The best sweet shop in the world...

Should I stay or should I go now? That was the question on our lips at 10am yesterday as we milled about the concourse at Euston. The tweet from the club following the 9.30 pitch inspection was that the referee had decided on another look at Midday but that he "was confident" the Walsall match would be played.

That was the deciding factor and we collected our £35 train tickets (more about that another day) rather than look for a refund. Two and a half hours later we passed through Bescot station and glimpsed the depressingly small stands as we trundled on towards Walsall where we reckoned on a better chance of unhindered good beer. The sun was shining and there were Villa and Blackburn fans heading for Villa Park. So you can imagine the mood when we got the first call (not a tweet you notice) to tell us the game had been postponed.

We were booked on the 6.10pm from New Street, so there wasn't much else to do but embark on a cultural tour of Walsall. Out through the depressing shopping precinct into an equally depressing high street. Crumbs of snow about but nowhere near as cold as you might imagine in order not to have played the game. Our search for a decent boozer lead us through three pubs which weren't deemed good enough by the panel and then we fell upon the best sweet shop in the world. What can I say? Sweetie jars of our youth filling the shop display and inside was just the same. Three forty-somethings excited by sweets. They were all there; Strawberry Sherbet Lemons (if that makes sense), Apple Bon-bons, Chocolate Limes, Everton Toffees (and mints), Army and Navy, Rhubarb Custards, Sweet Peanuts, Pear Drops, Sherbet Crystal in all colours etc. Amazing to see it still trading and we made off with a couple of quarters each to keep us going.

We settled on a pub at the top of a small hill which was serving London Pride and the venerable Abbott. The pub was fairly busy and the locals looked a cut above which was fine by us. No telly but we had already decided that if we couldn't have Charlton we didn't want second best at Villa Park. Four lads settled down next to us and we soon got talking. Two were Black Country boys and the other two Londoners, so were they up for the match? Turns out they were all coppers and "spotters" for football hooligans. Their afternoon had obviously been affected like ours but they had the added bonus of a day off as well as the night out that they had planned in any event. The Walsall spotters were looking after their London colleagues for the day and this appeared to include paying for their beer and sorting the nightclub out. It's the way apparently and they were returning the favour from their earlier visit to the Valley.

They were really good lads and it was interesting to hear them talking about pubs and individuals we knew. They weren't indiscreet but were quite open about what they do. I was surprised to hear that Walsall have the "most active" hooligans in the Midlands at the moment. Perhaps that was the Walsall coppers talking up their patch but they were both Wolves fans and covered all the local clubs. I never pay the police much attention at the Valley (and they return the compliment) but I will keep my eye out next time to see if I can spot "our two" at future home games.

It was a long day without any football and whilst we made the most of it, I'd rather have saved the money and done something else with the day. Thanks Walsall FC - we won't be coming back in midweek and you will be refunding us for three match tickets. I guess they were equally unhappy and will be blaming the referee but the word that the ref was "confident" the game would be on was what sold us on it.

The fact that Norwich won predictably enough at Wycombe was the icing on the cake although it was refreshing to see Colchester hammered 7 (seven) by managerless Preston. Third on goal difference and our players have added incentive to win games now, if any were needed. Bring on Hartlepool!