Spiders

I'm not a big fan of spiders. Infact, i consciously go out of my way to avoid being anywhere that spiders are likely to be. Lofts, corners of garages, sheds and Australia are no go areas..
I was amused however to hear on the radio yesterday about someone (also terrified of spiders) having an incident whilst trying to kill one. Apparently, he was standing in his back room using a blow torch when he spotted an 8 legged creature. He aimed the blow torch at it (as you do) in order to burn it to death. Unfortuntely, in attempting to do this, he started a rather large fire and ended up burning his house down...
They never said whether or not he got the spider...

From Ecstacy to Despair

Wembley Stadium, May 30th 1999
My Dad and I were sat behind the goal Gillingham were attacking in the second half. Man City were favourites and had proved, over the course of the season, they were a much stronger outfit. I was 15 at the time and although i'd enjoyed watching Gillingham in the past, it was this game that really cemented in my mind that i wanted to be a Gills fan.
As the hour mark passed, most people's who weren't already doing so, began to chew their nails. With 10 minutes to go City had a good chance at the far end but Vince Bartram in the Gills goal was equal to it. From the resulting kick up field, the ball found its way through to Carl Asaba. He took a touch and beat his marker before looping the ball up and over an on rushing Nicky Weaver. Gillingham were in front. The noise was deafening. I remember having to stand on my chair to see the team celebrating down below us. The lady next to us was screaming at the top of her voice. For a life long fan, being on the brink of promotion to the second tier of english football for the first time was a very big deal!
4 minutes later and all nerves were put to bed when Robert Taylor burst through and blasted under the City keeper to put Gills 2-0 up and seemingly out of site. Having watched it back when we got home, Andy Gray, commentating on the game, said "and that's the goal that will see Gillingham into Division 1 next year".
Just 5 minutes later, the full time whistle blew. Our celebrations had stopped. Ecstacy had turned to despair in the matter of 3 small minutes. Kevin Horlock had scored what we hoped was just a consellation goal on 89 minutes but with the score board showing 92 minutes, Paul Dickov crashed the ball home to bring City back from the dead. Extra time finished and City won 3-1 on penalties. The reason i say that so quickly is because thats exactly how it felt. I've never been part of an atmosphere that changed so quickly... From the moment City scored their first, everything just seemed so sureal. They were going to equalise, everyone knew it. Blue moon echoed round the stadium emphasizing the silence between us.
We sat, exhausted, after the final whistle blew wondering what had just happened. I dont think we said a word to each other til we got home...

Memories and money...

I've been adding a few final touches to the website for our tour around the grounds today. I cant polish bits off completely though until the end of the season once promotions and relegations have been confirmed and i've managed to get my Dad to sit still for 5 minutes to have a photo taken. The only other problem that remains now is saving enough money for the petrol and hotel rooms that we'll need on our tour. At present we've got enough money to make it to Brighton...

After reading through fans memories of Hillsborough over the past couple of weeks, i've decided i'd share a few of my memories from games gone by with you. I'll start tomorrow..

Remembering Hillsborough

"On Monday, I found myself alone in the house reading a copy of The Independent and was confronted by stark, black and white images of young people pinned to those metal fences in pens 2 and 3 in Leppings Lane, gasping for breath, lifted off their feet, unable to stand, unable to move, unable to breathe.Innocent, young, passionate football fans, just like me, there to support their team. Dying in front of me. I stared again at the pictures. I read the stories about the mothers, the sons, the daughters and the fathers. Then, suddenly and spontaneously, I just broke down and cried like a baby."

I've been reading a lot of fans views and memories of Hillsborough in recent weeks and the piece above, although short in length, seems to say it all. I dont remember the days of terracing at all major football stadiums. Infact, i've only actually stood for 90 minutes at 3 games and one of those was only because everyone else was standing on the all-seater kop at Liverpool in 2006. I've seen dvd's, videos and short clips on the internet of games from years gone by where terracing was still in use and the atmosphere always seems to be electric. For that reason only, i'm envious of people that lived through that era.Then i sit and read through fans accounts of April 15th 1989 and then, standing on a concrete terrace, terrified to lose my footing through fear of being trampled to death, doesn't make me jealous, doesn't make me jealous at all...

The Plan

I've spent the past few weeks trying to devise the best route to take around the grounds. Any advice from anyone that's done it or that has a particular interest in maps would be much appreciated. The best i've come up with so far is to travel from Southend, down to Brighton. Across the south coast to Plymouth and then up through Wales and on to the Midlands. From there, i'd go up through Lancashire and along the east coast to Carlisle. Across to Newcastle and then back down the west coast, through Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derbyshire. All the teams along the M1 down to Watford. Across to Reading and then back into London. After the London teams, it's upto Norwich and then down through East Anglia back to Southend.

I expect it to take us about 12 days, taking in as much of each stadium as we can. Even if we spread it out over this amount of time, we'll still need to fit in an average of 8 stadiums a day. We're determined to see every stadium in daylight hours so there'll be a fair few early mornings involved...

Journey to the 92

To see all 92 football league stadiums is a life long goal for me. I've seen games at 35 stadiums including Highbury, The Dell and the old Wembley. Stadiums no longer standing. Most of my journeys have been following the travels of my team, Gillingham. I saw the infamous play off final against Man City in 1999 and was at Wembley again the following year to see us beat Wigan and claim status in the second tier of English football for the first time in the clubs history. I've been to Old Trafford on many occasions and have been lucky enough to stand on the kop at Liverpool on a european night. However, in August of this year, my Dad Steve and I will embark on a 2600 mile trip that will see us visit all of the 92 grounds in one go. We'll be doing this to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. Throughout the journey you'll be able to keep upto date with our progress at http://www.tothe92.co.uk/
If you wish to donate to this very worthy cause, you can do so at http://www.justgiving.co.uk/tothe92