Moors the pity – but ambitious club will be back to chase dream
SOLIHULL Moors will be back in business when the new National League season opens on August 9. They will be fresh and ready to make another merited challenge to reach the EFL if they keep their best players.
They are an ambitious club and will put Sunday’s shattering play-off final behind them once the pain of the 2-1 extra-time defeat to Grimsby wears off.
The progress they have made in their 15 years of existence has been tremendous. To finish third in English football’s fifth division was remarkable in itself.
Since Darryl Eales left Oxford United to become the Moors chairman in 2018, the rise has been even more rapid – the players are now full-time professionals; there is a very good training centre at Studley and nearly £3 million has been spent on the ground.
Sunday could have gone either way. Grimsby should have had a penalty in the first half and Solihull should be grateful there was no VAR!
Both sides missed a lot of chances which resulted in the exhaustion of extra time.
Moors losing their 6ft 9ins striker Kyle Hudlin to a head injury was a factor. He scored a fine opening goal but left after a nasty head injury. Their target man was gone.
There are so many good teams in the National League that the time has surely come to have three down from League Two and three up from the National League, albeit two automatically and a third through the present play-off final.
Football takes forever to make changes and, with vested interests, do not hold your breath!
Play-offs are exciting for the neutrals but nerve-wracking for those involved. What staggers me is when thousands clamour for tickets to attend the final to support ‘their’ team – where are most of them during the regular season – those, that is, who do not attend?
So, if you were there to support the Moors at the London Stadium on Sunday please make sure you go to the ARMCO Stadium at Damson Park next season if you can. They are a great community club who will go places under the present ownership.
A reminder that the Moors were only formed 15 years ago after a merger between Moor Green and Solihull Borough, They were promoted to the National League in 2016.
Narrow margins were also illustrated at Cardiff on Sunday afternoon when a gritty Wales team managed to beat Ukraine 1-0 in another play-off final. In this instance, for a place at this year’s World Cup finals where they will play England in Group B on Tuesday, November 29 (kick-off 7pm).
This is the first time Wales have
reached the finals since Sweden in 1958!
Iran and the USA are the other teams in Group B. England should beat all three!
Wales should thank their goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who played for Wolves for several seasons. Central defender Ben Davies and Hennessey stood between the constant attacks of Ukraine and an equaliser.
England play Germany in Munich tonight (7.45pm, Channel 4) in their UEFA Nations League A tie.
England were poor in their 1-0 defeat in the opening match in Hungary on Saturday.
We should not knee-jerk over that. England do not lose very often.
I would like to see Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish all start.
They can change a game with their speed and individual skills.
Foden is missing because of Covid and Sterling has been injured. Grealish should start.
Like head coach Gareth Southgate, I was surprised that 35,000 people were allowed into the Puskas Arena for the game – schoolchildren plus parents or minders – because it should have been a closed stadium as punishment to Hungary for discriminatory behaviour during England’s 4-0 qualifying win at the same arena for Euro 2020.
Apparently, it is in the rules (!) that children can be let in. The result on Saturday was that there was loud booing when England ‘took the knee’ at kick-off.
I understand the same rule applies to the ‘closed’ Molineux when England play the return match against Hungary there a week tonight. I am confident there will not be a repeat for booing the taking of the ‘knee’ by England/hungary – do not do it.
Molineux will be ‘closed’ as punishment to the English FA by UEFA for the louts who stormed into Wembley for the Euro 2020 final.
Sorry – I understand the argument for schoolchildren to be present but I do not agree with it. Closed arena for punishment should mean exactly that – CLOSED.
In my Sunday Mercury column, in association with IMPACT, I will be recalling the great characters of Midlands football journalism.
For instance, Birmingham Mail football writer, the late Ian Willars, used to put a jacket over his chair at 10am for everyone to think he was in the office, while he put another on and nipped over the road to the Queen’s Head for an early pint!