Wrexham 5, but Levon was the greatest sight

"At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” [“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”]." I dare say those of you who travelled to Denbighshire last Saturday were saying something similar at five in the afternoon.

I feel a bit guilty about missing Wrexham. Not because I missed out, or because I feel like I should have been there to support the team, but because I made Andy go to the FA Cup game there the day before his birthday. It was absolutely shit and we spent most of the second half at the bar because it took so long to get served, and we couldn’t be arsed watching any more of our pathetic capitulation. I didn’t want to ruin my own birthday weekend so I insisted that we went to see the Inspiral Carpets at the Albert Hall last Saturday instead. It was brilliant, and it sounds like the game we missed was even worse than the one in November. Sorry, Andy. We’ll do something nice for your birthday this year, I promise.

As this is Good Friday and not Shite Friday I’m gonna talk about the Inspirals gig instead of the Wrexham match. It was even better than I thought it would be. They opened with Joe, and we partied like it was 1989, and they went surprisingly early with This Is How It Feels. They were as great as ever, and the atmosphere was fantastic. I thought I recognised the ‘new’ bassist, and it’s only now, while reading reviews of the gig, that I’ve realised it was Jake Fletcher, who I last saw live in the Hunt Lane Tavern in Chadderton in 2019. It was the day after Saints had won the Grand Final and I got him to play Sit Down. Lovely lad.

I was absolutely not prepared for the emotional gut punch of the much missed Craig Gill’s son, Levon, joining the band in the encore to play drums on Commercial Reign, while footage of Craig played on the backdrop. There was no mistaking who he was, he’s the image of his dad. What an amazing moment. Craig’s dad and Levon’s grandad, Douglas Gill, posted on Facebook about what a “great surprise” it was. Imagine being him and not knowing that was coming. I’d have bibbed me eyes out.

Image © Kenny Brown

They finished with Saturn 5, and the number of goals we’d shipped earlier that day thankfully did not ruin what was a fitting end to a belter of a gig. What a song. What a band. What a fucking great way to spend a Saturday. If you missed it because you went to Wrexham I’m gutted for you. If you went to Wrexham but made it back in time to go to the gig, good on you. I hope you’ve recovered from your hangover.

I'm not gonna jinx today's game by saying "it can't be any worse than the away game at Altrincham", because that would be really, really stupid. It had better not be though. We're not safe yet and we shouldn't play like we are. And the promotion push for next season should start now. KTMFF.

Image © Luke Reynolds

Written by Arlene Finnigan