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A month or so ago, myself and a few of the Liverpool supprters from the forum decided that we would all get together and travel to Anfield to watch Liverpool and indulge in a bit of drinking.
Kinboshi selected the match that we would be attending....v Birmingham City on saturday 22 september. Tickets and accomodation were soon sourced and travel plans made. As i live in sleepy Norfolk,travel to anywhere is a pain in the butt but after a whole day of trawling t'interweb i managed to sort out tickets and planned my journey using various trains, buses and cars.
Accompanying me on my journey was my nephew Nathan. A very quiet 17 year old lad who has always longed to visit Anfield, home of his adored Liverpool. Kinboshis choice of fixture filled our hearts with optimism of a goal packed afternoon .
4.15 am Saturday morning, and we are on the road. Nathans brother has agreed to drive us the 85 miles to Peterborough where we will catch the first of many trains on our journey.Traffic, as expected at this time of the morning, is nonexistant and we whizz through the miles arriving at our destination at 6.00am. Our plan is to take the 6.50 from Peterborough to Birmingham, and then take another train from Birmingham to Tamworth where Kinboshi will pick us up and drive us to Liverpool.
After a coffee and some toast we make our way to platform 3 where our train is waiting for us. We join the 20 or so other passengers on the platform and wait for the train to open its doors....and wait...and wait.  6.40 becomes 6.50, becomes 7.00  and it is about 7.10 when the alarm bells inside my head start ringing.i make my way to the office to enquire why we are not being allowed to board and i am told that due to the non arrival of the guard, the train has been cancelled. Great !(thank you Central trains)  At this point i have 2 options........jump on the train now leaving platform 2 , change at x , change at x , change at x    arrive Birmingham at 13.30         or  wait for the 7.50 and Hope that a guard turns up..........option 1 is a no go so we wait for the 7.50 with fingers crossed.
This train arrives on time and , with guard on board, departs on time. One small problem..we will not be able to make our connection to Tamworth.After texting Daniel (kinboshi) and explaining the situation he offers to pick us up from Birmingham , an offer that is gratefully accepted. 10.00 am we pull into New Strret station and true to his word, Dan is there and we hit the M6 northbound to Liverpool..
  The journey passes in a blur of bad beat stories and we arrive in Liverpool to meet up with DJ Scouse(formerly known as Jizzemm) to collect our tickets and from here we drop the car off at our accomodation.A quick phone call to blondeite Digger later, and we are in a taxi on our way to the Penny Farthing pub where Guiness can be purchased for £1.75 a pint    happy days. Although not the classiest of pubs ,anywhere that you can buy a round for less than a fiver whilst at the same time being offered paperback books , ciggys , watches and extra strong mints at bargain prices  has to be +EV.

We are joined in the pub by Daniels brother Ben (straight from an all night party) and his lovely young lady,and after another couple of beers we are in taxis again heading for The Stanley , a couple of hundred yards from the ground and packed with Liverpool supporters.Here we partake of a few more beers whilst watching former Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler scoring twice for Cardiff on the big screen tvs.
On to the match ..........what a let down. Prime seats on the Kop and we are treated to perhaps the most inept display i have seen from a Liverpool team against a very poor Birmingham side.
Back to The Stanley for more liquid refreshment ,then on to the hotel to freshen up.
Then followed  a night of drinking at Liverpools premier nighspots, including a meal at the  Sportsman bar where Daniel ate a burger that was indeed as monstrous as its name , Digger refused to pay for his food unless it included everything that the menu said it should contain ,Nathan didnt enjoy his burnt fish and me? i pulled the waitress  .
On to Concert square where we met up with DJ Scouse and The Chip Prince but by this time the effects of the alcohol and the travelling were having an effect and i bade my fellow drinkers goodnight as i returned to the hotel.
Sunday morning streamed through the window of our room and it wasnt too long before Daniel had vacated his bunk bed and we were back on the M6 heading for Tamworth and the home of the kinboshi's. I am not sure whether it was my sparkling personality or my enthralling conversation but mrs kinboshi very quickly fell asleep so we once again got into the car for the short trip to Tamworth station.
After saying our goodbyes we found our platform and lo and behold the train was on time for our short journey to Nottingham. Upon arrival at Nottingham , i could see no sign of the 15.48 to Peterborough on the departure board.Off to the office i trudged and was told that it had been cancelled yesterday......sigh neverends. (thank you Central trains). an alternative was found which involved getting on the London bound Mainline train  ,changing at Leicester for the Peterborough bound train which i am pleased to say went without a hitch.Upon arrival in Peterborough it was only a 45 minute wait for the bus and after a 2 hour bus ride and a 5 minute taxi journey i arrived home at 9.00pm.
Was it worth all the hassle?  With reference to the actual football match.........NO           For the whole experience ......YES
Thanks to DJ Scouse for the tickets.  Digger.........diamond geezer          Kinboshi....everything is much appreciated mate
and thanks to you all for making a 17 year old lads first Anfield visit such a memerable one.       

nice report mate, don't for a minute think u are sneaking home early in dublin you lightweight.

Crap match, good weekend.  :)up

So glad I don't live in Norfolk.

Great little read Boo.

Great report Booder, another great example of this fine Blonde community spirit......C'mon Cardiff!!

Geo

Great read Boo, you looked absolutely shattered when we saw you at 9.30, or just totally devastated at the 0-0!!

Combination of both of those things, and having to listen to me drone on in the car on the way up from mine.  Can't beat a captive audience... ;D