Best match I never saw!

Comments (14)

What a night. Natalia and I watched the first half of the derby in the Marquis of Granby on Cambridge Circus in central London, surrounded by the usual glory-hunters ? don?t they spout a load of clueless, blinkered shite, cockney reds? They remind me of Newcastle fans, so unused to being actually challenged about anything that the most absurd pronouncements are taken on face value as gospel. There was one genuine red in there too who I had a quick exchange of banter with. He mused that it must be awful being so bitter and I replied that it could be worse; it could be arrogance.

At half time we headed off to see the Airborne Toxic Event at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. We had mixed feelings about leaving the pub to miss the rest of the match, of course, but I?d been a fan of this LA band for over two years now (they?re going to be huge, by the way) and had struck up a friendship with them in the process so we were on the guest list and I just couldn?t let them down. My mate, Banksy, was actually at the game and was duly instructed to keep me posted on scores via text.

If I?m honest, my fatalism and our lack of craft in the first half had gone some way to convincing me that we would lose anyway. On our way out I said my goodbyes to the scouse kopite, explaining that we had to go to a gig and he said it was probably best we left now anyway. ?There?s that arrogance again?, I replied and headed out into the night full of expectancy and angst.

The gig itself was so tremendous that I was actually able to take my mind off the game for moments and we both had a fantastic time until, for the final song, there was a stage invasion and I found myself dancing on the stage with my arm around the bassist, Noah, proudly showing my amber EFC shirt to the rest of the crowd, whilst Mikel, the lead singer, jumped into the crowd and sang the song directly to my girl, Natalia. Could life get any better than this, I wondered. Yes, it could.

At that very moment, I spotted a bloke holding an Everton hat in the air to catch my attention. Turns out there were several ESCLA members in the crowd last night and they?d spotted me and decided to pass on some wonderful news. As I bounced up and down on stage the guy held his fingers up to indicate ?One, nil? and mouthed ?We won!?

You could have killed me right then if you?d wanted to and I really wouldn?t have minded.

What a night, indeed.
Andy Griff, London     Posted 05/02/2009 at 14:09:28

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