Much media attention has been focused on tonight’s mismatch of the French Cup final which is a true David v Goliath affair as Paris St Germain meet Les Herbiers, who hail from a small town in western France of 16,000 people and have an average attendance of 1,400.
Nothing in England can compete with such a mismatch, but the playoff for the final place in the English league comes as close as England has seen for a while.
There could not be a bigger contrast between the two finalists who’ll meet at Wembley on Saturday May 12th. In one corner is Tranmere Rovers, a side who have spent 94 of the last 97 years in the league. Finally relegated in 2015, they have been knocking on the re-entry door since, making it all the way to Wembley last year when they lost to Forest Green Rovers. This year, they are back again having finished second to Macclesfield in the Conference, England’s fifth tier.
They almost reached the pinnacle of the EPL in 1993 when they finished 4th in League One and narrowly lost 5-4 to Swindon Town in the semi finals. They returned to the playoffs the following year, losing 2-1 to Leicester on aggregate. The Merseyside club were four minutes away from Wembley until Scotland international Dave Speedie scored the Filberts’ winner. They subsequently made the playoffs for a third year running losing 3-1 to Reading on aggregate in the semi final.
After three playoff heartbreaks, their form began to dip. They remained in England’s second tier for five further years before they were relegated. They made the promotion playoffs in their first year down in tier 3 but suffered the same curse, exiting in the semi finals.
The third tier though became their natural home, the white shirts finishing mostly mid table over the next decade after one more play off heartbreak in 2004. In 2014, they fell to the fourth tier for the first time in 25 years and amid a financial crisis, were immediately relegated to end that run of 94 years in the league.
Now the Merseyside club are in the promotion final at Wembley for the second year running, hoping to end their exile. They have had the largest average attendance in the National League with 5293 people watching them on average at their Prenton Park home, a higher number than 18 of the 24 sides in the immediate division above them. That 5293 is even higher than eight clubs in the division two levels above them, and unbelievably more than Burton Albion three divisions higher. And these numbers were achieved with minimal away supports compared to the divisions above.
They also hold an unusual league record. The aggregate of 17 goals in one league game has remained a record since 1935 when they beat Oldham Athletic 13-4.
Tranmere also have a storied cup history.
They reached the FA Cup quarter-finals three times between 2000 and 2004, and even reached the League Cup final at Wembley in 2000 where 74,313 saw them fall 2-1 to Leicester, Matt Elliott clinching the winner nine minutes from the end. Their opposition contained such names as England keeper Tim Flowers, Northern Ireland internationals Neil Lennon and Gerry Taggart, Wales’ Robbie Savage, and England outfield players Emile Heskey and Tony Cottee.
Tranmere are just about a big enough club that they are often considered Merseyside’s alternative to Everton and Liverpool despite playing across the Wirral on the Birkenhead side of the river.
What club with anything close to such a noble history stands in their way? None other than Boreham Wood FC, the club with the lowest attendance in the National League.
Tranmere have eight times the attendance of Borehamwood
Boreham Wood FC have only been at this heady level for three years. With an average crowd of just 679, they are the lowest supported side in the Conference. Some might say that this statistic makes their on field accomplishments even more worthy of praise.
Despite receiving larger amounts of away fans, their attendance is lower than six of the sides in the southern regional league below them and and an amazing 14 of the 22 sides in the northern equivalent directly below them.
They will be putting on coach travel for the 9.4 mile ride to Wembley for the game, though fans can get the Thameslink from Elstree & Borehamwood Station to Hendon Overground and then the 83 bus (heading towards Alperton) to the Stadium. They can even stay on the train a few stops further to West Hampstead and get the Jubilee Line to Wembey Park. But the supporters’ bus does sound more fun.
The bus is available on a first-come-first-served basis and is just £10 for adults and Children travel at £5. It is being subsidised by the Chairman Danny Hunter. He made the same gesture for their semi final match at Sutton United’s south London home.
However those Boreham Wood fans are set to be heavily outnumbered by the hordes traveling from Merseyside, hoping to propel Rovers over that hurdle that has so often been their stumbling block .
Boreham Wood FC share their Meadow Park home with Arsenal Women
Based in the Hertfordshire town of Elstree, they play at the tidy but modern Meadow Park venue which they share with Arsenal Ladies. Elstree is more famous for its film studios which where the heart and soul of the English film industry for most of the 20th Century, since production started in 1914.
Nowadays only two sites remain in use in the Borehamwood area; Elstree Studios on Shenley Road and the BBC Elstree Centre on Eldon Avenue where Eastenders among other things is filmed.
Borehamwood is just eight miles from Watford in leafy Hertfordshire and in their dreams, there is a great local derby in the offing should the club keep progressing. They are not a young club. having been formed in 1948 following the amalgamation of Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez.
Their own website is commendably humble about the club:
“Over the years our little football club has had many successes in FA Cup competitions, as well as in the Hertfordshire and London FA Senior Challenge Cups. Boreham Wood also reached the final of the Isthmian League Full Members Cup in 1994/95 and 1995/96 and won the Isthmian League Cup in 1996/97.”
In 2013 they achieved their greatest FA Cup run to date, reaching the first round where they lost 2-0 at home to Brentford. The following year they equaled it and drew with Carlisle United before losing a replay 2-1 at Brunton Park. They even missed a penalty at 1-0 up before two late goals ended their dream of their first appearance in Round 2.
The following year, the club built a brand new 870 seater West Stand at a cost of just over $1m. The stand was officially opened by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in front of a bumper crowd of 3,400 on Saturday 19th July 2014.
Their website states that:
“The Chairman now wants us to establish ourselves as one of the top 24 non-league clubs in the country and push on from there.”
The team may be about to blast a horse and carriage through Mr Hunter’s wish. He’ll probably subsidise that vehicle for the fans too!
Prost Soccer will be at Wembley for the final on Saturday and will be tweeting. Follow Prost Soccer and follow the live tweet of the game here.
