2 – 1987 Barnet (A) 2-4
This was my first opening day, the first I remember as a City fan. It felt like football began in August 1987 for me.
Plenty cried foul when we saw our GMVC fixtures. We were the big boys, and we weren’t getting a good welcome. Barnet, favourites for the title, were our first opponents while Weymouth, the big spenders with Football League ambitions, followed four days later. Both games were away.
We ended up losing heavily, Dave Sansom bagging a hat-trick for the Bees. They flew off hoping it would mean something come the end of the season. Spoiler alert – it didn’t.
1 – 2007 Shrewsbury Town (H) 0-4
Few opening games hurt quite as badly as that of the 2007/08 season. After five years in the play-offs, hopes weren’t high. We’d stumbled through the early part of the year, falling from top three to play-offs and then being beaten by Bristol Rovers. The line up for this game was a mix of veterans, like Gary Croft, Steve Torpey and Jamie Forrester, and hopeful bright young things like Phil Watt and Louis Dodds.
Watt was out of his depth against Dave Hibbert, and Torpey looked a year or two past league football. All four goals came in the second half, and as we filtered out of the Bank, we all realised the ‘glory days’ were over. John Schofield was gone a little over two months later.
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