FOLLOWING THE SALTMEN

In a season of seemingly never ending cup-ties, the Saltmen return to league action this Saturday when we travel to play the “Freds” of Wantage Town FC.

The club’s nickname and Stadium name, Alfredian Park, pay homage to the town’s most famous former resident. Yes, you guessed right, record-breaking jockey and income tax advocate Lester Piggot was born in Wantage in 1935. Another famous resident was Alfred The Great (c.848 to 899 AD) King of the Anglo-Saxons (presumably after being chucked out of bakery school) and scourge of the vikings. It is not known exactly when King Alfred was born and, as Facebook would not be invented for over 1100 years, there are no known images available of him. Notably, Alfred is believed to have died from haemorrhoids, according to his biographer, Asser….I kid you not!!!

Wantage itself is a market town, initially within the boundaries of Berkshire but now part of Oxfordshire. Markets are still held in the town on Wednesday and Saturday, which is good news if you arrive for the football only to realise you left your disposable vape at home in your iffy ‘Amrani’ hoody. When fixtures were released, this game was set to be Spa’s most distant away game ever; however, last week’s glorious trip to Holbeach Utd in the FA Vase was further, so travelling to South Oxfordshire will seem like popping down to the Aldi in comparison.

Like Droitwich, settlement in Wantage can be traced back to Roman times and was later recorded in the Domesday Book with a value of £61. I’m no estate agent but taking 950 years’ inflation into account, I imagine the value is now at least twice that much and therefore way more than Kidderminster and Evesham combined. Unfortunately, I could not find a 2024 edition of the book on Amazon, to check.

The 2021 Census states the population of Wantage was 13,106 so a little less populous than Droitwich. The census does not record the number of hairdressers and barbershops it has but I’d wager it is far fewer than Droitwich.

The Freds play their home games at Alfredian Park, which has a capacity of 1500. A large proportion of this can be housed in the two impressive stands on the western touchline. One is covered seating and the other, larger, structure is a 3 stepped terrace. Commendably, both stands have cantilevered roofs, meaning supporters’ view of the game will not be obscured by supporting pillars.

As recently as 2021-22 seasons ago, Wantage played at Step 4 in The Southern League Central Division one. The were relegated back to the Hellenic League Premier Division for the following season and have subsequently found themselves playing at Step 6. They are currently in 12th position in the league with 13 points from 10 games of which only 2 games have been home fixtures.

Spa won the previous game against Wantage this season by a margin of 4-1 but I expect to see a closer score line on Saturday. The Saltmen remain top of the table and unbeaten in the league with 28 points from 10 games.

Should be another cracker.

See you there

Cheers.

Steve