We were all delighted when Blackpool secured promotion to the Premier League, we'd hoped that this would mean we'd be able to see a top flight fixture without even having to walk 500 metres given that we'd booked into the Travelodge right behind Bloomfield Road. Alas, we were to be denied on that front as Blackpool had been scheduled to play Arsenal at The Emirates on Saturday of our stay - it was so close to being perfect!
Undeterred we then turned our attention to the fixtures of the nearby clubs. Man Utd were to play Fulham on Sunday in London. Everton had Wolves but we thought Liverpool was slightly too far. Wigan were playing Chelsea and we felt this was reachable but the kick off was at 5pm, not everyone wanted to go to a football game, so this would have meant half the party would be away doing their own thing during the evening time. The evening was, of course, a period which we were all expect to spend in time honoured fashion, all together and drinking copious amounts of cheap alcohol. Manchester City v Liverpool was a distinct possibility and a it was a game which I would have relished, despite seeing the reverse fixture last season at Anfield as a 30th birthday trip courtesy of Graham. Colin our boss, had worked wonders be securing the option of corporate seats at Eastlands... only for the game to be switched to the Monday night!
The hardcore football fans remained determined to spend their Saturday afternoon feasting on the beautiful game as supposed to barfing from the top of the Big Dipper and we eventually decided that a 3pm kick off between Preston v Portsmouth ticked all the right boxes.
Before leaving Edinburgh I'd been charged with the task of arranging the match tickets. Having familiarised myself with Deepdale thanks to the excellent footballgroundguide.com I knew which areas of the ground to aim for. To be honest it all seemed much of a muchness and I was keen to secure seats in an area which I knew would be in close proximity to the most atmospheric areas. For that reason I decided to book the tickets through Portsmouth FC and sit in the away end. This was something of a master stroke as it meant we were seated within the noisiest section of the ground, the ensuing atmosphere was great and it ensured we were kept entertained during the spells of the match when the football was less than scintillating. Preston did have areas of their own which seemed quite lively (the corner of the Invincibles stand and the section of the Bill Shankly stand next to the away fans) however, that aside, the stadium was a bit flat from a PNE point of view. A quick check of the Championship attendances on Sunday during a hungover train journey back to Edinburgh indicated that this match had mustered the lowest crowd of the weekend in that league with only 9,666 punters going through the turnstiles.
So, back to the story. We awoke on Saturday morning feeling like something had died in our mouths the night before (and in Blackpool town centre on a Friday night that is a distinct possibility). After a brief walk around Bloomfield Road and an attempt to force down some food in a greasy café, we assembled at the front of the Travelodge to await out midday taxi to Preston. Having chased up a few guys who were determined to sneak a couple of extra minutes sleep we were eventually all present and correct allowing the six of us to bundle ourselves in to the awaiting cab. The alcohol fumes coming from that taxi must have been enough to propel the taxi along the M55 alone should the driver have wished to save on the petrol costs.
Despite having pre booked the cab and told the controller our destination and arranged a flat fee, the driver arrived completely oblivious to our plans. He didn't seem fussed abut the longer than normal drive ahead of him, but possibly got his on back by going along an A road for the entire journey at 40 mph. Not really what six hideously hungover guys crammed into a small taxi needed!
Having all survived the taxi ride we got the driver (Sunderland fan as it turned out) to drop us off outside Deepdale. By this stage it was shortly after 1pm on a nice sunny Saturday so we thought we'd use the time to grab ourselves a 'hair of the dog'. I'd looked at pre match pub options prior to the event and therefore knew that there were a couple of pubs further up Deepdale road. I'd also heard one of these pubs, The Sumners, was away fan friendly and usually had a good mix of both home and away supporters. This sounded good, I wanted to be somewhere with both sets of fans and soak up the pre match atmosphere. Not that this was our main focus at this stage, most of us were concentrating on getting the first beer of the day down and bringing ourselves back to life a bit!
On the walk up to the pub much of the chat focused around my earlier claim that I intended to try and have a chat with Pompey's most recognisable fan, or John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood, to give him his full name. This had become a bit of a theme of the weekend, Sean commented that after all the chat it would be something of a let down should John chosen to stay at home for this one. I thought this was somewhat unlikely and my feeling were confirmed as soon as we emerged from behind a hedge alongside The Sumners beer garden, for there he was, resplendent in his usual match day uniform. This prompeted a most memorable quote from Fraser and the title to this very post. We ventured inside, grabbed a pint and had a chat with some fans at the bar before heading outside, we ended up sat at the next table to John and in the knowledge that I'd never have a better chance, I sauntered over, waited for a gap in his conversation and introduced myself. I basically told him what we were doing along with our reasons for being there and asked if I could get a photo with him. He was more than happy to oblige and whilst he seemed to have already had a decent drink that day he couldn't have been nicer or appeared happier to meet me.
Russ meets John
It might sound a bit cringeworthy, but I was pretty chuffed to have met John. I've seen a number of documentaries in which he's featured and I've always found him fascinating. A lot of people assume he's a lout or a thug which isn't really the case. Despite having enough tattoos to make him look like the Pompey tapestry, he has a respectable job running his own business in the antiquarian book trade. He's always happy to allow young fans to join him in his noisy support, seeing them as the future of the club. I'm sure he has his moments and I wouldn't particularly like to be on the wrong side of him but if my mum taught me one thing it was to take people as you find them. John has as many haters as he does those who think he's a legend, I definitely lean towards the latter of the two categories.
The Invincibles Stand
After a couple of beers and feeling altogether more human we made our way back up the road to Deepdale and took our seats amongst the away fans. Sitting amongst the Pompey support it was hard to gauge exactly how many supporters they'd brought, but they were certainly vociferous and seemed to be large in number. All the singing came from the away end even after Preston took the lead upon 18 minutes through a Paul Hayes strike. This stemmed from a Billy Jones cross after Pompey's Sonko failed to make what looked like a routine clearance.
The teams emerge onto the pitch
The Pompey fans applaude their team
In terms of the game that was pretty much it, Preston were by far the better side and Jamie Ashdown in the Portsmouth goal did well to keep the score at 1-0, making several last gasp saves.
A rare Portsmouth threat at a corner
The Deepdale pitch looked in excellent condition and whilst the stadium was average in size it was a very tidy little ground and one which Preston North End should be proud of.
A nice view of Deepdale
Tom Finney statue outside Deepdale
P.S. One final point worthy of note. In the pub before the game I noticed a few Prestn fan wearing T-Shirts of Hoodies with quite possible the best football related slogan ever. Particularly if, like myself, you have a penchant for Ska or Nothern Soul.
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