OUR last away trip of the campaign sees us make the short hop down to the West Midlands to face the promotion chasing Saddlers from Walsall.
StadiaInfo - Bescot Stadium
by train:
The nearest train station is Bescot which is situated literally across the road from the ground. There is a fairly frequent service on the Birmingham New Street to Stafford line on a match day, both before and after the game.
by car:
Head south out of Wrexham on the A483, which then becomes the A5.
At Oswestry (with the Mile End services directly in front of you) follow signs for Shrewsbury/A5 and remain on this road around the town of Shrewsbury to eventually pick up the M54 at Telford.
At the end of the M54, follow signs for Birmingham onto the southbound M6.
Leave the M6 at junction 9 (signed Wednesbury) and following signs for Walsall onto the A461.
When the road splits, bear right onto the A4148/Wallows Lane and then right again at the second set of traffic lights onto Bescot Crescent. The stadium will shortly appear on the left-hand side, behind the retail park, with the M6 motorway on the right!
Parking is available in the car park immediately behind the Homeserve Stand at a cost of £3.00 per car. Be warned though it can take a fair while for this area to clear after the match and you are often sent the opposite way to the one you want.
Alternatively there is some street parking available in the vicinity before you turn right into Bescot Crescent or by staying on Bescot Crescent passed the ground.
However, please be aware that parking in either Morrisons or at the nearby retail park is not recommended and can lead to you being fined.
away supporters:
Visiting fans are allocated a little over 1,900 places in the Homeserve Stand (formerly the William Sharp Stand where we have been placed previously) and you can pay at the gate on the day.
Walsall's ground is very similar to Scunthorpe's except for the fact that the Saddlers have added a second tier to the stand at the opposite end of the ground to where the away supporters are allocated, which now towers above the other three sides and is clearly visible when passing on the M6.
There are also plans to add a second tier to the away end in due course.
Prices for the Homeserve Stand prior to the match day are Adults £16.00 and Concessions £10.00 - but you normally have to buy direct from Walsall
Concessionary prices are available to adults aged over 60 and juniors aged under 16.
Addmission on the day carries a £2.00 surcharge on the above prices.
time for a swift half:
The excellent Saddlers Club, situated on the car park at the Bescot Stadium, often admits visiting supporters as long as capacity allows, in exchange for a small admission fee. However, on our last visit this was not the case due to police advice and they were only allowed to admit home members and any away fans who had pre-booked entry! Surely it is better to have people off the streets where you know where they are rather than wandering around aimlessly?
old friends:
Amongst the current Walsall squad is two players who have played first team football for Wrexham. Everybody remembers striker Hector Sam, the always smiling frontman who played the game with a cheery disposition even though things didn't always go his way.
The other player is not as well known, in fact he only turned out in one FAW Premier Cup match during a trial spell with the club and that is Trinidadian goalkeeper Clayton Ince. The giant stopper failed to get a work permit but was eventually allowed to join Crewe Alexandra.
we've met before:
The Saddlers moved to the Bescot Stadium in 1990 from their former home at Fellows Park, which was just a stones through away from their current abode, and it started out as just another of the soulless out of town stadiums, although this has been improved a bit by the adding of second tier to the home end.
Our first visit came just before Christmas that same year and ended in a 1-0 defeat courtesy of an early header from Colin Gordon. With neither side exactly setting the Fourth Division alight, it was back there again the following August for a match which ended in a scoreless stalemate.
We finally netted our first goal at the venue in November 2003, when Gary Bennett's long range strike with just four minutes remaining saw us gain a 1-1 draw with loan player Mike Lake really impressing on his debut.
Our next visit was in FA Cup as the draw saw the two teams paired together in the first round. With the replay on Sky TV, the Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat thanks to a couple of goals in the last twenty minutes, in a game played in thick fog which made for hazardoustravelling conditions when heading home afterwards.
We finally registered a win on 21 October 1995 and what a dramatic victory it was. Trailing 1-0 with two minutes left, defender Barry Hunter was impeded in the box and Karl Connolly stepped up to slam the penalty home, before the Irishman rose to head home from a corner in time added on. We'd settle for a repeat of that this weekend!
We returned home to North Wales with the points the following season too, as Jon Cross headed home a wicked Connolly cross but the next two visits saw the home faithful happy as the Saddlers won 3-0 and then 1-0.
Having won promotion during the 1998/1999 season, Walsall suffered immediate relegation back to the Second Division for just one season before going up once again, this time via the play-offs.
However, our visit to the Midlands was another dramatic affair with the high-flying home side 2-0 up at the interval but all that was to change with goals from Lee Trundle and Kevin Russell levelling matters before Craig Faulconbridge hooked shock last minute winner to silence the previously cock-a-hoop home fans.
The rivalry resumed in the 2004/2005 campaign, our last trip to the Bescot to date, as goals from Darren Ferguson and Chris Llewellyn were enough to secure a 2-2 draw.
