All Because Of Ellen

To Stamford, Lincolnshire yesterday to see Buckingham Town at Blackstones. In the clubhouse bar I tried a GB Best light ale, not a bad pint, but for a refill I switched to tried and trusted Doom Bar. All the Blackstones people I met, from barmaid to gateman and tea hut men, were a warm friendly bunch. Darren and Vince only arrived just after 2.30 pm as they'd had a puncture; as they'd had the players' kit in their car, kick-off was delayed, though only by a few minutes. Darren and Vince advised me not to sit in the stand, saying the home fans could be fiercely partisan to the point of hostility, so we found a spot at pitchside to stand, near a couple of Blackstones volunteers who again were great guys. Alas, the Robins were never at the races and lost 4-1.

There was a chippy bang opposite the ground, and, joy of joys, it was open straight after the game. Blackstones are a 'kid brother' to the town's main team Stamford AFC (nicknamed the Daniels, after Victorian local celebrity Daniel Lambert, the fattest man in the world in his day), whose ground is just around the corner. The Daniels had also been playing at home and when I entered the chippy there were several Stamford fans in the queue. They were happy, their team had won, qualifying for the play-offs where they'll face Frickley Athletic. I wished the Daniels fans luck for the play-offs; they said "We'll need it". I went for a Dutch Smokey sausage and chips; eating on a bench in the park on my way back to the station, the Dutch Smokey was so excellent I wished I'd ordered two.

Happier news over the Net : my original home team Gosport Borough had won 4-0 at St Neots, completing an amazing Great Escape when weeks ago relegation had seemed certain.

To Birmingham today to meet up with Kathy, Jules and Alice at Birmingham City Ladies v Arsenal Women. I arrived at the bar just after 12.30; Kathy wasn't far behind. By the time she arrived we'd heard on Messenger from Jules that Alice had taken a wrong turning so they'd be arriving just after 1. Lindsay (a guy) and Sharon, Birmingham fans I'd met in Canada, came over to say hello, I introduced them to Kathy and we all chatted till Jules and Alice arrived. Jules bought me a refill, pints for herself and Cokes for drivers Kathy and Alice and we all talked until kick-off approached and we went in.

The poutine van still hasn't come for a return visit 😢 but there was a hog roast, which I headed straight for. Very tasty. I gave a big cheer when Rachel Williams and Ellen White were announced during the team rundown, and did the same for Louise Quinn as the Arsenal team were announced. Not amused to see one of my heroines, Heather O'Reilly, was only on the bench.

We found a spot to stand at pitchside. I was just wanting Rachel, Ellen and Louise (and Heather when she came on) to play well, Jules and Alice were lukewarmly rooting for Birmingham, while Kathy has always been something of an Arsenal fan. Birmingham dominated throughout, and the day belonged to Ellen White who netted a hat-trick as the Blues triumphed 3-0. I got to say a brief hello to Brian at half-time as we passed each other as I and the girls went to the refreshment stalls. When time added on was announced, I said my goodbyes to the girls with hugs and made my way round to the area in front of the main stand ready to try and get Rachel Williams' autograph on my postcard of her. Rachel came over fairly quickly, and after having her pic taken with a young fan she greeted me with a friendly hello and signed my card. After Ellen had done her TV interviews and been presented with her Player of the Match award she came over too; she made joyous conversation with an excited kid who asked her "Did you score all the goals?" When she'd finished talking to her she exchanged friendly hellos with me.

Popped into the bar to visit the Gents before heading for the bus stop. Brian was in the bar so I stopped for a brief chat. Brian told me how he sponsors Louise and has got to know her, he said she is lovely. He wondered about Arsenal's prospects for the Cup Final on Saturday; I said I'd let him know which pub we were all meeting in.

At the bus stop was Dan, an Arsenal fan I last met during Notts days. On the bus back to Birmingham International station he asked what I do for my women's football fix now; I explained I travel around attending matches that a Lady Pie or two (or more) are playing in. We talked about the plight of Millwall Lionesses, recalled the demise of Notts a year ago, and speculated on which new teams might be voted into WSL 1 and 2 for next season - and on which team might be lucky enough to secure Laura's services.

At the station Dan treated me to a hot chocolate, and we met Ruth, a photographer friend of Dan's. We chatted about Cup Final day and about today's Women's Champions' League semi-finals; Dan was a bit disappointed that Man City had lost to Lyon but I said there was no disgrace in going down 1-0 to such a team full of galacticas. As an aside I confessed that Lyon keeper Sarah Bouhaddi is my #2 women's football crush, much to Dan's amusement. Then I said I might be adopting Millwall Lionesses for the rest of the season, hoping lending them my support might do a little bit towards keeping the club alive. We agreed their last-day game at Brighton had the prospect of being a real ding-dong (and it would give me a chance to see Dani, Fern and Aileen again).

Then we went to get our separate trains.