The Tuesday Night Football Test
So I can’t go to Derby for the Ipswich match on Tuesday night, but how many of the Championship grounds are possible to visit for an evening fixture and get back to London at a reasonable hour?
Here’s a list based on the current clubs in the Championship.
- Barnsley – No return train
- Bristol City – Into London at 00:33
- Burnley – No return train
- Cardiff – Possible if you miss the last 30 minutes
- Crystal Palace – Not relevant
- Coventry – Into London at 00:04
- Derby – No return train
- Doncaster – Possible with a taxi
- Hull – No return train
- Ipswich – I’ve done it after the Arsenal match.
- Leeds – No return train
- Leicester – Possible if you miss the last 15 minutes
- Middlesbrough – No return train
- Millwall – Not relevant
- Norwich – Possible if you walk quickly
- Nottingham – No return train
- Portsmouth – Into London at 00:30
- Preston – No return train
- QPR – Not relevant
- Reading – Easily done
- Scunthorpe – No return train
- Sheffield United – No return train
- Swansea – Just a bit too far
- Watford – Easily done
It should be said that quite a few like Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham have very early trains, where if you were a real fan you could wait for perhaps four hours in the station or find a B & B. But I was never that enthusiastic!
I think though it shows the need for the matches to be planned better. Perhaps local matches like Ipswich against any London club should be the ones for Tuesday nights. Although it could be argued that Ipswich to Derby is an easy drive and many fans will go by coach.
Seeing Ipswich at Derby is Impossible.
As Ipswich aren’t playing this weekend, I thoght it would be nice to see them at Derby on the Tuesday.
But there is no return train, so I won’t be going! I don’t fancy waiting up until four in the morning to get a train back to London either.
Obviously, Derby County supporters don’t live in London and go to the match by train!
Walking to the Football
For the first time in my 63 years, I walked all the way from where I lived to a professional football match. I had cycled to Spurs a few times in my teens, but walking the couple of kilometres to The Emirates last night was unique.
It was a good match and Ipswich can’t complain too much about the result.
The match is best summed up by the Ipswich manager, Paul Jewell’s comments by text message.
Players were terrific. Great effort over two legs against a world class side.
Fans terrific as well, showed what a big club this is.
He seems to understand how to motivate. Did his predecessor?
At Last a Win
Ipswich finally got a win in the Championship today against Doncaster.
A lot of managers would have panicked after going in 1-0 done, but Paul Jewell seems to let the team he picked get on with it. The philosophy certainly worked today and he resisted the urge to waste time by using substitutes as the clock ticked down. After all shouldn’t substitutes be for when you have serious problems like injuries. The Doncaster manager, Sean O’Driscoll, made all his and you almost thought he was wasting time, to get more added minutes at the end. As it happened the fourth official still found three minutes from thin air.
And then after the match, Paul Jewell praised everybody including the crowd and criticised no-one. After a hard-fought victory like this, there is probably some criticism to be made, but it should be done next week in a calm, constructive and intelligent manner.
Let’s hope that Town can hold Arsenal on Tuesday.
Halfway to the Emirates
This road is halfway between my house and the Emirates.
Ramsey Walk, Islington
Perhaps Ipswich fans, should all go and pay homage on Tuesday.
Manchester is a Top Place to Go
Who says this crap? It’s apparently in the New York Times list at number 20 of 41 places to go in 2011 ahead of Miami and Zanzibar.
Manchester is a poor city and is very much second class compared to Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and of course London. You could argue it does have two good football teams, but London has three. It’s got no iconic buildings and it is not a World Heritage Site like Liverpool. I suppose you could argue, that Manchester has a couple of good hotels and is well connected by train to Liverpool and Leeds for days out. It also has a real tennis club.
A Reply for Kazakh Jock
Kazakh Jock of the Bacon Sandwich episode has asked me a question about Ipswich Town.
What is going on as you get absolutely thumped one week and then come round and beat the second best team in the country !!!! and all within a week.
The words about monkeys and backs come to mind. But also on Wednesday, Ipswich got the tactics right, even if Fabregas throught Ipswich were playing rugby.
Priskin’s goal was the result of one of numerous balls lofted over Arsenal’s vulnerable backline, a tactic of which Fábregas was dismissive. “I don’t know if it is long ball or it is a rugby kick but it worked for them,” he said. “In England a lot of teams play like that and it works for them, they create chances like that and it is their football. I can only remember two opportunities for them but it was from a long, long ball because, playing football, they could not really get behind us or [get] attacking.
“We just have to put the ball on the floor and try to play football – that is what we do. I still think we played well. We were good enough but just did not put the ball in the back of the net. The result is a bit disappointing because I think we were the much better team. Credit to them because they played well but Arsenal made the football. The other team refused to play football. They were lucky to score in a long ball. But it was one of those nights and now we have to make it at the Emirates in two weeks’ time.”
Or should I quote Corporal Jones about not liking it up ’em? Or rather Arsenal’s rather suspect defence didn’t!
As I was at both matches, I can also say that one big difference between the two matches was the performance of the diminutive Jaime Peters, who is even shorter than me. Against Chelski his pace was employed up front and he was probably bullied out of the match, by players almost twice his size. But against Arsenal, he was at right-back and his quick tackling, interceptions and fast breaks completely subdued Arsenal’s left flank. Andrey Arshavin was made to look a very ordinary player.
Wearing the Hat with Pride
Today, as I’ve walked around Islington and ridden the buses hither and thither, I’ve been wearing my Ipswich Town hat in the heart of Arsenal territory.
Have I got any comments? Yes! Were they rude or offensive? No! Well not to Ipswich or myself, but there were a few jokes from Spurs supporters at Arsenal’s expense. Even the few Arsenal supporters who said something, were usually questioning the commitment of their team or some of their players.
In fact, the one feeling I got was one of tolerance. Something we could all learn from in many areas.
The Acceptable Face of Football
I didn’t particularly enjoy the football at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, mainly because of the score, but also because of the complete lack of atmosphere in the ground.
Last night at Portman Road, there were 4,500 Arsenal fans amongst those at the ground and the place was jumping, as it hasn’t done all season.
To make matters better, Ipswich won by the only goal, so perhaps the troubles of this season are on their way out.
In some ways one of the highlights of the night, was the atmosphere on the crowded train home. I was in a First Class carriage and evrybody else looked as if they supported Arsenal. I was wearing my Ipswich hat and all I got was congratulations and the odd back-slap.
In the end I walked home from Dalston Kingsland, through what is Arsenal territory without any comments at all.
How far from the stereotype is all this?
The Problems of Evening Football at Ipswich
Evening football shouldn’t be a problem, but yesterday meant that I had to travel from Stratford in the rush hour and that means that a cheap day return wasn’t available unless I left before 4:30. In the end I got the 4:09 after taking the North London Line from Dalston Kingsland. The trouble was this got me to Ipswich at about five thirty for a match that starts at a quarter to eight.
Ipswich isn’t too good for eating gluten-free, the only place being Pizza Express and they were full, so in the end I resorted to plan B of eating a packed supper in the rain in the stands. I should say though, that I could have booked myself a gluten-free meal in the restaurant at Portman Road, but I didn’t want to pay the extra to sit away from my friends.
The salad I took was interesting in that it was a Four Bean and Buckwheat Salad from Waitrose.
Waitrose Four Bean and Buckwheat Salad
I ate it with some salami and an EatNakd bar. It was delicious and I don’t seem to have suffered any reaction. But then it didn’t list any allergens on the package. Why can’t they label it with None? Thanks go to the guy in Waitrose in the Barbican for checking the rather small print on the label.
I did make one mistake in that I forgot to take any cutlery, but thanks to Marks and Spencer in Ipswich for letting me have one of their free forks, without making a purchase.
We see a lot of bad service, so when I get good service it should be recognised.
The Anonymous Widower 