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HARRY'S BIG DAY OUT
I was lucky enough
to be invited by Boro's main sponsors 888.com to take in the weekend's Boro v Arsenal game which of course we won 2-1.
The invite included free drinkies, a five course meal and to meet some of the players after the match. And I could bring three of my pals as well...
After the initial shock of this invite the cynical side of Harry boy came out and
conspiracy theories began to kick in.
Was this a hoax possibly set up
by a Mr Steve Goldby who had his accomplice waiting in the bushes
adjacent to the old Ayresome Park gates ready to take photos of Harry,
Two Tribes and a couple of pals with the intention of blackmail?
I.e., come up with the money or these photo's end up in the hands of the
fashion police...
888.com picked me out for this freebie, because I am
registered on their poker website and my email address is *****the
borofan@ntlworld.com.
So the guy steve from 888.com who was organising the match event said "he's obviously a Boro fan we'll have
him." So it was fuck all to do with the fact I've dropped quite a few bob on
their website in the last three months.
Two p.m. and Steve, the fella from 888.com who was a very sociable young man
led us into the Premier Lounge where we were greeted by a young lady
carrying a tray of shampoo. I looked at Two Tribes and said "let the
revelrey begin." To which he replied, "Harry, where did it all go wrong?"
A few champers later and we went pitchside. The pitch is absolutely
pristine at the moment. I have never seen a lawn as good as that
anywhere in my life and I've been face down drunk in a few in my time.
Fifteen free bottles of Becks later along with steak, sticky toffee pud, cheese, soup and all the other gubbings, we left The Riverside having had one of my best days ever as a Boro fan.
I am not going to write a whole
load of waffle but just put down a few facts, observations and a bit of
gossip that I think may be of interest to a typical Boro fan.
Stewart Downing has a box at the ground. These are £28,000 a year with a
minimum lease of three years.
My friend who is something to do with the
local police informed me that one of Teesside's top unconvicted
gangsters also has his own executive box as he recognised his name on
the door. Say no more about that one.
Those padded seats are nowt flash and for some reason, I started
becoming very vociferous at this game, which is just not me.
I usually
just watch the game and maybe pass the odd comment but due to the
drink and the fact that the prawn sarnie brigade around me were so
passionless, the naughty boy in me came out and I started giving it
rockall.
Arsenal fans cannot handle defeat like us because they are not used to
it and when I gave them some gentle ribbing, and I mean gentle, they all
fucked off. Jesus, I didnt even take my gun out of its holster.
Schwarzer was a good guy. We all had our photos taken with him and he
chatted away. He didn't give the impression that he was bored shitless with some
of the dumbarsed questions he was getting asked.
One of them coming from me which was "Did you feel like a useless *unt when you let that
goal in at the Millenium stadium?" JESUS, I'D HAD A GALLON.
When we came out of The Riverside it was about 9pm. There must have
been roughly 150 to 200 people still waiting around for players
leaving. Just to get a glimpse of them, a few words or an autograph, two hours after the game. That's something I've never done but hey, whatever floats
your boat.
Obviously the result turns this from a special day to a very special
day and all I can say to any Boro fan is if you get the chance to give
it large at The Riverside, do it because its an experience.
An
experience that I would not want to have for every match, but a couple of
times a season I could handle.
Harry Callaghan
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