Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Rail Way To Football
Ask many English football
fans how they prefer to travel to games and chances are high they will prefer
to use the train. The train has long enjoyed a close relationship with the game
dating back to the times when teams travelled to games by rail.
As more fans started going
to away games British Rail, the then national rail network, started laying on
what became known as football specials and pretty soon these became notorious
for smelling of urine, having no light bulbs and getting their windows smashed
in by locals put out by these outsiders passing through their turf.
Football clubs started
organising their own travel for away games, laying on trains that were safe and
secure with stewarding and a police escort to the stadium once they arrived at
their destination.
Many fans would spurn the
official trains, preferring to make their own way by rail and it was a common
sight to see, and hear, groups of boisterous young, and not so young, men
playing cards and of course drinking plenty of beer as the train sped them to
the game.
The beauty of England's rail
network is that it takes you through stunning scenery. Football fans who
followed their team away would never normally visit; places like Wolverhampton,
Middlesbrough or Derby yet come the weekend thousands would descend on these
non descript towns just to watch some men kick a ball around.
Outside the carriages,
England's green fields would provide a pleasing tapestry. Hedges would be alive
with birds while in fields new born lambs would frolic with their siblings
while rabbits and hares would scamper away from the onrushing train, alarmed by
the speed, size and noise.
The further north you
travelled, the grander the view. The north of England, where the Industrial
Revolution was born, bears testament to its proud past with grand old buildings
in the city centres proof of the riches that flowed their way during the
Victorian years. Faded and crumbling they maybe but there is no denying the
confidence of the city fathers who proclaimed their town's wealth with imposing
buildings congregated around the railway that exported their products.
More rural are the canals;
the motorways of their day but today home to an increasing number of
holidaymakers content to cruise the canals, negotiate the locks and enjoy a
quiet beer at a nearby inn.
The trains' haste seems
almost obscene compared to the rural tranquility it disturbs but most fans will
no doubt be ignorant of the scenery outside. They'll be busy reading the sports
pages, losing money and complaining about their centre half who can't tackle,
looking forward to hitting town, watching the game and then returning home,
either subdued or buzzing depending on their team's performance.
Fans were always on the
lookout for special offers that would save them money on the tickets, freeing
more money for beer. The early 1980s saw a washing powder manufacturer offer
free tickets depending on many boxes customers bought which saw the unlikely
spectacle of fans, and hooligans it must be said, the length and breadth of the
country running down to the supermarket and snapping up the requisite number of
boxes!
Railway stations were great
meeting places with people who had been to many different games converging on
one point as they made their way home. For example, passing through Newcastle station
one Saturday afternoon recently, a traveller would have come across fans who
had been to see Hibernian, Sunderland, non league Gateshead, Carlisle United
and Berwick Rangers. Each with their own tale to tell.
The car may be quicker, more
efficient and less prone to delay, except for those bloody one way systems and
ring roads, but nothing can beat the train when it comes to following your
team!
# posted by Me @ 1:01 PM 
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