I was going to write a blog solely about my thoughts on the future of Walsall F.C, then we went and thrashed Bristol Rovers 6-1, so I thought that deserved a bit of a mention too.
We absolutely destroyed Rovers, partly because we played really well, partly because they looked a poor side and allowed our midfield to dominate. Strangely enough, Walsall could easily have scored another 2 or 3, alas they didn't.
It's not the highest score I've seen as a Walsall fan - we had a couple of 5-0's under Richard Money and one under Mullen I think, but I also remember seeing the Saddlers beat Torquay 8-4 in a Johnston's-Paint-LDV-AutoWindscreens-League-trophy match - I think it was during the Graydon era, but it might have been earlier than that.
Anyway, thrashing Bristol Rovers was a fantastic result and the combined effect of Chris Nicholl and the players having a bit of confidence seems to be paying dividends, lets hope they can get a result at Notts County tonight.
And now, back to the original idea for today's blog.
I took a friend along to the Oldham game, he's a Villa fan, a referee and a keen footballer himself, he's been a few times to Walsall down the years, but it was his comments during the Oldham match that really got me thinking.
Over the past few years, the attendances at Walsall have dipped, some would say alarmingly so. I think the average attendance this season is 3,700ish, down from 4000ish last season, and down from a peak of 7,800ish in 2003/4.
Looking around at the sparsely populated Bescot Stadium during the Oldham match, my friend turned to me and said "there aint many here are there?", I shrugged and grunted "nah" in reply. He then said "you wont be playing here in 20 years", I turned to him and asked him to elaborate, and he went on to explain that he couldn't see how a club like Walsall could survive in their current state with such dwindling and disenfranchised support base.
In all honesty, it's not something I'd thought about, I'd never really imagined where we would be 20 years from now, but my friend seemed to have a point.
As a Villa fan, you could easily dismiss him as one of the 'premier league generation' of fans who have lost touch with the real game and it's values - but he's a fully qualified referee who officiates all around the Midlands at varying levels, a resident in Walsall borough and he works in the town. Furthermore, he's mostly unaware of the financial situation of Walsall F.C, nor the rental arrangement by which Walsall use Bescot Stadium.
So he'd got me thinking - Will WFC be playing at Bescot in 20 years? Will WFC still be in existence? Will WFC still be in the league?
I guess this is a question that goes beyond Walsall F.C, there are after all other lower league clubs with dwindling attendances in sparsely populated stadia. Will League 2 exist in 20 years? With all the money sloshing about in the Premier League, will we see the demise of lower-league football in this country? I don't think so - there are enough success stories in the Conference and League 2 to suggest that lower-league football in this country is still in a healthy state.
However, when it comes to Walsall F.C, I fear the worst. The current state of affairs is bad enough - the club are heavily in debt, they rent the stadium and the owner wants out. Couple this with the proximity of other, much more successful clubs and you really do being to question whether Walsall F.C really have a long term future at Bescot Stadium? I'm sure that there will always been a football club in Walsall in one form or another, but is the current club sustainable?
I would argue that it isn't, and that's what makes me worry for the next 20 years.
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