Away days: Cambridge

My first League game of the season and my first away game since that incredible day in Burton back in May 2012 (if you discount Hayes & Yeading in the FA Trophy earlier this season). As soon as the fixtures came out, I wanted to go to Cambridge and as away days go, it didn’t disappoint.

8:30 am – due to my routine at work, I never lay-in anymore so I was up and at ‘em straight away, despite Cambridge only being under 2 hours away. I’d planned what I was wearing the night before anyway, so it was a case of hair and makeup, followed by a quick breakfast (coffee and a cake)

10:30 am – my mum dropped me off at Shenfield station and I set off on the 10:45 to London Liverpool Street. From there, I got the 11:28 to Cambridge and on arrival just before 1pm, I met up with a friend who had stayed over on Friday night

1:15 pm – we went to the Cambridge Blue, a pub where a few others had already met. With it being a gorgeous day, we sat outside in the beer garden. The pub was really lovely, but expensive - £9 for a Malibu & coke and a beer. There was only one member of staff working and when I saw the queues at the bar, we decided to leave and go elsewhere

1:50 pm – The Avery was the next stop, where other friends had been for a couple of hours. This after the worst taxi ride ever; the driver didn’t know where he was going so eventually we got out and walked! We found the pub eventually, thanks to Google Maps and stayed for a couple of drinks

2:35 pm – three taxi loads of us headed to the ground, which seemed miles away in relation to where we were. I managed to get in for a tenner – concession rate – thanks to my UH card (I’ll still be using that when I’m 30!). I took my place in the back of the stand, in the middle, with everyone else, where we had a very good view of the action

I didn’t really have any expectation before arriving at the Abbey but I can’t say I was all that impressed. While I can have no complaints about the view and the fact an atmosphere could be created easily, it was just a bit tinpot. Although it’s not too far from London, I was impressed over 600 of us made the journey and it was great seeing some old faces and catching up with friends from seasons gone by

I couldn’t pinpoint anyone having a bad game, although the penalty we conceded was needless. It was the first time I’d seen a couple of players in action and on the whole, I was impressed with the way we passed it around. Dymond took his goal well and despite stick from some members of the crowd, didn’t play too badly at all. Jupp pulled off a number of quality saves to keep us in it and Weston played well (Mr Consistency!) – I think a point apiece was probably fair, although we shaded it in stages

5:00 pm – after the game, everyone headed back to the town centre as they were all staying over. I was the only one in the group to be returning home so I was glad to see a couple of friends at the bus stop on the way – luckily they were going to the station too, and on my train. After stopping for a drink on the way, it was time to go home

6:40 pm – finally on the train, we headed to Liverpool Street, with the others leaving en route. The journey back seemed so much longer than on the way there and I was glad to be home. I got picked up at 9 from the station, got a Thai takeaway and ended up falling asleep in front of Match of the Day! I’m definitely getting old!

My away day experience: Burton Albion

So it was the final day of the 2011-12 campaign and with our League status still firmly in the balance, why the hell wouldn’t I be going to Burton Albion to see if we could manage the ‘great escape’ for a third consecutive season? I had never been to the Pirelli, so it was also another ground to tick off – but, let’s be honest, there was no way I missing this one! And how glad am I that I didn’t?

8:30am – despite setting my alarm for 8:50 with the appropriate title ‘Survival Saturday – foooootbaaaawll’, I woke up earlier; largely down to the fact I couldn’t sleep due to a mixture of nerves and excitement! I had been awake previously at around 6, when I felt sick – it felt as if all my insides were in my mouth! On one hand, I was absolutely buzzing for the day ahead, but a part of me also felt anxious. I got ready, making sure my bag was packed and I had enough money and all of my train tickets – six of them – before having beans on toast, for breakfast.

9:50 am – I left home for Shenfield station, my mum (again!) being the one up early to drop me off. I had to collect my ticket across London beforehand, as I had pre-booked it, but there was no chance of me paying an extra £4.95 to have it posted (are the rail company having a laugh!?). With trains running regularly to Liverpool Street, I didn’t have long to wait before catching the train.

10:08 am – after missing one train by a matter of seconds, I caught the fast train, which only stopped at Stratford. I made quite good timing, arriving at Liverpool Street within 25 minutes or so. Although the train itself wasn’t that busy, and most people got off at Stratford, Liverpool Street was already heaving! I’d heard the Northern Line wasn’t running and there were a number of problems and delays with our services, with a lot of people standing around in confusion. I took the Metropolitan Line to King’s Cross, before arriving at Euston on the Victoria Line.

11:03 am – arriving at Euston 10-15 minutes prior to the departure of the train, I met up with James and Jack, before buying food and fanta. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the booking of the tickets and with a ticket inspector carefully guarding the train ready to leave; I jumped on the 11:03 alone, whilst the other two waited around for theirs – the 11:23. The journey, despite only being an hour and a half, was boring – my iPod battery ran out within 20 minutes, and although I had packed my phone charger, there wasn’t much to do. To keep myself entertained, I shoved an entire box of Daim Mikado in my mouth, much to the amusement of the man opposite me, and as soon as the clock reached midday I treated myself to an archers and lemonade!

12:28 pm – I arrived at Birmingham New Street after stops at Rugby, Coventry and Birmingham International. The train to Burton-on-Trent ended up being delayed by five minutes, and the platform was packed – I caught glimpse of a handful of Bees’ fans, and a massive hen party heading to Nottingham really stood out from the crowd, with their pink feather boas, and general noise! I met-up with the boys again on the train, and with there being no seats in the carriage, we sat in first class – jumping up when the ticket inspector arrived. We managed to get seats and a table, after he let the hen party go in the empty first class area – they were quite a bizarre group, the majority in their late 20s and 30s, and then a token girl who looked about 15! The train to Burton was no longer than half an hour, and more drinks were consumed.

1:18 pm – on arrival at Burton station, rumour had it a lot of Barnet fans were already at the Devonshire Arms pub, a five minute walk away. Despite it being a rather small and generally pokey establishment, there were a decent number of travelling fans there, all in good voice and spirits. As soon as we set foot inside, there were songs being sung, and plenty of empty glasses and bottles! But then again, who could blame them – you can’t go wrong with a bottle of Bud and a Malibu + coke for £4.20! We definitely created an atmosphere in there – much to the clear annoyance of what looked like a mother and son bar team! The police later on arrived to a chant of “Oh, Old Bill we love you” – although as soon as they left, the ‘love’ was soon changed to ‘hate’.

2:40 pm – we were one of the last to leave the pub, with groups of people coming and going when taxis arrived, and we arrived at the Pirelli Stadium within 10 minutes of kick-off. I managed to pay student admission costing me £12 for the terrace; although I wish I had tried to blag an under-18 at only £4 – bargain! I was slightly disappointed there were no paper tickets, but never mind… the terrace itself was absolutely packed with very little standing room, so I placed myself at the back, next to the aisle, ignoring the people that told me I “can’t stand there”.

Match report will appear soon

5:00 pm – after the match, the majority of fans stayed behind giving the team continuous support. The players came over to where we were behind the goal, to applaud us and vice versa, before returning to the dressing room. The Burton players then came out, but it was short-lived, as many of their fans had long gone. After some chanting for the Barnet players to return, they did – with cameras and reporters getting involved, I assume covering Monday’s Late Kick Off show. We must have stayed in the ground for a good 25 minutes, just taking it what we had just witnessed, before going back to the station – the singing continuing all the way!

5:49 pm – we left Burton station and were heading back to Birmingham for the changeover. A large group got off at Tamworth to head for a pub they previously frequented in the day and despite getting off myself, I quickly changed my mind as didn’t really fancy travelling back later – especially across London at 11pm or so! So two of us got the train from Tamworth to Euston, via Birmingham New Street.

7:49 pm – after arriving at Euston, I made my own way back to Liverpool Street – as everyone was heading for North London. After following the same route back as I took in the morning, I got the 8:35 train from Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, stopping at Stratford, before getting off at Shenfield. Both the tube and over ground train were packed with Chelsea and Liverpool supporters fresh from Wembley and there were some Essex Liverpool ‘fans’ opposite me on the train home. I must admit I felt a bit bad constantly staring and grinning at them, but I was still absolutely buzzing! I got home just after 9, where I excitedly waited for the Football League Show – of course, their coverage was like any other week: shocking!

But what a day!

We are Barnet – we’ll never go down!

My away day experience: Ipswich Town

Following on from the positive feedback I got from my last piece ‘my away day experience: Northampton Town’ I thought it only right to talk about my trip last weekend. We played on Friday night in League Two, losing to Torquay (0–1) and I was heading to my boyfriend’s for the weekend. Those of you who religiously follow my tweets (or those that secretly stalk my timeline) will know that he lives in Ipswich, and obviously supports his local team! In just over three years, this was my first visit to Portman Road – although I’d seen the stadium whilst being in the town centre before, and I’ve been dragged into the club shop on numerous occasions! Jake’s been to a number of Bees’ games and is yet to see a win, so I consider myself lucky to see Town win at the first time of asking! They beat Barnsley 1–0.

9:00 am – I woke up, despite setting my alarm for twenty five-past, but I knew I had some last-minute packing to do, although I had done most of it the night before. Even though I was only staying two nights, like usual, I seemed to pack way too much – this included three pairs of shoes when I knew I’d only be wearing one and ‘going out’ clothes when I knew we weren’t likely to properly go out!

10:00 am – I left home for Shenfield station and my poor mum who was in her dressing gown at such an hour on a Saturday morning had the privilege of taking me. Although the train wasn’t to depart until 10:25, the traffic down Shenfield is often pretty bad, and there are currently temporary traffic lights in place, in a three-way system! I also needed to buy my tickets (an open return, costing £17.45) and buy Jake a birthday card.

10:25 am – the train left the platform, and as usual would be an hour – stopping off at about seven other stations on the way. I try and get the straight train as getting off and changing with so many bags is way too much effort. There isn’t much to do at either Chelmsford or Colchester and the latter is a complete nightmare to get off at as the connecting train usually departs a minute after the initial train arrives (and as you can imagine running with two/three bags, in the pouring rain in suede Ugg boots isn’t much fun!). I had my iPod and phone to keep me occupied anyway, and the journey isn’t usually bad.

11:30 am – I arrived in Ipswich five minutes later than scheduled and got a taxi from the station to Jake’s house. His mum often meets me at the station but that morning she’d gone to get her hair done – not that I mind getting a cab anyway; he only lives about 10 minutes away. The driver was a right character as well –although slightly annoying because that 10 minute journey ended up being 25, with a two mile detour because of road works or something (I couldn’t be bothered to ask!)

11:55 am – I arrived at Jake’s and unpacked. Unpacked is a word I use loosely, as it generally means open both bags and throw a few bits here and there. We didn’t really do an awful lot, but were planning to go into town to grab something to eat and meet his friend Joe.

1:20 pm – we got a lift into town off Jake’s dad, but weren’t meeting Joe until two, which was when he finished work, so we walked through town in search of something to eat. We ended up going to the Hot Sausage Company for hot dogs. It was basically a little wooden cart with a boy grilling sausages in an old fashioned apron and straw hat – so cute! I just had a normal one with ketchup and Jake had the works: onions, cheese and ketchup! They were proper sausages as well, really yummy and fresh. We ate them whilst walking through town and towards Sainsbury’s where Joe works. We then bought drinks and waited for Joe.

2:00 pm – We met Joe and then made our way to Portman Road. We had to go and get our tickets beforehand anyway, and the boys wanted to get there early as there was loads going on pre-match (but more about that later!). As we walked through the car park at Portman Road it felt a little surreal, it had been a while since I’d seen so many cars and people outside a football stadium. There were people queuing for food, tickets and programmes and others just generally standing around waiting. When you’re used to crowds below 2,000, it’s quite overwhelming – although I have been to the likes of Old Trafford and Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, where of course there are thousands more. We got our tickets after waiting for five minutes or so and then made our way towards the turnstiles and to our seats. After tweeting about my PR debut, I had people asking me where I was sitting – “Upper tier, Sir Bobby Robson” was my answer, it meant absolutely nothing to me. We had to go up about three flights of stairs to get to where we were seated – no such luxury as that at Underhill!

2:40 pm – before kick off the south stand (opposite where we sat) was renamed and unveiled to the fans as the Sir Alf Ramsey stand. The squad of 1961/62 were there for the official unveiling and led out the celebrations. With it being the 50^th anniversary of when they won the League in the top flight of football at their first attempt. The team also showed off their trophy as they entered the pitch.

The match – it made a change for me to see the ball being played on the floor, and although Jake said it wasn’t a good game, when you’re used to watching Barnet, anything would look good. Town should have been at least three goals up before half time – like Barnet, creating plenty of chances but having the inability to finish. There was a heart-stopping moment when Arran Lee-Barrett in the Ipswich goal spilt a tame ball, only just managing to save it before it crept across the line. Chopra didn’t really do an awful lot, and was eventually subbed. Another thing: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas isn’t very good in the air, but the keeper and defence insisted on lumping it to him – it proved ineffective. Barnsley were absolutely woeful and only brought 198 fans – terrible! Most teams in League Two have better support – even on Tuesday nights!

5:20 pm – we went to Pizza Express after the game and although when we arrived we were practically the only couple in there, it soon got busier with people coming after the game as well. As Monday was Jake’s birthday they emailed him with a deal: a free bottle of wine or prosecco with a meal. Jake doesn’t drink either, but I thought it rude to decline so opted for the prosecco (it was more expensive as well, so result!). I had a good go at drinking the whole bottle, but by the time dessert came, I was full (and the bubbles had gone to my head!). As usual we shared dough balls to start; I then had my usual pizza – Pollo Ad Astra Leggera with light house dressing on the rocket. To finish, we shared the fudge glory sundae. It was a lovely evening and the atmosphere was decent, although I prefer the restaurant on the docks which is where we normally go and is a beautiful setting. From here, we went back to Jake’s and watched the football in bed, rock ‘n’ roll, I know!

And much to everyone’s disappointment, I haven’t quite converted to being a Tractor Girl yet and it was back to Underhill last night to watch the Bees play Swindon… although on reflection, I wish I’d been anywhere else!

My away day experience: Northampton Town

It has been a while since I’ve gone to an away game, as gone are the days of being a student and spending the majority of my loan on travelling the length and breadth of the country following the Bees. In fact, the last away game I went to was back last March: a 0-0 draw against Rotherham at the Don Valley. I thought I may as well start a new feature whereby I mark out my day away from home; it probably won’t make that much of an interest read, but never mind…

As you know, following my last entry – match report: Northampton Town v Barnet – my first away day experience is my trip to Sixfields.

8:30am – I woke up way before my alarm, which had been set for 9:45am, and was feeling undeniably tired and rough. I had been out the night before for a mate’s 22^nd birthday, and whilst it was only in Brentwood (pre-drinking at Slug + Lettuce before going to Sugarhut) and I left at  around 1am, I’d only had about five and a bit hours’ sleep. Maybe it was the excitement about the prospect of the day ahead?

10:40am – my mum dropped me off at Shenfield station, where I collected my pre-ordered tickets and bought some brunch – I knew I wouldn’t be eating on arrival in Northampton, and it made sense not to fork out a load of money on food in London – so I just grabbed a sandwich and a kitkat.

11:05am – my train for Liverpool Street departed and luckily it was the quick one, only stopping at Stratford and said destination (as opposed to the one that stops at every station from Essex to East/Central London). Despite it being packed out – I had to stand all journey – I can only assume most people were hitting Westfield and the other shops, it only took about 25 minutes; pretty standard.

11:30am – after arriving at Liverpool Street, I then had to have the mammoth task of taking the tube to Euston, which is where I’d be getting the train to Northampton.  As is the case, the majority of the time (how the hell are they going to survive when it’s the Olympics!?), a lot of the tube lines were either suffering severe delays, or simply not running. Normally I’d get the Metropolitan line to Moorgate, before getting the Northern line to Euston; instead I had to get the Central line to Bank, before hitting the Northern line. This ate into my journey somewhat, and it wasn’t made very clear what was going on, so there were a lot of people standing around, looking as confused as myself. I also fail to mention, I suffer from claustrophobia, and hate travelling on the underground, on my own!

11:55am – I arrived at Euston in good time, my train wasn’t leaving until just before ten-past. The train was already on the platform (10) and there were signals to say it was already boarding. There was a little bit more confusion, as only a couple of doors were working, and people were still standing around asking “is this the train to Birmingham New Street?” and “were we allowed to board yet?” – I jumped on regardless, managing to grab a table, and having a spare chair for my bag.

12:06pm – the train finally left the station, and I met a friend (who was with a couple of other people) on the carriage; meaning my bag no longer had a seat, and I had to lug it all the way there on my lap. A couple of drinks were flying about, much to a few disapproving looks from the other people in the carriage. The time flew, although it’s a quick journey to Northampton – an hour in total, with only five stops.

1:06pm – arriving at Northampton station, we got a taxi to our usual drinking spot – TGI Friday on the Sixfields complex. The taxi was little over £6, which worked out to a couple of quid each. With just under a couple of hours until kick-off, it was fairly quiet at TGIs , with only a handful of fans either at the bar, drinking, or sitting at tables with food – I’d certainly seen it a lot busier in previous years. I caught up with a couple of friends, before deciding we’d all take it in turns to buy rounds (as well as shots). As is normally the case when visiting Northampton, I was on cocktails only, picking out a different one from the menu every time.

2:45pm – by this time most people had already left for the ground (which is situated just across the road), whilst myself and a couple of other people continued to drink. This time, I was with the guys that sit behind me at Barnet. We did finally leave dead on kick-off.

3:05pm – we got to the ground, and only one turnstile was open and we were unable to get our tickets from the usual portakabin, where away fans go. Instead we had to walk all the way back round to the main entrance, and get our tickets from the home fan ticket office/club shop area. I was unable to get my student/concession ticket costing £15 from here, so had to fork out an extra £4 for an adult ticket – after the amount of drinks previously thrown back, I couldn’t really be bothered to try and a blag an under-18s ticket. Walking back round to the turnstile we heard the home side were already a goal up.

3:15pm – we took our places in the back row for the game. My only gripe about Northampton would have to be the amount of fuss their stewards make, regarding standing. They constantly eye you like a hawk and make you sit down. They even do it to the extent of guiding you to your own individual seat, which rules out any chance of continuing to watch with friends and sharing two to a chair. As is normally the case, they reach the point of not caring and go back to being jobsworths elsewhere. Why anyone should obey their strict regime anyway is beyond me…

5:05pm – to be honest, everything between leaving Sixfields and getting the train back from Northampton station is a complete blur. I think being in the open air had finally reacted with me. I can only assume we got a taxi to the station, before boarding the train home. I couldn’t tell you who I was travelling with, or how it was paid for… I was fine, however, when I was on the train, and met with a couple of friends for the journey home. On arrival at Euston we went to the pub for a couple of post-match celebratory bevvies. Said friends has frequented this drinking spot on the journey up. Everyone then went their separate ways – myself, Essex bound, and others, various areas of London.

8:40pm – After getting the tube across London to Liverpool Street, I got the train home to Shenfield. My mum collected me at the other end and I came home to be greeted with a KFC – which, as you can imagine, after no proper meal all day, went down nicely!

And if you haven’t seen it already, I recently wrote my pre-match thoughts on ‘Claret and white, no matter how shite’ and you can read my piece here.