Game 10 - Fulham away (Carling Cup 2nd Round)

27th August 2008

Carling cup 2nd round day and a return to the scene of one of THE great nights in following Leicester. Craven Cottage, home of premiership Fulham. After an early start at work and a lunchtime departure, I headed off to the walkers stadium to make my Fox Travel debut for the season. It seems like I wasn't the only tired one though as the kids were clearly worn out before we'd even reached the services. Bless them.

We parked up the coaches about five minutes away from the ground and after a quick walk over to see what was going on, me, James and John made our way into Putney for a quick drink in what can only be described as a wine bar. Not quite the Eight Bells pub which we were aiming for but it served alcohol and therefore was good enough for us (even if it was possibly the worst and most expensive pint known to man kind). In fact it was so bad that I left those two there and headed off through the park on my way back to the ground to see who was out and about.

After a long chat with Colleen through the gates, Helen finally showed up along with the foxestalk lot and we made our way up into the stands to see what fun and games we would be in for. Could this really compete with the 4-3 game of the FA Cup two years ago?

The players made their way out onto the pitch and pretty soon we were off. A fairly even start to the game kept the spirits in the away end up and it was only a heavily deflected Zoltan Gera effort that put seperated us at the break. You could sense the optimism in the densely packed stand as the atmosphere reached epic proportions as the game went on. In fact at one point it was practically two men to a seat.

At half time, the now world famous foxestalk flag made an appearance and a random guy appeared taking photos of us and the flag. This caused a number of mixed emotions..... Jamie on the left didn't like it and was in tears, Jodie couldn't bare to be seen with us, Chloe was loving the attention, Ched has never been happier, Lil Dave has never been drunker and Angry Dad was pulling his hair out. And as for me..... I chose to ignore him, hook my thumb through the belt loop and appear to be ready to do some line dancing....How can one photo show so many emotions?

Back to the match though and within two minutes of the restart and the introduction of Maxi Gradel paid off. The new song inspired him and he was an inspiration setting up Paul Dickov to equalise. Celebrations? You havent seen anything like it till you've been in the middle of a trademarked Foxestalk pile on. Hugged from all sides, being thrown around like a rag doll and by the time your finished you're never in the same row let alone the same seat. 4 bruises and bent glasses just demonstrate how much carnage it was!! Unbelievable!

In fact it took about two minutes to recover.... and by then Andy King came storming in to score a second for us and put us ahead. Cue further carnage and more bruises but boy was it worth it!! We were in dream land once more in the cottage. And we wernt ready to stop there. City pushed on and on looking for the third goal to seal it. Howard had one disallowed and shots flew just wide as we looked like we could pull off the shock of the round........

But as is the way in that part of London, it wasn't to be and in an exact replica of the last Fulham game, and Chelsea last season, late heartbreak was to come our way. A Jimmy Bullard screamer made it two goals a piece (not bad for someone who poses as a photographer at City games!), and an injury time deflected effort from Danny Murphy put Fulham through to the next round. Jammy buggers!!

Boy were we proud though and we let the players know it, singing them off the field. 90 minutes non-stop singing and an emotional rollercoaster had left me well and truly drained of all energy.

We switched coaches on the way home so we could sit with Chloe and Jodie and so much for my plan to sleep!! Dexter's Delights made sure that I was kept well awake. In fact it was quite an eventful trip home involving teaching pensioners what Max Gradel would be doing with their wives, whether we would want children with him and how long can a battery last once it's been down Chloe's bra. For future reference, a disappointing 10 seconds!! Sweet balancing is much more of her talent - keep up the good work Dexter!!

So that was Fulham. Two matches at Craven Cottage and two heartbreaking performances that left us full of pride. Pride is all well and good, but at the end of the day, we're out of the competition and that's one less trip to Wembley for the diary..... but as we sang on the night.... Que Sera Sera!!

Game Nine - Tranmere Home

23rd August 2008

And so to the next league game and the first one of the season with a hangover. So here's the deal with football and hangovers..... they don't go together! Never have and never will. We all know that the best way to cure a hangover is to spend the day slumbering in your own pit with the TV and moving as little as possible..... football does not match this in anyway! Lots of people, constant moving and thinking, and then theres the noise too. Plus being sociable doesn't come into my vocabulary after multiple pints of the various lagers! Thankfully it wasn't an away day!

Quick journey to the Walkers with the old man and we were ready for the next installment of the league one campaign. In fact he even wore the new away shirt to mark the game... oh wait that's just a training top from a couple of years ago. Im glad the club doesn't try and rip the fans off in anyway!!

Arriving at the ground via a quick stop off at the F Bar to collect the Fulham funds from James, we headed to our normal seat and instantly spotted the Foxestalk flag positioned in the next block from us. Lovely jubbly!

A rather uneventful day off the pitch but the standard fun and games from the moment the referee blew the whitsle. In fact the main talking point before kick off was how Tranmere appeared to be wearing the famous "Fosse Gold" strip and wondered if there's was reversable like the City version had been a few years before.

A piss-poor start to the game finally sprung into something resembling life when Oakley received a quick free kick and crossed for Howard to knock it in with some part of his body... possibly his knee. So this game us the lead going into the break and not long into the second half, Matty Fryatt nodded in the second from a Maxi Gradel free kick. 2-0 up and cruising without a care in the world. Tranmere started to push forward though and for a time it reverted to something resembling end to end football. In fact they even pulled a goal back after the defence froze waiting for a free kick to be given.... to their credit Tranmere played on and a cross to the back post was tucked into the net by Chris Shuker. 10 minutes of nervous moments passed before in the 93rd minute, a bit of a goal mouth scramble killed off Tranmere as Fryatt grabbed his second goal with his head and 4th for the season. The dejected Tranmere players knew the game was beyond them finally and 30 seconds later, the referee ended matters.
4 games down, 3 wins, 1 draw and only one conceeded. The optomism is sky high at the moment and it's nice to have a real buzz around the place once more. 2nd in the league going into a crazy run of 4 away games in 3 competitions..... this is where league one will really hit home!

Game Eight - Stockport Away

16th August 2008

This was looking set to be my biggest away day adventure yet with 2 trains just to get to the ground, and then a further two trains to make it to a party in Huddersfield later that night. Ouch.

So with military precision plans, I set off at about 8:30am to make sure I got the first train at 9:30 heading for Sheffield to spend a bit of time with Carla. Unbelievably the trains were running on time and she was there to meet me at the station and we headed off to Starbucks for a drink and to catch up. No topic was left uncovered as we went through all the big subjects: football, relationships, careers, accents and of course which supermarket is the king! (Asda wins be default as I'm older and therefore know better) As she would say we had a riiiiiiiiiight good time! After a couple of hours we headed back to the station and after a quick picture (with me knackered and her hungover), I jumped on train number two and off to Stockport!

Met up with Helen and her mum at the station in stockport and we set off in search of Edgley Park. Colleen opted for the printed out directions whereas I felt the giant sign pointing which way would be more than adequate. These tipton folk should not be allowed to travel without supervision!

Arrived at the ground in good time and was met with this "charming" main stand. Welcome to League One!!

After a quick chat with Wilkes and a burger outside the ground (I didnt dare sample the food inside), me and Colleen made our way in while Helen rushed off for a quick drink with Jobber and his lot. Made an early school boy error when going into the loo and coming out a different way and ending up in the stockport stand. Not sure how that happened but I hastily dashed back the way I came and back to the safety of our roofless stand.
To be fair, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting and the far stand opposite was actually quite nice. Give the away fans a roof and it could be a great little place to go and watch football. The atmosphere holds in really well in the home stand and the covered away area. Im sure we will visit many worse in our league one tour!

Before the game started, the Foxestalk flag was brought out and waived around for a bit while singing ring of fire amongst other things. Sadly the picture isnt great but you can spot a few of us (and me in the bright yellow shirt behind Jodie and Chloe).
The game itself was pretty poor first half and not a lot actually happened. Stockport went close in the 45th minute, hitting the base of the post much to our joy as it looked like the shot was just trickling into the net.

The second half proved to be much more exciting and chances galore were missed as we just seemed to lack that bit of luck in front of goal. All crosses were just behind the player running in, all efforts were just wide, all scrambles were cleared and all shots on target were clawed away. There only looked to be one winner as the game went on but the goal just wouldn't come!

The game will mostly be remembered though for the reception given to one man. Lloyd Dyer me lord. Lloyd Dyer. That chant was probably the loudest all day and was sang every time he even looked at the ball let alone skinned a defender. If he'd scored with his great chance then the (metaphorical) roof would have been lifted!!

And so it finished 0-0. Still unbeaten, and still no goals conceeded. Not a bad start to the season at all and see's us in the dizzy heights of third in the table.

After leaving the ground, we headed back to the station and all went our seperate ways. All people heading south, and me further north into Manchester. On the train though I was treated to the sight of the City of Manchester stadium towering out over the city skyline. This is where we want to be playing in a few years time. The promised land if you will! Beautiful stadium and can't wait to check that one off of my list at some point.

A quick bite to eat at Manchester station and I was off again on my fourth and final train. This time, Destination: Huddersfield! And just for good messure, upon arriving and on my way to the party, we past their local stadium too and Chloe was right.... it is "fit!" Can't wait for that one in October although I might have to undertake an easier journey!!

So that was the day. Four trains, one bus, one starbucks and many laughs. Our league one adventure is well and truly underway and even sleeping on the floor at the party couldn't take away a great day. Bring on the next one!!

Game Seven - Stockport (Cup) Home

12th August 2008

After the successful start to the season, we prepared for the second game and a cup match with newly promoted Stockport County. Awful cup draw but I suppose we've been fortunate with trips to Forest, Fulham, Villa and Chelsea in previous seasons.

So, the first evening game and you can see that not many people seemed interested in going as only the West Stand was opened to City fans and a "speckling" of away fans making the trip.

The trouble makers turned up though and young Ched felt the wrath of a female steward for having the nerve of crossing the boundary into the kop! Living on the edge that one!

The game itself was pretty much uneventful. Stockport had a couple of chances to take an early lead but then found themselves on the back foot when they have a player sent off after 18 minutes for a foul of Steve Howard when he was clean through on goal. From then on, City controlled the game and it was only a matter of time before we took the lead. A Joe Mattock cross/shot found Howard who just poked it into the net from close in.

From then on there only looked to be one winner as City pressed forward looking for the second goal that would seal the game. The only downside was a poor tackle on Mattock resulting in ligament damage to the young lad who will now be out for a couple of months!

And so that was Stockport. Not much to report but was a fun evening sitting with a few of the FoxesTalk lot and at the end of the day, we got through to the next round and that's the most important thing and resulted in an away date with Fulham later this month.

Next stop: A return match with Stockport at Edgley Park! That's when the adventures really start!

Game Six - MK Dons Home

9th August 2008

This was it then. The real deal! No more dress rehersals, no more stage fright, no more excuses. Only three points and hitting the ground running would do for our first year in the third tier. Couldn't have been a much tougher prospect though as we would be pitting our wits against an MK Dons side very much on a high after their promotion and cup winning season of 2007/08.

Heavy rain greeted us as we left home and headed to the Walkers Stadium - hopefully not a sense of pathetic fallasy of how the day would turn out. As is tradition with home games, I made my way to the kop first to greet Helen and get the pre game insults in. Heading into the concourse, I was greeted with a site for sore eyes - Leicester fans who have accepted the challenge of sticking with the team through thick and thin.

By no means a full stadium but with kick off 5 minutes away, the place was filling up nicely and soon it felt like we'd never been away from the place. Was it really 3 months ago that Hume missed that penalty ensuring defeat against Sheffield Wednesday and leaving us feeling so depressed??

Those feelings have hopefully departed the stadium now and that chapter of Leicester City's history has been firmly closed and hopefully will not be re-opened any time soon.... although after the latest signing, who can say what will happen. Enter a certain Mr Dickov. Last seen leaving the Walkers Stadium for pastures new in 2004 and promptly scoring winners against us for Blackburn and Blackpool. Now he was back and the fans were ready to embrace him once more as the old friend lost to us. In fact some fans hadn't wasted any time at all....

And so to the game. Not much to report on that really. Leicester started brightly and pretty much set up camp in the MK Dons half without actually looking too much like scoring.... or that seemed the case until a mazy run from Fryatt saw him chopped down in the box and the referee instantly pointed to the spot. Could our luck finally be turning this season?

Possibly so as Fryatt cooly dispatched the penalty and from then on we rarely looked like losing our lead. Dickov was brought on to an incredible reception from the forgiven fans and the MK Dons left back is still looking for some new shorts after Max Gradel kept ripping them down around his ankles whenever they tried to tackle in. Mesmorising stuff from the young man and has already brought about the first quote of the season: "I'm going gay for Gradel." Classic.

His skill and trickery created a second opportunity for Fryatt late on and he didn't disappoint to send us home happy with a 2-0 win over a team who could well be up there come the end of the season. And to top it off, we must be the only team in the country to have a 100% record in league one..... good times!

Game five - Crystal Palace away

2nd August 2008

The final pre season game before the real action starts saw us descend upon the capital for a friendly with championship side Crystal Palace. Normally I doubt I'd have bothered for this one but annoyingly Selhurst Park had been missed last season so I owed it to myself to make the trip.

After careful planning, the three of us making the trip arranged to meet up at Picadilly Circus with me and Jimmy arriving from St Pancras (and not St Pancreas eh Mr Skinner?) and Helen arriving from Euston Street. However we were soon informed that due to "police incident" Picadilly Circus tube station was closed to us.... bollocks! Quick rearrangement and we were ready to explore London.... although no one knew what to do..... ooops!

In the end we headed over to Covent Garden and spent a good ooooh three minutes looking round there? Nothing on apart from some violinists so when in doubt, head off in search of football grounds....

First stop - Arsenal and the Emirates Stadium. It can only be described as amazing. Can't wait till we play there and I can check it off the list of grounds visited!

While in the area it would have been rude not to have popped in and see the old girl of Highbury. Sadly this is a ground I can never tick off the list as I never made it before Arsenal moved out. The main stand is all that's left of her and even that appears to be on the way out.
After that we headed in search of Tottenham's ground..... less said about that the better!

And so on to Crystal Palace. Arrived at Selhurst Park in good time and after a quick bag search and confiscation of my Lynx (it's a friendly for christs sake!!) we were allowed in just in time to see the players warming up. Check out the student signalling for us to "Move Along"
News that Leicester were in town had clearly spread through the Croydon area as tickets were hard to come by - as you can see - it was near enough a sell out...ish! Give or take 20,000.

The sign in the toilets made me chuckle... I'm childish like that!

When the others arrived at the ground, the main attraction was unveiled - The Away Day Flag! For the record, the top line says "Foxestalk.co.uk" and not "oxestalk" which would be something completely different!!

The game itself was your typical friendly - quite entertaining in pathces but lacked the excitement and general cut and thrust of a full on league encounter. Matt Oakley gave us a 1-0 lead but a good strike from Victor Moses meant we shared the spoils. Max Gradel was again the star of the show for us and received a standing ovation from both home and away fans when he departed.


After heading back to the centre of London, we had about an hour to kill before the train back home.... and what else to do then head to the scene where the day should have began. Picadilly Circus!

Weary travellers - Helen and Jimmy, complete with tourist bus and the bright lights of london.

And finally the away day companions, me and Helen. Ready and geared up for another season following the team here there and everywhere.

So that was pre season. 5 games done, a hat full of goals and a renewed sense of optimism ahead of our first ever season in the third tier of English Football. MK Don's in the first game? To quote Kerrea Gilbert, our new right back: "If they've got a good team, let them have a good team, cos we'll have a better team!" Bring it on!

Game Four - Birmingham City Home

29th July 2008

First and only home game of pre season and championship favourites Birmingham City made their way to the Walkers Stadium for what proved to be an entertaining night of action.

The storm clouds descended over the stadium... hopefully not an omen for the season ahead!!



A decent crowd of about 7,000 turned out (although that isn't evident from the pictures) and both teams fielded full strength teams.

A Sebastian Laarson goal put Birmingham ahead mid way through the first half before a great strike from Matty Fryatt put us level going into the break and continued his fine form in pre season.

As the second half got underway, Leicester pushed forward for the lead winning a succession of corners and freek kicks on the right through the tricky skills of Max Gradel. A rare Birmingham attack and a free header for Kevin Phillips from a corner restored the blues advantage against the run of play.

We continued to press though and a brilliant strike from Levi Porter levelled it up in the 88th minute.

It wasn't to be though and Birmingham raced down the other end and popped home the winner with near enough the last kick of the game - what wouldn't we give for a player of Kevin Phillip's quality??

Very encouraging night though and despite it being only a friendly, showed that we can still be a threat to teams in a higher division.... all 44 of them!