Cod Almighty | Diary

All heel the king

6 March 2019

There was a moment among the mundanity last Saturday that lit up the grey and the drab. Two old friends saw each other and took a minute to hug, chat and smile.

It happened during half time near the dugout as the bloke who pulled out the raffle ticket bumped into the man who trains the kids. They had embraced many times before on that same pitch, some years ago when Town purred, and passing jockeyed against movement to see who was top dog.

I always clap the player who the Mariners Trust bring out at half time. Sometimes I never saw them play, but to have been asked back to the Park they obviously made some impact when they pulled on those stripes. There are times, though, when the player is one I do remember – will always remember – and as I clap, those memories are much brighter than the 45 minutes I have just witnessed.

Tony Rees was one of those players. The fulcrum of the unstoppable first Buckley team, Thunderdiary smiled with him and Neil Woods as they shared that moment in front of once-adoring stands.

It seems perverse now that Rees was often castigated by fans. Much of the criticism used to derive from the fact he didn't score 20+ goals a season. But Buckley didn't sign him for that.

Watching a Birmingham reserve game with his eye on someone else, Alan's attention was taken by Rees bringing a long ball down on his thigh and volleying it instantly to the opposite wing. He never forgot that cameo of skill, and when Barnsley reserves came to BP some time later, Buckley tasked Gary Childs with a man-marking job. But not on the pitch.

Childs knew Rees from those Brum days and with them both sitting in the Main Stand, Gary convinced Tony that Town was the place to be. The rest is firmly in Town's history.

Rees was adept at holding up the ball and allowing Childs or John McDermott to bomb on with a little flick or back-heel. The almost telepathic relationship with Woods saw chances created and often taken with equal delight if the other scored. I remember a goal against Leyton Orient when Woods ran at the defence and laid it off to Rees, then a deft touch back in to Woods, who finished unerringly. Rees' celebration was joyful: once again the magic had worked.

Rees was a fiery player, much different to his off-field persona (as proven in the awkwardly shy interview with Matt Dean this week). He was infamously sent off against Darlington because Tommy Watson didn't throw the ball exactly where Rees wanted it (twice) so they came to blows. He was also sent off after three minutes in a second-leg League Cup tie at Coventry, which Town ultimately lost.

In the first leg, however, it was peak Rees. Flicks, heels and a 45-yard overhead kick which led to the corner Town scored their first goal from. If anyone epitomises the first Buckley era it is Rees. Passing, movement, skill and clever football. He is one of the reasons we yearn for something similar now and who knows, in 25 years a winning raffle ticket may get pulled out by Akheem Rose.

I hope that when Woods and Rees reconnected last week their memories burned as bright as mine, a striking metaphor for the history of our club.