The Blues, Birmingham City

Our last visit of the day was to Birmingham City. It is easily accessible from the centre of the city and well-signposted too! We parked on a side street and walked a block or so up a small hill to the ground. St Andrew's is perched on a high place in the city and there must be some nice pictures of the ground you can find on the internet.


We arrived first at the reception area of the ground and went in to ask at the front reception area. Without a hesitation the lady at the desk cheerfully took us up the stairs behind her and into the upper section of the stadium. We took some photos of the pitch and stands and came back down with her. While she went back to work we noticed some of the odd displays that they had in the reception area. This included a statue of Jesus with the Bible and a guest/date/diary book with old dried corsages around it. We saw some of their silverware on display as well as a current team picture. We asked her about the statue of Jesus and she said that they had it out of respect to the local community. (Maybe a St Andrew connection?) I thought there must be more to the story, but I can't find anything about it on google. Any one reading this have any ideas? She very kindly gave us a few old programs that the boys have enjoyed reading.

We left the main stadium and headed over to the shop which is just up the road another minutes walk. Inside was cramped and full of things. We took some good photos and headed to the hotel as we were exhausted after our long day of adventures. So far it had been wonderful, but how could tomorrow top today?

Off to The Valley

In our euphoric mood we happily found our way to Charlton Station via London Bridge and according to the book we would see the Charlton Athletic's stadium from the station. We didn't see it, and asked directions but the first person we asked had no idea where it was. So we took a risk and turned left and headed for a busier looking road. This turned out to have a sign eventually. The Valley is hidden within a housing estate and I think it is a little hard to find. I later read that it doesn't have any floodlight pylons so this might be why I didn't spot it until we reached our destination.

The rebuilt Valley was completed in 1992, so it was a similar age to Millwall. Charlton was the first top flight club to be forced to ground-share for a seven year period with local rivals Crystal Palace but the new stadium struck me as impressive. We had read that Charlton had only just been promoted to the Championship and there were signs of celebration pasted around the club.

The shop had it's metal shutters partway closed, but as we approached we noticed people inside. I tentatively knocked on the door and a man emerged from around the side to tell us that they were doing a shop inventory that day and it was closed. We must have looked disappointed, and as we explained the reason for our visit, he quickly offered to take us into the ground itself. We could hardly believe our luck.

As we walked along we chatted about Charlton's recent success and their hopes for the season ahead. There was an industrious air around the place as we peeked into the stadium gap between the south and west stands. Charlton were taking advantage of the summer break to completely re-seed the pitch, and there were diggers and piles of sand all around us. After a frenzy of photos we headed back along past the ticket office and waved goodbye to the store manager.

As we were just about to leave we had noticed a group of OAPs inside a Charlton Community Trust building that is inside the ground. They were having an exercise session and waved us in. Nervously we explained our visit and they couldn't have been more kind. The boys played on the Wii with them and I chatted about football. There were people having a cooking lesson in there too. Most of the people there also volunteer as stewards during games and are all lifelong Addicks fans. Though we had plans to visit more stadiums that morning, part of this adventure is knowing when to abandon your plans and go with the flow. We learned more about the kindness and warmth of football fans there than we had ever known before. We reluctantly left with our bag full of goodies including children's t-shirts, programs and a season pass holder. They were off to have lunch at the stadium cafe and we waved goodbye with a spring in our steps. Pictures to come eventually.

-Ali

Millwall - Love It or Hate It?

Our next trip to London and more stadiums to visit! We were looking forward to this trip partly because it was summer and partly because it was going to be interesting to see some of the smaller clubs. The boys were looking forward to using the overland trains. I know, most people must think we are crazy that we would be excited by this. The season was finished and all the clubs would be in hibernation, but I hadn't really thought about that until later. We got an early start and arrived at London Bridge by about 9:30 and the platforms all had that hollow sound after a rush of people. We had decided to use London Bridge as a hub and we would travel back and forth to Millwall first as per the instructions in the book. The book, oh we got got a new book.

It is not quite as good as the old book, but it is good enough - it's ours so we can mark it. We've started noting the dates we visit the clubs.

When we arrived at South Bermondsey station, we were greeted with the sight of stray dogs mating behind a travelers housing area and the stench of the rubbish. I read that someone descibe it like "a cross between a rotting rubbish tip & a bag of warm dogshit". I must agree. We walked along the pavements with chain link fences to our side. Behind the fences are an aray of what you might expect near a football ground: soggy fried chicken takeaway boxes with old bones sticking out, newspapers, broken bottles and crushed cans, fag ends and the odd dirty nappy. I hurried the boys along hoping to see the more welcome signs of a stadium - floodlights. And within moments we saw Zampa Road - the street that would lead us to our destination. Dodging dustbin lorries, we headed down the street and a new stench greeted us - I think that there is a fish factory there or something. 

But we didn't let our noses stop us and soon saw across the road - the stadium. We took some photos from the outside. The  "New" Den looks fairly new, built in 1993: the main welcome signs, the visitors entrance (good luck to them?!) and the coach parking area. This ground looked unique to me despite the fact that we had already visited other stadiums. Our usual first port of call was the shop. After more photos of garden gnomes, vintage footballs and last season's kit on sale we asked the shop assistant our customary questions for advise on what else we might see. She mentioned that we should try reception. When we stepped in to the office and asked permission to take more pictures of the signed shirts and a the trophies on display, the lady there kindly offered to take us into the stadium itself. Wow! So this is a what Championship clubs are like! We waited about a half a second and said YES immediately. So she made a few calls and someone came and unlocked a few doors and she pointed us in the right direction and said that we could go out there as long as we didn't go on the pitch. And we walked right in, just like that!

We saw the signs for the changing rooms, the first aid area and before we knew it, we were going down the tunnel, pitch-side, just like the players. More and more pictures were taken - thank goodness for digital cameras. We sheepishly headed back just as the reception lady was coming to find us, hoping we hadn't disappeared. At that moment, I happened to glance down into a bin  and noticed an old football sock right there on the top of other odds and ends. I picked it out and sheepishly asked the lady if we could keep it as a memento. She said that we could, but she didn't want us to say mention it. So I tucked it into me bag and after profuse expressions of gratitude, we rushed back out into the real world.

We couldn't believe our luck. Seeing the pitch and coming away with the sock left us feeling like we better start supporting Millwall. All of the people that we had encountered were so obliging and compassionate. We hadn't expected to witness fights or threatening chanting that Millwall are known for, but for them to have been so indulgent in our pastime was unexpected.

So I will end this as we sit on the train coming back into London Bridge, now scattered with families bringing children for day trips, reflecting, and basking in our success.

Millwall, hate the smell, love the club. What do you think? Pictures to follow once I decide whether to let google into my iPad.

Another Day in London

Our next adventure was another visit to London with our friend and neighbour, Adam (11). This trip was over two days and we started out early on the train from Northampton. After dropping off our bags, we straight to Hammersmith and then down the Fulham Palace Road headed for Craven Cottage - this time armed with our library book so we knew just how to get there. The brisk walk through the tree-lined streets of Fulham filled us all with excitement. And when the lights of the stadium was just visible above the houses we could not stop ourselves from taking photos. We stopped into the shop first to look at (and photograph) everything. The shop assistant kindly gave us a program or two and the Kit Catalogue. After walking around the outside of the ground as much as we could and peaking in through the fences, we hopped back onto a bus down the Fulham Road to Chelsea. 

When we reached the ground, we were overwhelmed by how many other fans were around us. No one seemed to be speaking English. It couldn't have contrasted more than the quaint and secluded Craven Cottage. Chelsea was busy, noisy and brash. We walked through the two story shop and around the public areas of the ground but we did not get a sense of personality from the atmosphere. After a little lunch on a bench we were tired and a long trip on the District Line from Fulham Broadway to Upton Park was just the thing. 

When we emerged from the station we might as well have come a hundred miles. My "country boys" were wide-eyed at the ethnic market and shops around us. With the scents of spices and shoe leather in the air and the sounds of reggae blasting from somebody's market stall, we headed down the road and soon enough The Boleyn Ground came into view. The boys just loved the castle look to the outside of the stadium. There is a primary school next door and they all said how they wished they could go to school there. Again we headed for the shop first to photograph everything in sight. The shop assistants couldn't have been more kind, recommending a few key places to visit - including the Bobby Moore statue a few minutes walk away. http://www.ukattraction.com/london/the-bobby-moore-statue.htm When we mentioned the reason for our visit, they gave the boys a little squeezy football each as a memento. We walked past a sort of cemetery memorial place set aside for people to have their ashes scattered. There we candles and fake flowers. Clearly there are some devoted fans. After a few photos of the charming statue we popped into the Boleyn Pub next door for a photo. This pub is a well-known watering hole for fans and we made the hammer sign next to the bar with several customers cheering us on. It was getting late, and though we had hoped to make it to Dagenham and Redbridge I thought better of it and we headed home for the night. I found out later that we have a distant Dumbell cousin who was goal keeper at West Ham for a short time. I wonder if this would have gotten us a little more attention. It didn't matter, we had a great visit. It was a lovely view of the Olympic Park from the tube as the sun was fading away over London. Adam took most of the pictures this day, but I got a few before my battery ran out:

The Lights of Craven Cottage