Planet Swans ArchivesThis was our first of many trips to Yorkshire in the next few weeks, this week at Huddersfield. Ugo’s (not Hugo!) coaches left from the usual place at around 7:30, the drivers were showing their authority, they must have been ex schoolteachers – they spoke to us like schoolchildren anyway.
First of all they read the riot act and told us that we had to sit down at all times, as well as discarding any chewing gum we had before we set off for the game. After all that had finished we set off for the long trip north. I did try and sleep on the way up, but it’s impossible with stan the jack nearby and a lack of leg room.
A quick service stop, in Strensham I think, was due before we arrived at Milnrow in Rochdale, which was where today’s pub stop was. Some lovely chips in the chip shop opposite, where the owner had remembered us from when we played Oldham in August! He was a happy, chatty bloke who seemed to know a bit about the Lord Lee Trundle.
Milnrow is a very strange place though, it looks nice enough but it’s a real ghost town, hardly a soul about. What was even stranger was that the pub my mates and I went into was for over 25’s only! Over 25’s! Have you ever heard of anything so daft? Needless to say I couldn’t get away with being over 25 so we went to another pub. But still I could be 24, own my own business and have a family and children, yet I wouldn’t be allowed in this particular pub. Madness!
Back on the bus to leave for Huddersfield but before we did, one of the drivers explained that he would not leave until the rubbish was cleaned up on the bus, then proceeded to drive away 20 seconds later! Later on the other driver asked for the boys at the back of the bus to stop singing, for some bizarre reason, nobody was doing any harm.
We arrived in Huddersfield at approximately 2:20; it was my third visit to the Galpharm (previously called the McAlpine). We had lost on the other two visits, I was hoping the luck would change this time around. There was a minute walk to get from the coach and up some steps and past the Terriers fans and then in through the turnstiles.
It’s an odd looking stadium, but different to most modern day stadia, each stand is semi circular; the only downside is that every corner of the stand is in the open. This loses a lot of the atmosphere created.
The facilities were pretty good for away fans; I don’t tend to buy food at away grounds – usually because it’s quite pricey – so I can’t comment on that sorry folks. We were behind the goal today, but it wasn’t a bad view in fairness. I was sitting near Sophie Gigg (from the famous Dutch Documentary) I was just hoping she wouldn’t start crying if the Swans were losing!
There was a noisy away following today, a little quiet from the Huddersfield fans in the first half, partly due to the fact that there were only nearly 10,000 in attendance, in a 25000 capacity. The stand to our right was the equivalent of the East Stand/North Bank, which was very noisy and intimidating at times.
There were a few chants of ‘Jackson you’re a (fill in the blank here!)’ and ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning!’ which made us all laugh – until the second half came along!!
The end of the game drew disappointment, a brisk walk with my head down past the jubilant Huddersfield fans and onto the coach followed, but no tip for the drivers.
It took most on the coach around an hour to calm down and come to terms with how we threw the game away, especially my mate Leigh who was like a madman in the ground and worse on the bus, blaming everything on Kristian O’Leary!
The rest of the journey back involved trying to decipher what Trundle was sent off for (as nobody seemed to have seen it), some said abusive language and others said an elbow. We decided it must have been an abusive elbow!!
There were films to keep us amused and more commands from the driver insisting that everyone sat down on the seats with fingers on lips. Our coach arrived back in Swansea at 10pm and there was time to reflect on the game and then get a proper night’s sleep.
A disappointing result and the first time I’ve ever seen the Swans go 2-0 and lose in my short time as a fan. It shows how quick fortunes can change in games, as at half time there were no glum faces, 45 minutes later it was a different story.
As most of you know, it’s back up to Yorkshire for the big FA Cup game against Sheffield Utd, where there will be a mass following of Swansea fans and probably more than 2/3 coaches too.
Ticket: £5.50 (under 16’s)
Coach: £17
Programme: £3
Total: £25.50
Current Running Total: £622.50
