PILGRIMS PROGRESS..

Well, it`s Saturday again, so why not write about football?   On second thoughts, let`s just concentrate on the off-field events at Home Park, home of Plymouth Argyle.   Two seasons ago, Argyle were mid-table in the Championship but so rapid has been their decline that they now sit uncomfortably at the foot of League Two, staring yet another relegation in the face.

Throughout that time, there have been comings and goings amongst those who `run the club` including the much travelled Peter Ridsdale, the much admired Peter Reid, a succession of would-be owners and a fraught Administrator in Brendan Guilfoyle.   And throughout that time, players and staff have barely been paid their due - in fact, some backroom staff have not been properly paid for something like ten months.  

It`s hard to contemplate a more depressing situation for a football club but one with which I and thousands more up and down the country, can appreciate.   For Plymouth have not been alone in suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous administration - we at Southamnpton and at other clubs know what it`s like.

But it now looks as though Pilgrims fans can look forward to a brighter and more secure future thanks to James Brent, pictured above, who has finally succeeded in taking ownership of Argyle, paying off debts, paying players and staff and even presenting Peter Reid with a replica of the 1986 Cup Final runners-up medal he sold months ago to help pay wages and electricity bills.

Mild mannered Clark Kent lookalike Brent has a formidable business background in banking, hotels and other ventures and clearly has a keen business brain to bring to the travails of Home Park.   He confesses to know little about football as such and only attended his first ever game a few short weeks ago.   But he seems to have picked up on the importance of the football club to the city and the region, he seems in tune with the supporters and perhaps relishes the challenge of turning the club around from its current plight, back to more respectable times. 

So I share the relief felt by Pilgrims fans today and hope they and their club have the brighter future that James Brent might bring.   For this is proper football at a proper football club at a level with which `ordinary` folk can identify.   It`s provincial, it`s local, it`s the source of pride and affection amongst football fans who are content to support clubs as far removed from the excesses of the Premier League as it`s possible to get.

I noticed today that whilst the national newspapers are full of the latest episodes of alleged misdemeanours by the latest collection of Premier League malcontents, nowhere could I find any reference to the good news that today is Plymouth Argyle.   The priorities seem skewed in favour of sensation, myopic opinion and dreamworld speculation rather than the genuine good news down in Devon.   Perhaps Clark Kent might change all that?