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  • footballpubcast 10:30 am on March 22, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FA Cup,   

    1 Leg On The Cup: Chelsea v Leicester City, Part 2 

    Still Leicester won’t lie down! Nugent & Beckford playing their socks off in an attempt to get back on track, crowd favourite David Luiz comes on for the last 15 replacing the very impressive Ivanovic. Beckford finally gets his reward when he pounces onto the ball coming back off the post to steer it home 3-1. This goal brought a mighty cheer from the bloke sat behind me??? the guy then quickly realised what he had done & produced a betting slip with ‘Chelsea 3-1 Win’ printed on it to save his blushes & probably a few teeth lol lol. but i was soon to be showered with confetti made from his piece of William Hill paper when that man Torres was at it again with 5 minutes to go. 4-1.

    “he scores when he wants…. he scores when he waaa-aaa-nts… FERNANDO TORRES… he scores when he wants!” i’ve got to say it, the Chelsea fans are great! They had me laughing at Birmingham with their ‘is there a fire drill’ song & before that at Loftus Rd. with various come-back songs when John Terry was getting a vocal bashing, how can that many people sing off the same hymn sheet without any warning?? Is it all planned on BlackBerry’s before each game just in case? Either way, just Brilliant!
    Just a few minutes left in this fantastic game and we seen the goal of the day! i’m so pleased for the travelling fans as the score line was going to make it look like an easy win for Chelsea, when Ben Marshall hit an absolute screamer from outside the box into the top right hand corner that i doubt any keeper would have saved. In the words of someone else probably more annoying & defiantly more famous than me…. “take a bow son”

    But as much as we admired Leicester’s spirit & commitment on the field as well as their travelling army in the shed, the day has to belong to Fernando Torres. Yes, you could say “it was only against a championship side” but Leicester turned up to play, and they played well! Torres was immense all afternoon & in time added on instead of smashing the ball home for a hat-trick he must be craving for to silence the critics, he had the noodle to square it for team mate Meireles to knock in the final goal of the game. FT 5-2.
    The guy sat next to me tells me i’m Torres’ good luck charm & insists we come back for the Benfica game & sit in the same seats to watch the now-in-form Spaniard bag a hat trick! lol lol. in what way can a 1 legged bloke be a good luck charm???? lol lol

    We make our way out of the ground & head for the Hand & Flower, we had been given directions for the place before the game that i had of course totally forgotten by now, but the big fella was there to guide the way. Surrounded by happy Chelsea fans we come across a large group of Leicester fans still singing & chanting as they had been all day! fair play to them as they shook hands with the Chelsea fans wishing them good luck for the semis, a true credit to their club, what a shame it can’t always be like that.
    We arrive at the pub and the Liverpool game is only a few minutes old – NICE! Chidge & Steve have arrived before us and insist on getting the beer in… again! i’m going to need an extension on my overdraught when we meet at Wembley the amount of beer i’m going to have to buy back!

    Over the next couple of hours i consume far too much & give up on trying to work my snazzy new camera. The Liverpool game is 1-1 and everyone is in high spirits with the result from Wednesday plus today prompting the sound of “ello – ello – Chelsea are back” to come from the beer garden.
    Returning from one of my many trips to the gents, i look up at the screen to see Stewart Downing score what turned out to be the winner against Stoke, “everyone’s at it today” the big fella tells me “even Johnny Evans has scored at Wolves for United!” i look back to the TV and there’s a close up of Andy Carroll, knowing what i’m thinking the Rhino laughs down my ear…. “behave Tony, that would be asking too much!”

    With the game now over there’s a hush in the pub as everyone’s eyes are on the famous Wembley ball-bag! In they go & a few seconds later the Hand & Flower erupts when Spurs are potentially drawn against the blues!
    A nice tasty derby is possibly our next game with the Chel’s but i would be just as happy to see Bolton get through even though my ground-hopping young blogger pal @JoeBillGibbo has demanded beer off me if this happens! No problem fella….. oh, wait a minute… are you old enough????
    Our train back to Manc-Land is at 9.40 & the Rhino is pretty anxious to get a little closer to Euston knowing we have to get 3 tube trains to get us there & i’m a bit ‘wobberly’ i take a quick shot of the big fella with a guy called Kev & i’ve seen that look on the Rhino’s face before….. do as i’m told or i’ll be in trouble!

    Not sure how but we’re back at Euston! Knowing my beer monster chum has looked after me for most of the day i decide to treat him & sneak off to the M&S express to get him a few cans for the journey home. i get to the counter with a couple of 4 packs & a bit of food, the cashier lady then tells me that security have been over & told her NOT to sell me any beer! Thinking this is the case for everyone i ask the security guard on the way out what the problem was. “it’s not everyone mate, just you! I think you’ve had enough” outraged by this i asked “why can’t you serve me? do i need I.D.? i’m 47!” “i think that’s how many you’ve had… on yer way”
    I returned to the station bar with the big fella none the wiser about my run in with security & i left it till Monday before i told him over the phone because i knew he would rib me big style over it lol lol!
    I woke up as we pulled into Piccadilly around 1am and my one & only offspring Kev2Legs was on his way to pick us up, bless him. A great day had come to an end with me nursing a mild head ache & the big fella itching to get home where he had a full fridge waiting! A big thanks to all the Chelsea fans we met on the day for making a couple of Manc’s feel so welcome & a big shout to the Leicester fans who added to the day embracing the true spirit of the FA Cup.

    So what next for a couple of cup-hungry idiots… Wembley for the semis? Back to the Bridge for the visit of Benfica? No, we’re off to Chorlton-cum-Hardy on Saturday 24th for the North West Counties Football League Division 1 QF Replay between Maine Road FC & Bootle FC of course! It finished 2-2 aet when the sides met in Bootle 2 weeks ago so there has to be a winner on the day even if it’s 0-0 at full time!
    I’ve convinced the Rhino to use public transport for the game as it’s just 1 bus from outside our local, (The Sweaty Spaniard) to the ground & it’s only £3.70 for an all day bus ticket! Cheap as chips or more money for beer is another way to look at it.

     

  • footballpubcast 2:09 pm on March 21, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FA Cup,   

    1 Leg On The Cup: Chelsea v Leicester City, Part 1 

    Our train leaves at 8.20, which is a bit more civilised than previous ‘cheap’ train trips to that London, and how different travelling is when you can look out of the window and actually see things rather than the blackness you get at 6.30am.
    I have a new bag for the trip! A manbag if you will, i told my girlfriend that i needed a bag to carry all the stuff i take with me on match days so she got me a Paul Frank bag, quite trendy she tells me so i asked the big fella what he thought of it, “what d’ya think?” after giving it the once over he tossed it back at me saying “you know what Tony, for an older guy you’re a bit of a dick sometimes”
    Answered my question i suppose? So i asked this Oriental-looking bloke to take a picture of us with my new gift, the guy then went on to give me a 20 minute lesson on how to use my own camera properly! I’m still clueless but i thanked him for trying.

    So after a few games of ‘eye-spy’ and a conversation about what seats are better on a train, window or aisle? At 11am-ish we were back outside our favourite coffee shop. After a caffeine intake we went into the bowels of that London to criss-cross our way to Fulham Broadway, we’re old hands at this now – change at Victoria, then Earls Court for the horrible bit where you’re packed like the proverbial sardines for the last 2 stops!
    Out into the daylight & there’s already plenty of people around, we’re making our way to a pub called the Malt House to meet the Chelsea Podcast guys who we should of met at Birmingham, it was only 5 minutes away and we found it quite easily so at 12 o’clock we were having our first pint of the day at £3.90 a pint!

    Free Wi-Fi, was the sign on the door as we entered, so to save the life on the phones i ask the barmaid for the code so we can watch a bit of Sky sports on the ipod, she wasn’t sure what it was so went to ask someone, the Malt House seems to have a lot of different nationalities working there and a couple of minutes later a young barman comes over to us who spoke with very broken English & i was whiteness to one of the best conversations EVER! Barman – “you want wifi code?” Rhino – “yeah, please mate” Barman – “buy a drink” Rhino – “just bought 2 pints & we’ve already had 2 before that” Barman – “yeah i know, but you want wifi? buy a drink” as the big fella was turning even more purple with this ‘Fawlty Towers – train wreck’ of a conversation i finally stopped laughing to tell him the password was ‘buyadrink’ the landlord of this place obviously has a sense of humour lol lol

    to bring some normality back to the chaos, Chidge turned up! This is the guy who fronts the Chelsea Fancast, it’s got to be the longest weekly podcast out there lasting well over 2 hours each week. I download & listen to lots of different podcasts every week & as the big fella has said to me on more than one occasion “you’re a sad bastard, get a life!” but it’s just the same as listening to talk sport only without meerkats or Gavin from AutoGlass popping up every 5 minutes! The Chelsea fancast also has a great website too, but it goes without saying it’s totally biased towards the blues but well worth a look even if you’re not a blue

    After a few pints & a good bit of football story swapping we make our way down Fulham Rd. to the game, as we didn’t have anyone to take the photo of us with the Peter Osgood statue last time we were here we took full advantage of our new footy-friends this time. After a bit of confusion, mainly because i had had 1 too many & a steward sent us to the wrong gate, we took our seats just as Mr. Probert was blowing his whistle to get Step 14 underway!

    We had great seats for the game thanks to the very helpful staff on the phones at Chelsea, we was sat right on the edge of a packed out Matthew harding upper tier while away to our right the 6000 Leicester fans were in fine voice filling the famous Chelsea shed end.
    A quite lively opening 10 minutes from both sides and our player of the round nomination, Jermaine Beckford sent a shot just wide from outside the area. (for any late comers to the blog, if you Google-search ‘Budweiser player of the round’ you will find my claim to fame on the FA’s website ) on 12 minutes Gary Cahill was on the end of Mata’s corner to give the home side the lead 1-0. Cahill lifts his shirt during his celebration to reveal a message for his ex team mate Fabrice Muamba, the message read what EVERYONE was feeling at Stamford Bridge today.

    City tried to respond when Souleymane Bamba had a shot blocked by Jose Bosingwa and the goal didn’t seem to be affecting the Leicester game plan. But just 5 minutes after the first goal Chelsea doubled their lead when some bloke called Fernando Torres played the perfect pass for Kalou to slot into the bottom left hand corner past the young Schmeichel. 2-0
    City still wouldn’t roll over & their fantastic following support never stopped cheering them on. Paul Gallagher’s shot went just wide & Beckford tested Cech again. The game unfolding in front of the 38,000 crowd was turning out to be a cracker! A real cup-tie of a game with Leicester now going for it like you should when you’re behind in a one-off knockout game but this Torres bloke was beginning to shine & he even did his bit defending when he blocked a shot from Gallagher. The first half came to an end & it had flown by, everyone was on their feet as the whistle blew applauding & cheering both teams as they left the field. HT 2-0.

    The big fella shot off for a quick pint or 2 at the break while i stayed put to sober up rest. I got talking to a few of the home faithful sat with us & the guy next to me was telling me that i was sat in the seat he has a season ticket for, £890 it costs for the 19 league games so i told him i would look after it & if i had to fart i would stand up first!
    The Rhino re-appeared with that ‘i’ve had at least a couple of beers’ look on his dial & he also had a hot dog! I was somewhat confused by his choice of half time snack, “why have you got that instead of a pie?, could you get any more sauce & mustard on it? and where’s mine???” after swallowing his current mouthful he answered “i’ve already done the Chelsea pie review, condiments are free so i took full advantage & the people in front of you look like they don’t want you pukeing all over them!!!” but fear not avid pie readers! you will find this week’s pie review as ever on our pie-omiter page.

    The second half starts with me desperately trying to remember what the guy on the train had told me about zooming in with my new camera, i spot my old mate Bob di Matteo on the far side of the pitch and give it a go… pretty cool eh? Wish i had this baby when the ex wife was at it years ago! Would of saved me a fortune in the divorce court! Anyway, on with the game. Malouda is on for Mata & has a pop at goal 5 minutes in but it was easily saved by Schmeichel.
    More of the same we saw in the first half was coming from both sides with the home side just edging it for my money. Just past the hour and both sides make changes, Jeffery Schlupp comes on for Leicester replacing Sean St. Ledger & the home side send on Michael Essien for Kalou. But 5 minutes or so later, it happened! One of those ‘where were you’ moments people ask you about when JFK was shot or the 9/11 tragedy.

    So on the 18th of March 2012 at 3.11-54pm where were you when Torres scored? Because we were there! Yes, me & the big fella were at Stamford Bridge to whiteness this little piece of history being made! (yeah, yeah i know i’m a piss taking _ _ _ _ ) i didn’t get my camera out for the actual goal (obviously didn’t think he was going to score) but i did get a bit of the celebrations afterwards, my camera hand is a bit shaky i’m afraid but it’s good enough. Apparently, on scoring this goal Torres lifted his shirt to reveal the message on his vest that read “Save the Chilean Miners” but i didn’t see it myself!

     

  • footballpubcast 2:32 pm on March 20, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , FA Cup   

    1 Leg On The Cup: Reply Time! 

    Tony and Johnny update us with their latest blog. This time we catch up on the Birmingham v Chelsea tie…

    Replay day and i’ve got everything sorted so we’re good to go! Birmingham City have very kindly offered us comp. tickets with access to the press lounge after the game but only if there’s enough room as the worlds Real media will be there just in case it’s AVB’s last game! Well they jumped a bit too soon for that so we were confident of getting in for the post match interviews. We’re booked in at the Travelodge close to the Bullring just in case it’s a late one with extra time & penalties and we won’t have too far to go to find a beer or 2.
    Back on the tarmac for this trip & we set off from Manchester about 3 o’clock for the 2 hour journey. The only problem with staying at Travelodge hotels is they’re a bit basic & i need about 4 or 5 cups of coffee to get me going in a morning so the first port of call is a shop for a jar of the good stuff & milk, but being colour blind i bought the wrong milk!
    A fairly uneventful trip apart from a quite heated debate about pies! Is a Shepherd’s pie an actual pie? There’s no pastry anywhere, it’s just meat in a dish with a mash potato top so i’m saying it isn’t & i’m writing this so i’m right! lol lol.
    We headed for the Highland Inn in Solihull to meet Dave the landlord we had met at Chelsea, the sat-nav was once again having me at it & the big fella insisted it was my fault that we missed the junction putting another 25 minutes on the journey! “i should of hit your snooze button when you bought the wrong milk!” he told me as he moved the sat-nav, that was now working perfectly, out of my reach! And we walked into the Highland around 5.40!

    We couldn’t stay long as we had to get over to the Bullring & book into the flop then get over to St. Andrews before half 7 and Dave told us that the local traffic would be bad when Birmingham were at home, so just a couple of quick pints and a dodgy photo & we were back in the car. Once we had found the hotel & dropped the car we then had to find a cab to get us over to the ground & time was running out! We had hoped to meet a few Chelsea fans we had picked up on twitter since the game at the Bridge but they were already on their way to the ground so we went straight to the press gate.
    No room at the inn! We were told by Rachel, who had sorted things out for us over the past couple of weeks, once AVB had been sacked even more press wanted to be at this game for a chat with Bob di Matteo! But she did sort tickets out for us with a great view of the game & next to the travelling fans so we would get the full effect of the atmosphere, we were even under one of those giant shirts that seem to float across the people at stadiums when you see them on TV! I just had time to whip my camera out before it covered me.

    City in their blue home kit & Chelsea all in white for this one and there has to be a winner on the night. I’m not going to bore you with a full-on match report as i’m sure you will have seen it on TV and to be honest it’s far from the best game we’ve seen on tour this season! The first half seen Birmingham started brightly but with no end product where as Chelsea seemed fully in control when they had the ball but without ideas or imagination as to what to do with it, me & the big fella were already wanting a penalty shootout! The fans on the other hand were great, it’s amazing how the same tunes are used up & down the country with just different words added but it was strange that a game between Birmingham & Chelsea seen the home fans singing about shitting on the Villa and the away support singing ‘stand up if you hate Tottenham’ lol.

    Half time 0-0. & it couldn’t come quick enough! The Rhino went off to get the half time fayre reviewed in our pie-ometer section and Birmingham, gawd bless em, have got somewhere you can go for a smoke! so fully refreshed i ask the big fella if he thinks the game would get better in the 2nd half? “no idea” he tells me, “i’ve been watchin Arsenal on my phone for the last hour, they’re 3-0 up!”
    We’re off again, the second half gets underway with no changes from either side, Chelsea looking a little better in the opening 5 minutes creating a couple of half chances and on 55 mins take the lead when Juan Mata slotted the ball home after a blocked shot from Kalou fell kindly for the Spaniard inside the box. 5 minutes later Chelsea doubled their lead when Meireles smashed the ball home from just outside the area. 0-2. City’s heads dropped a little after the 2nd goal and when Torres was brought down in the box the home fans feared the worse. Chelsea fans chanted Torres’ name wanting the out of luck striker to take the spot kick & ironically the Brummies were chanting for him to take it as well lol lol although the inevitable “what a waste of money” quickly followed.

    Juan Mata stepped up to take the spot kick, Colin Doyle had saved an effort from Mata back at the Bridge so this time the Spaniard opted for the opposite side, Doyle once again thwarted the Chelsea man & once again a got a little video of it, the Chelsea fans remained, as they had been all night, in full voice and as well as songs about not wanting Rafa Benítez as their next manager & the return of Mourinho being a better option, they got their own back on the Brummie fans with what we thought was the best song of the night, with the clock running down the Brummies were heading for the exits in their droves to the sound of Is there a fire drill? lol Brilliant! Birmingham did seem a bit inspired by the Pen save but the Chelsea defence stayed strong and stopped any chance of a comeback. FT 0-2.

    We walked, yes walked! For about 20 minutes after coming out of the ground in search of a pub called the Adam & Eve, people were pointing us in the general direction and we just followed the crowds. We come across a pub called the Clements Arms and decided to give up walking & go for a beer! Not as easy as we thought though as non of the pumps on the bar we’re working, it was cans only and a pint can of Carling was £2 so not too bad i suppose? Lots of City memorabilia plastered all over the place reminding fans of good times in the past including the recent Carling cup win over Arsenal who tonight, had narrowly missed out in the champions league after not improving on their 3-0 half time lead.

    After letting the crowds die down we hopped a cab into town to finish the night off in a pub closer to the hotel & of course the compulsory Kebab that i usually end up waking up with part of it stuck to my face! A fairly uneventful end to the night in the Theatre Bar in Birmingham’s city centre as the place was full of a touring Welsh opera crew all speaking in some sort of alien language but then again this just capped off probably the most boring trip of our journey so far! So with our train & match tickets already booked for the Bridge on Mother’s Day, we’ll be in that London all day & we’re meeting up with a few of the boys from the Chelsea Fancast, probably the longest weekly podcast there is but if you’re Chelsea through & through then this is the site for you. So hopefully we’ll have a good day out with these guys and i’ll have lots of nonsense to blog about!

     

  • footballpubcast 1:43 pm on February 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , FA Cup   

    1 Leg On The Cup: The 5th Round 

    Our friends Tony and Johnny have now made it through their FA Cup adventure all the way to the 5th Round. Here’s the latest update on their experience of Chelsea v Birmingham. We’ll keep you updated on their trip to the Second City for the upcoming replay…

    Saturday 18th & 5th round day. 5am my alarm went off… 5am! What’s that all about? our train was leaving Manchester at 6.10am and i have to hope the big fella got to bed at a reasonable hour last night, he did & for 5.45 we’re on the platform with bigger bags under our eyes than the ones we were carrying! But cheap tickets mean shite train times and loads of different tickets so after the big fella had sorted out all the outward tickets we set off on time at 6.10.

    There wasn’t that many people on the train and I managed to stay awake for the whole journey so the Rhino couldn’t take any photos of me sleeping! It only takes just over a couple of hours so for about half 8 we were once again in that London. I was in urgent need of a caffeine top-up so we went to a little hut just outside the station who boasted ‘the best coffee in the UK’ remembering a scene from the film ‘Elf’ i complimented the coffee seller on having such a prestigious product but it went right over his head & he just looked at me with a puzzled look on his face!… well it was a bit early i suppose.

    Onward to the tube network and there was a bit of maintenance work going on which had a knock on effect all over the network so all the trains were packed out with standing room only on most of them, standing room for normal people that is lol lol the further we went along the Victoria line, more & more people were squeezing their selves into the tiny space & as i was feeling like the proverbial sardine. I then hear the big fella’s voice from across a crowded train…. “Tony, i shouldn’t of had that curry last night, my arse is rank!” suddenly there was lots of room in the compartment and we got off with ease at Victoria to find somewhere open for the first beer of the day & make sure i had remembered the match tickets!

    We spent about an hour in the pub just outside Victoria station before get back on the tube to Earls Court. “that wiring is worse than mine at the back of the TV” looking across the platform to where the Rhino was pointing i remembered a TV programme i had watched last week about the underground being run on a wing & a prayer and with the mass overcrowding today this spaghetti wiring just made me even more nervous!
    We got to Fulham Broadway for about 11-ish, perfect timing for a couple of beers before kickoff and we fell into the nearest pub. £4.30 for a pint of flat beer had the Rhino retching with disgust and tells me if we get drawn in that London again we will bring our own beer & sit on a park bench

    The barman offers the Rhino a choice of Fosters or Heineken and after looking at the pints of both that people were already drinking & he tells the barman “it’s a bit like asking which sexual disease do i want?” lol lol it’s a bit of a Northern thing when it comes to beer down south!
    We ‘mingled’ with a few of the Chelsea fans and asked them for predictions for today’s game, 3-0 & 3-1 were the popular results predicted by the faithful with lots of them adding that today’s game would be the kick-start their season needed to get back into winning ways. None of them predicted anything other than a home win.

    Right in the corner of the pub & close to the door we met 3 Brummie’s who were down for the game. Carol, Dave & Steve were of the same opinion about the beer and Dave was well qualified to comment as he’s a pub landlord back in Brum! “you could very well be my new best friend if this goes to a replay” the big man tells him on finding out this information.
    The 3 of them all said they would be happy with a draw on the day & were confident of doing the job back at St. Andrews with a stronger team and home advantage, so for the first time on this road to Wembley, after panicking on the terraces in previous games at 1-0 with 5 minutes left, the Rhino actually wanted us to need a replay! lol lol nothing at all to do with the fact that Dave had told him “i’ll look after you guys at my place” moments before!

    Off down the Fulham Rd. with 20 mins to go until kickoff. We follow the crowd & turn the corner to get our first view of Stamford Bridge, we make our way to gate 7 to find a huge que all lining up for the same gate, if we joined this que we would probably miss the start so i found a steward & played the ‘1 legged card’ and he let us go in through the disabled entrance one i proved my missing limb & told him i needed the Rhino with me for ‘support’….. lol nice! It was a good job too as we could hear the ‘Liquidator’ tune by Harry J Allstars playing with the home fans chant of ‘Chel-Sea’ thrown in at the appropriate moment meaning the teams were coming out.

    Step 12 gets underway and the atmosphere is buzzing, probably the best we’ve come across to date, the Brummies were playing their part as well away to our right & they had already began the ‘sacked in the morning’ song at AVB lol you have to love good banter. The shed was also in full voice with a song prompting you stand up if you didn’t care for Tottenham that much for some reason but it all added to the day for us.
    Chelsea were attacking the goal to our right and didn’t really get off to a flyer, all a bit too slow & indecisive apart from Ivanovic who had lots of room on the right to get forward and feed Torres & Sturridge. City were making the most of Chelsea not turning up and on 20 minutes David Murphy smashed the ball home to give the visitors the lead after Chelsea had failed to clear from a corner! 0-1. The Brummie fans went mental & were still celebrating when Wade Elliot brought down Ramires in the box and Mr. Atkinson pointed to the spot. Juan Mata stepped up to take the kick & it was a bit far away for me to video but i did my best and left the camera running on the away fans as Colin Doyle saved.

    Chelsea did pick the pace up as the half went on, Luiz had a 20+ yard free kick saved & Sturridge hit a sweet volley that went just wide but City were holding on. The first 45 came to an end and the home fans were booing! Not only that we could hear a certain chosen one’s name being chanted from parts of the ground… oh dear, was this to be our cup upset? Could Chelsea get beat at home by lower league opposition? We went for a pie while we thought about it & my beer monster pal reviews our half time treats as ever on the pie-ometer page. HT. 0-1.
    The second half is about to start & Torres is off for Drogba! This seemed a strange move from our point of view, nothing wrong with bringing the hit-man on but why take off Torres if you’re a goal down in a cup game? But what do i know, i didn’t see much of Torres in the first half anyway. Kalou was also on for Mikel for the re-start & after a quick check he had brought all his tackle with him he was good to go!

    We decided to watch the second half in 3D! We had heard so much about how football is so much better when you watch it in 3D we just had to find out for ourselves. I still had the glasses in my pocket from the Star Wars film i had been to see recently & It doesn’t make it any better at all if you ask me! if anything it just makes everything darker so we ditched the idea & went back to analogue.
    Birmingham’s packed midfield were doing their job breaking down anything Chelsea was trying to conger up & Adam Rooney’s constant running up front was impressive for the visitors to say the least. But the home side were growing stronger & just after the hour they got their breakthrough when Ivanovic delivered the perfect cross for Sturridge to head home. 1-1. We were now expecting City’s heads to drop & Chelsea to turn the heat up but it didn’t really happen, apart from an effort from Mata going wide and a Meireles shot was deflected over the bar the home side played like they would be happy with the draw! If anything Birmingham had the best chance to progress to the next round when Nathan Redmond went in on goal only to hit a soft side-footed shot that was easy for Cech to block. FT. 1-1.

    We’re back in the pub on Fulham Rd. straight after the game for the lesser of the 2 evils we’re faced with. 1, over priced shite beer or 2, being squashed on a tube station platform waiting for a train on a disrupted service day. The Chelsea fans in the pub are not happy, as we talk to a few of them they reckon it should have been a nice easy game for them today winning comfortably & the conversation turns to the manager, everyone had varied opinions about AVB but when i asked if they would like to see Mourinho back in the dug-out ALL of them answered a very resounding ‘YES’ apart from one guy who suggested that Drogba is a perfect candidate to be a player-manager! Hell, why not? I’ve not seen one of them for a while, the guy also wanted Ray Wilkins back as his No. 2 also. Would that be the shakeup Chelsea need? Ya never know….

    We’ve got a few hours to kill because our train home isn’t until 7.40. (Seems like a while since we had an overnight trip) so we go to a pub closer to Euston to watch the other results come in and wait for the Sunderland game on TV. The barman at the George was a Gooner and he wasn’t that impressed when i told him i wanted Sunderland to win so we made a quick exit at full time!
    A few rowdy Bolton fans on their way back from Millwall were on the train but i suppose they don’t have that much to be happy about these days & it was only for a couple of hours. Our lift let us down at the last minute so we had to get a taxi back to the Sweaty Spaniard and we got our first Real beer of the day about half 10 and it looked even better in 3D!

    A feast of football on Sunday along with the quarter final draw on the TV. Another home draw for us but we have to find out who we’re with first! Off to St. Andrews on Tuesday the 6th March & then either back to Brum again, or the Bridge on the 17th for Leicester City. So it looks like Chadderton, our 1st game & it’s only about 5 mile away, will be the furthest North we travelled to on this journey as the semi’s & final are of course at Wembley, how mad is that! but the bigger question has to be ‘who will win it?’ the big boys are out, Spurs & Chelsea are struggling and with Arsenal now gone who knows?

     

  • footballpubcast 12:11 pm on February 21, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FA Cup,   

    1 Leg On The Cup: QPR v Chelsea (Part 2) 

    We’re off! Step 11 gets underway and looking around the place there’s still a few pockets of empty seats & there was me panicking about not being able to get hold of tickets! The chap sat next to me told me that he had bought his the day before at about 2ish from the box office & there were still plenty left on open sale, still – cheers Pat, RIP x
    Once again you don’t need a match report from an idiot like me but as expected, every time John Terry touched the ball it was like the biggest pantomime villain in the world had just stepped onto the field! Some pretty awful songs about the man were being sung throughout the first half but the Chelsea fans had just as many come-back songs to champion their skipper that amazingly, had both sets of supporters laughing & joking at the opposition’s songs! Great banter between two sets of bitter rival supporters, not so great if you’re John Terry, his mum, his dad or even his cat if the last song of that particular medley was to be believed!

    However the football being played wasn’t as entertaining, a fairly dull first 45 with only a sprinkling of half chances from either side. This was the first time i had seen Chelsea in the flesh and as an avid watcher of any & all football on TV, the general opinion of the pundits is that David Luiz can’t defend, so i spent most of the first half watching him & his movements off the ball. I thought the guy played well, ok he’s got a mad hair cut but he played well, moved into space for Cech to use him if needed & followed JT’s instructions when told, it’s my own fault for believing Mark Lawrenson i suppose, The only thing he’s got right lately is shaving that stupid ‘tache of his face! HT 0-0

    At last! A chance to stand up and see if i’ve wet myself or not because the feeling from the waist down has long since left me! after a quick check, i’m dry as a bone & in need of substance. The last time we were here we was invited into the media room where we were fed & watered by QPR, however the Rhino’s question to Mark Hughes about having his boots ready must have gone down the wrong way as there was no room at the inn, or media room in this case, however much i begged Mr. Taylor. So off to the tuck shop the big fella went to review the food on offer to the masses at the loft, his report & review can be found on our pie-ometer page.
    The second half gets underway and the taunting of JT has a fresh approach from a new set of Rangers fans at the other end of the ground. This also meant i couldn’t scrutinise Luiz anymore so i turned my focus to Fernando Torres for much the same reason, what does a £50m man do when the camera is pointing elsewhere? Well, the guy is either unbelievably laid back or really lacking in confidence, the barrage of “what a waste of money” is blurted out at him wherever he goes & that can’t do your confidence any good but credit to the Chelsea fans as they do what i think supporters should do….. support! Singing his name & cheering his efforts regularly. Too many people turn on players when they’re not performing, the same players they were praising only a few weeks before. I think Torres needs a goal and needs one quickly.

    Torres’ movement was good & he dragged defenders away when Sturridge was going through the middle but this didn’t happen that often as the second half was played much the same way as the first. Of course the turning point of the game was the penalty, with about an hour on the clock, Sturridge finds himself on the floor in the box for a second time in a matter of minutes courtesy of Clint Hill. Mr. Dean had waved away the appeals for the first incident but pointed to the spot on the second time of asking. I couldn’t really tell at the time but after watching a few replays i would use the word ‘harsh’ in describing Mr. Dean’s dissension. But cup tie’s are won & lost on moments like these and up stepped Juan Mata. The crowd surrounding us were already on their feet & the Rhino had taken full advantage of this and evicted himself to the staircase with camera in hand ready to take the video but i knew he was getting some feeling back into his legs! lol lol he captured the spot kick & left the camera running on the Chelsea fans celebrating for a few moments.

    I was expecting QPR to give it the ‘shit-or-bust’ approach as the game was coming to an end but they still seemed reluctant to go for it in a way cup football demands? The R’s were doing their best to encourage a forward momentum from their team & were becoming a little irate by the lack of effort. Even when the 4th official held up the board with 7 minutes on it after the game had been stopped for some time with the injury to Ramires, QPR still wasn’t throwing caution to the wind hunting down an equaliser. Cech finally had to make a scrambling save in the last few moments but when Shaun Wright-Philips blazed over with virtually the last kick of the game, we knew we would be with Chelsea for the next round. FT 0-1

    As we make our way out of the ground we get text’s from a few Man. U friends who are at Anfield telling us that if Chelsea are drawn at Old Trafford in the next round they are going to point us out in the ‘away end’ at the game and inform everyone at the ground we are from Manchester! lol lol and i’m calling these people friends of mine!?!? It was 1-1 at Liverpool but we were more bothered about getting back to the tube station as soon as poss. Lee, who we had met before kick off in the pub had told us to get out of the area as soon as after the game as it was more than likely to ‘go off’ between the fans! Sound advice… and we took it. the Rhino had to bite his lip as we walked back past the pub as he knew it was open even though it looked shut lol.

    We set off from White City & the train was packed with both sets of supporters but everything seemed ok if anything it was too quiet. Not wanting to get involved in any sort of nonsense we bailed at Oxford Circus & decided to get a pint or 2 somewhere and watch the first half scores coming in from the other ties kicking off at 3. We walk into an Irish pub in the middle of that London & it’s packed out with Man. U. fans! Amazing lol. we quickly find out that Liverpool have scored in the last couple of minutes and United are out. Lots of inquisitive eyes are peering at us from behind pint pots as we reach the bar. The big fella, realising all is not well then turns to me & in a louder than normal voice says “never been the same since Roy Keane left… best midfielder in the world Kean-o” Brilliant, i thought to myself, could you say anything better than that in a maybe-hostile, United-friendly, Irish pub? Within about 10 minutes we were like part of the furniture as we relayed over again who, why & what we were and why we wasn’t at Anfield. Kudos – the big man!

    After making a few new friends including 2 shamus’s & 3 Patricks we’re back on the tube to Euston. The only problem with these cheap tickets is you get one train & one train only! Our return journey was leaving at 5pm which would have us back in Manc-land for just after 7. If we would have booked earlier i would of had more choice of trains to go back on or even the next day but all the Sunday trains had been booked up while i was still looking for match tickets. £2.80 a can on the train or 4 for £10 made the cheap tickets a bit dearer but i’ll know better next time Mr. Branson! But apart from the expensive shite beer, had the train been the cheaper option? Up to now on this journey we have used a 2ltr turbo diesel & the price of fuel isn’t cheap and today has cost us £57 each to get there & back plus unlimited tube travel if we wanted it. if was certainly quicker and we could both have a drink at any point without worrying about driving.

    We was back in the Sweaty Spaniard in Droylsden for about 8 o’clock and the staff there were very surprised to see us as we normally stay over when we go to that London. We spend the rest of the night flicking through the teams left in the competition and talk about where we would end up going next with Chelsea.
    Next day we’re in the Pig & Ball Bearing and one by one the ‘not so gobby’ United fans are coming in lol lol i really am running out of friends fast now! we enlist the help of Nathan – a random drunk & Aaron the Blue or @aaronpayt to help us with the now infamous Good, Bad & Ugly list. This is the list in which we go through each team and decide if it will be a good, bad or ugly place for us to visit. In the past we have dedicated this list to a few things and this one was no exception, it was the Italia 90 list. Good = Schillaci after the Italian wizard who came out of nowhere to be the star of the tournament. Bad = José Roberto Wright the Brazilian referee who booked Gazza in the semi denying him a place in the final if we won. Ugly = Peter Beardsley, poor Peter was voted the ugliest man at the world cup by an Italian magazine.

    Number 5 is plucked out and Jim Rosenthal says “Chelsea will be at home to…………… Birmingham City” so we’re off to that London once again! Chelsea were in the José section because we wanted to go up North, the furthest North we’ve been on this adventure is Chadderton! Our very first game & it’s about 5 mile away! so i’ll wait until the TV people have finished messing about with the fixtures before i book anything lol lol anybody else in Manchester still on a cup run????? lol lol lol thought not.

     

  • Jim Staples 10:00 am on February 15, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FA Cup,   

    1 Leg On The Cup @ Queens Park Rangers v Chelsea 

    Throughout this season Tony 1 Leg and Johnny the Rhino have embarked on their own personal “Road to Wembley”. They’ve been blogging throughout and you can read all about their adventures right here on The Football Pubcast website. This week takes us to Loftus Road and all there pre-match build up to the much anticipated London derby…

    So this game was going to be a major panic when it comes to getting tickets! As soon as we got back from our trip to Loftus Rd. i went to work on trying to secure tickets for this West that London derby.
    No one was coming forward with any sort of help for us and by the time the weekend had come around we were still nowhere nearer getting tickets with less than a week to go! To make matters even worse the Vauxhall exocet was off the road needing a new flux capacitor or something, so we had to do this game on the train, and in order to get cheap tickets you have to book in advance & they’re non-refundable! So until we got tickets i wasn’t spending any money on trains and all the seats on sensibly timed trains were going fast. But all i can say is….. THANK GOD PAT BUTCHER IS DEAD!

    A somewhat strange statement i know, but at the reading of her last will & testament, it seems the good-ole’ Walford battleaxe had left us a bucket load of shite earrings and 2 tickets to any QPR game of our choosing! So naturally, we chose the home tie with Chelsea in the 4th round of the cup. Once i know the tickets are in the bag i get back online to book the trains, not too bad as it goes, just over 2 hours to get to Euston and £50 return plus a £7 day pass for the tube, only problem was the seat allocation was getting a bit thin and the only train left for the outward journey was at 06.55! this did not impress the big fella at all as he told me “this is more of a getting home time on a Friday rather than a setting off time on a Saturday!” pointing at the station clock displaying the time.

    We left on time and this was a far cry from the last time i was on a train going to a football match! I think i paid £3.50 for a ‘football special’ return to Leeds back in the early 80’s & it was like a cattle truck with hard wooden benches instead of this ‘aircraft-like’ cabin that sped along at 70mph or so & banked into the corners too! In fact it was such a smooth ride i decided to catch up on a bit of kip, this prompted the big fella into his new found hobby of photographing me while i’m asleep & tweeting it to the world!

    It was about 9.15 in the morning & we were stood on Euston tube station platform! “this may well be the future for any more trips to that London” the big fella tells me as the tube train pulls up, he had a point as well, a couple of hours on a train & a tube ticket that lets you get on as many trains as you want in a day. Probably a good thing as we was bound to get on the wrong one at some point! Amazingly i get a that London person to take his head phones out & actually talk to us! “excuse me mate, can you take a quick photo of us? We’re newlyweds just starting out on our honeymoon” Absolutely NO reaction what-so-ever from this Dick Van Dyke sound-a-like from what i had just told him…. “yeah sure” he said, took the pic & handed the camera back to me!

    One change at Oxford Circus, off at White City and we’re walking down the road looking at the QPR main entrance. It was only about 3 hours ago i was coming out of my front door! I was quite impressed by this. Although i wasn’t impressed by the dentist surgery just outside the ground, i know dentists usually wear masks but not with little pointed ears on them! Still who am i to comment? It might be a way of keeping kids calm when they’re drilling! But this was the place we were meeting Stuart, one of the Football Pubcast guys, well not the dentists it was the pub next door we was meeting him at, but we couldn’t get in without the QPR mad podcaster as it was ‘season ticket holders only’ to get in.

    Once inside the place was filling up with the home faithful and the songs & chants had already started. It was all very anti-Chelsea but this was a west that London derby & the Rangers fans were telling me this was the biggest fixture of the season so far for them. Lee, who follows QPR home & away and never misses a game, picked up on our Northern (or normal) accents and asked the question we were asked many times that day, “if you’re from Manchester, why are you here if Liverpool are playing Man. U today as well?” after explaining what we were doing we were soon welcomed by the R’s and Lee even bought us a pint! Top Geezer! We even lost Stuart while we were mingling with the home fans which was a pretty hard thing to do as the bloke is huge!

    With the early 12 o’clock kick off time approaching, we make the short walk to the ground. There was a definite buzz all around the place a very different atmosphere to that when we was here for the MK Dons game. Of course the added ‘spice’ to this eagerly awaited game was the John Terry / Anton Ferdinand situation and everyone was wondering the same thing… would they shake hands at the start of the game? Everyone was being searched on the way into the ground which reminded me of the last time this happened to me…. about 30 years ago at Anfield! God i’m old! lol lol

    We had good seats for the game but there’s not a lot of leg room even for a bloke like me with only one leg! it was even worse for the big fella but fortunately for him there was a young lad sat next to him who didn’t take up that much room lol lol not so fortunate for the lad though!
    No Handshakes! Both teams jogged out of the tunnel & peeled off into opposite half’s of the field…. another throwback to old school footy! I was having quite a nostalgic, memory lane sort of a day, i suddenly burst into song! “oh Rodney-Rodney…. Rodney-Rodney-Rodney-Rodney-Rodney Marsh!” well it was the day for it! the big fella tugs on my sleeve like a kid in a sweet shop to pull me back into my seat saying “shut up you clown! What you singing a song about a cricket player for???” The R’s also didn’t join in with my 70’s rendition but we’re in full voice about who owns west that London and were aiming this song at the Chelsea fans who were disputing the R’s statement with a similar song of their own! They were also quite close & to our right.

     

  • Jim Staples 5:37 pm on February 8, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FA Cup, ,   

    1 Leg On The Cup: The Journey Continues 

    Throughout this season Tony 1 Leg and Johnny the Rhino have embarked on their own personal “Road to Wembley”. They’ve been blogging throughout and you can read all about their adventures right here on The Football Pubcast website. This week takes us all the way up to the 4th Round Proper…

    I left you last time with us planning our trip to Milton Keynes for our first overnighter of the season. Nantwich Town had been drawn away to the Dons in the 1st round proper for the first time in their history and we were planning a bender just in case we witnessed a cup upset.
    The week building up to the game I get the fantastic news that we have been picked from thousands of entries to be on an FA panel that nominates a player of the round from each FA Cup weekend. My girlfriend had entered us into this Facebook competition & hadn’t told me! Also on the panel are Jim Munro from The Sun, Nigel Adderley from BBC Radio 5 Live, David Barber The FA’s historian & Jim Rosenthal from ITV. In addition to being on this panel, and more importantly, we get 2 tickets with full hospitality from Budweiser to the cup final with entry to the FA club lounge! Me & the Rhino in with the prawn sandwich brigade on free beer!

    We took full advantage of our new found power & nominated 16y old George Williams who came on for the last 10 minutes in the Dons v Nantwich game. Within 2 minutes of being on the field he got a yellow card for a forearm smash on Dabbers centre half Mat Bailey then with the last kick of the game he rounded the keeper to net the Dons 6th & final goal. We could sense something at the time that this was a special goal by the reaction of the crowd and after talking to a few of the fans after the game we got the full story of this up & coming young school boy. We spent the rest of the night in Milton Keynes & were surprised by how friendly the Dons fans were as we had been told nobody likes them!
    Step 8 for us was the Dons away at Barnet FC for the 2nd round proper and another overnight trip for us. Still feeling quite proud of winning a competition that I hadn’t even entered I sent Barnet an email telling them who we were & why we were coming. They sent me an email back telling me we would be given admission & access to the press room after the game as guests of the club helping us on our quest! By the time match day came around I was accumulating Dons fans by the shed load & we met a few of them before the game in the pub.

    We sit in the press area for the first half but it was very tight & a couple of big lads like us didn’t fit that well so we moved round to the open air stand at Underhill for the second 45. The game was a comfortable 3-1 win for the Dons but it was all about the press room afterwards for us. Lawrie Sanchez must of had the same questions fired at him for more than 20 years about the 88 cup final & there we were ready to ask him about ‘that goal’ once again! The Rhino spotting this then quite brilliantly changed the question at the very last second… “Lawrie, in the 88 final when you were 33/1 underdogs against a mighty Liverpool team, can you tell me where you were stood when Dave Beasant saved the penalty?” a great ice breaker that even had Sanchez laughing.

    Step 9, the big boys are in the hat for what’s probably the best round of the FA Cup. The 3rd round is infamous for throwing up minnows against giants & we were hoping for just such a draw, QPR at home for the Dons, not a giant killing as such but definitely a cup upset with a Prem team at StadiumMK. Even though me & the big fella are avid Droylsden FC fans in Manchester, the MK Dons had by this time adopted us as their Northern branch of their support and we were told that we are now Droyls-DON fans! Mentioning this and how well Barnet had looked after us in an email to MK, we were once again on the invite list with access to the media room.

    We very nearly got the upset we wanted as well, with 2 minutes left & QPR down to 10 men when Faurlin went off injured after all 3 subs had been used, there was a crazy defensive mix-up and Helguson slotted the equaliser home. 1-1 at full time and our first replay of the tour would be at Loftus Rd on a Tuesday night. We went off to the press room and were looking forward to what Neil Warnock would have to say after his team had got out of jail but he never showed! (obvious now lol) Karl Robinson was there of course & once again took time out for a chat with us as he had done at Barnet when he told us about his brother playing for Droylsden.
    Step 10, nearly up to speed now. The 3rd Round replay, QPR v MK Dons. Mark Hughes is now in charge of the R’s and after a little persuading we’re in the press box courtesy of QPR and we’re told we can ask Sparky 1 question after the game at the press conference. Not knowing what to ask the guy we thought it would be a good idea to wait for the result on the night before deciding on what to ask but I was leaving it to the Rhino anyway. During the night we meet a couple of people who want to have a photo with us, the first was a guy called Bob.

    After a goalless first half we wanted this to go all the way to penalties! Well if you’re going to do a replay you might as well make the most of it but Daniel Gabbidon dashed this idea when his headed goal turned out to be QPR’s winner with 20 minutes left. Knowing that Chelsea would be the next opponents at home for the R’s we’re told that tickets will be impossible to get hold of but we’re off to the press room & hopefully I will find Ian, the guy who sorted us out with the hospitality for this game & he would be able to do the same for the Chelsea game. We didn’t find him but we did find another bloke called Ian who wanted his picture taken with the Rhino!

    Once inside the press room all the real journo’s were asking all the real questions and I was worried about my beer monster friend asking some stupid question about the xbox or PS3! We bid farewell to, now mate of ours, Karl Robinson after his interview & he thanked us for our support and wished us good luck for the rest of the journey, next up Sparky. All the usual questions were being fired at him about plans for the future & possible transfers coming in and the Rhino was poised ready to strike. I had no need to be worried in the end because the big man had the perfect question & when prompted asked… “Yeah, Mark.. with the recent return of Thierry Henry & Paul Scholes… I was wondering if you still had your boots & if they still fit?” Hughes cracked a half smile and told us he still had his boots but they were very dusty!

    So that’s more or less it, a quick round up of 8 monster blogs from 1 Leg On The Cup. Our next game was QPR at home to Chelsea & i’m sending Jim the full blog for that game over the weekend with a bit more about what a couple of Northern Monkeys get up to before & after the game. So we’ll be up to date before the 5th round game on the 18th Feb…. worth a read? I think so…. worth writing a book about? lol Anyone know of someone who will ????

     

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