Like Spennymoor and Telford before them in previous season, Scarborough’s epitaph will probably merit a brief a brief addendum in the history of football, which would be a shame as the fate of the Seadogs says more about the state of modern football than the endless musings on the fallout between Jose and Roman.
Just a few days earlier, David Conn excellently summarised their troubles.
I can’t say I’m optimistic for Scarborough’s future, or that they’ll be saved. If this were a league club, there would be much more publicity, bucket collections and several articles in the national press, perhaps even a brief piece on one of the 24-hour news channels.
This isn’t a criticism of those clubs. God knows, fans of the likes Wrexham, Rotherham, Bradford and, yes, even Leeds has been through enough, and losing your club is the worst nightmare of any football fan. But Scarborough, with their history and troubles, are no less deserving of our support and help than any other club.
It was only last season I was chatting to a couple of Seadog fans after their trip to Exeter. Our two clubs share a rather unwelcome link. At the time of their relegation from the league, their chairman was John Russell. Mr. Russell was also in charge when the Grecians tumbled into the Conference, giving him the rather dubious honour of being the first, and hopefully last, Chairman to be at the helm of two clubs relegated from the football league.
As with most visiting supporters in the Conference, these fans were friendly, but with a tinge of melancholy about their club. They were hopeful there was light at the end of the tunnel, even if they couldn’t tell how far down that actual tunnel they were. It seems at the moment that tunnel’s got well and truly lost in the mountain.
But, as Morrissey once sang, there’s a light that never goes out. If, or when, ‘boro are wound up I hope the likes of those who braved the long trips to the likes of Exeter and Gravesend who dig together and reform the club somewhere down the pyramid and ensure the Seadogs don’t go the same way as the Dodo.
Ha! Spennymoor have just won the league!