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The Long And Winding Road
Apr. 9th, 2022 10:22 pm
Trek to Hertfordshire for Walthamstow away game at Hoddesdon Town. I managed to take the wrong turning coming out of Broxbourne station so had to double back on myself. Then when I thought I'd found a straight road leading towards the ground, I found myself following a long road, St Catharine's Road, around curves. I thought I was going around in a perfect circle and was going to come out back where I started. Fortunately this wasn't the case and at the end of St Catharine's Road I emerged onto Broxbourne High Street at the point where it becomes High Road, Hoddesdon. From there, locating the ground was fairly plain sailing.
Having found the ground, I moseyed along side streets to come back onto High Road and found a pub called The Golden Lion with a couple of friendly barmaids and a few punters - apparently split between Spurs fans and West Ham fans - engaging in banter with each other as they watched Everton v Man Utd. Chicken Caesar salad for lunch with a leisurely pint of Birra Moretti then made my way back to the ground.
The two ladies staffing the tea hut doubled as barmaids when anyone came to the bar. One of the Walthamstow party was sitting in the clubhouse watching the Everton game so I went over to say hello. He was impressed that I travel from Portsmouth to see the Stow every weekend. One of the tea ladies/barmaids appeared and got into a dialogue with him, it turned out she was a Man Utd fan so he gave her stick for that and she sneered "Who do you support? Spurs?" She said she betted she'd been to see United play more often than he'd been to see Spurs play then she gave me pelters for travelling from Portsmouth to watch Walthamstow. She served me a mixed fruit Kopparberg though.
None of the songsters among our supporters appeared to have shown up for this one. I drifted to behind the goal Stow were attacking, and stood next to two fellow Stow fans who turned out to be rugby league fanatics. They spent most of the time talking about the oval ball game, including keeping track on the scores via Twitter.
On the pitch, with the title having been clinched the Walthamstow players seemed to be mentally already on the beach. They rarely got out of second gear and had no reply to a hardworking Hoddesdon team who ran out 2-0 winners. And so the long hike back to the station.
On the station approach road I got chatting with another Walthamstow fan. Looking up at the train board he asked where I was going.
"Waterloo. I live in Portsmouth." I added that I travel to watch Stow every weekend. After praising my dedication, and us agreeing that we both wanted the next train calling at Tottenham Hale (his stop) and Stratford (with its direct link to Waterloo), on the footbridge across to the platform he inevitably asked me the reason for my allegiance to Walthamstow. I explained about my sentimental attachment to East London, my having supported the former Leyton Orient Women, and their becoming London Seaward and forming an alliance with Walthamstow, leading to my decision to follow Stow.
On the platform we speculated which league we might be assigned to next season, and I told him about my tine living in Stratford in the 1990s. He said the place was completely changed now, especially since the Olympics. On the train he told me about his times supporting Hendon as a youngster, and we agreed that we can't much be bothered with the Premier League nowadays as money has ruined it, and noted how the Walthamstow players have a great bond with the fans. He got off at Tottenham Hale and fist-pumped me goodbye and best wishes.
Having found the ground, I moseyed along side streets to come back onto High Road and found a pub called The Golden Lion with a couple of friendly barmaids and a few punters - apparently split between Spurs fans and West Ham fans - engaging in banter with each other as they watched Everton v Man Utd. Chicken Caesar salad for lunch with a leisurely pint of Birra Moretti then made my way back to the ground.
The two ladies staffing the tea hut doubled as barmaids when anyone came to the bar. One of the Walthamstow party was sitting in the clubhouse watching the Everton game so I went over to say hello. He was impressed that I travel from Portsmouth to see the Stow every weekend. One of the tea ladies/barmaids appeared and got into a dialogue with him, it turned out she was a Man Utd fan so he gave her stick for that and she sneered "Who do you support? Spurs?" She said she betted she'd been to see United play more often than he'd been to see Spurs play then she gave me pelters for travelling from Portsmouth to watch Walthamstow. She served me a mixed fruit Kopparberg though.
None of the songsters among our supporters appeared to have shown up for this one. I drifted to behind the goal Stow were attacking, and stood next to two fellow Stow fans who turned out to be rugby league fanatics. They spent most of the time talking about the oval ball game, including keeping track on the scores via Twitter.
On the pitch, with the title having been clinched the Walthamstow players seemed to be mentally already on the beach. They rarely got out of second gear and had no reply to a hardworking Hoddesdon team who ran out 2-0 winners. And so the long hike back to the station.
On the station approach road I got chatting with another Walthamstow fan. Looking up at the train board he asked where I was going.
"Waterloo. I live in Portsmouth." I added that I travel to watch Stow every weekend. After praising my dedication, and us agreeing that we both wanted the next train calling at Tottenham Hale (his stop) and Stratford (with its direct link to Waterloo), on the footbridge across to the platform he inevitably asked me the reason for my allegiance to Walthamstow. I explained about my sentimental attachment to East London, my having supported the former Leyton Orient Women, and their becoming London Seaward and forming an alliance with Walthamstow, leading to my decision to follow Stow.
On the platform we speculated which league we might be assigned to next season, and I told him about my tine living in Stratford in the 1990s. He said the place was completely changed now, especially since the Olympics. On the train he told me about his times supporting Hendon as a youngster, and we agreed that we can't much be bothered with the Premier League nowadays as money has ruined it, and noted how the Walthamstow players have a great bond with the fans. He got off at Tottenham Hale and fist-pumped me goodbye and best wishes.
