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I Miss The Away Days – Blooming Pandemic!

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Written by 4FCB

I don’t know about anyone else, but I blooming miss the away days.

Getting up early on a Saturday morning, invariably it was starting to get chillier towards the end of September. Showered and ready, out the door to the car that’s waiting, preferring to drives myself. The first job was to stop and fill the fuel tank up, settle back into the driver’s seat and off, A31, M27, M3 and more than likely heading north on the A34.

Seeing other Cherry cars on the road that you wave to and then catching up and overtaking the first of the supporter’s coaches that started off earlier.

Warwick Services on the M40 (the last place I talked with dear old Mick Cunningham on the way to Stoke) would be the first comfort break, grab a cuppa and something to munch. The supporters coaches pulling in, not just AFCB but other teams as well, all ‘comrades’ on the road to meet up and make up their particular ‘barmy army’. Exchanging banter, having a laugh and then wishing them “good luck for today”.

Back on to the motorway and either heading up to the M6 Toll Road or straight up the M42 / A42 towards the M1 and onto your destination.

Meeting mates at the ground, a pint and a pasty or pie …. or both …. having a laugh. Getting to your seat, where back in the old days you had the choice of a few hundred places, then the away section starting to roll in, Red n’ Black shirts, scarves and ‘colours’ everywhere. The first chants and claps as the team come out to warm up.

Looking around for any mate that you haven’t seen yet. Phone the Mrs, send someone a photo of the ground, which again back in the old days was invariably a shyte-hole, and then the songs would start as the teams came out.

Acknowledging the manager, whoever it was at the time, with a song … “Pulis, Pulis, give us a wave” not being certain whether he was waving back or sticking a finger up to you.

The game starts and the rain pours, would we win? Draw perhaps? But more often than not, we’d lose to a late goal put in by the local hero.

Having sung to the ref and the linos that they should stick to their day jobs of being a banker, you’d then start to pour out of the gates at the end of the game, heading for the car and all you can hear were local accents talking about how dirty John Bailey or Stevie Robinson had been, forgetting that their particular version of Charlie Adams had nigh-on broken one of our player’s legs.

In the car, switch on 5 Live and the music ‘Out Of The Blue” for Sports Report to get a rundown of the day’s results. Who won, who lost, trying to work out where AFCB would be in the league.

It’s getting darker and you’re travelling back the way you came. Warwick Services – South for a toilet stop, grab a burger and drink, probably fill the fuel tank again and back on the road.

Getting home, kiss the Mrs, stroke the dogs and settle back in your chair to watch Match of the Day ….. or in my case, fall asleep during MOTD. Getting into bed and questioning yourself as to ‘why do I do it?’ …… because you love the club, the team, the supporters and everything about AFC Bournemouth. As you drop off to sleep, you’re already thinking about the next away trip in two weeks time.

Yep, I blooming miss the away days.

Your say…

Ken Baileys Ghost wrote…

I miss the away games more than the home ones.

4FCB is spot on.

Years ago I used to go to the ‘local’ away games, when I could afford it, Brentford, Bristols, Torquay, Exeter etc.

Enough points? Who needed points back then?

These days I can actually afford to go away properly and make a weekend of it, just as long as I can stay ahead in the away points arms race, and there are just soooo many away games this year that I would have been at.

Grrrr…………………….

I can’t see any away fans getting into a match this season the way this pandemic seems to be panning out.

Neil Dawson wrote…

Top words….

Spending quality time together With friends or family… life is so snatched these days and people spend too much time on technology… time spent driving with no interruptions to away games sorting out relationship issues, bantering, putting the world to rights, picking worst five centre forwards….always with a great soundtrack. These are the days we will take to the grave.

My 18-year-old daughter has long lost a football love sadly but she said to me the other day one of the best road trips she has ever had was coming back from Sheffield Wednesday where the moon was unfeasibly massive and we pretended it was the last night of the world as it was going to collide with us so played all our favourite songs in case it was the last time we heard them…. It was one of my favourite road trips too but I’d never told her. – Join the conversation, click here.

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