The 3rd week of the year started with a trip to Ibrox for a friendly between Rangers and Copenhagen. Anything but a unique trip for me, so a short report is the norm for a trip to Ibrox in this blog. A freezing cold night, to watch a match lacking in the competitive edge (unsurprisingly, didn’t expect anything less) was made worthwhile by the number of friends I bumped into between the fanzone and the ground itself. A reduced crowd did help a swift exit from the Albion though at full time, and off to work I went. Match number 8 of the year in the bag.
Match number 9, the big one, the one making me sick with nerves since the draw was made, Sky Sports Cup semi final away at Airdrie as Rangers Women faced off against Celtic for a place in the Cup Final at Tynecastle in March. Again, not a new ground, i’ve been to the Excelsior many times, but this was massive. I’ve watched the team home and away all season and see how much they’ve put into it, so was desperate to see them do well. Was a long day leading up to this, as I got up around lunchtime after work on the Thursday night, then headed out to Dunfermline to collect something i’d bought online, then back to debut some new boots of my own at Ravenscraig at 3 (They look class, which is more than can be said for my finishing…..) Back home, where i’d hustled my cousin David to sit in and wait for my new phone to be delivered – annoying that i’d had to get one, as my camera had failed on the old one, have the nuisance of sorting out having the new one fully set up with the various apps and accounts I use, looking forward to it all being sorted! Having something to eat and getting ready for the game, I had a longer than ideal wait for an Amazon delivery, which took a ridiculous time to navigate 3 streets as I watched on the tracker, didn’t he know I had football to go to?!
Made the short drive over to the game, and eventually got into the car park before getting into the ground to meet up with the usual suspects who were set up in our usual spot for these games, Laura and Graeme were joined by Wilf and Demi, and also by Jude and Caz who had made the trip up from Manchester. A freezing cold night brought us a game of action and drama and tension, before the last drama was a winning penalty scored in the 95th minute of the game, absolutely glorious! After eventually leaving the ground for the short trip home, it was time to unwind and look ahead to some upcoming games. 2 more ahead this weekend, as I head out Saturday and Sunday in search of more football and more new grounds.
At this point, i’ve only ticked off 1 new ground this year, the DW in Wigan, however i’m about to embark on a run that should add 6 new grounds before the end of the month, starting with game number 10 of the year.
Game number 10 should have arrived on Saturday, however the weather, along with a bad call by me on my choice of game, saw me with failed trip to watch Larkhall Thistle, so the time was used heading home to put the head down for a couple of hours before work, knowing that it was a long day ahead on Sunday.
My Sundays are usually spent following Rangers women, but with the semi final having been moved forward to Friday for TV, this game room to plan something different. I knew that the former captain of Rangers women, and title winning captain no less, Brianna Westrup played for Sunderland, so I suggested to Laura and Kar that this could be a good trip, as they have been with the women’s team longer than I have. Kar took up the chance and joined me for the trip, which I was surprisingly awake for after less than 2hrs sleep. Meeting at Uddingston, it was straight on to the M74 and hoping that the storm wasn’t going to cause problems on the road, but good time was made on the way down and a good time reflecting on Fridays win was had.
Sunderland play at a small community hub, the Eppleton Colliery Welfare, and we found it with the help of Google maps. Seems a lovely setup, but little car parking spaces made for parking on the street nearby. Not knowing what to expect from a Championship game in terms of standard or entertainment, we were in before the warm ups started, and noticed a rarity amongst teams warming up, as Sunderland came out and went straight to ball work as they built their warm up around that. Visiting many places, it’s interesting to see some variety when many can be pretty similar, and this was definitely a bit different. The home side are doing well and pushing to catch leaders Charlton, while visitors Sheffield United are further down in the league, though sadly they have had more important things to deal with this season than a poor league position.
As the game got ready to start, and the 2 teams had gathered into their respective huddles, the referee blew the whistle to gather the players. After what seemed like another minute or two before they broke and the captains went to the referee, I wondered if that was a sign of things to come as to how little control the referee was going to have on these 2 groups if players. Maybe that’s reading too much into something basic, but as the game played out, I had to wonder if it was indeed a legitimate marker for what lay ahead.
We had been down to watch Brianna play, who is now the captain of Sunderland. Deep gasps came on the 5th minute as she hauled down an advancing Sheffield United striker after a mix up with her CB partner, and the wait to see the colour of the referees card. Surely we hadn’t come all this way to see her sent off after 5 minutes?! Fortunately, a yellow was the result. But she would have to be careful for the rest of the game. Or so we thought. Led by their captain, Sunderland thundered into tackles at every opportunity, many completely ignored by the officials, and many illiciting winces from the fans in attendance! This was certainly not a match going to disappoint, as despite awful conditions to play in with the wind, both teams had a go and went after each other in a very physical contest. It was certainly making up for it being ridiculously cold! The false sense of security from being nice and warm in the car had bitten once again!
After a goalless first half, amazingly given some of the chances spurned by the hosts, and despite concerns of attacking into the wind in the second half, we were treated to a 3 goal salvo in the second half, along with a couple of outstanding saves by the homekeeper, desperate to preserve her clean sheet. Sadly for her counterpart, she will want to quickly forget the 3rd goal for the hosts.
A thoroughly entertaining game came to an end, with a reminder that it’s not just back home we have to witness truly astonishing calls by officials, a quick chat with one of the stewards on the way out, we both had a chance to speak to Brianna outside before we left, which capped off a cracking day.
The drive home was certainly more of a challenge, after a short pit stop for some fast food, the conditions were challenging and truly minging to drive home in. Largely uneventful, just very tiring, until a sharp intake of breath as we approached a car on the outside which had hit the central reservation and a car attempting to move into the lane on the inside. Could do without that! Having made it past that safely though, it was just counting down the miles and thinking about my trip the following morning. As I spoke about it, Kar pointed out that trains were all cancelled, so that meant I had to rethink my plans to make it to Edinburgh Airport. But that, we’ll that’s another story that didn’t exactly go very well, but I’ll begin my next blog with that shocker of a morning I’ve had!
10 games into the year, 2 blank Saturdays missed, but some big trips ahead and a very busy week ahead! By the time I can hit publish on this, I will have made it to London, at least to the airport. How badly the transport cancellations down there will impact my trip, I’ll find out by the time you read this!
FootyWanderer84 