Planet Swans ArchivesThe bus left the Quadrant at around 8:15am – that’s quite late for us regular travellers! Before we got going the driver told us that there were seatbelts available if needed and pointed out to us how to escape if she crashed! Don’t know why she was telling us this; she then stalled twice on the journey up to the Former European Champions Nottingham Forest. That really made me feel safe! 😉
There was no time for a service stop as the bus had to wait for a supporter in Cardiff who must have slept late!! We stopped off in a pub – called the Lamb – in Ashby, not far from Nottingham, at around 1.30, it’s about the fifth time I’ve been to this pub, it’s nice and spacious, but it was busier at the bar than it’s been previously. Damn glory hunters.
We arrived at the home of the Former European Champions Nottingham Forest just 5 minutes before kick off, as we were caught in slow moving traffic leading into Nottingham, it’s usually a bad omen for me when I get to a ground late.
The home of the Former European Champions is called the City Ground, it is a nice, redeveloped stadium and it is one of the biggest grounds in this division, also the view is pretty decent from behind the goal. The unusual factor is that the home fans were above us away fans in the stand. It has been known for the odd object to be thrown from above too – none of that on Saturday though.
There was a good atmosphere there, 1100 Jacks made the short-ish journey to Nottingham, with my personal favourite chant of ‘You’re not famous anymore’ getting an airing. Along with the other usual songs, including the usual cringe worthy ones, I had some right idiots standing around me, the people who act all tough from a distance away from the Forest fans. But I bet they would run a mile if they were chased.
This week’s programme wasn’t a bad read, compared to the others this season (Well they are the Former European Champions I suppose). There was a little write up about our season so far, so there wasn’t too much to write about! They writers did seem to actually research information about our players, rather than just copy the other clubs.
The journey back was eventful to say the least, we left the ground disappointed about the game and the result and to make matters worse the bus had a flat battery. We were informed that we would have to wait for around 45 minutes before the mechanics would arrive. This was a good time to reflect on the game. My main thoughts were what a man Rory Fallon is. He scored a goal against the Former European Champions. Even more surprising was the fact we actually scored from a corner! Legend.
I couldn’t bear to think our terrible defending and poor second half performance, you kind of get used to that after a while.
We finally left Nottingham at 6.30, no service stops on the way back either and the coach arrived back in Swansea at 10:15pm (The second Official Coach back as well). A disappointing day, we’ve now conceded three goals in two successive away games, after playing well for fifty minutes.
Hopefully the next away trip to Chesterfield will be a little better than our last two trips on the road and a better coach next week please Ugo!
Ticket: £24
Coach: £15
Programme: £2.50
Food/Drink: £5
Total: £46.50
Current Running Total: £324.50
