Do I Have a Claim under the Disability Rights Act?
Ipswich Town are playing at home on Boxing Day, but unfortunately there are no trains between London and Ipswich, so I will be unable to go.
If I could drive, it would not be a problem, but because of the stroke, I now no longer have a driving licence, or a car available for that matter. So am I being discrimanated against, especially as I’ve paid for the match with my season ticket?
I can’t even listen to the match on local radio, as I would have done in Suffolk!
I’ve also checked the Supporters Club web site and no-one runs a coach from London.
Another Game in the Snow
After yesterday’s entertaining but cold match at Ipswich yesterday, I’m reminded of another Ipswich game in the snow.
It was probably in about 1962 or so and I supported Spurs at the time, although my parents had a house in Felixstowe and the next door neighbour used to give me a lift to Portman Road.
White Hart Lane was covered in snow and it was snowing hard on possibly Boxing Day in 1962 and after a virtuoso display by Jimmy Greaves, Ipswich lost 5-0.
The referee was Denis Howell, who was a Labour MP and not liked by the crowd. We all thought that he got his just desserts, served very cold.
You don’t have to be mad to support Ipswich, but it helps!
On Friday, I bought my train ticket to go to see Ipswich play Leicester at Portman Road, so if I had decided not to go because of the weather it would have cost me £23.55. I could afford that and knew that as I walked along the Ball’s Pond Road to Dalston Kingsland station, the weather didn’t look at all promising.
- Snow in the Ball’s Pond Road
I did get as far as the cash-point on the corner, but immediately returned home and then went to a pub where I had some lunch and some cider.
At about two, I thought that I’d go as snow often makes for good entertainment. So I retraced my steps to the station, bought a paper and then found that the station was closed. So I had to taske the alternative route, via Dalston Junction, Whitechapel and Mile End, where I got the Central Line for Stratford, to get the fast train to Ipswich.
The Olympic stadium looked good in the snow.
- Olympic Stadium in the Snow
But at least the Olympics are in August not the winter!
I actually fell asleep on the train to Ipswich, but that had nothing to do with missing the first twelve minutes or so of the match. The move has been tiring and I just needed the sleep. I completely missed the first goal and only heard the roar of the crowd as the second went in.
I just managed to see the third through the snow, but as most of the action for that goal happened just in front of me.
The second half was much of the same, as 16,728 souls peered through the snow.
Football in the Snow
But all thanks go to the referee, who resisted all efforts by the Leicester players to abandon the match. And of course to the ground staff, who kept the game going.
I had a wait at the station for a train back to London, but when it arrived it was new, warm and comfortable and arrived at its destination without gaining any more delays. It was then a tube to Liverpool Street and a taxi from the station to home. The only bad information I received on the journey home was from the charming policewoman at Liverpool Street, who said that the taxis weren’t running. But they were.
Interestingly, her colleague was in a uniform which said Politie, so he could have been Dutch. Are we that short of police these days that we have to borrow them from other countries? I made a mistake in not taking a picture.
But I suppose, when Ipswich fans talk over a drink in a few years time, I will be able so say “I was there!”
Isn’t life wonderful.
Bet of the Month
Ipswich is a close town and rumours get around quickly.
The football team has been terible recently and it is not the team I saw at Middlesbrough or Sheffield United.
So what has gone wrong?
I’ve heard several theories and although, I have my own, I’m keeping it quiet.
But let’s assume Roy Keane doesn’t last the week! Ipswich is an honourable man, and Marcus Evans, the owner, doesn’t seem to be a man to act in haste.
So what would happen if a new manager came in. There are after all some good candidates tending their gardens or walking the dog at the moment. There are a lot of good players at Ipswich Town and they probably need rearranging and remotivating more than anything else. So a good man-manager, like Bobby Robson or Alf Ramsey should have no problem creating a team, without too much trouble. The team is almost a bit like a car with contaminated fuel. And then there are the njured players, who should return soon.
So how about two bets if Keane goes; beat Chelsea in the FA Cup and make the playoffs. The odds for the latter are only five-to-one now, so perhaps the professionals have already helped themselves.
One-Nil Flattered West Brom
That is how the BBC summed up Ipswich’s remarkable victory at Portman Road tonight.
Did I wish I had gone? Not really, as I wouldn’t have been able to get home!
A Second Visit to Carrow Road
I’d only been to Carrow Road once before and that was with my late youngest son to see Norwich City play the team he supported as a twelve-year-old, Liverpool.
The ground then was fairly ramshackle and you can see now that it has been completely modernised.
Carrow Road, Norwich
What the flags were about, I don’t know!
I will say little about the football, except that Ipswich self-destructed and I don’t believe they’ll do any better until someone takes charge of the defence. Damien Delaney may have scored but he needs someone to help him out. We need Gareth McCauley back in the team as soon as possible to put some sense and backbone there.
Off to Norwich This Morning
I’ve just ordered the taxi to take me to the station to get my train to Cambridge. The weather doesn’t seem too bad, but it’s a bit cold. To say the least. The train was also on time at Ipswich and is just approaching Needham Market.
Here’s hoping it all goes well!
Don’t Go to Hull!
That was the big message I got yesterday at Ipswich. They weren’t very good and to pay more to see them at Hull, is definitely not on!
Sheffield United 1 Ipswich 2
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich play at Sheffield United and they duly obligued with a reasonably tidy win, that puts them sixth in the Championship.
It was a good trip as I went up by train from St. Pancras with a friend and his son, who support the Blades. It took just over two hours to get up and we had a sensible lunch in a Greek cafe called Hellas close to the ground.
I had a ra
Hellas Cafe near Bramall Lane, Sheffield
ther nice bean soup with some salami and home-made humous. I wouldn’t recommend the cafe to super-sensitive coeliacs, but I had no reaction at all. The toliets were also very smart and had that important accessory of a coat hook. Why should I try to prop my coat on the door handle or put it on the floor.
I’ve been to Bramall Lane three times now and it seems to get better every time, which is something you can’t say about all stadia in the Championship.
Bramall Lane
As I’ve said in other posts, at some places the security is rather over top, but it is best to say that at Bramall Lane, it was sensible and fair, which can’t be said for every ground.
It was a short walk back to the station from the ground and then another two hour train ride back to London. We were in one of the Meridians and I managed an hour’s sleep or so. i’ll be glad when I finally move to London, as I’ll be able to do more trips like these without the inconvenience of going cross-country from Suffolk.
The Anonymous Widower 