Game Seventy - Hucknall Town v Gateshead

25 April 2009

It's that time again.... random game time and a chance to really slum it with Hucknall Town of the Conference North! For those who don't know (and that included me last week), Hucknall is in Nottinghamshire so wasn't to far to travel....in fact it's just a tram ride from Samantha's front door and she even came with me for this game - our first random game together.

It was a pleasant tram journey down to Hucknall and we had a nice walk in the sun through a rather dismal and bleak town until we made it to the stadium.

The talk of the town? I don't think anyone has mentioned this club in years to be honest. We certainly heard no mention of them as we were walking around.

As we headed inside the ground, it resembled a working mens club with a football pitch for a back garden as plenty of old people sat around playing dominoes and drinking bitter.... except for the odd few away fans who were crossdressing (and we weren't fully certain if they were men or women.)

After a quick drink in there, we made our way into the stadium and had a quick look around the place and chased the sun to find a warm spot. Samantha however didn't seem to impressed and turned her back on the warm up to have a quick flick through the programme.

It's a very basic ground but in all fairness, they are a non-league team and even then they are punching above their weight in the league they are in and the record proves that. Bottom of the league, 5 wins all season and negative 45 goal difference.

We settled on a position near the main clubhouse and soon the teams came out, some of them seemed to be shocked by the camera and cracked a shy smile as they ran out.

There was a Leicester link in the Hucknall team though, Jay Smedley. I don't think he ever made the first team squad but he was with us at some point so he was the one to watch today. (For the record, despite the kit colour and Samantha's protests, Hucknall are not known as the Bumblebees!)

As always, I was engrossed in the action no matter what level the team were playing at.

Gateshead took the lead in the 34th minute through (of all people) a Jay Smedley own goal as the ball ricoched around the penalty area and was diverted into his own net. The vocal Gateshead fans enjoyed that and their lofty position of 2nd in the league looked to be proven as they threatened to take grip on the game. At half time, we grabbed the custom random game photo and also managed to capture the magic of the club shop in the background.

We also managed to get featured in a couple of pictures on the Gateshead website to continue the run of being a media whore this season.

Three minutes into the second half, and Gateshead doubled their lead. Agood run down the left was crossed in by Phillips for Jamie Harwood to tap into the net. 2-0 down to the team second in the league left Hucknall needing a miracle to finish the season on a high.... and that's what they got with only ten minutes remaining. Cashell Walters slotted a bobbling shot home off the post when the keeper really should have saved it.

Two minutes later, and they were level. Poor defending saw Antwon Bonnick manage to poke a shot into the corner from 8 yards. It was an unbelievable come back which in some respects was helped by the appalling pitch preventing Gateshead from clearing the ball.

Hucknall nearly stole the win near the end but it wasn't to be and both teams had to settle for a point. With nothing to really play for, it proved to be an entertaining encounter that was actually really enjoyable. The fact that I got to spend the day with Sam made it even better and I think she actually enjoyed herself too! We certainly had some good laughs while watching the game anyway, spotting people that looked like her mate from University and laughing at the club mascot. That's what football at this level is like. Fun. No real pressure and the players just looked to enjoy themselves.

Next stop is the final game of the League One tour. Crewe Alexandra away.... in fancy dress! Controversial.

Game Sixty Nine - Scunthorpe home

24 April 2009

The final home game of a long and productive season. We've seen so much since we kicked off against MK Dons and now we prepare for the last game at the Walkers as a league one side, already crowned Champions!

To finish off the Walkers campaign in style, I headed over to the Walkers straight from work at 5pm to welcome the players in, for some of them, for the last time. I generally try and do it at least once a season for no real reason but to grab a photo with the cult hero of the season. As I arrived, I checked out the new kit for the season (very sexy I might add!) and then met up with Helen, Emily and Granno who I met for the first time. From then on we just waited for the main men to arrive. For me: Barry Hayles.

For Helen: Matt Oakley.

And finally - the legend himself: Chris Powell.

Before heading into the stadium though, we had to find time for the Champions picture. We've had a lot of photos throughout the season so we have to mark the trophy presentation with one as well.

With a while left to kill before kick off, I ventured into the ground and watched Birch doing his 29th run - a massive acheivement and proof that he does deserve the freedom of the city. He deserves all the plaudits he gets! Legend!

Helping out this time was none other than Lee Jobber who chose to do it on a bike and must have wracked up no end of laps as he whizzed around the pitch raising a great deal of money for charity himself. Hats off to him - a great acheivement and one he has worked hard for in recent weeks.

As kick off grew ever closer, the stadium started to fill - it was quite surreal to see the stadium full for once and there was a real party atmosphere in the place from the part time barmy army with flags, balloons and confetti being thrown around.

It almost seemed like the days of old at the Walkers Stadium when we were in the premiership and we produced something resembling an atmosphere at home games.

The game itself started at a frantic pace from the visitors who needed the points to ensure they finished in the play off. Twice they found themselves clear on goal only for Stockdale to deny them with good saves.

On 13 minutes, City created their first chance. Fryatt turned on the edge of the area and hit a shot across the keeper only for him to get fingertips to it and turn the ball just around the post. 2 minutes later though and we had the lead. A deep corner was headed towards goal by Howard and Michael Morrison was on hand to turn the ball in for his second of the season.

Scunthorpe always looked dangerous on the break but it was City who came closest to adding to the scoreline before the break. Fryatt was played in on goal, rounded the keeper and then paused, allowing the ball to be cleared off the line with Dyer hitting against the crossbar with the goal gaping. A glaring miss but thankfully the game didn't mean anything for us and so we let him get away with it!

At half time we had a very entertaining penalty shoot out with ex-leicester legends along with ex-Tigers players, and other sportsmen from Leicestershire sport. Made a nice change to the usual dross we have to watch and a fitting contribution to the party night.

In the second half, Scunthorpe didn't take long to get back onto level terms. A deep cross was controlled by Hayes who turned a lashed his shot in from 10 yards. Ten minutes later, and the visitors had the lead. Berner, coming on as a sub two minutes before, brought down Hayes in the box and McCann made no mistake from the spot. Party poopers!!

10 minutes later and another corner was headed back again by Howard and Morisson looped a header into the goal for his second of the game. Personally I think that the keeper should have saved it but I'm not going to complain!

From then on, both sides seemed to just play out the remaining time and settle for a point each and at least that preserved our record of only one defeat at home all season in all competitions. I think it's 28 games at home this season and we've only been beaten once.... impressive in any league you're in. True a lot of them were draws but at least they wern't defeats - easy to look back that way when you've won the league!

From the final whistle onwards it was just a case of waiting for the podium to be built on the pitch and patient waiting singing songs as the excitement grew amongst the crowd.

As I was filming the presentation, I've stolen the pictures from the official site as they capture the magic better than I ever could:

The trophy presentation left us all with a real lump in our throats as the sounds of "We are the champions" and "Simply the best" sounded out - a magic moment and something I feel I've waited for all my life!

The players led the parade around the pitch taking it in turns to show the trophy off to the fans - for once an end of season parade that the players could hold their head up high at!

Oakley with the trophy and Pearson celebrating in the background - magic!

Moments like these are ones that I will savour. I don't care if it's "only" league one - it's still an acheivement to win a league and is a fine reward for a seasons hard work!

The fireworks over the stadium topped off a fine night of celebrations as we prepared to head into town to finish off things in style.

From then on, I met up with some of the other foxestalkers and we headed into town to get some food before venturing to Fan Club for a proper round off for the home season. Loads of people showed their faces making it a night to remember and gave me the chance to meet some new faces, mainly Benji and Lou.

Here are just a few pics from the night:

Miiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllll.......
Robinho celebration:

Left to right: Alex, Dave, Ben, Me, Potter, Scoweh, Stez.

At 3am, as the club was about to close, we were asked to leave for singing football songs and getting the whole club going in a rendition of "Champione Champione Ole Ole Ole." From then on we walked down High Street singing a massive selection of football songs that even had the police laughing - a brilliant end to a brilliant night.

And generally that rounded things off for the Walkers Stadium for league one football. We've had the highs of the Peterborough and Huddersfield games and the lows of that run of draws in a row. I'm not a massive fan of the place but when we win, it's a good place to be and home to many friends acquired during the season. Only Crewe left now of the league one tour and it will be an odd game knowing that a City win will send them down... I will almost feel guilty after the memory of Stoke last season and how that still hurts. This season has gone some way to clearing the hurt and we can rebuild next season. We are the champions. Champions of league one!

Game Sixty Eight - Southend away

18 April 2009

Promotion D-Day - a chance to reclaim our place in the Championship and take the league title in one swoop. Three points and the dream would be a reality with two games of the season to play. Southend and Roots Hall were all that stood in our way!

With the planned (possible) celebrations for this one, there was no way that I would be venturing up on Fox Travel so managed to get a lift with James (C-man) in his car along with Joe, Ben and Mikey so the banter was rife from the start. We set off from Leicester at around 8:30 picking the others up on route and were bombing down the motorway towards London. A quick stop off at the services and the ambitious hitch-hiker with his sign "home to mum" was all that slowed down the travel.


We arrived at Roots Hall in plenty of time with Toppy from Topps Tiles helping to point us in the right direction of the ground. When in doubt, follow Toppy!

We parked up and headed into Southend town centre (or what we though was the rough direction) but soon ended up at the beach via an eventful Ladbrokes adventure. Beach might be pushing things a bit far as it was just the sea and some type of muddy rubbish - a poor excuse for sand, but it was better than anything else so we headed off along the sea front in the general direction of the pier where we had heard that others had gathered.

After a long period of walking we stopped off to see where others were and to see if it was worth us carrying on on the long walk.... course it was! We finally made it to the area where all the Leicester fans were gathering for their pre match drinks and bumped into Chloe, Bert, Tommeh, Ched and others and embarked on a bit of a kick around before being asked to stop by the owner of the arcades after some drunken guy hit the ball at the window. The blue army were out in force for this one and the entire sea front was a sea of blue with some of the locals (one large man in particular) did not seem quite as happy to see us as the bar men did! In good time we left the pubs and started heading towards Roots Hall via a detour as Chloe got us lost in Homebase's car park. Never trust that girl's directions!! Finally arrived at the ground and all gathered together in an attempt to recreate foxestalk terrace.... due to the lack of space though, we all gathered into the space between the blocks of seats and Foxestalk aisle was born. Dangerous and crammed.... it had the makings of a classic!

As kick off came closer, there was a carnival atmosphere in the away end with beach balls, balloons and confetti being thrown around so by the time the teams were on the pitch, we were ready to get started.

With news that Steve Howard was out through illness was a real blow. The game itself though was a very tense affair with no real chances from either team in the first 30 minutes. A tight, tense midfield battle seemed to be the way forward with neither team giving or requesting an inch.

In fact there was only one real effort on goal and that was a 30 yard effort that Stockdale had to get down quickly to turn around the post. At half time with the scores level and MK Dons and Posh both a goal up, nerves were still around and it finally crossed our minds that we might not actually win promotion that day....

Just after the restart and the nerves were on again as some neat play from Southend saw the ball lifted over the defence and Theo Robinson smashed an effort against the underside of the crossbar.

On 50 minutes, it was our turn to hit the woodwork as Fryatt danced through the defence, rounding two players and the goal keeper before hitting the base of the post from a very tight angle. Would have been a brilliant goal but it wasn't meant to be. Nine minutes later though and we had the first goal...

A blocked clearance flew high into the air, and the ball spun on the turf and struck a Southend defender's arm. Very unlucky but we had our chance and we had to take it.

Fryatt calmly despatched the penalty to the keeper's right hand side and chaos ensued in the crowd. We flew around the place like mad things bouncing up and down the aisle - bodies everywhere as the party kicked into real force.

Ten minutes later, we had just about recovered... just as we doubled the lead. A Lloyd Dyer free kick from 25 yards was swung in and the keeper made a great save pushing the ball onto the crossbar but the ball fell sweetly for Fryatt to nod the ball into the empty net.

Party time again and we shot our way down to the front, me with Karl (Smuts) on my back bouncing around like idiots. From then on, we knew we were there and it was just a case of seeing the game out while hugging each other at any interval. As we edged towards the end of the game, the "Champione Champione" songs were ringing out along with "We're going up in 5 minutes" as the amount of injury time was displayed.

As the final whistle sounded, we had done it. In our first ever season in the third tier, we had beaten it and got ourseleves the first league title of my life time and a season that will stay with me forever. Who cares what people think when they say it's only league one - we're the only big club to have bounced back in the way that we have and that's huge praise to Nigel Pearson and his back room staff.

The celebrations on the pitch and in the stands were brilliant as the players celebrated as if they were real fans of the club. Having had the dip of form last month which nearly cost us, this was such a massive weight from our shoulders and there was no doubt that we deserved the title that we had won.

The players appreciate the fans once more and more importantly, we appreciate the team that we support. For too long the players in the colours of Leicester City have just been here for another pay day with no real care if the team succeeded or failed so long as they got their wages at the end of the week. Now, we have a bunch of honest players who have put themselves on the line at times to get us across that finish line. We respect them, we thank them, we will remember them!

Promotion could not have happened at a better place than away from home with the friends that we have found through the club. We were all together when we got relegated at Stoke last season so it was so fitting that for our return to the Championship, we were all together once more. Promotion faces galore:

As we left the stadium, we headed back to James' car to make our way back to the beach to party hard and celebrate a memorable day. The only pub we could find that showed the FA Cup semi final game was the destination and it had several plastic Chelsea and Arsenal fans who have probably never been to Stamford Bridge or the Emirates. This proved good fodder for us. We sat in peace watching the game discussing the day and the season when it flashed along the bottom of the screen that Leicester City had been promoted as Champions... this kicked things off as we let out a big cheer and started singing "We Are The Champions. Champions of League One" which seemed to really shock everyone else in the pub. As the Arsenal fans reacted, we increased the volume and knocked them back with renditions of many of our classic songs to which they had no answer. The 12 days of Ormandroyd really left them dumbfounded by what a massive club we are!

One Arsenal fan in particular, reeking of booze didn't like the fact that we were outdoing them in their own pub and told us how when he was a lad he went to Filbert Street with 10,000 fans and they stuffed us.... or at least that's what I think he meant as it came out as "we tukkk ten fooousand to Lestuuuuh and we facking mooordered ya". Take that as you will!

This didn't stop us and we just turned to him and his mates and waved them off as Chelsea promptly knocked them out at the semi final stage. Still.... Im sure those Arsenal fans will be displaying Chelsea shirts this time next week.

As people started to head off, we decided to get a group picture to remember the promotion day by. Memories are made of days like this so it's great to be able to capture a small part of the day so we will never forget.

Promotion drinks were had as Fez and Katy celebrated promotion in the best way!

As we finally left, we walked out the pub with one last rendition of WACCOLO and we all headed off our seperate ways to make our long journeys back home.

The sun was setting over Southend and also over our time in League one. It had been memorable for all the right reasons but now it was time to go and be back where we belong with some of the bigger teams that England has to offer.
The journey home was dominated by banter as some things that stay on tour were talked about while Mikey and Lil Dave took time to wear there shirts in a new manner....

Mother Dave and Mother Mikey :
and then as turbans:
It had been a memorable day and one of the best that we've experienced not only this season but in general. Everything had gone to plan and it was as close to perfect as we will ever experience. We joked that we were only on a season long loan to league one and that's how it had turned out. 12 months on from that horrible day in Stoke, we had had the ultimate day out in Southend. Sums football up right there. 2 more games to go for Leicester, we have promotion and we have the title.... now we can relax and just enjoy ourselves. Champions!!