A v Poland (Warsaw) 8.9.1999

That was the week that was – Part 1 (Saturday 7th August to Sunday 15th August)

What a brilliant eight days!! It all started on Saturday the 7th August and the small matter of the return from exile and the first league game back in Sussex. A rather dull match, no atmosphere a poor team performance and then several dull hours back in the Lord Nelson after the game!!! What can you say about that day, other than brilliant. It was rounded of nicely by Adams, Corkey and Nick Rowe popping into the Lord Nelson for a few beers. The pub was also frequented by Ralph ‘Star Wars’ Brown and Mark ‘Fast Show’ Williams. For those that watch the Fast Show Mark did his famous ‘Jessie’ impression, he stood up and announced “Today I have mostly been watching a massacre”

I was unable to make the Fans and DJs night at the Paradox but I believe over £800 was raised, another excellent effort by that other lot Scars and Stripes. My next venture for the sporting week in Sussex was the Sussex v Zumerzet day night match at Hove on the Tuesday evening. A full house, but a disappointing batting display lead to only the second National League Division 2 defeat and also meant Zumerzet took over the top spot from Sussex.

On the Wednesday it was the first taste of Withdean under floodlights. A good battling display by the Albion, but a horrible own goal and then a breakaway goal by Gillingham gave them an unfair 2-0 advantage to take back to deepest dark Kent.

On Thursday it was back to the county ground for yet another day night game, this time between Sussex and Surrey. Another full house of 4,200, at least it was warm and sunny for this one. There line up read like an England XI so we new a victory was probable. They included Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart, Adam and Ben Hollioke, Graeme Thorpe, Ian Salisbury, Doug Brown. (Do they have any players that haven’t played for England). Sussex included Billy Taylor picked up from local league Cricket and he knocked the stumps out the ground three times and helped bowl Surrey out for just 148. Sussex eased to victory and the highlight of the day was watching Chris Adams who cant get a place in the England team take apart Adam Hollioke (An Ozzy who has played for England several times). He dispatched 4 of Hollioke’s first 6 balls to the boundary. He was out for 51 but Sussex won by 7 wickets with more than 8 overs to spare. Only 2 more wins are required to see Sussex promoted to Division 1.

Saturday was more sport but this time it was up to London and the visit to Leyton Orient. We headed for Stepney Green and started in the ‘Full Moon’ Weatherspoons pub. It was clear by the number of Albion fans drinking at 11.30am that we would have a few thousand at the match. At Midday we headed for our meeting point ‘The Old Globe just a few yards from Stepney Green tube station. The pub slowly filled up with Albion fans and anticipation of at last winning again at Orient was building up. The lads from Scars and Stripes turned up, loads from the A21 club and of course the Drunkards, sorry Seagulls over London helped fill the place up. We headed off around 2.15 and it was clear from the queues outside that the terrace would be packed. The kick off was delayed by 10 minutes to get 3,500 Albion fans in. The team once again showed that we will not be a push over like last season. Oatway and Rodgers in midfield are awesome.

After the game we returned to The Old Globe and celebrated the night away. Albion fans drank and sang for hours, we eventually left just before closing time and caught the 23.32 back to Hove.
Getting up Sunday morning for a BHA United friendly was hard work. Several of the team were suffering from the night before but we still ran out 3-2 winners.

What a week

That was the week that was – Part 2 (Friday 3rd September to Sunday 12th September)

The next great sporting week for me (and the last one this year – thank god I can hear my liver shouting!!)

This one started on Friday 3rd September and involved a leaving do at work and copious amounts of bottles of Beck’s. Got up Saturday morning feeling slightly delicate. We were on our way to Wembley for the England massacre of Luxembourg. We met up with various people at The George outside Euston station and as it was hot and sunny spent most of the morning sitting outside talking and drinking. For once England performed and easily demolished Luxembourg. We left a few minutes early as we were heading straight down to Plymouth for Saturday night entertainment and missed Owens brilliant goal. Also pissed of my mate who had £5 at 6/1 on 5-0.

We arrived in Plymouth around 9pm , dumped our bags in the B&B about 100 yards from the station and hit the town. We drank around the Barbican area which was buzzing. We found a kebab shop some time in the early hours and then waited about an hour for a taxi. Thank god we didn’t have an early start the next day. We left the B&B around 10am and finished off the cans we had on a street corner. We must have looked rough as a local tramp came over and whispered that he could get us into a pub which opened early, but back door only! To add to the embarrassment the Albion team appeared from there Hotel for a morning stroll. It was time to head off and find a pub. We eventually ended up in the Penycomequick and met some of the Plymouth lads attempting a boycott of the side stand at Plymouth, which in the end failed miserably. The match was a cracker and we headed home happy with the point.

On the Monday night it was up to the Oval and the return match between Sussex v Surrey day/night game. The Sussex fans were in good numbers and voice and the beer flowed as we heard Zumerzet had lost to Glamorgan and a win would put Sussex back to top of the league. The match was very one sided and the Surrey XI containing 7 or 8 England players lost to Sussex by 9 wickets.

On Tuesday it was up at 4.30am and off to Manchester airport for our flight to Poland. As we queued up to board the plane there seamed a lack of passengers, that was until you got on and it was only three seats across. A bloody 54 seater for a flight to Poland. Trevor Brooking and loads of press filled the first class seats and England fans the rest of the plane. We arrived in Warsaw lunch time Tuesday and the fun began.

Some lads on the plane had arranged a coach to the U21 game so we jumped on board. We arrived just before half time to find several England fans stranded outside. The Police had used a Breathalyzer and anyone above 5mg was not allowed in. As we were in a coach they escorted the coach inside and we all got in for nothing. We joined the other 50 or so England fans and promptly saw all four goals, unfortunately 3 scored by Poland. It was the first goals they had conceded in the qualifying stages!

We arrived back in Warsaw around 8pm and headed back to the room that had already been booked. We arrived just as a riot started in the Old Town. There were loads of Polish skinheads who had apparently attacked England fans drinking in a bar. There were dozens of cars, riot vans, motorbikes. General chaos. Apart from being threatened by some skin head by the entrance to the hotel we got in unscathed and had a birds eye view of what was happening and very happy to be inside and safe. We took a wander later on and found a bar selling food so settled down for food and drink until it closed. We then headed to the Irish bar and had a drink with a large number of the U21 squad (drinking those small 1litre beers!!!)

Wednesday and match day. Once again the atmosphere was tense. We stuck to Hotel bars, the first was the one entertaining the Polish team. We met up with a few Rochdale lads and headed for the Marriott hotel which had a massive bar. It was soon full of 2/300 England fans but rumors grew to the Poles planning to ambush the place later on. We left after a couple of hours and headed for the Sheraton, which turned out to be the England team base. At the bar was Deadly Doug Ellis. He was quizzed about Gareth Barry but his only answer is that it is a footballing decision. He said they had offered Brighton £400k in the summer up front to cancel out the Barry and Standing issues. Dick Knight turned it down. We soon got talking to another FA Official who was pretty chatty. He found out we were heading back to the Marriott as the Sheraton was a bit quiet. As we were just about to leave he called us back and informed us it had just ‘gone off’ at the Marriott. We settled back into the Sheraton bar and saw the England team depart for the ground. Beckham signed hundreds of autographs, in fact every player signed for the poles waiting and most posed for pictures with some lucky youngster (3/4 year old) – what a great souvenir that will be when he grows up. We ordered a taxi and true to form were dropped at the Polish end of the ground. There were groups of poles hanging about and it all looked very dicey. Luckily a few more England turned up from the way the Police had sent us and told us the England entrance was the other way. We followed and after passing through a park (later on two England fans were stabbed in the same place) we finally reached the safety of the away terrace. The away end was crap – Portaloos, crumbling terrace and an 18foot fence for the 1,900 England fans. Delightful. The atmosphere in the ground was very very hostile. I won’t say much about the game as you would all have seen it. Early in the second half the Polish fans started launching flares into the England fans.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lH3bP5pQwH8&feature=related

or try this one as various videos get removed over the years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jek0gOvQEr8

By the time the fifth one had exploded in the England end, the fans went mental. They pulled down two security fences and all hell broke lose. The Poles ran and it luckily pushed them far enough away to keep them out of range for throwing chairs, stones and bottles. It was all pretty hairy, thank god the England fans had driven the Polish fans back or I dread to think what may have happened. After the game we managed a quick escape on a coach of one of the travel companies and caught a taxi back to out apartments. As soon as the taxis left us a police car and a riot van turned up. They demanded ID from us. We had to ring a bell to get into the accommodation and if the women hadn’t answered the door within a few minutes I think we would have found ourselves in the cells for no reason. She had a long talk with the Police before ushering us in and firmly locking the door on the police. Safety. Fweeeeew. I hate these old Eastern Block visits at times.

On the Thursday things had calmed down and we were able to wander around the rebuilt old town and visit a few of the cheaper local bars. Its was the best day and made it worth going. We ended up in a different Irish bar until the early hours before heading back. On the Friday we headed to the airport mid- morning and flew back to Manchester. We met up with the Seagulls over London in Bradford for a night out including a curry in Lumb Lane (if you watched Band of Gold on ITV you would know what is was like!). On Saturday we made the short hop to Halifax in time to watch the Man Utd v Liverpool match and then watched the Albion collapse in the 90th minute. Hart missed a sitter and they went straight up the other end and scored the winner. The 450 or so Albion fans left in silence.

Sunday was spent in bed!

Mark R

Galway v Mayo Gaelic Football 18 July 1999

Following the Albion pre-season tour to the Republic of Ireland, me and a mate went on to Galway for the Galway Festival. We saw a live Saw Doctors gig, the Macnus Parade and the following day Galway v Mayo Gaelic Football match. It was the Connacht Senior Football Final



A large crowd gathers in the Tuam town square. They had a point for people who had spare tickets to sell on at face value (the game was a total sell out at the Pearse Stadium). We picked up tickets for 20 euros.





The Maroon and White flags of the Galway fans




The Green and Red of Mayo wins the day (Score was 3-13 to 1-8) and the fans start celebrations that lasted long into the night





The Galway fans slope off home (well to the pub for a pint of Porter!!)

We go back to the pub and watch the end of the Open golf tournament on the TV before heading back into Galway from Tuam.






The next day it was the Macnus parade......................................









Some poor pictures of the Macnas Parade in central Galway (around Eyre square)

Pre Season tour to Ireland July 1999

Second game v Kilkenny (Won 3-0). The pictures in the dressing room taken by Jock Riddel (Kit man) RIP

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A v Bulgaria 9.6.1999

Bulgaria (Saturday 5th June to Saturday 12th June)



Match Wednesday 9th June – Army Stadium Sofia

The next trip started early on Saturday morning. Our flight had been arranged to Athens, yes Athens for our trip to Sofia. We were scheduled to fly out at 22.55 on Saturday night to allow us to watch the England v Sweden match in the afternoon. JJMoons was heaving as usual and a few renditions of Sussex by the Sea were bellowed out by a very large Sussex contingent. The less said about the game the better, and we headed for a few post match pubs (celebrated the late late Faroe Island equaliser against Scotland) and then caught the train up to Luton Airport for the flight. We arrived in a warm Athens at 4.30am, changed into shorts and headed off to book our overnight train to Thessalonika, a 9 hour journey which cost just £10 and included a couchette. That booked, we caught a taxi to the Acropolis.





It was only 2000 drachma (£4) to get in and look about. Well worth suffering the heat and millions of other tourists. The police presence appeared large and unnecessary until we stumbled upon the World Rally Championships just down the road, with Colin McRae et al racing around the streets of Athens. After a couple of hours looking around we headed down the hill and away from the crowds. A few beers later we set off for the local National Park to get out of the heat and have a rest from the alcohol. Back at the station Nick ‘Bartman’ Batholomew was horrified to discover the loss of his wallet and a few hundred pounds. Doh!! There we joined up with mates from Gaisborough and Northampton, who were doing the same mad route to Sofia and who appeared to be almost sober.

We arrived in Thessalonika (Salonika) at 6am expecting a connecting train to Sofia. It didn’t exist of course, but unexpectedly we discovered an overnight train, so once again we booked up couchettes and return train tickets for about £25. A pleasant day was spent at the beach resort of Perea, about an hour away by cab and well worth the effort.

On the way we passed Thessalonika airport which was full with Nato jets and missiles. A pleasant day was spent with only the roar of NATO jets overhead disturbing the peace. We now embarked on the tricky part of the holiday, the crossing of the border between Greece and Bulgaria (the original train journey was via Nis in Macedonia but for obvious reasons we couldn’t go that way). The train journey was 12 hours or so but this included nearly 3 hours at the border. At one stage the ticket inspectors had our reservations and train tickets, and the border police had our passports, not very clever that! We had to make up the beds ourselves – I don’t think they are used very often and it was probably the busiest the train had ever been. The border police must have taken at least an hour to return our passports, going through them one by one asking if it was yours followed by an ‘ohhhh’ if it wasn’t. At least they sold beer on the train, even if it was cans of ‘Gosser’ an Austrian beer which we had been sampling a few weeks before.

We arrived in Sofia early on Tuesday morning, so once we had sorted out a hotel (I won’t go into the gory details of doing that!), we were able to relax, change, shower at last and go out on the town. There were a few England fans about, but most were down on the Black Sea resort of Varna and would arrive the next day. The Bulgarian beer was worse than I remembered but at 30p a bottle had to be drunk.
We eventually found the Sheraton Hotel bar and settled down in the sun drinking decent beer for about £1. More and more England fans turned up, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the talk for the first time turned to football. Who would play, who was suspended? Most people appeared to have travelled out on either Saturday or Sunday so info was short. Several more Albion fans arrived, but by now the travelling had caught up with us, so around 2 or was it 3am we turned in and had our first decent night’s kip since Friday night.

Wednesday, match day. We met up at the Sheraton again and the place was packed. Loads of familiar faces from other England matches appeared and we eventually left at around 5pm and made our way towards the ground. The match had been moved from the National Stadium to the Army Stadium, only about ½ mile apart but the main problem was that the capacity had been reduced from 60,000 to 25,000. UEFA had declared the ground unsafe and ordered the switch. As it was Stoichkov’s last match the interest was high. Tickets were easy to pick up for £5 but they looked fake. We arrived at the ground at 7pm and everyone got in, even those without tickets. No chance of seats and we were shoe horned into the track at the back of the seats. England had sold 2,500 tickets but there were probably closer to 3,500 in the segregated away section.
Nuff said about the game, and afterwards weaved our way back to town after the lovely walk through a park (no lighting – how do FIFA/UEFA pass these places fit for Internationals?) and drowned our sorrows. The atmosphere soon picked up, and we watched highlights of the Scotland game on TV. Many of us lost interst as the Scots went 2-0 up. By the time the Czechs had made it 3-2 the bar was in celebration. We sang away the rest of the night and ventured back onto the local beer in more local bars. The Huddersfield lads we had met in Sweden a few months earlier had privoded the cabaret and we walked (sort of) back to the hotel in the early hours.





Thursday we passed in Sofia – all much the worse for wear and very quiet. We once again got an overnight train back to Thessalonika, spent the Friday on the beach and then caught the express evening train to Athens arriving 11pm in Athens for a 6.50am flight! We kipped at the airport and then caught our early morning Easyjest flight back to Luton. We arrived at 9am back in Luton, caught the Thameslink home to Brighton, and I was back at my house by 12.30, completely knackered. It was a very long trip, about 40 hours on trains but when you can get a return flight to Athens for just £77 on Easyjet it was worth it (well that’s what we kept telling ourselves). Mark Raven