I was planning on making a trip to west London in February to watch some EPL and Champions League football, but it looks like I will have to go to north London instead.
Roberto di Matteo learned this week why it is not necessarily a good idea to work for a team owned by a flaky Russian mafioso. Chelsea is only one point below Manchester United (thanks to Fergie’s 12th man) and there was no sane reason to get rid of the manager. They need a new striker and some fullbacks, not a new manager.
If you do come to England I’d like to say Hi. You have my email address, I presume?
I do, yes. I will let you know.
Arsenal eh? Can’t see either them OR United getting past the first decent team they meet. COuld be fun tho’ – tho’ tickets at Highbury are very pricey. £61 for City fans when we play there. £61!!!
http://www.arsenal.com/ggm-50-arsenal-lose-to-cruyff-s-ajax-at-highbury
I was at Highbury with a Gunner’s supporting mate for the EC QF in ’72. Ajax with Cruyff and Neeskens. Just watching them warm up suggested they’d go through, as they did. Fantastic game tho’, I recall, and it seems you can download film of the game here.
http://www.4dfoot.com/2012/02/17/1972-european-cup-quarter-final-arsenal-vs-ajax-full-classic-match/
I liked Highbury – classic old English stadium, and Archibald Leitch’s finest along with the magnificent Trinity Road Stand at Villa Park, which to the horror of all lovers of old stadia, was torn down when Villa Park was last upgraded. It wasn’t listed, God knows why, as walking up to Villa Park with that facade in front of you was one of the great “arriving at a ground” experiences!
http://www.footballgroundguide.com/old-grounds-and-stands/old-villa-park.html
I don’t usually do London. Country boy these days. But ya never know. Give us all a heads up if you do. Or if by any chance you stray as far as the West Country.
Maurizio – should you read this – well done guy. We all owe you big time for your work on 28Gate!
I might go up to your (and mine) old stomping grounds in Oxford, but Manchester is a bit far for a short trip.
I’m a South West country boy these days – live in Frome, near Bath. Haven’t been to see City for a few years, tho’ I’ve been to the new ground a few times with various combinations of my kids when they were younger and singler (so to speak). Brought up near Stockport, me and my brothers were all sent away to prep school and public school, so once we all finished higher education, we all fled the nest. I saw as much as I could of City during our good times at the end of the 60s and early 70s, and despite being in leafy Bramhall (just down the road from footballer’s paradise, Alderley Edge), I could catch a bus at a stop 50 yards from our house, which dropped me off five minutes from Maine Road. Happy days of Kippax madness!
I used to drive through Frome every week or two. My best mate from high school lives near Tisbury, and I was working in Bristol.
Thank you Jeremy. I only did the right thing to do.
As for meeting up if there’s enough warning I might as well come to see the match. Football isn’t what it used to be but it’s bound to be better than having teeth pulled 🙂
BTW…I didn’t know 4dfoot…I am now downloading Brazil-USSR of 1982, a game they played so perfectly my feet learned how to kick a ball too!
Steve,
Yeah. Great place. Moved in with my second wife (then “to be”) seven years back, and it’s hard to fault. That said, we’re hoping to buy a house in Mells (village 2 miles outside Frome) – bigger house with a bigger garden. Room for a chicken run and to walk the dogs we just cross the road. And – I was in Bristol for over twenty years before that, and my ex and various of our kids are there as well. I’m a country boy at heart, but Bristol’s a great place. Indeed, I was a season ticket holder at Ashton Gate for a few seasons, to get my football fix!
Yea, I used to run around Clifton Down every morning. I worked NW and used to go to The Swan or over to Chepstow for lunch.
M – Let’s see what Steve has up his sleeve, so to speak, and if it suits him and suits you and suits me then it would be huge fun to attend a match, regardless of division. I’m used to lower ones with Man City, and as noted above, my adopted Bristol City. Always support a local football club, regardless of the one true one, I say 🙂