Match Two : Reading 1 – Ipswich 0
After the Fulham match this was a disappointment in many ways.
But the visit to Reading started well with this greeting from the structural steelwork of the station.
Steelwork At Reading Station
I had wanted to have a delicious egg and watercress sandwich from Marks and Spencer, but their stores in both Paddington and Reading stations were gluten-free free zones. Or at least as sandwiches were concerned!
The Police on duty at the station didn’t know where to get the buses to the Madejsky stadium, so in the end I guessed. And luckily right! The Police did say they weren’t from Reading, but surely they should be briefed on basic questions.
When I got to the stadium, I was at least met by these bikes.
Ready Bikes
The name of Ready Bike is certainly memorable and there’s more here.
In the stadium I was treated to the worst cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever had.
A Very Bad Cup Of Hot Chocolate
I have the same drink at Ipswich and they make sure it’s all mixed up. They are obviously berks in Berkshire, when it comes to making hot chocolate.
They also expected me to climb to the top of the back of the stand.
Wot No Handrails!
Surely there should be some form of handrail! I did climb up and down without any trouble.
Throughout the match we had to put up with the worse public address system,I’ve not heard in a long time. They also weren’t putting up things like substitutions on the big screen.
The match was the final disappointment in that Ipswich lost to a single goal scored after a bad mistake by David McGoldrick.
Let’s hope it’s all a lot better on Tuesday in Birmingham.
Match One: Ipswich 2 – Fulham 1
It was a result, I hadn’t expected as I walked to Portman Road from Ipswich Station.
Ipswich Town is one of the better placed grounds with respect to transport and also access to the town centre. There are also maps, but as you can see the stadium from the train station, you don’t need to consult them.
The only problem I had, was that the club had run out of programmes.
The club must have been pleased with the result and also with the size of the crowd considering, the match was on Sky. It’ll be interesting to see, if the performance has any effect on the gates at home matches after the next, which is Norwich, so it will be a full crowd.
Ipswich Town Blue
On the BBC Radio 5 commentary for the Open, someone has just said, that Rory McIlroy is wearing trousers in Ipswich Town blue.
I didn’t think that Ipswich Town’s blue was that unique.
I Missed The Final Match Of The Season
I have been away all week and at no time did I check the time of the last Ipswich match of the season. After all Saturday matches start at 15:00 don’t they?
I knew that all matches were starting at the same time, but thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve been to a last match of the season in recent years.
Then last night I got in about ten to a house empty of food and went straight to bed and slept all night.
This morning, I watched the television spasmodically, whilst I did my holiday washing and had a bath. About nine, I went to the Angel to do my shopping and then had breakfast in Carluccio’s. I didn’t even buy a paper until I left to go to the match. I suppose it didn’t help that no London club, was involved in promotion or relegation from the Championship.
I had intended to do a couple of things before I took my usual 13:00 train, but because the Overground was closed, I got to Liverpool Street station early enough to get the 11:30 train, which would have meant only missing a bit of the match. So I went and had a cup of tea and came back for the 13:00 train.
Only when I was sitting in the train, did I switch my phone on and then I got a couple of texts with the teams.
As I walked back through the barriers at Liverpool Street, there was another fan, who hadn’t heard about the match time either.
I know it is all my fault, but I suspect, I’m not the only fan who lived away from his team, who missed this last match of the season.
Burnley To Liverpool Airport On A Sunday
To get to Liverpool Airport from Burnley on a Sunday wasn’t easy.
I first got a train to Preston where I got a train to Ormskirk. There was this unusual end-to-end interchange between one of Northern Rail’s Class 153 scrapyard specials and one of Merseyrail’s smart Class 508s.
Changing Trains At Ormskirk
Merseyrail has been pushing to electrify all the way from Liverpool to Preston, which would remove this change of train. Wikipedia says this.
Electrification from Ormskirk to Preston has been considered in conjunction with the Burscough Curves reopening. It would re-establish the most direct Liverpool-Preston route and is one of Merseytravel’s long-term aspirations.
This whole corner of Lancashire seems either to be sprouting wires or growing third rails. Many of which lead to Liverpool or Manchester.
Once in Liverpool, I alighted at Moorfields station and walked a hundred yards or so to Carluccio’s, where I had a supper to prepare me for the journey.
I did search for a bus to Liverpool Airport, but even at the main bus station, there was no information or anybody to ask.
When will these people learn, that one of the way to get people to use buses is to provide information everywhere as London does.
So I reluctantly took a taxi!
Slow Train To Liverpool
On Saturday, I’m flying out from Liverpool to Gdansk in Poland to start one of my home runs by train back to London.
You might argue why I’m starting from Liverpool rather than one of the London airports.
It’s because I’m seeing Ipswich Town play their last away match of the season at Burnley and it seems logical to take a flight from the more convenient Liverpool Airport.
I had thought, it would be easy to get a train between Burnley and Liverpool, as I’ve driven the route in the 1960s and it must have taken about two hours in my 1950s-vintage Morris Minor. So surely, there must be a train in about that time to speed me on my way, with a change at Preston.
If I was to do it today, I can do the journey in two hours and eight minutes with just that single change, but on Saturday, it’s a journey of two and a half hours changing at both Preston and Ormskirk. At least I end up in Liverpool at the station nearest to Carluccio’s, so there should be just time for a good late lunch and then a taxi to the Airport, from the rank next to the restaurant.
Fifty years on, we don’t seem to have made much progress!
Although things should get better in the next few years, as the Northern Hub spreads its electric tentacles.
Affordable Football At Watford For £15
Today, Ipswich play a home match against Bournemouth and the match will cost me a proportion of my season ticket and the rail fare. The minimum that I could do this for, is probably about forty-five pounds, although I pay more for better seats in the ground and on the train.
But on Saturday at Watford, my Senior Visitors ticket cost me just fifteen pounds, as transport to Watford was free, as Watford High Street station is accessible using my Freedom Pass.
So next season, when Ipswich are away in somewhere unattractive or inaccessible like Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Blackpool or Yeovil, I might look to see which teams are playing in London and buy myself an affordable away ticket, as often these are very reasonably-priced, judging by some of the tickets that I’ve bought this season.
Vicarage Road On The Up
I’ve probably seen Ipswich play at Watford, five or six times in the past and have always been struck at the dilapidated main stand to the left of where the visiting supporters sit.
This year though things are different, in that not only are the seats less rickety in the Away stand, but that a new stand is going up to the left.
Vicarage Road On The Up
One thing that wasn’t different was the result! I can’t remember ever seeing Ipswich win at Vicarage Road.
So Who Will Ipswich Be Playing In 2014-5?
I am assuming, that Ipswich at least manage to stay in the Championship next season. After all it is now impossible that they’ll get relegated. And they might go up to the Premiership! But only might!
At least it is unlikely that we will be playing Leicester, as it is not a ground of happy memories for me. Especially, as after one of our losses there, C told me she’d got breast cancer in the morning.
It looks like the other place to go up without a play-off will be either Burnley or Derby. I hope Burnley beat Wigan on Monday, as although I like going to Burnley and will do next Saturday, it is a long way to go for the day.
But who will be coming up to the Championship?
Wolves and Brentford are definitely up and as Molineux is one of my favourite stadia and Brentford is relatively local, I can’t complain there.
The others with chance of promotion would seem to be Leyton Orient, Rotherham, Preston and Peterborough. My preference is for the Orient, as they are local.
The Lack Of Left-Luggage Facilities
On the 26th of April, Ipswich are playing in Burnley, and I shall be going.
Unfortunately, the match is on Sky and starts at 12:15, which means taking the 08:30 train to Preston out of Euston, where I change for Burnley.
It is not a difficult journey and I’ve done it before.
However, this time, I think it might be a good idea to go on holiday the next week and there is an ideal flight out of Liverpool to Gdansk on the Saturday evening.
So as it is easy to get to Liverpool Airport from Burnley, via Preston, it would be ideal.
But what do I do with my case for the holiday?
Preston is a major train interchange, but in common with most mid-sized stations in the UK, it doesn’t have any left luggage facilities.
So if I do decide to go on holiday that week, I’ll have to come home to get my case and use a more expensive flight, than the good value one out of Liverpool.
It strikes me that there is an opportunity for someone to create a nationwide system to handle left luggage.
The Anonymous Widower 