The other night, Tuesday to be precise, I did something I have never done before in my life. I left a football match early!
I have been attending football matches now for over 6 years and my basic maths tells me that I must have notched up at least 150. But this was the first time that I have left early.
There were a few reasons for my premature departure, the most prominent being that I had had enough. Hereford were 3-0 down to a very good Bristol Rovers side, with absolutely no likelihood of getting back into the game. Add to that the fact that my friend, who was with me, had a train to catch and also the fact that we were cold and downright fed up. So with around 5 minutes of normal time to go, with a stoppage in play, we made our move towards the exit. I would like to point out that we were certainly not the first. People had started leaving with 15 minutes to go and, the next day, I heard of a gentleman who left at half time, when the score was only 2-0.
I have to say though, despite the woeful performance from my team, despite the fact that we were cold, and despite the fact that my friend had a train to catch, it was still a very odd experience, and one I wouldn't like to do on a regular basis. Week in, week out, up and down the country, you will see people leaving matches early, whatever the scoreline, however exciting the game is. How on earth do they do it? For me, the feeling of walking away from a game while it is still in progress, was an awful one. What if we missed something? A goal, a red card, an injury. Predictably, we didn't miss anything. But still, walking out into a relatively empty street, whilst behind you, the game is still going on and, to their credit, our fans were still singing, is an experience I found it difficult to get my head round.
So it looks like I am a final whistle kind of person. There to the bitter end, whatever the score, whatever the weather, and to all those people who leave early every week, you don't know what you're missing!
Thursday 12 March 2009
Sunday 15 February 2009
Good Game!
Yesturday (Saturday) I had a brand new experience. I went to a live rugby match for the first time in my life. Not just any rugby match though, arguably one of the biggest matches in the sport. I went along to watch the contest between Wales and England in the 6 Nations, at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, and what a match it was!
My uncle had managed to get hold of a pair of tickets, perfectly legitimately, I hasten to add and, very kindly invited me along. Now I consider myself to be English, having been born in England, to English parents. My uncle though, having a very proud Welsh father, was brought up supporting Wales, something which he continues to do. Needless to say then that our tickets were for one of the many areas of the stadium, in which the Welsh fans were situated. Being used to football crowds, I had 1 or 2 slight reservations about this, but came to the conclusion that if I just kept quiet, things would be fine. A tactic, incidentally, that I tend to employ rather a lot, with varying degrees of success.
We decided to go by train, as it goes direct to Cardiff from where we live and Cardiff station is a very short walk from the stadium. So at around 2:30, we boarded the train and our journey began, full of excitement and anticipation. We whiled away the hour and a half or so, with discussion of both teams chances and what the game would be like.
At around 4, we stepped off the train and followed the hauds of people towards the Millenium Stadium, the excitement growing with every step closer to the turnstyles. Before we knew it we were inside, looking for our seats.
This was my first visit to Cardiff's showcase sporting arena and all I can say is... WOW! What a venue it is. It's huge, as you can probably imagine, it would have to be to house around 75000 people, but somehow, it doesn't feel like it. It still manages to capture that close, almost intimate feeling that so many stadiums lack these days. Despite this, you still know that you are at a big venue, for a big event. It is also impeckably run, amazingly clean, with a team of extremely helpful stewards to help you find your seat. This is just my opinion of course, but I really don't know why they bothered building a new Wembley Stadium, when this place seemed to serve the football world incredibly well whenever it was needed. I may well be biassed, as I live around 75 miles closer to central Cardiff than I do to north London. But that's a debate that could rage on and on.
Anyway, we spent the next hour just taking in our magnificent surroundings until, before we knew it, it was time for the teams to take the field. I quietly sang God Save The Queen, and stood in awe as the people around me belted out Land Of My Fathers. Then it was time for the match to kick off.
For the first 15-20 minutes, it looked as though both teams were picking up where they had left off the previous weed, Wales looking far superior while England gave away penalty after penalty. Before you knew it, Wales were 9-0 in front. Then, from nowhere, with 14 men on the field, England scored a try! I was as surprised as those sat all around me. Then we scored a drop goal, bringing the score to 9-8, which is how it stayed for the rest of the half. The second half started as the first had, with England giving away yet more penalties and having another player sin binned. Wales took advantage and racked up more points, their class was showing now. They broke through and scored a try of their own, taking their total to 20. I started to wonder how many more points they would score against us when, England scored another try, converting it, to take them to within 5 points, it was 20-15, game on! The next few minutes were frantic, with both sides desperate for more points. Eventually, England's indiscipline let them down, giving away another penalty, gifting Wales 3 points in the process. That was pretty much the last meaningful act, except for England to miss a penalty of their own, ending the chance of a nail-biting finish in the process. The final whistle sounded, with Wales winning the game 23 points to 15. We made our way back through the crowds and onto the train to go home. We spent the journey home analysing the game we had just watched, both of us happy with our own team's performance. What a great day it had been!
My uncle had managed to get hold of a pair of tickets, perfectly legitimately, I hasten to add and, very kindly invited me along. Now I consider myself to be English, having been born in England, to English parents. My uncle though, having a very proud Welsh father, was brought up supporting Wales, something which he continues to do. Needless to say then that our tickets were for one of the many areas of the stadium, in which the Welsh fans were situated. Being used to football crowds, I had 1 or 2 slight reservations about this, but came to the conclusion that if I just kept quiet, things would be fine. A tactic, incidentally, that I tend to employ rather a lot, with varying degrees of success.
We decided to go by train, as it goes direct to Cardiff from where we live and Cardiff station is a very short walk from the stadium. So at around 2:30, we boarded the train and our journey began, full of excitement and anticipation. We whiled away the hour and a half or so, with discussion of both teams chances and what the game would be like.
At around 4, we stepped off the train and followed the hauds of people towards the Millenium Stadium, the excitement growing with every step closer to the turnstyles. Before we knew it we were inside, looking for our seats.
This was my first visit to Cardiff's showcase sporting arena and all I can say is... WOW! What a venue it is. It's huge, as you can probably imagine, it would have to be to house around 75000 people, but somehow, it doesn't feel like it. It still manages to capture that close, almost intimate feeling that so many stadiums lack these days. Despite this, you still know that you are at a big venue, for a big event. It is also impeckably run, amazingly clean, with a team of extremely helpful stewards to help you find your seat. This is just my opinion of course, but I really don't know why they bothered building a new Wembley Stadium, when this place seemed to serve the football world incredibly well whenever it was needed. I may well be biassed, as I live around 75 miles closer to central Cardiff than I do to north London. But that's a debate that could rage on and on.
Anyway, we spent the next hour just taking in our magnificent surroundings until, before we knew it, it was time for the teams to take the field. I quietly sang God Save The Queen, and stood in awe as the people around me belted out Land Of My Fathers. Then it was time for the match to kick off.
For the first 15-20 minutes, it looked as though both teams were picking up where they had left off the previous weed, Wales looking far superior while England gave away penalty after penalty. Before you knew it, Wales were 9-0 in front. Then, from nowhere, with 14 men on the field, England scored a try! I was as surprised as those sat all around me. Then we scored a drop goal, bringing the score to 9-8, which is how it stayed for the rest of the half. The second half started as the first had, with England giving away yet more penalties and having another player sin binned. Wales took advantage and racked up more points, their class was showing now. They broke through and scored a try of their own, taking their total to 20. I started to wonder how many more points they would score against us when, England scored another try, converting it, to take them to within 5 points, it was 20-15, game on! The next few minutes were frantic, with both sides desperate for more points. Eventually, England's indiscipline let them down, giving away another penalty, gifting Wales 3 points in the process. That was pretty much the last meaningful act, except for England to miss a penalty of their own, ending the chance of a nail-biting finish in the process. The final whistle sounded, with Wales winning the game 23 points to 15. We made our way back through the crowds and onto the train to go home. We spent the journey home analysing the game we had just watched, both of us happy with our own team's performance. What a great day it had been!
Sunday 18 January 2009
Revenge Is So Very Very Sweet!
I hope you'll forgive me for being a little self-indulgent and talking, once again, about my team. I do apologise, but I haven't had many opportunities to wax lyrical about them this season!
Unfortunately life has proved quite tough in the old 3rd division this season and although we have played some very good football for the most part, things just haven't gone our way. However, those of us who kept the faith, knowing that someone was due a thumping from us at some point, were greatly rewarded yesturday (Saturday).
Everything just clicked, it was magnificent. Every time we went forward, we looked like scoring! In the end, a first half hat-trick from Steve Guinan and a brace from Lionel Ainsworth, meant that we came away 5-0 winners, but it could easily have been 7 or8! All this, against a team who were sitting in 3rd place at the start of the day, pushing hard for an automatic promotion place. I'm sure it made a few teams sit up and take notice.
The reason that this win was extra special is that back in October, Hereford travelled up to Boundary Park, home of Oldham Athletic, and were soundly beaten 4-0. I think it's fair to say then, that we paid them back, with a bit of interest!
Now you can say all you like about swallows and summers, believe me, I already have. But for the time being, let's just enjoy what was an amazing result to a fantastic game of football! I know I certainly will!
Unfortunately life has proved quite tough in the old 3rd division this season and although we have played some very good football for the most part, things just haven't gone our way. However, those of us who kept the faith, knowing that someone was due a thumping from us at some point, were greatly rewarded yesturday (Saturday).
Everything just clicked, it was magnificent. Every time we went forward, we looked like scoring! In the end, a first half hat-trick from Steve Guinan and a brace from Lionel Ainsworth, meant that we came away 5-0 winners, but it could easily have been 7 or8! All this, against a team who were sitting in 3rd place at the start of the day, pushing hard for an automatic promotion place. I'm sure it made a few teams sit up and take notice.
The reason that this win was extra special is that back in October, Hereford travelled up to Boundary Park, home of Oldham Athletic, and were soundly beaten 4-0. I think it's fair to say then, that we paid them back, with a bit of interest!
Now you can say all you like about swallows and summers, believe me, I already have. But for the time being, let's just enjoy what was an amazing result to a fantastic game of football! I know I certainly will!
Thursday 8 January 2009
Resolutions
Well, firstly, a very happy new year from me! I hope that an enjoyable festive period was had. In fact, since I haven't posted anything since last June, I hope an enjoyable second half of 2008 was had!
Carrying on iwth that theme, my main new year's resolution is of course, to blog far more often. I will be aiming to post something once a week, but let's be honest, that could be a bit optimistic on my part! I will certainly do my best though, as I feel I have a lot to write and of course, practice makes perfect, so intheory, the more I blog, the better I will get!
So look forward to reading a lot more from me in 2009!
Matt
Carrying on iwth that theme, my main new year's resolution is of course, to blog far more often. I will be aiming to post something once a week, but let's be honest, that could be a bit optimistic on my part! I will certainly do my best though, as I feel I have a lot to write and of course, practice makes perfect, so intheory, the more I blog, the better I will get!
So look forward to reading a lot more from me in 2009!
Matt
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