Argentina v England

Well Bloggers BT connection is back and I am back from a great week-end of festivity and football.
Friday started off at Durham Tees Valley airport for my 10.40am flight I went straight into my usual watering hole the business lounge for free wine and nuts. Had a few glasses of vin de blanc and boarded the KLM flight bound for Amsterdam, had a couple of 1/4 bottles of wine and the usual snack, a bit better this time as I was travelling business class thanks to my KLM air miles I had built up over the 30 years of travelling. Arrived in Amsterdam on time a quick dash to duty free for the usual 1000+ cigarettes and on the plane for Geneva, a few more bottles of vino and a meal before arriving to Geneva on time, stopped by customs for having more than 200 cigarettes on me. After pleading ignorance at the import laws they let me off with a warning not to do it again, a short train ride into the City centre and I was in my hotel opposite the main train station by 3.45pm local time.
The Hotel Suisse I can recommend, great location, good rooms, no bar but a mini bar in your room - no did not have another bottle of wine but headed out for the many bars around the hotel. At £50 per night it was a very good hotel and cheaper than what other fans were paying in nearby hotels.
First port of call was the Brasseurs, a bar that had it's own brewery and had brewed a new beer for the occassion Lions Beer. I skipped this drink preferring to drink the same as all the other fans called "yellow beer". Not a bad pint as it should be for £4.50 a pint. I got on talking with a few fans from Southampton and enjoyed the banter and the 4 or 5 pints I had. I went back to the hotel for a quick shit, shower and shave on with the aftershave for my Friday night out in Geneva.
I left the hotel at 7.30pm to meet up with an old work colleague Richard and his wife Mary. Unknown to me but they had booked us into a posh Italian restaurant I skipped this offer as when I bumped into them I was coming out of Burger King with a triple king burger meal - I didn't want to seem too greedy!. So we headed for Mr Pickwicks a bar stated in Free Lions as a must for Friday night as they were putting a band on for all England fans. We went downstairs where the band was to perform from 10.00pm it was now 8.00pm so a long night ahead. Richard got the drinks in and we started to talk about old times back when we worked together in the UK, we could just about hear ourselves speak as the noise in the pub was electric. After a few beers Richard and his wife left for the restaurant, I said I would meet them back in the pub after their meal. That was when my night really started. I met fans from all areas of the UK, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, West Ham, Oxford (Deano, Deano they shouted at me all night) Southend, Portsmouth, Stevenage and Swansea - yes there were Swansea fans supporting England! Well I don't know if they took pity on my cos I was on my own but they bought my drinks one after the other at a guess I think I got 8 pints of boddy's paid for at £4 a pint. When I offered to get the drinks in they all said that they were either moving towards the stage or moving onto another pub. Good seam indeed Mr Gilligan I thought. The "band" started and they were shite with a capital S singing boy band crap. England fans responded with chants of "shall we sing a song for you" "you're shite and you know you are" and "who are you who are you". However after several pints later and towards midnight they sounded like the best band ever! Richard and Mary arrived back just after 11.00pm and greeted me with "your still here and still standing" I introduced them to some of my new found friends, the Nottingham lads were by now well OTT and trying their hardest to tap anything in a skirt. I had to fend them away from Mary and Mary's huge tits as if I didn't I think Marys tits would have been on everyones mobile camera in the place. 4 couples all West Ham fans and all police in the Met. were next to me and one of them (one of the wives) kept hugging me and saying that I was the best Mackem she had ever met. She was sound asleep on the floor about one hour later.
Richard and Mary left at about 1.30am as it was closing time at 2.00am and they wanted to get home before the crowds headed out, some of them were heading back to the Airport to sleep there as they did not want to pay for Hotels! I left at 2.00am couldn't remember going back to my hotel only remember waking up looking at my watch and thinking 10.00am oh shit missed my breakfast might as well have another hour in bed.
So it was Saturday and the day of the match. I got out of bed at 11.00am and walked out of the hotel to get some fresh air. The bar next to my hotel, The Brittania, was full to the brim and most were drinking outside on the pavements usually against the law in Switzerland. I said to one guy bit too early for me and he said it was after 12 .... oh bugger I had forgotten to put my watch one hour ahead. I went down to the lake to try to freshen up, you know when you've had a few and you are wandering around not knowing what day it is and can't see very well due to blurred vision well this is what I was like and it was 12.30pm. I walked passed a huge St. George's flag that was laid out on a pavement for any England fan to write a message on. The flag is off to Germany with the England Fans Embassy a group of guys that give up their time on match days to assist any fans with answers to any problems they may have. One of these guys I have seen on local TV, don't know his name but know he was a mag, so I walked up to him and asked him how the scum was today. He stated "fucking Mackem the place is full of fucking Mackems" After he gave me my copy of Free Lions a magazine published for every England game - it's free but can still be sold for profit on Ebay - we started to discuss the recent derby match. He stated and not to be repeated as he would get lynched back home in scumland "We played well and a fair result would have been a draw" continuing he also stated " we play okay but don't get the breaks we deserve and they play shite and win matches" not bad statements coming from a loyal Mag. but remember not one word to any of his scum mates!
I made my way to a small but friendly pub called The Lord Jim run by a nice looking Swiss girl named Monica. It was chocker but I worked my way to the bar and stayed there until it was time to go. Pints of Fosters at £4.00. Again I got chatting to other fans, you all know I am shy really, one young lady was with a bus load from Reading and she was a great laugh, some guys from Sheffield, a few from Swindon, a gang from Luton and wait for it two lads who supported Scarborough home and away. Well again I was bought pints by most people I spoke to, best laugh of all was when one of the Scarborough lads got a round in he was a perfect gentleman and waited ... and waited ... and waited at the bar until it was his turn. Instead of shouting out his order he preferred to wait for "his turn at the bar". His mate jokingly told us that he took three days to book his flights on the internet. After 1/2 hour at the bar he eventually got served and the whole place erupted and everyone sang " shall we get a pint for you". Yes bloggers I did get the drinks in and it hurt at nearly £32 a round!
I left the bar at 4.00pm to head towards the tram station and the free tram number 13 to the ground. I was pleased that I came out when I did as the queues for the trams were long. We were crammed into each carriage and headed off to the ground, a 20 minute tram ride led to most people including me desperate for a pee. Once the train reached close to the stadium most of us releaved ourselves on the station platform and then headed for the stadium a 5 minute walk away.
After about 3 security checks I was inside the stadium. No programs for sale = no profit on Ebay and no program for Walter. I will send you a copy of Free Lions Walter. There were some programs for sale but were not official more like scrap books with pics of players in. Some guys did have what looked like official programs but these were not for sale in the England end and were all in French!
I went to my £30 seat that I would not sit on as we stood for the whole of the match. I was surrounded by about 12 Wigan fans who were cock-a-hoop about their start in the Premiership and hoped that their bubble wouldn't burst after Christmas and drag them down to a relegation fight. After the match they wished me and SAFC luck for the rest of the season and hoped we would stay up. Who would have thought Wigan fans would be saying this to us at the start of the season?
I was in the end behind the goal where the official Englandfans+ were situated about 7,000 in total. There seemed to be no segregation in the other ends as both Argentina and England fans were dotted about all over the place. Only one bit of bother to the right of me in the end opposite the players tunnnel, one Argentinian fan was giving obscene signs to a group of England fans in the same row as him. Not a wise move as one by one the 4 England fans waded into him and his mates. The riot police did not wade in with their battons but kept a gentle approach they ejected the Argentinian fan that started the trouble and left the others in their seats. Well done to them - wish they had been on duty at Arsenal the other week when innocent SAFC fans were ejected for doing nowt.
The match started - I will not say too much on the game iteself as you would all have seen it either live on TV or watched highlights (Walter went to sleep and still thinks they won 2:1!). I will say and other said it too that after the England v Turkey game at the SOL this was the best England game I have ever been to for action, goals and atmosphere. Songs worthy of a mention were (sorry Walter) "Argentina, Argentina what's it like to loose a war", "you'll never take the Falklands" and lastly at the end of the match "Easy, Easy, Easy" with Beckham joining in. Players worthy of a mention - Robinson - excellent saves, does he fancy moving to SAFC in January? Gerard - one of his best games in an England shirt, Rooney - great movement off the ball, he covered every blade of grass and must be on something, oh and then there was the player who scored the two goals at the end that won us the match - only real input he made in the match - that's also the opinion of alot of supporters after the match, but I guess that's what he is there for to score goals.
Game ends 2:3 to England what a performance, what an acheivement after some recent poor performances and against one of the top sides in the world. Chants of "lets all have a disco lets all have a disco" echoed around the air as we left the stadium to return back to the city by tram.
I got off outside of my hotel, had a quick change - more after shave and out on the piss again at 9.00pm. Went into loads of bars all heaving with England fans enjoying the night. The Swiss fans on returning from their win against Turkey were driving around the city flags outside their cars horns sounding all the time. Riot police where everywhere but standing well out of the way and letting everyone enjoy themselves without getting involved = no trouble. Swiss fans in the pubs singing along with the England fans and when the chant started " I'd rather be a paki than a turk" they were rolling about with laughter - magic moments. After meeting up with some of my new found friends (they had forgotten that it probably was my turn for the drinks) and after about 10 pints I made my way back to the hotel at 1.00am as I needed to get up early for a flight at 10.40am. Again can't remember getting back to the hotel but I did get up okay for a good breakfast headed for the train station for the train to the airport. Here I met with a Southampton fan who should have been on the 7.00am Easyjet flight to Luton but did not get up until 8.30am. He wasn't sure if his mates had made the flight as he went to bed at 2.00am and his mates weren't back to the rooms then.
Bought more cigarettes in Duty Free, caught my flights home, walked passed the customs at Durham Tees Valley Airport with a smile - they asked enjoyed the match I said you bet!
Got home at 3.30pm just in time for Mrs Gilligan to put the Sunday lunch on the table.

To summarise:

Great weekend
Great game
Great result beating Argentina (again)
Great hotel and location
Expensive beer
Expensive city - all watches, knives and clocks in the shops
Great fans - when left alone to enjoy themselves
The lovely Monica in Lord Jims
The England fans wearing their poppys with pride and respect for the fallen soldiers of all wars
The great humour and banter between England supporters and the Swiss fans
My new found mates and drinking buddies - my turn next guys!
The Swiss riot police for policing the city with a stand off approach and leaving fans to enjoy themselves without getting involved.
The chants, songs and dancing before and after the game
The fans inside the stadium saying the beer was better than in the City not knowing it was alcohol free.
The huge England fan who tried to get onto the crowded tram and couldn't make it and the fans on the tram singing " who ate all the pies......"
England fans the best international fans in the world.

Looking back it was all of the above and the fans behaviour that made you proud to be English especially seeing all those fans who are more than often tagged hooligans wearing their poppys with pride on Remembrance weekend. Roll on Germany - God save the Queen and all that stuff.

Clive D and his men, Miller and me are off to Germany in June for 7 to 10 days anyone want to show off their true colours and support the best international team in the world?

Photos to follow when I can get Picasso to run after my PC problems.

Jim Gilling
FTM and proud to be an Englishman.