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eiffel_71
Travelled up to Norwich yesterday for Atlético London’s last game of the season, away at Wroxham, today. Staying in the Norwich Nelson Premier Inn as it’s familiar to me and handy for the station.
Short hop on the train from Norwich to Hoveton & Wroxham. Pleasant walk to the ground. On the way along Hoveton’s main street was Charlotte’s Creamery, an ice cream stall selling a wide variety of flavours run by a friendly lady. She was talking to the couple she was serving about the hurdles she faced importing some of her goods because of Brexit. I went for a waffle cone with two scoops - Turkish delight and bubble gum flavours - very tasty.
I arrived outside the ground as a few Atlético people were pulling up in cars. We said hello and walked round to the entrance. A bit of a chat with the clubhouse’s affable barmaid and a pint of a Norfolk dark fruit cider called Black Adder.
It wasn’t long before more of our girls arrived. I got a bit of a chat at the bar with the lovely Jo. She said that compared to the M1, they’d found the M11 a breeze. Obviously they missed out on the occasional Norfolk problem of getting stuck behind a tractor on a country road.
A young chap was standing at the perimeter fence by the Atleti dugout and started to talk to me. He turned out to be the brother of one of our players, seeing us play for the first time. I got a word with a couple of our regulars as they spoke to our media man, setting up his tall camera stick.
Both teams were evenly matched. Jo had a great game throughout at centre-back and Alex in our goal made several excellent saves. Brooke rolled another goal home to give us the lead midway through the first half and Wroxham equalised with a thunderer from the edge of the box just before the break. At half time the hot food was served from the clubhouse bar, same queue as the drinks. My burger with onions was first class.
A brief hailstorm started towards the end of half-time and carried on for several minutes into the second half, resulting in the players being taken off for a few minutes. The storm soon passed and the game resumed. Wroxham thought they had a shout for a penalty, but the ref gave a corner- rightly in my view, and that of the two home fans sitting behind me. Atleti continued to make forays forward but were unable to convert; Wroxham had their share of attacks but the efforts of the defence led by Jo, and Alex, ensured the game ended as a draw.
Billy, one of the coaches, gave the team a talk at the end of the match, saying they’d done well to go unbeaten since Christmas after making a shaky start to the season. One of the girls wasn’t impressed with the officiating and said so to me and a couple of other fans. The team and staff all lined up for a group photo, then headed down the tunnel. Jo stopped by me and said “see you next season”; I asked if we could do a photo and she did a selfie with me.
I headed back into the bar, thinking the girls might stick around, and ordered another Black Adder. A Wroxham fan waiting at the bar said the officiating had been poor; I told him that if it was any consolation our girls had thought the same. As I sat drinking it became clear that the Atleti party had left straight away. When I’d drunk up I thanked the barmaid and said “see you next season”. She said “At least you stayed, not like your ladies”. Oh dear. Away teams are expected to stay, and partake in the food laid on by the home club, but I’m sure it was nothing more sinister than our lot wanting to get away because they had a long journey back to London.
Walked back to the station and found nearly an hour’s wait for the next train. Must have just missed one having that solo drink. Still made it back to the hotel for Emmerdale.
Short hop on the train from Norwich to Hoveton & Wroxham. Pleasant walk to the ground. On the way along Hoveton’s main street was Charlotte’s Creamery, an ice cream stall selling a wide variety of flavours run by a friendly lady. She was talking to the couple she was serving about the hurdles she faced importing some of her goods because of Brexit. I went for a waffle cone with two scoops - Turkish delight and bubble gum flavours - very tasty.
I arrived outside the ground as a few Atlético people were pulling up in cars. We said hello and walked round to the entrance. A bit of a chat with the clubhouse’s affable barmaid and a pint of a Norfolk dark fruit cider called Black Adder.
It wasn’t long before more of our girls arrived. I got a bit of a chat at the bar with the lovely Jo. She said that compared to the M1, they’d found the M11 a breeze. Obviously they missed out on the occasional Norfolk problem of getting stuck behind a tractor on a country road.
A young chap was standing at the perimeter fence by the Atleti dugout and started to talk to me. He turned out to be the brother of one of our players, seeing us play for the first time. I got a word with a couple of our regulars as they spoke to our media man, setting up his tall camera stick.
Both teams were evenly matched. Jo had a great game throughout at centre-back and Alex in our goal made several excellent saves. Brooke rolled another goal home to give us the lead midway through the first half and Wroxham equalised with a thunderer from the edge of the box just before the break. At half time the hot food was served from the clubhouse bar, same queue as the drinks. My burger with onions was first class.
A brief hailstorm started towards the end of half-time and carried on for several minutes into the second half, resulting in the players being taken off for a few minutes. The storm soon passed and the game resumed. Wroxham thought they had a shout for a penalty, but the ref gave a corner- rightly in my view, and that of the two home fans sitting behind me. Atleti continued to make forays forward but were unable to convert; Wroxham had their share of attacks but the efforts of the defence led by Jo, and Alex, ensured the game ended as a draw.
Billy, one of the coaches, gave the team a talk at the end of the match, saying they’d done well to go unbeaten since Christmas after making a shaky start to the season. One of the girls wasn’t impressed with the officiating and said so to me and a couple of other fans. The team and staff all lined up for a group photo, then headed down the tunnel. Jo stopped by me and said “see you next season”; I asked if we could do a photo and she did a selfie with me.
I headed back into the bar, thinking the girls might stick around, and ordered another Black Adder. A Wroxham fan waiting at the bar said the officiating had been poor; I told him that if it was any consolation our girls had thought the same. As I sat drinking it became clear that the Atleti party had left straight away. When I’d drunk up I thanked the barmaid and said “see you next season”. She said “At least you stayed, not like your ladies”. Oh dear. Away teams are expected to stay, and partake in the food laid on by the home club, but I’m sure it was nothing more sinister than our lot wanting to get away because they had a long journey back to London.
Walked back to the station and found nearly an hour’s wait for the next train. Must have just missed one having that solo drink. Still made it back to the hotel for Emmerdale.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-11 03:58 pm (UTC)Wroxham sounds quite lovely. I hope I'll have a chance to look around some when I eventually get there.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-11 04:22 pm (UTC)