Preston North End v Reading

Finally, a game to write about for my adventure! The last game I wrote about on here was in mid-September, but as my aim is to go to a game at every level of the pyramid (down to NWCFL), then the FA Cup game at Clitheroe didn't really count, did it?! Last week I went to watch Farsley Celtic beat Hyde, so I wasn't going to write about that. But here is something I can write about now, my first visit to Deepdale, Preston.

I attended this game with Sara, the biggest (in terms of the competition) game she'd ever been to. Our travels started in Wigan with the customary Wetherspoons breakfast. The egg on this one was almost raw, not nice. Then also got some 'garlic potatoes' from the continental market in Preston city centre, they were tinned potatoes with some herbs. A waste of £3.50 indeed! I was impressed that PNE's match day catering included the Butter Pie option, but I didn't buy any food in the ground.

I always thought that Deepdale was impressive, how it had a picture of the player the stand was named after made out of seats. That being Alan Kelly, Tom Finney and Bill Shankly. Unfortunately, we didn't sit on anyone's face (ahem) and opted for the Invincibles stand. Mainly cos it was the newest stand. We were sat on the sixth row from the front, which meant when the fine rain came down in the First Half, we got soaked. It was cold, as I left the house in Wigan I declared it was 'crackin' t'flags', by the time we went to leave Wigan it was cloudly, by the time we got to Deepdale, it was drizzly. Needless to say, we weren't in the suitable attire. There was only about two people in the entire block sat in front of us, with everyone else behind. The ground was about half full with just over twelve thousand there. A particularly odd thing was that one of the mascots for the game was aged 50.

The game itself wasn't too great in the first half. Reading probably had more chances, Lonergan had to come up with a couple of good saves and the woodwork kept them out. They took the lead through a penalty, on the opposite side to me. Reading could have probably had it sewn up at half time. Preston put the Royals under a lot of pressure in the second half, both their goals came from mistakes from Reading's American 'keeper. All three goals of the game were at the opposite side of the pitch for me. Once again the woodwork kept Reading out as they fought for the equaliser. It wasn't until PNE scored that the home fans made themselves heard, though they didn't seem to have the biggest range of songs.

After the referee blew for full time, Reading's Noel Hunt, for some reason, was asked to move away from the Reading fans by a steward. He was told in no uncertain terms to go, but he wasn't having it. The 5'8" midfielder then tried to push the steward out of the way. The steward was about the size of a house, so it was funny to see. The steward then got barracked by the Reading fans after, funny stuff!

That's the Championship off the list then, I enjoyed my afternoon out at Deepdale, except the weather. And here is a few pictures:

Mi Aventura De Fútbol - big blog wrote on holiday

Two Saturdays in a row without a football match, but here is a blog just to maintain the integrity of my online ramblings, or something. Although I am now typing this in Wigan, I wrote this post on September 30th on the balcony of an apartment at Costa Encantada, Fenals, Lloret De Mar, Catalunya. Being on holiday and spending a lot of time with Estrella Damm has given me a lot of time to think.

The Saturday before I set off on holiday saw me watching 'Soccer Saturday', with Jeff Stelling and co on Sky Sports. There is something quite compelling about watching a bunch of ex-professional footballers watching football. The show seems to have a significant 'cult' following and an accompanying drinking game. We attempted a watered down version of this (did it without spirits, we're pussies I know) but the rule about drinking constantly when Chris Kamara was on screeen is pretty dangerous. This was especially so on this saturday as he was covering the Watford v Reading game, with that goal. Unbelievable Jeff.

I think I like Soccer Saturday because of the constant stream of information, which is dedicated as much to the Football League, Scottish Leagues and Conference as it is to the global monster that is the Premiership. In bars across Lloret (and not just dodgy Brits abroad bars) I've seen at least 4 premiersgip games being advertised, plus La Liga, Serie A and the SPL. In my apartment, the Spanish TV channels have shown me Liverpool v Everton, along with live goal updates from the Premiership. Seeing what appeared to be the Spanish version of 'Soccer Saturday', it made me glad if the UK alternative. When I was in such holiday resorts about ten years ago, I can never remember Premiership games being so readily available. Premiership games on channels from Europe and the Middle East at certain pubs at 3 o'clock on a Saturday are, along with drinking and soccer saturday, keep people away from going to watch less glamorous football teams. Plus, about 15-20 years ago, I guess it was much cheaper to watch football and teletext and the videprinter won't have kept people off the terraces (then again I was only 4-9 years old then, so who knows.

As a Rugby League fan (Super Bradford), I was angered by the decision of Dave Whelan not to let the Wigan v Bradford play-off game take place at the JJB. But given the sheer power and money involved in the premiership, it was no surprise. The kind of money Mike Ashley is asking fore Newcastle United, for example, is absolutely obscene when compated to the 2nd most viewed domestic sport on Sky (Rugby League, that is!).

A colleague of mine recently when to Italy on holiday and when telling people where she was from, Wigan, the response 'Premier League!' followed. The thought of Wigan Athletic as a global brand 30 years ago would have been insane!

I have just had a great insight into the life of Wigan Athletic 30 years ago, in their final season as a non-league club, in Andy Vaughan's 'Punk Football'. This book has also enlightened me about what Wigan was like in that era, which is good to let me fet a feel for a place where I now live. Vaughan's book, along with Mark Steel's 'Reasons to be Cheerful' have helped answer my questions about what it was like being a young lad during the rise of punk rock.

Anyway, to the football! No idea who I shall see next. I didn't manage to get to a CF Lloret game, I couldn't even find out what league they were in, but the ground didn't look too bad. I did watch Espanyol get stitched up against Barcelona on the television though. Yes, I follow (look at the results in the paper) the less popular team in Catalunya.