Wednesday 13 February 2013

Newport (IOW) PvsP Ascot United (09/02/13)

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.

IMG_0383(Fail to prepare, prepare to fail)

IMG_0380(Welcome, you won’t be here long)

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.

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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.

1 comment:

  1. Ouch. That's a sore one Steven. Not even an alternative game to toddle along to.

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