Game Thirty Two - Crewe Home

25 November 2008

Leicester City v Crewe Alexandra. Top v Bottom. Surley this had all the makings of a comfortable victory and a chance to send a message out to the rest of the league that we're at the top of the league and intend to stay there until otherwise informed..... erm.... no.

A standard build up to the nights game saw me arrive at the stadium not long before kick off to meet the old man, complain about the freezing cold weather and cough my guts up with the effects of Saturdays flu still sitting heavy on my chest. A night in a cold stadium without any atmosphere and an away contingent that actually could have come in a taxi did not fill me with optimism that this would be a night to remember.

A bright start from the boys in blue saw Andy King coming close with an effort after good build up play Oakley and the rest of the midfield. With a quater of an hour gone though, the breakthrough came when good wing play from Mattock and Dyer resulted in the ball being pulled back from the byline to Matty Fryatt. One touch to control, one to shimmy past the defender and a third to curl it into the top corner made sure that the inform striker kept up his goal scoring form.

City continued to press though and for once it looked like maybe we would be in for an easy ride of things tonight and that the table wouldn't lie. Fryatt and DJ Campbell both saw efforts saved before a pin point cross was headed goalwards by Matt Oakley only for the keeper to turn it over with his fingertips. It seemed only a matter of time before the net was bulging again and so it turned out to be the case.... but at the wrong end. In a moment of madness, DJ Cambell didn't clear a corner and instead lost the ball to Calvin Zola who smashed a low shot past the keeper. Martin would no doubt be disappointed to have been beaten at his near post but he more than redeemed himself in first half stoppage time.

A hopeful long ball was punted forward which was just over the Tunchev leaving Zola through on goal but his shot was saved by Martin's out stretched leg leaving us all breathing a sigh of relief.

At the sound of the half time whistle, I headed down to the concourse to see Katy and to see if the lucky Athletico Madrid / Leicester scarf could make it three wins from three. The usual random chatter and hugs and we were back on for the second 45 minutes.

The second half was a rather quiet and lacklustre affair and neither side seemed keep on risking losing it by pushing forward. For all our possession and passing the ball around, the Crewe goal remained mainly unthreatened. Pearson threw on Gradel and Howard in an attempt to gain the victory and it was from Gradel's corner that the goal finally came. A high looping corner was lofted into the mix and Andy King was there to head the ball home for his second winning goal in the space of 4 days. He's becomming a real find this season and seems to have a knack for popping up in the right place at the right time.

And that was pretty much that. There were no further real chances for either side and we just saw out the match much to the relief of the players, fans and staff.

This was the type of game that we normally would have lost and so it's quite encouraging to see that these little quirks seem to be getting ironed out. Also it's nice to be seeing us win at the Walkers again after all those years of misery on our own turf. With two further home games in a row, it's a chance to progress in the FA Cup and try to forge a gap from the team in third. With the busy time of year coming up, it's vital that we go into the period with some kind of form behind us.

Busy week next week for matches. 2 home games and random trips to Anfield and a return to the City of Manchester stadium. Happy days!

Game Thirty One - Scunthorpe away

22 November 2008

So here we were, arguably the biggest game of the season so far as we travelled away to take on Scunthorpe in a top of the table clash. Only a victory would see us reclaim our position at the top and whilst we all know that the league isn't won at this time of the year, there is something special about seeing your teams name above everyone elses in the rankings. Yes it's only League One but you can only beat the teams in front of you and that was indeed our task for today.

The trip to Scunthorpe would be different to any done before as it involved setting off from Nottingham after spending the night at my friend Sam's place. After a very pleasant evening with her, I was up early and sneaking round the house as not to wake people before setting off to the train station. The normally packed out market square was quiet as you like with only a few early morning shoppers heading around going about their business - do these people not have matches in random places to get too? Madness!

The plan of the day was to get the train from Nottingham to Grantham where I'd meet Katy for the relatively short drive up to north Linconshire. Quick breakfast stop at the train station and I was off to meet her feeling pretty ropey as the effects of flu and a poor nights sleep were starting to hit home.

It turned into quite an eventful journey with all things considered as we travelled through various little towns and villages on our way to sunny Scunny. Random places and street names caught our attention such as the village of 'Laughterton' and the pub called the "Hume's Arms" - wonder if there was any connection to our former striker or pure coincidence?

The main event though was saved for in Gainsborough when as we pulled up at some traffic lights, a little old man crossed the road next to the stationary car. Perfectly harmless looking pensioner who wouldn't hurt a fly but quick as you like, Katy locked the doors of the car as if he was some kind of axe murderer! It was all ok though as that little red light means that no pensioners would be attacking us today!

We arrived and parked up in Scunthorpe at about 11:30... inexplicably early indeed as we hadn't encountered any of the traffic that we allowed for. Still it gave us a chance to find the nearby pub and sit in warmth and just relax while others slowly drifted in.

Lisa and Carl were next to arrive and sounds like they'd had a fun journey - don't let the smile fool you. Divorce was on the cards after she was annoyed by her other half in the passenger seat.

Foz and Ben joined us in the pub shortly after (minus Foz's half naked dad and Tash who had decided not to make the trip). We were also joined by a look-a-like Nick from the apprentice... but the pic of him didn't really showup. Random chatter made the 3 and half hours fly by in which we learnt that I'm an expert drummer... so long as the drum kit was made of Katy's boots. They may have been out of The Tweenies as she put it but they can sure hold a tune!

After the pub fun, me and Katy made our way into the ground to find our seats and for the first time in ages, actually stayed where we were meant to. Whilst the usual suspects all headed off to find the atmosphere, the two of us stayed put as due to ill health, I think any real attempt at singing would have just resulted in a coughing fit or loss of voice. Responsible away game for a change!

It was absolutely freezing as we made our way to the back of the stand and awaited the kick off of this top of the table show down. The ground was pretty much sold out in most areas and there was a sense of real anticipation as the players made their way out onto the pitch to a scene of balloons and tickertape.

For the first time in a while, City started the game at a high tempo and pushed forward right from the off. The speed up front seemed to be paying off (when DJ wasn't offside) and we were always looking to break through the stuborn Scunthorpe defence. Fryatt twice went close, one shot blocked and the other producing a good save from the hosts keeper. But midway through the first half, Fryatt threaded the ball through to the on-rushing Lloyd Dyer who kept his cool and threaded his effort past the keeper in the way we've seen many times already this season. Forgetting the illness and grown up away game theory, I jumped on Katy in celebration in the same way she bounced madly at Brighton away last month!

Almost from the restart, Scunthorpe were almost level as the always dangerous Paul Hayes had his effort brilliantly saved by Paul Henderson. A stunning stop and proved why he has reclaimed the number one jersey as his own. He could do nothing to stop the equaliser when it came though. After what looked like a foul, Hayes found himself in sight of goal from a tight angle but somehow lashed the ball home off the post. Great strike as so many seem to be against us.

City looked most likely to take the lead going into the break as we pushed forward. King firing over the bar and after brilliant work from Berner down the left, DJ Campbell saw his effort expertley saved by the inform keeper.

Wasn't to be though and so at half time we reflected on what could have been as we head over to the other side of the stand to see Helen and then made a quick call to Dexter in between coughs to report on the first half. It was impossible to text as the coldness had removed all feeling from my fingers. Not keen.

The second half was a lot quiter in terms of action on the pitch and chances for both teams were few and far between. Instead the crowd amused themselves with the "Left side - right side" chant which is getting more and more annoying as the weeks go on. Every five minutes? Is it really needed?

As the clock ticked down, the draw was looking more and more likely until a loose high ball was controlled by Andy King who then raced through, beat a defender and curled a peach of an effort home from the edge of the area just past the reach of the keeper. Great scenes in with the away fans as hugs galore were shared and the sounds of "We are top of the league" were heard as the game restarted.

With only injury time remaining, Scunthorpe won a few corners which the keeper decided to come up for and caused trouble in a packed box but it was the cool head of Henderson that won the ball in the end.

With his resulting clearance, the final whistle sounded and was greeted by huge cheers and joy. The toughest test so far in this long season had been passed with flying colours and we could truly feel that we had earnt our place at the peak of the league table. It was nice to see that it seemed to mean something to the players to as they celebrated too as if they were fans.

And so we all filed out of the ground, happy with life once more. A big difference to how we felt walking out of the County Ground last week after the disappointment of blowing a lead. Here we'd pushed hard and fully earnt the three points despite the referee's attempts to ensure that we left with nothing.... although that was easily explained when we saw the back of the programme.... Player number 12?

And with that we left Scunthorpe and headed back down south to the midlands and Nottingham station where Katy had said she'd drop me off - bless her little cotton socks! The conversation on the way home was very random indeed with talks of Katy "sexing up the gear stick." Oooh Errrr Missy!

Now what blog would be complete without a mention of the little man? Despite not having seen him at all on the day, he still popped up on the journey home as we passed by Stapleford on the way home - I'd like to think that that is a town of Lil'Daves.... which is why we headed to Nottingham instead!!

A quick stop at Nottingham station for food and I was off home back to sunny syston, very weary and feeling very rough. This had proved the second major test in the 100% record challenge though. Midweek games? Done! Games when ill? Done! Carlisle on fox travel is the next main one! Bring it on!

So that's Scunthorpe done. Back to the top of the league and sets up a nice clash with bottom of the table Crewe on tuesday night. It's the perfect chance to open a gap between us and those chasing hard but this is the type of game that we will normally struggle in and end up dropping points. Thoughts of 1-0 defeats to Rotherham, Hull, and Nottingham Forest in the past few years are still fresh in the mind. All three of those teams were bottom when we played them at home and all three took maximum points from us.... how many times can lightning really strike? We'll find out during the week!!

Game Thirty - Swindon Town Away

15th November 2008

Wow - it's hard to believe that this was to be the first weekend away game since the trip to Boundary Park nearly a whole month ago. With the away form that served us so well in the opening weeks of the season, it seemed vital for us to regain our footing and look to return home with three points.

This was to be the first match against Swindon since the famous 4-3 defeat at Wembley 15 years before and to say that that dominated the thoughts of the local fans in the build up was an understatement as the Swindon media and programme took the opportunity to remember possibly the best game that the famous old stadium ever saw.

So an early start was needed as it was back onto Fox Travel for this one after the luxury of various forms of travel for the previous two away games... and for once, it was almost like the old days when it was genuinely fun on the coaches. The customary sleep was natural until the services where we bumped into Dexter and Jodie like the good old days. Alan and co were all out in force too so random chats were at a premium.

After that it was next stop Swindon and the magic roundabout which is a force to be reckoned with... unless you're a Fox Travel driver who just ploughs straight across the middle - legend! With us all parked up, I headed off into town to find people at the local pub but instead bumped into Andy, Ben, Joe and Tommeh and so decided to stick with them and head into the stadium earlier than planned.

This is just your typical league one ground that we are becomming accustomed with now but with the added bonus of a "Stockport Style" open stand with no roof that away fans can also get tickets for if they feel the need.

With the five of us soon joined by Bert, Wilksey, Maybes, Dexter and others from Foxestalk and we all crammed into a small space towards the back of the side stand as kick off approached. The "rocking robin" and overweight cheerleader remain possibly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen at a football match and after watching Leicester for all that time, that is saying something!

The game kicked off and our attention was soon drawn to the steward coming up the stairs saying that if we wanted to stand in more room, we could all move to the other stand behind the goal where we could relax a bit more. Happy days - it's always better to be behind the goal at away games for some reason... although with the cold wind soon whipping around us, the decision to move was soon being questionned by me and the random guy I got chatting to during the first half.

I suppose I should comment on the match at some point and to be honest it was Swindon who looked more likely to take the lead in a pretty uneventful first half. Goal machine Simon Cox was played through on goal and somehow he placed his shot a good few yards wide. Personally I was already cursing being a goal down so to get away with that felt like a goal in our favour.

Corners reigned in on us and Henderson was at hand to clear any danger and ensure that we went in at half time level. From one such corner that got caught in the wind, Hendo claimed a difficult catch only to see the ball headed out of his hands and into the net only for the referee to correctly rule it out much to our relief.

At half time, after checking our (losing) bets to the scores, we headed down to the front row on the far left of the stand for the third view of the game. Front row barmy army! This new view from the stand seemed to be reflected with a new view from the players as for the first time in the game they started to move the ball around better and looking to make an impression on the game. Dyer went close with a deflected effort that just went wide of the post and we started to dominate possession and play with meaning.

Corners of our own were swung into the box and as we started to press more and more and it seemed only a matter of time before the net would ripple with a city goal.

And finally it came. Oakley picked the ball up just outside the area, shimmied past a defender and lashed the ball across the keeper into the net. Cue pandemonium. We all shot forward to the adverstising boards, with me, Joe, Andy and Lil' Dave jumping the row in front in our excitement. Arms everywhere and the atmosphere kicked in as we moved back to the top of the table.

As we were still enjoying being one up, a high ball was played over the top of the Swindon defence which Fryatt managed to flick past the unrushing keeper and then casually roll it into the empty net. Let celebreation numero two commence.

This was turning into one of the classic away days as we were two nil up away from home in the cold, having a laugh with fellow city fans, and had had two manic goal celebrations to contend with which resulted in muddy footprints left on seats as we lept rows to get to the front.

The quality banter was only continued after the second goal as a steward with a cheap burberry cap started to get abuse as he looked more and more miserable. Chants of "you're gonna cry in a minute!" didn't go down well and he soon resorted to sticking his fingers up at the crowd and walking off in a hissy fit to cries of "you're getting sacking in the morning". Surley one of the main aspects of the job is to deal with that kind of thing and frankly he got off lightly with some mickey taking compared to the abuse that some people get. Bless him though - Im sure he was back home in time for his bed.

At 2-0 it was perfect though, fun banter and good laughs were being had.... and even the dark clouds gathering overhead didn't look set to dampen the mood as we carried on having our fun behind the goal.... well..... some of us did.

We even spotted a certain young member of Foxestalk gathered with the erm... chav-ier section of our fan base who ran like the clappers when a steward headed in his direction causing much amusement amongst the rest of us. At worst he would have been asked to tone it down a bit but Usain Bolt had nothing on him as he sprinted away to the middle of that group where he couldn't be seen. Bless.

Back to the game though and everything was going well ....but we didn't brace ourselves for the last 6 minutes of the game as Swindon pulled one back when a miss-hit shot fell to Simon Cox who just rolled it into an empty net. Nervousness started but so what if they'd got one back.... they'd never get another..... bugger!

A long throw was flicked on by our own defender and was acrobatically turned in at the back post past a despairing dive from Hendo. How had this happened? True we didn't deserve to be two nil up in all honesty but to conceed two goals in three minutes to throw away 2 points was criminal and the third time we'd lost a two goal lead in 5 away games. How can we keep doing this?

We pushed forward at the end trying to repair the damage but it was too late.

With two points lost and the chance to cement our place at the top of the league in pieces, the final whistle was greeted with a muted response. 3 points to 1. 1st place to 2nd. Happiness to misery. What a crazy difference three minutes can make. At least Jimmy Bullard was there to put a smile back on our faces.

And so it was back onto the coach and the average trip back home where we were left to think of what should have been. A book was passed round too for us to write messages to former striker Iain Hume who had had suffered a major injury when elbowed in the head last weekend - a nice gesture and flicking through it was nice to see what other people had written to him (although why no-one can spell his name after playing for us for a few years is beyond me.)

We arrived back at the walkers in good time and I caught sight of the fixtures on the board outside. Hardly fills you with excitement does it? Gone are the big names in English football and in are Dagenham & Redbridge. Joy!

So thirty games in the season done and the 100% record is still going strong. The first target though is to get to the 2nd January without missing a game as then i'll have done my initial target of 365 days without missing a game. QPR away, the first game of 2008 is the last time I wasn't at a first team Leicester match and boy has a lot happened since then. We're in the third tier of English football and QPR are one of the richest clubs in the world.... football. It's a funny old game!

Oh and thanks to Lil' Dave for a few of his pics that I "borrowed" for this blog. Cheers lad!

Game Twenty Nine - Yeovil Town home

11th November

So this was it then. The game in hand that could send us back to the top of league and possibly be the difference between a good start to the season and a great start. Such are the fine lines in football that we could have finished the game with Yeovil in any position from 1st to 5th and whilst the points difference between the teams is minimal, psycologically so much rides on each position that it was important to take the opportunity and head the table going into the next round of fixtures.

Having had the day off work to attend college in Nottingham (note to all - accountancy college isn't a great way to spend a day!), I made my longer than normal journey into the city and found myself around the place ridiculously early.... but that was ok as I was only there to collect the tickets for the Scunthorpe match in a few weeks. A bit of banter in the ticket office (being called "Sir" could well catch on I'm sure) and then I was off into town in search of food.

A quick bite to eat and then back to the stadium to get out of the cold winds and into the 1884 bar just to kill time waiting for my old man to arrive in from work. Didn't spend much time in there though and so decided to head up towards the station to meet the Cators and Dexter who hadn't been seen since the Huddersfield game over a month ago. Unacceptable!! Some how I got roped into being a pack horse and carrying her bag all the way to the ground - how that quite happened I'm not sure?!

Left them at the respective turnstiles and headed up to my normal spot in the East Stand where the old man was already there ready for a fun filled night of League One action.... and for once, it actually was! Right from the off we seemed to have adopted a passing mentality and stroked the ball around beautifully at times with Yeovil left chasing shadows. It's been years since I've been able to watch a Leicester side pass a team off the park but in all honesty what good is the quality football if you don't use it effectively in the final third of the pitch?

Chances came and went. Fryatt knocking it just wide from a Howard flick on, Oakley blasting it straight at the keeper after a great build up involving about 20 passes, and Oakley again just lifting the ball over the bar after a wonder pass from King left the defence for dead. Whilst this was all good, we were still conscious that we were level and Yeovil had a couple of efforts of little note that made us a little less comfortable than we had been.

It wasn't long though before we finally took the lead midway through the first half and it was a goal that was so familiar to us all after the Dickov and Deane promotion show. A long ball was flicked on by Howard and Dyer dummied the defender and lashed the ball home with his left foot to put us (theoretically) top of the league.

We continued to push after the goal but couldn't force a second despite other chances and good football in which we dominated possession and hardly let them even enter our half of the pitch, leaving Henderson looking a lonely figure.

The half time whistle sounded to a standing ovation and I headed off down to meet up with Katy and check out her random scarf that she wanted to show off to me... of course it didn't have a patch on the Ivory Coast or Leicester / Inter Milan wonder but it was a valiant effort none the less! Random chit chat and visit from Roy the Hullfox and it was soon time for the second half action.

And what a disappointing second half it turned out to be after the joys of the first. Nothing much happened apart from a few longer range efforts, one of which, a Fryatt free kick, just scraped the post on it's way wide. Yeovil seemed to grow in confidence from the fact that they were somehow not dead and buried and turned the pressure on in the last five minutes and you could almost see the script of a late equaliser ruining a professional performance.

But for once it was not to be and we held out to claim all three points and climb back up to the top of league one much to the joy and relief of those still in the stadium at the end.

So another game down and one step closer to an instant return to the Championship. A couple of away games to follow now with a trip to Swindon before a top of the table clash with promotion rivals Scunthorpe. Whether we are still top at the end of this tricky patch is yet to be seen but if we are then we should be in a prime position coming up to the christmas period which could determine how this season ends. In a season of firsts, could the final league position reflect what is becomming the theme? Fingers crossed!

Apologies for the shorter blog and if it appears different to normal - the website is playing up again and it's taking longer than normal to do anything on it!

Game Twenty Eight - Stevenage Home (FA Cup First Round)

8th November 2008

In a season of firsts for our club, I think this had been the one that I had been dreading the most. The prospect of starting our FA Cup campaign from the beginning and before Big Ben had chimed in the new year. The whole concept of the FA Cup third round weekend is something that I've loved ever since I was young. First weekend of the new year and the chance to have a break from the league and dream of winning the greatest domestic club competition in the world. Who can forget the likes of Liverpool v Havant & Waterville or our game against Spurs from a few years ago? It's the magic of the FA Cup later rounds, and the prospect of missing out on the best weekend in the football calendar didn't bare thinking about.

The draw had paired us against non-league Stevenage at home, a truly un-inspiring tie but a banana skin none the less and after the recent performances, I genuinely headed to the stadium expecting us to slip up and exit before Santa had even thought of heading out on his rounds.

Arrived at the stadium in plenty of time, minus the old man, and headed into the sports bar to catch the end of the Arsenal v Man Utd game... hard to believe I had been at that stadium earlier that week! Met up with Helen and Jobber in there before heading round to the kop. With my Dad deciding that £15 was too much to watch us in action, I decided to head up to the back of SK1 for todays match with a few of the other FoxesTalk lot. Been a while since I watched a game from this stand so was nice to have a bit of variety in the view.... although the empty seats is becomming a feature this season.
Stevenage started the stronger side and came close to taking the lead a couple of times. A great through ball put Cole clear only for him to drag his shot wide, and a poor back pass from Tunchev nearly let him in again but Henderson was sharp enough to race through and get a foot on the ball to get it clear. Mistakes were all to often and corners were far too frequent for my liking as even Steve Howard had to help out the defence.

The nerves were starting to grow as the team just were no clicking. We needed that little spark to kick start us and it came from an unusual source of skill.... Oakley fed in Fryatt who worked his way down the wing, teasing the defence into submission before pulling it back for Dyer to lash home.

Nothing much happened during the remainder of the first half as the goal seemed to have knocked some belief out of the visiting side.

In the second half, our higher league status started to shine through and we piled forward looking to really kill the game off. Some good build up play saw Oakley have a shot well saved before Lloyd Dyer used his pace to drive forward and squaring it to Fryatt who curled it home beautifully from the edge of the area. Great finish and all relief lifted from the players and fans.

Not everyone enjoyed the goal though....

It was left to Andy King to completely wrap the game up with a stunning strike. He picked the ball up and lofted it over the keeper from fully 30 yards out with ball drifting in off the underside of the cross bar. A real contender for goal of the season.

At 3-0, we continued to press forward looking for more goals and a comical miss from Fryatt when he missed an open goal proved to be the highlight and saw Lil' Dave celebrate like the cup was ours!

No further goals followed though and we had to settle for 3-0 despite some late pressure from Stevenage.

And so that's the FA Cup campaign started for the season and our reward for beating Stevenage? A home tie to either Hereford or Dagenham & Redbridge. Playing either of those teams away would have been spot on but we can now look forward to another empty stadium for a home match and hope we can over come the next challenge. It won't be easy though, especially if they take the same approach as Stevenage did. They came to the Walkers to win and looked to attack at every opportunity. The magic of the FA Cup was present in them even if it didn't feel of any inspiration to us.

.

And with that, an epic week is over. Four matches in four different competitions.... never thought I'd be able to say that but it was completely worth it! From League one to the FA Cup via the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the Champions League.... what an adventure it has been (although I must admit it'll be nice to get back to a quiet period so I can recover!) In all the excitement, the league has almost been forgotten but we'll be back to it on Tuesday where three points would take us top and really round things off!

Game Twenty Seven - Arsenal v Fenerbahce (Champions League Group Stage)

5th November 2008

One of my main regrets in football was that I never got to go to Highbury before it was closed and Arsenal made the move to the Emirates Stadium. It was a classic old ground and I've always admired the way that Arsenal play the game in the right way. Whenever they take to the pitch, you know you are getting 'The Beautiful Game' in it's purest form. Pass and move. Options all over the pitch and all 11 players want to get a foot on the ball. Very different from the usual standards we're used too following Leicester!

And so on a whim, I looked into getting tickets for a random game and found that tickets were available for the Champions League group stage match against Fenerbahce and a quick check on trains to make sure I could get home and the decision was made! Johnstones Paint Trophy to Champions League action in 24 hours!

And so, still tired from the late night before at Rotherham, I set off from work and headed to the station for my train down to London. This had the potential to go horribly wrong with tubes and trains to negotiate and no way home if something went wrong so military precision was needed!

A quick doze on the train and a nice easy journey later and I was in London with the remains of the rush hour traffic and the 60,000 or so Arsenal fans all clamouring to get to the stadium. I had a rough idea of where I was heading so quickly made my way down to the tube platform and have never seen such a crush as bodies were flying around trying to squeeze onto the already overpacked tube. Two came and went before I managed to squeeze myself in and arch my back to allow the doors to close. Thankfully, I was only travelling two stops or I could have come out of London looking like The Hunchback of the Walkers Stadium!

Arrived at Finsbury Park station and made my way out following the mass of red. Bought a programme and went in a smaller version of the club shop and then realised I appeared to be nowhere near the ground and so set off on the 10 minute or so walk to the stadium. A road sign pointed me in the right direction and I made my way through the streets with no sign of the stadium at all.... until I went under a railway bridge and was greeted by the bright lights....

.... how can a stadium like this creep up on you? Unbelievable! Turkish fans lined the area outside and there was a real friendly atmosphere only usually associated with friendlies and everyone was out to have a fun night as flashes from cameras and the fireworks overhead kept lighting the streets up.

A quick phone call to Sez, someone I'd met on a football forum site years ago, and we arranged to actually meet up for the first time at half time as it was only 15 minutes from kick off now.

I found my turnstile and was greeted by a huge concourse and yet no idea where I had to go to find my seat which was situated in the upper tier behind the goal. An endless amount of stairs left me with that same feeling the first time I went into the upper tier of the old kop at Filbert Street for the first time... I remember being young at the time and so it seemed to take an age to get up to the second concourse. Finally though, your ready to step out and see the pitch for the first time.... and what a view you get.

Simply breathtaking! The Fener fans were situated to the right and were already warming up their vocal cords as I made my way up the 37 rows to get to my seat right near the back.

Now Ive known that the atmosphere wasn't meant to be great at some of this stadium and when I got to my seat I found out why. The seats are just too comfortable. Padded seats! Back rests past your shoulders! Major leg room! I've sat in arm chairs that were less comfortable than those seats!!

Within minutes of arriving, the players emerged from the tunnel and the famous champions league music was played over the tannoy sending a shiver down my spine. Already it was proving to be worth the cost and time and the game hadn't even kicked off yet! The Fener fans worked hard to get an atmosphere going and they happily amused themselves singing and bouncing around like nothing I'd ever seen before - a joy to behold just as Dave had told me they would be.

The game kicked off and Arsenal immediately went on the attack, passing the ball around like we could only dream of doing. For the first five minutes, the ball never left the Fener half and the only time a player in anything other than a red shirt touched the ball was when an outstretched leg deflected the ball away from it's intended destination. They just couldn't cope... and yet the goal remained unthreatened apart from one Van Persie effort that just drifted wide. A few free kicks from wide positions offered a more positive threat and from one of these, a loose ball fell to Fabregas whos dangerous cross was well palmed away by the Fener keeper to the feet of Van Persie who saw his shot deflected over the bar by a defender throwing himself in the way.

Van Persie was dominating the attack and he once again found himself in a scoring position only for the keeper to touch a shot onto the crossbar. Volkan was having a brilliant game between the sticks and it was only him and the dogged defence keeping the gunners at bay.

As half time sounded, I made my way down to the concourse and grabbed a quick bite to eat before waiting for Sez to arrive from wherever she was seated. When she finally did show up, we said hi and chatted like we were old friends who always hung out together which was great - you'd never have never known we hadn't met before. Turns out that she'd saved me a seat next to where her season ticket seat is, as one of her friends hadn't been able to make it, so I walked all the way around the stadium to her seats where I was introduced to her Dad and mate, Scruffy. And the view from where they sat was simply amazing (and so it should be for £1,250 a season ticket!!). The best view I've ever had at a match as it blew me away - the pictures don't do it justice at all.

The frustration on the pitch continued to grow as Arsenal always attempt to score the perfect goal and refuse to shoot when in a prime position. Even Cesc Fabregas who would score from miles out last season was always looking to play the ball through rather than have a crack. Technically though, you have to say they are superb. They hammer the ball around and control it in a second. They're also so aware of the positions of players around them.... runs were made all over the place but as soon as they stepped offside, there was no way that they would receive a pass. Not once in the entire game were they flagged offside!

Not many chances came though in the second half. The closest they came was a corner swung in that was headed just over his own bar by a defender as Eboue looked to give Arsenal the vital lead.

As the game wore on, it became more clear that there were to be no goals as Fenerbahce defended for their lives and had no chance of breaking the deadlock themselves. Disappointing not to see the celebrations of a goal but chatting to Sez during the game had been great so it was definately worth the trip down to London.

As the final whistle blew, I made my way out with those three and we made our way back to the main road in the direction of Finsbury Park tube station. This was where I said my goodbyes to Sez and her dad and thanked them for a memorable night before jumping onto a tube back to St Pancras.

My train wasn't till 11:15pm so I had an hour to kill at the station so grabbed something to eat and relaxed in the rather nice cafe in the modern area of the station - highly recommend checking it out although I imagine the novelty will be gone when it's rammed like it normally would be. In fact the only people at the station could all be captured in one picture - not bad for one of the busiest transport networks in the country eh?

I was exhausted by the time I got on the train and found myself sat opposite a couple of Arsenal fans who spotted my Leicester scarf early into the journey. That started the conversation up and up until Luton (where they got off) we exchanged tales from our random trips around the country, or in their case, the world watching the teams that we love. Of course their tales of Champions League finals and away days in Portugal and the likes kind of left mine in the shadow but it still broke up the journey and the rest of the journey seemed like an eternity as the effects of the last couple of days really started to kick in and it took all my effort to keep my eyes open. A quick taxi back to Syston and then I came to the realisation that I had college deadlines to meet so at 1:35am, I cracked open the books and ploughed on with it... what a way to end a mammoth trip like that!

What a stadium, and a great chance to meet up with an old friend for the first time. I'll be there again before too long with any luck.... and next time, it'll be with my usual random away day companion. Whilst I will never be able to go to Highbury, this in some ways helps to make up for it. Remember, remember the 5th of november..... the day the ghost of regret was laid to rest.

Arsenal? Done!