The agony and the ecstasy of sport. On Tuesday, Wrexham crashed out of the English football league. Today, Chelsea beat Manchester United to keep their Premier League title hopes alive in a dramatic finish at Stamford Bridge.
I mourn Wrexham's demise. When I was growing up, Wales had four teams in the English football league: my team Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham and Newport County.
Newport were the eternal strugglers; they faced financial oblivion in 1976 and were saved with the help of Manchester United, who played a 'Save Newport County' game at Somerton Park. County bounced back five years later with an improbable quarter-final appearance in the old European Cup Winners Cup, but lost their Football League status in 1988. They went bankrupt the following year.
Wrexham also enjoyed European glory, reaching the quarter-final stage in 1976. More famously, they knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup in 1992. But past glory was not enough, as wretched owners cursed the club into administration, points deduction and relegation. Ultimately, it proved too much, and the club's 87 year run in the Football League came to an end.
Such a fate is unimaginable to Chelsea's billlionaire owner and millionaire players. Yet this week we were all given a reminder that some things matter more than football success or failure. The club's Frank Lampard missed today's crucial match against Manchester United after his mother died aged just 58. Under-pressure Chelsea manager Avram Grant was the model of compassion in saying the club would give Lampard as much time as he needed to grieve. Our thoughts are with the Lampard family at this saddest time.
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