I posted this on another City forum the day after the amazing Sunday. All this is true and as someone has already said, they get sppoked by it. I still cannot get me head round it, but then again I had no idea it had got to 2-2. Here's my story:
Alright, no-one likes a long self-indulgent thread, but if you want to read, please do. It’s cathartic for me to write it as I can’t get my head around yesterday at all.
From the outside, listening in:
OK, we drove up from Coventry and arrived outside the ground at about 1. I and a mate have SCs. I brought my wife and daughter with me and a wad of cash for any willing sellers. There were none, not at least as far as I could see. My strategy was to wait until 3 and see if anyone would be offering anything at a decent price. Great strategy. My mate went in at 2.50. There were a few thousand outside and it was obvious that my brilliant strategic plan had fucked up in my face. I then made the biggest decision of my life and gave my SC to my daughter. She’s 17. I love her more than the world itself, so I couldn’t not do it. Anyway, I didn’t fancy the 2 of them outside. The crowd was clearly made up of decent people, but I couldn’t just leave them both. She was crying as she went in. That was enough for me and set me off on my rollercoaster afternoon.
The game kicked off and the missus and I milled down to the QPR end and sat on the seats outside K entrance. There was an odd roar and I thought that QPR had scored. The slow roar turned out to be QPR fans realising Stoke were winning. We walked back to City Square where there were a few people round iPads. Surreal. It dawned on me to check out my Skygo app on my phone and bugger me, it worked. A few of us huddled around the small screen and saw the action, only spoiled by a 1 minute delay! Zabs goal was a bit weird. It was not an explosion of noise, more a sort of slow build up of noise. I worked that out when I saw it was a dribbler of a goal and not a net bulger, more of a sort of slow-realisation of a goal.
Half-time. Spoke to me old man who was in Level 2. ‘Pissing it, Michael, QPR have no ambition’. Great, way to jinx it, Dad.
They equalized. It was a smaller roar, so I was totally sure who had scored. Some clowns started singing ‘Championees’. That stopped sharpish upon confirmation from a steward that it was 1-1. Shit, fucking shit. Believe it or not, I figured out there was a red card by the noises emanating from the stadium. A roar, lengthy anger and booing gave it away. I notice a woman peering in through the slats, she was waving both arms in a ‘Goodbye’ motion. Twitter confirmed the red, with the missus checking that fucking thing every 8 seconds.
We started to walk back towards K entrance. Coppers were telling us to clear the area as the club wanted everyone away. Whatever. I said we were going back to car at St Brigid’s school car park. As we trudged away, it went 1-2. That knowing away support roar. I heard a copper say, ‘That’s 2-1, it’ll kick off now’. The walk became slow and desperate. Passed a silent Mary D’s, utterly lost and disconsolate. We couldn’t speak. Horrible. Back in the car, 15 minutes left. We listened for 7 or 8 minutes before turning off and driving to a spot virtually outside Mary D’s, figuring Graham and Clare would be solemnly trudging back any time soon. I parked facing away from the stadium. What followed was something I’ve never seen before and maybe never will.
There was this noise. It’s hard to articulate what it sounded like. There were maybe 300 people suddenly out of the street, literally screaming. It was almost primeval, animal, crazy. I could see it all in my wing mirror. I got out of the car with a sense of fear, initially. I mean, WTF was going on. There were people yelling, hugging, dancing and wailing. Raw emotion, utterly bizarre. I told the missus that 2-2 was no good. Then I thought maybe Sunderland had scored. What I did know was that these were people going mad for a very special reason and hope suddenly welled up. One bloke ran by screaming ‘3 fucking 2’. On went the radio! Well, you know the rest. Some random stranger, City fan, stopped and asked what was going on. I didn’t know what to do or say as I’d just sort of lost it in the space of 30 seconds. The next sound was the commentator screaming that we’d won. The missus kept pointing at Twitter, saying that it was still 2-2. Me and said random bloke danced and screamed. People came out of the houses, people fell out of Mary D’s. You had to see it, it was like carnage in the street. Some bloke had a bottle of champagne, spraying it from his balcony. Madness. Wonderful. Unforgettable.
The 2 ticketed ones returned about 45 minutes later. Clare said that she had been hugged and kissed by hundreds. She was born a blue. She was 4 when the wife and I went to the Gillingham game. Now she understands why this club mean to me what they do. After those two ladies, City are it.
Got back at about 7.45 and watched the goal for the first time. I just sat and cried. Then went out a got pissed. Tonight I’ve got it all to come. Watch the game for the first time, Jeff and the boys (recorded both full programmes), MOTD and some You Tube shit I’ve collected today. Oh, and the parade.
This club are amazing. They are a cult. Unique.
So, I was there. Kind of. 3 season tickets next year. Absolutely.
Any other stories?
Michael.
