Fleet John Premier League Match Report Thread 2021/22

[Voice from the Braemar]

Spurs’ mob wore deerstalker hats in 1984.

Didnt look good then, either

Remember saaaaarfend away 83 I think (4-2 them) and their mob in the big open end was full of em…a mob of Sherlocks

 

[Fleet John]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

 

[SmiffyBee]

A superb read - why ha no major distributor not yet picked up the film rights to this ?
James Nesbitt to star as Logan, Daniel Craig as Fleet and Leo Gregory as Druggie.

 

[upnorthbee]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

The Ian Van Dahl bit was seriously good mate!

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

Great report FJ but only one complaint….too much food…it’s like a Rick stein tv travelogue I know Brighton well and their mob drink up in 2 pubs by the indoor shopping centre…not far from the lanes

 

[unBEEliveable]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

A welcome return - cheers @Fleet John, hope to be able to read them more often....

 

[AB]

But what happened to the lost weekend?

 

[SmiffyBee]

But what happened to the lost weekend?

Lloyd Cole sorted that out a few years ago

 

[Silly Hat]

Lloyd Cole sorted that out a few years ago

…after a commotion, admittedly.

 

[maddogging]

Beautiful. The thought of you twitching around trying to get the one hand towel to provide adequate bedtime cover ! Ha

 

[Simon C]

In my defence it was on TV today but all I can think of when I read FJ and Motherwell in a hotel room together is Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Great stuff as ever, @Fleet John. Sorry if I offended you the other night. Certainly not intended. Photographic evidence proves, as you suggested, that you were indeed living it up whilst I drove home sober, very much down in the gob!

 

[Fleet John]

Great stuff as ever, @Fleet John. Sorry if I offended you the other night. Certainly not intended. Photographic evidence proves, as you suggested, that you were indeed living it up whilst I drove home sober, very much down in the gob!

Sorry pal, after consuming double figure strongbows I should probably stay away from my phone and stop overreacting

 

[sonnyjim]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

Fantastic John,
Great report as ever⚪️⚪️

 

[Bristolian Bee]

Great to see these back!

small breakfast

 

[BEEcool]

Of all the things I was expecting to see in this report, a Sherlock Holmes hat wasn’t one.

 

[Isleworth_Bee]

Lovely report.

 

[JCMcBee]

Portobello....naming mushroom type is a nice touch.... attention to detail....even the breakfast is 'casual'

 

[nick logan]

Beautiful. The thought of you twitching around trying to get the one hand towel to provide adequate bedtime cover ! Ha

There were pillows and a quilt in the cupboard , don't tell FJ

 

[whyteleafebee76]

There were pillows and a quilt in the cupboard , don't tell FJ

That made me chuckle, especially thinking that FJ had to struggle through with the hand towel.

 

[nick logan]

That made me chuckle, especially thinking that FJ had to struggle through with the hand towel.

he should have looked lol , we saw them on way out and shrugged*

* laughed

 

[whyteleafebee76]

he should have looked lol , we saw them on way out and shrugged*

* laughed

Exactly, schoolboy error that.

 

[Fleet John]

Exactly, schoolboy error that.

Easy mistake to make after double figure strongbow’s

 

[Tudor bee]

After testing positive for f***ing COVID again (got it in august) really needed to read that. Cheered me right up! Thanks Fleet.

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

I’m sure the Burnley one would have been better than the Brighton one though ??

 

[Billy Hunt]

Brighton Away - Boxing Day

05:30 was an early time to get going for a game that did not kick off until 20:00 in the evening, but this was the life that chose me, so it was straight up to get ready for the boxing day game. People like to complain about strange and inconvenient kick-off times but I prefer to embrace the challenge and prove that you can still keep it casual even in the most difficult of circumstances. By 06:50 I was walking the dogs in Tidenfoot Country Park contemplating the day ahead, there was not a single soul around, no doubt everyone else was sleeping off the Christmas excess. I was home at 07:35, just in time to tuck into a Boxing Day Fry Up Platter made by Mrs Fleet, which consisted of:

• 4 Sausage
• 4 Bacon
• 4 Portobello Mushrooms
• 3 Large Tomatoes
• 2 Fried Egg
• 2 Black Pudding
• Beans
• 2 slices of Bread & Butter
• Tea
• Brown Sauce

I ate the whole lot and it tasted amazing, I knew I had laid the perfect foundation for the day ahead. After having food, I jumped in the bath and got in the casual mood by listening to Black Grape’s latest album the underrated Pop Voodoo – a great effort by Manchester’s finest. Then I got dressed into the days clobber, namely:

• Deerstalker Hat
• Aquascutum Mac
• Burberry Scarf
• Light Blue Fila Settanta track top
• Lois Jeans
• Adidas Trimm Trab

Before jumping in the motor at 10:30 and driving to Enfield to pick up Sir Nick of Logan. We then drove to Stanwell to drop the car at a non GPG Brentford fans house who we were staying with that evening. Car deposited we were picked up by another non GPG Brentford fan and were driven to Brentford arriving at 12:00. We walked into the boozer (The Beehive) at 12:00 and got stuck into the Strongbow. Our transport down for the day was an unofficial coach. I had no idea who we would be travelling with or what the plans were for the day other than it was leaving Brentford at 14:00 and myself and Sir Nick were booked on – the less you know the better is a mantra that most casuals operate to when engaging in this form of travel, myself included.

Anyway, being under new management it was great to see that the landlord had reintroduced Strongbow to the menu so myself and Nick Logan got stuck in as you would expect as we watched our travelling companions file in, most of whom seemed half our age. I was encouraged to see that we would not be the only old boys aboard when Westwing turned up, but it turned out he was dropping his son off for the coach. Regardless we had a few jars and spoke about the forthcoming FA Cup fixture and how perhaps this was finally our year. Before you knew it, it was 14:00 and time for our coach to leave so we all piled on board. There was a real party atmosphere all the way down although progress was slow as the coach had to pull over at the M4 / M25 intersection due to the windscreen getting steamed up and before you knew it, it was time for a quick piss stop at Cobham services (it had already taken us an hour to get that far). Once Cobham was cleared we were non-stop to Brighton against a soundtrack of 90’s / 00’s dance music. Being in a coach of late teens / 20 somethings drinking #cans on boxing day whilst most people spent the day chilling with their families as Ian Van Dahl Castle’s In the Sky pumped out the stereo I felt that the lyrics were quite apt for the scene:

Do you ever question your life?
Do you ever wonder why?

I answered no to the above questions and decided its everyone else that’s strange and carried on regardless.

We landed in Brighton at 16:15 and went to our first pub The Prince George, the pub was rubbish and we only stayed for one before walking (unopposed) to a little Australian themed pub by the Seafront called Walkabout. The walk there took us through back alleys and through the famous Brighton lanes which provided the perfect backdrop / opportunity to take some photos of the Brentford chaps turnout, it was pretty impressive and I’m not surprised that Brighton decided it was probably best to keep a low profile.

Soon enough we were quaffing more Strongbows in Walkabout and were joined by Motherwell Bee and Druggie who had booked a hotel for the night. It was at this point the thought of knocking the festivities on the head and going back to London straight after the match just did not seem that appealing and we opted to stay in Brighton kipping in Motherwell’s room. At 19:00 after consuming eight pints and two #cans we piled back into the coach and headed to the ground. Regrettably the Amex is one of those stadiums built miles from anywhere and you have to drive through the South Downs to get to it, I was convinced that our driver had got lost as up until about 1 mile to the ground you can’t see anything out the windows at night but then out of nowhere the ground appeared. We got off the bus and went into the ground. Regrettably Druggie was deemed too pissed to get in the ground which was completely over the top considering he had only been drinking since mid afternoon. I guess with the covid pass, full body checks, police sniffer dogs etc they have to justify the expense some how – a complete waste of resource in my book.

Anyway, once in I was pleased to see that Strongbow was on tap so we headed straight to the Bar and I ordered two Strongbows for myself and Nick and one Fosters for Motherwell. We said hello to Nocoat and his son (who is considerably cooler than his old man) as well as Davestings (nice new Christmas runners) and then went to our seats. From a selfish perspective with Druggie not being able to get in I could stand next to Motherwell and Nick in the ground but we lost Nick between the concourse and the seats so I just stood next to Motherwell behind Billy Hunt.

The ground is everything you hate about new stadiums being miles from anywhere and completely soulless and plastic – up there with MK Dons levels of bland. If I was a Brighton fan, I would probably knock the home games on the head and just do aways, wishing we still played at Goldstone Ground. The atmosphere resembled a preseason friendly with the home support being completely radio silent. A problem exacerbated by the fact that the family stand is right next to the away fans and as we are not Napoli fans singing songs to children out with their parents to watch the football just did not seem appropriate.

The bland fare both on and off the pitch lead us to get a beer after 20 minutes but they refused to serve us so we waited until we went a goal down to get a beer. Halftime beers drank we went back in and stood at the top of the aisle to watch the second half, I expected us to get moved on but we never did and we lasted until just before full time, nothing of note happened on or off the pitch.

On 90 minutes (just as injury time started) we (myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan) trudged back to the double decker bus to take us back to Brighton town centre, I won’t lie the mood was pretty low. Fortunately this state of misery was only short lived as 90% of the top deck turned out to be Brentford fans including some fans with antlers on their heads – how festive I thought. We made the journey go quicker singing the new Charlie Goode and Vitaly Janelt songs as well as the song about Fulham swimming away from Brentford in Barnes Common to the tune of the Lion Sleeps tonight by the Tokens. Unexpectedly the whole deck joined in with both songs, so we sang them on repeat all the way to Brighton town centre much to the annoyance of the only Brighton fans (two of them) who had opted for the top deck.

The Bus dropped us into Brighton town centre and we watched our travelling companions walk into the distance still singing our songs. Myself, Motherwell and Nick Logan walked off to find Druggie who was in a pub called the Fiddlers Elbow. Druggie was asleep at the bar and I don’t think he recognized us when we woke him up before promptly falling asleep again. They had some live music in there with a bloke banging out Oasis and Verve songs amongst others, we sang along in full voice. The landlord was moaning about Druggie being asleep and them risking their licence. I told him that it was unlikely that licencing would be working on boxing day evening so he saw sense and left us to it. We drank another five pints of Strongbow before knocking it on the head at 01:00 and going to Kebab House for a kebab. I ordered the mixed kebab. Druggie was last seen eating the kebab in Kebab House whilst myself Sir Nick and Motherwell saved ours for when we got back to Motherwells room at the Premier Inn.

I opted to sleep on the sofa instead of sharing a double bed with Motherwell, with the only draw back being I could only use the one hand towel that came with the room as covers. Myself and Motherwell had a debate about who was the most loyal fan out of the two of us before we all crashed out.

I got up at 09:00 in the morning, got dressed and then went to the café by the station called the Bystander. I went for their small breakfast which consisted of

• Two toast
• Hash brown
• Tomato
• Fried Egg
• Sausage
• 2 Bacon
• Tea
• Orange Juice (for the train home)

Then I caught the 10:15 out of Brighton back to London with Sir Nick. I got off at London Bridge and caught the jubilee line to London Waterloo, then the overground to Feltham where I caught an uber to Stanwell to pick up the motor before driving home and getting in at 14:15.

Even when the EPL throw an 20:00 kick off on boxing day at a ground that is designed to get to by rail when there was no trains, and Brighton gave us a bland MK Don’s style back drop, we still managed to keep it casual.

Regardless the show goes on and tomorrow we go into battle against perhaps the worlds finest, we will be out by early afternoon – mines a Strongbow

I got a mention!
What a wonderful end to the year
Excellent work, as always

 

[Gee Bee]

After testing positive for f***ing COVID again (got it in august) really needed to read that. Cheered me right up! Thanks Fleet.

Anyone else thinking that Strongbow might be the antidote?

 

[Fat Bee Slim]

Job opportunity for @Fleet John at the Brentford Music Museum!

 

[N5022N122]

Saw FJ struggling to climb over seats at AV

 

[westwing]

A great report and a good chap turnout for a crap kick off time on Boxing Day.
There was one one spare seat and after a couple of beers, I was tempted to travel to Brighton.
Logan's puppy eyes were teasing me on, like the devil tempting me to watch films of naked ladies
or Brentford FC goals of the season. I was left behind, on my own, only to be approached by a QPR
chap, who bounced over like Zebedee, impressed by our little firm. We had a pint and a chat and left it at that.
I let me laddo take my big "Jack" flag to Brighton, one threat, bring it home, or else!!!!
I didnt't drink all evening but had to drive to Southall Iron Bridge to pick me wrecked son up at 12.30am.
What a dad, eh!! LOL

 

[wibs]

I do enjoy these reports, but I always end up asking myself the same question. In the nicest possible way, what is the point of Druggie Nick?

 

[Billy Hunt]

I do enjoy these reports, but I always end up asking myself the same question. In the nicest possible way, what is the point of Druggie Nick?

To know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him

 

[nocoat]

I do enjoy these reports, but I always end up asking myself the same question. In the nicest possible way, what is the point of Druggie Nick?

Boooooo!
Druggie was on fine form last night I stood by him and frankly he could have got a game

 

[wibs]

Boooooo!
Druggie was on fine form last night I stood by him and frankly he could have got a game

Every report I read it he seems to spend the time either asleep, or missing! Good to hear he has other strings to his bow.

 

[Billy Hunt]

Every report I read it he seems to spend the time either asleep, or missing! Good to hear he has other strings to his bow.

He falls over, too
He’s also a lovely bloke

 

[Mad Bee]

Every report I read it he seems to spend the time either asleep, or missing! Good to hear he has other strings to his bow.

You can probably blame the sleeping or going missing on the strong(to his)bow.

 

[nocoat]

You can probably blame the sleeping or going missing on the strong(to his)bow.

he wouldnt be caught dead drinking that liquid filth. druggie is a stella man

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Every report I read it he seems to spend the time either asleep, or missing! Good to hear he has other strings to his bow.

Ooh tread careful there. I asked about him at Brighton when he was snatched from in front of my very eyes by stewards in the entry queue. I received a fearful rebuke from @Fleet John. ;-) His pals are very protective. ;-)

 

[wibs]

Ooh tread careful there. I asked about him at Brighton when he was snatched from in front of my very eyes by stewards in the entry queue. I received a fearful rebuke from @Fleet John. ;-) His pals are very protective. ;-)

Not THAT protective he keeps friggin disappearing!

 

[nocoat]

Not THAT protective he keeps friggin disappearing!

I had to hold him up like a glove puppet to get him through the doors at Burnley this season

 

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

I remember he somehow did a full 360 through the turnstiles and back out again at Brighton another time and wasn’t allowed back in. They’ve always had it in for him!!

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

I remember he somehow did a full 360 through the turnstiles and back out again at Brighton another time and wasn’t allowed back in. They’ve always had it in for him!!

Deserves a new thread really.

 

[GP200]

I do enjoy these reports, but I always end up asking myself the same question. In the nicest possible way, what is the point of Druggie Nick?

..............charming way to talk about a Loyal Bee....................

 

[Fleet John]

He’s actually got a heart of gold and would do anything for his pals, a welcome part of the match day furniture. Was on fine form last night, I gave him a lift home and he was great company. The word legend gets banded about in football too much but in this case it’s well deserved #beeslegend

 

[nick logan]

I remember he somehow did a full 360 through the turnstiles and back out again at Brighton another time and wasn’t allowed back in. They’ve always had it in for him!!

He did that at Macclesfield , then was asleep at bus stop waiting for the Twickenham bus. That was the night we got to pub and BB had invited himself to play dominoes for the pub team

 

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

Deserves a new thread really.

Or an autobiography. Brentford legend.

 

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

Or an autobiography. Brentford legend.

Ghost written biography probably better thinking about it.

 

[taxi driver]

Ghost written biography probably better thinking about it.

Job for @Fleet John

 

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

Job for @Fleet John

Definitely. Jointly with @nocoat

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Just for you FJ