Former Players Return For Boston Game

The Saddlers
By David Penniall
January 20 2007

A selection of former Walsall players will be present at The Saddlers next home game against Boston United on Saturday, January 27th to help promote former saddler Chris March’s new book called ‘The Good, the Bad and the boozy’.

The players will be appearing in The Stadium Suite before the game and The Bonser Suite after the game, the players who are expected to appear are: Chris Marsh, Don Goodman, Charlie Ntamark, Andy Rammell, James Walker, Adrian Viveash, John Hodge, Kenny Mower, Neil Pointon, Tom Bennett, Mark Rees, Wayne Evans, Ron Green, Richard Green, Wayne Clarke, Gary Porter, Brian Caswell, Wayne Thomas, Mark Gayle, Mark Hawker, Don Penn and Paul Waddington.

Copies of 'The Good, the Bad and the Boozy' by Chris Marsh and Chris Smith will be available on the day, priced at £9.99. They are also available from The Football Shop in Walsall Town Centre and here at Bescot Stadium but the players will not be there of course.

The book is all about Marsh's experiences of life as a professional footballer and how life is as a professional football at all levels in the game, the extract below is what Chris Marsh told the clubs official site www.saddlers.co.uk.

"It also acts to highlight the vast differences that exist between playing at the lower levels of the professional game and in the top-flight.

"The game is so much more professional now compared to my day; I wish that I could have my time all over again because with all the money that exists in the game today, you can quite easily become a millionaire with a bit of hard work and dedication.

"Having been out of the game for three or four years, I can appreciate what football has given me. Obviously I spent the vast majority of my career here at Walsall and writing the book brought back some fond memories of former team-mates and matches that I have played in, which supporters will be able to re-live and relate to.

"I can honestly say that there was never a bad apple in the dressing room during my time at Walsall. The camaraderie that existed amongst the players was unbelievable and is something that is very difficult to replace when you leave the game.

"We were involved in some memorable matches and I was fortunate enough to be able to play on some fantastic grounds.

"It will be nice to get some of the lads that I played alongside over the years together again to support The Saddlers. It will also be a good opportunity for the fans to buy a copy of the book and chat about old times with some of their heroes from the past."