A Travel report from Burslem
Lucia weekend was the weekend we had booked for this year's supporters trip to England. This time we were 5 people who made the trip to Burslem and Vale Park. Peter, his partner Tini and her daughter Thea had traveled already on Wednesday to, among other things get to do some sightseeing in London before the game. Morgan had traveled to England on Thursday to see a concert and I traveled on Friday evening.
I made a stopover at Kastrup on the way to Manchester on Friday, but where we were delayed on the way to Manchester. Arrived just before midnight at the hotel in Stoke-on-Trent. Upon entering the hotel lobby roars ABBA's music out of the banquet hall where they have a big Christmas party.
Unfortunately, my favorite restaurant Portofino, a stone's throw from the hotel, closed already at 22:00 so there was no visit there. Stayed as usual at the Quality Inn in Stoke which is a cheap and good hotel.
Saturday morning means English breakfast at the hotel and then I take a walk in the Stokes center and buy the local newspaper where they have a major article that it is a Swedish Viking invasion at Vale Park to see the game. They had made it clear that we would meet up at the pub Bulls Head at 12 match day.
I was at the pub just before 12 pm and end up talking to a Vale supporter who traveled up from Portsmouth for the match. He has never lived in Stoke or connected to Burslem, but he has yet chosen Port Vale as his favorite team and followed the team through thick and thin for many years even though he has lived in various parts of England and Europe.
Eventually Morgan pops up at the Bulls Head staying at nearby St Georges Hotel and last, Peter, Tini and Thea staying with friends in Burslem. It was two years since we last seen each other and there will be a lot of talk about the headlines, today's match and memories of past trips. Unfortunately, the Englishmen to be shy of themselves and no one comes up to talk to us.
Today's opponent is Coventry, a team that for many years played in the top division, and they also won the FA Cup in the 1980s, but it has now slipped down to third divsionen. When the teams met in the same division last season, it was the first time in over 50 years that they were in the same division.
Shortly after two o´clock, we begin to move towards Hamil Road and Vale Park. We will visit the club's new club shop which is located along the road towards Hamil Road, which is significantly larger than the old one.
It quickly went to buy a ticket to Railway Paddock, but it took much more time to get into the stadium when they only had two hatches open to all who would enter the Railway Paddock where the majority of the fans usually sit. The club asks later apologized for the incident and promised repentance to the next home game.
Port Vale play well in the first 20 minutes of the game and it was a number of suspicious situations that would have led to a penalty for the home side, but each time the home players appealed for punishment so waved judges deterrence that there is no penalty.
Eventually took the guests Coventry over the game and could win pretty fair with 2-0 although visitors last goal came in overtime in the second half when Port Vale tried to get to tie the game. The other spectators said that this was an out of the team's worst efforts this season and it came against one of the show's worst teams.
During the Saturday night, we visited a number of pubs in Burslem. The New Inn, The Post Office Vault, the Bulls Head were some of the pubs visited to discuss today's match and get in conversation with people in Burslem pubs. We also met our old friend Sean Phillips who are among the friendliest and helpful people I have ever met.
At The New Inn, it was a charity auction to benefit Gavin Yorke, aka Boomer, who suffered a stroke earlier this fall. Boomer was for many years the club's popular mascot who has been a fun element to the games and Boomer and his father has set up on a number of occasions over the years and has been a great joy for children and others who live near Burslem.
It would take nearly 5 months before he could get started with his speech training at the NHS (the tax-financed part of the healthcare system) suffering from being constantly underfunded and collating therefore money for him to get started with talträningen as soon as possible. Gavin Yorke got married last summer and ended up working as a Boomer earlier this fall to spend time with his family, but things did not get better than that he became ill. Everyone who met Boomer says he is the friendliest person you could imagine. There were a number of items that were donated by various individuals and businesses and raised the whole £ 1,700 (about 22.000 €) for Gavin Yorke's rehabilitation.
I pulled myself back home to the hotel at midnight and we decided to make a new supporter trip next season too.
On Sunday, I went up to Manchester to see a bit of the city before I left home on Tuesday, but unfortunately it was not much of it. I got sick Sunday night so on Monday I was resting in bed before it was time to go home on Tuesday. It was a great trip that must be repeated and the next year we hope that there are more supporters from Scandinavia are following along for the trip !
