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The Sound Of The Suburbs
Mar. 6th, 2022 09:05 pmAfter last week's chockfull coaches, I was glad to be back on the train for today's trip to Northolt for London Seaward's away game with Actonians Ladies. From Clapham Junction it was a convoluted ride, on the Overground to Shepherd's Bush then the tube to Northolt and finally a bus to the ground.
Dan and James were in the tiny club bar with Adam, the new match secretary, who I met for the first time. Adam was delighted to hear I hail from Gosport as he's from Portsmouth and knows Gosport quite well. He's planning a couple of trips to see Portsmouth FC on the road over the next week or so. We all talked about the girls and upcoming fixtures till it was time for the guys to head for the dressing room.
The bar was unstaffed; a sign said to order drinks from reception. The guy there happily came round to the bar to serve me a berries and cherries Old Mout. Groundhopper Dave came in and we talked for a while. By the time I'd finished my drink kick-off was drawing nearer and I headed for the hatch outside, but the man there said there'd be no hot food for half an hour. There was plenty of chocolate on offer, but having given up choc for Lent I had to settle for a bag of crisps and a packet of dry roasted nuts.
Rectory Park has two 3G pitches next to each other, and was hosting two games in our division today; ours and QPR Women v Cambridge United Women. Happily we were on the one with the covered stand. I found a seat near Groundhopper Dave and Bruce, who was wearing an original jacket from when the team was formed in 2004 as KIKK United Ladies, complete with the logo of the original sponsor Fika Bar & Kitchen - a restaurant sadly now defunct. Actonians had quite a few vocal fans there, and it was they who went home happy as the home side scored three without reply. At half time I joined the queue at the food hatch, where people were coming away contented with tasty looking cartons of chips, only for the teams to come back out onto the pitch before I got to the front. Not an away trip to remember.
One heartening sight after the match was a group of guys in QPR scarves at the bus stop and on the bus, excitedly discussing the QPR Women game they'd just seen, praising their team, analysing which players had good games. To see serious fans like these in our class of women's football is always gratifying.
At Waterloo, Burger King was shut and The Bagel Factory slow-moving. With the queue at Pret, just had time to grab a couple of wraps and had to do without a coffee. The train gained more and more passengers as departure time drew nearer, until by the time we left virtually all the seats were full. You just don't expect it on a Sunday. Thank goodness there were no people standing in our coach.
Ah well, almost time for bed, back to the grindstone in the morning.
Dan and James were in the tiny club bar with Adam, the new match secretary, who I met for the first time. Adam was delighted to hear I hail from Gosport as he's from Portsmouth and knows Gosport quite well. He's planning a couple of trips to see Portsmouth FC on the road over the next week or so. We all talked about the girls and upcoming fixtures till it was time for the guys to head for the dressing room.
The bar was unstaffed; a sign said to order drinks from reception. The guy there happily came round to the bar to serve me a berries and cherries Old Mout. Groundhopper Dave came in and we talked for a while. By the time I'd finished my drink kick-off was drawing nearer and I headed for the hatch outside, but the man there said there'd be no hot food for half an hour. There was plenty of chocolate on offer, but having given up choc for Lent I had to settle for a bag of crisps and a packet of dry roasted nuts.
Rectory Park has two 3G pitches next to each other, and was hosting two games in our division today; ours and QPR Women v Cambridge United Women. Happily we were on the one with the covered stand. I found a seat near Groundhopper Dave and Bruce, who was wearing an original jacket from when the team was formed in 2004 as KIKK United Ladies, complete with the logo of the original sponsor Fika Bar & Kitchen - a restaurant sadly now defunct. Actonians had quite a few vocal fans there, and it was they who went home happy as the home side scored three without reply. At half time I joined the queue at the food hatch, where people were coming away contented with tasty looking cartons of chips, only for the teams to come back out onto the pitch before I got to the front. Not an away trip to remember.
One heartening sight after the match was a group of guys in QPR scarves at the bus stop and on the bus, excitedly discussing the QPR Women game they'd just seen, praising their team, analysing which players had good games. To see serious fans like these in our class of women's football is always gratifying.
At Waterloo, Burger King was shut and The Bagel Factory slow-moving. With the queue at Pret, just had time to grab a couple of wraps and had to do without a coffee. The train gained more and more passengers as departure time drew nearer, until by the time we left virtually all the seats were full. You just don't expect it on a Sunday. Thank goodness there were no people standing in our coach.
Ah well, almost time for bed, back to the grindstone in the morning.
