A Day In The Life Of A Footie Fan (Football in General)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Football in General
Date:	14/02/02 (238 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best game in the world!

Disadvantages: Surely none

For all non-footie fans this is a clarion call to persuade all of you guys and gals to join up to one of the biggest (legal) addictions in the world. My argument to persuade you is to outline a typical Saturday on match day.

Before I start, here’s a brief history of the game to set the scene. Bear with me, it does get better (ish).

***History***
Football or Soccer as it’s now known due to the encroachment of the US in the form of American Football has been around in one form or another for hundreds of years. It really only became seriously organised in the late 1880s. The Football League was the brainchild of William McGregor, a genial Scotsman who became a director at Aston Villa.

McGregor had moved to Birmingham to seek his fortune and opened a linen draper’s shop near Villa Park. His love of football then took over and allowed him to change the course of the national game.

McGregor decided that football needed a semblance of order. He wrote to the leading clubs of the time putting forward a proposal that they should combine to arrange home and away fixtures each season – and thus the seeds of The Football League were sown.

The plans were announced at a meeting at Anderton’s Hotel in Fleet Street on 22 March 1888, and the first league kicked off on 8 September 1888 with 12 member clubs: Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Notts County, Derby County and Stoke.

In the last decade of the 20th Century the top clubs broke away from The Football League to form the Premier League. This subsequently became The Premiership to satisfy sponsor’s needs. At present, the English professional set up consists of The Premiership and divisions 1, 2 and 3.

***Match Day***
8.57am: Get comfortable to watch SoccerAM on Sky1. Surely, the greatest footie show in the world (if
you're not reading and rating on Dooyoo, of course). Presented by Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain, this is 3 hours of merriment and mirth that'll have you rolling in the aisles. Highlights include the Topless weather with Sheep Head, this week's Soccerette and the latest Nifty Fifty challenge with Killer Kilcline. You'll get a round up of all the latest games to be played that day including Premiership, Divisions 1 – 3, Scottish, Spanish and German league fixtures. Basically, essential viewing for the discerning fan. If any of this sounds interesting then just switch on the TV and let yourself go. You’ll soon be hooked and don’t ask Gazza about Andy Townsend’s trombone! (You can catch past and present soccerettes on the website ~ see end of op).

10.58am: For me it's off to Brum in my faithful roadster. Entertainment is taken care of on the way in the shape of a choice of radio programmes. You can opt for Dannys Baker and Kelly on Radio 5 Live (693 or 909AM) or Wright & Bright on Talksport 1053AM. I've tended to opt for Baker & Kelly recently especially after the fabulous show that featured a mock pie throwing experiment after the incident at Millwall. Following the over reporting of the throwing of a pie during the game, the show's hosts asked anyone to call in who were willing to throw a pie at someone to see how much it hurt (in the name of science, of course). They did get a call from a chap that was attending his sister-in-laws wedding that day and chose his mother-in-law as his victim. The experiment took place on air subject to much hilarity. You could here the shrieks in the background as the caller fulfilled all men’s secret wish even just for a few seconds. Inspired broadcasting!

11.59am: Arrive at my mom's for a cup of coffee and sausage sarnies. Nice timing as Football Focus is about to start on BBC1. My brother and I discuss the latest hot topics of the day which usually r
evolve around will WBA get promoted and why are Villa so boring? Ray Stubbs & Mark Lawrenson can be relied upon for a good Footie Focus and at close we'll switch over for On The Ball with Gabby Logan (nee Yorath) at just gone 1pm.

1.45pm: Leave for the ground. Just in case you are thinking of coming to Villa Park - there is plenty of off-road parking but it's a bit of a walk to the ground (about ½ mile from Brookvale Rd). There are closer places to park but you'll have to fork out between £3 - £5 and even more if you buy one of the season tickets for a birth at the ground. Directions to Villa Park couldn't be easier. Just take junction 6 off the M6 and pick up the A38 into central Birmingham. Take the exit for Aston before you get to the City Centre and follow the signs to the ground (only a further 1.5 miles).

2.10pm: Stroll past the latest protests (Ellis out, Ellis out) and in through the turnstiles. On the way you'll pass all sorts of eateries giving you a choice of anything from burgers to chips to….erm…burgers and chips. Also you'll have your friendly fanzine sellers outside pitching their latest homegrown footie concoctions at the masses.

Football grounds have come on a bomb since the 70s and you'll find most are welcoming, customer-orientated operations. At Villa we have a Villa Supermarket selling all manner of club related items and various outlets dealing with ticket arrangement for today's and future fixtures. Most stands are covered these days so you shouldn’t have to worry about the elements.

After gliding through the turnstile and side stepping the stewards checking for offensive weapons, I'm in the back of the main stand. Here you'll find all sorts of mouth-watering delicacies. You could try the lovely beer on offer at £2 a pint in plastic beakers (just in case you were thinking of using it for mischievous purposes) or how about the numerous culinary dishes
on offer? There are chip sarnies; a selection of pasties; curry sauce; pizza; crisps etc all at a little more than shop prices but at least you can eat in comfort (although you can't take alcoholic beverages into the seating area).

If you don’t want alcohol then tea, coffee and so on are on sale too. If you fancy a bet then there is a bookie (William Hills) present that will take your money from you. The most popular bet is on first goal scorer but it’s a typical bookmaker taking bets on horse racing and other sorts of shenanigans too.

You can buy your matchday programme although they are usually £2 apiece these days so I don’t tend to bother myself. Inside you’ll get all sorts of info e.g. latest squads for both home and away teams, manager’s notes, piccies from previous games, loads of stats etc. and all in colour!

Whilst you are waiting for kick off you can watch Sky Sports on the overhead TVs or watch the pre-match entertainment on the giant screens inside the ground. They'll show re-runs of Villa’s past performances and interviews with the players. The resident DJ will be playing the hits of the day and we even have Dave Ismay, our resident host with various announcements from pitchside. The entertainment even extends to cheerleaders sometimes and a couple of years ago we were treated to a display from a team of parachutists (unfortunately one of them hit the roof of the Trinity Road stand and plummeted the remaining 120 feet to the ground. He broke both legs but lived to tell the tale. Strangely, we haven’t had a display since).

Sold yet?

2.55pm: Getting to the best bit now. The players and officials run on to the pitch to the belting anthem of "Go West". The crowd goes wild and a standing ovation is given to our heroes. Ticker tape forms a torrent of paper like a scene straight out of a World Series winning parade in New York. There’s a collective s
urge of adrenaline as kick off approaches.

3pm: Kick off and we’re underway! "Come on you Villa boys!" It’s not long before you’re hurling abuse at the referee, which is customary for any true football fan. Certain things aren’t allowed such as racist chants or away fans mixing in with the home crowd. Short shrift is given to such miscreants as the stewards and/or police mete out summary justice. It’s nice to see so many more women and children attending matches although their swearing matches the most macho of the other attendees! If it’s a decent game then the first half flies by (45 minutes + any stoppage time) which it was on Saturday versus the Blues of Chelsea (half time: Villa 1 Chelsea 0).

3.50pm: It’s half time in which you get 15 minutes to either pop to the loo (cleaner and more civilised than ever before), go and get a drink; buy something to eat or just sit and chat to your friends. You’ll get the half time scores from the other games. If any of the local teams are losing then a roar of approval from the partisan home crowd will greet the announcement.

4.05pm: 2nd half kicks off. On this occasion the crafty cockneys equalised as the game finishes in an honourable draw (1-1).

4.50pm: Leave the ground in a hasty exit. Usually into added time, as I have to walk past the away fans to get to my car. More often than not there is a heavy police presence outside the exits where the away fans leave. Not that there is often any trouble but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Inside the ground there’s a large network of CCTV keeping an eye out for the less savoury elements that may have gained entrance. Not so outside the ground but I’ve not come across any tomfoolery for as long as I can remember.

5.05pm: Head for home as my roadster’s still there (had my car nicked a few years ago by an organised gang during a match against Manchester Cit
y ~ great argument for using the supervised car parks but I’m too tight to pay).

So how much is this gonna cost you? Well if you go the whole hog then my season ticket encompassing 19 home league fixtures cost £320. If you decide to pick your fixture then you can pay anything from £5 to £25 depending on whether you are under 16, over 65, a student or just Joe Soap. Most clubs have an online ticket purchasing facility (subject to a nominal booking fee) and, depending on the popularity of the fixture and demand for tickets, you should be able to order by post or telephone as well.

Surely you’re salivating by now? I implore you to come and join the rank and file of the greatest game on Earth. You’ll encounter passion, excitement, suspense, friendship and downright tribalism! Just think, get involved now and you’ll be breaking yourself in for The Greatest Show On Earth. No, not Billy Smart’s Circus – The FIFA World Cup Finals in June 2002 in Japan and Korea. Come on England!!

Associated web sites

http://www.avfc.co.uk
http://www.planetfootball.com
http://www.skysports.com/skysports/skysportstv /socceram
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/tv_and_ radio/default.stm#bbc_radio_five _live
http://www.talksport.net/
http://www.englandfc.com/ (unofficial site)
http://www.fifa.com/wc/2002/index_E.html

One final question ~ is it footie or footy?

p.s. What about that goal from Super Darrius last night (not the fool from Pop Idol...Vassell of Villa fame)?

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