Flamingo Park ~ Field of Dreams... Very Nearly
The film continues with the arrival of the ghost of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), a disgraced Chicago White Sox player who, along with seven other White Sox players, was involved in the 'throwing' (deliberately losing) of the 1919 World Series. The film pans out when Jackson brings along the spirits of the other seven disgraced players plus a rookie player called Doc Archie 'Moonlight' Graham (played by Burt Lancaster as the older figure) after Costner's character, Ray Kinsella, talks Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) into a cross-USA road trip in an old VW Kombi, picking up the younger Archie Graham (Frank Whaley) along the way.
Later on in the film, it is revealed who the field was really built for, and it is at that stage that Kinsella realises the truth. But not before Mann convinces Kinsella that "People will come, Ray" just as the farmer is about to sign his farm over to his Real Estate brother-in-law to avoid bankruptcy.
Basically, the moral of the story behind the film is to follow your own ideas and ideals, no matter how crazy your notions are and no matter what everyone else says can or cannot be achieved. Cray Wanderers' chairman and major influence on the club over the past thirty years, Gary Hillman, has chased his dream for the club and has finally realised his ambition, along with a little bit of help and guidance along the way, of securing the club's own permanent home at Flamingo Park. His field of dreams. But, there's more than just a nice, new abode for Cray Wanderers that needs serious consideration and implementation...
A football club is only as good as and as strong as its support network. Okay, the club may currently receive an average of around 400 or 500 spectators per home game at the moment but, has anybody stopped to think just how many more paying guests the club can get through the turnstiles at Flamingo Park? On a regular basis? The ground is in an ideal location; it's right beside the main A20 corridor between real Kent and south-east London and, yet, it is being let down by the lack of public transport that could so easily be diverted to better serve Flamingo Park on matchdays. Okay, so the powers that be are not going to build a railway station right next to the ground and bring a track to it. So, we're talking about the bus routes, the bus stops of which are currently some twenty or thirty minutes' walk away and involves supporters crossing the deadly A20 road getting to them.
Supposing supporters want to stay behind after a game and enjoy the delights of the bar and maybe some of the beers that are served. Or, they may just want to take in the atmosphere of the place before they return home, especially if the team has had a good win. On the moral high ground, it doesn't take much intake of alcohol nowadays to put someone over the drink-drive limit, so the sensible folk will gladly leave their cars at home and catch a bus to the ground. Except that, they can't, because the nearest bus stop is miles away across a permanently busy Sidcup Bypass. Imagine being three sheets to the wind and having to negotiate that scenario!
But, what is the club actively doing about it? Well, the grapevine tells me it's 'not a lot'. Apart from Talia Wilson's sterling effort to garner support with her online petition to put pressure on Transport for London making subtle bus route adjustments or installing pedestrian access ways to combat the current situation, the club owners are apparently not being seen to pursue the matter themselves. I find this quite amazing. There's thousands, more probably millions of quid been spent on the new community hub and, yes, the club is enjoying much more support at Flamingo Park than it had at Hayes Lane and most definitely more than at Oxford Road but, why is the club itself not putting pressure on the authorities which could, and probably would, benefit everyone associated with Cray Wanderers Football Club in the long run?
Flamingo Park is so very near to being the ideal and perfect field of dreams. The local transport situation needs addressing quickly, for disabled supporters, for able-bodied supporters, for youngsters, for pensioners, for families, for visiting supporters and for groundhoppers. Much how I applaud the effort, one small online petition may not be enough but, having the clout of the football club itself and the projection that support will increase manyfold as a result of such adjustments, must surely get this situation over the line.
Trevor Mulligan