Written by Max
Ground #65
Saturday 9th November 2024
EFL League 2
Walsall 1-1 Crewe Alexandra
Attendance: 8,105
Entry: £24
Walsall FC were formed in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts and in 1898 were invited to help form the football League. Now known simply as Walsall FC, the club have a swift on the club crest aswell as their mascot ‘Swifty’ as a nod to their original name.
The club are known as the saddlers due to the towns links with the Saddle making industry and therefore it is rather fitting that their current manager is called Mat Sadler.
The club have spent the majority of their existence bouncing between the 3rd and 4th tiers of English football. The best period of the clubs existence was around the turn of the century as The Saddlers spent 5 seasons in the 2nd tier. This upturn in fortunes was short lived though as 2 relegations in 3 years followed and the club found themselves back in the 4th tier. The club have since returned to yo-yoing between tiers since then, and after a recent 11 year spell in League 1, have found themselves back in League 2 since 2019.
So far this season the signs are looking good for The Saddlers and going into this game they found themselves in 2nd place as they took on fellow early season high flyers, and my team, Crewe Alexandra who found themselves in 5th.
This was amazingly our first time seeing The Alex this season, and en route were joined by my Dad for this one.
The game started evenly and the first half saw very few clear cut chances for either side as both defences looked solid. The one big chance for The Alex came as the ball was crossed in deep and forward Omar Bogle, who was making his first start of the season, rose up and looked to have the goal at his mercy. Unfortunately he directed his header wide when it looked as if anywhere on target would have given the visitors the lead.
On 35 minutes the hosts thought they had taken the lead with their first real chance but the referee rightly ruled it out due to a push in the back by the Walsall striker. Another nervy moment came as Crewe right back Ryan Cooney decided to test his own keeper with a bullet header towards his own goal. Luckily Marschall in the Alex net managed to scamper across and save his blushes.
Into the second half we went, and Crewe came flying out of the blocks. After a good spell of play The Alex were rewarded as they took the lead in the 66th minute. Some wonderful one touch play from the midfield was completed by a pin point through ball which was perfectly weighted for Omar Bogle who was ahead of his marker and through on goal. A calm curling finish into the bottom left corner sent the Crewe fans behind the goal into bedlam.
From this positive came an almost immediate negative as just 2 minutes after giving Crewe the lead, manager Lee Bell decided to sub off goalscorer Bogle and bring on a defender in his place. Seeing this defensive shift, the Walsall manager made 4 changes of his own in one go as they went the opposite way looking for a way back into the game.
Crewe defended well and restricted The Saddlers to very few clear cut chances. That was until the 85th minute when on loan Stoke forward Nathan Lowe finished off a nice move to level the scores.
From then nerves began to ripple through the away end as it felt almost inevitable that Walsall would go on to take all 3 points. The Alex saw out the game well though, and even with 10 minutes of added time played at the end, and all sorts of shenanigans including the Walsall kit man being shown a red card, the points were shared.
An entertaining game in the end after a slow first half between two good looking sides. Going into the game as a Crewe fan I would definitely have taken a point, but after taking the lead I cant help but think we could have tried to put the game to bed rather than sit back on our 1 goal lead.
Time will tell whether this was a good point for both teams or not as the table starts to take shape. The one thing I think I can confidently say though is that both of these sides will be disappointed if they aren’t up there by the end of the season.
Here’s how we rated our day at The Bescot:
Location: 5/10
The Bescot Stadium is located on a retail park around 2 miles from Walsall Town centre.
There are no traditional pubs near the ground although there is a supporters club called ‘The Locker’ which welcomes both home and away supporters. Be aware though that this bar charges £2 entry per person. On a previous visit we had a pre match drink in a hotel bar behind the away end but this was closed before today’s game.
The ground has its own train station which allows fans to be dropped off within a 2 minute walk of the ground. The Bescot is also one of the most seen grounds in the country as it is located directly next door to the M6. The club make a lot of money every year via huge sponsor boards in the club car park facing the motorway.
Kit: 8/10
This seasons Walsall kit is a red shirt with thin black stripes. The shirt has a black collar with buttons that completes a really smart look.
The only real negative that cheapens the shirt slightly is the sponsor of ‘Poundland’ plastered across the front.
Facilities: 3/10
Once through the away end turnstiles you are immediately treated with a door which is something I’ve never really seen before. Once through the door you’re through into the concourse.
Due to the lack of facilities around the ground we got into the concourse around an hour before kick off. We were glad of this as it turned out the concourse was incredibly small and as fans started to pile in it got very cramped for room. We did however like the fact the floor and roof were painted in club colours.
Look: 7/10
The Bescot stadium was built in 1989 and has a capacity of 11,300. The standout of the 4 stands is opposite the away end behind the far goal. This is a large two tier stand which holds almost half of the grounds capacity. This stand is home to the noisier home supporters and was almost completely full for today’s game.
The stands along the sides of the pitch are pretty much identical except for the camera gantry and small number of hospitality boxes in the Main Stand. Both of these stands include multiple supporting pillars which will obstruct the view from many of the seats. An interesting feature is the floodlights which tower from the roofs of these stands.
The away end is also very similar to these two stands with room for around 2,000 visiting fans. This stand also has multiple supporting pillars so choose your seat wisely to avoid a restricted view!
Food and Drink: 6/10
The catering at The Bescot was the typical football league fair. Pukka pies, sausage rolls and bottles of beer and cider.
As we approached the bar we were intrigued as there appeared to be Walsall’s own brand ‘Swift Lager’ on draught. Unfortunately this wasn’t available at today’s game though so we were limited to bottled beers and ciders. We both went for a Stowford Press.
Food wise, I went for a chicken balti pukka pie while my Dad opted for a steak pie. These were standard for what you’d expect at a league ground. Nothing to write home about but did the job.
TOTAL SCORE: 29/50
It was great to finally get to our first Crewe game of the season, and although the day, and game itself isn’t one that will live too long in the memory, it was good to see a solid away performance from The Alex.
We have had a strong start to the season and this result is more proof that we have no one to be too worried about in this division and a play off place, or perhaps more, is a possibility this season. We are looking forward to getting to more Crewe games throughout the season and seeing where this group of players take us!
To see where this score places Walsall on our leaderboard click here: The 92
If you’d like to see our leaderboard of Non-League grounds visited click here: NON-LEAGUE
Emma’s Ground Guide 