Spann the Fans' Favourite!

Wrexham's fans have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent weeks, particularly over their anger at Brian Little and his side in the latter days of his time in the Racecourse hot seat. So it was nice at Mansfield to see the magnificent part they played in another enjoyable day.

Obviously the sheer number of away fans we took was impressive-how many other sides will take five hundred to an away Conference game this season? But for me the most memorable aspect of their support was their treatment of Silvio Spann.

Spann has divided Wrexham's fans like few others before him, and has come in for a fair bit of stick in the past. His reintroduction into the side against York by Dean Saunders raised a few eyebrows, and mine were amongst them, but he delivered and perhaps that persuaded the Racecourse faithful to give him another shot.

That might have been scuppered at 3.28 yesterday though, when his horrendous error gifted Mansfield the lead. We've seen how Wrexham's fans have turned on players of late, and often with justification-anyone who was at Grays will know the level of vitriol that can accompany a substandard performance. So I braced myself for the reception Spann would get the next time he got the ball.

I needn't have bothered. Incredibly, fantastically, wonderfully, the fans behind Gavin Ward's goal responded by serenading him at every possible opportunity. It was terrifically uplifting. To be honest, Spann continued to have a poor time for the rest of the half, but the fans' support never wavered and he repaid their faith in the second half with a performance which showed what he can bring to the side. He even provided one of the highlights of the last couple of weeks-oh, what am I saying, the last couple of years!-when he took a long ball on his chest, balanced the dropping ball on his instep, then poked the ball down the line to Marc Williams when the left back closed in.

It was a delicious piece of show-boating and it summed up the new confidence we're enjoying under Saunders. That Silvio Spann delivered it, to the delight of his newfound fan club, was terrifically appropriate. It seemed to epitomise the fresh start we're all enjoying at the moment.