It’s Joe’s half-term, so to occupy him (and also mark Clare’s birthday) we went to the National Football Museum in Manchester. This is part of the new “From Pitch to Pixel” exhibition, head that bright orange ball and become part of some giant interactive artwork being compiled over several months, called “Hit It!”. And become part of my rather longer-lasting interactive artwork too….
Joe and I made one of our occasional trips to the Shay today to see Halifax v. Woking. Had never previously seen Halifax lose a match in 12 games spread over the last 18 years or so, but today they lived up to their league position and were comprehensively stuffed 3-0. Hence, the title of this post is somewhat ironic. Perhaps they would have done better had the furry bloke at the back been on from the start.
The city of Wolverhampton makes its debut on the blog, and indeed in my life (with my never having been here before in my 46 and a bit years) but this shot could really be anywhere. Brighton and Wolves fans make their way to the pleasingly central Molineux to watch what turned out to be a 0-0 draw that probably we should have won, but I’m biased, as of course is everyone else.
Hampden Park is Scotland’s national football stadium and also home of Queen’s Park FC, currently in the fourth tier of Scottish football, a bizarre but strangely endearing arrangement surely not replicated elsewhere in world football. The stadium has been on this site since 1903 and when it was substantially rebuilt in the 1990s this old version of one dressing room was preserved as part of the Scottish Football Museum. In this room, more or less, Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt prepared before the 1960 European Cup Final, often cited as one of the best games of football ever played (7-3 to Real).
The town of Huddersfield has now appeared three times on the blog, each time for the football, though this is the first time the actual stadium has made it. Third game of the 2015-16 Championship season, and rather amazingly, we (Brighton & Hove Albion FC) had won the first two and then scored after only 17 seconds of this game, hence the happy faces on the fans here. (The guy who has busted me taking the photo does make it, I think.) Final result: 1-1 draw, so the happiness faded, a little.
Going on how dominant his team were today in the FA Cup Final, I guess he has a right to be happy — and this was only half time. The Villa fans and neutrals around him can raise little such enthusiasm.
Last game of the 2014-15 Championship season. Most Brighton fans will follow this with, “thank God”. It’s not been one of our better ones. But we have avoided relegation, anyway, and today marked this with our annual ‘Flying Squad’ gathering at the last game, which this year was in Middlesbrough. A good atmosphere, a reasonable game, but 0-0, sums up our season. The Flying Squad are so named because many of them come in from abroad, including Phil here, who lives in Canada.
Back in November 2013 I mentioned that the town of Wigan had lost a chance to appear on the blog (preferring on the day a picture of scaffolding in Hebden Bridge). So here it is, the 138th different location to appear on this blog, yes, I do count these things. I could talk about the football match that drew me there but I’m not going to. Let the symbolism of the picture suffice, the three players captured under the shadow of the DW Stadium’s west stand.
Ewood Park, home of Blackburn Rovers FC, is the ground ahead — one of only three grounds used in the very first season of the Football League (1888) that is still in use, so there’s a bit of history to it. When you approach it through these terraces it really is like being back in the 1950s. No idea why the guy is taking all that luggage to the game. Good day for us Brighton fans — we won 1-0.
My fourth-ever trip to the Amex stadium, home of my beloved Brighton & Hove Albion since 2011, and this is the third time it has appeared on the blog. This was also the first time Joe has been able to visit. He’s declaring for the Albion, which is a brave move for a Yorkshire-born 11-year-old, so it was good to see an exciting game, and a win — 4-3 for Brighton over Birmingham City. This picture was taken just after Inigo Calderon put the Albion 2-1 up.
Being 42 