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A Goalless Score
Nov. 10th, 2014 10:35 amOn Saturday I headed back up to Middlesbrough to go to the match. I hadn't been to a home game for about 10 years - I think the UEFA Cup semi-final against Steaua Bucharest in April 2005 was my last home game - but as it was first versus second against Bournemouth and my Hull fetish plans fell through, I opted to make the trip north, particularly as I couldn't get to the previous week's Rotherham game as all of the tickets had sold out.
The game itself was a bit of a damp squib, a goalless draw of few chances, with two good teams canceling each other out. However it's more often than not the event around the game rather than the game itself that is the highlight and so it proved again, both pre-match and during it.
I met some of the Boro lads I have known for a decade - indeed they were the first people I ever met off the Internet - in Sherlock's, one of two new craft beer pubs on a side street in the centre of the town. Both this one and The Twisted Lip some two doors down both look like they have been carved out of someone's front room, which indeed they have as these terraced houses used to be residences until they were converted into pubs earlier this year. More real ale than craft beer in honesty, it is still good that a town like Middlesbrough is developing a beer scene and the beers I had in this bar were amongst the finest I've ever had, a lovely blackberry ale with a sweet and distinctive taste. Having had nothing to eat, I also got a mince and mushy pea pie, a northern culinary delight which was beyond fantastic. We also chatted about football and life in general while watching Liverpool succumb to Chelsea on the TV.
Our stadium is about a 15 minute walk from the centre of town and we were toying with getting a taxi due to the persistent light drizzle. In the end we couldn't find one and walked down there instead, where we were greeted to throngs of people befitting the biggest attendance of our season so far. We had nearly 23,000 in the end and people were queuing for tickets up until kick off, as well as queuing to get into the turnstiles. Needing a pee, this was quite uncomfortable but we eventually got in, I relieved myself and I was in the stands just in time for kick off.
One criricism I have made of The Riverside in the past is the lack of atmosphere but they have made changes in recent times, moving all of the passionate support to the south stand and filtering the away crowd - which was quite paultry - into the west. I had got my ticket in Block 62, the most fanatical section and was stood next to a hardened Boro lad who initially didn't take too kindly to my look but was soon fine once we got into the swing of all the singing. There were flags there in abundance being waved and everyone stood throughout the match, which also boosted the intense atmosphere. We sung, clapped and stomped, and it was a great tribal atmosphere of which to be a part, even though in the end we didn't see any goals. We hit the crossbar in the first half but that was the closest any side came, with both defence being very well organised and not letting the attackers through. A fair result really. Towards the end there must have been double the number of people on my row than there should have been but the atmosphere was sound, with just one mildly racist bloke spoiling things. To be fair, he said two things under his breath and was condemned for it as soon as he did.
After the game, I met up with my friend Udayan and his mates outside the statues and walked back into the centre of town. I was surprised and delighted to see that they had gentrified the previous wasteland along the way, with a college, brasserie and offices there now. They do look a little twee but they've made the most of the riverside frontage, with cringeworthy corporate crapspeak signs suggesting that they hadn't finished building yet. The modern art piece of two metal circles which overlap differently depending on your position relative to them is also a nice touch, with the iconic Transporter Bridge in the background.
The rest of the town is largely unchanged from the last time I was there, when I lived there in 2009. We ended up going to the Zetland, one of the scuzziest pubs in the town (and there's a lot if competition). I'm not sure why we ended up there but we did, where I had a final pint with Udayan and his mates before heading off. It was a little awkward in all honesty as I was the outsider of the group - with the rest of them all knowing each other - but they were great guys and generally easy to talk to. This is the disadvantage of home games really - away games are an adventure with the people who are going and take more planning while going to a game in town tends to be a more individual affair where people are more likely to do their own thing and meet in their own groups.
After the match, I had arranged to meet my father, who lived on the southern side of Middlesbrough on the way home. He cooked a delicious beef casserole and put on a cheeseboard on my behalf while we caught up for a few hours before he drove me to Northallerton to catch my late train. It was great seeing him, probably for the last time this year, and heading home was a good opportunity to meet up. The train journey on the way back was unnecessarily long, with a change in York and a trundle service back to Leeds, but at least I got the opportunity to finish learning Hiragana and Katakana for my Japanese class. These journeys, along with my bus commutes, provide excellent dead time during which I can learn the language, meaning at least I go to the class relatively informed, which really boosts confidence when you are there. I should have done this with Russian really. With Japanese I am doing all I can but I'm so busy otherwise - I had a 12 hour working day on Sunday for example - that it is proving difficult to find the time. My dead time does help but I'm just about keeping my head above water and I'm putting a fair bit of work in. I just hope I can do enough over the coming weeks, especially as I'm set to miss the next three lessons after this one.
The game itself was a bit of a damp squib, a goalless draw of few chances, with two good teams canceling each other out. However it's more often than not the event around the game rather than the game itself that is the highlight and so it proved again, both pre-match and during it.
I met some of the Boro lads I have known for a decade - indeed they were the first people I ever met off the Internet - in Sherlock's, one of two new craft beer pubs on a side street in the centre of the town. Both this one and The Twisted Lip some two doors down both look like they have been carved out of someone's front room, which indeed they have as these terraced houses used to be residences until they were converted into pubs earlier this year. More real ale than craft beer in honesty, it is still good that a town like Middlesbrough is developing a beer scene and the beers I had in this bar were amongst the finest I've ever had, a lovely blackberry ale with a sweet and distinctive taste. Having had nothing to eat, I also got a mince and mushy pea pie, a northern culinary delight which was beyond fantastic. We also chatted about football and life in general while watching Liverpool succumb to Chelsea on the TV.
Our stadium is about a 15 minute walk from the centre of town and we were toying with getting a taxi due to the persistent light drizzle. In the end we couldn't find one and walked down there instead, where we were greeted to throngs of people befitting the biggest attendance of our season so far. We had nearly 23,000 in the end and people were queuing for tickets up until kick off, as well as queuing to get into the turnstiles. Needing a pee, this was quite uncomfortable but we eventually got in, I relieved myself and I was in the stands just in time for kick off.
One criricism I have made of The Riverside in the past is the lack of atmosphere but they have made changes in recent times, moving all of the passionate support to the south stand and filtering the away crowd - which was quite paultry - into the west. I had got my ticket in Block 62, the most fanatical section and was stood next to a hardened Boro lad who initially didn't take too kindly to my look but was soon fine once we got into the swing of all the singing. There were flags there in abundance being waved and everyone stood throughout the match, which also boosted the intense atmosphere. We sung, clapped and stomped, and it was a great tribal atmosphere of which to be a part, even though in the end we didn't see any goals. We hit the crossbar in the first half but that was the closest any side came, with both defence being very well organised and not letting the attackers through. A fair result really. Towards the end there must have been double the number of people on my row than there should have been but the atmosphere was sound, with just one mildly racist bloke spoiling things. To be fair, he said two things under his breath and was condemned for it as soon as he did.
After the game, I met up with my friend Udayan and his mates outside the statues and walked back into the centre of town. I was surprised and delighted to see that they had gentrified the previous wasteland along the way, with a college, brasserie and offices there now. They do look a little twee but they've made the most of the riverside frontage, with cringeworthy corporate crapspeak signs suggesting that they hadn't finished building yet. The modern art piece of two metal circles which overlap differently depending on your position relative to them is also a nice touch, with the iconic Transporter Bridge in the background.
The rest of the town is largely unchanged from the last time I was there, when I lived there in 2009. We ended up going to the Zetland, one of the scuzziest pubs in the town (and there's a lot if competition). I'm not sure why we ended up there but we did, where I had a final pint with Udayan and his mates before heading off. It was a little awkward in all honesty as I was the outsider of the group - with the rest of them all knowing each other - but they were great guys and generally easy to talk to. This is the disadvantage of home games really - away games are an adventure with the people who are going and take more planning while going to a game in town tends to be a more individual affair where people are more likely to do their own thing and meet in their own groups.
After the match, I had arranged to meet my father, who lived on the southern side of Middlesbrough on the way home. He cooked a delicious beef casserole and put on a cheeseboard on my behalf while we caught up for a few hours before he drove me to Northallerton to catch my late train. It was great seeing him, probably for the last time this year, and heading home was a good opportunity to meet up. The train journey on the way back was unnecessarily long, with a change in York and a trundle service back to Leeds, but at least I got the opportunity to finish learning Hiragana and Katakana for my Japanese class. These journeys, along with my bus commutes, provide excellent dead time during which I can learn the language, meaning at least I go to the class relatively informed, which really boosts confidence when you are there. I should have done this with Russian really. With Japanese I am doing all I can but I'm so busy otherwise - I had a 12 hour working day on Sunday for example - that it is proving difficult to find the time. My dead time does help but I'm just about keeping my head above water and I'm putting a fair bit of work in. I just hope I can do enough over the coming weeks, especially as I'm set to miss the next three lessons after this one.
