Hereford F.C (From the Cider Country) Away Days – Southport F.C

I’m not gonna lie, I struggled to get myself up for this one. It seemed a long trek from London, even though I’ve done far worse this season. Not feeling 100% probably didn’t help matters, it is a long day and I was going to need to have a drink or two. Also, as I pissed about booking the train it was £91, another joke but I still paid it didn’t I? Euston was rammed and the underground lines I used, especially for this trip were all fucked for the weekend. It is a commuters world in London.

The three hours ten minute trip to Southport was broken up by a late change at Wigan Wallgate/North Western. A few ciders and a few shorts on the way up and then a £4 cab to the ground by a Citeh fan! No Ubers needed here. By the way, is this one of the narrowest trains you have been on? Not much space to squeeze by here.

Southport F.C is the first ground I have purchased my ticket from the bar and had it printed on my drink receipt. Wouldn’t say that particularly bothers me, it is just different. It is probably the first time I have handed my tickets over at the turnstiles in a round ball too. Sweet!

Maybe it was because I wasn’t feeling great but it was cold and windy at Haig Avenue plus it was £4 a pint which considering is pretty pricey. Better to have the offer than not though in fairness but maybe slightly taking advantage of us.

The game was pretty uneventful and so were we for a lot of it, culminating in the Tommy O’Sullivan penalty. It was poor and for me it kind of sums up his lack of confidence. Why he was taking it in the first place amazed me and most others. TOE was off the pitch by then so it posed the question. You can’t blame a player for being picked or being subbed on/off or indeed for taking a penalty in most cases. It wasn’t nice to see this though, it was painful and he got a bit of flack for the spot-kick. Harsh? Fair? Depends on which side of the fence you are on.

We did have a few chances from what I remember. TOE fired just wide in the first half and Kyle Finn had a half chance but neither side was really at it and when we went one down you always feared the worst.

I obviously had to pop back into the bar at full-time to have a few double vodka cokes and a chat with a few Bulls fans. It seemed a long way back so might as well get a bit more tanked up.

When I got back to Southport station I had time to kill, so I popped into the pub across from the station to have one more, only to come back out and see it kicking off between the locals. When I boarded the train there was some lad really giving it to some other geezer telling his missus he was going to ‘rip his f*ucking head off’. Great value. On my carriage too. Box office.

After settling down a bit I then realised our new star striker was on the train, Rowan Liburd. Never in the Prem eh? I thought I am just gonna have to make myself a pain in the ass, so went up to have a chat with him. I basically told him, he will be great a signing, how we have been pining for a Striker like him all season and how lucky we are to have got him. So when you score 30 league goals next season for us Rowan, you can thank my motivational skills and man-management. People forget that some of these lads are travelling up from places like London, by themselves to play. Topman anyway and I really hope this move works out for all parties, no reason why it won’t.

I also had some decent banter with Dover fans on the way back to Euston too. They came from two down at Barrow to secure safety, so they were buzzing. It got us talking about a few of the previous fixtures between the clubs. I needed these things on the way back as it was set to be a loooooooong trip otherwise.

That is me signing out for away day blogs until next season now. I won’t be at Alty sadly. We go again next season though.

COYW.

Al Davies