Droylsden’s shock resignation from the Northern Premier League, and their withdrawal from all cups, signals the end of a dream that started almost 30 years ago. Goodness knows how much money Dave Pace poured into the club with which he became synonymous, but it wasn’t enough.
And there’s the rub — Dave Pace was Droylsden AFC and Droylsden AFC was Dave Pace.
People were happy to watch the big games at the Butchers Arms but where were they at other times? I was there in 2008 as a BBC Radio Manchester summariser for the FA Cup ties against Darlington and Chesterfield. The ground was so full you could barely move, yet the following Saturday there was the usual 100 to see them play the likes of Workington or Solihull.
The usual crowdfunding and Save the Bloods campaigns have already been launched, but the support of the Droylsden and Tameside public was needed through the turnstiles when games were being played. Sadly, it’s the old story and applies to pubs, cinemas and even churches as much as football clubs: if you don’t use it you lose it. It’s too late once the die has been cast.
No one at the Butchers Arms was saying anything today. Secretary Bryan Pace gave me a terse “thanks pal” when I said I was sorry to hear the news. Assistant-manager Aeon Lattie limited himself to: “I’ll speak when the time is right.”
In one of those strange coincidences that football often throws up, the last game I covered pre-lockdown was at the Butchers Arms. In my post-match interview I questioned Dave about the effect covid-19 might have on the club and he quipped: “You could self-isolate quite safely here. There’s usually no one within 20 yards of you.”
Yet humour wasn’t very much in evidence that damp, March teatime. The Bloods had lost 4-0 to Clitheroe to make it six straight defeats in which they’d conceded 28 goals and scored only once.
Droylsden’s a friendly, welcoming club but it wasn’t a good atmosphere after the game. As the scoreline suggests, the team had played badly. Many of the officials were angry and exasperated. There were people were wondering out loud whether Dave Pace might even pack it all in.
In the interview, Dave stuck tenaciously to the line that he had a lot of injuries and had had to play several games in a short space of time and in bad conditions. However, he did say: “We have events lined up after the season and some pre-season stuff on the pitch. This is another kick in the wrong direction. It’s not looking good.”
And there’s another issue. Coronavirus may have dealt the lethal blow but Droylsden hadn’t been the same since the club was hit with a huge tax bill in 2013. It left them reeling and successive relegations took them down to the NPL second tier where they languished for six years, effectively struggling to avoid relegation.
The Bloods haven’t gone out of business, so it remains to be seen if they return. But if they do it’s going to be at a lower level and the road back to parity with their Tameside neighbours will be a long and hard one, and much harder than when they battled out of the North West Counties League in the Eighties.
It also remains to be seen whether Dave Pace will stay with the club. The focus has been on the football club but the unfolding economic crisis must have taken its toll on his business interests.
Whatever the future may hold, it’s worth remembering that he was responsible for some of the proudest moments in Droylsden AFC’s long history. In 24 years as manager he led them to within a whisker of reaching the third round of the FA Cup and to the Conference North title in 2007.
He may well have been unrealistic in his desire to play the beautiful game at non-league level but he signed plenty talented and skilful players, many of whom, including Jody Banim and Paul Phillips, have been among those taking to Twitter to voice their disappointment at the Bloods’ fate.
Since taking ownership of Droylsden from Dave Sterling in the early 1990s, Dave Pace was certainly a character. He could be hot-tempered and at one time he went out of his way to court controversy, although usually with his tongue in his cheek.
Who could forget the Manchester Premier Cup ties when he worked in the tea bar while putting his partner, Stella Quinn, in charge of the team to register his disgust with the Manchester County FA’s decision to expel the Bloods from the competition for fielding an ineligible player — him?
Love him or hate him, Dave Pace was devoted to Droylsden Association Football Club. It’s a pity more people in the town and surrounding area weren’t.