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Rocket Man
To Nottingham last Thursday for a sporting weekend. On the walk from the station up to my hotel was Hopkinson's, an eclectic conglomeration of shops, many dealing in retro items. A standing board outside advertised £10 Thursday haircuts at a barber's within Hopkinson's called the Dandy Gent. I went up there. The shop had a wonderful selection of nostalgic items on display and offered free Uncle Joe's Mint Balls on the tables where you sat to wait. I sucked on a mint ball, but the lady there said they were fully booked.
Friday I met up with Jill and Steph at the Brewhouse. They were accompanied by two surprise guests - Jules and Alice, whom I hadn't expected to see till Sunday. We got drinks in - I went for the house oatmeal stout Knight Light - and compared female sporting crushes till it was time to head into the ground.
We had decent seats in the fourth row from the front. Birmingham Phoenix were the opposition, and Jill and Steph lamented that the Covid situation with New Zealand had kept Sophie Devine - a crush of both of them - from joining the Phoenix for this Hundred. Sammy-Jo Johnson and Rachel Priest got the Rockets off to a decent start, but when their departures were followed by Natalie Sciver and Katherine Brunt going cheaply in quick succession we had a feeling the Rockets wouldn't make enough and indeed their total of 125 was overtaken by the Phoenix with six balls to spare.
I made for the Leg Before Fillet van for an excellent chicken and sour cream wrap and their very tasty chicken goujons and curly fries. (If that seems excessive, it was after 5pm and I hadn't eaten since breakfast apart from an ice cream on my way into the ground.) We stayed for the men's match, then the others said their goodbyes and I moseyed back to the hotel.
Saturday I day-tripped from Nottingham to London for Clapton Community's opening game of the season at home to FC Soma. On my way through Walthamstow pre-match I called at Five Guys for lunch then crossed the road to Creams for some excellent Italian gelato. The game was again being played on the 3G (the Stray Dog was apparently waterlogged) so we had to gather around the outside of the cage. I joined the Brigata Ultra Clapton behind the goal, and for the second half was called on to carry and wave one of the flags. Despite the inconvenience of watching through a cage, the CCFC fans kept up the usual constant chanting but on the pitch the team slid to a 4-2 defeat.
Sunday Jules, Alice, Jill, Steph and I were joined by Sarah and Tina for Trent Rockets v Manchester Originals. Lancastrians Sarah and Tina were supporting the visitors. We gathered at the Brewhouse again, but much to our chagrin they were only serving food to people who'd booked tables. We sat again at the big outside table, settling for a couple of rounds of beers (I went for dark German and Belgian numbers) and reminiscing about past England Women football trips. With Alice in danger of becoming hangry we decided to enter the ground early and all get food at the stalls - naturally I went to Leg Before Fillet again, joined by Jules and Alice, who both gave the chicken and curly fries their seal of approval.
We had seats high in the stand this time. Jill and Steph were sitting in the next block to the rest of us, but in the same row. Jules had brought her opera glasses, the better to observe Lucy Higham. From the opening 15 balls, as the Rockets scored at a slow rate, we knew it wouldn't be their day. For Manchester, brilliant innings by Emma Lamb and Lizelle Lee saw them home comfortably.
Jill and Steph came over. With the skies looking threatening, we decided to forgo the men's game and go for a couple more beers and look for a place to eat (pointing at Sarah and Tina, Jill added "We should leave these two Originals fans behind". By the time we'd had a couple of rounds in the Brewhouse, it was getting on for 8pm and the local hostelries and eateries Jules was phoning were all saying they stopped serving food at 8. We found Alice's suggestion of Annie's Burger Shack amusing, but a phone call to them produced the same result. Tina had suggested going to Hooters, which initially had been met with derision but which, in desperation, we now settled on, but phoning them we were told...no food after 8.15.
Sarah, Tina and I were in the same hotel so we all settled on going back there, knowing that if the bar was no longer serving meals we could at least get Pot Noodles and snacks from the little shop in reception. Happily, when we arrived in the bar, the barmaid agreed to go and ask if they could squeeze us in for food before they closed and the chef agreed. We unwound with the hotel's excellent grub over more drinks (I was on the strawberry Kopparberg now) as I told the story of my night in Hooters in Nashville during SheBelieves 2019 with the UK women's football media corps (when I said "one of our party was too cheap to pay the $5 admission fee to the karaoke bar", Jules asked "Was it Rachel?" Rachel wasn't on that trip, but I didn't burst her bubble and just said I didn't remember) and the girls told assorted tales of their lives and loves.
After we'd said our goodbyes I went up to my room to find the card key wouldn't open the door. Twice the reception lady tried to reprogramme my card key and twice more I remained locked out. Returning to reception for the third time I was starting to genuinely panic, but after a ten minute wait the lady found a man to accompany me to my room and open the door with his master key. So at least I was back in, but confined to my room until check out the following morning. Thankfully all guests had a continental breakfast bag left outside their rooms in the mornings, but it meant having to miss out on their excellent cooked breakfast. So on any future trips to Nottingham it's the Premier Inn for me instead.
Friday I met up with Jill and Steph at the Brewhouse. They were accompanied by two surprise guests - Jules and Alice, whom I hadn't expected to see till Sunday. We got drinks in - I went for the house oatmeal stout Knight Light - and compared female sporting crushes till it was time to head into the ground.
We had decent seats in the fourth row from the front. Birmingham Phoenix were the opposition, and Jill and Steph lamented that the Covid situation with New Zealand had kept Sophie Devine - a crush of both of them - from joining the Phoenix for this Hundred. Sammy-Jo Johnson and Rachel Priest got the Rockets off to a decent start, but when their departures were followed by Natalie Sciver and Katherine Brunt going cheaply in quick succession we had a feeling the Rockets wouldn't make enough and indeed their total of 125 was overtaken by the Phoenix with six balls to spare.
I made for the Leg Before Fillet van for an excellent chicken and sour cream wrap and their very tasty chicken goujons and curly fries. (If that seems excessive, it was after 5pm and I hadn't eaten since breakfast apart from an ice cream on my way into the ground.) We stayed for the men's match, then the others said their goodbyes and I moseyed back to the hotel.
Saturday I day-tripped from Nottingham to London for Clapton Community's opening game of the season at home to FC Soma. On my way through Walthamstow pre-match I called at Five Guys for lunch then crossed the road to Creams for some excellent Italian gelato. The game was again being played on the 3G (the Stray Dog was apparently waterlogged) so we had to gather around the outside of the cage. I joined the Brigata Ultra Clapton behind the goal, and for the second half was called on to carry and wave one of the flags. Despite the inconvenience of watching through a cage, the CCFC fans kept up the usual constant chanting but on the pitch the team slid to a 4-2 defeat.
Sunday Jules, Alice, Jill, Steph and I were joined by Sarah and Tina for Trent Rockets v Manchester Originals. Lancastrians Sarah and Tina were supporting the visitors. We gathered at the Brewhouse again, but much to our chagrin they were only serving food to people who'd booked tables. We sat again at the big outside table, settling for a couple of rounds of beers (I went for dark German and Belgian numbers) and reminiscing about past England Women football trips. With Alice in danger of becoming hangry we decided to enter the ground early and all get food at the stalls - naturally I went to Leg Before Fillet again, joined by Jules and Alice, who both gave the chicken and curly fries their seal of approval.
We had seats high in the stand this time. Jill and Steph were sitting in the next block to the rest of us, but in the same row. Jules had brought her opera glasses, the better to observe Lucy Higham. From the opening 15 balls, as the Rockets scored at a slow rate, we knew it wouldn't be their day. For Manchester, brilliant innings by Emma Lamb and Lizelle Lee saw them home comfortably.
Jill and Steph came over. With the skies looking threatening, we decided to forgo the men's game and go for a couple more beers and look for a place to eat (pointing at Sarah and Tina, Jill added "We should leave these two Originals fans behind". By the time we'd had a couple of rounds in the Brewhouse, it was getting on for 8pm and the local hostelries and eateries Jules was phoning were all saying they stopped serving food at 8. We found Alice's suggestion of Annie's Burger Shack amusing, but a phone call to them produced the same result. Tina had suggested going to Hooters, which initially had been met with derision but which, in desperation, we now settled on, but phoning them we were told...no food after 8.15.
Sarah, Tina and I were in the same hotel so we all settled on going back there, knowing that if the bar was no longer serving meals we could at least get Pot Noodles and snacks from the little shop in reception. Happily, when we arrived in the bar, the barmaid agreed to go and ask if they could squeeze us in for food before they closed and the chef agreed. We unwound with the hotel's excellent grub over more drinks (I was on the strawberry Kopparberg now) as I told the story of my night in Hooters in Nashville during SheBelieves 2019 with the UK women's football media corps (when I said "one of our party was too cheap to pay the $5 admission fee to the karaoke bar", Jules asked "Was it Rachel?" Rachel wasn't on that trip, but I didn't burst her bubble and just said I didn't remember) and the girls told assorted tales of their lives and loves.
After we'd said our goodbyes I went up to my room to find the card key wouldn't open the door. Twice the reception lady tried to reprogramme my card key and twice more I remained locked out. Returning to reception for the third time I was starting to genuinely panic, but after a ten minute wait the lady found a man to accompany me to my room and open the door with his master key. So at least I was back in, but confined to my room until check out the following morning. Thankfully all guests had a continental breakfast bag left outside their rooms in the mornings, but it meant having to miss out on their excellent cooked breakfast. So on any future trips to Nottingham it's the Premier Inn for me instead.
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I suspect that will change soon!
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