I’d had a quiet time leading up to Christmas as I was on holiday from work. Probably the most we’d done of note was taking the dogs up to Seaham beach. We’ve got the labrador and the beagle with us at the moment and as they are one and seven respectively, they have vastly different energy levels. The beach works in that they can arse about at their own pace, chasing sticks and stones into the sea or just pootling along and sniffing the seaweed.
Boxing Day means football though. Harry reckons that it’s a better day than Christmas Day and I’d agree with him on that. We picked up Tom and headed for the Riverside. He had some vapes as a Christmas present for his mate Jordan in the row behind, all nicely wrapped in festive paper. As I was deemed the one of us least likely to be searched, it was my job to get them into the South Stand. I succeeded.
It was the usual Boxing Day full house, or at least it would have been if Blackburn had sold all of their tickets and there hadn’t been so many seats set aside for segregation. Having brought Bangura and Gilbert back from the dead, Kim Hellberg’s latest attempt at resurrection saw Micah Hamilton start his first game for around a year. It didn’t really work on this occasion and he got the hook at half-time.
We dominated the first half and, as at Bristol City, if a Morgan Whittaker shot had gone in off the inside of the post, it might have been a different story. We had less of the play in the second half and with Blackburn growing in confidence, we might very well have ended up with nothing. As it was, a nil-nil draw and a point each was a fair reflection of an uninspiring performance from both sides.
The Kim Hellberg new manager bounce was paying dividends with three wins out of three since his arrival. Visitors QPR had won four of their last five games to move up to seventh and, on paper at least, posed a threat.
We’ve been playing so well though in the last few games that Tom and Harry shared my view that we would turn them over.
Kim’s team selection was interesting, with the risen from the dead Bangura and Gilbert dropping to the bench. He later explained that after so long out he didn’t want them to play too much too often until they were fully match-fit. Fair enough.
We started well and created plenty of opportunities. Boro’s first goal came from a pinpoint Hackney through ball that Strelec finished like a true striker and the second was a trademark Whittaker finish after an equally pinpoint pass from goalkeeper Brynn.
Best goal of the day though was Tommy Conway’s penalty early in the second half. He’s been on a scoring drought which the whole stadium was willing him to end. The relief both on and off the pitch was obvious when he tucked it away. He’s worth his place even if he never scores, but hopefully this one will boost his confidence and open the floodgates.
Boro and Derby have a sort of rivalry these days, stemming back to when they cheated their way to the play-offs a few years ago and Gibbo sued them for exceeding the FFP limits and stealing our spot. They settled out of court, but their fans still whine about it.
They like to sing about how they will party when Gibbo passes away and in response the Boro sing about the equivalent celebrations should Derby cease to exist. It’s all a bit childish, but that’s football for you.
It was raining on the way to the ground, so we didn’t stop at the fan zone. Instead, we took our places early for the tifo display where we were required to wave flags whilst a large banner was raised behind the goal. A lot of work must have gone into it all.
Big news was that it was the first game under our new Swedish coach, Kim Hellberg. He is reputed to like playing out from the back, so we might see the return of some of the comedy defending of the Carrick era. There was also in first appearance in almost two years for right-back Alex Bangura. He did well, despite getting a whack in the face, and unexpectedly played from start to finish.
We began badly and were a goal down after a minute. Derby probably had the best of the first half, but once we started making changes, we gradually took control. Riley McGree did well, despite playing deeper than usual. He may well be the best footballer at the club and would likely make a decent go of slotting into any position if required.
The Derby fans were enjoying their day out for the first seventy-five minutes, but late goals from Matt Targett and Morgan Whittaker turned it around and doomed them to a joyless journey home. What a pity. They might be having a party one day, but not just yet.
I wasn’t very confident about taking anything from this game. Neither were Tom or Harry. It’s not just that Coventry are running away with the division and already have a goal difference beyond anything that we would likely achieve even if we won promotion. It’s just that it’s, well, Coventry. We rarely beat them.
Injuries don’t help and for the first time in a while we had a fairly weak bench. Adi went with wing backs but was forced to slot Alan Browne into the back three in the absence of most of our centre-backs.
We started well and I imagine that the new Swedish boss who was watching on will have been impressed with our attacking play and with the vigorous pressing. However, I doubt he will have been too happy with the defending that left us two down before we were a quarter of an hour into the game.
The momentum shifted when we pulled one back through Morgan Whittaker and then stayed with us when an own goal brought us level.
A cross from the right with fifteen minutes remaining could have led to one of those great comeback nights, but Tommy Conway skied it when it really would have been easier to score than put it in the stand. The miss affected us more than it should have done and a relieved Coventry made the most of their reprieve with two strikes in the last five minutes. Of course they did, it’s what they do. Overall, though, I thought that we did well. There’s definitely something for the new guy to work on.
I’d had an eye on this fixture for a couple of years as I’ve not yet seen a game at the Kassam Stadium. I always think of it as a new ground, but Oxford have played there since 2001. In fact, they are planning to move again before long, so time was running out for me to tick it off.
I wasn’t sure whether I’d have enough priority points for a ticket in the Boro section, so took the precaution back in August of buying a cheap ticket from Oxford for an early round of the League Cup. I later got a free ticket from Oxford for an open training day that they held. Whilst I didn’t attend on either occasion, that buying history was sufficient from me to purchase a home ticket for the Boro game without fear of having it cancelled.
Oxford is a decent drive from Teesside so Jen and I made a weekend of it. My plan had been to walk some more of the Thames Path, but it rained all weekend. That meant indoor activities only and we visited a couple of museums, the Natural History Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum.
I was disappointed to see that the shrunken heads had been removed from public view. Maybe I need to hurry up and finish the doctorate so I can pass myself off as a legitimate researcher and have a peek in the off-limits areas. Oddly, they still had old photos on display of twelve-year-old African girls without their shirts on. I’d have expected more of a backlash about those than the trophy heads. On the plus side there were some good Captain Cook artifacts including clubs similar to those that may well have been involved in his demise.
I’d selected our hotel as it was close enough to the stadium for me to walk to the game. It’s no fun in the rain though and so I took a taxi instead. The Kassam Stadium only has three sides and on arrival I headed around to the right for the lower section of the South Stand.
I’d arrived in sufficient time to catch the end of the Coventry game on the concourse telly and got myself a steak and ale pie and a coffee. By chance I was wearing a yellowish jumper, which helped me blend in with the home fans, but as an old bloke who says little anyway, I wasn’t worried about being outed as a Boro fan.
I took my seat and watched some of the pre-match entertainment on the screen at the car park end. There wasn’t any footage of either of the four-one defeats for Oxford that secured promotion for the Boro in 1967 and 1998, but they did show one of the goals from the 1986 Milk Cup Final against QPR. I attended that game at Wembley with Blainey who had somehow obtained tickets and joined me in London for it.
The Boro fans were opposite me in the end section of the North Stand. It looked as if those in the first few rows or right at the end of the stand were getting wet. I was quite happy with my seat far enough under cover to stay dry and also the luxury of being able to sit down at a Boro game for a change.
Strelec and Nypan weren’t available after international duty and as we were well stocked with central midfielders, caretaker boss Adi Viveash pushed Hayden Hackney forward into the number ten role. This always seems a bit of a waste to me as he gets forward anyway, and I’d like to see another attacking player within the line-up.
We had the majority of the possession, as we usually do, but didn’t really have many shots on target. Oxford went in at half-time a goal up, but Morgan Whittaker bailed us out in the second half with a goal that I managed to photograph.
It was still raining when the game finished and in the absence of any taxis or buses I walked back to the hotel. That’s twenty-three of the twenty-four Championship grounds visited, with just Wrexham still to do.
I probably wouldn’t have bothered going to Sheff Wed, but I was keen to pick up the two priority points needed to move me to a higher band before the tickets for Oxford away went on sale. That said, it’s a simple enough drive and motivation is always easier when we are regularly winning games.
Sadly, Coventry had picked up six points in the days since we last played and they had replaced us at the top of the table. A win in this game would consolidate our top two position though and create a four-point gap to third placed Millwall.
The Boro end had sold out, albeit with plenty of upper tier seats with obscured views left unsold. I’d have released them for reduced prices as it would have enabled more Boro fans to see the game and perhaps allowed some of those priced out to attend.
There were lots of empty seats in the other three stands as well as the Wednesday fans were boycotting the game in protest at their owner. The official attendance was just over seven thousand, with the Boro making up more than half of that total. I doubted that there were three thousand Wednesday fans in the ground, I’d have thought about half of that, but fair play to the fans that stayed away, hopefully their stance will help things to change.
The Boro were unchanged and went a goal up in the opening minutes. We should have had a pen when Joe Lumley wiped out Tommy Conway, but somehow the ref didn’t see it. Ex-Boro keeper Lumley went on to perform as well as I’ve ever seen him do, but we had enough quality to control the game and eventually pick up the points.
As I walked back to the car I chatted to a Wednesday fan. He was resigned to relegation but didn’t care. He was speculating that a pending tax bill might put them into administration and force the change of ownership that the fans wanted. It’s an extreme solution but I hope it works out for them one way or another.
I wasn’t confident of getting to this game as my flight home from Lulea wasn’t scheduled to land at Teesside until 5pm. You’d think that would be sufficient, but I’ve been delayed for one reason or another on quite a few of my recent trips. In order to avoid any uncertainty about Harry being able to attend, I’d arranged with him that his Dad would use my card and take him. If I did get back in time, I’d make my own way there and just buy a ticket. Secretly I was quite happy with this arrangement as I was none too keen to stand up for ninety minutes in the South Stand after a day of travelling.
In the end, my flight landed on time, Harry’s Dad couldn’t make it anyway and so it was the now regular trio of Tom, Harry and I that went. We were early enough to call into the fanzone pre-match where Tom’s cunning plan of buying two pints to cut down on the queuing was thwarted by Harry’s equally cunning plan of drinking one of them himself. He’s a tall lad for his age, so didn’t really look out of place.
Our defeat at Portsmouth meant that we had slipped behind Coventry at the top of the table but three points in this game would take us back to the summit, at least until the following afternoon.
The previous weeks’ international duty likely impacted on selection, with Browne retaining his place alongside Hackney and with Morris starting on the bench. Nypan had made his full debut for Holland and also began on the bench with Burgzorg returning.
I was surprised that Akpom didn’t start for Ipswich but pleased that he got a decent reception when he was called upon. I doubt that he’ll ever have as successful a season as that last one that he had with us. Sometimes a player just fits right and he certainly did then.
Ipswich had brought more than two thousand fans, which is a highly commendable turnout for a Friday night game that was on TV. They probably thought they were going to have a decent time of it when they were awarded a penalty just before the break. However, a very good save from Sol Brynn was compounded by us going straight up the other end and scoring. From thinking that they would be going in at half time a goal up to actually going in a goal down must have been hard for Ipswich to take.
Former boo boy target Morgan Whittaker added a second to aid his redemption before we had to endure a nervy final fifteen after they pulled one back. On the way out we were once again able to sing ‘We are top of the league, say, we are top of the league’. It might only be for the following nineteen hours, but it’s still a good feeling.
I’d originally planned to drive up to Newbiggin for a Northern League game, but then I noticed that the Boro’s U21 team were playing away at Halifax Town in that competition where the lower ranked teams field their first team against the kid’s sides from those higher up the leagues. I’m sure the rules of the competition spell it out more clearly, but that is the gist of it.
There was a handy and free car park outside The Shay and it was ten quid cash-only admission at the turnstiles. I picked up a steak pie with gravy and took a seat in the main stand, which was the only one that had been opened. The unused covered terraces behind the two goals looked great, a real throwback to how grounds used to be.
Boro had included some players from the first team squad, no doubt to get some minutes into their legs. Lenihan and Edmundson formed the centre-half partnership with Micah Hamilton on the left of the three behind Sonny Finch. The two defenders were withdrawn at the break, presumably having enough of a run out, with Hamilton not far behind.
There wasn’t much of a crowd, just 207. I wondered whether it might be the lowest ever for a Halifax game, but a quick online search revealed that just 195 people watched Sunderland at The Shay in this competition last year. Clearly, the Boro are a bigger attraction.
Boro didn’t really shine and only Lenihan looked to be first team standard. Finch was busy and took his goal well, but it was hard to see any gap in quality between the sides. The outcome could have gone either way until a late Halifax goal sealed a 2-1 win for the National League side.
I’ve been doing well for gigs lately and after seeing Weathership and The Undertones on the previous Thursday and Saturday nights, Jen and I nipped over to a Sunday afternoon show in Manchester. It was John Bramwell at the Night and Day Café.
On the plus side, it was Bramwell. Even better, he had his Harmonic Convergence band with him so we got the full versions of new stuff and a bigger sound on classics that he more often than not plays solo. It was also interesting to hear his stories about his time working in the venue and that it features in the lyrics to Over Your Shoulder.
Less good was the number of people who had turned up primarily for a yapped catch up with their mates. He should only play to ‘quiet’ audiences. The shape of the venue was odd as well, with the stage at one end of a long and narrow room. But I suppose you work with what you have. Anyway, it was a worthwhile trip.
Two days later it was time for the second game of Boro’s season, a first round Carabao Cup game against third-tier Doncaster Rovers. I’d got tickets for Tom, Harry and I in the West Stand Lower, which I’d picked partly for novelty value but also so that I wouldn’t have to stand all evening as is the practice in the South Stand.
After Saturday’s win over Swansea, I was hopeful of a good result. Particularly as Boro fielded a strong side, albeit with Hackney, Morris and Fry held back on the bench. Doncaster made a full eleven changes from their league line-up and included Billy Sharp up front. He must be a similar age to me.
It didn’t start well and we were two goals down early on. The fella to my left was a right pain in the arse with his non-stop instructions to the players followed by criticism when they didn’t do as he suggested. I was hoping that he might storm out if a third goal went in.
Events took a turn for the worse in the second half, despite us emptying the bench. Doncaster added a further two goals for an emphatic 4-0 win. It’s just as well that they didn’t bring their first team.
The silver lining to the walloping was that the ground was virtually empty by full-time and so we could get through the underpass without queueing. There’s always a positive if you look hard enough. I also liked the way that Rob Edwards reacted without throwing any of the players under a bus. He hinted that there would be some changes to the squad before the window closed so I suppose we will just have to hope for some players good enough to go straight into the starting eleven.
The Boro’s first league game of the season took place on the same day as an Undertones gig at Stockton Arc. Jen and I were joined by a few mates for an enjoyable performance. Afterwards we called into the kebab shop opposite and bumped into the bassist. They didn’t have pizza on the rider and so he had to sort out his own post-gig scran. He seemed a decent bloke and he chatted away to Jen about all kinds of American and Irish stuff.
Earlier in the day I’d made my way to the Riverside with quite low expectations. I’d been to a few of the pre-season games and, whilst some of the performances were ok at times, we hadn’t managed a win or ever looked like a team that would create too many chances.
Harry and I have moved seats to the South Stand, next to Tom. He was working though and so Alistair came along instead. Harry must be pushing six foot now, but Alistair is younger and shorter and so he spent a lot of the game standing on his seat.
New signing Brittain was making his debut at right wing back, but we were still filling in with Silvera on the left. There was no sign of van den Berg with his move to Cologne appearing imminent, but Hackney started in midfield after knocking back an approach from fellow Championship side Ipswich.
It all went better than I’d expected. There wasn’t much between the teams in the first half, but I felt that we took control of the game after the break. A rare Dael Fry goal was enough to take the points and get the campaign off to a solid start.
Trail of the Lion King 