itself, it was a Sporting demolition job. By the time of the fifth goal, a thunderous strike into the top corner from outside the box, the old ground was rocking again. ‘We’re the Bromsgrove Boys, Making all the Noise, Everywhere We Go’.  Then in glorious homage to dear old Rovers, I spotted the green and black flag on the back wall. Rovers colours. ‘Green Army’ it proudly proclaimed. ‘Green Army’ sang the crowd.  Ghosts, friendly ghosts, everywhere to be seen and everywhere to be heard. Nigel’s own blog (To Belarus and Beyond) is here: https://nigelroberts23.wordpress.com/ His fourth edition of the Bradt Travel Guide to Belarus (told you he was a proper writer) has now been published.  Some of the groundhopping community have already taken advantage of the relaxation in visa rules in recent years. Bradt Guide to Belarus (Nigel Roberts) For the rivet-counters' records, Bromsgrove’s win looked likely as early as the 8th minute, as Tom Taylor buried a header from Josh Quaynor’s corner.  The two combined again in the same way with the same result after 35 minutes.  Visiting keeper James Martin was adjudged to have tripped an attacker in first-half stoppage time, and Jason Cowley scored from the spot.  Cowley got his second early in the second half, cutting in from the left to score with a low shot.  The goal of the day was an absolute rocket from sub John Pykett which would supply enough icing for several cakes.  Charlie Dowd also caught the eye on the flank for The Rouslers, who had a relatively untroubled day in defence.  The movement and unselfishness of the home attack was great to watch.  Hoppers: if you’ve not been here, move it up your list. Here are the pix to capture 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 moments:
Other Pix
The Chairman’s notes state that the ground will shortly be up to National League standard.  It’s an impressive set-up, and just over 900 were in attendance.    Careers for non-physicists #32 (I don't get mascots)
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course. Today, Grey hands out a thrashing to Green, and the clean sheet is enough to claim second place in the table, pushing blue back to third.  Green still has a secure grip on fourth place. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 63% (22 from 35) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. P W D L GC CS Pts PPG Red 10.5 5.5 1.0 4.0 11.0 3.5 24.0 2.286 Grey 50.5 24.0 11.0 15.5 80.5 15.0 77.5 1.535 Blue 44.1 19.0 7.0 18.1 68.0 14.0 66.0 1.497 Green 96.0 50.0 12.0 34.0 161.0 23.0 116.0 1.208 Fire Cracker 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 0.667 Maroon 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 9.0 1.0 3.0 0.600 Purple 21.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 45.0 5.0 8.0 0.381 Orange 46.5 15.0 9.0 22.5 86.5 7.0 2.5 0.054 Radioactive Bile 22.0 9.0 0.0 13.0 48.0 3.0 -6.0 -0.273 Black 6.5 2.5 3.0 1.0 15.0 0.5 -2.0 -0.308 Yellow 35.0 9.0 7.0 19.0 77.0 5.0 -18.0 -0.514 Pink 18.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 37.0 1.0 -12.0 -0.667 White 1.9 0.0 0.0 1.9 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -2.105
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter!  Half-term week ahead so maybe even a cheeky midweek trip. Or two.