Getting “nackered” on a Friday sends me to a “football” game on Saturday
Posted: April 19th, 2009 | Author: Zim | Filed under: Babble, Beer, English Premier League, Kegerator Nation | 1 Comment »
Saturday I witnessed Peterborough United Football Club or ‘The Posh’ as they are known around my new hometown play Stockport United F.C.
A Friday out drinking on the town somehow lead me to a soccer game on Saturday afternoon…
Yet, the visit to see the local “football” club in action was a fun couple of hours entertainment…
Beers were consumed, new friends were made, sports was watched, no fights or arrests took place and I might just do it again in the future.
by Mike Zimmer, Posh?
When I went out Friday night to my local watering hole for some beers, I didn’t really have a plan nor friends to meet out. Yet, I managed to run into some familiar folks at my regular local, have a few beers and then head home to turn in early and catch up on my DVR before baseball came on at Midnight.
Upon the walk back home, I stumbled into the other pub I don’t often drink at. For whatever reason I felt I needed more beers and maybe I’d run into someone else there too. Heck, it was on the way home any how. That pub is known as the “sports” pub and also has a few other somewhat lesser charms to it. For one: it smells bad in there. Two: I have never felt at ease in there and Three: for it to be called a “sports” pub is a crime against the ideal of a sports bar. The place has 2-TV’s, count them, 2 and since it has both a dart board AND a pool table it’s given that name. Oh and it’s next to the bookies and people routinely go down the sidewalk to place bets at any given chance.
It’s a rougher cut crowd, more working class and gruff and that also means it’s a bit closed off for a Yank like me. My regular pub has more of a mixed crowd and they’re used to the Americans up there somewhat. Even if it can be a bit snobby, it’s never been scary. My trips into the Sports pub in the past haven’t always been the case.
Yet, there I was and in the throws of tying one on in classic heavy drink fashion. Helped out by half a pain killer for my back that I’d taken before my walk home because it was stiffening up. Oh, and did I mention I hadn’t had a thing to eat all night??? I’m a big guy, I can hold my drink, but I was seriously wounded and then some.
Amazingly enough I managed to meet 4-new people and started talking soccer with them (football to them). And, I mentioned that I’d actually like to go to one of the local teams’ games sometime but I knew nothing about it, how to get tickets and how to properly enjoy it.
What I remember is, one fella introduced me to a season ticket holder and his buddy and they told me to be back there at the pub at 1pm the next day. The pub closed and I stammered home, off to drunk dial my way thru my phonebook of usual suspects for the crime. Luckily I only reached one person and let me tell you, my sister can be very forgiving. But, apparently calls were made, messages that I cannot remember making were left, regret and embarrassment ensued and the cycle continues. Tis’ the natural order of life.
For some reason, I went right to bed after that and awoke with the sense that I really should keep my appointment with the lads down at the pub or I’d not be able to show my face back in the joint again without perhaps running back into them sometime and face the stares and music of something typically unflattering about “the Yank”. The only problem was, I was hung over like a M-F-er, full on shakes, sweats and dizzyness to go along with a pretty nasty headache. Nothing else but slugging down about 12-14-pints of lager on an empty stomach with half a pain killer could explain that one away.
Yet I went. It was a beautiful if chilly day even with the sun. Typical English spring: even on a nice day of temps in the 50’s, the wind was blowing a gale of 20mph and it brought with it a cold chill that is ever present. To be outside at a sporting event though is fun no matter what it is, even soccer. 
The other end of the ”pitch” or field at London Road Ground. Yes, that’s the name of the stadium. The Posh’s home is modest but fair and my seat was as good as it gets at mid-field in the mezzanine.
The guys I was to meet down at the pub were a bit suspicious and actually a little surprised I made it. They were friendly but not very conversational. They insisted they could help me find my way, get a ticket and then rejoin them once the day was finished, no big deal.
We hit it off pretty good though. This despite my feeling and fear that they probably thought I was some kind of raging, beer swilling, loud American like I’d been the night before. I behaved myself the best I could and tried very hard to be as keen about the whole experience as I could considering I was hung over and felt really out of place and out of sorts.
Of course, we did have to have a pint though before hand and then another at a pub across the street from the actual venue itself where Peterborough United play their home games. It wasn’t unlike going to the states and having a beer at a bar adjacent Jacobs Field or like it was down at Riverfront when they still had Flanagan’s. The pub filled up with all sorts of fans, from scary to old to the normal looking folks like the group I was with. To their knowledge, there isn’t much of a faction of Posh hooligans, though I could see just like with Raider fan the stigma lingers. In the process of all this hanging around and chatting, the guys had apparently warmed to me enough to see if there was a way for me to join them up in their season tickets where they said occasionally there was a few open seats and I could sit with them after buying my general admission seats.
Both guys, season ticket holders for year, are avid fans. They travel with the club when they head out of town, missingonly 2-away games this year. And, they never miss a home game for anything. As this was one of the Posh’s last home games in a 46-game season that means they’d seen 43-Peterborough games before we arrived Saturday. Home AND Away games they go to!
Peterborough plays in the 3rd highest level of professional soccer in England. It’s called League One and they just won promotion from League Two last season after being one of the top teams in that level. This season, they are now guaranteed promotion again to the Champions League, which is the next level of soccer in the country, down from Premier League play with the big boys.
In other words, Posh are at the equivalent to AA in baseball and are getting promoted to AAA. It’s an interesting idea to their sports here that the game is tier’d breakingup the competition to teams of like skill and finance in most cases. It also rewards success and winning by promoting the good teams and demoting the ones that stink it up. Each year from the top flight of the Premiership down, they boot out the bottom 3 or 4 teams (or relegation as they call it here) and promoted the next level’s best. Think what this could do for baseball, I mean, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati would be awesome. In football, the Bungles would be at the lowest level and be fighting relegation each year because Mike Brown is a bastard.
Stockport with a rare offensive chance in the Peterborough end during the second half, execute the silliest play in soccer: the nut banger.
With the crowd chanting “We are going up, we are going up” and singing other things to that effect it was a fun atmosphere. And the guys I were with were more than willing to talk to me about the sport, the little things that needed explaining from time to time and sharing their view and interest in the sport. It was nice because I love the idea of showingsomeone that doesn’t know the sports I like. It reminds me more and more of why I love them and it’s always nice to have more folks on board or to understand you a bit more. I mean, these guys spin all the boring jargin about soccer we do back in the states about Football. Sure, sure, our game is better and we have more to talk about but it was still actually nice to hear it here considering I hadn’t yet met anyone that felt that way about sports while here in England that wasn’t a fellow American.
The London Road Ground was nothing special. The place had no special vibe and wasn’t in any way a cathedral to English football in the least. It was decided modest and somewhat minor league though it seats about 15,000-at full capacity. The crowd of around 10,000-was in good spirit and into the game intently though, so you can’t say their fans aren’t devoted.
It was very English in a way, very different than an American sporting event. There wasn’t a lot of conversation and I tried to pick my spots to talk to the lads about the game. The noise wasn’t like at an American football game either, there was chanting, ooooh-ing and ahhhhh-ingof course but that’s really it. And then lots of clapping and a appreciation of good plays, but it was very well refined and never over the top. One annoyingthing they do have in Peterborough is chant “come on ‘boro” which comes out of the crowds sounding like some deranged bird and not so much a chant as a sound like “CamonburaCamonburaCamobura”. say that really loud, really quickly and see how people around you respond.
No drinking was allowed in the seating area though there were modest beer garden like areas under the stadium. The concessions were noticeably modest to poor and it was also apparent that most of the local folks pretty much steered away from it as the lines were biggest for bottles of soda and coffee. Otherwise, there just wasn’t much majesty to it at all and it felt minor league. But, for 20-pounds or the equivalent to $28, I guess I was expecting a bit more. Then again, most Premier League teams are just like NFL teams in that that price is trebbled or quadrupled and then all the bells and whistles that come with it only escalate the price.
I was able to sit with my new friends and enjoy the game from really great seats. And, we saw one of those rare things in soccer called “a goal” when Posh put one past the Stockport goalie. Peterborough was actually really dominating for most of the game including a first half that was spent entirely in the Stockport end as it was clear that The Posh were much better than their less than .500 opponent.
Posh hit the “woodwork” or post of the goal 3-times and had a couple other near misses that could have opened the floodgates to more goals. But, such is the case in soccer that near misses and opportunities like those go missed and hence low scores that bore Americans. I mean, I was able to tell that it was an entertaining game and that Peterborough were better than Stockport but the score bores you when you here it: One-Nil.
With the win, Peterborough cemented their place for next season at a higher level and the home folks went home happy. You can see more about them if you like at www.theposh.com.
As for the day though, it was a good time. The guys I went with are nice fellows and I’m lookingforward to running into them again soon. They invited me back if I wanted to go sometime and said that I’d have to go with them to an away game next season as this season is almost at a close. We were able to talk sports both here and in the USA and it was a fun day talkingsports with someone here that loves it. In general they like sports just like me and we had that in common and were able to appreciate it. That made the all the better.
While I don’t think I’ll be getting season tickets, I’d go back to see more games over in Peterborough. And yes, I’m interested in seeing one of those away games if I could.
sweet