Sightseeing at away games

I must admit when I started going to away games several decades ago, it was more about 'invading' opposition territory after consuming large quantities of alcohol and I noticed very little other than the interiors of pubs and football grounds, but in recent years I've found one of the attractions of away games, especially in small northern towns, is doing a bit of sightseeing before games. It's taken me to places I'd otherwise have had no reason to go to, like Barnsley, Oldham, Bolton, Burnley and Hull. What got me thinking about this was seeing Leicester fans wandering over the Itchen Bridge after the game to take some photos, although little did they know they were going to end up in Woolston.

Do you have any quirky away games that stand out? Barnsley was one for me: the quintessential small northern town, with hilly, cobbled streets and views of the pit heads. Saturday night in Blackburn was always fun. Least favourite: Tottenham. I'm sure there must be something interesting connected with local Jewish history but I've never found it.

Did a tour of Rotherham the other year when we played them in the Cup...and lost! Tour of town turned out to be the highlight...

Went with the travel club to Blackburn many years ago. We got there quite early so I walked for about a mile and a half along the Leed & Liverpool canal past several locks. Very interesting.

Did much the same at Blackpool and Southend. A half hour walk away from the ground and you'll see a lot of interesting stuff.

My sister used to have a newspaper shop in Haringey, not far from White Hart Lane but she sold that long ago so I wouldn't bother going there now. If you can be bothered to walk to the North Middlesex Hospital then you can see my birthplace. I don't think they've got around to putting a blue plaque there yet

Wigan was an interesting one. Went in search of Wigan pier which was mentioned in a film once I believe, wasn't supposed to exist but turns out it did as we found it.

God that sounds dull as f*ck when typing it out.

Getting p*ssed is better.

Wigan was an interesting one. Went in search of Wigan pier which was mentioned in a film once I believe, wasn't supposed to exist but turns out it did as we found it.

God that sounds dull as f*ck when typing it out.

Getting p*ssed is better.

Wigan was an interesting one. Went in search of Wigan pier which was mentioned in a film once I believe, wasn't supposed to exist but turns out it did as we found it.

God that sounds dull as f*ck when typing it out.

Getting p*ssed is better.

The Road to Wigan Pier was a non-fiction book by George Orwell (1937)

Funny that. We were discussing going to Boro away the a couple of games back, and being a bit older a bit more consideration given to the designated driver is given, so a trip over the famous Transporter bridge was added to the agenda; sounds like a trainspotters day out!!

Going to Milan we flew into Geneva and drove to Milan via the Mont Blanc tunnel, driving down the Aosta (sp?) Valley out eyes were over flowing, my mate and I said driving away to a Saints game at home now is going to be pretty dull now.

I must admit when I started going to away games several decades ago, it was more about 'invading' opposition territory after consuming large quantities of alcohol and I noticed very little other than the interiors of pubs and football grounds, but in recent years I've found one of the attractions of away games, especially in small northern towns, is doing a bit of sightseeing before games. It's taken me to places I'd otherwise have had no reason to go to, like Barnsley, Oldham, Bolton, Burnley and Hull. What got me thinking about this was seeing Leicester fans wandering over the Itchen Bridge after the game to take some photos, although little did they know they were going to end up in Woolston.

 

Do you have any quirky away games that stand out? Barnsley was one for me: the quintessential small northern town, with hilly, cobbled streets and views of the pit heads. Saturday night in Blackburn was always fun. Least favourite: Tottenham. I'm sure there must be something interesting connected with local Jewish history but I've never found it.

If you want to see a very (Hasidic) Jewish area, visit Stamford Hill just south of Tottenham High Rd.

Wigan was a pleasant surprise.

Oldham. There was a pub below Boundary Park my wife and I parked up in and enjoyed crinkle cut chip butties in. Apparently it was an Oldham "firm" pub, and they needed to win to stay up and we walk in in our Saints shirts having stayed up the week before. Everybody was very friendly, and we lost the game 4-3 (it was Francis Benali day in the away end I think - or Francis Bengali as the Oldham announcer called him). They stayed up, Palace went down with record points, and a great evening in that pub was had by us all.

Loads of different London experiences - Seven Sisters Road is bloody horrible (and I lived in London for 10 years) but had some good fun around Upton Lane after various West Ham games, next to Highbury and Islington Tube station (The Bailey - Stewpot from Grange hill drinks in there - showing my age - he came along for a post game curry once). Milan of course.... (sobs quietly)

The day after the game in Milan we drove up to Lake Como and into Lugano in Switzerland. Superb. I know that kind of thing is slightly more expected with European away games though!

Funny how memories stick with you, I remember getting some dinner in a Kings Road cafe before a Chelsea league cup game (Jody Morris 120th minute...) when I was a kid, can recall the atmosphere and that feeling of almost being in a foreign & distant land, but if I could revisit that moment now I'm sure it would be a pretty run-of-the-mill place.

I like it how "taking a short walk away from the ground" has a very different meaning now to in the 70/80s/early 90s

In Arnhem, we walked across the John Frost Bridge. Brought back memories of a Bridge Too Far... (the film, not the poster on here)

In Milan, I took a photo of the cathedral.

In Prague, we walked across the Charles bridge. We also stumbled across the church where the Czech resistance fighters were holed up, after the failed assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich (one of the architects of the final solution). Anyone who has seen Operation Daybreak (or Anthropoid, more recently) would know it. Here is a picture of the access to the crypt where they were hiding. Hoses were put through this window to literally flush them out.

Thankfully the **** Heydrich died a few weeks later, so the the mission was accomplished, even though the czechs (who were betrayed) didn't know it.

Nordic, I guess that's an age thing. But, if you have been, how about Yeovil?? What sights could you possibly find to see there? IMO, as quickly in and out as possible is sometimes best.

On a slightly different note, I find Romeu interesting. He does, or has done, these little videos about the local area which I think is really great to see.

In Arnhem, we walked across the John Frost Bridge. Brought back memories of a Bridge Too Far... (the film, not the poster on here)

 

In Milan, I took a photo of the cathedral.

 

In Prague, we walked across the Charles bridge. We also stumbled across the church where the Czech resistance fighters were holed up, after the failed assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich (one of the architects of the final solution). Anyone who has seen Operation Daybreak (or Anthropoid, more recently) would know it. Here is a picture of the access to the crypt where they were hiding. Hoses were put through this window to literally flush them out.

 

Thankfully the **** Heydrich died a few weeks later, so the the mission was accomplished, even though the czechs (who were betrayed) didn't know it.

 

Very poignant. I have a signed copy of the book 'The Mirror Caught The Sun' by the comedian John Martin. He has taken a great interest in this story and has visited the sites many times and spoken to some of those involved.

http://www.johnmartincomedy.com/5.html

There's a bit more about him here: http://www.johnmartincomedy.com/6.html

The old memories that stand out for me are the transformation of the streets around Highbury from working class to million £ ++ houses for the metropolitan wa88kers. In about 67 when we even saw a lady in apron and hair scarf polishing her doorstep red after a match while avoiding Arsenal thugs by going a roundabout way to Finsbury Park.

In 64 my cousin took me to Burnley, and to a rural Winchester lad it looked like the dark satanic mills of a Lowrie painting, as did Blackburn in 67. Not sure that they have changed much except the mills have closed to be replaced by warehouses.

For a birthday I and my son watched a European Cup tie in the Eternal City Rome, my favourite city in Europe. IMO nowhere can beat it, and superb public transport.

I rather liked Blackpool FC where an uncle retired to in the early sixties.

Stoke before the evil witch ruined the Potteries was an interesting place from an industrial archeology point of view, with the pot banks, coal mines and steelworks all nearby.

Norwich and Ipswich are quite interesting places, Norwich more so, but if you look above the modern shopfronts in Ipswich you see some excellent architecture.

In the sixties the Dell would probably have been interesting for away supporters with views of the docks and ships funnels as you walked to the Station. Also much closer to the City Centre than most.

An interesting post, but in my away going hay-day you spent too much time avoiding the home team's thugs to enjoy many views.

When we've been to old Trafford the past couple of times, we've taken a walk down to media city for something to eat etc. Went to the war museum one time, and you can also see the coronation street studios as well. Pretty boring, but killed a few hours.

I'm in the position where I'm still travelling with a school age son so going for a couple of beers pre-game isn't an option. Therefore, sometimes, depending on whether we've driven or trained it, we'll have a look around.

We did the docks etc in Liverpool the other year, well worth a visit, and had a good mooch around Newcastle as well, again, well worth it. Any trip to a London game will mean an early start as he'll have a list of places he wants to visit.

I rather enjoy it.

Beer Sheva away will take some beating.....!

Tel Aviv beach and city

Jaffa old town

Weird Police Escort to match alongside fenced off no man's land.

Jerusalem:

Mount of Olives

Temple Mount

King David's Tomb

Room of the Last Supper

Al Aqsa

Western Wall

Golgotha

Jesus' tomb

Judean Desert

Bedouin camps

Floating in Dead Sea

Also, another vote for Wigan. Good night out.

Going to Milan we flew into Geneva and drove to Milan via the Mont Blanc tunnel, driving down the Aosta (sp?) Valley out eyes were over flowing, my mate and I said driving away to a Saints game at home now is going to be pretty dull now.

Yep, that's the correct spelling! Driving out there via Portsmouth this week for a couple of weeks skiing and wine drinking. When I lived there I had an away day to a pre-season friendly at Thun in Switzerland, drove over (instead of the tunnel) the Great St. Bernard Pass, had a mooch around Thun and a swim in the lake. Best forget the result..

I recall a good day at Huddersfield (apart from ahem, the result) as there is a great railway station bar, and they had a food festival going in the station square. I was training-it from local friends so seem to recall mainly taking advantage of the beer tent. Games like that made you realise Jake Thomson et al weren't really up to it. Best forget the result..

I took the boy for a mooch around the science and natural history museums after going to Wembley to watch England if that counts? Prague was a pleasure got some nice pic's walking between bars

Lovely coastline if you get to Sunderland early, head out to Roker and walk northwards, I've also had a beer and a bag of chips on the seafront at Redcar (sure beats going into Middlesboro itself). Cardiff Bay is worth a look, Norwich town centre is very real-ale friendly, with Ipswich a sort of runner-up cum little brother but there's really not much to see in Swindon or Reading. You'll always get a friendly welcome and a decent cheap pint oop north, at least if you stay out of t'big cities @ Hudderdfield/Halifax/Blackburn/Burnley etc. Did the huge indoor/covered market in Leeds, never seen anything like it (people or architecture) before, a sort of UK/Bangalore melting-pot cross-over, could have been another country from where I live. I found a mini water-front last season in Leicester that I didn't know was there (still not sure if it was a canal or a river), I also had a swim at S****horpe municipal baths on match day (don't ask) which must put me in a Saints Venn of exactly 'one'. There's usually something to see in most away towns but I really can't recommend spending more time than you absolutely need to in Gillingham.

Beer Sheva away will take some beating.....!

 

Tel Aviv beach and city

Jaffa old town

Weird Police Escort to match alongside fenced off no man's land.

 

Jerusalem:

Mount of Olives

Temple Mount

King David's Tomb

Room of the Last Supper

Al Aqsa

Western Wall

Golgotha

Jesus' tomb

 

Judean Desert

Bedouin camps

Floating in Dead Sea

 

 

Also, another vote for Wigan. Good night out.

Agreed

Although I was unable to make the recent trip to Beersheba, whenever I see the name brings back memories of when, as a student some 40 years ago and working on

a kibbutz, I took a break to have a look at the south of Israel. Having caught the overnight bus from Eilat for the long schlep through the Negev to Beersheba I awoke to find an Arab on his camel in full colourful regalia galloping alongside the bus just before we hit the city limits. Could have been a scene from Lawrence.

A couple of years back I visited the Anderson Boat Lift in Northwich and also took in an FA Cup tie at Altrincham on route to seeing Liverpool v Saints - the boat lift's worth a visit but closes in the winter months so you need to pick your game carefully

In Arnhem, we walked across the John Frost Bridge. Brought back memories of a Bridge Too Far... (the film, not the poster on here)

 

In Milan, I took a photo of the cathedral.

 

In Prague, we walked across the Charles bridge. We also stumbled across the church where the Czech resistance fighters were holed up, after the failed assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich (one of the architects of the final solution). Anyone who has seen Operation Daybreak (or Anthropoid, more recently) would know it. Here is a picture of the access to the crypt where they were hiding. Hoses were put through this window to literally flush them out.

 

Thankfully the **** Heydrich died a few weeks later, so the the mission was accomplished, even though the czechs (who were betrayed) didn't know it.

 

Watched Anthropoid yesterday, good film just wish I had watched it before my Prague visit would have taken the time to do a bit more mooching about !