Here it was, the most ambitious Travelling Fan trip yet. A 9 hour round trip to watch 22 part time blokes kick a ball around a pitch. Going to the Isle of Wight to catch the FA Vase tie between Newport and Ascot United was a trip I’d been looking forward to making since the draw was made and had planned it to the letter.
Even though I arrived at East Cowes it was raining, it wasn’t too heavy and having passed an 8am pitch inspection so the Berkshire side could travel down, I was confident there would be no problems. Having seen the sights of East Cowes (a Waitrose) and Newport (a Wetherspoons) I arrived at St George’s Park at 1:45pm. With the gates shut, I popped into the clubhouse to watch a bit of Spurs vs Newcastle and noticed some of the players in Newport tracksuits drinking pints. A quick check on Twitter found that the game had been called off. Fuck.
Having been called off so late, there was always going to be repercussions because of this and with Ascot apparently complaining to the FA – the tie has now been switched to Ascot’s Racecourse Ground next week. Makes it far easier for me for selfish reasons! This has lead to a nice debate on the Newport IOW website which can be read here. This Saturday will be very interesting, if the game even goes ahead – a trip to Shildon in County Durham awaits the winners.
Ouch. That's a sore one Steven. Not even an alternative game to toddle along to.
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