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The Tin-shed on Tour
Due to the long-term nature of the new stadiums completion, I think its fair to say that some fans, possibly the more cynical ones, started to believe that we would be at Feethams for a long time to come. As a result, the last ever season down by the cricket ground seemed to pass most of us by; another win, another draw (and the odd defeat). This dawned on a group of Tin Shed regulars and Supporters Club members some point in February 2003, and discussions quickly began to come up with something original to commemorate our time at our spiritual home. Then it cane to us: visit all parts of the ground for the last time. Hence Tin Shed on Tour was born.
Next we had to decide on a route, an order by which to visit the stands, whilst ensuring we were back home for the final match against Leyton Orient. At this point someone above smiled upon us, making our penultimate fixture against Hull City, whose large away following gave us the opportunity to visit the West Stand, the usual away end, for a final time.
The rest of the route seemed to sort itself - first we visited the West Stand for the visit of Bury, next saw an invasion of the South Terrace against Shrewsbury, leaving us with the Hull and Orient games at the end. So the East stand first it was.
East Stand Shakers
The match against Bury was a great opportunity to build on our dramatic win at Scunthorpe a week earlier, where Clark Keltie's sweetly struck volley went a long way to allaying fans fears of relegation. As planned a small group of around a dozen Tin Shed regulars took up residence in the East Stand (although admittedly at the Tin Shed End).
Throughout the match, the voyagers enjoyed banter with the slightly emptier Tin Shed, although it took two late goals from Glen Naylor and Craig Liddle to really get East Stand regulars into the atmosphere. Part one of the tour was complete, but there was no telling of the frenzy that would follow.
Following grows in the South Terrace
After the Bury game, curiosity grew on the popular Darlo Uncovered message board - people wanted to know why the East Stand was so noisy, and which group of fans were behind it. Soon enough a few messages here and there made Darlo fans aware of the plan, and it was met with due enthusiasm by many. All of a sudden, Darlo websites got grip of the idea, and before we knew it, Tin Shed on Tour featured heavily on the pages of Darlo Uncovered, The Tin Shed and DAFTS. With interest rapidly increasing, and still a week to go until the Shrewsbury match, things were looking up.
Peter Plant, an enthusiast of the idea who suggested that T-shirts would be an ideal thing to remember the tour by, added an extra dimension to the tour concept. Sure enough orders were received through a hastily created email address, and Peter took care of getting over 50 of the shirts produced, with others left disappointed. The shirts were sold at around 4 quid a time and could be seen all around Feethams for the remaining few games.
The game itself turned out to be Darlo's most comprehensive win of the season against a poor team, who have unfortunately since lost their league status. The Quakers attacked the touring fans in the first half and treated them to three goals, the pick being Neil Maddison's first Feethams goal, one he later admitted he would've preferred to have scored at the Tin Shed End! A 5-1 victory helped the atmosphere no end, as everyone in Feethams became aware of the now half complete tour.
Other incidents of the day included the sudden announcement that the Tin Shed was to be closed for the final two games of the season. This shock came just before kick off, but thankfully due a crowd outcry, the decision was reversed and work was carried out to enable its usage until the end of the season. Also the match saw the debut of the Darlo Drum, purchased by Committee member Peter Jasper, which is expected to make regular appearances both home and away next season. Lastly a failed attempt at the conga drew amused glances from the South Terrace regulars. However, this was more than made up for against Hull soon after.
Tin Shed Goes West
The momentum gained against Shrewsbury certainly continued and the Hull match saw another impressive tour group visit the West Stand, which had been home to visiting supporters for several years now. Due to Hulls mid table finish their following was not what many at the club had expected, and saw them being allocated the 2000+ capacity South Terrace when in reality the West Stand would have sufficed. The irony was not lost on the Tin Shed on Tour group.
The game itself saw another home victory, with goals form Tom Newey and Barry Conlon in the second half securing the points. Throughout the match the atmosphere was again impressive, the drum was prominent again, and a more successful (albeit a rather pacy) conga got many more involved and received an ovation from the rest of the ground when it circled the entire West Stand early in the second half! As successful as the tour had been, we were on our way home for the final game, the biggest of them all….
Feethams Finale
The last game at Feethams was characterised by plenty of emotion, a chance to see former Quakers favourites, and an at times compelling 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient. The tour members were back in their home, but the day belonged to all Darlo fans.
Tin Shed on Tour had exceeded our expectations - we had drummed up a large amount of support, had a real journey down nostalgia lane, and we like to think injected some humour into a ground that had at times become all too depressing during the past season.
The Tin Shed on Tour regulars will be continuing their antics in the future; anything we can do to bond Quakers fans and enjoy ourselves at the same time can only be beneficial.
