They came, they saw, they conquered. Blackpool FC (‘The Seasiders’) 0, Brighton & Hove Albion FC (‘The Seagulls’) 1. This picture taken from the away end at Bloomfield Road stadium, during one of longueurs which characterised the match — not a great one, it has to be said, but the right result. For the seagulls, anyway.
Went to Doncaster Rovers v Brighton today — we won 3-1. A good day out. This picture was taken at half-time. The gentleman in focus (and there is only one) is Dick Knight, the man who became chairman of Brighton in 1997, rescuing the club from the wasteland of the Bill Archer regime. In other words, he basically saved them from oblivion, keeping them going until 2009 when he passed the torch on to current owner Tony Bloom. I think it’s brilliant that he still goes to games as an ordinary fan. I shook his hand today, just because I wanted to say thank you for what he did.
I have reached a nice round number on the blog – day 800. I have updated the Best of the Rest and Stats pages accordingly.
I am a Brighton & Hove Albion fan but I am also a football fan, I just like going to games whoever is playing. When the work colleague with whom I’ve come to Moscow pointed out that we would be there when CSKA were hosting Manchester City in the Champions League, we decided we would go. She is a City fan but I was neutral in the matter. I just wanted the experience of going to a big game abroad, which I have only ever done once before (Benfica v FC Porto, December 1990).
Experience it definitely was, and a good one. It was also a cold one, below zero for most of it, including the last 15 minutes during which these 200 or so CSKA fans bravely took their shirts off. I apologise for the technical deficiencies of the shot but bear in mind this was taken at an angle, with a very long zoom, through plexiglass.
I should also point out that I have seen stories on my return regarding alleged racist chanting by the CSKA fans. As someone who was actually at the game, neutral, and understands basic Russian, I have to say that these allegations are at best dubious. In my informed and objective opinion there was no ‘racist chanting’ whatsoever evident at this game.
With no top- or second-level football matches on in England today because of the international games, fans were encouraged to go and support their local lower-division teams through an initiative known as ‘Non-League Day’ — whether this added much to the crowd at my local non-league team, Halifax Town, I cannot tell but it did get Joe & I down there. They enjoyed a 2-1 win over Barnet FC.
Interest was added for the neutrals by the appearance on the touchline of Barnet’s manager, Edgar Davids, who played 74 times for the Netherlands, mostly in his trademark glasses; having graced World Cup Finals he now plies his trade in the fifth tier of English football, which I find amazing really, as if Wayne Rooney were to end his career coaching in the Dutch third division. But here he is, giving advice with his assistant; Barnet were 2-0 down at this point and on their way to a first defeat of the season.
Our Clare can occasionally be aroused by football, which is why Morecambe FC (currently of League Two) have featured more than once on the blog in the past. There she is in her MFC kit watching them lose — undeservedly I would add — to the supposedly far superior Newcastle United in tonight’s televised match.
That’s an illusion going on with Joe by the way. He’s not really got a pint of beer in front of him with a straw in it.
If you like football, and you have any kind of countercultural leanings, you gotta like FC St. Pauli of Hamburg. Either you know why or you don’t. This is one of the reasons I wanted to come to the city. Shame they lost today, mind.
The new Championship season kicked off. for me, Joe and about 33,400 other people, at Elland Road this afternoon. I enjoyed the first 15 minutes or so.
L. S. Lowry painted a famous picture in the 1930s called ‘Going to the Match’, showing people flocking to Bolton Wanderers’ ground amid a sea of cobbles, factories and back-to-back housing. There aren’t many grounds left where you can still get that kind of vibe 80 years later, but Elland Road is one of them.
Gosh, here I am in an airport, that hasn’t happened much this year has it (sarcasm warning). Sat out a half-hour flight delay at Oslo airport (which doesn’t seem to be particularly near Oslo) by watching others watching Norway v Italy in the UEFA Under-21 championship: final score 1-1, if you’re interested. Slightly strange light on the guys in the middle but I like the shot anyway, it was taken very candidly and quickly so you never quite know how they’re going to turn out.
As I move into the second year of this blog, some things are going to recur. Some of them at the same time each year (tomorrow, for example, Clare is running Alice’s Run again), others at different times, like this one. Here we are at Turf Moor, Burnley, for this season’s match-up between Burnley FC and my beloved Brighton & Hove Albion. Last season it took place in April, on a cold, grey day – and the match (and result) lived up to those conditions. Today, earlier in the season, much sunnier and warmer, and a happier trip for the travelling Seagulls. Burnley 1, Brighton 3.
No work for two weeks. Took Joe to the new National Football Museum in Manchester, in the former Urbis building, which has already featured on this blog on a few occasions (amongst others, here and here). Here he is face-to-face – kind of – with Joe Hart, Manchester City and England goalkeeper. If asked however, I am sure he would claim that Ben Roche of Morecambe is better. And good for him.
