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The Right To Be Italian
May. 9th, 2022 08:49 pmYesterday AFC Portchester Ladies played Eastleigh Ladies Reserves in the Hampshire Trophy Final at Basingstoke. I went on the coach with the team and the Portchester supporters’ club The Arancione, who model themselves on Italian ultras but with tongue in cheek.
We gathered at the clubhouse for breakfast before the coach set off. Long catch-up chat with Lewis, organiser of the Arancione, who I’d last seen in October 2020; he was delighted to have me back in the fold. Met another Portchester fan, Nigel, who had plenty of anecdotes to tell about his travels watching football around Eastern Europe and former Soviet Central Asia. Several of the players also remembered me and came over and said hello; Sam Jennings, who I first met back when she was one of the inaugural Havant Ladies team in 2006, was over the moon to see me and stopped by me for a long chat. Also spoke to Mark the manager who talked about his hopes for next season.
Seeing a lady who looked familiar I said “Hello, Michele,” since Michele is a Portchester player although she hasn’t been getting in the side lately. It turned out to be not Michele but her sister Stacy, who plays for another grass roots local side but was coming along to give the Royals a cheer.
The coach ride to Basingstoke went without a hitch though we did have to live with one of the girls blasting out dance music on her phone. Well, they all seemed to love it, so if it got them psyched and ready for the game it was worth it. On the way through Basingstoke there was a rather sad sight through the coach window, the disused Camrose Stadium, former home of Basingstoke Town FC, still looking like it could stage matches.
We arrived at the Winklebury sports complex where there was a men’s match in progress on the pitch. It was boiling hot. I hit the tea bar for something to eat and a cold can and went to sit in the shade of the stand behind the goal. After the men’s game ended and the teams were presented with their medals, I was told by a Hampshire FA official in a blazer that the kick-off of our match had been put back half an hour.
Nigel came up to the front of the stand and asked if I wanted to head to the pub since we now had an hour to wait. After a couple more of the Portchester party, who were picnicking on the grass outside the ground, had warned us to avoid the Winkle pub as they said it looked grotty, Lewis, Nigel, Sophie (Sam’s fiancée) and I walked the short distance to The Spruce Goose. Nigel treated us all to drinks; I went for a strawberry Rekorderlig with ice. We sat chatting at an outside table for a while then strolled back to the ground.
Lewis led us to a spot at pitchside right in the blazing sun. We soon twigged that he wanted to stand there as it was a good place to put his flags up. He did spray us all with sun tan lotion though. We were joined by Dave, who Nigel introduced to us as a legendary groundhopper; he claimed a total of 1020 grounds, although in conversation it emerged that that figure includes rugby.
The girls got off to a dream start when Eilidh Currie raced into the area to slot home an early goal. Lewis led us in singing ‘do do do do do do, Eilidh Currie’ to the Pigbag tune. We did a few choruses of ‘Portchester, la la la’ throughout the half and, after Nigel made a jibe about our opponents being from Eastleigh, I led a chant of ‘East Hampshire, la la la’ which the others all joined in. Portchester continued to have the better of the action with the defence soaking up Eastleigh’s occasional forays forward.
Was most of the half-time break queueing for a hot dog and a bottle of water, but made it to the point on the near side of the ground where Lewis had moved the flags to, close to the goal Portchester would be attacking in the second half, before the restart. In the remaining moments of half time I bumped separately into both Michelle and Lauren, two former Havant Ladies; got warm friendly greetings from both.
Charmaine True made it 2-0 early in the half and from then on there was only one team in it. Late on Charmaine struck again to seal the win.
We headed for the centre to get a good view of the presentation. Lewis gave Sam the ‘AFC Portchester - Pride of Wessex’ flag for the girls to display for the photos. The match officials and the Eastleigh players got their medals, then Sam was presented with the Player of the Match award then our girls received their medals and finally the Cup. Captain Lynsey Crewe hoisted the Cup into the air to a mighty cheer then she passed it round the others and they took turns to wave it about.
As we waited after the players had gone down the tunnel, Lewis told us that back in Portchester there’d be a curry for everyone at the clubhouse.
The girls must have showered quick as it wasn’t long before they emerged from the ground in their tracksuits and we all piled back onto the coach. As soon as everyone was seated Mark stood up to congratulate all the players on their performance and thank us supporters for coming. One of the players started the whole bus singing ‘Championi, championi, olé olé olé’ then another girl put on Queen’s We Are The Champions and everybody sang along, belting it out.
The journey home flew by in a daze and then Nigel and I were first into the clubhouse. “Are you with the Ladies?” one of the barmaids asked, we said we were, and both the barmaids took up position behind the bar. Once we were all sat at tables with drinks, Lynsey went over to the music pad in the corner and put We Are The Champions on again. Another chat with Lewis as he told me about the Arancione’s plans for making a weekend event out of one of the away trips next season, and how a weekend in Germany would be a possible after Christmas. We began to talk about the Women’s Euros this summer - Lewis is also going to a couple of games - and discussed the Lionesses’ chances.
Right on cue, one of the girls put Whole Again on the music pad. Naturally I sang along with the chorus - “Wiegman you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again”. Lewis joined in for the second chorus; by the last one all the girls were singing it.
After a couple of pints, the curry was finally served; we were offered Chinese or Indian. I went for the Chinese, a chicken curry with rice, quite tasty. Said my goodbyes with Mark saying thanks for coming, and hugs and kisses from several of the girls.
We gathered at the clubhouse for breakfast before the coach set off. Long catch-up chat with Lewis, organiser of the Arancione, who I’d last seen in October 2020; he was delighted to have me back in the fold. Met another Portchester fan, Nigel, who had plenty of anecdotes to tell about his travels watching football around Eastern Europe and former Soviet Central Asia. Several of the players also remembered me and came over and said hello; Sam Jennings, who I first met back when she was one of the inaugural Havant Ladies team in 2006, was over the moon to see me and stopped by me for a long chat. Also spoke to Mark the manager who talked about his hopes for next season.
Seeing a lady who looked familiar I said “Hello, Michele,” since Michele is a Portchester player although she hasn’t been getting in the side lately. It turned out to be not Michele but her sister Stacy, who plays for another grass roots local side but was coming along to give the Royals a cheer.
The coach ride to Basingstoke went without a hitch though we did have to live with one of the girls blasting out dance music on her phone. Well, they all seemed to love it, so if it got them psyched and ready for the game it was worth it. On the way through Basingstoke there was a rather sad sight through the coach window, the disused Camrose Stadium, former home of Basingstoke Town FC, still looking like it could stage matches.
We arrived at the Winklebury sports complex where there was a men’s match in progress on the pitch. It was boiling hot. I hit the tea bar for something to eat and a cold can and went to sit in the shade of the stand behind the goal. After the men’s game ended and the teams were presented with their medals, I was told by a Hampshire FA official in a blazer that the kick-off of our match had been put back half an hour.
Nigel came up to the front of the stand and asked if I wanted to head to the pub since we now had an hour to wait. After a couple more of the Portchester party, who were picnicking on the grass outside the ground, had warned us to avoid the Winkle pub as they said it looked grotty, Lewis, Nigel, Sophie (Sam’s fiancée) and I walked the short distance to The Spruce Goose. Nigel treated us all to drinks; I went for a strawberry Rekorderlig with ice. We sat chatting at an outside table for a while then strolled back to the ground.
Lewis led us to a spot at pitchside right in the blazing sun. We soon twigged that he wanted to stand there as it was a good place to put his flags up. He did spray us all with sun tan lotion though. We were joined by Dave, who Nigel introduced to us as a legendary groundhopper; he claimed a total of 1020 grounds, although in conversation it emerged that that figure includes rugby.
The girls got off to a dream start when Eilidh Currie raced into the area to slot home an early goal. Lewis led us in singing ‘do do do do do do, Eilidh Currie’ to the Pigbag tune. We did a few choruses of ‘Portchester, la la la’ throughout the half and, after Nigel made a jibe about our opponents being from Eastleigh, I led a chant of ‘East Hampshire, la la la’ which the others all joined in. Portchester continued to have the better of the action with the defence soaking up Eastleigh’s occasional forays forward.
Was most of the half-time break queueing for a hot dog and a bottle of water, but made it to the point on the near side of the ground where Lewis had moved the flags to, close to the goal Portchester would be attacking in the second half, before the restart. In the remaining moments of half time I bumped separately into both Michelle and Lauren, two former Havant Ladies; got warm friendly greetings from both.
Charmaine True made it 2-0 early in the half and from then on there was only one team in it. Late on Charmaine struck again to seal the win.
We headed for the centre to get a good view of the presentation. Lewis gave Sam the ‘AFC Portchester - Pride of Wessex’ flag for the girls to display for the photos. The match officials and the Eastleigh players got their medals, then Sam was presented with the Player of the Match award then our girls received their medals and finally the Cup. Captain Lynsey Crewe hoisted the Cup into the air to a mighty cheer then she passed it round the others and they took turns to wave it about.
As we waited after the players had gone down the tunnel, Lewis told us that back in Portchester there’d be a curry for everyone at the clubhouse.
The girls must have showered quick as it wasn’t long before they emerged from the ground in their tracksuits and we all piled back onto the coach. As soon as everyone was seated Mark stood up to congratulate all the players on their performance and thank us supporters for coming. One of the players started the whole bus singing ‘Championi, championi, olé olé olé’ then another girl put on Queen’s We Are The Champions and everybody sang along, belting it out.
The journey home flew by in a daze and then Nigel and I were first into the clubhouse. “Are you with the Ladies?” one of the barmaids asked, we said we were, and both the barmaids took up position behind the bar. Once we were all sat at tables with drinks, Lynsey went over to the music pad in the corner and put We Are The Champions on again. Another chat with Lewis as he told me about the Arancione’s plans for making a weekend event out of one of the away trips next season, and how a weekend in Germany would be a possible after Christmas. We began to talk about the Women’s Euros this summer - Lewis is also going to a couple of games - and discussed the Lionesses’ chances.
Right on cue, one of the girls put Whole Again on the music pad. Naturally I sang along with the chorus - “Wiegman you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again”. Lewis joined in for the second chorus; by the last one all the girls were singing it.
After a couple of pints, the curry was finally served; we were offered Chinese or Indian. I went for the Chinese, a chicken curry with rice, quite tasty. Said my goodbyes with Mark saying thanks for coming, and hugs and kisses from several of the girls.
