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eiffel_71
Arrived at Southampton airport in good time on Monday, to find the place is spartan now. Both the Costa and the restaurant-bar are boarded up with construction work signs; the only outlet in the outer concourse was a WH Smith's. They did sell caffeine-free Coke so I just sat drinking that and reading the latest women's football news online until check-in. The departure lounge at least had an open Costa.
Take-off was announced as delayed 15 minutes to 5pm, then come that time we were still queueing waiting to board. Steph messaged to say they'd arrived at their hotel and that they'd wait for me in the Crown. Our landing was extremely bumpy; it was just as well I hadn't eaten since lunch time as I'd likely have been unable to keep it down. It was a relief to touch down.
By the time I'd got out of baggage reclaim it was just after 7pm, the time our table at the Crown was booked for. As Jill and Steph were staying in the same hotel as me I decided to just take a taxi straight to the Crown. There was a queue at the taxi rank. Cabs came slowly, one at a time. I'd been talking to the couple in front of me; when they got to the front they invited me to join them.
The husband asked what brought me to Belfast. I told him about the women's football international and about my travels over the years following the Lionesses. I'd noticed his Irish Rugby Football Union bag in the boot; he said he'd been around the world with the Irish rugby team and that he'd been a referee, officiating several internationals including Five Nations games. I asked if he was the referee for the famous England v Wales match in 1974 and he said "No, that was another blind Irish referee. My mate John West." The taxi arrived at the couple's home, they said their goodbyes and the husband said "Enjoy your stay, hope you're not too disappointed when Ireland win."
The driver dropped me at the Crown. Steph had messaged to say they were in the upstairs bar. I carted my bags through the busy downstairs bar and up the staircase. Jill, Steph and Rachel were all sitting at a table. We hugged then I went over to the bar to check out the drinks on offer. Steph said it was table service, but it was a fair while before we caught the eye of a waiter. I went for a Belfast Black ale and we ordered food; my first choice of Irish ribeye steak turned out to be off so I opted for Irish stew with soda bread. My food was tasty enough but Steph wasn't amused with hers, she said the bread was frozen. We all talked women's international and men's club football. It was again ages before we got another visit from the bar staff. Steph and Jill said a lot how, having heard this was a great bar, they were feeling let down by the food and the service. Steph insisted to the till lady that she wouldn't pay for her bread and butter because of it being frozen. Happily the lady agreed.
We went on to a nearby Wetherspoons, but there was so much noise we couldn't hear ourselves. Apparently Monday is student night in the bars of Belfast. We did get to move to a table over in a quieter section after a while and Jill, Steph and I talked about the upcoming women's cricket season and showed around our photos of ourselves taken with sportswomen.
Back at the hotel Steph showed me through the onscreen check-in. I watched Coming To America on TV until I crashed out.
We met for breakfast at Maggie May's cafe across the road from the hotel. Rachel joined us. The breakfast menu was problematic for me as I don't do egg, leaving the granola, fruit and yogurt bowl as my only option. Thankfully it was pretty tasty. We'd decided to see the Titanic museum that day so got the bus over there. On the bus, much to our amusement, we saw several graffiti concerning the loose morals of one Grace Skillen. Rachel looked to see if Ms Skillen could be found on social media but had no luck. "Probably Onlyfans," Steph said.
It was raining when we reached the Titanic Museum. We had to hastily make online bookings before going in. It was superb. There was a section on Belfast in the time leading up to Titanic's construction. Rachel had a photo of herself taken with a board saying "England Is Ireland's Enemy". From there there were exhibits about the Belfast linen industry; British and Irish emigration to America at the time; Harland & Wolff; conditions in shipbuilding at the time; the various kinds of people who travelled on the Titanic; and the excitement in Belfast about the launch. Rachel, Jill and I went on a cable car ride showing us what the shipyard would have been like at the time as voices narrated stories told by shipyard workers of the day and locals who went to watch the launch.
After that came sections devoted to the sinking; the rescue of survivors by the Carpathia; stories of various passengers who survived and various who went down; how the news was received in Britain and the USA; the enquiries held on both sides of the Atlantic and the changes that resulted; what became of Titanic's sister ships; and Titanic in popular culture, including posters for, and writeups about, the 1953 and 1997 Titanic films and A Night To Remember. I was sorry the 2012 TV drama series was left out. It occurred to Rachel and me that the Titanic is an icon of popular culture because she sank. If she'd arrived safely in port, then now, 110 years on, she would be forgotten.
Rachel and I hit the souvenir shop where I bought a Titanic polo shirt. We all got the bus to Rachel's hostel and waited for her to check back in (she had different rooms for the two nights). When we walked into reception, Jen from She Kicks, who was sharing a room with Rachel and Natalie, was checking in. We said hello. Rachel had a ticket for the regular seats while Steph, Jill and I had hospitality tickets. In conversation with Jen I said the three of us were in hospitality.
"Which part of the ground?"
"The Billy Bingham Lounge."
"So am I!" Jen exclaimed. Steph said "Aw, look at Rachel's face." I told Rachel that at least she'd be able to sing and shout in support of our team while we'd have to restrain ourselves. Rachel said "I'd rather be in the posh seats with you". Jen said that if her colleague didn't turn up she'd get Rachel in.
We got the bus to the Belfast Royal Naval Association where there was a joint Northern Ireland-England fan meet-up. Deb from the FSA, who I'd seen at Manchester last August and Wembley last October, was there with her Free Lionesses top on; we sat at her table. Amir, the England fan I'd last met in the Czech Republic, and Paul, a groundhopper I knew from Twitter, were also there along with several more England fans and several home fans. We all chatted over a few drinks. While Rachel was outside smoking I slipped Jill and Steph their lanyards with their hospitality passes on. They put them straight round their necks.
Crystal, who'd been staying in Dublin where she'd been at a wedding and was getting the bus up to join us, walked in around 4 pm. She sat at a table with a group of other Man City Women fans and I handed her her lanyard. She took the set of tokens on a hook out of the cardboard holder so I told her "That's your food and drink vouchers."
"Anything else, BITCHES?" exclaimed Rachel sitting nearby.
At 5.15 Crystal, Steph, Jill and I said our goodbyes to the gathering and went to catch the bus to Windsor Park. We went up to the top deck of a pretty full bus and thankfully found seats. From our stop, we walked over to two sets of steps leading down to outside the ground. Jill spotted a steward at the foot of one of the sets of steps and went down to consult him. We went around the corner to a gate where some more people were waiting.
Just after 5.55 a steward asked those of us with hospitality tickets to go on in. We entered through a reception door and went up in a lift. A lady in a suit asked us if we were in the Billy Bingham lounge, we said yes. "Oh, you'll love it there. Very friendly people."
We followed corridors until we reached the lounge, which was decorated with several adverts for Peaky Blinder beer. We cashed in our drink vouchers at the bar to get a pint each and found a table. Crystal spotted Fara Williams standing a little way away and asked us if it would be wrong to go and ask her for a selfie. "No, she'll be fine," I said. Crystal went over to Fara and got a great pic with her.
Before long the serving hatch opened dispensing the gourmet burgers. Jill and I got ours, they were excellent; Steph and Crystal asked if there was a vegetarian option available. A lady in an IFA suit agreed to help and fairly soon they were both brought vegetarian Thai curries. While happy to have been catered for, Steph thought there should have been a veggie option offered at the point of service.
There was a singer/guitarist on stage, initially he played some current hits then he went on to a few Irish classics like Wild Rover and Black Velvet Band. I took a photo of the girls at our table and posted it to Facebook. Rachel commented with a picture of a hot dog, "The last hot dog in the cheap seats".
With kick off approaching, I was stopped on the way to the loo by Jen, who had her colleague Neil and Natalie with her. They talked to me for a while till Jen said "I'd better let you go," nodding in the direction of the toilets. I just made it out to the seats in time for the national anthem.
Northern Ireland, roared on by an almost full stadium, held England for some time. Ellen White missed a couple of chances, drawing derisive remarks from Steph and Jill. Finally we got the ball into the net but the lineslady's flag was up. It wasn't long after that England scored for real; we were sure it was Lauren Hemp who scored (later confirmed) but the announcer credited the goal to Ella Toone. Crystal noted with amusement that the scoreboard was reading 0-2. We briefly mused that the disallowed goal couldn't have counted as it was followed by a goal kick. It wasn't long before the mystery was solved as the scoreboard changed to 0-1.
Half time came and a quick drink and chat with Jen, Neil and Natalie.
Soon after the break Ella Toone made it 2-0 for real and there was only one way the game was going to go from then on. Lauren Hemp scored again and Georgia Stanway bagged a brace. The Irish never stopped battling and during the closing stages we willed them on to score a consolation, but it ended 5-0.
Jill, Steph and I waited back in the lounge while Crystal went down into the main stand to try and meet some of the England players. Crystal came back excitedly showing one of Mary Earps' gloves. She told us how she made her way down towards pitchside, close enough to call out to Mary and ask if she'd do a photo with her, but a steward barred her way and said she couldn't go down there. Mary heard the exchange, tried to throw one of her gloves to Crystal but missed, but succeeded in throwing the second glove up to her. At our table Crystal gleefully examined the glove and showed us the legend '27 MEARPS' on it.
On our way to the exit we stopped to ask Jen, Natalie and Neil where they were going on to. After some discussion they said a bar called Sweet Afton. Amir and Rachel met us outside. It was 35 minutes' walk away, including a walk that took us halfway around the outside of the stadium. Thank goodness the rain had stopped. We arrived at Sweet Afton and eventually got served at the busy bar, by which time Jen, Natalie and Neil had arrived and bagged a large table. We joined them and sat around talking about the game, the upcoming Women's FA Cup semis and Women's Champions' League semis and the summer's Euros until chucking-out time.
We emerged from the pub to find Belfast dead. In contrast to student night on Mondays, on Tuesday nights Belfast goes to sleep at 1 am. We carried on our walking tour of Belfast, plodding the streets to Rachel's hostel, then, on the way to my hotel, saying farewells to Amir and Crystal as they branched off to head for their places. Finally Jill, Steph and I made it back to ours and said goodnight.
The others had filled up with an Ulster Fry at breakfast, so had felt comfortable to dispense with lunch. But all day my total food intake had been a yogurt, granola and fruit bowl, a bag of crisps and a gourmet burger (served on its own, no fries). Along the road from the hotel, a late-opening kebab house The Sphinx came to my rescue with a first-class Doner on pitta bread with Sphinx sauce.
Jill, Steph, Crystal, Rachel, Amir and I met at Maggie May's again on Wednesday morning. Steph said she loved Maggie May's so much she'd like to have a holiday in Belfast and just spend the whole time in there. We all talked about the game, and about women's and men's football in general, clinging on to the last moments of the trip until I was first to have to make a move. Steph pointed out Botanic station to me just a little way along the road, from where trains ran to Belfast City airport. I said my fond farewells to the others and headed to the station.
At Sydenham station I had to cross a road footbridge to a deserted metal gate and bus shelter. Had to use the phone in the shelter to ring for a courtesy bus to take me up to the airport entrance. Check-in for my 2.45pm flight opened at 1pm. I went to bag drop to be told that 1) I'd have to take my normal sized hold-all to Oversize Baggage and 2) the plane had been delayed until 5pm.
After our late night out I was knackered. I went to Starbucks for a coffee and a chicken sandwich then spent the afternoon sitting in a comfortable chair in a near comatose state. Then at 4.30 the departure board suddenly showed 'Due to depart 4.40' but with no gate number. I rushed to the door to the departure gates to, happily, find the other passengers for Southampton also standing there. It wasn't long before we got a gate number and they boarded us quickly. On board, the crew member on the PA explained that our scheduled plane had suffered a technical fault, and that they'd had to get a crew member to travel down from Birmingham to Southampton to cover at no notice, hence the delay. We were airborne at 4.55, made good time on the flight and landed at Southampton soon after 6.
Home to crash out.
Take-off was announced as delayed 15 minutes to 5pm, then come that time we were still queueing waiting to board. Steph messaged to say they'd arrived at their hotel and that they'd wait for me in the Crown. Our landing was extremely bumpy; it was just as well I hadn't eaten since lunch time as I'd likely have been unable to keep it down. It was a relief to touch down.
By the time I'd got out of baggage reclaim it was just after 7pm, the time our table at the Crown was booked for. As Jill and Steph were staying in the same hotel as me I decided to just take a taxi straight to the Crown. There was a queue at the taxi rank. Cabs came slowly, one at a time. I'd been talking to the couple in front of me; when they got to the front they invited me to join them.
The husband asked what brought me to Belfast. I told him about the women's football international and about my travels over the years following the Lionesses. I'd noticed his Irish Rugby Football Union bag in the boot; he said he'd been around the world with the Irish rugby team and that he'd been a referee, officiating several internationals including Five Nations games. I asked if he was the referee for the famous England v Wales match in 1974 and he said "No, that was another blind Irish referee. My mate John West." The taxi arrived at the couple's home, they said their goodbyes and the husband said "Enjoy your stay, hope you're not too disappointed when Ireland win."
The driver dropped me at the Crown. Steph had messaged to say they were in the upstairs bar. I carted my bags through the busy downstairs bar and up the staircase. Jill, Steph and Rachel were all sitting at a table. We hugged then I went over to the bar to check out the drinks on offer. Steph said it was table service, but it was a fair while before we caught the eye of a waiter. I went for a Belfast Black ale and we ordered food; my first choice of Irish ribeye steak turned out to be off so I opted for Irish stew with soda bread. My food was tasty enough but Steph wasn't amused with hers, she said the bread was frozen. We all talked women's international and men's club football. It was again ages before we got another visit from the bar staff. Steph and Jill said a lot how, having heard this was a great bar, they were feeling let down by the food and the service. Steph insisted to the till lady that she wouldn't pay for her bread and butter because of it being frozen. Happily the lady agreed.
We went on to a nearby Wetherspoons, but there was so much noise we couldn't hear ourselves. Apparently Monday is student night in the bars of Belfast. We did get to move to a table over in a quieter section after a while and Jill, Steph and I talked about the upcoming women's cricket season and showed around our photos of ourselves taken with sportswomen.
Back at the hotel Steph showed me through the onscreen check-in. I watched Coming To America on TV until I crashed out.
We met for breakfast at Maggie May's cafe across the road from the hotel. Rachel joined us. The breakfast menu was problematic for me as I don't do egg, leaving the granola, fruit and yogurt bowl as my only option. Thankfully it was pretty tasty. We'd decided to see the Titanic museum that day so got the bus over there. On the bus, much to our amusement, we saw several graffiti concerning the loose morals of one Grace Skillen. Rachel looked to see if Ms Skillen could be found on social media but had no luck. "Probably Onlyfans," Steph said.
It was raining when we reached the Titanic Museum. We had to hastily make online bookings before going in. It was superb. There was a section on Belfast in the time leading up to Titanic's construction. Rachel had a photo of herself taken with a board saying "England Is Ireland's Enemy". From there there were exhibits about the Belfast linen industry; British and Irish emigration to America at the time; Harland & Wolff; conditions in shipbuilding at the time; the various kinds of people who travelled on the Titanic; and the excitement in Belfast about the launch. Rachel, Jill and I went on a cable car ride showing us what the shipyard would have been like at the time as voices narrated stories told by shipyard workers of the day and locals who went to watch the launch.
After that came sections devoted to the sinking; the rescue of survivors by the Carpathia; stories of various passengers who survived and various who went down; how the news was received in Britain and the USA; the enquiries held on both sides of the Atlantic and the changes that resulted; what became of Titanic's sister ships; and Titanic in popular culture, including posters for, and writeups about, the 1953 and 1997 Titanic films and A Night To Remember. I was sorry the 2012 TV drama series was left out. It occurred to Rachel and me that the Titanic is an icon of popular culture because she sank. If she'd arrived safely in port, then now, 110 years on, she would be forgotten.
Rachel and I hit the souvenir shop where I bought a Titanic polo shirt. We all got the bus to Rachel's hostel and waited for her to check back in (she had different rooms for the two nights). When we walked into reception, Jen from She Kicks, who was sharing a room with Rachel and Natalie, was checking in. We said hello. Rachel had a ticket for the regular seats while Steph, Jill and I had hospitality tickets. In conversation with Jen I said the three of us were in hospitality.
"Which part of the ground?"
"The Billy Bingham Lounge."
"So am I!" Jen exclaimed. Steph said "Aw, look at Rachel's face." I told Rachel that at least she'd be able to sing and shout in support of our team while we'd have to restrain ourselves. Rachel said "I'd rather be in the posh seats with you". Jen said that if her colleague didn't turn up she'd get Rachel in.
We got the bus to the Belfast Royal Naval Association where there was a joint Northern Ireland-England fan meet-up. Deb from the FSA, who I'd seen at Manchester last August and Wembley last October, was there with her Free Lionesses top on; we sat at her table. Amir, the England fan I'd last met in the Czech Republic, and Paul, a groundhopper I knew from Twitter, were also there along with several more England fans and several home fans. We all chatted over a few drinks. While Rachel was outside smoking I slipped Jill and Steph their lanyards with their hospitality passes on. They put them straight round their necks.
Crystal, who'd been staying in Dublin where she'd been at a wedding and was getting the bus up to join us, walked in around 4 pm. She sat at a table with a group of other Man City Women fans and I handed her her lanyard. She took the set of tokens on a hook out of the cardboard holder so I told her "That's your food and drink vouchers."
"Anything else, BITCHES?" exclaimed Rachel sitting nearby.
At 5.15 Crystal, Steph, Jill and I said our goodbyes to the gathering and went to catch the bus to Windsor Park. We went up to the top deck of a pretty full bus and thankfully found seats. From our stop, we walked over to two sets of steps leading down to outside the ground. Jill spotted a steward at the foot of one of the sets of steps and went down to consult him. We went around the corner to a gate where some more people were waiting.
Just after 5.55 a steward asked those of us with hospitality tickets to go on in. We entered through a reception door and went up in a lift. A lady in a suit asked us if we were in the Billy Bingham lounge, we said yes. "Oh, you'll love it there. Very friendly people."
We followed corridors until we reached the lounge, which was decorated with several adverts for Peaky Blinder beer. We cashed in our drink vouchers at the bar to get a pint each and found a table. Crystal spotted Fara Williams standing a little way away and asked us if it would be wrong to go and ask her for a selfie. "No, she'll be fine," I said. Crystal went over to Fara and got a great pic with her.
Before long the serving hatch opened dispensing the gourmet burgers. Jill and I got ours, they were excellent; Steph and Crystal asked if there was a vegetarian option available. A lady in an IFA suit agreed to help and fairly soon they were both brought vegetarian Thai curries. While happy to have been catered for, Steph thought there should have been a veggie option offered at the point of service.
There was a singer/guitarist on stage, initially he played some current hits then he went on to a few Irish classics like Wild Rover and Black Velvet Band. I took a photo of the girls at our table and posted it to Facebook. Rachel commented with a picture of a hot dog, "The last hot dog in the cheap seats".
With kick off approaching, I was stopped on the way to the loo by Jen, who had her colleague Neil and Natalie with her. They talked to me for a while till Jen said "I'd better let you go," nodding in the direction of the toilets. I just made it out to the seats in time for the national anthem.
Northern Ireland, roared on by an almost full stadium, held England for some time. Ellen White missed a couple of chances, drawing derisive remarks from Steph and Jill. Finally we got the ball into the net but the lineslady's flag was up. It wasn't long after that England scored for real; we were sure it was Lauren Hemp who scored (later confirmed) but the announcer credited the goal to Ella Toone. Crystal noted with amusement that the scoreboard was reading 0-2. We briefly mused that the disallowed goal couldn't have counted as it was followed by a goal kick. It wasn't long before the mystery was solved as the scoreboard changed to 0-1.
Half time came and a quick drink and chat with Jen, Neil and Natalie.
Soon after the break Ella Toone made it 2-0 for real and there was only one way the game was going to go from then on. Lauren Hemp scored again and Georgia Stanway bagged a brace. The Irish never stopped battling and during the closing stages we willed them on to score a consolation, but it ended 5-0.
Jill, Steph and I waited back in the lounge while Crystal went down into the main stand to try and meet some of the England players. Crystal came back excitedly showing one of Mary Earps' gloves. She told us how she made her way down towards pitchside, close enough to call out to Mary and ask if she'd do a photo with her, but a steward barred her way and said she couldn't go down there. Mary heard the exchange, tried to throw one of her gloves to Crystal but missed, but succeeded in throwing the second glove up to her. At our table Crystal gleefully examined the glove and showed us the legend '27 MEARPS' on it.
On our way to the exit we stopped to ask Jen, Natalie and Neil where they were going on to. After some discussion they said a bar called Sweet Afton. Amir and Rachel met us outside. It was 35 minutes' walk away, including a walk that took us halfway around the outside of the stadium. Thank goodness the rain had stopped. We arrived at Sweet Afton and eventually got served at the busy bar, by which time Jen, Natalie and Neil had arrived and bagged a large table. We joined them and sat around talking about the game, the upcoming Women's FA Cup semis and Women's Champions' League semis and the summer's Euros until chucking-out time.
We emerged from the pub to find Belfast dead. In contrast to student night on Mondays, on Tuesday nights Belfast goes to sleep at 1 am. We carried on our walking tour of Belfast, plodding the streets to Rachel's hostel, then, on the way to my hotel, saying farewells to Amir and Crystal as they branched off to head for their places. Finally Jill, Steph and I made it back to ours and said goodnight.
The others had filled up with an Ulster Fry at breakfast, so had felt comfortable to dispense with lunch. But all day my total food intake had been a yogurt, granola and fruit bowl, a bag of crisps and a gourmet burger (served on its own, no fries). Along the road from the hotel, a late-opening kebab house The Sphinx came to my rescue with a first-class Doner on pitta bread with Sphinx sauce.
Jill, Steph, Crystal, Rachel, Amir and I met at Maggie May's again on Wednesday morning. Steph said she loved Maggie May's so much she'd like to have a holiday in Belfast and just spend the whole time in there. We all talked about the game, and about women's and men's football in general, clinging on to the last moments of the trip until I was first to have to make a move. Steph pointed out Botanic station to me just a little way along the road, from where trains ran to Belfast City airport. I said my fond farewells to the others and headed to the station.
At Sydenham station I had to cross a road footbridge to a deserted metal gate and bus shelter. Had to use the phone in the shelter to ring for a courtesy bus to take me up to the airport entrance. Check-in for my 2.45pm flight opened at 1pm. I went to bag drop to be told that 1) I'd have to take my normal sized hold-all to Oversize Baggage and 2) the plane had been delayed until 5pm.
After our late night out I was knackered. I went to Starbucks for a coffee and a chicken sandwich then spent the afternoon sitting in a comfortable chair in a near comatose state. Then at 4.30 the departure board suddenly showed 'Due to depart 4.40' but with no gate number. I rushed to the door to the departure gates to, happily, find the other passengers for Southampton also standing there. It wasn't long before we got a gate number and they boarded us quickly. On board, the crew member on the PA explained that our scheduled plane had suffered a technical fault, and that they'd had to get a crew member to travel down from Birmingham to Southampton to cover at no notice, hence the delay. We were airborne at 4.55, made good time on the flight and landed at Southampton soon after 6.
Home to crash out.
