An alternative report on Wigan v Spurs (27.04.13)
This “report” is inspired by the regular write-ups featured on the Spurs Odyssey message Board (and "From The Lane", I do believe) by a person who will be known to some. I hope that readers find this social report of my trip to Wigan of interest.
Usually, from my home of 5 years in Chesterfield, I would drive across the Peak District, through Stockport, and then onto the Manchester motorway system to get to Wigan.
More often than not, my good friend Andy Park drives up to my place, and I drive the last leg, but as he drove direct to Wigan, and my son Greg was unable to make this one, I checked out the rail fares and found I could get a return train ride for a total of £20-90, including booking fee.
So, for a change (and in fact my first train ride across the Pennines), I let the train take the strain.
Mrs. Smith cooked me a hearty breakfast, and I was ready to go. The weather being a bit chilly, I wore a pullover and light jacket, having discarded the fleece for the "summer".
I caught the 09.47 for the short train ride from Chesterfield to Sheffield, where I had plenty of time to switch platforms and catch the 10.11 Trans-Pennine Express for Manchester Piccadilly.
The downside was that I had to travel with a fair number of City fans, making their way to their early kick-off. The upside was that I got to experience the longest mainland railway tunnel in the UK (Totley to Grindleford - 2 & 1/2 miles), and then the scenery in the Hope Valley, where the train makes its way beneath the highest point in the Peak District (Kinder Scout), through Edale, then another tunnel beneath high ground, before making its way through New Mills and the outskirts of Manchester before the first stop at Stockport.
From Stockport railway station, I was able to see County's football ground, which made me pause to think of this club's recent demise to another relegation, two steps below their former football league status. 12 years ago, we had played Stockport in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, beating them 4-0, with Simon Davies scoring his first two goals for the club. I wonder when (perhaps if) we will play Stockport again. (There is a report on that Stockport game here, if you are interested - http://www.spursodyssey.com/0001/st170201.html )
Of course, there was some rain falling upon Manchester, but it wasn’t long before I reached Manchester Piccadilly, the inside of which I had never seen before. The concourse actually looked modern, and no doubt it has had a facelift in recent years, perhaps as long ago as the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
I had 20 minutes in which to make the short walk to Platform 14 for my next train, which took me all the way to one of two Wigan stations – Wigan Wallgate. On the platform I bumped into familiar faces from Northern Spurs, whose choruses echoed along the train en route. Upon arrival (at 12.02 pm), it was a very short walk to the pub of choice for our little group – The Anvil. This is an Allgates pub. Allgates is one of two or three very good micro-breweries in Wigan. Another one worthy of note is Prospect. Ironically though, my beer of choice for the day was the excellent Phoenix Arizona (4.1%), a pale beer with a refreshing fruity flavour, and plenty of after-taste too). A round of three pints here cost the grand total of £7.85, compared to over a tenner at The Irish Centre in Pretoria Road, where the prices are supposed to be cheaper than other local hostelries!
Many Spurs fans are drawn to The Red Robins, which is near the DW Stadium, but which has no real ale, and which gets absolutely rammed. The Anvil gets busy, but the staff are excellent and waiting to be served is never too long at all. There are always a few friendly locals, and there were plenty of Spurs fans in here too. My usual company (eventually Andy, Cassim, Craig, Stuart Gibson and Glenn) was enhanced by the chance meeting of a Spurs fan who was born and bred in Llandudno – Ken Jones. Ken is just a year older than me, and brought tears to my eyes, when he told the story of how as a fifteen year old he travelled all the way to London to see Spurs beat Chelsea in the 1967 FA Cup Final. I’m hoping that Ken will join the message board, and tell his story in full in the summer. You’ll love it. (Addendum - April 2022. I recently bumped into Ken in the lift at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. ken is currently a home season ticket holder!)
Another person who took the time to introduce himself to me in the pub was Richard Mooney, who follows me on twitter (he is @hummelspur – I am @spursodyssey ). It turns out that Richard’s Dad, Joe is a friend of mine in Chesterfield. Joe is a Sunderland fan, but Richard saw the light of Tottenham. It really is a small world, especially in Spursland, and even though I moved from Hertfordshire to Chesterfield!
The Man City v West Ham football match was secondary to the company and conversation, before it was time to make the 20 minute walk to the stadium. I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat, and about half-way up the stand in a central position. I hardly had to stand up during the game, so that was a bonus, although had there been more excitement, I expect I would have been on my feet more.
My full match report on the game can be read here - http://www.spursodyssey.com/1213/wi270413.html.
As I was not driving, and therefore not in desperate need of a quick getaway, I was able to make a leisurely walk back to town and a return to The Anvil, where I had time to conduct some post-match wi-fi work on the IPAD that my family very kindly bought me for my 60th birthday last August. When I can, I do like to get the Spurs Odyssey survey published, so that by the time I have written up my report, I have sufficient responses to get the ”spursometer” - http://www.spursodyssey.com/spursometer/270413.html online. (Addendum - April 2022. The public post-match survey option has just ended, but I will continue to offer my personal grades for players, team and manager)
I think I saw “Cardiff Dave” (Price) before and after the game in The Anvil. Dave travels everywhere, and I mean everywhere, to watch Spurs, and now has a “home” game to watch next season, when I expect him to repeat the level of hospitality he offered when we travelled to Cardiff for a hostile FA Cup tie in January 2007 - http://www.spursodyssey.com/0607/car070107.html (It’s one of my favourite match reports!) (Addendum - April 2022. Dave is still at every game, but doesn't talk to me any more)
I had seen Debs and Mick (loyal Northern Spurs fans who are home season ticket holders) both in the stadium, but they were also waiting for the same train as me at 17.54 to get back to Manchester. The two carriages were jam-packed, and I got talking to two Grimsby match stewards who had won two tickets for the game, thanks to the regular Barclay’s ATM and online draws. They told me a little story of how they overheard Robbie Keane saying to Martin Jol as the players came out of the tunnel for the September 2005 League Cup tie words to the effect of “I don’t fancy this” - http://www.spursodyssey.com/0506/gr200905.html. That was one of two embarrassing cup exits for Spurs in their shortest-ever season. As I write, Grimsby are playing the second leg of the conference Play-Off semi-final, but they are losing on aggregate.
There was only one change for me on the journey back, and that was at Manchester Oxford Road, where the 18.39 train took me direct to Chesterfield, once again via the scenic Hope Valley. Mind you, I didn’t take too much notice of the scenery, as I was busy with my write-up of the match, which was almost complete by the time the train reached home.
I was “in the door” at 8 pm, and greeted by a phone call by Andy, who had not long got home via the M6 and A14. He ranted to me about AVB’s selection, and Huddlestone, and I had to give him the news that Big Tom was leading the early man of the match vote. (At the time of writing he still leads, but he was the best of a bad bunch as perceived by Spurs Odyssey voters).
There was still plenty of admin for me to complete to get my material published. In addition, my good friend and fellow match reporter Ray Lo, had completed a two-day exodus to Sunderland, and then West Bromwich, and had submitted his second match report in two days on the Spurs Under-18 team, who face a tense wait for other results to see if they will make progress to the play-off stages of their competition. Find Ray Lo's U-18s reports here. (Ray Lo sadly passed away in 2021)
Having fulfilled my personal publication deadlines, there was time for me to watch the first two games on Match of The Day, which were Newcastle 0 Liverpool 6, and the Spurs game, before retiring to a good night’s sleep.
Spurs have been in my blood since 1960. Well, before that really, because my Mum’s family were all Spurs. Whilst the football side of the day was disappointing, the social side had been great, illustrating how many great friends I have made, and continue to make by following my team up and down the country and across Europe.
Whatever happens this week, we’ll all be present and correct next Saturday for Southampton, and whatever happens this season, we’ll all be there in August for more football; more beer; and more cheer!
Top of page | Index to 2012-13 Matches & Reports
