I remember being on a terrace at an away game when Kerry Dixon was playing for Watford (having been at Luton) and there was a punch up between pro and ante Dixon fans.  It was pretty nasty.

Matt Spring had no such issues though several years later.

God, I don't miss these scenes at football games any more!

Hi,

I also didn't particularly like Barton much when he signed but football wise he has been sensational.

One nice little touch from him... when a player was down injured getting treatment and he was waiting to take a free kick he threw the ball to some kids at the front of the James Hargreaves stand so they could head it back and he did it for a few minutes.

I don't expect him to if we don't go up but really hope he's still here next season.

David Jones is another to play at Deadwood before moving to us and also current target Alan Judge would be another (really hope we don't pay 8 Million for him).

You must sit near me then - that Joey kick about was right in front of us. I was desperate for him to throw it to me (such a child!!)

I am desperate for him to stay with us. I believe we have opened talks to extend his contract?

Ah you are quite right about Jonah. I clean out forgot about him! I would pay £8m for Alan Judge ... I though he was immense against us on Friday night.

Empty seat, my Lord
Empty seat.

Ul bud. Great to catch up with you yesterday. See you soon! B

^^ Meh. What do I know?! ^^

Now then. There's a question.

Prior to arriving at Turf Moor, I confess that I HATED Joey Barton. As a man and as a footballer. I had nothing positive to say about the despicable little cretin and adopted a zero tolerance strategy.

There are players who get categorised as "hate them if they play against you; love them if they play for you". I put the likes of Savage, Diouf and Bellamy in that field (although none of these played in a Claret shirt). Then there was Joey Barton. I genuinely believed that you hated the guy even if he played for you!

When the news broke that we were trying to sign him, I was gutted, but I said almost immediately that he would be an outstanding signing for "football reasons". The transition from demon to hero shouldn't have been seamless, but it was, and it wasn't through anything I did. It was all Joey. What you don't see outside of the "Joey Barton Circus" is the level in which he immerses himself in your club. He meets everyone. He learns the very ethos of the club's spirit. And he adopts it. Before he even kicked a ball, he had impressed me. I have turned into a massive Fangirl.

I do believe that the Barton we see today is very different to the one of 10 years ago, and I am not sure I would have felt the same way if I had been a QPR fan when he signed for them. I don't say that to dilute his past, but I believe he has changed. The man paid the price for his wrongdoings and I guess you shouldn't punish someone for the rest of their life for making a mistake(s).

There have been no other players from this category at Burnley in my lifetime. The closest we usually get is when someone signs for us who used to play for Venky's United down at Deadwood Park (*spits*). There's an unwritten rule that you cannot play for both clubs, but a few have; Alan Mahon, David May and Andy Cole all crossed the divide and came out alive!

Anyone else got any experience of this?

Hello hello

What a lovely thing, to know that there are people out there who miss you when you are not in their lives! How very kind of you to comment.

This diary has been playing on my mind for some time now and I am very very aware that I need to catch up with you all. Tikay has summed it up perfectly in his post above, so I won't regurgitate.

I have half a post written. I will be back asap!

Don't forget about me 

Yo yo. You made it then?!

We've just sat down for breakfast. Not sure we're playing today as I think it's just satellites to the Main?

Gonna just chill round the pool, but we'll find you later! X

[Bromleys on Tour: Punta Cana, Nov 2015]

Bromleys on Tour: Punta Cana, Nov 2015

There are brags. And there are sick binkage brags. 

Team Brommers has temporarily relocated to the Dominican Republic, where for the next 7 days we will be soaking up sunshine, rum and the Punta Cana Poker Classic at the great Hard Rock Resort. 

You see, the Boy managed to win one of the 9 packages up for offer next door. The stars aligned at just the right moment and we managed to schedule the time of out of the office, swap our scarves for bikinis (me, not the Boy you'll be glad to hear) and sleep our way over here on an Airbus A330 

Click to see full-size image.

I believe one of the terms of the comp was that it was only one package per household, but nonetheless we both tried to get us here; always on the strict understanding that we would also buy the other into the tournament. There's no way we would let the other sit on the rail and not play. There's a full schedule all week, as well as a ladies event on the last day. But more of that later. 

In the meantime, we've arrived safe and sound and have just spent a few hours trying to stay awake long enough to nail the Jetlag on day 1.

We're still functioning highly enough to realise that a midnight dip in the ocean was probably not wise. 

Click to see full-size image.

So we settled for rum on the beach, before a dip in our private jacuzzi (in the lounge - not sure anyone needs a jacuzzi in their lounge) and bed. 

Click to see full-size image.

[Bromleys on Tour: WSOPE 2015, Berlin, Germany]

Bromleys on Tour: WSOPE 2015, Berlin, Germany

“The tears I have cried over Germany have dried. I have washed my face” Marlene Dietrich

So once the poker is done, what else is there to do in Berlin? Given our enthusiasm for this city, Team Brommers decided to take a slightly extended break and make sure that we got around this famous, historical city. We bought guide books. We set an itinerary. We learnt stuff. I am not sure we even scratched the surface in the three days we spent wandering around, but we were still impressed. Our guide book of choice is usually the Eye-Witness Collection, that contain a rather handy 'Top Ten'; useful for poker players in a rush.

We present to you, our top picks:

1. Berlin Zoo

Click to see full-size image.

Sure, it's a zoo. Has animals. Not particularly different from any other zoo in the world. But it is good and well worth a visit. They have Kangaroos, an animal I usually place in the "Oh, I thought they were mythical" category. Kangaroos really do hop around.

Learning with Brommers #1: Knut the Polar Bear, one of Berlin Zoo’s most popular animals, was the first to be born in captivity to survive infancy in 30 years.

2. Reichstag Building

Click to see full-size image.

Germany's most important political building doesn't disappoint and is nothing short of spectacular to look at. As you can imagine, it is pretty well protected, as the Boy found out to his determinant when he wandered nonchalantly into a restricted zone and met the force of the German police!

Learning with Brommers #2: The Reichstag played a significant part in Hitler’s rise to power. The 1933 fire resulted in the passing of a Bill that afforded him absolute power. Many claim to this day that Hitler started the fire himself - that some political strategy if true!

3. Brandenburg Gate

Apart from being a lively, vibrant centrepiece, we spent quite a bit of time roaming around here in anticipation of Season 5 of one of our most favourite box sets; Homeland. Which is set in Berlin. And given that most of the major embassies live here, we tried to memorise streets and scenes for when the new series starts.

Learning with Brommers #3:  Originally, only the royal family was allowed to walk through the central arch of the gate. Everyone else had to walk through the other arches.

4. Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum)

The official national history museum of the Federal Republic of Germany is nothing short of amazing. Your Belle is a complete history geek but we just simply didn’t have the time to go through the entire archives. So we started in 1918 and finished at 1989. The thing that struck me was the complete honestly of the information on display. Good or bad, it was factual and did not try to dilute a past that they may not be particularly proud of. Or make excuses for defeats in battle.

Learning with Brommers #4:  The museum houses over 8,000 permanent historical artefacts!

There was so much more to do, see and experience that another trip simply has to be on the cards (pardon the terrible pun).

[Bromleys on Tour: WSOPE 2015, Berlin, Germany]

Bromleys on Tour: WSOPE 2015, Berlin, Germany

Click to see full-size image.

Hello, and Herzlich Willkommen to Berlin, Germany, which for the next couple of weeks will host the 2015 World Series of Poker, Europe.  We are at the Speilberg for some cards, beer and sausages.

Berlin is a city that Team Brommers has never visited before and so excitement reached fever pitch when the WSOPE announced the 2015 schedule.  Regardless of what else happened in 2015, we were going to Berlin.

And so here we are. Early flight out of Manchester into Shönefeld over the clear skies of our coastline and raring to go. As with most our trips, we are here for just a short time (5 days), combining some selected tournaments with a lot of sightseeing (*edit* beer and sausage). We planned for one bracelet event and a couple of side events.

Click to see full-size image.

Our bracelet event was the €550 Oktoberfest, themed (although I am not sure how) on the frivolities from down the road in Munich.  The tournament floors were packed and the event amassed a colossus 2,144 entrants.  It wasn’t the best value of tournaments if we are honest. For your €550 you get a 5k stack and a 30 minute clock. Turbo turbo turbo. Your Belle bust bullet #1 in pretty standard fashion: we ran KQ into 56 for half our stack, then AK into QJ for the rest. Fairly un-controversial.  It was time for a quick rest before we fired bullet #2 (no re-entries in the WSOPE events).

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

This followed a similar theme.  Ran QQ into AQ for the first half of our stack. Then had the most ridic exit hand EVER - jammed remaining 11bb with J9. Get called by the BB with 33. We flop the world (8 10 Q). We still lose. Turn 10 (uh-oh). River 3 (puke).

The rest of the trip was just side events. These are even more turbo though; €265 for a 5k stack with a 15 min clock and max 150 runners. I got close to a cash, finishing 6 off the bubble, but the Boy had to go one further and lock up a 5th place finish for €3,500. And a German flag. Not impressed!!

We left our friends, and this random dude, to clean up the rest...

Click to see full-size image.

Natterley cashed? Wonderful news.

Well done the girlie.

There is a German flag in the Bromley household yes. I will let her give you the details though

I'm hating on you right now.

[Bromley023 0 3 £382.44]

oioi, Lady Bromley is getting in on the act now.


Andyp42 1389000 1 £1157.50
jok22 0 2 £648.20
Bromley023 0 3 £382.44

*STOP THE PRESS*

This year may be turning around. Just in time to go bracelet hunting too #WSOPE

I hope it rains lots!

I don't like either one of you and I am not all jealous!

It'll be fine Matthew. I'll be at the other end of the world. And don't really like using my phone. Or social media.

You won't know I'm there

Congratulations Adam.

Bromleys on tour again, enjoy it guys

Having to pack. Again. FFS.

Ha, thanks Tikay.

Not a bad life is it?